SPECIAL AWARD

HIS LIGHT IN THIS WORLD AWARD 

I was so pleased to receive this award from Cindy Adkins with "no strings attached". I have received a lot of blogging awards and I love them all and am grateful for them. This is the first award I've received in a very long time, and it is so special because of the spiritual connotation. Above all else, I want to be just what this award says. "HIS LIGHT IN THIS WORLD"  

So, Cindy, I want to thank you publicly for making my blogging experience even more special. Cindy has a beautiful blog you should visit if you have not done so. She is an artist and makes lots of beautiful items. Here's the url to her blog:

http://cindyadkinswhimsicalmusings.blogspot.com/

SAFARI vs. OPERA

Safari is the browser that came with my computer. I thought it was very good and still do. Then I downloaded Opera to give it a try because I'm always experimenting with something on the computer. I didn't use it much because I had a problem with it when I did postings for my blogs. So I quit using it altogether for a long time. Then one day I tried it again. There was an update for it so I downloaded that. Then - I was amazed. Now I'm completely sold on Opera. I thought Safari was fast, but Opera is definitely faster. Most things come up instantly. Also, Opera has so many neat/cool features. I was tempted to try Firefox. Clif uses it on his computer and I definitely like it better than Internet Explorer, but I decided to leave well enough alone and use Opera mostly and Safari occasionally. Who knows, one of these days I'll probably let the curiousity get the best of me and I'll give Firefox a try. There is just so much good stuff on these computers.

Have a great day!

MY LIFE IS IN HIS HANDS

The weeks fly by soooo fast. It's time for Spiritual Sundays again. Sometimes I post a Spiritual Sundays on this blog and sometimes on my Charlotte's Weblog blog. I hope it doesn't confuse too many people. I hope it doesn't confuse anybody. So why do I keep posting on both of these blogs? I can't decide which one I like the best so every time I think about consolidating them into one blog, I can't make the decision whether to go with Blogger or WordPress. There are things about each that I like better than the other one.

I hope you're familiar with Tim Hansel's little book Keep On Dancin'. It is filled with short devotionals and I decided I'd share one of them here today. Thank you, Tim Hansel, for this inspiring book.

My times are in your hands. Psalm 31:15a

 Avoiding the present moment has almost become a habit in our society. For the major part of our working lives we are taught to sacrifice the present for the future. When the future arrives, it becomes the present, and we must use it to prepare for the future. If this is lived out to its logical conclusion, we avoid enjoyment not only now but forever.

Avoid the temptation of wishing, hoping and regretting−−the most common tactics for avoiding the present. Abstain from the ritual of idealizing the future, which leads only to disappointment.

Invest in the present. The right time is any time. The best time is now. It is not necessary to surrender tomorrow or next year, but abandon yourself to God's presence and His will as it unfolds in your life moment to moment.

This moment is precious, Lord. You have given it to me and, along with myself, I give it back to You. - Tim Hansel 

This reminds me of the saying that yesterday is gone forever, tomorrow may never come, and today is all we have. So, let's live today, and as Tim Hansel says, "Keep on dancin'."

Be sure to visit our Spiritual Sundays blog for lots of inspirational links. Those who share there are "the best". I love us. 

CAMELS IN AZ

When we were in Egypt in 1978, someone there asked me if we had camels in America. He seemed surprised that we had no camels in our deserts. I didn't live in the desert then. I lived in California. Now I live in the desert, and found out that at one time there were camels in our deserts. There was an article about it in our newspaper a few days ago.

After I started writing this post, I remembered posting about camels about a year ago. In that post I had a lot of pictures and info about these interesting creatures. Should you be so inclined, you can click HERE to go to that post and find out more about camels.

