I must apologize to my readers for my sporadic entries of late. I am in the process of moving and will do everything I can to post as often as I can, but until I am done, please excuse my craziness!
Archive for January, 2012
A beautiful treatise on death from a unique perspective. I share this post with great recommendation to you.
‘I am against nature. I don’t dig nature at all. I think nature is very unnatural. I think the truly natural things are dreams, which nature can’t touch with decay.’
~ Bob Dylan
After lasagna, there is little I can think of as being more typically American than the Twinkie.
Golden fluffiness, spongy delight, sugary sweetness… made to survive a nuclear fallout. What more could one want from an afternoon snack?
I was not allowed to have Twinkies as a child. I was cursed/blessed? with a mother who felt that they weren’t good for me. That they were unnatural, stuffed, not with creamy joy, but with artificial flavors and artificial preservatives, and therefore should not be a part of my body’s sustenance.
(She also sent me to school with sprout-stuffed pita-pocket sandwiches. There’s no kid who’s gonna trade their Twinkie for that! So it was, indeed, a…
View original post 422 more words
Share this:
Just a little something from me to you today! Because I am grateful for all of my readers!
Related articles
- Self Loving (essencerevealed.wordpress.com)
Share this:
Image via Wikipedia
What was the attraction? Was it the sound? The jolting, shrieking, squeals or the snorting, snuffling, shameless grunts of contentment and joy? Perhaps it was the imbalance of those little eyes, big wet snout, pointing ears on a small head; the short, stubby legs and the huge, rotund body all set off with the incongruity of that festive, curling-ribbon of a tail? What was God thinking anyway, to adorn an animal that wallows in the mud with such a flourish as that tail, like each was a gift to be opened. A very stinky present indeed!
Or maybe it was the “p” sound my brother always found so funny. “Pig”, “pork”, “pee-yew”! Was it some divine joy in an animal that was so unabashedly, unashamedly just what God had created it to be? A filthy animal no longer “unclean”? Just like us: born-again and new?
I believe my brother, Scottie, often had a better grasp of God than I will ever be capable of getting. “Come as a little child” . . . “a little child” . . . “a little child”. He was God’s perennial child: his mental retardation and damaged heart, blessing and cross. God’s gift to show me I need to stop trying to make life more complicated than it is. A cross he bore as he suffered in pain so bravely.
Whatever the attraction, Scottie loved pigs! LOVED THEM! He bubbled over and laughed out loud at the thought of them. Joyous laughter I can still hear even though it has been 10 years ago today since my brother went to be with his Jesus.
Maybe Scott knew that our life on earth is like the prodigal son eating pig‘s scraps–and we are only passing through this life on our way to an eternal party with our Father. Nobody loved a party more than Scott. Nobody kept a holiday better than him. Maybe he knew they were just preludes to heaven.
What possessed him that day in K-mart in Cranberry, Pennslyvania, when he grabbed that pig cookie jar off the shelf? Walking him back to my mom from the restroom. I had never seen him take off like that: his stiff leg swinging out as fast as he could move; laughing, running, looking over his shoulder with an ear-to-ear grin as I raced to catch up with him. Then his satisfied smile as he reached our mother first and deposited his prize in her buggy, both of us panting; my mom looking at us like we were crazy. It was the only thing Scott had ever picked out in a store. Little did we know we were witinessing the beginning of a life-long love affair! For all we knew Scottie was hungry and wanted cookies! But his pleasure in pigs never died as his personal pig collection grew over the years. My brother even chose to leave us in the Chinese year of–you guessed it–the boar!
If you ever wondered why my family is crazy about pigs, now you know. We werer taught to appreciate their finer points by our best teacher. Not even 28 years on this earth, yet–like the short life of another great man Scottie adored, his Jesus–they both left behind eternal truths I am still pondering, even years now since they’ve been gone.
