Faded Glory

Several years ago I bought some yard figurines and have had them in my yard wherever I live and through the years they have faded until some had no original color, others had some but not very bright. Last summer I repainted some of them and they looked so pretty after I got done, at least I thought they did.  Today I worked on some more of them and also a cutout that my husband cut for me, it was the last cutout that he made before his illness, so I treasure it and I painted it today too  It's a pink flamingo, at least it's pink now.

I was thinking about how faded and ugly they were and how beautiful they look now and I was also thinking about how faded our lives can become when we become lukewarm in our Christian experience and when we come close to Christ and spend time with Him each morning we become bright and beautiful in our lives again.  When we are obedient to our Father in heaven, we glorify His name through our lives and our influence.

 Have you become faded in your Christian experience, if so paint your character with the original colors and bring back the glory of Christ into your life.  I will pray for you to have this experience, wish I knew your names but God does so work on your original colors and give God the glory that He deserves.   See you tomorrow.  Grandma Joan

Influence

Did you know that your influence is a talent that you can use to help others?  Did you know that our words, our acts, our dress, our deportment even the expression of our countenance, has an influence.  Our influence  can be for the good or for the bad, depending on what path we take.  Throw a pebble in the lake and the circle gets wider and wider until it reaches the other shore.  So it is with our influence, the circle gets wider and wider and where it stops we have no idea.

Let's pray that our influence is for the betterment of humanity because the world we live in needs all the godly influence that we can share with others.  We can be an example in godly influence with our friends and neighbors and those we come in contact with even when we don't know them, we can give them a beautiful smile.

Sometimes when I am shopping I like to smile at people to see if I can get them to smile back at me and it is a fun thing I do and most of the time I do get some great smiles back.  The other day it didn't work so well, I went out to my mail box to get my mail and this lady walked up behind me and stood there waiting, and wouldn't you know it, I dropped my keys and fumbled around, just for an instance and then got my mail and looked up at her and smiled and she didn't act like I was even there.  It kind of left me feeling a little cool and chilly and right then I could see how our influence has a telling influence on others, so I hope I never treat anyone like that, I am sure that I probably have in the past and hope that I never do anything like that again.  I know what it feels like now.

So how is your influence?  Cold and chilly or warm and glowing with God's love.  That's the kind of influence I want to be, how about you?  So until tomorrow be a good influence and warm someones heart.  I know that you can.  See you tomorrow.  Grandma Joan

Gardening

Have you thought about different kinds of gardening?  There's 'herb gardening', vegetable gardening, berry gardening, flower gardening, grape gardening known as vineyards, fruit gardening known as orchards.  You can probably think of some more.

I am thinking tonight about a different kind of gardening, the garden of my heart.  First we need to make sure the soil is tilled up good, that would be called taking all the weeds out and making sure it was clean and ready to plant, so turn the soil of your heart over and make sure all the weeds have been repented of and forsaken, then fertilize it well with love from above, then plant some seeds of love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, then water it well with the water of life from above.

What will you reap?  All the fruits that you have sown and I hope you have a bountiful harvest, I know you will.  Good night and God bless you.  Grandma Joan

Contentment. Do we need to be content?

Am I a contented person?  I wonder how contented I am.  I am always wishing for something to do with my life.  So I am not sure that I am contented with the state I am in.  Like Paul in Philippians 4:11, I would like to be contented in whatever state I am in.  So what do we do to become contented?

I believe, and I am talking to myself again, I seem to do a lot of that lately.  Anyway, I believe that the very first thing we need to do to be contented is place our trust in God and let Him place us where He wants us to be and what He wants us to do.  How do we do that?  Well, surrender our will to Him, I wrote on surrender a while back but it seems to be a big block in our way of being able to trust in God and be contented where He puts us.  I need to surrender every day to His will and be contented with what He gives me to do.  I get bored pretty easy, not being able to do anything that takes exercise or much energy.  Boredom is a real curse to me, I have always been a very active person, worked hard all my life and love the great outdoors, we use to have a mountain behind our house and a couple of my grandchildren and I would hike it every morning and then run back down, it was quite a hike to the top, they loved to hike it with me.  So now that I can't do things like I use to do, it is hard to be contented but I am so grateful that I can do what I am able to do.  God has spared my life through many things and I really do need to be contented with where I am and what I have been given to do.

 I want to put my life in His hands and trust in Him with all my heart and be contented.  How about you?  Are you contented with where you are and what you are doing?  It is important.  It brings peace of mind and joy in the process.  So until tomorrow lets try to be contented and happy where we are and with what we have.  See you then.  Grandma Joan

Boundaries, do we need them?

