like little children

well my dear ones,

My wife and I were out in a store today

and I saw this young boy,

about 5 or 6,

he had his eyes closed

and he was dancing in the aisle.

The boy's Mom yelled at him

to open his eyes

and to pay attention

to where he was going.

For a second,

he reminded me of that homeless woman,

the one who danced in the parking lot.

(I spoke of her in "joy"

 back in January 2011;

 if you missed it, it's here:

http://theeverencouragingword.blogspot.com/2012/04/joy.html )

Yes, the little boy had more in common

with the homeless woman

than he did with his own Mom.

He had a simple joyous nature

that I wish more of us could copy.

It was a great reminder to me

to always try to remain

young at heart.

Have a great week!

grace, peace, and love to you,


dave


At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked,

“Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”


He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said:

“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 

Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.



Matthew 18: 1-4

joy

( note: originally posted in my LiveJournal, 02 JAN 2011)

well my dear ones,

I saw a really good rock band last weekend.

There was a man in the front row with two daughters,

one maybe 18-months-old, the other, perhaps a 3-year-old.

At one point, they all stood up and danced.

It seemed to me, the Dad danced just to be

having a good time with his daughters;

the 18-month-old watched her sister closely

and danced to mimic her;

but the 3-year-old,

she danced for pure joy,

the joy of just being alive

and sharing a special moment with her Daddy.

There was something familiar about her movements

which made me recall the homeless woman

who danced in the parking lot under the tree limbs,

dancing with the selfless abandon

of one who dances for God alone

and cares not what we mere mortals think.

I recall the saying of the Jesus

that to enter heaven we have to

become like little children,

to have a heart such as they have.

That homeless woman has gone on to her reward,

dancing for joy before her Creator,

whilst angels sing and give applause.

Have a great week!

grace, peace, and love to you,



dave

"I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

                              --- Jesus

 

joy in, not for

 

well my dear ones,

First off, thanks to those who alerted me

that they thought my FaceBook got hacked.

You were correct; it was (now fixed, though).

The 11:06 PM 11 April 2012 posting

was not from me.

Actually, I find it quite pathetic

that there are people who would waste their time

pretending to be someone else...quite sad;

I mean, anyone who wants to "steal" my life,

well, all I can say is I pity them.

I mean, God gave them their own life

and they'd be better off to be

getting on with it.

And that actually leads into today's post,

the idea that we can be joyful in all things,

which is a far cry from being joyful

for all things.

Recall recently the post "Skye,"

wherein I talked about trying

an extreme home makeover on myself.

Well, the day after my last post,

I was in a car accident;

a woman struck my from behind

while I was sitting at a stoplight.

She hit me hard enough that my truck it totaled

and while I can walk,

I can’t do any martial arts,

and the tingling in my fingers

makes it so I can't really play the bass.

So, of the three things

"I decided" to do,

it appears God has another plan;

I can do only one;

I can still move my hand enough

to do the puppet shows.

I suppose I could get angry

at the woman who hit me.

She was totally at fault and without excuse

and believe me, for the first few days,

I did just that.

However, what does that profit me?

Nothing.

In the end, I have to pray for her as well,

since I believe that she must feel bad

about what she did.

I suppose I could get all angry with God,

like do the Book of Job thing,

and try to justify myself.

Well, that didn't work for him,

so much the less would it profit me.

So, I'm left with seeing it as,

"What lesson am I to learn?"

Not that God caused it to happen,

but more like allowed it to happen,

perhaps to teach me humility,

or to make me more mindful

of those with handicaps

(that part's working, for sure),

or to teach me more patience

(not there yet).

The point is,

I can still maintain my joy,

not for my circumstances,

but in them.

And of the three new things,

only two got put on hold;

I can still do puppets for kids,

and of the three,

that is the one that gives me

the most joy.

So, the next time things don't

go your way,

ask yourself

what lessons might there be for you

in your current status;

and count the blessings you still have,

and see if you can find some room for joy.

It really wasn't as hard

as I thought it would be

(of course, I had my wife to "guide me"

 by which I mean she slapped the

 self pity out of me

 ...figuratively speaking, that is *lol*).

Have a great week!

grace, peace, and love to you,


dave