I need to measure Scott’s life, not by how many years, but by how much he gave and taught to everyone. I thank God for him as I remember him today. What a priceless, precious treasure he still is to me! Ever time I see a pig I am filled with bittersweet joy. And some day I’ll know just why he loved pigs so much. Up there in heaven: me and Jesus and Scottie . . . and the pigs. You don’t think there’ll be pigs in heaven? Better think again! Remember, with God, all things are possible. Maybe my brother, Scottie, was really laughing at a private joke with God: maybe he knew the joke would be on the rest of us when we see pigs fly!
I wrote the above article 7 years ago. A lot has changed since then. Many of my family, friends, loved ones, even two of my babies, have joined my brother. I am raising my two daughters by myself, something I never would have expected. My lighthouse, my mother, has gone to spend her days with her beloved son. My touchstone, my best friend, Ed, has crossed over too. So many lives have gone beyond the reach of my earthly arms. And yet, they are more present with me today than ever. I carry their memories, their spirits, their life-lessons with me at all times. In their passing, they etched themselves indelibly on my soul and heart and have become a part of me. Part of this realization is maturing spiritually enough to grasp that all creation is one: one breathing, living celebration of the creative genius of God. If you don’t believe as I do, that is fine. But watch out. I am not just talking spirituality anymore. Quantum physics has begun to prove ancient spiritual laws. The next few decades of science should be quite an adventurous trip!
So, what does it change to believe we all are one? I am, at long last, able to stop grieving and start celebrating. The joy and love that was given to me is not gone. I touch it, feel it every day now. The joy of each life is multiplied in my present; no longer lost in my past. Whether someone is in this life or the next, in God I can still reach them. And with the passage of time, I see the completeness of their life-cycle, the perfectness of God’s timing. Their lives which seemed to end too soon are still living in me. Their full life still is teaching me, guiding me, giving me wisdom. I just have to open myself to it. Each life has become a book of scripture to me. A living, breathing, evolving volume of eternal wisdom and treasure to be mined bit by bit. I pick away at the rock day by day, never knowing what jewel will turn up. I sense their presence when I am feeling alone. I see their faces, hear their voices, feel their touch, their energy, revel in both the laughter and the tears. Through them, I touch God. And life is not a path of despair. Life is sweeter. Precious. Expanding into unlimited possibilities. Death is no longer the enemy, the thief, the finality. It is a doorway to change and choices and new beginnings. It is just another step in eternal existence. Our chance to see the unknown. To solve all the mysteries. To know all the great secrets. Now I am not saying I want to rush forward to embrace it. I am just starting to “get it” where I am. But I am no longer afraid. I am no longer afraid. Consider that statement to have been shouted from the rooftops of my soul.
And special thanks to Scottie, who dropped the article, “When Pigs Fly“, from its frame today, where it has been hanging for the past seven years. Just a coincidence? Seven years to the day? Sure it was. When pigs fly.
Related articles
- Seeing I do not see (wordsofeternallife.org)
- Higgs limerick | Jon Butterworth | Life & Physics (guardian.co.uk)
- HyperPet Slingshot Pig (heydoyou.com)
- How Cute is This? (inbetween-fashion.com)
Share this:
Image by joiseyshowaa via Flickr
God, today I have been admiring the gorgeous trees you have created all over our planet. I am so grateful for your artistry and ingenuity. There are over 100,000 species of trees on this earth. Each variety unique in bark, branch, root, leaf, size, habitat and usefulness. I cannot even begin to fathom the number of leaves that means. Each leaf unique. Exquisitely crafted and colored. An individual pattern of veins and edging tracing a map on each one. How magnificent! How amazing! This world you have created is mesmerizing in its detail. The trees breathe in the waste of my air, carbon monoxide. I breathe in the waste of their air, oxygen. We are sympatico. Yin and Yang breathing in an elemental opposition, yet in perfect compliment.
