Loving One Another

Archive for the ‘writing’ Category

Footprints in Your Heart


True Friends - footptints

 

A friend sent this card
with “Your friendship means the world to me”
written on the inside.

 

She wrote,
“I can feel your footprints
in my heart everyday.
Do you mind is I
walk all over your heart, too?”

view of sand dunes

Photo by Luis Quintero on Pexels.com

Those footprints are not just ON my heart,
they are IN my heart.
I feel her love deeply.
It keeps me buoyed on days
when I might otherwise be feeling down.

 

I subscribe to “Someone Cares” cards from Guideposts.  I love these cards because they always include a pertinent scripture reference, an uplifting message, and a pertinent story on the back of each.

This last mailing of Guideposts’ cards had the message
I used in my last post,
“Whenever we’re together,
and even when we’re not,
warm and caring thoughts of you
make me smile a lot.”

Guideposts “Someone Cares” cards are available
at shopguideposts.org/someone-cares-greetings.
I highly recommend them.
They are unique and special.
When I open the package of 12 every 6 weeks or so,
the cards call out the names of friends
for whom I feel that card would be most appropriate.

The back of this particular card
had a wonderful story on it
– written by Lisa Bogart:

“When my best friend came to New York to visit me, I wanted to pack all the sights, food, and fun I could into our four days together.

On the first morning, we took a 10:00 train into Manhattan. We walked crosstown, hopped on the subway, and headed uptown to the Cloisters… then to the Metropolitan Museum of Art… farther downtown to my favorite barbecue place… window-shopped and gawked at the towering buildings. Finally, we took a train home at 10:30 that night.

My friend was pooped and asked if we could stay closer to home the next day. When she came down for breakfast, she had her knitting with her. She suggested we sit on the patio and knit for awhile. I put on a pot of tea, and we spent the morning catching up and renewing our friendship.

We went on a few more adventures before she left, but it was that quiet time together that I remember best. It makes me smile and feel close to her even when we’re miles apart.”

Do you have a special friend who has left footprints in your heart? Why not send a card to them today letting them know you are thinking of them in a special way? Sending snail-mail cards does not have to be a “lost art.” Keep it alive with your footprints today!

Thinking of you

I love you, dear WordPress friends.
You leave your footprints in my heart
each time you visit and leave a note.
God bless you!

Jan sends cheers!

See ya tomorrow.

Category:

friendship, happiness, Love, mental health, Sharing, writing

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Hackers Waste Our Time


Photo by Andri on Pexels.com

Hackers waste our time;
Don’t they have more productive
Ways to spend their time?

Today a scammer
Hacked my Facebook page and sent
Garbage to my friends.

S/He wasted my time
And the time of my friends, too.
Why not send out love?

If you have the brains
To figure out how to scam,
Why not do some good?

Use your brains for cheer.
Publish ways to improve life.
Reap Heavenly Gold!

Photo by Rahul on Pexels.com

Spend quality time
Enjoying celebrations!
Create joy instead.

Happy Birthday, Janet!

Exchange misery
For chances to increase joy.
Hackers are dead wood!

Grow in love and integrity!

Exchange your dead wood
For sweet natural beauty.
Honor your great brain!

Take a tip from Snoopy

Don’t waste precious life
Sending misery on-line.
Spread kindness instead.

Make Someone’s Day Better

Have you had trouble with scammers
or hackers on your computer?
How do you handle it?

It can be very disconcerting!

See ya tomorrow

Category:

Haiku, happiness, Heartache, Life's Challenges, Living in Harmony, Love, peace, Poetry, respect, Serving One Another, writing

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Shine Your Light!


In today’s sermon,
Elaine told a story of
A lighthouse keeper:

On a stormy night,
He climbed the rocks to the light;
Turned it on and fell.

He fell and he died
That night on the rocky hill
After doing his job.

A sailor that night
Saved his passengers and crew
Because of the light.

The lightkeeper died
So that others might be saved
From falls in darkness.

Is your light shining in the dark?

Elaine Hundley, who delivered the message in church today reminded us that, like this lighthouse keeper, Jesus died that we might live. He gave His life for us. Likewise, we are reminded to share our lives – give what we have – to brighten the lives of others.

Elaine read from Luke 12:13-21,
and she reminded us –
“All we have is on loan to us
From the Lord, the Almighty.
If we have extra, we are told
To give it away; don’t hold tightly.“

These are eleven of the WordPress bloggers
who provide sunshine in my life –
They share the writing talents they have been given;
They are my choices
for the Sunshine Blogger Award :

  1. Cristian Mihai, The Art of Blogging
  2. derrickjknight
  3. lilie215, Tea and Toast with Kindness
  4. Sandra, Into the Light Adventures
  5. MeRaw, The Journey of My Left Foot (whilst remembering my son)
  6. Claudia, Humoring the Goddess
  7. Dr. Perry, Dr. Eric Perry, PhD
  8. Betul Erbasi – To Write or not to Write and What to Write
  9. Marts, for much deliberation
  10. Ann Koplow, The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally
  11. ELLE, elleguyence
Here’s my Sunshine Award for you!
Congratulations for being such a great blogger!
You shine your light on my life each time you post!

