You Color My World!
How is your world colored?
Colorful roses
Color your world with sweet love
The giver, not gift
It’s you, my sweet love
The gift is your great passion
Coloring my world
Posts tagged ‘gifts’
One-of-a-Kind
Do you ever have a tendency to measure yourself against others?
I do… and I often come up short! After all, I’m only five foot nothing. Really!!
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If I measure me against me,
I could be 6’3″
If I measure me against YOU,
I’m maybe not even 2’2″
So, who do I use?
Whose feet do I choose?
Who carries my blues?
Who walks in my shoes?
“No one,” you say?
“God took His soft clay
And molded a shape –
Unique! Full of play.”
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God gifted your soul
Full of treasures untold –
Then He threw out the mold.
You’re more precious than gold.
Who do I measure myself against then?
“No one,” God smiles.
“You’re a one-of-a-kind gem!”
My grandson said, “So what do we do with this knowledge?”
I answered, “Remember, you are unique.
Don’t let your self-esteem be measured by the
size of someone else’s anything!”
(Go back to the clay figure and you can see
what kind of “anything” that caused that deduction!)
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Oh bludder!!!
Bite your tongue, my friend …
Know you were created PERFECTLY –
and Have a Merry Christmas!
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The Cost of Christmas
Sermon notes – Dec. 16, 2017 – Rev. Jean Johnson – Madison Valley Presbyterian, Ennis, MT
Recorded by Jan Beekman – in poetry (as is my habit) – while listening intently today.
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The Cost of Christmas
Ebenezer Scrooge was transformed.
He hated Christmas and all
That talk of love and peace.
His dream helped him hear God’s call.
He bought a goose and invited
All to come to his feast.
He had love and joy to spread
To rich and poor, the most and the least.
It cost Scrooge a fortune
To pay for all that food.
What does Christmas cost you?
Does the cost put you in a Scrooge mood?
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John the Baptist warned us that
Christmas will cost a lot.
But it’s not the money he referred to;
It’s the deliverance we may not have sought.
Purifying fire and judgement wait
For those who fail to believe.
The fire is a punishment for those
Who are stingy and cause others to grieve.
If you have two shirts or coats,
Be ready to give one away.
If someone owes you money,
Don’t overcharge them any day.
Jesus taught people to love and forgive.
“Get ready for the Christ Child.
Give from your surplus,” John preached.
He didn’t ask us to do anything wild.
Jesus’ message was a tough one
For many who held hate in their heart.
John asked folks to prepare for Christ
By repenting, turning, making a clean start.
Be on the true path, headed right
As you prepare for Jesus Christ’s birth.
You’re on the right road in church today.
Let’s be God’s witnesses on earth.
Are you?
Am I?
Let your life preach His message,
And as Mother Theresa is quoted as saying,
“Only use words when you have to!”
(Isn’t that a heck of a message for a blogger?)
Bay Area Rapid Transit
Riding the BART
That is our son there
Leaning endearingly on
His wife, Monika.
.
Not a simple ride –
It is a happy BART train
Headed for ‘Frisco
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Doesn’t it look like
A day in San Francisco
Would be quite a blast?
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Wait for me, dear ones.
I just want to come along –
Oh, for this one day.
Christmas shopping in
That beautiful place
Sounds like Paradise.
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But maybe I should
Spend my money locally.
That’s what merchants say.
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Is your shopping done?
I have barely just begun.
What gift do you want?
Purple “Ladies” Volunteer
Do you enjoy volunteering? I do!
“Whenever you’re giving, it’s like a gift to yourself.” This is a quote from Sanaa Latham, actress, as quoted in my December Guideposts devotional on The Upside page.
At our local medical center, the “Candy Stripers” are not young high schoolers dressed in red and white stripes or pink tunics (as they were back in CA) who greet you from the reception desk. They are mature women with a heart for helping who wear purple jackets.
Look carefully at the last picture. I am third from the left in the back row. Notice the donation we made to the hospital. We gave $31,700 !! The money went to help pay for that diagnostic scanning machine that I used yesterday! Our big fund raiser each year is an Open House tour of six different homes (our house was on tour about 10 years ago shortly after we moved here to Ennis, MT). The fund raiser also includes a collection of silent auction items and donated events. God bless those dedicated workers and donors who make it all happen every year!
