When we chose to get married, we wear a ring to symbolize the love we share with another individual. We wear this ring on our left hand on our “ring” finger. Do you know why its called the ring finger? This finger has blood flow from a single vein that goes straight to the heart – where we say love must come from. We can have love in various forms as the different love languages tells us but all forms of love come from a commitment of the heart. And I believe all forms of love are shown through some form of touch. A hug is the quintessential form in expressing whichever form of love you are expressing.
Hugs from our spouseHugs between parents and childrenGroup Hug
All though the scriptures God tell us to love because He is loved us first.
But we are not the only specie that understands the value of a hug. All of the animal kingdom understands the value of hugging to express love, tenderness, compassion, friendliness.
And even with inter-species there are various forms of hugging.
Hugging takes kindness and those who read me know I am a big fan of being kind. So in closing, I remind myself and anyone else to always be kind and if you get the chance, hug someone or a favorite animal today.
PS – I want to shout out to all photographers who have the ability to take marvelous photos and add them to the internet where those of us who do have have abilities or access to the many places you go. Thank you for sharing you love for all of us to enjoy.
We have all gotten use to the special days of recognition like Mother’s Day, Father’s day, Grandparent’s, Kids Day and then commercialization really got hold of it to the digression of Pizza day, really?
But today is World Communion Day. How awesome is that? Think about it. All Christ based churches came together today to share communion on the same day to honor our God for giving us Christ; to honor Christ for giving us salvation and to honor the act of Remembrance of Him in sharing the loaf and the cup. All denominations who honor Christ have details in their service that they do differently. Some use wine, some use juice, some have bread, some have wafers but they do it toward the same purpose – to honor our LORD and what He did for us.
All four Gospels tell of the story of the last supper and as Jesus broke the bread he explained that it represented His body and as He passed the wine how it represented His blood shed for all and that this communion between mind, body and spirit with God was to be done as a remembrance of His love.
What an awesome thing for the world to do in coming together as one as we each spread our outstretched hands of love for fellow Christians…across the world. May all feel the love He has shown for us everyday and may we come together in one heart of love for Him and fellow Christians across the world.
And in closing, as I always remind myself and others, Be Kind. Let you kindness be ripples of love as they flow across the waters of life never ceasing.
Plus there is the internet card variation which can add in animation. But I am choosing the Get Well version of a card sent through by the proverbial ‘snail mail’ system. It takes an extra effort of someone to go purchase, write in and stamp an envelope to someone who is under the weather and this always brighten their day. I remember when my grandmother was in the hospital for gall bladder surgery. She was a school teacher and loved by many, so we took the cards and taped then to the wall. She had a full wall of cards and drawings from children to cheer her up letting her know just how much she was loved.
As I have been healing from my foot surgery, I too received some wonderful cards from friends that cheered my day.
From Sunday School Class
I think it is important to remember those who are healing, whether it be from sickness, surgery or healing from the loss of a loved one. These are all issues that are painful and knowing someone cares always make it better. Sometimes a card or silly note that makes you laugh can be the best type of medicine for healing.
Go the extra mile – remember a friend or family member and give them a smile.
cheese,
And in closing as always, remember the value of kindness and carry it as you go.
Hello, my registered name is Spot Junior but my friends and family call me Dittims. I was named after the first dog my mom had when she was a kid. His name was Spot Tillman Junior III. There was no first or second. He was named by mom’s brother who was 3 at the time. It was actually my mom’s human daughter that gave me my nickname Dittims because she said I was special. I guess I am pretty special as I am totally deaf and have only 25% vision in my left eye and about 90% vision in my eye but it did not stop me from enjoying life. I was a happy puppy. I was born on Alabama but moved with my mom and her human daughter to Iowa when I was about 6.
I am a Harlequin Great Dane but mostly all white except for a few spots on my right side. I stand about waist high to my mom, weigh about 185 lbs and love sitting in my mom’s lap. My favorite game is the cup toss. My mom loves the frozen cola drink ICEE that you get at the gas stations in the south. She always saves the last swallow for me and once I finish it then I have a fun toy, until of course I tear it to shreds and mom takes it away from me. But that’s OK because I know she will bring me another in a day or so. The cup toss game is a game I made up where I take the cup and throw it up in the air with my mouth and then I race around this big bush in the yard and zoom by picking the cup up as I fly by. Some of us Danes really like to run. You know we are part grey hound so its natural part of us. My mom has written a book about me and all her other dogs she had when growing up. She hopes to get it published and if she does she will let you know where to find it. Other pictures have been added for you to see so enjoy. Its been nice talking to you. Have a great weekend as it is coming, and cooler weather is too. Need to get out my sweater.