Dear Readers, you will enjoy checking out the blogs listed above. They are always inspiring. If any of these people wish to accept the award (Big Sky Buckeye already did – he sent this to me) and put it on their blog site, check back to see the rules posted yesterday on JanBeek.

Among the rules, I was asked to answer 11 questions and then create 11 questions for my Sunshine Award recipients to answer. Here are my questions:

  1. When did you start blogging?
  2. Why did you start blogging?
  3. How often do you generally blog?
  4. What’s the main topic of your blog (your “niche”)?
  5. Is there a particular time of day when you generally blog? If so, when and why?
  6. Who is your most faithful follower?
  7. Do you have a tendency to post with that person in mind? Or do you have a different technique for personalizing your message?
  8. Of all your posts, which one would you save if all were lost except one?
  9. What’s one piece of advice you can pass on to beginning bloggers?
  10. Where do you get most of your ideas?
  11. If you could improve one thing about WordPress, what would it be?
Thanks for being a light in my day!

See ya tomorrow.

Category:

Awards, Bible Lessons, blogging, Giving, God, Haiku, Love, Poetry, Sharing, writing

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Turning Things Around


I follow the posts of a delightful lady – “Time Out with Lois.” She refers to her very tall, deceased husband as “He-Who.” That’s short for “He-Who-Took-Long_Steps.” He-Who was well over 6′ tall … maybe 6’7′ or so. Lois loves to quote things He-Who used to say. And I love reading her quotes. Today she said he loved to turn things around.
Lois wrote, “He-Who always liked to turn them around, on purpose. Like ‘You can kill two stones with one bird’ or ‘Easier done than said’. Lois was on a trip and made a big u-turn. She said,  “Age is not why I’m doing this. I did it before I got this age. Who can remember if you starve a cold and feed a fever or feed a cold and starve a fever? I don’t take any chances, I feed both!” She is quite a character… must have rubbed off on her from He-Who!
Have you ever made a big U-Turn in life? Lois did it to retrieve a journal she had left under her pillow at a motel the night before. She said she put it there to see if the tooth fairy would leave her any money! I told her I’d make a big u-turn to retrieve my journal if I forgot it in a motel.
I’m almost finished with this one.
I received that journal in July of last year, 2018, from my friend, Sue Woodruff. I finished the journal I was on, and then in September a year ago, I began this one. It has that dedication page I showed you in a post earlier today:
In addition to answered prayers, I use this book to write the ideas that inspire me when I am up in my sanctuary. Then I carry it down to where my computer is to jog my memory and inform my daily post. It’s full of heart-felt thanks, ideas, plans, poems, pictures, newspaper articles… I’d hate to lose it!   Do you have an item you’d hate to lose? One you would gladly do a u-turn to retrieve if you left it behind somewhere?

What item has that specialness to you? What U-Turn have you made in your life? Or do you anticipate one on your future?

pexels-photo-707046.jpeg

Photo by Trace Constant on Pexels.com

Seems to me, u-turns are rarely plan-ahead items. But, when we need to, we can skid into a U. We can go back. We can retrieve. We can re-do.

Do you have a re-do in your future? It may be “‘Easier done than said.” Go for it! cattle in Ruby Valley field See you tomorrow.

Category:

Life's Challenges, Love, writing

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Worth Waiting For


I waited 28 years
For a card or letter
from my #1 grandson.
It was a card worth waiting for!!

God bless our post office!
In spite of no PO Box number on it,
it was delivered.

In addition to the surprise
of a postcard from our #1 grandson,
we also received a wonderful
set of pictures exhibiting his
phenomenal photography skills.

Aren’t they the world’s cutest couple?

I appreciated Mike’s photography so much in the few he sent me, that he created an Adobe album for me and sent some of the ones he has taken in Valais, Switzerland where he and Tania were born and raised.

That’s their town of Sierre below –
where our daughter, DeAna, lives
with her wonderful chef husband, Andre’
and her angelic mother-in-law, Denise,
and our #3 grandson, Christian.
Higher up the Alps,
look down at the road
they just traveled!
They hiked up to Hotel Weisshorn
Isn’t that a gorgeous setting?

Mike, you are a treasure!!

Thank you, Mike, for sharing.

That postcard was worth waiting for –
That trip to Greece was worth waiting for –
That darling Tania was worth waiting for –

They make such an adorable couple, don’t they?

Everything worth having
is worth waiting for.
Trust in God’s perfect timing!
Thank you God for letting me live long enough
to see this #1 grandson so happy,
and so willing to share his joy!

Thank You, God for answering prayers.

Have a beautiful day, my friends.
I hope your dreams and prayers
come true, too.
Keep on praying and dreaming!
Remember, they are worth waiting for!

See ya later!

Category:

blessings, contentment, Faith, Family, Gratitude, happiness, life, Love, nature, photography, prayer, writing

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Using Our Gifts?


