Eustace is determined that I should get Valentines cookies that won’t hurt my stomach, so he spent the whole of yesterday baking dairy-free, Gluten-free, and low sugar/sodium cookies… Oh, Joy!
I didn’t have the heart to tell him that they looked and tasted kind of like Playdough.
Shhhhhhhh…..
I’ve dreamt of my dream home…
I’ve even thought a great deal about my dream home…
But it’s not nearly as easy to write about a dream home, as things keep changing, the longer you’re awake!
Beautiful colors, and exquisite designs fill the rooms of this dream house, but each time I try to dream it again, the rooms have all changed…
What makes something dreamy, at all, really?
Is it the sights, the sounds, or the smell of a dream home that make it dreamy?
I’ve found that when you dream on a thing too much, you miss all the other dreams you could’ve been dreaming.
Truthfully, that saying about home is where your heart is, or the scriptures about storing up your treasures…
those are really good things to think on.
You can stuff your home with every manner of beautiful, and yes, dreamy things you wish. Hopefully, you’ll come to realize that it’s not what’s in a home that makes it a dream home… it’s what you do when you’re there!
Love changes the way everything looks and feels, making even the smallest of spaces quite beautiful and dreamy…
Just sayin.
Cookie?
Let’s see now… activities or hobbies I’ve either outgrown or lost interest in… hmmmmmm.
Without a check-list we won’t know for sure, will we?
So, what with me being such an accommodating individual, I’ve put forth the effort to ensure that my answer to the prompt is an honest one.
I’ve made a list that will just about cover it all, I think…
Baking – Check!
Reading books – Check!
Dreaming – Check!!!!!
I don’t outgrow things, though I do overcome them…
I do not lose interest in things that I love, though sometimes I have to let them go…
What I am is a child at heart, and I probably always will be…
Here, take a cookie or two…
I got excited and made too many cookies this morning, so take as many as you like.
Be thoughtful today…
Open the door for a stranger, take someone’s cart back for them, allow a car to merge in front of you, offer a smile to encourage another, or even be bold enough to pay it forward, so to speak.
Let’s do as we were meant to do,
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another”.
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God”.
“Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves”.
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you”.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud… It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (describes the nature of love).
“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins”.
“And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity”.
“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth”.
Something worth thinking about!
Eustace has taken to plowing the whole back half of the barnyard, planting everything green, including zucchini squash, asparagus, romaine lettuce, and of all things, watermelon. It’s all the way at the back, near the tree line. I told him it was far to early for them, but you know how the camel can be when he gets on one of his kicks.
Honestly, I think he’s growing enough for the entire valley.
We’re gonna need a fruit and veggie stand down by the road, unless he thinks he can eat all that stuff, once harvest time gets here. Bless his heart, though.
I think he’s finally found his passion, and seems much happier than working in an office… and, I’m reaping all the benefits, muhahahahhhh.
Good events, bad events, and events that are happy or sad, all have one thing in common. They’re all significant!
What we choose to glean from those events, whether we like it or not, will form the perspectives we have later in life.
The things we encounter become our defining hour, not by what we overcame, but how we overcame.
Age, and the passage of time, have taught me that my perspective can be intentional, rather than being brought about from life’s influences.
The only perspective I desire to attain is one shaped by God. If he deems it so, then I allow things of the past to influence my perspective. For example, putting myself in someone else’s shoes, or something like that.
I’m certainly not saying that I don’t think I’ve been influenced by things from the past, because none are immune to it.
I will say this… the experiences I’ve lived through, and those that I put myself through, have all left an indelible mark upon my heart, but from there it’s been my choice whether to be a statistic or a survivor.
The mind is a powerful and complicated thing. We need to take captive every thought, every word, and every perspective. Humans are wishy washy with our attitudes, motives, and yes, our perspectives.
From the beginning of time, God gave mankind the free will to choose their physical, emotional, and spiritual choices. For the most part, we’re terrible choosers! We allow things of this world to control our perspective, but those things are just that… of this world.
When I let go of my own opinions and perspectives, laying them before God, he provides the perspective that should be within my spirit. F.Y.I., I said when I let go, not I always let go.
I tend to build mountains out of mole hills, while God leads me right up over em! Being carried is always a humbling experience, but such a blessing.
God does the heavy lifting, so I’m left to watch him work, and in turn, form a Christ like perspective. When God’s the one in control, there’s life in the learning. That’s what I call influence!
Cookie?
Sometimes, the winds and rain of life’s storms can become so loud and overpowering, all one can do is hold fast to something solid.
All strength has been spent in search of answers, directions and/or solutions to escape the storm’s fury.
But, what if one is meant to endure a storm, rather than escape it? What then?
I find that when things are beyond my control, my understanding, and my own strength… I seek God!
Here’s the place where my thoughts, my opinions, my plans of escape, and the sound of my own voice, need to take a time-out!
God most often will speak softer and quieter, the more agitated and anxious I become. You would think that he would simply raise his voice over my own babbling, just as I would do to my children when they were small.