Image via Wikipedia
Nothing feels as wonderful when the sun is beating down its summer heat than finding the cooling shade of an ancient oak. Laying on my back, I watch the breeze dance the leaves as glints of sun sparkle in the midst. Flames of green bearing heat away. The cooling freshness of the green canopy spreading its protective arms over me. During a thunderstorm, this same canopy helps shelter me from the rain as I listen to the plop, plop of each drop beating on the drum skin of my tree. I hide beneath the home of so many creatures, insects, birds, small game. I praise you, God, and am so grateful for this free, found shelter. No rent or mortgage here. And in the winter, the stark bare branches line the landscape like so many fingers pointing skyward in silent witness to their creator. Creaking under weights of snow, lined like shadowed drawings, they form their silhouettes against the land and sky, connecting heaven and earth.
Image via Wikipedia
But my favorite remains the painter’s brush of colors you pour onto the world in autumn. Reds, yellows, purples, oranges, browns pulse with living colors against the cooling brilliant blueness. The fire of the sugar maple is so vivid it almost hurts my soul to gaze at it. Such beauty etched upon my heart as a riotous love letter from you to me and back again. The colors pulling me inward and heavenward, soaring through joy in just existing in this magnificent place you have created. Oh, God, what your hand has wrought is far too wondrous for my mind to grasp. And yet you set me higher than all of this sweetness. Thank you. Thank you for each amazing tree, each leaf, each branch, each root which burrows deep into the earth. This good earth. I am grateful for trees and they are good.
Share this:
Versatile Blogger Award
I want to thank Searching for the Light for nominating me for this award. You have brought me joy!
I also thank the Creator who writes through us all.
The Rules (The Versatile Blogger)
These are the rules that every nominee must comply with:
1. Thank the award-giver and link back to them in your post.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass this award along to 15 recently discovered blogs you enjoy reading.
4. Contact your chosen bloggers to let them know about the award.
I have picked the following seven facts about me:
1. I have lost over 140 pounds this past year.
2. I have two teen daughters who are growing into the most amazing human beings.
3. I have studied voice and sing everything from opera to folk to jazz.
4. I will never wear a two-piece swimsuit. lol
5. Meditation has miraculously changed my life.
6. I am writing a novel and envision my writing as one way I will make a difference in this world.
7. I sleep (and I use that term very, very loosely) with a menagerie of dogs, cats, and kids.
And these are the bloggers and their amazing blogs I am nominating for this award:
- Arnold @ http://sojournerspace.wordpress.com/
- Tim Custis @ http://timcustis.com/
- Alpha Miguel-Sanford @ http://amsdaily.net/
- Tess @ http://deepbluenight.wordpress.com/
- Tameri Etherton @ http://tamerietherton.com/
- Karen @ http://cravencreativity.wordpress.com/
- Pat Cegan @ http://patcegan.wordpress.com/
- Dorothy Ruppert @ http://godplacedherinmypath.wordpress.com/
- Kate Kresse @ http://believeanyway.wordpress.com/
- Connie Wayne @ http://ahopefortoday.com/
- Terri @ http://intomystic.wordpress.com/
- James @ http://unfunnyhusband.wordpress.com/
- Psstaycurious @ http://psstaycurious.wordpress.com/
- Daniel Lyons @ http://soulblindministry.com/
- Christine M. Grote @ http://randomthoughtsfrommidlife.wordpress.com/
A special thank you to each of you for your words, thoughts and photos that have inspired, entertained, comforted, educated and enlightened me. It has been a pleasure to know you through your blogs. Keep blogging; I owe fines at the library and need good stuff to read!
Jodiebeth
Find my nominator, Searching for The Light @ http://choccat.wordpress.com/
Share this:
The following article was adapted from the original which can be found on the web at :
Marc and Angel Hack Life
in Practical Tips for Productive Living,
30 Things to Stop Doing to Yourself.
When you allow yourself to take care of you, loving yourself as much as anyone else, being good to yourself, and approaching life from a positive perspective, you will find peace and joy that last through any circumstances. A sense of humor helps, too.
