A LOT OF P'S WITH A BIT OF QUIRKINESS THROWN IN FOR GOOD MEASURE.
“Prayer does not equip us for greater works— prayer is the greater work” The Key of the Greater Work: Oswald Chambers
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” ~Ephesians 6:12
“At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” ~ Titus 3:3-7
“Christmas gift suggestions:
To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.”
This post is part of Becca’s Sunday Trees.
“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” ~ I John 5:11
“Remember This December, That love weighs more than gold!” ~ Josephine Dodge Daskam Bacon
I often walk or bike to a small pond near my home to admire the way the surrounding landscape perfectly depicts the changing seasons. This week the beauty of Autumn was painted there in glorious colors by the Father of all Creation.
“When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.”
~ G.K. Chesterton
“This way of seeing our Father in everything makes life one long thanksgiving and gives a rest of heart, and, more than that, a gayety of spirit, that is unspeakable.”
~ Hannah Whitall Smith
“In almost everything that touches our everyday life on earth, God is pleased when we’re pleased. He wills that we be as free as birds to soar and sing our maker’s praise without anxiety.”
~ A.W. Tozer
This post is part of Sunday Trees.
“The bridge of grace will bear your weight, brother. Thousands of big sinners have gone across that bridge, yea, tens of thousands have gone over it. Some have been the chief of sinners and some have come at the very last of their days but the arch has never yielded beneath their weight. I will go with them trusting to the same support. It will bear me over as it has for them.”
~ C.H. Spurgeon
This photograph, taken amid the glorious trees of Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, is part of Sunday Trees.
In the waning days of July, my backyard is a living canvas of flowers and beautiful bugs.
“The pedigree of honey does not concern the bee, a clover, anytime, to him, is aristocracy.” ~ Emily Dickinson
“Until the crickets sing it is not summer.” ~ Greek Proverb
Hurt no living thing:
Ladybird, nor butterfly,
Nor moth with dusty wing.
~Christina Georgina Rossetti
“A dragonfly to remind me even though we are apart,
Your spirit is always with me,
Forever in my heart.
~ Author Unknown
“Happiness is a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.”
~ Nathaniel Hawthorne
“Your actions, in passing, pass not away, for every good work is a grain of seed for eternal life.”
– Bernard of Clairvaux
Wishing you a week filled with blessings, joy and peace.
The dawn of the New Year might be two weeks in the past, but every day, the whole year through, holds the potential for forming a resolution that can do much to improve your life. Yesterday, on the hour’s drive to Longwood Gardens, a church sign caught my eye with its wise quote. I resolved immediately to trust the wisdom it imparted and have faith in God that he knows the solution to every problem. A perfect reminder for me to relinquish the ‘accumulation’ of difficulties, large and small, into his care and keeping.
“There are no worries like little worries, particularly if there is an accumulation of them.” ~ George Matheson
GIVE IT ALL TO GOD!
THE GREATEST LOVE OF ALL – “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have Everlasting Life.” ~ John 3:16
In the coming months there will be a lot of political drama, campaigning and speculation in the United States. Let us examine the lives of each candidate for public office and look beyond the posturing and promises to the truth. Each citizen who is registered to vote has a responsibility to our country, and its people, to investigate where each candidate has stood on important issues in the past, and in the present. Don’t believe everything the media spins out about the candidates. Watch every debate that airs on television and listen carefully. Be well informed and make your decision according to the facts.
Let us pray for discernment to correctly choose the person who will lead us out of this mire of sinking sand we are floundering in, and bring us back onto the solid rock of morality and common sense.
.
“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” ~ Luke 1:41
“For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.”
~ Psalms 139:13-16
The Pro-Choice option of terminating a pregnancy has snuffed out close to 60 million lives. A baby has a soul and spirit—and is just that, a baby, not a mass of tissue. A baby developing in it’s mother’s womb is a human being created by God.
I don’t know what the answer to the abortion crisis is, but I do know I must speak out, and continue to do so, and this week I intend on contacting my state representatives about the atrocities being committed by Planned Parenthood. (Profiteering off of human baby body part sales.) Don’t just take the easy way out, and say, “That’s horrible,” and then blithely go about your normal day-to-day life. Pick up a pen, write a letter or email, and let your voice be heard.
“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
~ 2 Corinthians 5:17
“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.”
~ Richard Bach
“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
And prudent in their own sight!”~ Isaiah 5:20-21
“The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
An evil soul producing holy witness
Is like a villain with a smiling cheek,
A goodly apple rotten at the heart.
O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!”― William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice
“Christ beside me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me.”
~ St. Patrick
“If I have any worth, it is to live my life for God so as to teach these peoples; even though some of them still look down on me.” ~ St. Patrick
I am quite fond of my Wood Sorrel Oxalis/Shamrock plant. I purchased it last Spring as a “Proven Winner.” I planted the oxalis in a medium-sized pot and grew it beneath the shady branches of a crab apple tree. The dappled sunlight it received allowed the plant to thrive. In the Autumn, I brought the oxalis into the house and placed it in a shady basement window. The plant thrived all winter with minimal attention. In a few weeks I will place it outside beneath the crab apple tree once more. A terrific plant, but might not be easy to find. It is available online.
“This is a sweet plant with lots of delicate small white flowers. Its leaves resemble shamrocks so it is a perfect St. Patrick’s Day gift. It will grow happily in a window of your home in a cold climate, as did my first plants. It also grew happily outside in my garden in the Caribbean isle of Montserrat. That’s not bad for flexibility which automatically makes it one of my favorites.” ~Green Garden Online Plant Source