Now, back to the article in our newspaper. It starts out by saying if it wasn't for the civil war there might be herds of wild camels roaming our deserts. Thirty-three camels were bought from the middle east and shipped to America. They eventually ended up in Texas. Then they imported 44 more camels. When they discovered the camels didn't understand English, they hired two camel drivers from the middle east to teach them how to handle the animals. The camels were used by the army for awhile transporting supplies. The camels impressed them so much that they decided to order 1000 more but that was about the time the civil war broke out. This spelled the end of the Camel Military Corps as soldiers were sent to the east to fight the battle. Eventually some of the camels were sold and some escaped into the wild. The camels thrived for awhile but eventually died out. The last one was shot in Arizona in 1893 by a farmer who found him grazing in his garden. For a full reading of that newspaper article, you can click HERE. I am just posting a recap of the article.

I've posted this picture of me on a camel in Egypt before, but decided to share it again here. It was an interesting experience to say the least. It really scared me when the camel driver made the camel take off in a run toward the pyramids. Seeing all those pictures of Cairo on the news for the past two weeks brought back memories of when we were there. We were there before Mubarak took over. It was over 30 years ago. Wouldn't want to be there right now. We all need to be praying about the future of that country. Nobody knows for sure how it will all end.

Silly Valentine

Thought my blogging friends might get a kick out of this video of Clif and me. It's less than two minutes long. You might think it's two minute too long. LOL.  You will need to turn my music off on the sidebar.

I LOVE US

It's that time of year again when people are thinking "Love". As I mentioned in my introduction on Spiritual Sundays this week, the newest thing to tell the one you love is not "I love you", but "I love us," meaning I love us together.

So, what does God say about love? Many books have been written about it. The greatest book written about love is the Bible. In fact, the two most important commandments are both about love. The first one is to love God with all your heart, soul and mind and the second one is to love your neighbor as yourself.

I love I Corinthians' definition of love.

1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (New International Version, ©2010)

 ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

So, back to the subject of this post ― I LOVE US. I love us together, meaning my blogging friends. To think that just a little over 3 years ago, I didn't know any of you. Well, maybe one or two or three. Most of you I had not met. Now there are so many of you out there in blogland who have blessed my life. I love all of you. 

Thought I would also share with you this picture of hubby and me over 52 years ago as we were leaving the church after our wedding. I LOVE US.

Of course I'm sharing this on Spiritual Sundays, and since Beverly has included red in Pink Saturday, I think I'll share this for Pink Saturday as well. Here is the Spiritual Sundays link: http://bloggerspirit.blogspot.com/ and here is the Pink Saturday link: http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/pink-saturday/

KEYS TO LOVE

Matthew 22:36-38 (Today’s New International Version, ©2005)

³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
 ³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^[a] 38This is the first and greatest commandment.

The second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. If we would love others the way we love ourselves, it would solve a lot of problems. I like the following poem written by Robert M. Millay.

      THE KEYS TO LOVE

      The key to love is understanding . . .

           the ability to comprehend

           not only the spoken word,

           but those unspoken gestures,

           the little things that say

           so much by themselves.

     The key to love is forgiveness . . . 

           to accept each other's faults

           and pardon mistakes,

           without forgetting ―

           but with remembering

           what you learn from them.

     The key to love is trust . . . 

           though dark doubts

           lay in hollowed thoughts,

           it must shine brightly on

           with reassuring radiance

           that suppresses fear with faith.

     The key to love is sharing . . . 

           facing your good fortunes

           as well as the bad, together;

           both conquering problems ―

           forever searching for ways

           to intensify your happiness . . .

     The key to love is giving . . .

           without thought of return,

           but with the hope of just

           a simple smile

           and by giving-in, but never up.

  

     The key to love is respect . . .

           realizing that you are 

           two separate people

           with different ideas;

           that you don't belong to each other,

           but that you belong with each other

           and share a mutual bond.

     The key to love is inside us all . . .

           it takes time and patience 

           to unlock all the ingredients

           that will take you to its threshold;

           it is a continual learning process

           that demands a lot of work . . . 

           but the rewards are more than

           worth the effort . . . 

               And you

                    are the key

                         to me.

― Robert M. Millay

I hope everyone has a great weekend and a great Spiritual Sunday. Please go to that blog for links to many inspirational posts.

