What Does Your Life ECHO?

I was in a store and heard a young child speak an unthinkable string of words. I spun my head around to see what the parent was going to do because I could hardly believe my ears. Yet the parent seemed oblivious to his words. Evidently, the parent put the words out there and the child echoed those words back. In another situation, I witnessed a child putting her little hands on her mama’s face and with fervency exclaimed, “I love you sooo much!” That child echoed the words she had heard. What is being echoed in your home and in your sphere of influence?

An ECHO is like sowing and reaping. What we plant, we harvest. If we only speak AND think and if we only plant and sow words of doubt, negativity, unbelief, worry, and anger, then we can expect back the echo (the harvest) of the same. On the other hand, when we are speaking and thinking, planting and sowing -- good thoughts of blessings, love, joy, generosity, peace, kindness, and respect – then that echo will come back with the same.

It’s the Fall season which, of course, leads to thoughts of harvest time and reaping what we’ve sown. With this post, I’m encouraging all of us to think about what our life is reaping. God's laws of reciprocity have never changed. "You reap what you sow." Galatians 6:7 We know the repercussions of negative sowing so if we want a harvest of what we sincerely desire, we'll make sure that our "planting" produces a crop of blessings! If we’re not reaping the blessings we’d like to have, then maybe it’s time to give thought to the seeds we planted.

If we planted honesty, we'll reap trust.
If we planted friendship, we'll reap friends.
If we planted love, we'll reap love.
If we planted hard work, we'll reap success.
If we planted forgiveness, we'll reap reconciliation.
If we plant faith in God, we'll reap a harvest of blessings.

I’m on a mountaintop and I’m yelling “I love you! The echo is “I love you!”. I’m shouting “You are strong and courageous: My echo is “You are strong and courageous!” Imagine you’re on that mountaintop today – what are you shouting and what is coming back at you?

Remember, you are the director of your own movie. You can say CUT at any time to negative speaking and thinking! So go ahead and rewrite the ending to be one of a great harvest of blessings because that’s what you planted during the first scene of the movie!

What is your life echoing today?

I was in a store and I heard a small child speakable such unthinkable language. I could hardly believe my ears. Yet the parent seemed oblivious to the words. That parent or environment that the child lived in -- sent out the words, and the child echoed those words back.

In another situation, I witnessed a child putting his little hands on his mama’s face and with fervency said, “I love you so much!” That child echoed the words she heard.

That’s just the way it works. It’s like sowing and reaping. What we plant, we harvest. If we only speak negativity, doubt, unbelief, weariness, sadness, loneliness, anxiousness – then we can expect the echo back of the same. On the other hand, we sow love, joy, peace, gentleness, self control, gladness, respect – then that echo will be the same.

In other words, what is your life reaping? God's laws of reciprocity have never changed. "You reap what you sow." Galatians 6:7 We know the repercussions of negative sowing: for example, dishonesty = mistrust -- but to have the harvest we sincerely desire, we'll make sure that our "planting" produces a crop of blessings!

If we plant honesty, we'll reap trust.
If we plant friendship, we'll reap friends.
If we plant humility, we'll reap greatness.
If we plant love, we'll reap love.
If we plant hard work, we'll reap success.
If we plant forgiveness, we'll reap reconciliation.
If we plant faith in God, we'll reap a harvest of blessings.

I’m on a mountaintop and I’m yelling “I love you! You are beautiful! You are strong! You are courageous! You are generous! You are smart! You are clever!” And, GUESS WHAT – I’m hearing it right back!.

Who Responds to Your Voice?

My son and family received an "Echo" as a gift from one of their closest friends, David and Danielle Limp. David is Senior Vice President of Devices at Amazon. He oversees the development of everything from the Kindle to Fire phone to the Echo device. This last Christmas, Ryan and Shawntel gave Staci and family an Echo. Now both my families have this new technology in their homes.

Echo is a 9.25-inch tall cylinder speaker. By the way, her name is Alexa, and she is a hands-free, voice response system that is always connected and ready to respond to her name....and she's fast. You don't have to be as close as this little girl is in the photo -- you can be across the room. You just say "Alexa" (and give her a command or request and she'll play audiobooks, give your upcoming schedule, dim a light switch, turn on a fan, add to your shopping list, tell you who the 30th president of the U.S. is and can answer just about any question you may have. She'll tell you sports' scores, the news, weather, Wikipedia facts, definitions, answers. She's an alarm and a timer. But, for Alexa to respond.....you have to call out her name.

