Strength and Courage

August 29, 2010 By 2 Comments

 

It takes strength to be firm; it takes courage to be gentle.
It takes strength to stand guard; it takes courage to let down your guard.
It takes strength to conquer; it takes courage to surrender.
It takes strength to feel a friend’s pain; it takes courage to feel your own pain.
It takes strength to hide your own pains; it takes courage to show them.
It takes strength to endure abuse; it takes courage to stop it.
It takes strength to stand alone; it takes courage to lean on another.
It takes strength to love; it takes courage to be loved.
It takes strength to survive; it takes courage to live.

Author Unknown

Do you have strength? Do you have courage? If not, where do you get it? How do we have the courage to reach out and ask others for help?

{{HUGS}} yall

Sharing this IS spreading joy

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Thank You

August 13, 2010 By 1 Comment

for delighting in my delight
for noticing when I need to be noticed
for paying attention to what makes me happy
and knowing no gesture is too small
for loving me as always
and the humor that makes me giggle – sometimes 3 days later
for the hugs everyday, so little to most but so HUGE in my eyes
for calling when you can
for helping me get through the day
for always knowing…always!
for honestly communicating with me
and allowing me to see you through
for the sparkle in my eye when I see your eyes sparkle
for the words that inspire me to give more
for listening when I need to empty my heart and soul of hurt
for guidance when I feel lost
thank you for all the treasures that you give to my heart
for the smile that lights my face each day
for the unexpected kindness you flood me with
for accepting me just as I am
and encouraging the little girl in me to run free
for your amazing smile that chases away gloom…….

Thank You!

What are YOU thankful for?  Are you aware of the wonderful  joys that are surrounding you everyday?

Tell me, what are the priceless things you are thankful for?

I love Wordles – so I created one using this poem. enJOY!

Click the Wordle to see it full page
Wordle: Thank you for....

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Finding Joy

August 7, 2010 By 5 Comments

It was my honor and pleasure to be a guest on the Partners in Prayer for our Prodigals Blog Talk Radio with Diane Viere.

Setting Boundaries knows when we love an adult child whose life is out of control we can often feel helpless and hopeless. How do you step back into joy when your heart is filled with sorrow? Regardless of the type of sorrow you are feeling, there are ways of finding joy.

Finding joy among chaos and the feeling that your world is falling apart is completely possible and it was my pleasure to speak with her on that topic. This is a very honest and candid talk about being joyful – even through tears.

Setting Boundaries & Finding Sanity Blog Talk Radio Interview

Easy steps to Finding JOY when your heart is sorrowful:

  • Give JOY – This should go without saying, but we often forget that it IS better to give than to receive. When we give anything to anyone, our hearts are often flooded with joy. Giving back doesn’t have to always be expensive, huge gifts.  Cards, smiles, hugs – simple pleasures are just as joyful as other gifts.
  • Smile – Simple, yet can often can make a huge difference to a heart that is sorrowful.
  • Do not compare – Don’t do it.  Comparing things, dwelling on the “have nots” is asking for sorrow.
  • Notice and count the JOYs that are swirling all around you.  – So many little things make our life big, yet we tend to miss it because we are counting our “sorrows” instead of our joys. One easy way to do this is by journaling.  When you write down the JOYs, the happiness, the smile starters – you have something you can look at to remind yourself of the good times.
  • Plan JOY – We plan meetings, Dr appts, visits here and there. Plan some joyful things. Plan a family night. Plan a walk in the park. Plan it and then expect joy. The only rule is that there is no discussion of the sorrow that surrounds you.  PLAN and COUNT the joy.
  • Remember, this too shall pass. We will have trials, tears and sorrow, but it won’t always be this way.  Look ahead into the future. Joy is coming.

Some Favorite quotes:

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy. Thich Nhat Hanh

Man is fond of counting his troubles, but he does not count his joys. Fyodor Dostoevsky

I could talk for days on end about finding joy, spreading joy and the like.  I hope you’ll be encouraged by listening to the interview and you’ll start finding joy.   Once you start looking for ways of spreading joy, you’ll easily begin to notice opportunities for making a difference.

To easily get started, take the 30 day challenge. One act of joy a day for 30 days, to get you in the habit of spreading joy.  If you think you can not afford to be spreading joy, think again!   Here are 50 ways of making a difference without spending a penny.

Are you ready to find joy? If so, you’ll soon realize that “There is NO joy like Spreading Joy!”

Follow Diane on Twitter http://twitter.com/prodigalHOPE as she regularly has free webinars and documents to help you while you are on the road to sanity!

So, tell me.  How do you step into joy when your heart is sorrowful?

How are you spreading joy?  Do you try to make a difference with someone at least ONCE daily?

