BOOK 08, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 4

Life is short, spring into action and live today’s beginning

 

Hope and new beginnings are fresh every morning.

It is not necessary to wait for a circumstance to bring hope.

Hope, real hope, comes when we lay down our own ideas

and plans. . . . our mind, will, and emotions. . .

before God as a hand of cards dealt and say to Him,

“How would YOU play them?”

Laura Lewis Lanier

GOOD MORNING !

Monday wasn’t so bad so I have hopes for a good Tuesday. I’m still clearing out old files (plenty of those ) at work and it’s still too quiet there. Monotonous work for sure.

Bad weather is supposed to come our way in the form of a wintry mix (rain and icy sleet) so things may be a little slippery out there. We could even get lots of snow if the wind blows just right over Lake Erie. I’ll be taking it slow and easy for sure.

I got out a lunch time and found a few more things for my camper yesterday. I picked up a hair dryer so I don’t have to take the one from home when I go and I found a cute spoon rest for the camper kitchen too ! It’s fun putting it all together and brightens these winter days for sure.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

It is easy to sit up and take notice.

What is difficult is getting up and taking action

Al Batt

Life is short, spring into action and live today’s beginning

May your day be filled with blessings

As new as Spring

As fragrant as flowers

As full as your heart can hold.

MA

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BOOK 08, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 3

 

Life is short, spring into action and live today’s beginning

Expect to have hope rekindled. Expect your prayers to be answered in wondrous ways. The dry seasons in life do not last. The spring rains will come again.

Sarah Ban Breathnach

Life is here, and life is now. Look around yourself--you are alive, and you are surrounded by wonders. Take advantage of them all and make them an important part of who you are. Your soul would appreciate the attention

GOOD MORNING !

Monday is here once more and it’s back to work. The weekend was pretty uneventful, but nice. I spent a little time yesterday afternoon putting away my bits and pieces of Valentine decorations and got out a few Spring things.

I put a green table cloth in the dining room and a green and white checked one in the kitchen. I have a shamrock candy dish on the table along with a green clear glass bunny rabbit and a green candle.

I found some of my silk spring flowers and scattered them through out the 3 downstairs rooms so things are looking a little brighter here.

I’ve got such a pile accumulating for my camper that I do hope we can make it there soon so I can unload all this stuff. It is cluttering up one corner of my dining room right now. I did get out and buy a new coffee pot for the camper too. None of my camping babes drink coffee so I’m on my own there, but as far as cooking I really shouldn’t have to do much. I can chip in with an occasional macaroni salad or deviled eggs and leave the rest pretty much up to them…they are all good cooks and always fix more than is needed.

Winter weather is supposed to continue on for us this week. Today is rainy and warmer, but tomorrow we’ll cool back down and see some more of that white stuff.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

I know the world is filled with troubles and many injustices. But reality is as beautiful as it is ugly. I think it is just as important to sing about beautiful mornings as it is to talk about slums. I just couldn't write anything without hope in it.

Oscar Hammerstein

Life is short, spring into action and live today’s beginning

May your day be filled with blessings

As new as Spring

As fragrant as flowers

As full as your heart can hold.

MA

 

 

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BOOK 08, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 2

Life is short, spring into action and live today’s beginning

 

A little story for you today…

One day, there was a blind man sitting on the steps of a building with a sign by his feet, that read: "I am blind, please help."

A creative publicist was walking by the blind man and stopped to observe that the man only had a few coins in his hat. He put a few of his own coins in the hat, and without stopping to ask for permission, took the sign, turned it around, and wrote a new message. He then placed the sign by the feet of the blind man, and left.

Later that afternoon the creative publicist returned by the blind man and noticed that his hat was almost completely full of bills and coins. The blind man recognized his footsteps and asked if it was him who had changed his sign? He also wanted to know what the man wrote on it?

The publicist replied: "I just changed your message so people could relate to it." He wished the man well, said goodbye, and went on his way.

The blind man didn't know it, but his new sign now read:

"TODAY IS SPRING AND I CANNOT SEE IT"

The Moral of the Story:

1. CHANGE YOUR STRATEGY WHEN THINGS AREN'T WORKING.

2. HAVE FAITH THAT YOUR CHANGE WILL BE FOR THE BEST.

GOOD MORNING!

