Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. ~Roman 12:15-16
Today, Lord, give me the ability to push my troubles temporarily aside. As you give me the comforting words to say to a friend in distress. Lord, I also ask that you give me the words to pray for the homeless everywhere.
Lord it is easy to take your blessings for granted when personal wants are fulfilled. It’s easy to forget about those that are sincerely in need as long as personal needs are being met.
Heavenly Father, this morning I’m praying that you touch the hearts of those that are blessed with a roof over their heads, food in their stomachs, clothes on their backs and shoes on their feet with a spirit of thanksgiving. Lord, help them to see, myself included, how blessed we truly are despite of unachieved goals. Help us to become steadfast in giving to the less fortunate with cheerful hearts.
Lord watch over the homeless. Give them their next meal without question or delay.
Grandma is eighty-eight years old and still drives her own car. She
writes:
Dear Grand-daughter,
The other day I went up to our local Christian book store and saw a
‘Honk if you love Jesus’ bumper sticker ..
I was feeling particularly sassy that day because I had just come from
a thrilling choir performance, followed by a thunderous prayer
meeting..
So, I bought the sticker and put it on my bumper.
Boy, am I glad I did; what an uplifting experience that followed.
I was stopped at a red light at a busy intersection, just lost in
thought about the Lord and how good he is, and I didn’t notice that
the light had changed.
It is a good thing someone else loves Jesus because if he hadn’t
honked, I’d never have noticed.
I found that lots of people love Jesus!
While I was sitting there, the guy behind started honking like crazy,
and then he leaned out of his window and screamed, ‘For the love of
God!’
‘Go! Go! Go! Jesus Christ, GO!’
What an exuberant cheerleader he was for Jesus!
Everyone started honking!
I just leaned out my window and started waving and smiling at all
those loving people.
I even honked my horn a few times to share in the love!
There must have been a man from Florida back there because I heard him
yelling something about a sunny beach..
I saw another guy waving in a funny way with only his middle finger
stuck up in the air.
I asked my young teenage grandson in the back seat what that meant.
He said it was probably a Hawaiian good luck sign or something.
Well, I have never met anyone from Hawaii , so I leaned out the window
and gave him the good luck sign right back.
My grandson burst out laughing.
Why even he was enjoying this religious experience!!
A couple of the people were so caught up in the joy of the moment that
they got out of their cars and started walking towards me.
I bet they wanted to pray or ask what church I attended, but this is
when I noticed the light had changed.
So, grinning, I waved at all my brothers and sisters, and drove on
through the intersection.
I noticed that I was the only car that got through the intersection
before the light changed again and felt kind of sad that I had to
leave them after all the love we had shared.
So I slowed the car down, leaned out the window and gave them all the
Hawaiian good luck sign one last time as I drove away. Praise the Lord
for such wonderful folks!!
Lord, I have read and heard a lot this week. Many of those stories made me feel like I was traveling through a portal of stupidity. Often I found myself asking the following questions: Lord, is my thinking off track? Or are people now enjoying conflict? And why are they enjoying being hoodwinked? What is making them so gullible? And why can’t they see they are being invalidated?
Lord, as I sat in bewilderment over the troubles of the world, I asked, yet, another question, “Where is common sense?” Has it left the world? Has it found a hiding place? Is it sad because humankind no longer has a need for it? Lord, where is common sense? Because as I see things, who would enjoy heartaches, trials and tribulations?
Nothing I read or heard this week made any sense at all except for: “Something that sounds correct could be incorrect.”
— Prayer —
Lord, please bless the world with common sense. For without it mankind will become void in all their ways. So, again, please Lord bless the world with common sense. Amen
I just got back from a five-day camping trip. My family and I decided to join a friend and her family at a local state park. I knew preparing for the mini-vacation would be a chore; since, I have been emotionally and physically tired for years. But a vacation of some sort was a high priority. So, when my friend told me that she and her family was going camping at Boyd Lake State Park, I reserved a camping spot for my family and me to join her and her family.
My friend was too excited to have us come with. She had made plans for us as a group to do this and that. She had made her trailer as the command central. She had even planned several of our meals (without consulting me). Her efforts were those of a true friend but her services were not totally needed. As you can see, my dearest and sweetest friend took it upon herself to make plans for everyone without consulting with anybody. And had the women of both families checked with each other about the trip perhaps hurt feelings could have been avoided.
My friend had failed to see I wanted some me time. I wanted to escape the demands of my demanding life. I wanted to sit and or lay in the comforts of cleanliness. I wanted to enjoy my trailer that has been for years a BIG source of disappointment in some mental capacity. But, nevertheless [sigh], the trailer belongs to me and mine and we love it despite of all the headaches it has given us. And we are always overjoyed to use it when it is not in the shop for months at a time because it was poorly made.
However, with all that was going on mentally, I had very little time to freely think about the direction of my life until now.
I got the below YouTube video from a fellow blogger and I thought I would share the powerful message with you:
Well, I found another email message I thought was cute enough to pass on. This one is about a young person lecturing an older person on being considerate of the earth and all its inhabitants.
Being Green
Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the much older woman, that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment.
The woman apologized and explained, “We didn’t have this ‘green thing’ back in my earlier days.”
The young clerk responded, “That’s our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations.”
She was right — our generation didn’t have the ‘green thing’ in its day.
Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store.
The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.
But we didn’t have the “green thing” back in our day.
Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags, that we reused for numerous things, most memorable besides household garbage bags, was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our schoolbooks.
This was to ensure that public property, (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags.
But too bad we didn’t do the “green thing” back then.
We walked up stairs, because we didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building.
We walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.