Did this interview encourage you to find true joy, even through the tears? I can’t wait to hear YOUR story of finding and spreading joy!

{{{HUGS}}} yall

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Angels Among us

August 3, 2010 By 11 Comments

Talking with Grayson about Angels Watching over him.

I believe there are angels among us.  Plain, simple – true.  I’ve had too many instances that should have not ended well, but was protected.  Just last year, when I was walking in my neighborhood, two huge dogs came charging across the road at me.  It was happening so fast!  I could hear the growling, the anger and then their size did not help my fears.  The only thing I knew to do was stop walking and I uttered out loud, “Dear Lord, I need an angel!”  I stood there as the dogs growled and circled me.  I was fearful and felt the tears streaming down my cheek.  I stood still, paralyzed with fear.  The dogs quieted and simply walked away.   There was no doubt in my mind what had just happened.  An Angel stood between me and the dogs.  I had been protected.

In December, my best friend’s daughter is in the hospital having her first baby.  This is special to me as well, not just because she is my best friend but because I had a part in this young lady’s life.  I spent weeks and weeks playing with her and her sister because I wanted to as well as being their babysitter.  It has been my pleasure to remain a part of this wonderful family.

We are all chatting away, watching and waiting for baby Grayson to make his appearance.  He is taking his precious sweet time.  I see the monitor.  His heart rate races extremely high.  I walk over, not saying anything and put my hand on her tummy.  I love rubbing pregnant tummies.  Then I see the heart rate drop, alarming so.  Still, I don’t say a word.  I pray.

Lord, please set an angel in flight to cradle baby Grayson and protect him.

I know the nurses are monitoring her and do not want to alarm the family.  So I continue to rub and pray.  The nurses do come in.  I kiss my sweet girl, tell her I’m praying and that I love her with all my heart.  The soon to be grandparents see the concern on the nurses faces as they say they are going to call the doctor.  The nurses leave and I tell them what I had just witnessed.

I give my best friend and her husband hugs as I leave and promise to pray.  These girls in this family are like my very own children, so my hearts desire for baby Grayson is nothing but the best.

Several hours later, I receive a text – along with a picture of a precious little boy, safe and sound.  Prayers answered.  BUT …..that is not the only reason I believe.

I visit the next day – as I have to see this wonderful bundle of joy.  He is not even 24 hours old yet.  I get to hold him. We are discussing how he opens one eye, but not yet both and just how adorable and brand NEW he is.  I’m holding him to where I can just gaze into his precious face and start talking to him.  I whisper quietly:

Grayson, you gave us a scare little boy. Did you feel the angels holding you last night?

At that point, he coos at me and opens both eyes.  Instantly.  I smile, he closes his eyes.  I start talking about the angels again, and immediately he opens both eyes.  At this point, the tears of joy are streaming down my face.   I have NO idea what is going on around me because my heart is consumed with the fact that I KNOW this child was cradled in the arms of an angel just hours before birth.

It is later that I find out that my best friend took a picture of me during all of this.  You can see Grayson’s expression as well as the tears on my cheek.  She sends me the picture stating that he looks like he is going to tell me something and I’m all ears.   At that point, I excitedly tell her about how me and this precious soul were discussing how wonderful it was that an angel took care of him just before birth.  The photo speaks volumes.

I’m not sure how you feel about angels, but I’m glad they are here.  I’m glad they will protect us, shield us and hold us when we need it.

What do you think about angels?  Do you believe there are angels among us?  Do you feel that you’ve been protected by an angel?

{{HUGS}} y’all

Sharing this IS spreading joy

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Love Hurts

July 23, 2010 By 13 Comments

A friend of mine reminded me of something today that I know and unfortunately – I know it all to well.  Love hurts!  It truly does. 

No matter who it is that you love, you run the risk of hurting because of that love.  Sometimes it’s done intentionally, other times it’s by accident and sometimes there is absolutely nothing that can be done at all.  We’ve all spent countless hours with tears falling because someone we love has hurt us, or someone that we love is hurting.   

When you give your heart away you run the risk of having to pick it back up, one piece at a time because someone has torn it into a million pieces.  You don’t know if your heart will be treasured as much as you desire.  But still, you take the risk and give it away.

Love hurts when parents don’t care or value their children as much as they should. Love hurts when we’ve taught our children to do their best, make wise choices and they still decide to do what will completely destroy their life.  Love hurts when you are sitting in the hospital room and the doctor tells you to do what you want to do because you’ve only got six months to live.  Love hurts when that person looks at you after hearing they only have a short time to live and says….”what do you think?” At that moment LOVE is killing you and ripping your heart to pieces and all you can mutter is, “I love you and I’m going to miss you deeply.” 