And Happy R&R day to you all. At least I do hope you are getting some rest and relaxation today. I’ll be off to get my weekly dose of R & R at church pretty soon, that is my refreshment and renewal to get me though another week for sure.

It’s also Mother’s Day in England and for my UK friends I’d like to say Happy Mother’s Day to you all. We in the US don’t celebrate it until May.

I’ll be praying as always for each of you and the good Lord knows all your needs so I’m sure that any prayers will be answered…they always are.

Always know with the deepest love, God listens.

In ways neither you nor any other person may be able to understand,

God does more than listen, He acts.

You may never see what God does or how He does it.

You may live for the rest of your life

and never know what God does as a result of your faith in Him.

However, in God you can believe, in God you can hope,

in God you can trust, and in God you can find

comfort in the storms of life

Don’t forget my theme for the month -- Life is short, spring into action and live today’s beginning.

We can all live with hope of new beginnings. Today is just the first day of the rest of our lives.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is.

And when you've got it, you want -

oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want,

but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!

Mark Twain

May your day be filled with blessings

As new as Spring

As fragrant as flowers

As full as your heart can hold.

MA

 

 

 

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BOOK 08, CHAPTER 3, PAGE 1

The Angel of March brings us stamina and courage. As winter ends, we take heart from the crocuses that push their way up through the snow.

The Angel of March cheers us on through life's frozen moments, boosting our morale and helping us achieve new landmarks. With the angel's help, we dare to break through whatever barrier, whether personal belief or lack of self-confidence, that holds us back.

We gather the will to launch a lifelong dream or begin the project we have envisioned but never dared to tackle.

As the sun begins to warm our spirits, the March angel rejoices with us at the first signs of spring and lends us courage to prepare for a new and daunting, but also fulfilling, task.

GOOD MORNING !

After thinking about all the themes I could go with this month I decided to go with -- Life is short, spring into action and live today’s beginning.

Every day we get a chance to begin again. I always like to think there will be some good things to enjoy in each day. Anticipation is half the fun sometimes. Maybe yesterday wasn’t quite what we thought it should have been, but we can put it behind us and start fresh each day.

I’ve learned a lot in my soon to be 64 years here on this old earth of ours and I’m still learning that’s for sure. I love to be surprised by small little happenings and treasure them. So I’ll be springing into action each day and love and live the beginning…

I hope you’ll join me too !

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

Springtime is the land awakening.

The March winds are the morning yawn.

Quoted by Lewis Grizzard in Kathy Sue Loudermilk, I Love You

May your day be filled with blessings

As new as Spring

As fragrant as flowers

As full as your heart can hold.

MA

 

 

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BOOK O8, CHAPTER 2, PAGE 29

Until you make peace with who you are,

you'll never be content with what you have.

Doris Mortman

Much of the unhappiness in our world today has its roots in how we see ourselves. Too often we put ourselves down and fall into the tempting trap of comparing ourselves to others. We need to let the negative and cloudy parts of our past behind and move on. It is the only way forward.

From one of my Thursday morning reflections

GOOD MORNING !

I hope you can look in the mirror today and be happy with who you are ! I always try to remember that the good Lord made me so I must be very valuable as are all his creatures great and small.

Most of the time I am at peace with who I am and what I do. I’ve had so many blessings in my life that if I don’t have the peace in my heart that I know I should, I just start making a list and pretty soon I’m at peace once again.

I also try to remember each day when I greet some one that they too are one His creations and deserve only the best I can offer too.

Most of what I have to offer is a SMILE, but I’ve got to say I have a real hard time being nice to telemarketers on the phone. I’ll have to think real hard on something nice I can say to them….

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

Peace begins with a smile. Smile five times a day at someone you don't really want to smile at at all. Do it for peace.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta

May your day be blessed with a few SMILES and

lots of SUNSHINE to warm your heart !

MA

 

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BOOK 08, CHAPTER 2, PAGE 28

 

 

 

The human spirit is very important.

It is seen as residing everywhere in each person.

The heart is the home of the spirit.