Are we Using our Gifts?

Today’s sermon notes from the message delivered at
The Madison Valley Presbyterian Church
Ennis, Montana
by Rev. Steve Hundley
inspired by the message Paul wrote to
the church in Corinth: 1Cor.1:1-9

It’s really not OK to live in your own little world, keep your gifts to yourself, and fail to step out with courage and faith to share the spiritual gifts God has given you. Today’s message focused on the problem we have when we hoard our gifts, keep the to ourselves, fail to use our talents to glorify God and benefit others. Steve Hundley called his sermon “The Gifted Church.”

I listened and noted the message through my own filters writing:

Paul wrote four letters
To the Corinth people.
The church there had problems;
They struggled ‘neath their steeple.
But it wasn’t a typical
Place with steeple on a peak.
Instead, they met in a house
Large enough to fit those who who seek
To worship God through Christ.
It was an urban setting.
The church was being attacked
By the townfolk who were vetting
Their frustration at Christians.
There was a gap between rich and poor.
It was a hindrance to worship
When the poor were scorned by those with more.

Corinth was a diverse city.
The church was diverse as well;
But their real problem was their gifts
With which they were gifted. (Do tell!)
We are weakest at the point
Of our greatest gift, when it
Is a crutch, not shared, not used
To glorify God, help others, and send it
Out to make the world better.

But when we use our gifts
To be part of something bigger –
And we thank God who lifts
Us up, then our gifts are used
To make our talents worthwhile.
Like the people of Corinth,
We must not let our gifts go into a pile
Where they are lost and wasted.

Talents not shared are wasted gifts.
There are talents everywhere,
But until we use them for others,
who will know? Who will care?
This is a church full of talented people
Whose gifts are very apparent.
You use them here and in the community.
You spread your joy; your love is transparent.

If Paul were alive today,
He would write a letter to praise you.
Keep on sharing, caring, using your gifts –
And let His loving spirit raise you
To His blessings.

Amen

What talent are you willing to share this week? Make your gifts count!

.

See ya tomorrow

Category:

Bible Lessons, blessings, Faith, Giving, God, Love, Poetry, Spiritual Gifts, writing

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In the Same Boat


Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

SERMON NOTES

Bible Reference

Rev. Steve Hundley’s sermon topic today at the Madison Valley Presbyterian Church in Ennis, MT was “We’re All in the Same Boat.” It was inspired by the story in Matthew 14:22-36. Jesus commanded the disciples to get in the boat and sail out to sea while He went off to be alone for awhile. Then – in the darkness of a stormy night – He walked on the water to go out to them. Seeing Jesus walking on water toward them, Peter asked to be able to do likewise. The Lord told him to come ahead – and he did. All went well until he looked down at the growing waves, became fearful, and started to sink. “Why did you doubt?” Jesus asked him as he helped Peter back onto the boat.

Ah, courage and faith – that’s what it takes.
But only God can walk on water.

Sermon notes taken while Steve shared his message:

We’re All in the Same Boat

Jesus is the Loving Shepherd
But He is also our Commander.
He is gentle and kind, we know,
But we realize He’s a Great Demander.

Why did Jesus order His disciples
To go and get in the boat?
It was midnight, afterall!
Was that a good time to go for a float?

The earliest idea of the church
Was the image of a boat’s belly.
We’re all in this boat together.
It’s dark, stormy, and chilly.

We’re rowing as hard as we can –
And don’t seem to make any headway.
We’re busy trying to make it on our own,
Too busy to hear what God has to say.

But God comes walking on the water,
And He says, “Fear not, it is I.”
We look and doubt and test Him saying,
“If it is You, save me!” Oh my!

Only God/Jesus can walk on water.
Sometimes our job is just to cling
To the boat and don’t presume
We can go it alone. Just trust and sing!

Following the sermon, we sang this song,
“We All Are One in Mission.”
See the song’s words below the sermon notes.

First we gotta get in the boat.
Then we gotta stay in it.
We gotta trust God is here with us.
We gotta gather and pray in it!

Help me, Lord, to remember
You will draw near to me – no fuss-
If we stay and pray and know
You’re here in the boat with us.

“We All Are One in Mission”

“We all are one in mission; we all are one in call,
our varied gifts united by Christ, the Lord of all.
A single great commission compels us from above
to plan and work together that all may know Christ’s love.

We all are called for service, to witness in God’s name.
Our ministries are different; our purpose is the same:
To touch the lives of others by God’s surprising grace,
so every folk and nation may feel God’s warm embrace.

Now let us be united, and let our song be heard.
Now let us be a vessel for God’s redeeming Word.
We all are one in mission; we all are one in call,
our varied gifts united by Christ, the Lord of all.”

Words: Rusty Edwards (Matthew 28:19-20; i Cor. 12:4-6
Music: Finnish folk melody

I am with you.
I’m praying you have a blessed Sunday...
and a week filled with God’s grace.

See ya later

Category:

Bible Lessons, Faith, God, Living in Christ's Family, Love, Poetry, prayer, writing

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