These are from a brand new design I just created, made especially for Christmas.
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From the category archives:
Daily Inspiration
As I gazed up at the mountains, I was awed by their majesty;
I bowed my head and asked myself, “Why should He care for me?
I am not great like the mountains that tower so high above,
What is there about me that God can find to love?”
“Father, I am not strong like the wind that makes your tall trees sway,
I cannot sing sweetly like your birds; will you love me anyway?
But most of all, I am simply me, and often have cause to fear,
In spite of all my weaknesses, do you promise to be near?”
With eyes closed tight against my tears, I wished He could hear me pray.
Then I felt His Spirit tell me, “Child, look up, I have something to say.
“You are simply you, the spirit I love, a part of my great plan.
I put you here to learn of life and to return to me again.”
“You are more beautiful to me than the loveliest mountain I made,
And your strength exceeds that of the wind’s, so do not be afraid.
I love you not for what you are, but for what I know you will be.
I am always beside you watching you grow, you are very special to me.”
A smile touched my lips - I knew it was true, my Father had always been there
Giving me comfort and blessings and love and my own special talents to share.
So I do my best to make Him proud. I am not afraid, for you see,
He loves me not for what I am, but for what He knows I will be.
– Author Unknown
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May you find serenity and tranquility in a world you may not always understand.
May the pain you have known and the conflict you have experienced give you the strength to walk through life facing each new situation with optimism and courage.
Always know that there are those whose love and understanding will always be there, even when you feel most alone.
May you discover enough goodness in others to believe in a world of peace.
May a kind word, a reassuring touch, a warm smile be yours every day of your life, and may you give these gifts as well as receive them.
Remember the sunshine when the storm seems unending.
Teach love to those who know hate, and let that love embrace you as you go into the world.
May the teaching of those you admire become part of you, so that you may call upon them.
May you not become too concerned with material matters, but instead place immeasurable value on the goodness in your heart.
Find time in each day to see the beauty and love in the world around you.
Realize that each person has limitless abilities, but each of us is different in our own way.
What you may feel you lack in one regard may be more than compensated for in another.
What you feel you lack in the present may become one of your strengths in the future.
May you see your future as one filled with promise and possibility.
Learn to view everything as a worthwhile experience.
May you find enough inner strength to determine your own worth by yourself, and not be dependent on an other’s judgments of your accomplishments.
May you always feel loved.
– Author Unknown
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This is something that was sent to me by a friend a few years ago, after we had words. It wasn’t long afterwards that he went home to be with the Lord. I’ve always been thankful that we made up before he died.
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Two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey, they had an argument; and one friend slapped the other one in the face.
The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand:
Today my best friend slapped me in the face.
They kept on walking, until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath.
The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him.
After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone:
Today my best friend saved my life.
The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, “after i hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?”
The friend replied “when someone hurts us we should write it down in sand, where winds of forgiveness can erase it away…. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.”
Learn to write your hurts in the sand and to carve your benefits in stone.
They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them.
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The burly miner blinked as he left the dark interior of the coal mine. Stopping at a faucet near the mine entrance, he washed the worst of the grime from his face and hands, then headed towards his home on the outskirts of the village.
As he trudged along the dusty lane, he passed the open door of a little church. Inside, a small crowd listened intently as an energetic man gesticulated from the pulpit. Interested, the miner stepped to the door.
“Absolute surrender is what we must have,” the minister was saying. “Are you willing to surrender yourself absolutely into His hand? If not, you are not ready to meet your God.” The minister paced back and forth on the platform. “We do not know how much longer our earthly probation will last. Tonight you are living; tomorrow may be too late. Ask yourself, I beg of you, ‘Am I ready to meet the Lord?’”
The miner, touched to the quick, slipped into the back pew. I am not ready to meet God, he thought. I have lived a careless, Godless life. How can I make peace with Him? The meeting ended, and the people filed out. Still the miner remained in the pew, his head in his hands.
Finally, the minister touched him on the shoulder. “Brother, are you ready to meet the Lord?”
Blindly, the miner shook his head. “I know I am not. Oh, help me find peace!”
An hour passed as the minister shared the plan of salvation; yet something held the miner back from full surrender.
“It’s getting late,” the minister finally said. “Go home, and continue to seek the Lord.”
The miner shook his head. “Stay with me a little longer; it must be settled tonight.”
Once again the minister explained the way of salvation and prayed, but in vain. Another hour passed.
“You must go home,” the minister told him. “It’s late, and I cannot make it any clearer.”
“It must be settled tonight,” the miner repeated, his eyes burning with earnestness.
“Then we shall stay here together,” the minister agreed. Once more he spoke of Jesus, and shared promise after promise. Once more he prayed, but in vain. “I must go,” the minister finally said. “It will soon be morning. Go home, and return tomorrow night. Maybe then you will find peace.”
“Sir, I cannot leave this place until I find peace.”
The poor man’s voice trembled. “Tomorrow may be too late. It must be settled tonight.”
The minister could not resist his appeal. “By the help of God.” he said, “it shall be settled tonight.”
Again he explained the steps of conversion; again he prayed. As he spoke, the miner broke into sobs and tears, and at last the light pierced his darkness.
“I see it!” he cried. “I give myself absolutely to God, to His will, to do only what He wants. It is settled.
Praise His name, it is settled!” The two men knelt again, but this time to thank God for bringing light to a sinner’s soul.
The next morning the miner went to work as usual. During the day he was sent to a distant part of the mine to fetch some tools. When he did not return, his fellow workers went to look for him. They found that the mine walls had caved in on him, and he was buried in the debris. Working with pick and shovel, they began to dig.
Finally, from the fragments of rock and rubbish and stone which hid him from sight, came a faint sound: “Tonight —- would have been —- too late. Thank God —- it was settled —- last night!”
Are you ready to meet the Lord? Don’t wait, settle it tonight!
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(Sent to me in an email…)
Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven’t thought about it, don’t have it on their schedule, didn’t know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.
I got to thinking one day about all those women on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back.. From then on, I’ve tried to be a little more flexible. How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn’t suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word ‘refrigeration’ mean nothing to you?
How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched ‘Jeopardy’ on television?
I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, ‘How about going to lunch in a half hour? She would gas up and stammer, ‘I can’t. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like rain.’ And my personal favorite: ‘It’s Monday.’ She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.
Because Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect!
We’ll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained. We’ll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet… We’ll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.
Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of ‘I’m going to,’ ‘I plan on,’ and ‘Someday, when things are settled down a bit.’
Oh how much in life and love we miss out on because we won’t take the time for someone, because of our stubborn pride, because we just won’t make the effort, because it might shake up our precious routine….
When anyone calls my ’seize the moment’ friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you’re ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Roller blades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord.
My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years I love ice cream. It’s just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-Decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.
Now…..go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to…….not something on your SHOULD DO list.
If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting? Is pride in the way? Fear of rejection?
Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly?
When you ask ‘ How are you?’ Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head?
Ever told your child, ‘We’ll do it tomorrow.’ And in your haste, not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say ‘Hi?
When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift…..Thrown away……. Life is not a race. Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over.
To those I have in my heart, I cherish you and appreciate all you do.
Life may not be the party we hoped for… but while we are here we might as well dance!
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