As Maria Robinson once said, “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” Nothing could be closer to truth. As you begin this process of transformation the following road map may help. The following ideas are not intended to be used as New Year’s resolutions, for once a resolution is broken it is gone. Rather these are goals at which to aim. Track your progress and let that be your success.
Gift List to Yourself:
1. Only spend time with people who build the positive in you and you will improve your self-esteem.
Life is too short, so spend time with people who energize and increase the happiness in you. If someone wants you in their life, they’ll make room for you. You shouldn’t have to fight for a spot. So make sure you are spending your time with someone who continuously appreciates your worth. Spending time with people who don’t appreciate you will eventually lower your self-esteem. Remember, it’s not the people that stand by your side when you’re at your best, but the ones who stand beside you when you’re at your worst that are your true friends. (And if your true friends have seen you at your worst and accepted you, there is just no sense in scaring everybody else.)
2. Face your fears and you will grow your personal power.
There is no person in the world capable of flawlessly handling every punch thrown at them. We aren’t supposed to be able to instantly solve problems. That’s not how we’re made. In fact, we’re made to get upset, sad, hurt, stumble and fall. Because that’s the whole purpose of living – to face problems, learn, adapt, and solve them over the course of time. This is what ultimately molds us into the person we become. So, face your fears head on. No, it won’t be easy. But when you don’t face them, you give them power and when you do face them, you take that power back for yourself. (That monster under your bed turned out to be just a dirty sock anyway, didn’t it?)
3. Be honest with yourself so and you will be able to change anything .
You can lie to anyone else in the world, but be honest with yourself. Our lives improve only when we take chances, and the first and most difficult chance we can take is to be honest with ourselves. You cannot begin to improve your reality unless you see it for what it is right now. You have to see the path to follow it to the end. Read The Road Less Traveled. (Besides, if you never look in the mirror, you can never tell if you have mustard on your chin.)
4. Take care of your own needs and you will contribute your best to the world.
The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much, and forgetting that you are special too. Yes, help others; but help yourself too. If there was ever a moment to follow your passion and do something that matters to you, that moment is now. (If everyone loses themselves, there will be no one left to look for us.)
5. Be yourself and you will fulfill the purpose for which you were designed.
One of the greatest challenges in life is being yourself in a world that’s trying to make you just like everyone else. Someone will always be prettier. Someone will always be smarter. Someone will always be younger, but they will never be you. Don’t change so people will like you. Be yourself and the right people will love the real you. (Anyway, bricks can’t be used as vegetables, and you can’t be used as something you’re not, either. Besides, someone will break a tooth!)
6. Stay in the present and you will live without regrets or worries, helping rid yourself of depression and anxiety.
You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading your last one. Joy comes in the moment, not in the memory or the imagination. (When you get old and can’t stay in the moment,
people think you’re senile. Better to practice mindfulness now than spend your retirement eating pureed steak in a nursing home.)
7. Count mistakes as learning instead of failure and you will gain confidence.
Doing something and getting it wrong is at least ten times more productive than doing nothing. Every success has a trail of failures behind it, and every failure is leading towards success. You end up regretting the things you did NOT do far more than the things you did. Anyway, trying always comes before succeeding. We are given new days to remind us to just start over. (Don’t you hate it when a pencil comes without an eraser, anyway?)
8. Forgive yourself and you will become more accepting of others.
We may think we love the wrong person or that we cry about the wrong things. Yet one thing is for sure: accepting our mistakes will help us find the people and things that are right for us. We all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret things in our past. But you are not your mistakes, you are not your struggles, and you are here NOW with the power to shape your day and your future. Every single thing that has ever happened in your life is preparing you for a moment that is yet to come. (Besides, beating up on yourself sucks all the good energy out that you could be using to do more important things like eating chocolate. ; )
9. Focus on love, laughter, and pursuing your passion and you will achieve real lasting happiness.
Many of the things we desire are may be expensive. But the truth is, the things that really satisfy us are totally free – love, laughter and working on our passions. (Plus, you’ll have more money left to buy presents for someone like, well, say, someone like me.)
