Today's Prayer March 30th 2016

Lord I want to trust You, I want to believe You, I want to believe that I can do all things through You.

 I want to glorify You every moment.
I want to know You so deeply that nothing matters but pleasing You.

So when I wake and when I sleep and when I eat and when I dress and when I work and when I speak and when I sing and when I cry, every moment, in everything, I want it all to be about You.

You are my King I will follow You.

Scars Tell a Story by Rachel Fagan

I've been thinking about scars lately. As a massage therapist I see them all. There's a certain respect that comes over me when I see those scars and hear their stories.  When I was younger it used to annoy me when my peers would boast about their scars and try to collect as many as they could.  It seemed foolish to me to want to get hurt.   Now that I have grown, I think I understand more about people and the meaning and history that scars hold.  

Scars tell a story,

They tell of our lives,

From the very beginning,

When we opened our eyes.

Someone went through pain for us

To be here on this earth,

She still bears the marks we gave her

At the moment of our birth.

We began all our adventures,

We went stumbling along,

We were small, but the world was big,

Scars tell how we were headstrong.

Scars tell a story

About how we learned

That a curve in the road and the speed of a bike

Must carefully be discerned.

The anguish of youth,

Scars tell of the pain,

Of finding ourselves

And the truth and the gain.

Of feeling lost, alone,

And without hope,

Scars show we outlived

The hurtful way that we coped.

Scars tell of times

When we were having fun,

Calamity came, made the story great,

And we talk of how we won.

Scars tell of service,

And brave, daring deeds,

Of how we worked hard,

And risked all for their needs.

Scars tell of our culture, Our customs and beliefs. They represent devotion, love And the highest form of beauty.

Scars tell of accidents.

Some we wish to hide,

For who wants that reminder,

When it really hurt our pride?

Scars show the miracle

Of the old replaced with new,

The terrible thing was taken out,

In its place the healthful grew.

Some sickness or infection

Left it's mark behind,

But we know that we're the stronger for it, 

In body and in mind.

Scars tell a story.

Or, rather, make a statement,

Like a medal from a victory,

After hardship’s abatement .

Though we’ve been through trials,

And this life our skin has rived,

The scars are there to cry out,

“Here is proof that I survived!”

Being the Light

I am an expression of the love of God.
If I do not be that, then I do not glorify him. I hide him like with holding a light in a dark and lonely world.
 I WILL NOT WITHHOLD THE LIGHT.

I Love the Lord

I worry too much.  I worry about my mind.  Last night I dreamed that I left some pizza and wings in my old car and that they sat there in the back pocket of the driver's seat for months.  In my mind I was thinking,

           "Man, I need to remember things like this so it doesn't happen again."

I do stuff like that sometimes.  I forget things.  So much so that I really hate that word, "forget".
In my mind it is linked with frustration and stress and aggravation.
In my childhood, there was not a lot of mercy for mistakes, there was only punishment and usually the emotional kind of punishment where you are made to think that you failed.  It did not help me in any way to prevent further mistakes.

So this morning as I wonder where I left my phone and think about the imagined pizza in the back of the car, I have decided something.

I'm not going to worry anymore.

**haha, just found my phone. Yay!!**

Lord, I want to thank you, I want to praise you, I want to trust you.  I trust that You love me.  I trust that you will help me succeed to Your glory.

                                        ~    

I love the Lord because He hears my voice and my prayers, He listens to me, therefore I will follow Him forever.

Whenever I feel low or have been cast down, He saves me and I can rest in that.
He deals with me in such a generous way:   He rescues my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.

I shall walk with the Lord to the land of the living.
What could I give to the Lord for all the things He's given to me?
I'll fulfill all my promises to Him and I pray that as I do so, I will do it with all His people surrounding me.

Oh, Lord, I know I am your servant because you have broken the chains on me and set me free!
To You I will offer a sacrifice of thanks and call on Your name as I live in Your land.

Halleluyah!

There's two sides of me: one that's still a kid and the other side of me is 50.

I'm a kid because I love to have fun, be crazy and out of the ordinary. and some would call me innocent. I wouldn't say I'm innocent but I do try to stay pure.

I'm 50 because I'm an old soul. I'm what people might call old fashioned about life. I consider myself a "deep person". I listen to old Christian music and singers like Phil Collins and orchestra (but I enjoy modern music too). I go to bed early and eat healthy.

Minimalism

http://bemorewithless.com/begin/

I came across a pin on Pinterest that was a list on the term "minimalist".  I had not thought about that term except in the instance of minimalist art.   After reading the article on it I have realized that I strive to be a minimalist myself.

I believe I am easily overwhelmed by clutter, too many options or a very big book that I have to read within a deadline.  When I have a bunch of clothes but don't feel like anything goes together or that I don't like any of them it is frustrating.  I have a bunch of necklaces and earrings that I never wear and that bothers me.

I hate having to carry a thousand things to and from my car and in and out of my office at work.

Having things simple and organized and clean puts something to rest in me as the contrary stirs me up and stresses me out.

The article listed out all the things that I do:  pack light for trips, dress simply and try to keep a "clutter-free zone".

I came to the conclusion that I primarily like clothes with cotton in it and that I would rather have a simple dress to slip on instead of trying to figure out shirts, pants etc.

I simplified my bath products.  I realized I only needed about three things in the shower.  I tried to figure out razors and what was the best one.  I tried different women's razors most were cheap and I hated shaving because they were junk. Finally I just bought a simple men's razor and it's perfect.

I've decided I'd rather buy one thing of quality than a bunch of things that will not work or that I won't like.

I have been able to find out more and more what I like and buy those things and get rid of the rest.

So yup, I'm a minimalist and maybe it's a little obsessive at times but whatever I can do to simplify life, I enjoy doing it very much.

Jesus, I need you today. I know you've led me this way but if I do it in my own strength I'll fall apart. Be with me, lead me, help me to fly on wings like eagles. Help me to walk and not grow weary. All the glory goes to you, all the glory belongs to you. For I am yours, take me where you will for me to go. Guide me and show me what to do.