Me and momSnow in LA(Lower Ala) weird right?Me and first grandchild, he was tiny.
In continuation of the can of worms I opened yesterday, I would like to proceed just a little more. If you did not read my post yesterday, this may or may not make sense although I think in all of us have, somewhere, in the back of our closet, is a can of worms we prefer to keep tightly closed.
Lets backup just a bit to make a statement that sometimes the cans of worms we grew up with in our families may or may not influence the cans of worms that get created when the next generation of family is created. Sometime cans of worms just get created.
OK, enough about worms. The whole purpose of this is driven from a statement made to me that I should really get some help opening all the doors of my past so that I can process them correctly. I looked at speaker, who does not have the same belief system as I do and calmly said -“If God wanted me to remember that pain, he would bring it to the front”. The brain is an incredible piece of work that we have only scratched the surface of in trying to understand how it works. It has the uncanny ability to block out the painful or scary parts of our past which is a protective mechanism to make us forget those memories that would forever break our heart every time we think about them. For example – a woman giving birth. Why would women go through that pain if they remembered what it was like. I did it three time so there is evidently some truth in that thought. So why would you want to open those doors of pain. Only then to have to go to therapy, spend money you don’t want to spend, learning coping mechanisms to deal with the pain and disillusions that previously your brain in its own protective mode had already done for you. It makes no sense to me.
Now, I will say that deep down, this “damage” created from these memories may have influenced some of the decisions made later in life and those I think you need to get help from because those you can remember and analyze the why of and learn from. Like for instance marrying the same man twice expecting a different result the second time. Some of us a slower learners than the others…or just hopeless believers in what could be.
This morning before heading to Bible study, I read Laurie ‘s post on her healing process for running. She made some very profound statements about life as it is ever changing around us and that we need to do mental inventory to make sure our wants, needs and emotions are being met so that we can then assess what needs to be done to make our run with life smoother. I suggest you head over there as it was a very good read.
In Bible study this morning the question was asked as where is your focus and does it need reevaluating. Are we so lost in what has happened to us that we quit? Are so so angered about what happened that we have become bitter?
When I analyze my past, there are a lot of missing childhood memories but there are some good memories as well. In my married life, there were a lot of rough seas but some beautiful calm waters as well. I don’t think you can go through this life with everything calm and beautiful. Its the rough seas that shape us into the beautiful people we can be if we allow ourselves to be draped in the silver lining that gets produced from trials.
It is my firm belief that God provides that lining and if we are willing, he will show us how to use it to bless others. We have got to be willing to let God walk besides us (periodically carry us) to withstand the trials of this life. I remember standing at the back of my son’s dorm and looking up at the window he broke out during a nightmare, seeing all the glass that was scattered on the ground, and I remember crying as I stared up at that window, 3 floors up, how very gracious my God was as that my son had no broken bones, only cuts from the glass as he dove out the window. God will carry you and he angels will catch you. I stake my and my children life on it, literally.
One day I will write a post on how I believe angels are working overtime for me and my children as we go through this process of learning that we call life.
And as I remind myself and others who read my scribbles, always be kind. Your kindness may not change the world but it may change the world of that one ‘being’.
Do we get any release from understanding the things happened to us as we grow from one season to the next. I myself am on the fence having been through both the tough love of confrontation meetings with all the affected people and the ignoring aspect with those who sweep everything under the rug as though it never happened. I am going to post a few of my thoughts on this subject, would love your feedback…gently please.
Being born in the 50s from a very comfortable family as far as money goes, society at that time was much into social drinking as a means of networking friends, family and business. It was very acceptable for there to be a liquor cabinet in the house for access by… anyone if they chose. It was an era where the lasting results of alcoholism was not understood or several years and no one really understood how these accepted practices would affect the next generation. Do I have the truths or cures about any of this…No. But I do have a one sided opinion of a child, me, that grew up in that era and watched countless other young people come to grips with this disease because that was the end result of that social acceptance, alcoholism and the damage it caused.
