Good morning and happy Tuesday, I pray your morning is going well and that no matter what comes your way...good or bad...that you are prepared and are not willing to accept any negative..I pray you are ready to stand your ground and that you are willing only to let the positive affect you!
In prayer this morning I sat outside for a little while, just me and my big old golden retriever watching the world wake up...what a blessing of beauty!!! As I sat there listening to the birds sing from high in the tree top, I wondered if they were singing because they know happiness and joy or if they were singing to alert others that they were not alone and to be careful when they left their safe haven in the branches. I sat as the rain/snow began to fall and watched the clouds all come together to form a dull blanket in the sky...I sat and thanked God for allowing me to be a part of such wonder. I asked God to continue to bless each of you with love and joy, to give you reason to stop and stand witness to his love at some point today and to allow you time to share with him your thanksgivings and your fears. I asked him to continue to bless my sweet friend who is standing in wait watching her sweet mother slip closer and closer to the veil. I prayed for a blanket of protection to be placed around you, that you might be shielded from harm. I asked God to bless those who are battling disease that today might be a day when there is no pain, no suffering, no fear, no worry...that today be a day of memories of old and making memories of the new. I asked God to continue to bless my sweet friend who is struggling with addiction, to allow him to know that day by day is the only way he will beat it, praise the Lord that he has found the will to overcome and walk the straight and narrow path. I asked God to bless someone very special to me with the wonderful news through testing that he remains cancer free and that his fears should be cast aside and his faith carry him through. I asked God to bless each of us with our needs, to take the strain from us replacing it with joy. I prayed for peace in our hearts, for calm in our minds, for comfort in our bodies and abundant love in our beings. In the name of Jesus Christ, our savior, I asked for favor and healing miracles. Amen.
The following writing is a great one to me, simply put...we need to be responsible for our choices...which wolf will win in your life today? Which wolf will you be feeding?
All Filled Up
I recall reading that a man from Virginia Beach (Virginia, USA) filed a law suit against his hospital. He opted to have surgery in order to lose weight. So he had his stomach stapled -- a procedure that reduced the size of his stomach so he couldn't eat as much.
A couple of days after surgery he sneaked down the hospital corridors to the kitchen. There he raided the refrigerator and ate so much that his staples burst.
The law suit? He claimed it was the hospital's fault. They should have locked the refrigerator.
And no - I don't know how the suit came out. Just the staples.
He wanted to make other people responsible for what he put into his mouth. Which raises the question: who decides what we bring into our lives?
One man told me, "I'm not a garbage truck."
"What do you mean by that?" I asked him.
"I mean that sometimes other people want to dump their garbage on me," he said. "They fill themselves up with negativity and complaints and want to dump all of that garbage on me. I'm not going to take all of their garbage. They may need to get rid of it, but not all over me."
He believes people need to be responsible for the garbage in their lives. And that's probably true for the good stuff, too. For me, that includes just about everything. It means I am responsible for everything I put into my mouth, but also for everything I choose to watch and hear. Some of it's good and some of it's garbage. It even means everything that comes into my head through my eyes and ears. It's also about everything that fills up my time. Everything.
And to be honest, I don't always do a great job with everything that comes into my life. But I am clear that what I allow in is up to me, not somebody else.
When we fill our bodies with the right foods, they perform well.
When we fill our heads with learning, they won't easily stagnate.
When we fill our minds with healthier attitudes, we will have a better outlook.
When we fill our hearts with a little more courage, we will be able to face life with confidence.
When we fill our talk with more gratitude, we will be happier.
When we fill our lives with more love, we will never be alone.
Only we can decide how to fill ourselves up.
Have you heard the story of the two wolves? A common version of it goes like this:
An old Cherokee chief was teaching his grandson about life...
"A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy. "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.
"One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt and ego.
"The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.
"This same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"
The old chief simply replied, "The one you feed."
Only I can choose what should come into my life. Only I can choose which wolf to feed. And only I can choose what to do about it today.
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