Looking for the Good

They say that the eyes are windows to the soul.  If that is true, than I want to make sure that my eyes are always looking for the good in others.  I have learned that each of us have both bad and good inside ourselves.  Each of us have opportunities to make the lives around us better, or worse, depending on how we treat them.  One thing that is obvious to me is that we never know what someone is going through in their lives.  We don't know how their heart is aching.  We don't know what their trials are.  We can't possibly judge them based on our lack of knowledge or compassion. 

I love the idea that beautiful eyes look for the good in others and beautiful lips speak only words of kindness.  What a difference we could make in this world if we could just take these few simple words to heart. 

I love how she reminds us that we are never alone.  We have someone else to walk with us on our long and seemingly lonely road.  When we remember that, we can walk tall and be believing.  We come to know in the depths of our soul that we are never alone. 

Wordless Wednesday - Beauty among the Thorns

A single photo 

– no words –

capturing a moment from our lives.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment

I want to pause, savor and remember.

A moment

that brings a smile to my lips, 

and joy to my heart.

Wordless Wednesday - Desert Beauty

 

 

A single photo 

 

– no words –

capturing a moment from our lives.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment

I want to pause, savor and remember.

A moment

that brings a smile to my lips, 

and joy to my heart.

Sabbath Day Scribblings -

Psalms 148:5 Let them praise the name of the Lord: for he commanded, and they were created.

Wordless Wednesday - Monsoon

A single photo 

– no words –

capturing a moment from our lives.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment

I want to pause, savor and remember.

A moment

that brings a smile to my lips, 

and joy to my heart.

I'm Not Fat

 I'm not FAT!
That's just my awesomeness
Swelling up inside of me.

I love these words.  What a wonderful way to look at myself.  My whole life I have struggled with my weight.  I was anorexic in High School and ate once every three days.  I keep my weight right at 100 lbs.  It wasn't hard.  I became so used to it that I never was hungry.  Time passed and I started having children.  My weight went up and down and back and forth.  Sometimes I was thin, and sometimes I wasn't.  I really wanted to stay thin.  It seemed as if my entire family was thin except me.   As I got older, the weight became even harder to keep off.  I weighed well over 200 lbs and let me tell you, I did not feel very awesome.
In all of this, I have had to learn to like myself in spite of my body type.  I have had to learn that my body is a wonderful gift.  It is not always the same shape or size, but it is mine.  I can walk, I can run, I can do things to make others happy.  I can choose to be filled with misery or awesomeness.  It really is up to me.
Today, I have lost over 60 lbs.  I still have 30 more to go to get to my goal, but I am working on it.  One moment, one day, one week and one year at a time.  I have learned that what I weigh isn't near as important as how I see myself.  I have had to learn to look at myself with just a little more forgiveness and understanding.  I have had to learn that the person I want to be is not determined by weight.  Rather, the person that I am is working on those traits and characteristics that make me more like my Heavenly Father.
I am learning how to be awesome.

A Rendezvous With Life

I Have a Rendezvous With Life

by Countee Cullen

 

I have a rendezvous with Life, 

In days I hope will come, 

Ere youth has sped, and strength of mind, 

Ere voices sweet grow dumb. 

I have a rendezvous with Life, 

When Spring's first heralds hum. 

Sure some would cry it's better far 

To crown their days with sleep 

Than face the road, the wind and rain, 

To heed the calling deep. 

Though wet nor blow nor space I fear, 

Yet fear I deeply, too, 

Lest Death should meet and claim me ere 

I keep Life's rendezvous.

Somehow, when I read this, it spoke to my heart.  It is too easy in this life we live in to forget that we are here to LIVE.  Not cry, not sleep, not hide our heads in the sand.  We are here to embrace the lives that we have been given and to make something that is not forgotten.  So, on this beautiful Sabbath morning, won't you take a moment to thank Him for all your blessings.  Won't you also keep your rendezvous.  I, for one, think that life can be so amazing.  We just occasionally get stuck in a moment and forget that this too shall pass.  Let us face the road that we are on and just enjoy every single moment of this journey.  

Five Minute Friday - Small

It is that wonderful time of the week again.  That time when a bunch of wonderful bloggers meet over at
Lisa Jo's place to share our own version of this weeks five minutes.  It is a time to learn from each other and to comment and support one another.

Now, set your timer, clear your head, for five minutes of free writing without worrying about getting it right.

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back over at Lisa Jo's and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community..

OK, are you ready? Please give us your best five minutes on:::

Small…

START

I see you today running here and there, walking, talking, fighting, loving.  I see inside you the small blessing that I first fell in love with.  In my mind I see little fingers and little toes.  I still smell  that newborn baby smell that wears off way too soon.  I see your eyes surrounded by mini eyelashes.  I hear you cry, so soft it sounds like a kitten's meow.  
In my mind I see your first tiny smile, I hear your first small word, I watch your first steps across the floor.  In my mind, there is a part of you that is still small, still new, still needing.  Still very much with me.
Small things have been the greatest blessings in my life.  They bring me such joy, even when they are not small anymore.  My mind and my empty arms remember the smallness of them.  But I also see them become.  I see them grow, and like the harvest that must come after the heat of summer, the baby grows to a child, the child grows to an adult, the adult grows and learns and loves and provides small blessings to those around them.
Out of the one small, reaching moment, comes the blessings for many.  And that one small thing will be enough.

STOP

Now it is your turn.  What can you write in one small five minute moment?  Don't forget to join us over at Lisa Jo's

Five Minute Friday - Beautiful

We love to just write without worrying if it’s just right or not. For five minutes flat. All on the same topic.

