Food For the Soul

Another post that I wish I could take credit for writing – but it was sent to me.  It's just a little something to ponder over your coffee break.

Psalm 23

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul;
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil
for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies;
thou anointest my head with oil
my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for eternity.”

The Lord is my Shepherd = That's Relationship

 I shall not want = That's Supply!

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures = That's Rest!

He leadeth me beside the still waters = That's Refreshment!

He restoreth my soul = That's Healing!

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness = That's Guidance!

For His name sake = That's Purpose!

Yea, though I walk through

the valley of the shadow of death = That's Testing!

I will fear no evil = That's Protection!

For Thou art with me = That's Faithfulness!

Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me = That's Discipline!

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies = That's Hope!

Thou annointest my head with oil = That's Consecration!

My cup runneth over = That's Abundance!

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life = That's Blessing !

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord = That's Security!

Forever = That's Eternity!

What matters isn’t WHAT we have in our lives…
But WHO we have in our lives!

'Do not ask the Lord to Guide your Footstep

...if you are not willing to move your Feet'

It Pours

They say that 'when it rains, it pours'
And we know it to be true

Good news or bad
It always seems
to come like a storm

Through a storm of good news
we splash in the puddles
sing in the rain
and find ourselves chasing rainbows

A storm of good news
is delight
It's bliss
It's easy

Through storms of hard times
How our attitude changes

We retreat when we can
And when we have to face the storm
We put our heads down
And run like crazy
To dodge the rain

Oh to learn
to weather any storm
with our heads turned
towards the heavens

To let the waters wash over us
Bathe us with His grace

And ask not
for the skies to stop
But to learn
how to smile through the rain



Today I Pray...

...that I might see the beauty
in the storm clouds

...that I learn to turn my gaze to the heavens
instead of trying to dodge the rain

...for faith in Your plan
and perseverance to see it through

Please stay...
....and dance with me in the rain

In Heaven

I wish I could take credit for this story, but it is just an email I received today. Its message such a good one that I wanted to share it with you.

What Happens In Heaven

I dreamt that I went to Heaven and an angel showed me around. We walked side-by-side inside a large workroom filled with angels.

My angel guide stopped in front of the first section and said, "This is the Receiving Section. Here, all petitions to God said in prayer are received."

I looked around in this area, and it was terribly busy with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets and scraps from people all over the world.

Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second section. The angel then said to me, "This is the Packaging and Delivery Section. Here, the graces and blessings the people asked for are processed and delivered to the living persons who asked for them."

I noticed again how busy it was there. There were many angels working hard at that station, since so many blessings had been requested and were being packaged for delivery to Earth.

Finally at the farthest end of the long corridor we stopped at the door of a very small station. To my great surprise, only one angel was seated there, idly doing nothing. "This is the Acknowledgment Section," my angel friend quietly admitted to me. He seemed embarrassed.

"How is it that there is no work going on here?" I asked.

"So sad," the angel sighed. "After people receive the blessings that they asked for, very few send back acknowledgments."

"How does one acknowledge God's blessings? " I asked.

"Simple," the angel answered. "Just say, 'Thank you, Lord.'"

"What blessings should they acknowledge?" I asked.

The angel replied, "If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the world 's wealthy. And if you get this on your own computer, you are part of the 1% in the world who has that opportunity."

"If you woke up this morning with more health than illness. You are more blessed than the many who will not even survive this day. "

"If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation ... You are ahead of 700 million people in the world."

"If you can attend a church without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death you are envied by, and more blessed than, three billion people in the world."

"If your parents are still alive and still married ...you are very rare."

"If you can hold your head up and smile, you are not the norm, you're unique to all those in doubt and despair......."



Today I Pray...

...humbly
...thankfully
...sorry for all the times
I took life's many blessings for granted

I am so grateful
for all the blessings my life holds

...the love of my family and friends
...a roof over my head and food on the table
...the freedoms that come at a high cost to so many
...the opportunities that await me every day
...and God's unconditional love

Thank You for the obstacles in life
that challenge me to keep reaching

Thank You for loving me,
even in my darkest hours

Serenity

The simple abundance
of life's blessings
captured in the serenity
of the morning sky

Today I Pray...

...that your gift
of peace and serenity,
wrapped up in this beautiful sky
settle deep within my heart and soul
and stay long after the sun has risen

Sharing the Love

Since I don't typically post on a Sunday, I hope you'll forgive me from abandoning my usual format to share this. Today I Pray received some "award" love! Kristen at Ladybug Blessings surprised me this morning with this award.

The directions for this award are as follows:

1. Thank the person who gave it to you [thank you again Kristen!]
2. Copy the logo & place on your blog
3. Link the person who nominated you [which I hope would be done in thanking :)]
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people may not know
5. Nominate 7 kreativ bloggers [clearly the hardest part because there are so many wonderful bloggers out there!!]
6. Post their links
7. Tell them!

So here goes with my 7 random things :)

1. I love organizing things.
2. Despite this, I can be pretty disorganized at times.
3. At Christmas time I bake about twelve different kinds of cookies (and they are delicious, if I do say so myself!).
4. I love to knit (but can only make one thing well...a Prayer Shawl...go figure :-)
5. Susan Branch is my creative inspiration -- she is living my dream.
6. When I was little I had a cat named Leo (the Lion). The dogs in the neighborhood were afraid of him -- seriously.
7. My dream home is little more than an old farmhouse with a huge kitchen, and a big wraparound porch overlooking a lake.

Now...to share the love.

• Sema @ http://affirmart.blogspot.com/ -- she's so talented
• Superjaxter @ http://bloggingjax.blogspot.com/ (her kitty Oscar looks just like my Leo...but not nearly as ferocious!!)
• Judy @ http://justalittlesomethingforyou.blogspot.com/ (I wish she was my neighbor)
• Jill @ http://jmsmusings.blogspot.com/ (make sure you read her post called 100 Things About Me -- you'll see why she's so fun)
• Laura @ http://decortoadore.blogspot.com/ (just look, you'll see)
• Lorie @ http://encouragementfrommyheart.blogspot.com/ (you'll understand immediately why I like Lori's blog).
• Joye @ http://thejoyefuljourney.blogspot.com/ (-:

Kristen, thank you again for giving me this award. It means so much to me. I loved being able to share a little about me -- and I especially loved sharing the love!!

Now it's confession time. I actually received another award quite awhile ago, but I never did anything about it -- and for that I'm really very embarrassed. You see, at the time, I didn't think I could accept it. I was trying so hard to keep this blog in just the format that I had started, that I thought it didn't "fit."

When I received the award from Kristen this morning, all of the same thoughts went through my head -- but then something dawned on me...a thought really smacked me right over the head. This blog isn't about me controlling things -- it's about opening up my heart and trusting God's bigger plan. In this case, I needed to accept and receive the gift that was being given -- so that I could give something back in return.

Not that hard a concept -- but an ah ha moment that I felt I needed to share. Once again...mysterious ways.

I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday. Thanks so much for being here.

"They will greet you and give you two wave offerings of bread, which you will take from them." 1 Samuel 10:4