Category: Kindness

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.
mark 4 19
 
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…
 
hebrews 12 2
 
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.
kind joy

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.

friends

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.

Jesus laughing

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.

Acts 17 28

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.

Psalm 63 8

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

Thank-God-for-Endless-Love-Lamentations-3-22

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

Elephant kindness

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

D 3

The winds began to blow as they roared down the plain

D 4

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

D 5

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.

kindness1

Beauty in the Sky

Things that Fly

This is an awkward story, rather a poem of things that fly

image000003 (18)

Of God’s creation on day five of things that fill the sky

IMG_20200329_190605

Big things and small things can zoom through the air

Other things just float or flutter with acrobatical  affair

image000004 (15)

Heavy things and light things, so many types there be

One must pay attention to all the beauty you can see

It was day five that God created the many things that fly

To show us the beauty of Him that love us…way up high

Anita Neal

If you enjoy being outside, look around at all that there is to see. There is life and beauty everywhere, big and little, fast and slow. All with their unique purpose and task to complete.  And as always I remind you the beauty and important attribute of Kindness. In all that we do, we should always be kind.

Kindness 18

 

Encouragement, All He said was “Come”

Good evening. I hope this finds you all well. I wanted to share some encouraging thoughts this evening that I read this morning from Oswald’s Chambers’ Utmost for His Highest. I bounce between that devotion and Jesus Calling each morning searching for my morning jump-start. This devotion reminded me of Jesus’ simple request to us…”Come”.
matt 11 28
 
“God intends for us to live a well-rounded life in Christ Jesus, but there are times when that life is attacked from the outside. Yet it is never God’s intention that we should be anything less than absolutely complete in Him.” Oswald Chambers
 
Colossians+2-9
 
But when life erupts on us we get scared, lost or unsure of what to do, who we really are and what we are really worth and we start a self examination of self awareness. This is a dangerous practice that allows the door of doubt to open and our inner thoughts take over.
“Anything that disturbs our rest in Him must be rectified at once, and it is not rectified by being ignored but only by coming to Jesus Christ. This [practice of self awareness] only serves to sap your strength and slow your spiritual growth.” Oswald Chambers
 
Coming to Jesus is what nurtures us and gives us strength. 
 
John 7 37 38
When we are refreshed through His living waters we then can stand firm…we then can remind others of His living water. We need to forget sometimes that we are adults and that we think we control things. There are times we need to come to Jesus like small children and let Him carry us. After all, we are His children.
 
Mark 10 14
 
We all know this in our hearts but sometimes our mind gets in the way. We have to allow Him to teach us His ways and let Him guide us along the path of His choice.
 
Psalm 32 8
 
As we “COME” to Him, lean on Him, learn from Him, we can then allow our hearts to prove to our minds of the love, grace and mercy God has for us and find peace and comfort to stand strong.
 
Hebrews 4 16
 
I pray you find comfort from these chaotic times by feeling His presence. I leave you with this prayer of encouragement so that you can know you are cherished and loved in His shelter.
night prayer 2

Tuesday Writing Challenge, Catch the Sun

 

sun_catch_17

Path of Light

The sun is going to bed, but I don’t want it to leave

There still so much to see, to do and still believe

I reach out gently to hold it, trying to make it stay

But it looks back at me, smiling, it must be on its way

Its warmth begins to leave us, leaving us with a chill

As I watch its path carry it behind the darkened hill.

The darkness envelopes us, as the light is now gone

I find myself now tired and stifling a coming yawn.

I leave the darkness behind me in hope of a new morn

When the light returns again in a new day to be born.

Anita Neal

Devereaux Frazier and Beth Amanda are currently hosting the Tuesday Writing Prompt Challenge which was started by our star writer Christine Ray. We hope to offer all of you something that will spark your creativity and willingness to participate.

Today’s prompt: catch the sunlight

I remind you always of the value of kindness. It may be the one things that make a persons day.

 

KINDNESS10

Evening Encouragement, Special

As I am getting older, my daughter tells me my stubborn streak is getting stronger. Do you consider yourself a stubborn individual? I think all of us are stubborn to some extent, we have limits we will not cross at any cost. As we start to age, some of those limits get hung onto harder for fear we lose something if we give in….like physical abilities, independence, self worth…and the list goes on. It’s hard sometimes especially if you still have things you are trying to get accomplished.

I especially loved my pastor’s sermon on Sunday. He reminded us that we have to periodically regroup – even in our spiritual life.  Stop and focus on Him, Receive the blessing he daily gives,  and Believe he is always there for you. The hardest sometimes is to Stop…and then to believe…
The pressure we sometimes put on ourselves in trying to be the best…that “golden vessel” on this earth is not really what God is looking for. I saw a quote the other day that kind of puts this into perspective at least for me it does. 
 
“God is not looking for gold or silver vessels. He is looking for yielded vessels.” Kathryn Kuhlman, 1907-1976
 
Yeilding
 
Genesis tells us we are made of dust of the ground…that’s dirt. Not impressive at all, yet when He touches it, magic happens…
isaiah_64-8
We all have made things in our lives through the many things we do and we are proud of some of those things. Think how proud God is of you, His child. You are His creation. He is not asking for big things from you, just be yielding like wet clay and let Him mold you as His instrument…
Romans 6 13
Not an easy task per the world’s standards…but to God, it’s all he wants. Then he will take care of the rest.
Always remember how very special you are.
Psalm 139 14
I leave you with an oldie but goodie by Chonda Pierce, Potter’s Hand.
Have a blessed evening and always remember in everything you do…be kind.
kind right 2