10. Look within yourself for true happiness because it is the only place where you will find it.
When you are happy with who you are on the inside, you will be happy in a long-term relationship with someone else. You have to create stability in your own life first before you can share it with someone else. Read Stumbling on Happiness. (Have you ever been really happy when eating a carton of icecream, but then you finish it and all your artificially flavored and sweetened happiness comes to a screeching halt?)
11. Trust your decisions and act on them and you will build a sense of accomplishment.
Evaluate situations and take decisive action. Once you take action, let it go. Making progress involves moving forward. You have to take your foot off first base to make it to second! (And you have to fall down to slide into home.)
12. Take risks and you will build trust in yourself!
Nobody ever feels 100% ready when an opportunity arises because most great opportunities in life force us to grow beyond our comfort zones. Comfort grows with familiarity. Learn to appreciate the butterflies in your stomach by realizing they are the product of metamorphosis—yours! (Jack never would have gotten to go up that hill with Jill if he hadn’t jumped over that candlestick first.)
13. Value yourself in relationships and life and you will teach others to value you, too.
Relationships must be chosen wisely. It’s better to be alone than to be in bad company. There’s no need to rush. If something is meant to be, it will happen – in the right time, with the right person, and for the best reason. Fall in love when you’re ready, not when you’re lonely. Fill your life with service and purpose. As you learn to love yourself and send it into the world, it will come back to you 100-fold. (Get a dog as a pet before you get one as a mate.)
14. Keep open to receive love and you will get it.
In life you’ll realize that there is a purpose for everyone you meet. Some will test you, some will use you and some will teach you. But most importantly, some will bring out the best in you. Each person is unique even when they possess similarities to someone else. Each person deserves to be evaluated on their own merit, not your memories. When you close a door, nothing can get past: not the bad stuff, but not the good stuff, either. (If you keep hiding your pistachio icecream under your spinach just because they are both green, you’ll never like either one. Unless you’re pregnant.)
15. Compete only against yourself and you will be a winner.
Concentrate on beating your own records every day. Success is a battle between YOU and YOURSELF only. Don’t worry about what others are doing better than you. ( Just remember “Bad, bad Leroy Brown.)
16. Count your own blessings instead of everyone else’s and you will always be prosperous.
Jealousy is the art of counting someone else’s blessings instead of your own. Ask yourself this: “What’s something I have that everyone else wants?” (Addition is always easier than division. Especially long division.)
17. Be positive and SMILE and you will be filled with and radiate joy!
Life’s curveballs are thrown for a reason – to shift your path in a direction that is meant for you. You may not see or understand everything the moment it happens, which can make it tough. However, when you reflect back on those negative curveballs thrown at you in the past, you’ll often see that eventually they led you to a better place, person, state of mind, or situation. So smile! Let everyone know that today you are a lot stronger than you were yesterday– and you will be. (If you lean in and get hit by one of those curveballs, the umpire of life has to let you walk to first base.)
18. Forgive. Let go. Find peace and you will see peace on earth.
Truly live by releasing hate and grudges from your heart. You will keep from hurting yourself more. Forgiveness is not saying, “What you did to me is okay.” It is saying, “I’m not going to let what you did to me ruin my happiness forever.” Forgiveness is the answer… let go, find peace, liberate yourself! And remember, forgiveness is not just for other people, it’s for you too. Forgive yourself so you can move on and do better next time. (It is really embarrassing when you realize you’ve been screaming for someone to let you out and the key is in your pocket.)
19. Fly above the crowds and be the example! Or, as Ghandi said, “Be the change you wish to see!” and you will change the world.
When you set the standard, you are never lowered to someone else’s level. (If your elevator doesn’t go to the top floor, you know what everyone will think.)