I was thinking today about our lives and why sometimes they seem to get way out of control and I was wondering if it is because we do not set boundaries.  Boundary by dictionary definition is something that indicates a border or limit.  Do I have boundaries that I set to keep things in order around my home.  We can set boundaries that will make life so much easier and under control in just about all aspects of life.  There are so many things that we allow that make life difficult and hard to live with.  Really, it isn't necessary to give in to letting others cross those boundaries but we have to make them known in order for them to realize that there are boundaries to many things.

Children need to have boundaries to feel secure and loved, friends need to have boundaries that cause them not to take advantage of us, relatives need boundaries, otherwise we can become overwhelmed with difficulties that occur because we didn't set some boundaries.  We need boundaries for ourselves, and stick by them.

Does God have boundaries?  I believe that He does and they are called the Ten Commandments.  So you see, boundaries are important and when we have boundaries we are a much happier person.  So my suggestion to you is, set some boundaries and stick by them and see how much happier and smoother your life will become.  Believe me it really does work, I have tried it and not tried it and the tried method makes life so much easier, try it you really might like it.   See you tomorrow.  Grandma Joan

Health concerns anyone?

Right now I am battling high blood pressure, but I am getting it down gradually, nearly to normal.  We can take our health into our own hands if we really want to.  I am using garlic and fresh vegie juice that I make and it is coming down and I am so thankful because high blood pressure is a silent killer and I don't think I want to do that yet.

God gave us the best food to keep our bodies healthy and we don't adhere to what He has given us.  Fruits, nuts and grains and after sin entered this world  He added vegetables.  So our diet should consist of plant based foods which if you take it all into consideration there are a lot of foods that we can eat and never get bored with our diet.  Our health would be so much better if we would adhere to plant based foods.  Of course there are other things beside diet that we need to include to have good health.  Adequate sleep each night and exercise of some sort each day.  I fail in the exercise, because of my fragile bones, and muscle problems it is hard for me to exercise, I do a little and rest and a little more and rest.  Now that can get boring.

Then to have real healthy bodies we need the greatest of all and that is 'Trust in Divine Power'.  That should have been the first on my list but never the less it is the most important ingredient in our health program.  I am learning to trust, it is hard sometimes when things are not going like you think they should be, but really that is when we should trust the most.  Stress is relieved when we learn to trust in God.  As I have said before, I am still learning these things and hoping to get it all down pat one of these days.  How about you?

So until tomorrow let us learn to trust in God and not lean on our own understanding and then we can add the other ingredients in our health program and live like we ought to live, a calm, trusting, peaceful and active life and those around us will want what we have.  So be blessed with good health and see you right here tomorrow.   Grandma Joan
 

Receiving graciously is a blessing.

Yesterday we talked about giving being a blessing and it is so true, that when we give we receive the greatest blessing but today I would like to mention the fact that receiving graciously can be a blessing to the one who gives in love.  I am not sure that I am a gracious receiver but I sure pray that I am.  I know that at times the gift has been so huge to me that all I could do was cry and say thank you.  Those are the times when words will not come to express our appreciation.
                                                                                                                                                                   When I was a little girl probably 12 years old, I learned to say 'thank you the hard way,  a lady at church remembered my birthday and gave me a card with a pretty hankie in it.  I was so very, very timid that the words just would not come out.  My mother was standing there and embarrassed me by reprimanding me in front of her and I just went home and cried and cried because I had been so thoughtless.  To this day I try never to forget those beautiful words, 'thank you'.

Now, how about our gratitude to the One who has given us all the blessings of life, do we forget to say thank you to Him.  We have so much compared to some of the third world countries and yet I am afraid that we are not a gracious receiver and forget to thank Him for all that He has given us.  Then on top of all the blessings of life we receive from His bountiful hand, we can receive eternal life free and clear.  Something we cannot earn, but when we receive His blessings He expects us to glorify His name in our lives, that is all He has asked us to do.  Is it that hard to be a gracious receiver and be a blessing to those around us and glorify Him in our daily habits of life?  After all, He gave His life for us, and the suffering He went through to save us should be enough for us to be His obedient child and be a gracious receiver.

I hope that we can all be a gracious receiver and give praise and thank yous continually because of the  free gifts we receive so bountifully.  So until next time be a 'gracious receiver'.  You will be blessed I am sure.
Grandma Joan.

Giving is a blessing.

