Wednesday, March 27, 2013

RESURRECTION WEEK...

 

For the week building up to the Day of Resurrection, let's meditate on The Day of our Freedom....

Read this quote that says it all ...@DailyKeller: “Jesus went into the tomb so we can be raised out of it.”

Listen to my all time favorite song I love to listen to on the days coming up to this Easter Sunday, THEN CAME THE MORNING sung by Guy Penrod.  

As you listen with me close your eyes. Just imagine how Mary felt as she stood at the foot of the Cross thinking she would never see her son again and then going to the Tomb and seeing it Empty...

.....listen and enjoy the Full Truth of His Dying in our place and the Love He has for us!!!



Monday, March 25, 2013

10 WAYS TO DE-CLUTTER YOUR MIND


You may have read articles about how to de-clutter your home or your desk, but if anything needs de-cluttering, it’s your mind.



Your brain is a complex and confusing organThe mind is certainly not like an inbox that can be sorted through. Your mind is not difficult to de-clutter.

 You can sort through your mind, even getting past the scar tissue of old hurts and traumas, with these simple actions:

1. Breathe: Take a few deep breaths and then just focus on your breathing for a few minutes. It has a calming effect, and allows other thoughts to just float away.


 
2. Write it down: If you have a bunch of things on your mind, get them on paper and off your mind. 



 3. Rethink your sleep: If you aren’t getting enough sleep, or your sleeping pattern isn’t ideal, it can affect you a great deal. 






4. Take a walk: Get outside and do some kind of physical activity; it clears your mind. 





5. Do less: Cross half the things off your to-do list; just pick a few things to get done today, and focus on those. 





6. De-clutter your surroundings: Having a lot of stuff around you occupies part of your mind, even if you don’t realize it. 







7. Identify the essential: This means figuring out what is most important in your life, and focusing on these things. 






8. Get in touch with nature: Looking at the ocean, a river, some trees or anything “green” can be calming and focusing at the same time. 




 9. Go slower: Walk slower, talk slower, drive slower and even work slower. All of these things tell your mind that you’re not in a hurry, and that you want to take life at your own, non-rushed pace.

IT'S OK TO BE SLOW LIKE A TURTLE

10. Single-task: Multi-tasking fills your mind with a lot of clutter, without a lot of productivity, instead of multi-tasking, single-task by focusing on just one thing at a time.







Looking forward to hearing how this helps you to slow down.  I plan to do just that after I finish this blog and I click "publish" sure helps to take your own advice...let's go take time to Smell the Roses!!!






 

Friday, March 22, 2013

THE BEACH... YOU GOT TO LOVE IT!!!..


I know it's a little early to talk about the Beach, not for those on Spring break, this week Spring officially began...

Well I love it!  Just spend three weeks at the Florida Gulf Coast, my favorite place.  With the white sands and the Emerald Green waters makes for a famous place to go for R&R.  February was a great time to go.  The weather was not so hot and humid, it was rather cool but we didn’t care....


 

Phil and I spent some quality time together, even had separate paths at times.  Having the same careers, we're together 24/7 and find our conversation just surface talk at times.  So it was a beautiful time together, with deep meaning!




.....our walks on the beach left footprints in the sand, it was great exercise.... 


  
Here's a few seashells I collected.  It was the most I have ever gotten on one trip.....


I began trying to pick the most colorful and best shaped.  It was hard finding those that were not broken until I thought why step over the broken ones they are pretty too!...

...and of course we enjoyed great Seafood.  About two or three miles from us was a place that serves the best Grouper Sandwich.....


The sun as it is setting in the west is so hard to capture in a photograph with it's  ever changing beauty....


 ...but Phil was able to catch it just right....


 ...here's more of things we found of interest enjoy them with us!



Here is the path we walked each day that led us to the beach...



....this seagull looked like it had only one leg. I felt so sad for it, thinking it was injured in battle with its enemy. As I walked closer his leg came out of his wing and he flew away.  Seems they like to stand on one leg, made for a good laugh..it fooled me!



...I could sit all day and watch the waves they speak in their sounds.  They come and go, come and go, come and go lapping the sands...


   
....the wide open space on the beach is a great place to fly a kite...



I had to have my picture made on this beautiful day to take home to remember on a day I wish I was at the beach....
 



 ...it was a wonder time I will always remember.....


UNTIL NEXT TIME....

Monday, March 18, 2013

WHAT IS YOUR PASSION?




Had a good time with friends recently. We chatted in a restaurant with a play area, their two kids enjoyed the tall slides.  Their son ran up, sat beside me and looked up with a smile, winning my heart.  I ask him, “What did you learn in school today?” with a quick answer he said, “I learned about the word Passion”.  I went on to say, “so what does Passion mean?” He said, “it means what you are Excited About”.  His mother standing there proud at her 5 year old son ask him, “what are you Excited About?” With a quick answer he said, “My Toys”...don’t know if that is the answer she was looking for, but you could see the Passion in his face as he answered her.

Does that account stir you for an answer to that question in your own life? WHAT IS YOUR PASSION? It’s a good thing to know your Passion.  Passion draws from you that thing you want, using your gifts and talents to accomplish your goals and dreams.

I love reading Michael Hyatt, the motivational speaker and writer.  He says these are some reason we have a hard time finding our Passion that are so true:

  • Our insecurities define us more than our hidden, suppressed dreams.
  • We are afraid to boast.
  • We see the vastness of the world and feel insignificant or overwhelmed to make a difference.
  • We feel it’s selfish to become introspective.
  • We’re extremely busy maintaining an overbooked life and don’t have time to reconsider why we’re working ourselves to death.
  • We think it’s wrong to do what we love.
  • We feel the sting of rejection the last time we tried operating in our passion, and we’ve let that rejection scare us.
  • We are afraid if we identify it, we’ll have to do something, to act on it (and that means risking failure).

Here he gives 3 Important Ways to Discover Your Passion:

1. Where does need and joy collide? discover what you believe to be the world’s greatest need. The passion flows from that.
Michael gives his personal example and he lives it! “For instance, I believe the world’s greatest need is to heal from the past to live freely today. My passion is to write in such a way that I can help people live free.
So, what is the world’s greatest need, according to you? What you hope to do about that gets at your passion.
2.  Do the three-movie exercise.  Without thinking too much, list your three favorite movies.  
I love this he gives his own personal example giving us a clear picture... 
  • Star Wars
  • Lord of the Rings
  • To Kill a Mockingbird
He said, “I examined those three movies and determined the common thread that ran through each.“ Outcasts who overcome their past to absolutely change the world.”
The statement will closely resemble (if not mimic) your passion in this life. You’ll be stunned at how closely the thread hints at your passion.
3.  Ask others about “one thing.” Ask several of your friends your “one thing” this will strongly indicate your passion. 

A final thought: Once you’ve identified your passion, you can begin to reorient your life around it. You can make difficult decisions in order to do the thing God has uniquely created you to do. Just think of how the Kingdom of God would explode if we dared to live from our passion!

Saturday, March 16, 2013

NEW BEGINNINGS...AGAIN!!!




....................After much study I have decided to step back and start over, bet you haven't ever done that.  Yes! It's the thing I am doing and will start back posting here.  I like it here, it's home to me.  I understand how to move around and "feel" here or dare I say, "vent" here....yes I will! So here I am and very soon I will have my first "back here" post, look for it.....