But she was right. We didn’t have the “green thing” in our day.
Back then, we washed the baby’s diapers because we didn’t have the throwaway kind.
We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220 volts — wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days.
Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.
But that young lady is right; we didn’t have the “green thing” back in our day.
Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house — not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana .
In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn’t have electric machines to do everything for us.
When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.
Back then, we didn’t fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn.
We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.
But she’s right; we didn’t have the “green thing” back then.
We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water.
We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.
But we didn’t have the “green thing” back then.
Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service in the family’s $45,000 SUV or van, which cost what a whole house did before the “green thing.”
We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint.
But isn’t it sad that the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn’t have the “green thing” back then?
Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smart … young person…
We don’t like being old in the first place, so it doesn’t take much to piss us off, especially from a tattooed, multiple pierced smart ass who can’t make change without the cash register telling them how much.
3 But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD.
Jonah 1:3
This is Throwback Thursday! So! I’m reposting one of my favorite posts. I first shared this video on June 15, 2014, at 6:45 am. It appears 7 years later I will be reposting this wonderful video around the same time.
So much has happened within those seven years of living life. I’ve lost my mom. I’ve become a great grandmother! I’m told my oldest grandson’s girlfriend is having twins. My children are doing great, making wonderful lives for themselves. Two wonderful women have been added to my family, along with a host of new friends and family members. And all of that good stuff can’t compare to my spiritual growth. I’m over the moon concerning my spiritual journey. It has been tough and often I’ve felt like throwing in the towel but . . . OMG! My life is on fire because of my spiritual awakening! And this repost can’t be more appropriate when it comes to sharing what I learned from my latest lesson.
LESSON LEARNED: God loves everyone, including our enemies and people that come across as unlovable. He expects us to show those that are lost or have lost their way compassion. Our actions will light the path for His love and mercy to become healing ointments. Bottom line! God wants all of us to be saved despite our differences. Let’s pray!
PRAYER
Lord, my recent private prayer request was that you cover my enemies with your blood. I wanted the blood of Jesus to open their understanding. Allowing them to see they were their greatest obstacle when it came to not getting money bequeath to them. But how can they see when everyone spiritually in their life is superficial. Show me how to pray for them. There is nothing worse than being lost in the maze of life. Amen
PARAGRAPH FROM 2014
I have been in church for nearly 53 years. And I have never heard the story of Jonah with so much feeling. Mary Margaret is full of passion for telling this great story. Her passion causes her to be very (and I do mean very) animated. Enjoy this cute little girl telling the story of Jonah.
Well, Lord, I have finally gotten up from the couch. Mostly because your spirit has urged me to write a pray.
But, Lord, I feel torn about what I should pray. There are so many life situations that need your help. So, again, I feel torn about what I should pray about. However the situation that seems to be heaviest on my heart is the spiritual and cancerous choice of Americans.
The choice to remove you from our country is drowning this wonderful nation in the pool of political correctness; thus, giving birth to spiritual chaos.
We have taken you out of everything! We have taken you out of our governmental institutions, our business, our schools, our churches, our homes, our children, our families and our daily actions. And because we have taken you out of everything we are now experiencing the following: high unemployment, high divorce rates, high rate of children born out-of-wedlock, high rates of child exploitation’s, extreme amounts of mental illness, and people having disregards for life.
Sadly, Lord, as we the American people bicker over small things such as who should or should not get married. Or should the NRA step in and help make stiffer laws for obtaining firearms! Or if a black man is making good or bad choices up on Capitol Hill! Lord, the country that I love is quickly falling into a perilous state.
Lord the catalyst for what is happening in America is our ease in removing you from our lives! It’s not the black man up on Capitol Hill! He’s just one man! It’s not Joe marrying Johnny or Susan marring Sally! And it’s certainly not mandating tougher gun laws! It was removing you!
Lord, the American people need to hear from you! We need to hear from the God that got this American party started. We’re a young nation. And we’re making our fair share of mistakes. But, Lord, the biggest mistake we have made thus far was removing you!
I’m praying for my country. I’m asking you for your mercy upon me and my country. I’m asking you God to show us how to repair our relationship with you. I’m asking you to forgive the arrogance of the American people. I’m praying that you will do a historical roll call in their minds and in their hearts. I’m asking Lord that they remember the blood that was shade for our freedoms; and how you fought along the men that were fighting for all to be freed men and women. I’m asking you to remind them that our ancestors came here to freely worship you. I’m asking you to remind them this country was born from a divine dream and supported and encouraged by spiritual God.
For George Santayana once wrote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” And in Numbers 14:26-38 people perished and wondered in the wilderness because they had lost faith in you and your abilities to create a new land for a people of promise. Lord, help the country that I love. Heal the heart of this country because America is a land of promise and we are a people of promise.
A young woman told her mother about her life and how things were so hard. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed that as one problem was solved, a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word.
In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She then pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.
Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me, what do you see?”
“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied.
She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. She then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.
The daughter then asked, “What does it mean, Mother?”
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity — boiling water — but each reacted differently. The carrot went in
strong, hard and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But, after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.
“Which are you?” she asked her daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?”
Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?
Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor of your life. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate to another level?
How do you handle adversity? Are you changed by your surroundings or do you bring life, flavor, to them?
I just got back from a five-day camping trip. My family and I decided to join a friend and her family at a local state park. I knew preparing for the mini-vacation would be a chore; since, I have been emotionally and physically tired for years. But a vacation of some sort was a high priority. So, when my friend told me that she and her family was going camping at Boyd Lake State Park, I reserved a camping spot for my family and me to join her and her family.
Black Women Have It Going On 