Here’s how we do it:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat with no editing, tweaking or self critiquing.

2. Link back over at Lisa Jo's Place and invite others to join in.

3. Go and tell the person who linked up before you what their words meant to you.  Every writer longs to feel heard.

OK, are you ready? Give us your best five minutes for the prompt:

Beautiful…

START

“The power of finding beauty in the humblest things 

makes home happy and life lovely.” 

~ Louisa May Alcott ~

I love this chance to write about beauty today.  For me, beauty surrounds me.  I see it in the faces of my children, the gentleness of their father.  I see it in the flowers and the trees and that rain that finally washes away the dust upon my mountain.  Beauty is found everywhere I look, but I have to decide to see it.  I have to really pay attention.  Sometimes, it is only there for a fleeting moment, sometimes it stays in my heart forever, but it surrounds me if I will only open my eyes to find it.  I am learning that often, I spend too much time focusing on tomorrow, or on yesterday.  I don't see the beauty in today because I can't find it in the midst of my worries.  When we want to find beauty, we have to focus on this moment.  We have to see the positive potential.  I have daylilies in my garden.  They are beautiful, but the blossoms only last for that one day.  I have different blooms every single morning.  Some are red, some are yellow and some are purple.  They are all beautiful, but if I only focus on one, all the rest would be invisible to me for the next few weeks that they are blooming.  What a shame that would be.  For me, finding beauty is all about leaving the past behind, letting the future take care of itself and focusing on this one simple and beautiful minute.  This moment that God has given to me is a gift, a glory, a beauty.  I just need to open my heart and let it in.

STOP

Now it is your turn, don't forget to link back over at Lisa Jo's with the rest of it.  I can't wait to see you there!

The Whiteness of a Winter Snowstorm

Last night, just when I was thinking that Spring had come at last, we received a little white surprise.  Four inches to be exact.  I looked out my window to a blanket of crisp, white snow.  I have to admit, it was beautiful.

It drew me out the door, camera in hand, to try and capture some of what I saw.  The snow glistened.  The trees were covered.  The air was cold.  I could smell the moisture in the air and feel the ice against my cheeks.

I can never see a snowstorm without thinking of how it covers all the faults in the world around us.  The mud disappears, the potholes are hidden, any perceived faults are gone in the blink of snow.  It reminds me of the scripture that says:

Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

I look at the muddy world that surrounded me before the storm and I think of how the Love of our Savior covers us.  He doesn't just hide our faults, He takes them into Himself.  In a way we don't understand, He has already suffered for our sins.  He knew we would make mistakes.  He knew we couldn't walk this path alone.  He knew how much we would need Him.  Oh, how very much I need Him. I need His forgiveness, His atonement, His mercy and most of all, His love.  
There is nothing like a winter storm to help me put things in perspective.

My 1000 Gifts

6.  The whiteness of a winter snowstorm.

7.  The gift of doctors and modern medicine.

8.  The healing of injuries.

9.  The speediness of modern transportation. (I drove nearly 400 miles today).

10. Home

The Daffodil Principle

I was searching the internet  for an idea for a post today and found this story.  It is actually one of my favorites.  I hope that you enjoy the thought and that it encourages you to change whatever needs changing in your life, today.

The Daffodil Principle

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you must come see the daffodils before they are over." I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead. "I will come next Tuesday, " I promised, a little reluctantly, on her third call.

Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and so I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn's house and hugged and greeted my grandchildren, I said, "Forget the daffodils, Carolyn!

The road is invisible in the clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see bad enough to drive another inch!" My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this all the time, Mother." "Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm heading for home!" I assured her.

"I was hoping you'd take me over to the garage to pick up my car." How far will we have to drive?" "Just a few blocks," Carolyn said. "I'll drive. I'm used to this." After several minutes, I had to ask, "Where are we going? This isn't the way to the garage!"

"We're going to my garage the long way," Carolyn smiled, "by way of the daffodils." "Carolyn," I said sternly, "please turn around."

"It's all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience."

After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand-lettered sign that read, "Daffodil Garden." We got out of the car and each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, we turned a corner of the path, and I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight. It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it down over the mountain peak and slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns-great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, saffron, and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted as a group so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers.

"But who has done this?" I asked Carolyn.

"It's just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's her home." Carolyn pointed to a well kept A frame house that looked small and modest in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house. On the patio, we saw a poster. "Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking" was the headline. 

The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs," it read. The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and very little brain." The third answer was, "Began in 1958."

There it was, The Daffodil Principle. For me, that moment was a life-changing experience.

I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun-one bulb at a time-to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountain top. Still, just planting one bulb at a time, year after year, had changed the world. This unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. She had created something of ineffable magnificence, beauty, and inspiration.

The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration. That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time-often just one baby-step at a time - and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world.

"It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through all those years. Just think what I might have been able to achieve!"

My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. "Start tomorrow," she said.

It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, "How can I put this to use today?"

So many of us get wrapped into our yesterdays with all of the should'a, could'a, would'a, things that go with that.  We can be so hard on ourselves and our mistakes.  The truth of the matter is that none of us are perfect.  None of us can change the past, we can't change the things we did or the things that were done to us.  But every one of us can start today and change the direction we are going.  We can change our path, and we can even change the ending of it.  We just have to start.  So, start today and do something that will benefit someone else.  Do something that you have always wanted to do.  Plant a few daffodil's in your life and see what kind of beauty you can bring to pass.