How many times do we call out our kids' names to come into the house, or take a bath, or do their homework or empty the dishwasher? Oh, that their voice response system was a responsive as Alexa.

And there's the cell phone commercial where the guy is moving about trying to get a clear connection and he says "Can you hear me now?"

I can assure you of ONE far above any other name who does respond when we call on Him. The airways are clear -- no interference. God truly loves those that are His. He loves you and me! Listen to what He says for those who call upon Him:

Psalm 50:15 “and CALL ON ME in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”

Psalm 91:14-15 “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges My name. He will CALL ON ME, and I will answer him;

Jeremiah 33:3 “CALL TO ME and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”

#CallOnMe #HeAnswers

What Echoes From You?

Day 205 of Photo Inspirations -- What "Echoes" From You?
I'm still in Washington so my daily inspirations continue to come from this gorgeous Northwest and my precious, technological, trend-setter family!!  My son's birthday was last week and one of the gifts he received from Shawntel and the boys was this new Echo by Amazon -- another one of the products mastered-minded by their good friend who is Senior VP at Amazon, and his team.

Echo's name is "Alexa" and she is a hands-free, voice response system that is always connected and ready to respond to her name....and she's fast. You just say "Alexa" and give her a command or request and she'll play audiobooks, give your upcoming schedule, dim a light switch, turn on a fan, add to your shopping list, tell you who the 30th president of the U.S. is and can answer just about any questions you may have.  She'll tell you sports' scores, the news, weather, Wikipedia facts, definitions, answers.  She's an alarm and a timer.  I am continually amazed at the technological brilliance in this world.

I went into the living area of my children's home and my two youngest boys were playing a video game on TV, and were listening to Alexa play Christian music.  At breakfast, Bryson said, "Alexa, play "10,000 Reasons" (his favorite song), and both boys were so into it, they were waving their arms in praise as they sang.

I LOVE ECHO!!!   She had my heart right away. LOL!   And I loved the "echo" that she prompted in my boys AND me.  This song, "10,000 Reasons" or "Bless the Lord Oh My Soul" is the natural response (echo) I desire to always have to life's surprises and interruptions: Check out these lyrics:
[Verse 1]
The sun comes up; it's a new day dawning.
It's time to sing Your song again,
Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me,
Let me be singing when the evening comes!

[Chorus]
Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul.
Worship His holy name; Sing like never before,
O my soul, l I worship Your holy name.

[Verse 2]
You're rich in love and You're slow to anger.
Your name is great and Your heart is kind.
For all Your goodness, I will keep on singing,
10,000 REASONS for my heart to find.

Of course, this was my photo inspiration for today. It's an inspiration I could repeat everyday!  An ECHO is a reflection of a voice or sound.  Oh, that our ECHO would be singing "Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me, Let me be singing when the evening comes."

Here's the link to Matt Redman singing this beautiful song of worship and praise -- maybe it could be what your voice and heart are ECHOing today!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtwIT8JjddM

What is Your Life Echoing Today?

What is your life echoing today?

In other words, what is your life reaping?

I learned this lesson well. I remember when I would wake in a grumpy mood and everyone in the house could feel it. Before long......they would chime in, and they'd be grumpy, too! We, literally, can set the tone and the atmosphere of our day by what we send out. Happy Mama = happy family. Grumpy Mama = grumpy family.

God's laws of reciprocity have never changed. "We do reap what we sow." Galatians 6:7. And, we know the repercussions of positve AND negative sowing. But to have the harvest we sincerely desire, let's make sure our "planting" produces a crop of blessings! And, let's make sure our ECHO resounds with all those things we want back!

If we plant honesty, we'll reap trust.
If we plant friendship, we'll reap friends.
If we plant humility, we'll reap greatness.
If we plant love, we'll reap love.
If we plant hard work, we'll reap success.
If we plant forgiveness, we'll reap reconciliation.
If we plant faith in God, we'll reap a harvest of blessings.
So let's do a check-up -- from the neck-up -- and let's turn our day into blessings!