My parents were never physically abusive but in today’s understanding that is only one small part of the many forms of abuse. Did I ever feel abused, never – fearful a times – yes. There were four of us children, I was the baby. When our house was built in the late 40s it had more doors and windows than any house should have. My room which originally had been the master suite had 3 entrance doors 2 closet doors and 3 windows. I promise, that room was not that big. One door was an entrance from foyer(offset from the living room) at the front door, one entrance was from the hallway that led to the other bedroom and again another way to the living room and one entrance went into a dressing room which led into the bathroom which also led into the second bedroom. The point I am trying to make is that section of the house was all in a circle. And if you know anything about quail you will understand my next statement. When the yelling and dish breaking would start in the kitchen, the four kids would scatter like quail to any available door depending on where they were and you would hear the doors close click, click, click, click. Batten down the hatches boys. Bumpy seas ahead.
Consequently we all learned to recognize the signs and get out of its way. With me being the youngest, I was protected by my older siblings a lot but none of us escaped this disease unscathed, we all have our issues that we deal with, some to this very day. But my purpose in this post is not to tell of my pitiful self( as I am not at all) but to shed light on the two different ways this situation was handled and why neither of them worked and in my opinion why they were wrong.
For years the problems were swept under the rug, ignored, like they don’t exist. All this does is make them grow. If you don’t address a problem, with LOVE, understanding and kindness, it never goes away or gets fixed. We all have problems and they all need fixing but you have to communicate to do that. And communication MUST accompany love.
The other path of recognition of a problem is the tough love confrontation by all parties included, a gauntlet of criticism as it were. After my father died from cancer, my mother’s drinking got worse and it was the well meaning oldest child that felt this method needed to be done to save mother but in my opinion it crushed her. A couple years later I apologized to her. It was the trend of the time to help. Each child had a different experience due to the time in their lives depending on where the drinking level was in mother’s life. It seemed cruel to me then and it seems cruel now. Not that the method is a useful tool, it just was not handled properly.
Now I was then the only Christian in my family. Now they all went to church during Christmas and at Easter but none believed as I do that there is a relationship built between a person and Christ that helps one navigate hard times and smile in the good times. So the tough love confrontation did nothing but hurt my mother as it was done accusingly not lovingly as Christ would have done.
Chapter 5 of Galatians list the fruits of the spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. It is the spirit of God that gives the abilities to use these gifts and He give them to us to use them freely.
So when you face a confrontation, remember Jesus. Remember His teaching but most of all remember HIS LOVE. He has so much love to give us and we are to spread it wherever we go. Do any of us have all the answers? I don’t think so but if any situation is approached in the right frame of mind, good will come from it.
Over the next few posts, I will explore more of why I believe things happened in my family, my reaction to them, my reaction because of them and the consequences of it all. Maybe someone will agree, disagree but can offer a different preservative of this thing we call life.
Let this picture sink in for a minute. What do you see?
Due to circumstances that happened in the last couple of weeks and the challenge of my pastor this morning of us being good stewards of our faith, I felt this picture, which has been floating around on Facebook for awhile, needed to be coupled with just a few of the thoughts that were shared this morning.
How gracious and magnificent is your love OF me and FOR me O, Lord.
Do you know how much you are loved? Psalm 139:14 says …I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful. Verse 13 explains that He knew us and made our inmost being while still in our mother’s womb. You are His child, He made you, warts and all. Even though you may have challenges, He does not leave you to get through them alone.
Do you know that He is always there for us? Psalm 139:5, You hem me in – behind and before. There is no where we can go that He can not reach us. Check out vs 7-10. God loves us so much and He is thinking about us all the time, ever guiding and filled with adoration for us.
When it is your time for your life to be complete, He is there waiting for you as in the picture above. But remember He is the only one who knows how many days you are to have. We all have a set time according to His purpose.
The books of the Psalms are filled with His love and guidance for us. My favorite is Psalm 119. Its the longest Psalm and the longest chapter in the entire bible. But it is broken down into 8 verse sections of poem and prayer. Each section starts off with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet. I challenge you to read it and learn of His love for you.
For the Love of 