The spirit moves in the blood, sparkles in the eyes,

 shines in the hair, is felt in the touch, rings in the voice,

 dances in ones laughter and flows in one’s tear.

Geraldine Flannery

The human spirit is an essential part of each person. It is the mirror of our soul.

Like anything living it needs nourishment and care Take the time to exercise that soul of yours today. Whether it be by walking, reading, praying, listening to music, talking with friends, playing with children, petting animals, or just sitting quietly you can bring ever more goodness, light, strength, happiness, joy, love, and delight into your soul. Whether it be by smiling, laughing, singing, listening, caring, helping, encouraging, cheering, praising, giving, or simply loving you can share every bit of your soul's strength, goodness, light, and joy with the world.

JOSEPH MARZELLA

GOOD MORNING !

Remember the joys of simple snow angels in a crystal-white backyard...what a wonder! In these cold winter days that bog us down and make us grouchy it is a joy to see children playing with their sleds and totally ignoring the fact that it is freezing cold outside.

Something happens to us when we grow up and become disillusioned with winter. One of the few people that I know of that thoroughly enjoys winter is my youngest son. He’s no child by any means as he is now 27, but he loves and enjoys all of it.

I on the other hand enjoy hibernating and waiting for spring to come. The little bits and pieces that I collected today are all about nourishing our souls. There really is something to be said for that. If we don’t take the time to feed our souls with some really good stuff they do tend to freeze up just like me on a cold winter day.

I hope you all take the time to nourish your self daily too !

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

There are many fine things which you mean to do some day,

under what you think will be more favorable circumstances.

But the only time that is surely yours is the present,

hence this is the time to speak the word of appreciation and

sympathy, to do the generous deed, to forgive the fault of a

thoughtless friend, to sacrifice self a little more for others.

Today is the day in which to express your noblest qualities of

mind and heart, to do at least one worthy thing which you have

long postponed, and to use your God-given abilities for the

enrichment of some less fortunate fellow traveler.

Today you can make your life . . . significant and worthwhile.

The present is yours to do with it as you will.

Grenville Kleiser

Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

May your day be blessed with a few SMILES

and lots of SUNSHINE to warm your heart !

MA

 

 

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BOOK 08, CHAPTER 2, PAGE 27

THERE IS SPRING

By William A. Ward

Where there are love and generosity, there is joy.

Where there are sincerity and sacrifice, there is friendship.

Where there are harmony and simplicity, there is beauty.

Where there are prayer and forgiveness, there is peace.

Where there are moderation and patience, there is wisdom.

Where there are conflicts and crises, there is opportunity.

Where there are wonder and adventure, there is growth.

Where there are adoration and confession, there is worship.

Where there are compassion and concern, there is God.

Where there are faith and hope, there is spring!

When we are down, low, depressed, why can’t we ignore the desire to rise up again?

Because we’re like plants that need pure air, water, and sun. Because no matter how bent and old, we just keep wanting to grow up.

Because there is a natural spring in us like that which makes flowers leap from the earth in May.

Because we have hidden wings. And if we listen, we can feel the difference between wrong and right: we know the difference even with our eyes closed.

Therefore we should not try putting ourselves down, for we will spring up again, sure as Spring.

 

GOOD MORNING !

For those of us inhabiting the frozen north, spring, which signals an end to the long, dark days of winter, can't come too soon. Spring officially arrives on the vernal equinox around March 21 (this year it's March 20) when Earth's orbital path places the sun directly over the Equator, and day and night are exactly the same length.

The word “Spring” itself is from Old English meaning “the place of rising or issuing as in a wellspring, the source of a stream or spring. The word, “Spring”, even has a cheery ring to it that makes us feel more energetic and we long to get outside. We all tend to get anxious for Spring to arrive, especially if it has been a hard winter.

After being snowed in for a few days, cabin fever sets in and we long for Spring.   I’m looking for a rush of energy and renewed enthusiasm for sure. Come the Ides of March I usually start rebounding from the hibernation mode I go into every winter and I can hardly wait. I’m tired of being an old ‘bear’.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created Spring.

Bern Williams

May your day be blessed with a few SMILES

and lots of SUNSHINE to warm your heart !

MA

 

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