But I’m not a small child any more. Those days are far behind me, so I’ve no excuse for not listening when my heavenly father counsels his daughter.
Here’s why I am eternally compelled to seek this God that I speak of so often… He whispers!
I’ve had ups, downs, successes, failures, and really big Uh Oh’s!
God has walked with me through each and every storm of my life, whether it was of my own design or something completely undeserved. He stayed, comforted, encouraged, and counseled… but always in the quiet, after I’d settled down into his lap, as it were. I learned a long time ago that when I felt the most anxious, it was because I wasn’t listening for God’s quiet voice.
There were times that I became angry with God for not speaking louder, telling myself that I could have avoided a thing all together, had He spoken up!
The funny thing is, I doubt I would have listened to His counsel anyway… it’s what I often did over the years. You know I like to keep things honest.
I would be less than truthful if I didn’t admit that I still do this on occasion. It gives me hope to know that I live in grace.
I doubt I’ll get all this stuff right in just one little ole earthly lifetime… I’m pretty sure that’s what eternity’s all about.
Now that I’m getting older, it’s even more important that I listen more carefully for His whispers. My hearing isn’t what it used to be. Fortunately, in my case, God often speaks clearly to my heart through scripture.
You know why he does this to me?
Cause I can’t read and talk at the same time…
Hugs
I finally quite making those ridiculous to-do lists, as they only reminded me of what seemed to never get done!
Since there are no longer any of those discouraging lists lying around, I’m free to take one day at a time, while savoring my successes and rethinking my failures.
Whether I ever come to any financial success is no longer a priority, but rather, where I put my faith and hope. God speaks to me freely, and without handing out any lists.
I know that we like to make lists to make us feel like we are moving forward, or getting a thing accomplished. I suppose that’s all well and good, to a point. However, for many folks, we tend to take things a bit over the edge. Notice how I’ve said we, because I’m no different than anyone else.
It’s alright to make a list of things essential for the day’s comings and goings, but beyond that? Perhaps we should just put “don’t let the tires out of your nasty neighbor’s tires” and, “smile when you feel like crying” on those lists.
My point is that we often put the wrong things on our to-do lists, which is why they never seem to get done!
We humans tend to make things an awful lot harder than we need to, especially when it comes to our to-do lists.
I vote for a to-do list burning party! I’ve got the cookies…
Thought #1 – What if everyone bought bags of wildflower mix, and just threw them out the window on their way to work every day?
Thought #2 – Why is it so adorable when a baby toots, but when I do it, everyone at the checkout counter gets mad?
Thought #3 – I want to take a sharpie, park myself in the doorway of my local grocery store, and demand all the employees offer up their pay stubs for me to verify. I don’t think that would last long, at all!
Thought #4 – What if all medical professionals had to provide proof of qualification, skillsets, bedside manners, and personal recommendations for each patient they cared for, before we paid our bill?
Thought #5 – If everyone on earth decided to run in the opposite direction of the earths natural rotation, all at the same time, would the earth start spinning the other way? (This was a joke, so don’t start thinking I believe the earth is flat, or anything like that nonsense.)
Thought #6 – If I were to ever have a kitty again, I would want one of those huge Maine Coons, I think. And, I’d teach him to talk so that he could explain why I only get to snuggle him when he feels like it. Why are cats sometimes so rude?
Thought #7 – I can remember dreams from all the way back when I was a small child, and yet, I can’t seem to remember where I last saw the fingernail clippers.
Well, I guess I’m all out of thoughts. But in my defense, it is only 10 in the morning… and I really do want some oatmeal… with raisins… and brown sugar… mmmmmmmm…
Ok, one last thought for this morning… Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day, so make sure you enjoy it!
Hugs
According to Eustace, I should be eating more spinach. In truth, I think we all should!
Lately I’ve been craving it something fierce. I suppose that I probably look and feel a great deal like Olive Oil did, from that old Saturday morning cartoon!
Out of curiosity over my severe cravings, Eustace and I got to reading some things about natural foods.
Check this out! I clipped this off a nutrition calculator:
| Nutrition Facts | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Serving Size | |||
| 1 cup (180g) | |||
| Calories | 41 | ||
| % Daily Value * | |||
| Total Fat 0.47g | 1% | ||
| Saturated Fat 0.08g | 0% | ||
| Trans Fat 0g | |||
| Cholesterol 0mg | 0% | ||
| Sodium 126mg | 5% | ||
| Total Carbohydrate 6.8g | 2% | ||
| Dietary Fiber 4.3g | 15% | ||
| Total Sugars 0.77g | 2% | ||
| Includes –g Added Sugars | –% | ||
| Protein 5.3g | 11% | ||
| Vitamin C 17.6mg | 20% | ||
| Vitamin D 0mcg | 0% | ||
| Iron 6.4mg | 36% | ||
| Calcium 244.8mg | 19% | ||
| Potassium 838.8mg | 18% | ||
| Phosphorus 100.8mg | 8% | ||
| *The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice. | |||
No wonder Popeye was so strong!
Journey With Me! 