It is time to change---so get a transfer!

Get a Transfer

If you are on the Gloomy Line,

Get a transfer.

If you're inclined to fret and pine,

Get a transfer.

Get off the track of doubt and gloom,

Get on the Sunshine Track - there's room ~~~

Get a transfer.

If you're on the Worry Train,

Get a transfer.

You must not stay there and complain,

Get a transfer.

The Cheerful Cars are passing through,

And there's lots of room for you ~~~

Get a transfer.

If you're on the Grouchy Track, 

Get a transfer.

Just take a Happy Special back,

Get a transfer.

Jump on the train and pull the rope,

That lands you at the station Hope ~~~

Get a transfer.

*

Unknown

Page 93, The Best Loved Poems of the American People.

*

"So, as those who have been chosen of God, 

holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, 

kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 

bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, 

whoever has a complaint against anyone; 

just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. 

Beyond all these things put on love, which is 

the perfect bond of unity.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, 

to which indeed you were called in one body; 

and be thankful. 

Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, 

with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another 

with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, 

singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 

Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name 

of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him 

to God the Father."

Colossians 3:12-17

You are always a role model to somebody #7

You have made known to me the path of life; 

 You will fill me with joy in Your presence, 

with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Psalm 16:11

...The Joy of the LORD is my Strength

Nehemiah 8:10

*

Math Problems

Calvin and Hobbs
by Bill Watterson

I shall not pass this way again

Through this toilsome world alas!

Once and only once I pass;

If kindness I may show,

If a good deed I may do

To a suffering fellow man,

Let me do it while I can.

No delay, for it is plain

I shall not pass this way again.

*

Author unknown,

page 76,

The Best Loved Poems

of the American People

*

Today, significantly, I was told by a precious friend how she was politely mocked by a fellow Christian ~  although the word "mocked" is too harsh.  

My friend, a gregarious, compassionate sister in the LORD, shared this recent encounter which greatly disturbed me.  Even so, the LORD lifted her head in the hurtful words spoken to her, and she was made stronger in Him to carry on her selfless, loving ways for Him.

The Christian community is populated by sinners saved by the grace of God.  Still, we continue to sin and one way we readily sin is with our tongues.  Thoughtless words which do not need to be said.  Much of our sinful tongue wagging can be from not  understanding who we are in relation to each other.  We are all of the Body and each one of us has a position in it.  I may be a "toe" and do not understand the position of the "elbow", none the less, both are important to the Body.

Compassionate, caring, comforting, loving, merciful, understanding, grace-filled Christians have a position in His kingdom and it is an honor to serve the LORD in this lacking, well-needed, demanding vocation.  

The LORD gives us one life.  We only pass through it once and so whatever your vocation is in the LORD, do it lovingly and heartily for Him!  Praise the LORD!

Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the LORD rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.
Colossians 3:23-24

You're Always a role model to somebody #6

"I will not look with approval
on anything that is vile.
I hate what faithless people do;
I will have no part of it."
Psalm 101:3



Thanks to Cherry for the reminder

Red Geraniums

Life did not bring me silken gowns,

Nor jewels for my hair,

Nor signs of gabled foreign towns

In distant countries fair,

But I can glimpse, beyond my pane, a green and friendly hill,

And red geraniums aflame upon my window sill.



The brambled cares of everyday,

The tiny humdrum things,

May bind my feet when they would stray,

But still my heart has wings

While red geraniums are bloomed against my window glass,

And low above my green-sweet hill the gypsy wind-clouds pass.



And if my dreamings ne’er come true,

The brightest and the best,

But leave me lone my journey through,

I’ll set my heart at rest,

And thank God for home-sweet things, a green and friendly hill,

And red geraniums aflame upon my window sill.

Martha Haskell Clark

Page 75, The Best Loved Poems of the American People

Thankfulness

Still praising the LORD!

Years ago I was with a dear, older friend. She was a wife, mother, grandmother, homemaker, job outside of home, now retired, and full time homemaker again.  She had seen it all.  

On this day I was explaining how I was the type of person who liked to have all my “ducks in a row”.  As soon as I said this she began to hoot and holler with laughter!

She said, “Well, honey, have you ever seen a momma duck with all her babies?  They don’t stay very long in a row without Momma having to track them down again!”

That was the day where a bit of reality set in and I have rarely expected to have any of my “ducks in a row” all the time.  It is okay to have things "outside the lines".

Today was one of those days where my ducks were all over the place.  It was a day of catching up, where I thought I would also have time to do other things besides the normal.  

Early this morning, though, I dropped a container of bird seed in my laundry room and out into the hall.  The thistle seed cascaded through every shelf and any carpet within eye sight.  At every area where I was cleaning it up I would discover the seed went even farther than I would ever have thought.

As things turned out I discovered a leak with our washing machine, which led to pulling that machine out, cleaning the disaster underneath and then deciding to finish by also cleaning under the dryer.  Now the repairman will come next week so most of the laundry room stuff is stashed in the kitchen.  My ducks are certainly NOT in a row, but this is okay.  I am thankful the laundry room is cleaned, the leak was discovered before any damage to the house, and the birds were still fed. 

Praising the LORD!

I love the LORD, because He hears my voice and my supplications.  Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore, I shall call upon Him as long as I live.
Psalm 116:1-2

All my Ducks in a Row

I have heard this saying my whole life, 

"I want my ducks in a row."