Have you ever thought that giving is a blessing?  I love to give when I have the means, I mean not just money but things, it could be a meal, clothes, time, and other things that you might think of.  The Bible says it is more blessed to give than to receive.  Acts 20:35.  I like to surprise someone with a card of appreciation, or a thoughtful note, or a lunch if they are busy and flowers are always welcome.  My daughter is always surprising me with flowers and my granddaughter loves to give me flowers in plants.  You can also give a phone call to someone who is lonely or grieving or a visit is better yet.  There are so many ways we can give of ourselves, I know you can think of lots more ways than what I have listed.

I hope no one would think of giving to receive something back.  That would be a selfish giving and that is not what I am talking about.  Giving with not a thought of receiving something in return is Christ's method of giving.  He spent His life giving, making the lame to walk, the blind to see, the deaf to hear and the bed fast person to rise up and walk.  Then to top it all off, He gave His life that we might have eternal life, all a free gift with nothing expected in return except to love Him and serve Him with all our hearts.  Of course if we love Him with all our hearts we will glorify Him with our lives.  That's a beautiful thought, isn't it?

The thought today is when you have the opportunity to help someone, give whatever you can with love.  In return you will receive smiles, hugs and a good friend.  I made lots of friends at the nursing home where my husband was a patient and every time I go over there to visit I receive many hugs from many of the nurses.  I
know they love me because they are always glad to see me.  I made some beautiful scarves and gave the ones that loved and cared for my husband each one and you should have seen the smiles and even one had tears in her eyes.  So don't be afraid to give, I am not through giving and hope I never will be. It is a real blessing to give.  Try it you might like it.  Thanks for listening.  I would like to receive a comment now and then for encouragement.  That would be giving too.  Love, Grandma Joan

Surrender

Surrender:  Definition:  To relinquish control of to another.  Do you like that definition?   In an earthly sense it doesn't seem the right thing to do but in the Spiritual realm, it is something that must be done on a daily basis.
We must surrender our will to our Father in heaven.  It is something that all of us need to do but it is not easy to surrender everything to Someone we can't even see and sometimes seems so far away but He is ever willing to come near to us and we by faith take hold of His hand and let Him have His way in our life.

Another lesson that I am learning day by day. Maybe He doesn't want me to sell my home, maybe there is something here that He wants me to do.  On the other hand, I can't take care of my yard, especially the lawn.  Then my other son wants me to spend the summer with him, so I have to leave it in God's hands because I don't know what His will is, I only know what I want to do.  I do know this and that is, whatever His will is it will be best for me.

Does this concern sound familiar to anyone out there?  I don't think I am alone with this problem.  So have faith and hold tight to His hand and let Him lead the way.  That is what I am trying to do right now and I know that things will work out for the best.  I will let you know how it all turns out.  All of you are special to me, so together let us build up our most Holy faith and I will see you tomorrow.  Grandma Joan

Patience

I have been pondering patience today and wondering if I have any at all.  I looked it up in the dictionary and it said that patience is 'enduring affliction with calmness'.  Some translations call it 'longsuffering'.  Either way I am not sure that I am patient, I want to be, I am being calm on the outside but on the inside anxiety is carrying on. I really am not being afflicted, so what is my great  concern, just waiting for a buyer to come along and purchase my home so I can get on with my life.

I am seeing that it doesn't have to be a great concern, but I am being a little too anxious to see it happen and it seems so slow, of course we only listed it a week and a half ago.  I know, I am being unreasonable and just plain impatient.  Talking to you helps me see myself as I really am.  I want to be the most patient person on the planet but it's going to take God some time to make me into that kind of person but I am willing and hoping that it happens quickly so I can be more calm and PATIENT.

Longsuffering is one of the fruits of the Spirit, Galatians 5:22.  This is one fruit that I'm in dyer need of.  Not saying that I don't need others, but I am being plagued with this one at the moment.  It is a vital concern of mine and needs remedied.  Of course God is our remedy and so I need to practice the art of communing
more with God and praying more for this particular fruit of the Spirit.

What about you?  Have you seen yourself in any of this?  I think it is quite common to be troubled by our patience and I am really going to try and practice patience with God's help, I know I can't do it but He can through me.  So here's having lots of patience until next time.  Cheer up and be patient.  I am talking to myself you know.   Grandma Joan

Another beautiful day has come and nearly gone, I went to church with my daughter and it was a great class discussion and also a great sermon, the pastor really let out his Vital Concern about the condition of the church, the lethargy of communion with God and our Bible study and how sharing our faith means telling what God has done for us in our life.  A really good thought provoking sermon.  It helped me a lot.  I was encouraged to spend  more time with God in the morning and keep my vital connection going throughout the day.

