Light of the world

The soft warm glow of a street light  that illuminates our path. What is it about light that draws us near and makes us feel safe.

 It somehow gathers energy and cast it upon the things around it, sharing all that it has to offer. It cannot seem to contain itself but as it lights the path before it, everything changes that it touches.

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ than you have been blessed with the light of love that transforms lives. I wonder if we should be programmed with a motion detector so that we would not miss one person walking in darkness.

 The minute we detected this soul we could shine the soft warm glow of our inner beauty upon them and it would reflect an image of Christ .It really is like holding a remote if we program ourselves to be sensitive to others we can brighten the path before them.

Darkness cannot exist in the presence of light. If you were to go into a deep dark cave and light a small match that little flame would cast off the darkness. Just one little flickering light can change people

.God himself came down into our darkness and opened our eyes so we could see. We do not want to blind people by putting on our brights but if we shine enough light that their path is made straight before them they can have a chance to follow that path to God.

 Practice using the dimmer switch and be sensitive to how much light you need to illuminate. God is love and light but he knows that we cannot look upon him or we could not survive in that environment. Soft gentle glowing warm light is all that is needed.

Marriage Traits for Success

'Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His Divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."2 Peter 1:2-8 . 

How do these virtues strengthen a marriage relationship?

Here is a list of traits that couples said contributed to their having a blessed Marriage.

1. They make room for each other
2. They maintain their own unique likes and activities
3. They are not jealous
4. They stick together
5. They show respect
6. They trust each other
7. They have a good sense of humor
8. They grow in the Lord together
9. They are committed to making the marriage work
10. They plan time together
11. They talk things through
12. They make major decisions together
13. They make room for differences
14. They encourage each other
15. They pray and seek God's will
16. They are in it for long term
17. They speak truth in love
18. They place the others interest before their own
19. They communicate their love daily
20. More concerned with rather they are living up to God's expectations verses worrying about if the other one is adding as much to the relationship
21. They are quick to forgive
22. They enjoy all levels of intimacy
23. They are honest

They practice hospitality together

Some relationships that have unresolved issues start keeping record of the wrongs and at the wrong time explode on their spouse. Pray before you speak and be sure to share how valuable they are to you. Forgive and then forget. No one can rise above someone constantly picking at them like a chicken and complaining about every little thing. Remember that we are human and without the Holy Spirit to guide us we can easily fall into selfish, ways. Grace is key for everyone in relationship, and the Lords grace is sufficient for us. 

Refuse to exaggerate, or make accusations, or generalize things, put things in proper perspective and remember this to will pass. When we can step back and value our spouse as a gift from God and realize they struggle just like we do we can make such a powerful impact on our relationship. Start today , and allow your relationship to be empowered by the Holy spirit.

Mr. Angry Face

I have been noticing lately that my Grandson was having a hard time expressing himself and would get frustrated, and even angry.

I ended up making a mask out of flour and water and we put on different faces , the happy face, the sad, face and the angry face.

With each face we would role play what it felt like to be happy and how our friends would respond to us.

For a while he was very content to put on the angry face and tried to scare everyone and push them around.

The happy face people wanted nothing to do with Mr. angry face. They ran away when he came around.

After awhile he started to understand that Mr. angry face did not have to many friends and he chose to put on the happy face and we danced and sang, and jumped around.

My grandson is five , and just learning ways to handle his emotions, but how about you? Do you still find that anger is your go to emotion. Do you use it to control people, or to get your way? Learning to re-frame the way you look at circumstances and putting events into proper perspective, will help you to step back from the emotion of anger. as you pause to breath and focus the energy you to can put on the happy face, tell yourself that this to will pass, and ask yourself what you could do to turn that energy into something more productive. Become familiar with your triggers and plan a reaction that stops you from going in that direction.   Remember the purpose for our emotions , they are tools to help us no when we need to adjust our thinking, and change our circumstances. It is our job to learn to manage our emotions.

Pete, you make me want to add beauty to this life

Sometimes God will allow us to share a brief moment in time with another person. At the moment we may not be aware of the effect that soul has had on us or how God choose to connect the story of Life by bringing people together. One such soul has passed on to be with his Father in Heaven, and I would like to share what has changed about me by knowing this individual for the short time that was given to me. Some people have this beautiful quiet spirit, they speak little but yet say so much. A gentle quiet spirit is precious in the sight of God. For me Pete you were speaking of love,a gentle acceptance of life, generosity in how you cared for your parents , your daughter, and family. You had challenges like we all do yet you carried them with grace and I love how you somehow, have made me think of life and the earth is a loving nurturing kind of way. I do not know why, I just feel you flowed with life in a way that gave back everything you ever received from it. Today I honor you for the light you have given to this World and I celebrate your journey home. This song is dedicated to you , it inspires me just as you have to want to add beauty to this Life. Thank you Pete .

Honesty

Honesty is a Value that does not serve some people very well. There fear of looking bad, or losing someone or thing, causes them to recoil into the shell of dishonesty where they feel safe . 

Those small little untruths that we tell were easily detected at one point in our lives when our conscience was sensitive. 

Many relationships are built on a foundation of miss trust . We some how have convinced ourselves that those little lies do not matter. In reality anything we do on a consistent basis becomes a habit. Honesty is the first building block that leads to trust. If we were honest we would probably admit that we do not like dishonesty in other people. We always demand from others what we refuse to do for ourselves .

Honesty is a way for you and I to grow , when we can examine ourselves in a truthful way comparing only to the Lords expectations, and not other people's we are free to move forward without feeling guilt, or condemnation.  If your conscience has been stifled you can start re-programing it by keeping promises to your self and facing your fears. What ever those fears and doubts are give them to the lord and make being honest one of your priority's. This is one more shackle that you can free yourself of when you choose to care more about honoring God and others than you do about how you might look in someone else's eyes. Honesty starts with you being honest with yourself with out shame. 

Girls Night Out

Ok here it is Lady's, you are simply amazing , you work hard for your money, you look good for your honey, You can multitask, doing laundry, dishes, fixing dinner, helping kids with homework, filling out the bills and I know you love it BUT,

 Sometimes a Girl just a wanana have fuuunnn. Oh girls just wanta have fun. Yes they do and a night out with the lady friends going to that sobby movie, book club, or chat sessions where you play games, eat chocolate and giggle, giggle, giggle.,is just what the doctor ordered for you.  

Get silly, do a night where you dress formal and have tea, or do a beauty night and give back rubs and paint your nails and do your hair. Whatever make it clean and honoring to the Lord but go do it.

Go ahead make your plans and laugh it up.

Find Your Sacred Place

Some people call their sacred place a prayer closet, but for me it is somewhere in nature where no one else is around.

I will listen and pray, read, write and walk, sometimes singing, sometimes listening to music, and sometimes just being still.

I love to take a blanket and a chair , something to drink and snack on and spend the entire day hanging out .

Sacred places are that way because of the meaning you attach to them. It could be your bedroom or a den or the church . 

The value comes when you can rest at peace and communicate with God without ever uttering a word. 

This is where he hears your heart and you hear his. Jesus often went away to be alone with the Father after ministering to the people. If you are a person who gives on a regular basis , which most of us are, it is important for you to refuel your tank. We must put something in us to re-energize ourselves in order to have anything of value to give to others. Your sacred place is not a time to fill out bills or get caught up on other chores. This is a time you must choose as a priority in your life and schedule it in.

Some people in your life will not understand your need but do not allow guilt to become a reason for not taking this time for yourself. Others will start to see the benefit and soon will appreciate what this means to you.

(Find a special place and treasure it for it is a gift from God.)