Love hurts when you watch your loved one slowly forget what they’ve known all along as well as how to do simple day to day things.  Love hurts every single time you leave them at the nursing home because they can no longer take care of themselves nor do they remember who you are.  

Love hurts when you do your very best but you hear that your best isn’t good enough. Love hurts when you no longer fit in because aren’t as nice looking as the rest of the group. 

Love hurts when you are holding a limp body that is convulsing with pain because it has been through so much and your only desire is for the pain to be placed on you, but you know differently. You can’t help them; all you can do is hold them and weep because love hurts so much. 

Love hurts when you get a phone call that says “there was an accident” or “they had a heart attack” and you think back to the last words that you said.  Love hurts as you are numb with grief and try to remember if you told them just how much you loved them. 

Love hurts when you’ve tried and tried but fail.  You look upon your friends and wonder when will it be your turn.  You love them, but love hurts.  Love hurts when your best friend is on the phone, crying and the words won’t come.  You have no comfort to offer her, so you listen in silence and cry with her, wishing your heart would speak to you so you could help her. 

Love hurts when you realize that “I’ll always love you” doesn’t mean forever anymore and love hurts when “I’ll never forget” ends way too soon.    

Yes, my beautiful friend. Love DOES hurt.  But Love also does many other things.   

Love comforts the heart that has been torn into a million pieces because the heart is an amazing thing and love is so very powerful.   It is the comfort of sending an emergency text requesting prayer and having that text replied to at 2:30 in the morning saying that others are praying as well.  

Love brings peace on the other end of the phone that simply says, “I’m sorry and I love you. I can not let you hang up until we laugh!”  and then simply talking until the natural effect of love takes place and the laughter simply oozes out.  

Love gives delight and puts a gleam in the parent’s eyes for a visit from a “complete stranger” at the nursing home.  They don’t have the memories anymore, but the time spent right now fills their heart with delight! Love is coming home to a parent that says welcome home, your room is waiting and even though you don’t deserve one single solitary nice thing from your parent, the forgiveness is greater than all that awaits you, because you know you don’t deserve that love or forgiveness anymore. 

Love assures the child and reminds him or her that he doesn’t have to pretend or be fake because their parents love them, just the way they are.  Regardless of weight, looks, IQ, status in school or the kind of career they end up in. Love is real and unconditional. Love is stomping through mud puddles while holding someone’s hand and laughing because this opportunity doesn’t happen often.  

Love is an opportunity to say I will miss you when these few short months are gone, but you have made my world far better than I could have made it without you.  Love is an opportunity to share and laugh at the little things that make life big. We can’t always count on being wildly successful or the greatest, but we can make the most of each opportunity brought our way, no matter how small. 

Love restores hope when all hope has been lost.  It lifts the head of the discouraged, it lights a fire in the eyes of the depressed.  Love motivates, encourages and inspires others to love and usually in a greater fashion.  Love shows the beauty of disfigurement, the tenderness of the aged, the passion of the brave and the power of the fearful.  Love thunders its power through the pain and sickness of cancer and the many diseases that grip our hearts with uncertainty.  Love whispers reassurance that no matter what, I’m right here with you.  

Love divides the pain and doubles the JOY.  Love is patient, kind, enormous, caring, abundant, boundless, dependent as well as helpful, responsible, peaceful, thoughtful, calming and serious. 

 Love will allow a mom to step between her child and danger without consideration of the outcome.  Love will wake a friend in the middle of the night without worry of what might be said later. Love brings music to the heart during the worst trial and allows you to sing even though tears may be falling.

Love is the mile wide smiles that are painted on faces because of the sparkle in the eyes of another.  Love is the hug that doesn’t let go right off the bat because the moment, the instant the hug is given the heart is flooded with spectacular joy from such a simple, yet wonderful gift.  Love is the joy that fills the soul when good nights or even good byes are exchanged.  Love is the tears that are shed because you wonder how in the world you ever made it through the day without their love to begin with.  

Yes, it is true.  Love does hurt and the risk is great.  But with all the wonderful things love does, I say go for it!  Love and love deeply!  Love is worth the risk as the returns are so much greater than the pain. 

Will you risk love?

Is it worth the risk?