How about you?  Are you lethargic in your walk with God or is it meaningful and full of beauty as you go through each day communing with Him?  I  want that kind of fellowship, don't you?  I believe we will start winning souls to Jesus if we do this.   Of course, love is the center of all Christianity and it is the center of God's heart and should be the center of.  So keep praying that God will send someone across your path to share His love with and you will grow in grace and be bountifully blessed.

Until tomorrow, be blessed.  Grandma Joan

Well, a few days have gone by and I have had some serious concerns about life in general.  My home is up for sale and I am trying to decide what to do with the rest of my life, where I want to be and what I want to do.  It seems to me that it might be called a Vital Concern.  Do you have Vital Concerns that are haunting you?  I am sure that most of us have at least one if not many.  Where do we take our Vital Concerns?  I hope that most of us would turn to our Father in Heaven for the answers and guidance.

I was so concerned that my blood pressure went up and I was ready to give up and join my husband out in the cemetery.  Then my daughter came up with a great idea of buying a motor home and spending six months with my son in Missouri and spending the other six months here on the Northwest.  I thought I was going to be confined to an apartment somewhere and I really wanted to be with family and God put it in her mind the right solution to the problem and I am happy to say that my Vital Concern went out the window and my will to keep going came back bright and strong again.

Life is just like that, God is always ready with the solution, we just can't see it, when it is there all the time.  I am sure that most of our Vital Concerns have a great solution from God if we are just patient and wait on the Lord for it.  How are you doing with your Concerns?  Just be patient and light will break through and it will be better than you planned or thought.

I hope I will see you tomorrow right here on my blog and I will keep you posted on what is going on in my life and how God is leading.  God bless you with all the answers to your concerns.

How To Win Friends.

Most people are concerned about making friends and keeping them.  I have found a secret that really works. I mean really, really works.  It is just one word and such a simple solution to making friends and keeping them and that little word is LOVE.  I am not talking about sentimentalism, I am talking about a deep, heart felt love that lays all of self aside and thinks of others.  This is not something that come naturally, it comes from a heart filled with God's love, when we are filled with His love, our love become like His love, loving no matter what they have done or who they are.

Love is powerful when it is demonstrated the way God demonstrated His love to us through Jesus on the cross.
Do you want to be a powerful Christian, then love like God loves.  Pray to be filled with His love and to demonstrate it.  Love like this attracts, it builds bonds that cannot be broken, it builds barriers against sin, It blooms wherever it is planted.  So plant some love in your family, in your neighborhood, in the church, wherever you go, plant some love.  You will be surprised at how many friends you will make just by loving them and of course love your family, there is so many ways to share your love with others.

So until tomorrow, go and share and see what God can do for you.  I love you, Grandma Joan

Happy Thoughts

It's a beautiful day here in Washington, I hope it is the same where you live.  Also, I hope you are having a beautiful day in your heart.  I was thinking about how our thoughts control our moods and happiness and the thought came to me that when we think and speak negative things, our moods usually swing in a downward motion, and our positive thoughts and words keep us in a happy, spiritual uplifting mood.  I am not into the positive thinking regime but I have noticed when I think happy thoughts, I am happy and when I think about something negative, I am not as happy.  Have you ever noticed that?

The best way to keep our thoughts happy is to think about Jesus and what He has done for us and how much He loves us.  I was widowed a little over a year ago and it was really hard to quit thinking about losing him and that he was in the cold, cold ground, but now that it's been a year and the sun is shining so beautiful, I think about him sleeping peacefully until Jesus comes and I promised him I would see him on that morning. Now that is happy thinking!!!  It has helped me so much.  There are still sad times when I miss him but I will see him again and that will be a happy, glad day.  So until tomorrow have some really good happy thoughts and maybe I can think of something great to talk about tomorrow, but until then happy thinking.
Grandma Joan

We all have concerns about life.  It could be our Spiritual life, our health, our emotional well being and our mental awareness.  About our family, our friends, our neighbors and many other things we can find to be concerned about.  We can be concerned about our nation, our state, our town and our neighborhood, and many times for good reason.

It's springtime here where I live and the daffodils, tulips, daisies and ground covers are all blooming as well as my cherry tree.  It's beautiful, and spring rains are just what the flowers need.  I am a flower lover and usually have lots and lots of flowers. It's just beautiful, the rains came just in time to nourish everything that grows, even the weeds which I have removed, for now anyway.

My question for you is, 'Is it springtime in your heart and life?  Are all the weeds pulled and thrown away and the flowers of love, joy and peace abundantly growing?  They need the rain of the Spirit to flourish, It comes from above too, just like the rain on our plants.  I pray that everyone who reads my blog will be blessed with that heavenly rain and the flowers of love, joy and peace will abundantly multiply.
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Yours until tomorrow,  Grandma Joan