The more we express our gratitude to God for our blessings,
the more he will bring to our mind other blessings. The more
we are aware of to be grateful for, the happier we become.
– Ezra Taft Benson
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When you finally allow yourself to trust joy and embrace it,
you will find you dance with everything.
– Emanuel
So happy to be in a family with a good sense of humor!
The paper quilt project. led by artists from Special Touch, C.cada and Cornerstone Prayer Shawl ministry.
“Create all the happiness you are able to create; remove all the misery you are able to remove. Every day will allow you, –will invite you to add something to the pleasure of others, –or to diminish something of their pains.”
― Jeremy Bentham
I am so happy my friends from C.cada chose to come with me and help with the Special Touch REACH NE event last Saturday.
“In the end, the number of prayers we say may contribute to our happiness, but the number of prayers we answer may be of even greater importance.”
― Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Today I am privileged to be the worship leader and preacher at Special Touch REACH New England’s Disability Awareness Day!
Pray with me that God would pour His love out on souls today!
“Happiness is not a life without pain, but rather a life in which the pain is traded for a worthy price.”
― Orson Scott Card, Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus
The above quote pretty closely echoes one of my favorite Scripture verses from Hebrews chapter 12
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” ESV
Every worthwhile endeavor has a price tag attached to it. Even VBS (Vacation bible School) which would seem to be all fun and games comes at a cost to the people who would see young lives changed. There is the giving of time, talent and treasure to every Kingdom event in which we involve ourselves. I am no longer surprised by this nor am I disappointed because I remember something else God said in MA 19:29
“everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold3 and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” ESV
As I come upon a very busy weekend of ministry I am happy because I am being allowed to invest in something that will outlast the sun; That is souls brought into the kingdom of God!
“There is a kind of happiness and wonder that makes you serious. It is too good to waste on jokes.” ― C.S. Lewis
As soon as I read this quote I knew I would be choosing this picture taken at the Chimes Tower in Longwood. Life is seriously good these days. A time is come of great accomplishment. Whether the world ever sees what I do or not hardly matters. I am where God has ordained me to be and that is my first and greatest joy! I feel like I am somehow escaping the snare of fear of man and approval addiction I have long struggled with!
Have you ever struggled with approval addiction? What helps you overcome it?
“Hope
Smiles from the threshold of the year to come,
Whispering ‘it will be happier’…”
― Alfred Tennyson
I have shared this picture before but I have to share it again because this is my milestone celebration picture. I have reached another milestone. Today wordpress informed me I have 500 followers! Thank you readers! You are very dear to me!
We may live in a dark world but the light is constantly working to infiltrate that darkness. I am happy about that truth, even though light is no gentle rain falling across the meadow of our lives; Most times light comes as a fire ball surprising us with its sudden appearance in the sky over our heads. It can be disconcerting even a bit frightening in its scope and challenge. We can rejoice or mourn over its coming. If you are like me you have done both depending on the situation you find yourself in at the given moment of the light’s appearance.
Light is glorious!
Light is filled with hope!
Light is challenging to our personal darkness!
Light is almost always inconvenient!
Light calls us to be better than we are!
Light leaves no room for shadows!
I am glad God has come with His light to infiltrate my life.
I am challenged by that.
I am happy about that.
How is the light challenging you today?
What emotions is that light stirring inside of you today?
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. John 3:16-20 NIV
Happiness is mostly a by-product of doing what makes us feel fulfilled.
I think the problem is that most of us end up pursuing things we think will pursue us only to find in the end they could never truly fill the gap. I think it was Spurgeon who said “Inside of every man is a God-sized hole.”. Only in the pursuit of God will we find our true fulfillment and happness.
Thisis my friend Brian Dickens. He is one of our town’s summer musicians doing concerts in the park.
Looking forward to things is half the pleasure of them.
– Lucy Maud Montgomery
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I transplanted this honeysuckle vine three years ago and have been waiting for it to establish itself ever since. At moments I felt sure it was about to give up the ghost, but it lived! It went into full bloom on July 4th!
Lillie-Put 