The truth of God's love, the Encouragement we all need and occasional humor
Author: anitashope
Retired Quality Manager but still have the "Why" curiosity drive so I am turning my love for Christ and nature into my new why chase and am trying to discover more of His word as it relates to His love for His creation.
What a exciting word Debbie Smyth has challenged us with for One Word Sunday. I don’t really have my own pictures but tomorrow promises to be a new day so I thought I would join in. New means a fresh start, replacement of something old or broken or the beginning a whole different adventure. For me its a whole NEW adventure or job as it were. Last February I retired from 40 years of quality control and management of the manufacturing process. A much needed and well deserved rung of my latter but of late, even though I have fully enjoyed my writing and my new found friends across the world, something was still lacking. So when my church asked me if I would be interested in being the secretary for the church, I thought about it for a while and then said yes. Going from standing the firm line on making sure the manufacturing process was correct to answering the phone and being gentle like the previous secretary was may be a bit of a challenge. While I have always been a strong proponent of always being kind, now I have to add gentle into the equation.
Can it be done
So as I start my new chapter( its only part time) I will have to add a reminder not only to be kind but to also be gentle. That also is a fruit of the spirit mentioned in scripture.
It’s a word than dons power or specialty as in “master of my house” or “jack of all trades and master of none”; then in golf there is the Masters Tournament each spring in Augusta Ga. or in biblical times and even up to current times there is the master/slave relationships of people. For today’s Jot in January we are following Linda and Sadje’sprompt of master and since it is also a Sunday my mind went only in one direction – The Master.
It is my belief that all people follow. Even those that lead, follow. They follow what they believe to be the truth according to their own priorities and these priorities are gain by things they have lived through and assessed to be the truth in their hearts and mind. And that truth is their master.
Look at all the good and bad leaders of this world we have seen thus far. They lead from their hearts and were able to convince others that his/her priorities were correct and true until someone else came along with a better idea of what they believe to be true. I think in each person’s heart, whether it be for mastering his own life or mastering the hearts of a nation, it starts with being true to what he believes as the truth and that therein is the root of the problem.
In John 18:37, Jesus explains to Pontius Pilate that he is the witness of the truth where Pilate retorted “What is truth”. Philippians 4:8 reminds us that “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think on such things.”
In my opinion when you take life and boil it down to the stickiness left in the bottom of the pan there are only two defining truths and therefore two defining masters – the Masters of Good and Evil and who those Masters are. You can walk in the gray matter between the two for a while but there will be a day where a choice will need to be made. The first choice you have to make and that choice will decide your direction of choices is do you even believe there really is a Good Master and Evil Master.
My beliefs are there is definitely a Good Master and an Evil being that wants to be a master but has already lost. He is just going to take as many as he can away from the Good Master through his trickery and lying by deceiving those into believing the Good Master is not the truth. The choice is intimately up to each individual as he searches for his own truth and that which makes him happy.
The choice
Everything we do in life is a choice and my hope is that more of us choose the Good Master as he will bring to us the love, tenderness and kindness we are all so hungry for.
The screen door slammed as Jerry entered the kitchen sniffing the air of fresh backing cornbread just coming out of the oven.
“Sup, grandma. Smells great in here.”
“Sup? All that education you have had and that’s the way you talk.”
“Sorry. Good afternoon Grandmother. How are you this fine evening?” he teased pecking her on the cheek.
“Hmp, now you are just being ridiculous,” she said as she sipped in her tea. “There is sweet tea in the fridge and get out the syrup so it can be warming up a bit.”
Reaching in the fridge, he pulled out the bottle of Georgia Cane Syrup made by Johnson’s farm at the southern part of the state. He poured himself a large glass of tea and came to sit at the table across from his grandmother as she finished slathering butter of the steaming ears of corn. Reading of the bottle of syrup he noted the date on the back label.
“Does syrup get old?” he asked.
“No, why do you ask?” she said.
“It’s got a date on the label.”
“Oh, that’s a best used date, before it starts to separate,” she explained.
“Separate?”
She stopped with her hand on her hips and stared at her grandson. “Have you learned nothing from me and this farm? What is syrup made from?”
A gleam lit in his eyes knowing a good banter was in the making. “Well that depends. You have maple syrup where they pull sap from a tree, boil it down to make syrup.”
He glanced up to see the good natured scowl deepen on her brow.
