Spiritual Thoughts

  I t's never too late - in fiction or in life - to revise. ~ Nancy Thayer   BUT those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint. ~ John 16:33

  I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with worry, BUT through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing. ~ Agatha Christie   T hese things I have spoken to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, BUT take courage,    I have overcome the world. ~ John 16:33

  I f you continue to work and to absorb the beauty in the world around you, you will find that age does not necessarily mean getting old. ~ Pablo Casals   O ne thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD and to meditate in His temple. ~ Psalm 27:4

  M iracles seem to rest upon our perceptions being made finer so that for a moment our eyes can see, and our ears can hear that which is about us always. ~ Wila Cather   T herefore, we do not lose heart for our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, BUT at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, BUT the things which are not seen are eternal. ~2 Corinthians 4:17-18

  Friday Tale - Things to Know   1. H appiness takes work. You can’t be lazy or entitled to achieve it.  2.     You will make mistakes and they will only define you if you give it that kind of power. If the lesson is learned, the mistake is worth it. It’s your choice whether or not it wins. You are not a prisoner to your past and you are allowed to grow. 3.     The world owes you nothing. It does not care who you are, where you come from or what you think you deserve. Everything you achieve will have to come from your own dedication to what you love. It will not be handed to you easily. 4.     People do not get to tell you who you are. Make peace with your own soul and give no one the power to tell you that you’re something you’re not. Know who you are and be okay when others do not understand you.  5.     Work hard. Never go into anything with half your heart. Respect is earned by how you did the job and not the title by your name.  6.     Show up for your people. No matte

  A home is no home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as for the body. ~ Margaret Fuller   B etter is a little with the respect of the LORD than great treasure and turmoil with it. Better is a dish of vegetables where love is than a fattened ox served with hatred. ~ Proverbs 15:16-17

  T he only solid piece of scientific truth about which I feel totally confident is that we are profoundly ignorant of nature. ~ Lewis Thomas   Y ours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth. Yours is the dominion O LORD, and  You exalt Yourself as head over all. ~ 1 Chronicles 29:11

  L ife is what we make it; always has been, always will be. ~ Grandma Moses   W hatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going. ~ Ecclesiastes 9:10

R ight now a moment in time is fleeting by! Capture its reality - become that moment. ~ Paul Czanne   S o, teach us to number our days so that we may present to You a heart of wisdom. ~ Proverbs 90:12

  Friday Tale ~ A Dream   A dream i s your creative vision for your life in the future. You must break out of your current comfort zone and become comfortable with the unfamiliar and the unknown. ~ Denis Waitley   You know a dream is like a river, ever changing as it flows. And a dreamer's just a vessel that must follow where it goes. Trying to learn from what's behind you and never knowing what's in store. Makes each day a constant battle just to stay between the shores. And I will sail my vessel 'til the river runs dry. Like a bird upon the wind, these waters are my sky. I'll never reach my destination if I never try, So, I will sail my vessel 'til the river runs dry. Too many times we stand aside and let the water slip away. To what we put off 'til tomorrow has now become today. So don't you sit upon the shore and say you're satisfied. Choose to chance the rapids and dare to dance the tides . ~ Garth Brooks (son "The River, co-written wit

N o pessimist every discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a vision to the human heart. ~ Helen Keller   I ndeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. ~ Proverbs 2:3, 5

  C all it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one. ~ Jane Howard   F or every house [family] is built by someone, BUT the builder of all things is God. Christ was faithful as a Son over his house - whose house [family] we are, if we hold fast our confidence and   the boast of our hope firm until the end. ~ Hebrews 3:4, 6

A child sings before it speaks, dances almost before it walks. Music is in our hearts from the beginning. ~ Pamela Wood   S peak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, the Father. ~ Ephesians 5:19-20

  N ot everything that is faced can be changed BUT nothing can be changed until it is faced. ~ James Baldwin   D o not conform to the pattern of this world, BUT be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to discern and approve what God's will is. ~ Romans 12:2 (NIV)

  Friday Tale -  A Life that Makes a Difference   "How do you account for your remarkable accomplishment in life?” Queen Victoria of England asked Helen Keller. “How do you explain the fact that even though you were both blind and deaf, you were able to accomplish so much?”     Ms. Keller’s answer is a tribute to her dedicated teacher. “If it had not been for Anne Sullivan, the name of Helen Keller would have remained unknown.”     “Little Annie” Sullivan, as she was called when she was young, was no stranger to hardship. She was almost sightless herself, due to a childhood infection at the age of five. Her mother died three years later and her father left the children when she was ten. She and her younger brother were sent to an overcrowded home for the destitute where her brother Jimmie died in a couple of months. Little Annie was, at one time, considered hopelessly “insane” by her caregivers and locked in the basement. On occasion, she would violently attack anyone who ca

  T here is no wealth BUT life. ~ John Ruskin   D id not God choose the poor of this world to be RICH in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promises to those who love him? ~ James 2:5

  A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of over-whelming obstacles. ~ Christopher Reeve   F or this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus, and with it, eternal glory. ~ 2 Timothy 2:10

  D on't compromise yourself. You are all you've got.  Your integrity is more important  than personal gain. ~ Janis Joplin   O L ORD, who may abide in Your tent? Who may abide in Your holy hill? He who walks with integrity, and works rightness, and speaks truth in his heart. ~ Psalm 15:1-2

Temptation almost always assails us at the point where we thought no defense necessary. ~ Elizabeth Elton Smith No temptation has over taken you BUT such as is common to man' and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, BUT with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. ~ 1 Corinthians 10:13

  Friday Tale - Somebody's Got Your Back   A uthor Jack Canfield said, “Human beings are not designed to go through life alone. No one has to bear the burden of tough times all by themselves.”   A television nature program captured an image of this idea well. It was an episode about a baby bear.   The cub was one of two babies born to a mother black bear, but his sibling died in childbirth. Not too long afterward, Mama Bear also died. The little cub was left alone to fend in the world.   But he was fortunate. He soon came across a huge male black bear who took a liking to the little guy. By the end of the day the adoption papers were signed and the little cub had a new friend and father.   Papa Bear showed the cub how to forage for berries. He taught him which plants he could eat and which to leave alone. He showed him how to fish. Papa Bear taught the cub all the things a bear needs to know to get along in the world.   The two were inseparable...until the day they sepa

  T he tragedy of life does not lie in not reaching your goal immediately.  The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach. ~ Benjamin Mays   T herefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ~ 1 Peter 1:13

  W here there is a will, there is a way. ~ old English Proverb   T each me Your way, O LORD; I walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name. ~ Psalm 86:11

  B y losing your goal - you have lost your way too! ~ Friedrich Nietzsche   M ake me know Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; for You I wait all the day. ~ Psalm 25:4-5