20. Let go of the need to explain or justify yourself and you will develop faith.
Your friends don’t need it and your enemies won’t believe it anyway. Just do what you know in your heart is right. (And you know when you start explaining it will feel all awkward and just keep going on and on and you’ll never be really sure how much explanation is enough so you just sort of start to ramble in one gigantic, run-on sentence.)
21. Take breaks and you will get there faster and better.
The time to take a deep breath is when you don’t have time for it. Breathe in the universe’s unlimited resources and refill your tanks. If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting. Sometimes you need to distance yourself to see things clearly. (Running out of gas can mean pushing your car. You could get a hernia. That means surgery and medical bills and boarding your Yorkshire terrier. Well, it could get quite complicated.)
22. Stop and smell the roses and you will learn to appreciate the many exquisite gifts you might otherwise overlook!
Enjoy the little things, because one day you may look back and discover they were the big things. The best portion of your life will be the small, nameless moments you spend smiling with someone who matters to you. (And those things that seem like big things might just turn into Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons and float off into the distance, or worse yet, deflate on you.)
23. Celebrate imperfection and you will reach your goals.
The real world doesn’t always reward perfectionists,but it always rewards people who get things done. Learn when “good enough” is enough and let it go. Then you can concentrate more time on the things that do need to be perfected. Read Getting Things Done. (Did you ever go into one of those superstores when you were really tired and you forgot your list and you just wonder around forever trying to remember what you need but when you get home, there is always something you forgot? Yeah. You know just what I mean.)
24. Aim for the sky and you will learn to fly.
Life is not easy, especially when you plan on achieving something worthwhile. Don’t take the easy way out. Do something extraordinary. You can only reach as high as your target. Aim low and that is all you will ever achieve. Aim high, and even if you don’t reach all the way to your goal, you’ll fly higher than before. (It is a lot more difficult to water ski when you don’t stand up.)
25. Express your emotions and you will have room to grow.
It’s okay to fall apart for a little while. You don’t always have to pretend to be strong, and there is no need to constantly prove that everything is going well. You shouldn’t be concerned with what other people are thinking either – cry if you need to – it’s healthy to shed your tears. The sooner you do, the sooner you will be able to smile again. When we bottle up our emotions instead of releasing them, we allow them to grow out of our control. Releasing and expressing them brings them down to a size that we can manage. (You must know what happens if you just keep stuffing too much inside. Remember last Thanksgiving?)
26. Take responsibility for your own stuff. (But not anyone else’s) and you will have power to do anything .
The extent to which you can achieve your dreams depends on the extent to which you take responsibility for your life. When you blame others for what you’re going through and you deny responsibility – you give others power over that part of your life. When you take on responsibility for
others, not only do you deny them their opportunities to grow as a person, you cripple your own soul under a burden you were never intended to bear. (Did you ever get really annoyed with someone else’s behavior only to realize you do the same thing? No. Okay then. Me neither.)
27. Let the universe run by itself and you will set yourself free.
You are not equipped to run the show and are not built to handle the burden. But making one person smile CAN change the universe. Maybe not the whole universe, but their universe. So focus on what is before you to do and not on anyone else’s purpose. (If you go to do the laundry allow yourself to be distracted by the dirty floor, you are going to be wearing dirty underwear. Trust me on this one.)
28. Allow your Creator to sweat the details. Trust and you will rid yourself of anxiety.
Worry will not strip tomorrow of its burdens, it will strip today of its joy. One way to check if something is worth mulling over is to ask yourself this question: “Will this matter in one year’s time? Three years? Five years?” If not, then it’s not worth worrying about. Another way is to ask, “What outcome really matters to me? What do I really want?” Then drop everything extra. (If it is too heavy to carry, do not pack it in your suitcase. Put it in your brother’s when he isn’t looking. Then you can tease him about being such a wimp. Good times.)