“We don’t grow maple trees here in the south. We grow cane. Your grandpa had 2 full acres ever year before he passed. The sugar cane juice, sap, is boiled down as the cane is crushed. If you let it sit too long on the shelf it will turn to sugar crystals – separate. Here, take your plate and grab you some field peas and greens from the stove. Pork chops, corn and cornbread are already here on the table. How big a piece of cornbread do you want?”
“Normal size for now,” he said. “Then I will get a bigger slice to sop up remaining juices on my place before I add the syrup.”
“Yea, that’s the best part of the meal,” agreed Grandma as they settled in to a warm enjoyable meal.
Growing up in the late 1900’s gave a different meaning to the family meal. It was a time for fun shared over good food, teasing to help you grow with lots of assurance of love and togetherness. We seem to have lost that as we are rushing to the next battle to conquer. A lot of the encouragement has been lost and we find ourselves at times not knowing exactly what the next step needs to be. So I challenge you this year to try to regain some of that back. Love on you family members and friends and encourage each other. And as always…remember to be kind. Even when drawing a hard line if needed, it cane be done with love, encouragement and KINDNESS.
Linda’s guest prompter today, Virgobeauty, gave us a word prompt ofenigmatic. Such an interesting word reminiscent of times gone by with its amount of use for today but still an interesting word. Come join in on the fun of Just Jot January and say hey to everyone. It promises to be an enigmatically good time.
ENIGMATIC DAWN
Early Dawn
The early light sneaks in, etching out shadows of night before
With mystifying stealth, where no man had trod before
With unfathomable skill she stares on open untouched land
Making sure she touched places where no one alone can stand
Early Morn
With brightness she increases, making the impenetrable darkness flee
The valley below eyes twinkle in hopes of the newness it may see
The enigmatic dawn flits quickly by as the brightness of the day begins
Leaving the question behind for all of “Who today will win?”
– Anita Neal –
Brand New Day
May the brightness of your life shine as the start of a brand new day. We get the opportunity to start fresh each day, leaving the woes and dramas of previous days behind. Remember God shines His light on you so that you can shine it on others. Always remember to be kind. Kindness is a love gift from above. Let your drop of kindness flow outward creating ripples of joy across the waters of life.
What an interesting thing Linda has challenged us with today with her prompt of Why do you do what you do…in blogging. I made sure I add the part “in blogging” because then we would be trying to find the answers to “why do you try to get out of the car with you seat belt still attached” or “why are you looking all over the house for your glasses when you have them pushed up on your head”.
Some questions of why we do what we do really have no answers. But why do I blog, I can answer. I retired in February, not by choice as I enjoyed working but I was 66 and the new plant manager was a beast to say it lightly. So I said enough. Now what. I know, I will finish the book I started last year which was really a backwards way to write my memories so my children would have an idea as to “why I did what I did”. So as I sat down in February I got back to the book but it took on a life of its own and became more fiction that truth then it changed again to become a backwards way to tell others about Christ. Then I wondered if I could ever get this published so I joined the local writers guild and one of the guest speakers asked me what my platform was. Well she could tell from my “deer in headlights look” that I had no clue what she was talking about – still don’t but she did tell me if I ever wanted to be serious about writing I needed to have a blog. So in August, not having a clue as to what I am doing, I started a blog. The theme was sort of tied around the book but as the book has evolved, so did the blog. I use “For the Love of” to show anyone who reads my blog to know there is still a lot of love left in this crazy, chaotic and sometimes cruel world. I explore the beauty in nature, the beauty in people and I have become very fond of all the bloggers who are photographers. The beauty in this world that they show is enough to keep anyone blogging. It’s inspiring. I also enjoy all the friends I have met around this blue marble. At my age, it is still amazing I can talk to someone with a computer from countries I have never been to or never will get to. To see their world from their eyes and their heart is amazing.
With the tag line of “anitashope” I hope that to at least one person on any given day I have brought a smile, some encouragement, some love and have been able to reflect the light of Christ as he has asked us to.
Do I still want to get published, sure. Beside the book I have written several short stories, some flash fiction and now playing with poetry. But my style is not for everyone so finding that market is going to be tough.
And of course my end to all of my blogs remind all of us to be kind. Being kind is so easy some days and very hard some days but those are days when you will be blessed the most when you in turn are kind. Kindness is truly a gift to be shared with man and animal alike. So as always I encourage you to be kind.
I got new toys for Christmas. A new book of adult coloring pages and a book of etching that I was not familiar with. Just like with the coloring pages, the outline is there but then everything else is colored over in black. You have a wooden etching tool that you scrape away the black in any form or amount you want to creating a different design. You can go by the patterns shown or just free lance your design which I find much more fun.
Below are the before and after etchings I did for January 2019. The black really makes the colors pop.
Before etchingAfter
This page had a light blue background where you could add rain drops.
On my previous post this morning for #1LinerWed/#JusJoJan, I forgot to add my reminder of being kind. So I want to make sure I try to bring a smile to at least one person each day as a reminder of kindness and a picture showing the value of this precious gift. We ALL need kindness and love. Have a great start to the new year.
This is my first time for playing in Just Jot January as I didn’t start blogging until last August, so I look forward to seeing what I can learn from those who have done this before. Those who regularly read my blog know that I am a big proponent for kindness, love in Christ, beauty of nature…and dogs; not necessarily in that order. With the internet now bringing us all closer together, it is more important that these values are encouraged in the things we do. That being said, I ran across this drawing that I thought was perfect to help focus the direction for the new year and a perfect fit, in my mind, for the first posting of JusJoJan 2019. Let’s all have a great year.
And as you feel your way though the new year remember to be kind. Kindness is a reflection of love and a profound gift where giver as well as receiver benefit from that gift.
As Linda G Hill encourages us with prompts this month, come join in on the fun.
This is really a post for tomorrow to start off the new year but I have to be honest, January 1 to a college football fan leans real strong to watching TV all day long. And since my team will be playing, I will be parked there with chips, snacks and good ole southern sweet tea. Go Dawgs!
But once the game is over, we have the rest of the year to contend with. This is only day 1 so what are we going to do for the 364 remaining days. Well I have an internal challenge for you. Its not a challenge you will share each day or week but one you will keep track of in your heart. It is more of an action by you and sort of a “how you gonna do it” to God – not that God needs a challenge but its fun to put your prayer life into action and then sit back and watch God do His work.
This started off on FB as a 30 day challenge but I know we can do better than that so I challenge you to do this once a month. With a different person each month.
How awesome is our God
Then a year from now, look back over your year and see what all God has done. Some you may not see much and some may be obvious. In the life of those of us who love Jesus, we need to be lifting each other up in prayer. Some you now need it and some will hide their hurts deep down, not show it but still need it. This is an internal challenge not for sharing out but for praising in as you see God do His work.
So on the first of each month pick a new person and pray for their happiness, just their happiness. God will move the things around to create that happiness. I currently have 75 followers on my blog. If all 75 do this, then in a years time, 900 people would have been prayed for. What a blessing not only for us but for the recipient.
And if this is just not your thing, then always remember to be kind. Even that is a small prayer as it is sharing of God’s love. Kindness is a gift from you to another being and it reflects God’s love for all of us.
Comparison of the end of a beautiful day and the end of a interesting year,
Colors don’t show how the sky looks on fire
My house sits on top of a hill, so from my back yard I get to see the sun set as it closes out each day. Today’s sunset reminds me of how tomorrow we will close out another year. Today was a bright sunny day ending in an exquisite fiery flame red sunset against distant clouds. Our year is ending, seemingly on a high note but are their distant storm clouds ahead? Who knows? Does it do any good to worry about the possible storm clouds? No. Are you surrounded by storm clouds now? Possibly. Try to focus on the hand that is reaching down through those storm clouds to hold you steady.
When things seem at their worse try to focus on the blessings you have, even though they change daily. It will help your perspective.
Today:
Do I have family and friends that know what I am going through to encourage me?
Do I have food in the house for me to eat?
Do I have a roof over my head keeping me out of the cold and rain?
Do I have running water to drink and wash with?
Do I have fresh air to breathe?
Do I have a savior who knows what all I need and loves me more than I know?
Jesus tells us not to borrow troubles from tomorrow but to focus only on today. Be thankful in the many small blessing you see as they will bring into focus the things you forget you have every day.
As we get ready for the new year, remember to focus on the beauty in life. Yes, it can be very hard but their is always beauty if you look for it. The beauty of a bird as it flies branch to branch, never working, always trusting and knowing it will be provided. Sometimes that provision comes from an unsuspecting squirrel as he too jumps branch to branch seeking and knocking down seeds to the ground for that to bird can get.
Provisions sometimes come for outlandish sources but if you look, you can see His hand at work providing your needs – maybe an angel in disguise.
I bid you all a most wonderful new year with more joy, less pain and brighter hopes. And as I always remind all of us – Be kind. Sometimes your pain or sadness can be lifted by being kind to another person or creature. Kindness is the Love Food of God.
For the Love of 