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Thursday, October 31, 2013

Absolutely Nothing!!!

Sometimes I get bored with my drawings
so I trace instead.
I quite forget who this actress is,
but she looked so happy in this picture.

What I read this morning is a very reassuring verse
from the letter of Saint Paul to the Romans, chapter 8:38-39.
That is why I chose a picture that showed happiness!

"For I am convinced, that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities,
nor present things, nor future things,
nor powers, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature will be able
to separate us from the love of God
in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Saint Paul, who had a direct line to heaven
was convinced, believed to his very core, persuaded
that nothing, absolutely nothing
could separate us, sever us, isolate us, block us off from,
divide us, disconnect us
from the unfailing, merciful, faithful,
encompassing, forgiving love of God.

Certainly not death, no principalities or powers, 
no enemies that want to destroy us, 
no evil spirits or lying men.

Nothing present in our life now,
our mental state, our physical condition,
the company we keep, our finances,
the way we think or feel, our unworthiness, 
even if we are convinced we do not deserve God's love!
All these cannot separate us from His love!

Nothing in our future-
our anxieties, uncertainties, doubt!
No height of absurdity, depth of despair.
Nothing in our past, no creature
in our past or present or future
who left us, who destroyed us, raped us,
shackled us, will be able to divide us from the love
our Father has for us.

Help me to see that You are always by my side!
Help me to be convinced as Saint Paul 
was convinced and sure of,
that You love me!

Do not allow anyone or anything to steal 
this knowledge from me!!!

For my growing collection of 
prompts, inspirations, creative pursuits,
courageous artists and their art,
join me at papemelroti
art and faith workshops!

Join me as I do 31 Days of posts,
writing from the HeART!
You'll find other fascinating posts
on The Nester, all doing a series of 31 Days!!!

1st of the series here

Previous Posts

Every week I choose one wonderful visitor
who leaves a comment
to receive an ATC from me.
I know it takes so much time and effort
to leave a comment
and I appreciate it soooo much!

This week,
Random.org chose
 #13, Carole Robb Bisson,
of The Diamond Dragonfly.
There's always lots
of inspiration going on
in her blog!

at 1 comment:

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

WOYWW: On Gratitude


There's really nothing worth noting on my desk this morning!
Except maybe for my pile of backgrounds which
I did last night while watching 
BBC's "Lark Rise to Candleford" on Youtube. 
I love the way they speak, the graciousness 
and the generosity of spirit in this series.

I read from the Psalms this morning:
Let my heart rejoice in your salvation.
Let me sing of the Lord,
"He has been good to me." 
Psalm 13:6

Yes, God is soooo good.
I have been surrounded with goodness.
I am up to # 2615 in counting my blessings,
but that doesn't begin to cover God's goodness!

There are so many things we take for granted.
I used to have multiple canker sores in my mouth.
I could not eat. I could not speak.

On one of those terrible occasions,
my good friend texted me several times,
"Praise the Lord," and she cited a bible verse.
She didn't know what I was feeling.
So I tried, singing praises with a mouthful
of open wounds.
I cried myself to sleep.

The thing is now, I am soooo grateful 
when I CAN eat, speak, SING!

My brother was so annoyed 
with the state of our country,
the corruption, getting caught by 
police at any whim of theirs,
that he immigrated to Canada.
When he was there,
he had to cook for himself,
clean his little studio,
iron his clothes,
get jobs that were not suitable for him,
like power washing a huge parking garage!
He finally got a job designing posters
in a casino (a job he would never have taken
here in the Philippines!)
One of his office mates,
on hearing the life he has here in the Philippines,
with a driver, househelp, etc.
they said, "WHAT are you doing here?"

AND, a big AND, he missed us, his family!

When he came back home,
he was soooo grateful for everything!
The house help, the police, being with family, etc etc.

We should not wait until things and people
are taken away,
before we realize
we are surrounded by God's goodness!
This is NOT just another day in our life!
This day is a GIFT!

Let us thank God when we open our eyes in the morning!
How many people cannot see the colors
surrounding us?
How many people wake up and CANNOT get up?
How many people don't even have faucets
to wash their face?
My son came from a mission to a place
where they did not have water for 2 months
because their pump (1 pump for 30 families!)
did not work!

Let our hearts rejoice because
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9...........234,790.......56,734,221
and on and on and on.
Do you have a gratitude list?
Why not start one today?

For my growing collection of 
prompts, inspirations, creative pursuits,
courageous artists and their art,
join me here!

Join me as I do 31 Days of posts,
writing from the HeART!
You'll find other fascinating posts
on The Nester, all doing a series of 31 Days!!!

1st of the series here

Previous Posts

Every week I choose one wonderful visitor
who leaves a comment
to receive an ATC from me.
I know it takes so much time and effort
to leave a comment
and I appreciate it soooo much!

This week,
Random.org chose
 #13, Carole Robb Bisson,
of The Diamond Dragonfly.
There's always lots
of inspiration going on
in her blog!

 
at 16 comments:

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Like Yeast


When I go on Facebook,
I see a lot of my friends posting delicious food
that they've made themselves.
But what I really enjoy is when they show
pictures of their freshly baked bread!

I told my son recently,
look for a bread recipe that you would
like to eat and we will bake it.
I'm not much of a cook,
and the only bread I've made are tortillas.
It did not require any yeast.

My reading today is Luke 13:18-21.
"To what shall I compare the Kingdom of God?"
Jesus was telling the multitudes listening to Him.
"It is like a yeast that a woman took
and mixed in with three measures of wheat flour
until the whole batch of dough was leavened."

Why would Jesus compare the Kingdom of God 
to yeast in a bowl of wheat dough,
or as in the previous verse,
a mustard seed that grows into a huge tree?

Perhaps because both the seed and the yeast
is nothing until it is put into something.
They are both so small and inert, lifeless,
until some action is done.

Mother Teresa was able to accomplish so much.
Why? She did it one step at a time.
One of her oft quoted sayings is:
"We can do no great things,
only small things with great love."

Sometimes we have this great desire 
to help someone, to start something good,
but we hesitate because we think of 
the big picture.
We do not think of what God will do
when we give Him the little we have.

I have seen what God can do when
we obey, when we are generous with 
our limited time and resources.
In 2009, God asked me to go visit 
the inmates in the QC Jail.
I confessed that I cried because 
it was unimaginable for me at the time.
But I obeyed and you can read 
some of the stories here.
God provided and the preaching
in the jail continues every Friday,
although I have not been faithful to
my blog about it!
What I like doing while I paint is to listen to videos on Youtube
about the verse I am painting.
It is quite a short video and I wanted to share it with you.

 Is there something you feel God is asking you to do
that you haven't done?
Maybe you can start with a small step?
Join me as I do 31 Days of posts,
writing from the HeART!
You'll find other fascinating posts
on The Nester, all doing a series of 31 Days!!!

1st of the series here

Previous Posts

Every week I choose one wonderful visitor
who leaves a comment
to receive an ATC from me.
I know it takes so much time and effort
to leave a comment
and I appreciate it soooo much!

This week,
Random.org chose
 #13, Carole Robb Bisson,
of The Diamond Dragonfly.
There's always lots
of inspiration going on
in her blog!

For my growing collection of 
prompts, inspirations, creative pursuits,
courageous artists and their art,
join me here!


Blessings,
Patsy

at 2 comments: