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.

From Frustration to Kindness

God reminded me today to “Sit – Breathe – Relax – Love – Be Kind”. We all have those days when someone just pushes all the wrong buttons. I don’t have those days often but they usually come about when someone…rather when I feel someone is being …no  I am not going to say that word… so I will say when someone does not use the intelligence you know they have. And when that someone is someone in your family…well family is different and can be more frustrating because you know exactly how they operate. But then I think about how I frustrate God and He definitely knows exactly how I operate. I am sure He does a lot of Sit – Breathe…well, you get the idea.

He teaches us how to treat others in any capacity that we encounter them, then He reminds us through the lessons of the Fruit of the Spirit how people need to be treated. If we are given a choice of being intellectually right versus allowing our heart to show kindness in how we behave…then being kind should always win out over being right.  And like my Pastor said in the bible study on Wednesday, it’s the trials and situations that we face that strengthens us so we can survive and hopefully bring others along with us who are watching us and how we behave and then they want to survive as well because with all the frustration we were still kind.

It is through His grace that we are saved and while we ourselves can not save anyone…we can show the benefits of God’s love and salvation by being kind, loving and supportive. As we are currently going through odd and difficult times, allow His strength to cover any weakness you feel as you breathe in His love. Then you can breathe out His grace for you and others around you. And together, you and God, will have all the strength you need for any situation.

I leave you with a little humor…that says a lot. Have a great evening and new day tomorrow.

The Old Oak Tree

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The Cycle of Life

I sit and I wonder at the beauty I see

The flicker of the light through the old oak tree

Shimmering green against the pale blue sky

Watching the birds zoom through as they fly

The grass beneath is beginning to turn brown

Still you hold every leaf so it doesn’t fall down

As the air turns cooler for this time of year

I look for the colors changes we hold so dear

For many the oak is a symbol of great life

With its strength and resilience bypassing its strife 

She holds on to her leaves and sheds them last

A reminder to us all, this life goes too fast

We forget the truths of the stories we are told

That life is a cycle much purer than gold.

Anita Neal

With the understanding of life as we live through it paces, lets us never forget the stories of old that teach us the values that come from life, nature and God’s wonderful story of you. We are each His greatest creation because we reflect His love and His being. Like the old oak tree understanding the value of each leaf, God understand the value of each of us. Remember how precious you are to God and reflect His kindness wherever you go.

 

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Through the Eyes of Daisy

Daisy Mae

My name is Daisy, looking at you, or Daisy Mae to be fully true.

You see my color of black is true, but tonight I feel the color of blue.

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Odd people were here, may one, no two, painting the walls, it’s smells phew

I bumped her leg, for something to do, she said no, what’s a dog to do?

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I pick up my bone and begin to chew, I found a great holder, her old yard shoe

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This was not fun, so left it askew, I stretch out long, yeah, I am looking at you.

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I am bored, just wanting something to do, she said no, what’s a dog to do.

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My name is Daisy, since I’ve nothing to do, I send out a hello especially for you.

Anita Neal

 

And as always remember to be kind to all kinds.

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An Encouraging Word, Joy

Good evening friends. I am hoping to spread a little “JOY” in your direction this evening and maybe bring a smile to your face.  I love the acronym below for “joy” as it helps put into perspective of how Jesus thought about joy. We as humans get it confused with happiness, as in emotion, and in reality it has nothing to do with happiness…to me, maybe love, as an action verb, is a better comparison. What can you see as a better comparison?

JOY
We are starting a new bible study at my church this week, a zoom bible study as its how the times are now. The study is based on the book of James and boy, James starts right out the box with his thoughts on Joy.
 
James 1 2-3
 
There is no fun in suffering and hard times. We are having a lot of those right now but if we get quiet for a moment and allow Jesus to overflow our thoughts, we can feel the joy rise up in us. Jesus reminded us in Mark that the things the world thinks we should care about can actually erode our joy as it pulls us away from the Word.
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But 1 Peter 1:8 reminds us that because we “believe in Him, we are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy”. It shows how on some mornings beyond all odds, we are able to keep going.
 
Nehemiah 8 10
 
Hebrews 12:2 puts a perspective on Joy that we sometimes forget but it is the main crux of HIS true JOY…His joy for us…
 
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Such a heartbreaking act of love He went through for us but such a joyous act according to Him. But we try not to dwell on the horrors of this gift and instead we dwell on the love of this non repayable gift and let the joy of it fill our hearts.
 
John 15 11
 
I leave you with these lasting words from Paul as he encouraged the Romans so you too can hang on to the Hope from the Holy Spirit and find your joy and peace.
 
romans 15 13
 
When allowing the joy and peace to overflow you, remember the kindness that can come from the heart because of the joy you may feel. Always be kind.
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Friends on the Couch

How many of you love to sit around and enjoy each other’s company? Envision a group of family or friends sitting around and laughing as they tell stories of old. Sometimes they are scary, sometimes they make us laugh and sometimes they make us cry. But being together with friends and loved ones is what makes the stories worthwhile.

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This morning as I read through the Jesus Calling devotional, I remembered many times of the full pleasure this brings us. I recently wrote a book showing how much fun this could be with wonderful groups of friends or family just sitting around telling stories from the past. But we need to remember, there is a very important friend we need to invite that desperately wants to be a part of our group, he wants to join in with our fun, laughter and tears and that would be Jesus. He wants to be a part of every moment of your life.

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He can enrich our fun and turn our dull grayness to wonderful brightness. When we get stuck in the dullness of everyday tasks, we have a tendency to to forget life’s joy and we descend into the unfocused grayness of discouragement. But if we realize this is happening and refocus our minds and hearts back on Him,  He will lift us back where we need to be, guiding us back to Him on a wonderful bright path of joy.

Psalm 16 11

Yes, this sounds a little far fetched and an unreal way of thinking, but I promise it is very real and well worth the try. We were each created for a purpose that only He knows and guides and we are never meant to do it without Him.

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His presence goes with us, wherever we may go. You may not feel His presence, you may even deny He is there, but I promise you He is always there. There is a saying that zips through facebook and other social mediums stating that while we prove to Him many times that we am not worthy of His love, He ignores it and loves us anyway. How can you not want that sitting with you on the sofa.

Hebrews 13 5

So my theory is this, if He is going to be there anyway, then offer Him a seat on the sofa and watch the room begin to glow with His love and presence. And when he reaches over to take your hand, grab it firmly in yours and hold on tightly, it will be a fantastic ride.

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I leave you with this prayer of encouragement.  Ask Him to remain close to you and guide your way…He has already said yes.

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And as always remember to be kind. It is the most under rated quality of mankind.

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Encouragement from Isaiah

Good evening. I write this encouragement as I dance in my chair to an oldie but goodie CD from way back in 2000. What were you doing 20 years ago? A lot to remember and be thankful for. This CD, America’s Newest and Favorite Praise and Worship songs, has great songs like “Let Everything That Has Breath Praise the Lord” and a personal favorite “Ancient of Days”.  The song Ancient of Days goes along with today’s reminder of Isaiah’s word from Chapter 45, actually God’s words to Isaiah.  

The book of Isaiah is the first writing of the prophets and Isaiah is considered the greatest of the prophets. While he was loved at first, his message of gloom and doom did not sir well with the Israelites. None of us like to be called out for our wrongdoings. While the first half of the book is filled with God’s anger for all their sins, He always finishes with hope for those who chose to follow His ways. Chapters 40-66 are Isaiah teaching of hope for the future, their restoration and God’s continued promises. Chapter 45 is a favorite of mine as God shows His continued love for His people while reminding them who He was – “I am God, there is no other”. Enjoy the pictures I found with the scripture quotes from Chapter 45 as God explains who He is and how He has always loved us.

Isaiah 45 5
He is the one and only.
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He is the one who created all of this for His delight in watching us enjoy the beauty of His creation.
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Have you been totally away from the city lights to see the magnificent beauty of the star filled sky…each star has a given name.
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Created not in vain, He is the Lord, there is none else.
Since I am listening to music, I leave you with a song “How Deep The Father’s Love For Us”. If you choose to listen, the words are also on the screen so you can read as well as listen to the song and really get an understanding just how much He loves you.
Have a safe and peaceful evening.

Mother Nature at Her Worst

A Derecho

Life can be hard but as you will begin to see

It seems easy compared to what happened to me

The storms clouds came in thick and dark as night

It took us by surprise, no one expected this sight

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The winds began to blow as they roared down the plain

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Tearing everything up it touch, like a runaway freight train

Those along the coast know how hurricanes can be

But here in the midwest, its tornadoes we usually see

The width of the destruction on an in-land hurricane

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Makes our widest tornado look like a minor pain

A reminder to us all, no matter where we live

Mother Nature is a force, her respect we must give.

Anita Neal

When you get slapped in the face by something you can’t describe or understand, you write about it to help ease the pain. I was a very fortunate being through this fiasco but I have many friends who were not as fortunate. Some paid with their lives.

There are still areas without power, and cleanup will be for months. Some of these trees were decades if not over 100s of years old. Two other picture I wanted to include but it didn’t fit in the poem was one house was hit by an airplane wing that had been ripped off of a plane and sent flying. The other one was where a house was destroyed and a beam from it was sent through a house across the street.

If you are a prayerful person, please send this part of the US your prayers. Much loss of homes, business and the farming industry was crushed. And I don’t even want to talk about the wild animals that were killed and displaced.

If you care to see further pictures, they are all over the internet. Look for  Iowa 2020 Derecho.

It is hard for me to close as I always do, but now more than ever, this world needs to see, feel  and receive as much kindness as we can share with each other. There are lots of storms facing all of us all over this world. Please always be kind.

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