Matters Of The Mind & Heart

"Fill your mind with the meaningless stimuli of a world
preoccupied with meaningless things, and it will
not be easy to feel peace in your heart."
— Marianne Williamson

"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7

Here is a poem I read from a post: As A Man Thinketh By James Allen

Thought in the mind hath made us.
What we are by thought we wrought and built.
If a man's mind hath evil thoughts,
Pain comes on him as comes the wheel the ox behind . . .
If one endure in purity of thought,
Joy follows him as his own shadow - sure.

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Philippians 4:8

Do you want peace in your heart? Then you MUST keep your mind pure.

AGING!

George Carlin's Views on Aging!
(Absolutely Brilliant)

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions.

'How old are you?' 'I'm four and a half!' You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key.

You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.

'How old are you?' 'I'm gonna be 16!' You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life, You become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony. YOU BECOME 21! YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling.. What's wrong? What's changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone..

But! wait!! ! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!

You get into your 80's and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; 'I Was JUST 92.'

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. 'I'm 100 and a half!'
May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG
1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay them.

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning! Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever, even ham radio. Never let the brain idle. 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.'

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Share this with someone. We all need to live life to its fullest each day!!

Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting,
'...Wooo Hooo ...what a ride!

Kids Are Full Of Surprises

It's a new school year and Caleb is now a 3rd grader. I ask myself, "Where has the time gone?" My handsome little munchkin has grown up so fast.

Caleb - age - 1 year

One day he is so helpless and depending on us for everything. Then the next day - lo and behold - right before our very eyes he becomes our little man, the man of the house.

On the first day back to school, our little third grader came home different. After Caleb had finished his homework and dinner he was in the kitchen for a prolonged amount of time. Kerrie and I heard the water running and we both wondered what he was up to now. So Kerrie called after Caleb and asked him what he was doing in the kitchen so long with the water running. He replied, "Nothing!" So after a few moments she decided she had better check up on him. She quietly crept up to the entryway and peeked in and could not believe her eyes. She quickly got the camera and this is what she caught him doing, just take a look:

This was Caleb's first time to do dishes and he did it on his own. No one asked him to do them. The next morning as Caleb was leaving for school, I was doing the breakfast dishes. He glanced into the kitchen and saw me doing the dishes and got so upset and cried out, "Mom, how come grandma gets to do the dishes and not me?" He was really upset and I thought he was actually going to cry about it. I promised him there would be something in the sink for him to wash when he got home. That calmed him down and he went on to school. He has been doing dishes every day since. Now, how long this will last is to be seen. Probably until the newness of this experience wears off but then again, who knows, one can never tell. Kerrie and I are both surprised that our rough and tumble, all out rugged Caleb, would even consider doing the dishes, when it has been so hard to get him to clean his room. Yet, Caleb has even started keeping his room clean too. (Well, better than before anyway) He even puts his dirty clothes in the clothes hamper. With all these changes taking place We thought, "Ok what have you done with our Caleb? Where is he and who are you?" LOL!!! Let's just say, Miracles never cease!

Obedience Or Rebellion - Your Choice

My mind has been running in many different avenues as of late. So many thoughts! I really don't know where to begin. So, I will just grab at one thought and take off.

I was speaking with a young mother the other day and she was talking about how at times she can become quite flustered with her child. It's not that he is a bad kid, it's just that he is very stubborn and has a mind of his own. I can relate to that. I have a grandson just like this. This mother said that as a child she remembers being good and listening to her mother. She remembers being an obedient child in school, church, home, and away from home. So she really doesn't understand why she has a child like she does. Now don't get this mother wrong. She loves her son very much. What she means by this statement is, she has always heard that one usually gets they kind of child compared to what they were. Well, that is not so. This mother went on to say that she never did anything rebellious until she was of age and left home. Then the things she did brought no harm against anyone but herself. She broke no laws, except God's laws. She went on pouring her heart out to me and I listened.

I then told her my thoughts. I told her that though she may have been a good child while young, when she was old enough to leave home, she then became rebellious against her Heavenly Father. Maybe, through her son, God is relating to her how He has to deal with her attitude towards Him. I then asked her how many times did God have to ask her not to do certain things and yet she did them anyway? How many times did God ask her to come home and she refused? Is she now, even yet, still ignoring the voice of God in certain areas of her life, now that she has come back to Him? Is He still trying to get her attention and yet, she turns her ear and does not heed His voice? I asked her to really search her heart and ask herself if there is anything she is holding back from God? Is there anything that God is asking her to give up that she has not given up? Is there anything that God is asking her to do that she is not doing? If so, this is all a form of rebellion. She is acting just like her son. She began to understand what I was talking about. I do hope I was able to shed some light upon her heart that day. I know that it made me begin to search my own heart. For when I talk to others I also talk to myself.

If we want our children to obey us, we must obey our Heavenly Father. We are an example to our children in more ways than we know. Believe it or not, they know when we are NOT obeying the Word of God. Our children can feel the spirit of rebellion in us. So, when we let it control us, it will also control our children. So if you want obedient children, try being obedient to God and see what happens.