As I indicated, yesterday I had a scan … a CT scan… (a follow-up on the irregularities found in Wednesday’s ultrasound).
Yesterday also was my day to be a “Purple Lady” volunteering at the reception desk. So, since I couldn’t be two places at once, I needed a substitute for about an hour and a half.
But, Friday afternoons are not a good time to try to find subs … especially with that snowy, cold weather going on out there.
So, what did I do? I conned my husband, Bob, and grandson, Chris,
into covering for me. (Actually they volunteered – what nice guys!)
I wish you could have seen the expressions of staff and visitors
when they came in and saw these “Purple Ladies!”
Priceless!!
I don’t believe what I’m seeing!!
Hey, why not?
We take volunteers of all kinds! Come on over, guys!
Thanks, guys! Get off your ATVs and out of your fishing boats,
and perform a little community service!
It’s not just the Lion’s Club that needs you.
We’d be happy to add some men to
our Madison Valley Medical Center Auxiliary!
Remember, especially during this gift-giving time of year,
“Whenever you’re giving, it’s like a gift to yourself.”
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Happy December! Where are you called give?
God’s Grace
God’s Grace
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“I am under the canopy of God’s Grace,”
the story in my Guideposts devotional assured me.
I know it without a doubt. I am guided by the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures.
“Do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself.
Each day has enough troubles of its own.”
Matthew 6:34
Accept each day as a gift.
The present is a present.
Open it – and live in the NOW!
I am sure you know:
God’s grace is sufficient when you believe and live intentionally in FAITH.
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“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.”
Romans 5:1-2
God’s grace – and peace to you – dear friends,
PEACE now and forever!
How Open Are You?
How Open Are You?
Not just Open House
But open YOU to the world
How Open Are you?
Was your home so full
At your Thanksgiving dinner
You added more chairs?
Is your spare bedroom
Filled with a loved relative?
If not, then why not?
We were gifted to
Give of our many blessings
Open up and give!
Poetic Sermon Notes
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Well, my friends, it is Sunday. As such, you know I attended church this morning. Listening carefully to the message from Rev. Jean Johnson, I did my usual: I took my notes poetically. The sermon was based on Mark’s account of the disciples’ conversation with Jesus shortly before His death. In Mark chapter 10, verses 34-45, Jesus delivers His famous message of “The last shall be first and the first shall be last.” The story unfolded this way:
Downward Mobility
Jesus told the disciples
His destiny: the cross.
He warned of His death.
They couldn’t accept the loss.
He told them of the cruelty
That would precede His rise.
So why did all that followed
Come as such a surprise?
James and John asked Him
If they could sit left and right
Of Him in His glory
(Requests that proved them not so bright!).
They didn’t see the meaning
Of the future Jesus faced.
They didn’t see the torture
And know how the pain would taste.
Jesus tried to redirect
The thoughts of James and John.
He tried to reexplain
The path the Christ was on.
The other disciples were jealous
That the two made their pleas first.
They thought James and John
Would be first to end their thirst.
But Jesus rebuked the ones
Who jockeyed to be at His side.
He told them their requests
Showed unsightly, unhealthy pride.
“He who would be first,” He said,
“Must be willing to be last.”
The disciples puzzled at this
Until long after the first Easter had passed.
The way of Jesus is a path
Of downward mobility for all
Who come to serve and give
Their lives in answer to Christ’s call.
Don’t try to read the notes on the bulletin cover below… they are what I typed above. I just am posting them here to show you the form in which they first appear from Jean’s sermon to my ears through my fingertips to the bulletin cover. Yes, I listen and write simultaneously. I am often asked, “How do you do that?”
My only answer is, “It’s a gift.” I hope you appreciated my sharing it with you today. It was a sermon that spoke to my heart because indeed, I have come to serve and to give and to answer Christ’s call to share my talents.
Happy Sunday!
How Giving Are You?
Give With Abandon
Is the message for today
Let’s hold nothing back.
Mother Theresa inspires me with her wisdom. She told us, “It’s not how much you give, but how much love you put into giving.”
Today I will give with abandon all the love I have in me.
And I won’t stop there. I will give:
- Joy
- Compassion
- Encouragement
- Trust
- Hugs
- Hospitality
- Lasagna, French bread, a salad, and strawberry sundaes…
How about you? Give with childlike generosity. Give with abandon!
What will you give today?