Joe's Blue Monday

Haven't done a Blue Monday post in ages. We drove down to Tempe the other day just to eat at Joe's Crab Shack. We love their fish; chips―only $6.95 on the lunch menu―and it is really d-e-e-elicious. As we were ready to walk in, we noticed they had a pelican in front of the restaurant that wasn't there the last time we were there. Since I always carry my camera in my purse with me now, I told Hubby I should take a picture of it. Then, realizing I had on blue jeans and a blue sweater, and there was a lot of blue around Joe's Crab Shack, I decided to be in the picture and do a Blue Monday post.

There are two Joe's Crab Shacks in Tempe and not one in our area. The first time we ate at one of their restaurants was in Kentucky several years ago. 

Hubby posted about Joe's Crab Shack a couple of years ago. It includes a picture of him in front of the restaurant. Here is the link to the post on his blog:  Joe's Crab Shack

Happy Blue Monday!

Click on the Blue Bird to go to Sally's blog for links to lots of Blue Monday posts. 

NOT THE END OF THE ROAD

I hope you enjoy this poem by Helen Steiner Rice as much as I do. 

PLEASE VISIT OUR SPIRITUAL SUNDAYS BLOG for links to lots of inspiring posts. Just click HERE to go there.

1940s

A friend sent the link to this video highlighting the 1940s. I found it interesting because I was a kid during that time. My picture in the header was made in the late '40s. Even if you were not even born yet, I think you will enjoy watching it. Be sure to have your sound turned on and click the following link:  The 1940s   (Before you click on the link you will need to turn my blog music off.)  If you enjoy that video - and even if not - you might want to watch the one for the 1950s. That one brought back a lot of memories for me too.

PINK SATURDAY

I am posting this on Friday. Today would have been my dad's 98th birthday. In looking for something pink to share for Pink Saturday, I ran across this picture of the pink lamp in my doll room. Since the picture to the left of the lamp is one of me and my dad taken when I was a young girl, I thought it would be a good one to share today. The little picture in front of it is a picture of him when he was 16. Let's see⏤that picture would have been taken 82 years ago.

Here are those two pictures that are framed.

This is one of the few pictures I have of the two of us together. In all the other pictures there are always other people in the photo. 

Thank you for letting me share my Dad's birthday anniversary with you. I miss him still. He left this life in 1998 at the age of 85. 

Thanks again to Beverly for hosting Pink Saturdays. Click HERE for lots of pink posts.

RIGHT THINKING

As I was sitting at the desk, listening to one of my favorite songs, "The Holy City", and asking God what I should share this week for Spiritual Sundays, I reached up on the shelf above my computer and pulled out the book of poems by Helen Steiner Rice entitled Everyone Needs Someone. I opened the book at a random page, and when I read the poem on that page, I knew I wanted to share it with you. It's entitled Make Your Day Bright by Thinking Right". I think there is so much to learn from this poem. Perhaps not really "learn" but recall because I'm sure these are thoughts we all have from time to time.

Make Your Day Bright by Thinking Right

Don't start your day by supposin'

     that trouble is just ahead;

It's better to stop supposin'

     and start with a prayer instead.

And make it a prayer of thanksgiving

     for the wonderful things God has wrought

Like the beautiful sunrise and sunset,

     "God's gifts" that are free and not bought⏤

For what is the use of supposin'

     the dire things that could happen to you

And worry about some misfortune

     that seldom if ever comes true⏤

But instead of just idle supposin'

     step forward to meet each new day

Secure in the knowledge God's near you

     to lead you each step of the way⏤

For supposin' the worst things will happen

     only  helps to make them come true

And you darken the bright, happy moments

     that the dear Lord has given to you⏤

So if you desire to be happy

     and get rid of the "misery of dread"

Just give up "supposin' the worst things"

     and look for "the best things" instead.

My prayer and wish for each of you is that you have a bright happy weekend. If you didn't come here from the Spiritual Sundays blog, I hope you will click here and go there to visit. You will find links to many inspiring posts. Of course, if you did come here from that blog, I know you will return there to visit others. We all enjoy comments so I hope you will also take the time to comment on each blog you visit.