MRI Results

I would like to give glory and honor unto God for a Great MRI report...No change in my brain tumor since March of 2008! That is when I went to the Western District Ladies Conference and was prayed for. That little bugger is just sitting there stunted in growth and no cancer. Heeehehehehe. God is sooooo good! I am now listed as "STABLE" AHhahahaha, MEDICALLY SPEAKING anyway, Oh I do serve a Mighty God. The doc said it's possible that it could just sit there from now to eternity and never do anything. It may never begin to grow again. So far it has been sitting there for 1 year and four months and has not grown one little spec at all. Doc said I'm not due for another MRI for 2 years unless I begin to show signs of the tumor beginning to progress. He hopes that won't happen. I don't believe it will. :)

I want to thank all those at my home church and all my blogger friends and those at the Ladies conference who sent up prayers for me. But most of all I want to Thank God for His Healing Power and for reaching out and touching me one more time. Thank you, thank you , thank you ALL from the bottom of my heart. I love you each and everyone. I could not have faced this alone. God is sooooo Good!

Mother's Day 09

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

I know I'm a LITTLE late in getting this up and posted but hey, what can I say? I have been busy with a half a dozen and one things and then a bunch of nothin. In other words, I'm gettin old and slowin down. Is that a good excuse or what?

I was up in Eureka visiting with my sister and that took some time away from posting so I will blame it on that. Will post pics of my visit with her later. But for now back to Mother's Day.

We threw a surprise dinner for Sis. Allard and Sis. Wilson and had a great time of fellowship with just the ladies. As you can see by the look on Sis. Wilson face we really got her. Ha ha ha ha ha! I love a good surprise. I don't know where Sis. Allard thought she was going but where ever it was she didn't end up there. We had better plans for her that night.

Nothing like getting together with God's people and enjoying great Godly fellowship. It just has a way of lifting one's spirit and soon it's as if a weight has been lifted right off of your shoulders. I wouldn't trade my spiritual family for all the friends, fame or fortune this world has to offer. Isn't God Good?

Locked In With Him

On May 3rd of this year, Sis. Charlene Wilson and I went to Bakersfield to enjoy lunch and to get some supplies for a surprise Mother's Day dinner for Sis. Allard and Sis. Wilson. There have been so many things going on in my life over the past 7 months that it seems that I have been caught up in a whirlwind and can't get my feet on solid ground.

On the way home to get ready for the evening service with such a heavy heart, I told Sis. Charlene, "I feel that I am nothing but a lowly caterpillar in search of something better in this life. I feel as though I need to climb upon the Tree of Life and go as high as I can and then go out as far as possible on one of those high branches. There on that branch I need to begin to spin a cocoon. A cocoon of Jesus! I need to spin Him around me so tight until I can see nothing but Him. I need to wrap God around me until I can not hear or see anyone or anything but Him. I need to be able to focus ONLY on HIM. I need to stay there in that cocoon and not move or come out until I am healed and made into what He wants me to be.

That evening Pastor preached such an awesome message. He hit me full force with the Word of God. Pastor preached from Isaiah 40:25-31. He spoke about how the eagles will plunge themselves into the storm and spread their wings until they rise higher and higher until they are above the storm. There they will stay until the storm is over. This is what we need to do when we are hit by the storms of life.

I thought to myself, like the eagle, this lowly caterpillar will climb that Tree of Life to rise above my storm and there I will stay until this storm passes by.

Then Pastor spoke on verse 31, "They that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength..."

He said the word "wait" does not mean to serve or to stand by but it means to get intertwined with, to get tangled up with. Then he asked us if we ever had a slinky as a kid and if it ever got so tangled up that there was no way we could get it untangled. That is how we ought to be with the Lord. We need to get so intertwined in Him, so tangled up in Him that there is no way that anyone or anything can ever separate us from the Lord. No storm, no heartache, no pain, no suffering, no weakness, no problems that should come our way can separate us. We will climb higher in Him. We will rise above it all and there we will stay and focus on Him until the storm passes by.

I looked across the isle at Sis. Charlene and yes, I passed a note during preaching. I said, "Like a caterpillar making a cocoon, wrapping myself in Him until I am made into what He wants me to be." She replied, "I think you just got confirmation. All you need now is a quiet place to meditate, pray, read His word and hear His voice."

Then last night Pastor preached from Matthew 22:35-40. This is where the lawyer asked Him what the greatest commandment was and His reply was "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment."

Again, pastor confirmed how we should be so wrapped up in God that nothing else could ever take the place of our relationship with God. Using the term "WRAPPED" taking me back to my feelings of be wrapped up like a caterpillar in her cocoon. Wrapped up in God.

Our relationship with our spouse, children, our jobs, etc. nothing, NOTHING can ever become first in our life over God. There should never be anything that could ever come in to destroy our love for Him. It's all about Him.

I don't know where He is wanting to take me from here. I don't know what His plan is for me through all of this heartache and sorrow. But I do know this one thing, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28 KJV).

I am climbing that Tree of Life and I am spinning that cocoon. For I must focus on Him and His will for my life. When I come out, I don't know what I will be, but I do know this, I will be in His will and He will be holding my hand. I will mount up with wings as an eagle I shall run and not be weary, I shall walk and not faint. How can I be so sure? Because I went to a high place in Him and there I waited upon the Lord. I became entangled in Him insomuch that nothing can separate us from one another and I have renewed my strength in Him.