So how difficult is this to do?

Seems so easy!

Until real life sets in!

And then, as time goes by,  we think we can control life again!

Prescription for Weariness

As I read Joni for today on my email I completely understood.  How often I am overwhelmed as I live for the LORD.  There is never enough time in the day, in the week, in the month for those I can reach out to and encourage in some way.  I am weary so much of the time.  Soon enough I remember to cast my anxiety on Him.  What a difference my life is when I keep my eyes on Him!

Enjoy Joni:

"Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."
1 Peter 5:7

That verse kept echoing in my mind as I powered my wheelchair through the group of disabled residents in a home for people with cerebral palsy. I clunked wheels with a boy in a bulky, oversized chair while trying to listen to a mentally handicapped girl explain her testimony. Another patient was leaning against the wall, whining to go back to his room.

A nurse wanted me to come and talk to a quadriplegic who was confined to his dormitory. I smiled, nodding at the nurse, and tried to keep my focus on the girl's testimony. It was useless. The nagging whine of the man against the wall shattered what little concentration I had left.

I was far from home and slightly irritated that my sponsors had overloaded my schedule. I had been up all day touring and talking at a rehab center, leading a disability workshop with pastors, and now I was bone-tired. I wanted to scrap the evening, head out the door, and get back to the hotel before they closed the restaurant.

I had to stop. I had to remember that Jesus was with me, moving ahead of my wheelchair, and delighting in the smiles of the faces of each disabled resident. In the midst of the clamor, I discovered His voice, whispering, "Come to me, Joni, you are weary and burdened. Let me give you rest." I paused and prayed silently, asking God to give me His rest. First Peter 5:7 was all the reminder I needed.
_____________________________________

When weariness or anxiety threatens to over take you, place your cares in the arms of Jesus. First Peter 5:7 was a simple prescription for weariness penned almost twenty centuries ago, and no one has improved on it since!


Thank You, Lord, for carrying my cares today!

Blessings,

Joni and Friends

January 15, from Diamonds in the Dust, 1993

Sweet Peril

Alas, how easily things go wrong! 

A sigh too much, or a kiss too long,

And there follows a mist and a weeping rain,

And life is never the same again.

Alas, how hardly things go right!

'Tis hard to watch in a summer night,

For the sigh will come, and the kiss will stay,

And the summer night is a wintry day.

And yet how easily things go right,

If the sigh and the kiss of a summer's night

Come deep from the soul in the stronger ray

That is born in the light of the winter's day.

And things can never go badly wrong

If the heart be true and the love be strong,

For the mist, if it comes, and the weeping rain

Will be changed by the love into sunshine again.

*

George MacDonald

Best Loved Poems of the American People, page 60.

*

In the hands of a gracious God!

“Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”

1 Peter 5:7


O child of suffering, be patient; God has not passed you over in His providence.


He who is the feeder of sparrows, will also furnish you with what you need.


Don’t sit down in despair, but hope on, hope ever.


Take up the arms of faith against a sea of trouble, and your opposition shall yet end your distresses.


There is One who cares for you. His eye is fixed on you, His heart beats with pity for your woe, and His omnipotent hand shall yet bring you the needed help.


The darkest cloud shall scatter itself in showers of mercy. The blackest gloom shall give place to the morning.


If you are one of His family, He will bind up your wounds, and heal your broken heart. Don’t doubt His grace because of your tribulation, but believe that He loves you as much in seasons of trouble as in times of happiness.


What a serene and quiet life might you lead if you would leave providing to the God of providence! With a little oil in the cruse, and a handful of meal in the barrel, Elijah outlived the famine, and you will do the same.


If God cares for you, why do you need to care too? Can you trust Him for your soul, and not for your body? He has never refused to bear your burdens, He has never fainted under their weight.


Come, then, soul! have done with fretful care, and leave all your concerns in the hand of a gracious God.

Morning and Evening, January 6, A.M., Charles Spurgeon

Our Own

If I had known in the morning

How wearily all the day

The words unkind would trouble my mind

That I said when you went away,

I had been more careful, darling,

Nor given you needless pain;

But we vex our own with look and tone

We may never take back again.

For though in the quiet evening

You may give me the kiss of peace,

Yet it well might be that never for me

The pain of the heart should cease!

How many go forth at morning

Who never come home at night!

And hearts have broken for harsh words spoken

That sorrow can ne'er set right.

We have careful thought for the strangers,

And smiles for the sometime guest;

But oft for "our own" the bitter tone,

Though we love our own the best.

Ah! Lips with the curve impatient,

Ah! Brow with the shade of scorn,

'Twere a cruel fate, were the night too late

To undo the work of the morn!

*

Margaret E. Sangster

The Best Loved Poems of the American People, page59.

*

Where Healing Begins

From Recovering Grace, January 9, 2014:

"...Jesus said to me: “Because of My grace, you are more than enough. I never impose shame or guilt on you or tell you that you are not good enough. Those feelings and lies are from the devil. Grace means that even if you do not read your Bible, pray, and serve as much as others think you should, you are fully loved and accepted by Me. Grace means that in Me, ‘you will find rest for your soul for My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.’ (Matthew 11:29-30)…"