And in Closing…

As we get ready to close out another year, I am again astounded as to how fast this past one went by.

For most of us, its a time of reflection…

Did we remember to enjoy the beauty we saw…the amazing colors of the sunrise or the calming of the sunset? Did we remember to share in the gentleness of smiles we saw, sharing them back with contagious love?

Did we catch a single snowflake on our tongue, feeling its cold but seeing their beauty as they cover the land in white perfection…knowing that no single flake is like another – an astounding reality of creation…much like every man.

Did we pause as we listened to the chirping of the birds or hear the laughter of children as they play? Or maybe we went for a walk and could hear the quiet sounds of nature as she whispers the beauty of life as God intended us to hear.

Did we truly feel the love come though with that hug we received? Did we in turn hug back with that same love, sharing a quick taste of the love to come from God…a love so full it could make you gasp with its power?

Did we remember that the gifts we are given from God are free to us for the mere asking…even though they came at a great cost…a cost we could never fathom to withstand by ourselves.

As we begin to start a new year, let us remember the beauty of this past year, even with it hardships. The hope of God’s love gives us strength even when we feel weak.

Always remember the beauty and power of kindness. It can be brighter than any star and powerful enough to change any direction. For this next year, try a little extra kindness and see how it brightens your new year.

Share Your World

Interesting idea of sharing the successes and failures for the past year hosted by Sparksfromacombustiblemind. With a blog name like that how can you not come play. So with a New Year themed set of question, I am game as I had a pretty remarkable year. So here we go:

What was the single best thing that happened in your life this past year? That is easy. This past year I became a published author. After retiring in 2018 I was extremely bored and almost depressed. Its hard having a high energy job to do nothing. So I picked up a hobby I started in 2016, finished it and submitted it. If you love animals and are a believer in heaven, you might be interested in seeing what heaven is like froma dogs perspective with Our Home of Love.

The most challenging? That is also easy. During the last quarter of 2018, I had both feet operated on so 2019, I had to learn how to walk again. When one foot got done in September and I seemed to do so well, I decided to go ahead and do the other one in December. What I didn’t realize is why I did so well with the first one is I had the other not operated on foot to lean on – now I didn’t have that and it was difficult for several months.

One thing you learned in 2019? A lesson I have to relearn and relearn and relearn…Patience.

Given all your experiences, insights, and lessons learned in 2019, what’s the best advice you could give yourself for 2020? Take one day at a time and don’t sweat the small stuff that doesn’t get done – its all small stuff. Don’t borrow tomorrows troubles on today.

What’s the best meal/food you ate in 2019? Sorry, I live in the mid-west now and after living in Atlanta for 20 years, the food here is..boring to bad. Sorry, I guess I am just spoiled.

What are three activities you plan to use in the coming year to relieve stress? Since I was not able to walk much this past spring, I plan to walk on the nature trails of a historical park near me. Also walking along the parks at the river is nice as well. Not sure what others will come my way, maybe a trip to Atlanta to go eat – that would be a fabulous activity.

Gratitude Question:

What brought you the most joy and are you going to do more of that? My friends celebrating with me my new found joy of writing. The support and love they share makes it twice as fun and yes book two is almost complete and the start of ideas for book 3 and swimming in my mind.

Lastly – Any resolutions you’d care to share?I am not big on resolutions as they usually don’t last but I am going to give an idea I saw a good honest effort – Put my cell phone down more and pick up my bible instead. Also I am going to make a sincere effort to ensure I spread as much kindness as I possible can.

To join in on Share Your World 12/30/19 fun:

Suggestions for Responding by Melanie B Cee:

Create a Share Your World post. Then post the link to your blog in my comments or leave your answers in the comments on my blog.
To make it easy for others to check out your post, title your blog post “Share Your World” and link it to this post.
If you’d like, remember to follow my blog to get your weekly reminders.
Ping-backs* are activated, but how efficiently varies. Right now it’s been reported that on my blog at least, they are NOT working very well. Some folks can’t comment either. I will answer all responses I can. Thanks for your patience!

And in all things that we do, we make ripples in the lives of people everywhere we touch and interact with. So make your ripples kind so that kindness flows from you in a wave outward to circle the world.

A New Year, A New Challenge

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.

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.

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Another Year’s End, How Blessed

Comparison of the end of a beautiful day and the end of a interesting year,

image000000 (1) — 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.

hand of god

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.

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Happy New Year

One Week Left, #1 Liner Wednesday

Below is some fun I ran across that I thought I would share to help you get perspective for the coming year.

It’s almost 2019, and I still have so many unanswered questions!!!!

I still don’t know who let the dogs out…or where’s the beef is…or how to get to Sesame Street. Why Dora doesn’t just use Google Maps…Why do all flavors of fruit loops taste exactly the same, or how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop? So many important questions.

Then there is other confusing thoughts like …Why eggs are packaged in a flimsy carton, but batteries are secured in plastic that’s tough as nails…why “abbreviated” is such a long word; or why is there a D in ‘fridge’ but not in refrigerator… why lemon juice is made with artificial flavor yet dish-washing liquid is made with real lemons.

Why do you have to “put your two cents in” but it’s only a “penny for your thoughts” where does that extra penny go… why does The Alphabet Song and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star have the same tune.

Why did you just try to sing those two previous songs to verify what I just said… and just what exactly is Victoria’s secret? and where is Waldo? and of course can you hear me now?

And do you really think I am this witty?? Alas, but no…I actually got this from a FB friend, who stole it from his brother’s girlfriend’s, uncle’s cousin’s who lived next door to an old class mate’s mailman from a previous town.

As Linda G Hill reminds us of #1Liner Wed fun, come join in in the experience all year long.

As we chuckle over the never answered questions from last year, let us look forward to the possible answers of questions for the coming year.

And remember for the coming year to spread the kindness still surrounding us all from this wonderful season of sharing love.

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