{{HUGS}} yall

Sharing this IS spreading joy

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Session 8 – Bible in 90 Days

July 21, 2010 By 1 Comment

We just finished up Proverbs!  Wise words to live by.  I hope you enjoyed it and applied it where applicable.  Some of them deal with our faith – “Trust in the LORD”, some of them deal with our actions. They all speak to the heart and make us wiser for it.  As you read, keep in mind there are 4 types of proverbs:

  1. Synonymous – the second line repeats the first line in a little different way
  2. Antithetical – the second line is contrary to the first line
  3. Synthertic – the second line adds to the idea of the first line
  4. Comparative – a truth is explained relative to some experience or something in nature

This Week’s Reading Schedule:

  • Day 50 – Isaiah 14:1 – Isaiah 28:29
  • Day 51 – Isaiah 29:1 – Isaiah 41:18
  • Day 52 – Isaiah 41:19 – Isaiah 52:12
  • Day 53 – Isaiah 52:13 – Isaiah 66:18
  • Day 54 – Isaiah 66:19 – Jeremiah 10:13
  • Day 55 – Jeremiah 10:14 – Jeremiah 23:8
  • Day 56 – Jeremiah 23:9 – Jeremiah 33:22

Did you memorize a Psalm? Share that if you did.  I love Ps. 46. Many know Ps 23.  They are all awesome to hide in our heart.

Are you caught up on reading?  If not, don’t sweat it.  I’m on target with listening, (I listen while I work) but this weekend….I have got to get some major catching up done on the reading. 

Click here to Listen to the Bible as you read it.

This Weeks Study Guide. There is good stuff here, don’t pass this by!

Here is the audio lesson . (You’ll need to log in!)

Please listen the lessons. I have the dvd’s but can’t post them here…copyright rules. We can discuss what you heard here as well. Listen while you cook, clean or are just taking time to enjoy this journey. I hope you’ll take advantage of this free resource. Listen towards the end of the 7 day time frame, as THIS would be what we would be watching/discussing if we were to be meeting weekly.

If you are seeing this for the first time, we started on June 1st, but you can start right now, just go to Session 1 and begin. Here is the main information page as well.

Sharing this IS spreading joy

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Session 6 – Bible in 90 Days

July 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I am loving the reading as well as listening to the Bible during this journey.  At this point I’m thinking that it may be the Bible in 97 days, but really – is that a bad thing?  It is a tough thing to do, but I’m finding it very rewarding to put in the time and effort.

I love the fact that new things are jumping out at me, that reminders are tugging at my heart and make me smile when I think to myself “oh….yeah, I knew that.” 

If you ARE keeping up, then you’ll realize that I’m behind with the sessions as well. Not even going to make excuses here, just going to give you the information you need and SMILE real big and move on.

Reading Schedule:

  • Day 36 Nehemiah 13:15 – Job 7:21
  • Day 37 Job 8:1 – Job 24:25
  • Day 38 Job 25:1 – Job 41:34
  • Day 39 Job 42:1 – Psalm 24:10
  • Day 40 Psalm 25:1 – Psalm 45:14
  • Day 41 Psalm 45:15 – Psalm 69:21
  • Day 42 Psalm 69:22 – Psalm 89:13

Questions:

1.  Based on your reading so far, what are three or 4 ways God intends for us to benefit from the Scriptures?

God Reveals Himself to us  ~ God instructs us regarding how to live ~ God demonstrates His love for us ~ God gave the Bible so we could have ready references to answer many of our questions.

2.  What questions did your reading generate this week?

3.  Imagine what the temple might have looked like. What would have been the most striking to you.

4.  In his life and writings, Ezra adamantly encouraged people to follow the Law. Who could you encourage this week to read the Bible?

5.  List and describe some of Nehemiah’s leadership qualities. Would they be relevant for today’s leaders?  Did you learn anything that would help you as you lead others?

6. What is your favorite Psalm? Why? Do you have more than 1 that you turn to time and time again?

Books you’ll encounter this week:

Esther – Describing events several decades prior to those described in Nehemiah, the events in Esther may have enabled those in Nehemiah.  (This is my favorite book. Classic rags to riches – Cinderella story, as well as amazing woman risking her own life to save her country.)

Job- Scholars believe that Job was a contemporary of the patriarchs. In this philosophical idscourse, God allows Satan to test Job, then clears up some misconceptions of Job and his friends.

Psalms – One of the best-loved books of the Bible, Psalms is a collection of 150 hymns and poems, authored over a period of hundreds of years.

Click here to Listen to the Bible as you read it.

This Weeks Study Guide. There is good stuff here, don’t pass this by!

Here is the audio lesson . (You’ll need to log in!)

Please listen the lessons. I have the dvd’s but can’t post them here…copyright rules. We can discuss what you heard here as well. Listen while you cook, clean or are just taking time to enjoy this journey. I hope you’ll take advantage of this free resource. Listen towards the end of the 7 day time frame, as THIS would be what we would be watching/discussing if we were to be meeting weekly.

If you are seeing this for the first time, we started on June 1st, but you can start right now, just go to Session 1 and begin. Here is the main information page as well.

Sharing this IS spreading joy

Filed Under: Bible In 90 Days, fun, goals, happiness, passion, spirit, Spreading Joy Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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