Laura

I met a woman named Laura the other day. Laura is bald. She's even lost her eyebrows. She has been through months of chemotherapy in order to keep her breast cancer from growing. The chemo has worked and now she'll have a double mastectomy. Please keep her in your prayers. Here's the thing I wanted to point out about Laura - SHE'S PROBABLY ONE OF THE HAPPIEST, MOST OPTIMISTIC PEOPLE I'VE EVER MET!! The spirit in that woman is one that you almost never see, especially in people who are not fighting cancer and possibly staring death right in the face. She acknowledges the Lord in everything, and I think that has made all the difference. I'm blessed for having met her! Be a blessing!

Don't Stop at 5

The recommended daily servings for fruits and vegetables is 5. As I was pondering this just this morning, I was reminded of Galatians 5:22-23: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."

9 fruits - OF THE SPIRIT! That's a lot. But it's a good lot.

We are embarking on a new year. While I don't make typical resolutions, I do look for something in His word to stand upon to welcome the new year. This scripture will be mine.

I think I'll also include: “…make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance…” 2 Peter 1:5a-6a. I am reminded to “add” some things to my faith.

I shall start measuring victories by the smaller choices I make each day because-

Big things are built one brick at a time.

Victories are achieved one choice at a time.

A life well lived is chosen one day at a time.

It's not just a 'New Year' thing. These choices happen each moment, each hour, each day. Thank the Lord for his Goodness, Grace and Mercy!

Blessings to you!

Thanksgiving. i.e., the Giving of Thanks

I have so many things to be thankful for. While life is not a bed of roses, not even close, I count my blessings. I count them daily, hourly, even by the minute - sometimes. Yes, the blessings are there. I'm thankful!!

Be blessed - Happy Thanksgiving.

K.I.S.S.

I have a few items in my Amazon shopping cart. They are waiting anxiously to be purchased. I have already purchased a few Christmas gifts ... just a few items, though! I'm also going to try to limit my purchases to American made products, and items purchased at local small businesses.

My motto: Keep It Simple Sis! In doing so, I will also keep my focus on the many blessings of the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. I purpose to relax and enjoy. I hope you do, too!

Love!!!

Joy

It comes in the most surprising ways, sometimes. There's the obvious answer to prayer; seeing something that makes you happy (in my case it's usually something in nature); time spent with those you love, etc.

Today, I experienced joy in a multitude of ages. Let me explain. I have been testing students at school to determine their reading levels or abilities. I worked with kindergarten, 2nd grade and 6th grade. I had 5 year old's tell me that they couldn't "do it" when talking about the sounds that letters make. Yet when we did rhyming activities, they excelled and I told them they were "rhyming experts". I think that was the best thing they'd heard all day!! Two of my second graders were apprehensive. One little boy was in tears. Yet when we began working, he beamed, saying, "This is a piece of cake for me". No more tears after that!!! One of my sixth graders started at a level 5, and had little difficulty through level 7. By the time he got to level 8, he struggled, but I haven't seen such perseverance in a 12 year old in ages!!! I continued to encourage him and it was such a delight to see his face beaming with pride.

Today these things brought me joy!!

Empty

I ... have ... nothing ... left.

That is all.

Cleansing, Inside and Out

I used to use Aveda products exclusively on my hair ~ shampoo and conditioner. This was years and years ago. I remembered that after a while, these products were affecting me negatively. I don’t remember whether it was the fragrance, the price, or what it was, but I decided to switch to different products. I think I switched to some organic tea tree oil stuff. Anyways, over the years, I’ve noticed that my scalp and hair tend to become immune to shampoos. Suddenly, my hair no longer feels clean, even after lathering 2 or 3 times. I have no idea why this happens, but it happens consistently. It happened again, recently. I have been rotating between 2 or 3 shampoos over the past year or two, and now none of them are really working. So I thought I’d try Aveda again. I don’t know how this will work out, and I’ve only used the shampoo twice. So far my hair feels clean for a longer time, and time will tell. (This is not an Aveda endorsement!)

Sometimes this happens with me in my relationship with the Lord … how I worship, what ministers to me musically, the prayers that I speak. I get used to doing things in a certain way and suddenly realize, “this music is no longer cleansing; in fact, it’s rather irritating.” Or I can listen to someone ministering His word, hear the scripture that’s going to be taught on, and think, “yeah, yeah, yeah, how many times have I heard teaching on this one…” Sorry, maybe your mind doesn’t go there, but mine does.

Kirk Franklin had a hit album (CD) with the song “Stomp” on it. I have it somewhere around here, and haven’t picked it up to listen in a long time. I listened to that music over and over and over until it just became kind of stale to me. I was at my son’s Black History Month presentation at school, and the director of the production had this Kirk Franklin music playing. A song, I think the name of it is, “My Life Is In Your Hands” started to play. Sitting there in the junior high gym, I closed my eyes, sang along, and wept. It was fresh again, it was anointed, and it felt new.

Sometimes that which is old becomes new again. That’s how His word can be. Hebrews 4:2 says, “The word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith." Sometimes I can hear His word over and over, and until my faith is mixed in, I don’t get it. But when I do, yahoo!! God can satisfy our thirst with new wine, even though it may really be old wine. Mix faith with the old and even in unlikely circumstances, our “thirst” can be quenched.

I don’t know what will happen with the shampoo issue. I don’t have faith in the shampoo, yet I’ll keep trying. But with God, I’ll recognize those arid and dry places and mix it up a bit and will likely come back around to something old.