29. Expect wonderful and you will get wonderful.
Focus on what you do want to happen. Positive thinking is at the forefront of every great success story. If you awake every morning with the thought that something wonderful will happen in your life today, and you pay close attention, you’ll often find that you’re right. (If you wake up expecting me to have come over and cleaned your house for you while you slept, fat chance.)
30. Live your life from gratitude; all the rest will follow from this one virtue.
No matter how good or bad you think have it, wake up each day thankful for your life. Someone somewhere else is desperately fighting for their own. Instead of thinking about what you’re missing, try thinking about what you have. Prosperity can never be realized if you miss out on the riches you already have by focusing on what you don’t have and getting what you want will never be enough if you cannot learn to appreciate what you possess right now. (I hope you are grateful you invested the time to read this article. I know I am.)
That is the list. 30 gifts that will change your life. 30 guidelines that will make this the best year of your life. Focus on one or two at a time until they are habit. By the end of 2012, you won’t believe how far you have come. And if you can learn to appreciate my sense of humor, then anything is possible.
May joy, peace, love, prosperity and all good gifts manifest in each of us. Blessings.
Jodiebeth Jackson
Related articles
- Unchain Your Personal Power (howtobehappycoach.wordpress.com)
- Daily Recovery Reading – November 7, 2011 (12stepsthinkaboutit.org)
- “Fat “ (barefairy.wordpress.com)
- Power to Tolerate (divinetiminglifecoaching.wordpress.com)
- A Gift of Love (comedypoet.wordpress.com)
- MLM Prospecting: The Give and Receive Method (terryandlynda.wordpress.com)
- Why self-compassion is healthier than self-esteem (lexiacherryrelationshipcoach.wordpress.com)
- The 7 spiritual laws of success (newlifeparties.com)
- Your Primary Spiritual Relationship – Loving Yourself (mylittleblackpen.wordpress.com)
- Interesting Read I found (ab8562.wordpress.com)
Share this:
Image by jcarlosn via Flickr
Today I am grateful for light. It warms the earth and feeds the plants. It makes us able to see colors, and God, you know how very much I love color! It is powerful and elemental and can be harnessed for clean energy. It travels through space for billions of miles and can be seen across the span of time. It chases away the darkness and our fears. It helps us find what we have lost. It brightens our days and creates romance and atmosphere. Light guides us and keeps us from harm. It helps us to see the visible and the invisible; shows us the temporary things of this world in all their beauty, even though they will soon pass away and shows us the eternal things of Spirit in all their glory, for they are everlasting to everlasting. It guided the wise men to the stable and the King of Kings. It burns within each of us as a mark of divinity. It is the sun, the moon, the stars, the rainbows, the angels, fire, flame, and truth. Light is essential to life. It is said to radiate from the throne of God the Father in the kingdom of heaven. It was the first thing ever created. It stands for inspiration, guidance, love, warmth, sustenance, truth, ideas. Without it we would cease to exist. With it we have the opportunity to spread it around, reflect it, shine it, share it, point it, gather around it and, as God is Light– worship It. I am on my face before His Light. In awe I marvel at what the Creator has made. I am grateful for light and it is good.
via (2) Jodiebeth Slatton-Bloedel.
Related articles
- New Perspectives (jodiebethinhercrystalroom.wordpress.com)
- ^UR- “And God saw the light, that it was (rosary2007.wordpress.com)
- Power of God (funtasticus.com)
- O Oriens – son/sun of justice (mum6kids.wordpress.com)
- Releasing the light [ed percival] (ecademy.com)
- Ellis Faas Eye Lights Brighten Eyes With a Metallic Sheen (bellasugar.com)
- Reasons to Praise (lbbfchurch.wordpress.com)
- Expressions, Hopes and Dreams (klextin.wordpress.com)
Share this:
Image via Wikipedia
On gratitude today: I am so grateful for attaining new perspectives through personal growth. I struggled with so much stress, fear, worry, anger, despair, for years because of changes and endings in my life. Now, I can see that change does not mean an ending as much as it means a new beginning. A fresh start. New opportunities. A second chance. A clean slate. When I focus on the potentials in a new beginning instead of the losses in an ending, I can breathe. I can smile. I can think clearly and plan for the future. This viewpoint brings that “peace that passes all understanding,” so I know it is a divine viewpoint.
I am learning that dwelling on why things are different, why they have to change, and how I am ever going to cope with losses is deadly to my emotional, spiritual, mental, and physical well-being. It is a negative perspective that will only suck me further down the longer I give it my energy and power over my life. Eventually my dark demeanor will permeate everything else in my life if allowed to remain. It is a crippling virus of the spirit that will rob me of my very life.
But opening myself to the positive brings hope, light, peace and joy. This energy will also expand bringing me greater ventures, more good opportunities, more love and beauty to my world. I am blessed. I am fortunate. I am a divine child of this universe with the power and providence of the Creator God at my disposal. As long as my desires are for the good of myself and others, my heart’s desires will be mine. But God has a funny way of wrapping the presents He sends me. They are seldom wrapped up in the ribbon, bow, and box I expect them to be in. They come in unimaginably creative packaging! Of course they would, as they are sent from the greatest creator! I just need to be willing to look outside the box for my gifts. It becomes easier to find them and recognize them when I expect them.
So I am grateful that God has taught me to expect His good gifts in every situation. No matter what things look like. No matter how dark it seems. I know if I search for the light, it will come shining through like a beacon and lead me home to Him.
via (2) Jodiebeth Slatton-Bloedel.
Related articles
- The Eternal Sunsets and the Sunrises of our Lives: Sep 2011 (zainmahmood.wordpress.com)
- A Sunrise Got In The Way (markmywordssite.com)
- A month of thanksgiving ~ Day 22 (awinsomejourney.wordpress.com)
- The Beginning or The End? (onestitch2many.wordpress.com)
- Love, Gratitude, and Perspective (realtruelove.wordpress.com)
- Colors of Angels (jodiebethinhercrystalroom.wordpress.com)
Share this:
Image via Wikipedia
This is my year to focus on gratitude and celebration of all God is and all the prosperity and blessings he pours forth on me every moment of every day. Today is the best day of my life! I have pledged to share here on FB at least one thing I am grateful for every day. Shoot me a comment if you pledge to join me in this goal for 2012. Gratitude can surely change our lives! Today, I am so grateful for: water. It is powerful, elemental, cleansing, refreshing physically, emotionally, spiritually. It teems with life and within life. It can be deliciously cold and sensually warm. Nothing is better when your hands are freezing than to warm them under a steaming stream of it. It caresses the skin, soothes the soul. We are baptized in it. It makes the wine and grain of our communion elements. Some of my favorite experiences with water are: walking in the ocean tide as I gaze into its vastness; steamy bubblebaths; awakening to the sound of pounding rain, babbling brooks, ocean surf; my hot sweet tea; cold and splashed on my sleepy face; icy and dripping from a sweating glass into my parched mouth; splashed at me as I play in it with a friend; splashed out when I jump in a rain puddle; on my altar as I connect with the Divine in prayer.
Today, Father God, I thank you for water. It is an elemental part of me, my life, and all life and it is good.
via (2) Jodiebeth Slatton-Bloedel.
Related articles
- The World Ocean (creativeandevolution.wordpress.com)
- Hydropower (formerslug.wordpress.com)
- The Creek Below by Dennis Lange (thebardonthehill.wordpress.com)
- Appreciating some simple pleasures (sfaulhafer.wordpress.com)
- Elemental Meditation (witchesofthecraft.com)
- 52 Photos in 52 Weeks and 366 Days of Gratitude (adaynasmile.wordpress.com)
- Giving & Receiving Thanks (philanthropywriting.com)
jodiebethinhercrystalroom 