Life is Fragile – Handle With Care AND Prayer

Yesterday, I made my way to two other “saints on earth”. I heard from friends that my precious mentor and role model, Sister Marie Pierre (will turn 90 this year), fell last week and broke her hip and had surgery. When I arrived at the rehab center, I signed the Visitors List and saw many other of my friends who had already visited her during the day. After therapy, she was in so much pain. I asked God: "Why, Lord, is this precious woman having to suffer when she has been so devoted to you AND us, for so many years?" She and I talked about the goodness and mercy of God and how He sees the little sparrows fall, how much more does He care for her. We talked about Romans 8:28 “ALL THINGS work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purposes.” I thought, "ALL THINGS? Really, God? How can this turn for good?" My questions were answered when she and I talked. Together, we could see God’s goodness displayed in the attention she's receiving by SO MANY who have loved and cherished her for so many years. We're all praying for her and acknowledging and expressing our love and appreciation to her. She is on our hearts and minds. We are better for it. Life is fragile – handle with care AND prayer.

Another dear 94-year old friend is in a long term care facility that was only 2 miles from Sr Pierre’s rehab facility. Of course, it was perfect timing to go see her. This gracious, kind and tenderhearted Godly woman was another of my mentors and role models in faith and class. She doesn’t remember too much about our time together because of memory loss, but that doesn’t matter. I remember. I remember her always dressing to the nines, always complimenting me and encouraging me when I was the president of our women’s ministries. I talked about pot lucks and ministry projects and hilarious times and touching-lives-together-times. I smiled when nurses or aides would come into the room. Thelma would introduce me as the friend that she grew up with, who lived near each other and went to church together. There were some gaps in those memories, but no worries – her beautiful spirit is alive and well. Life is fragile -- handle with care AND prayer.

Why am I sharing these three mature, 90-something years old, beautiful and Godly women of faith with you today? Because those women prayed for me, celebrated me, encouraged me and gave me words that are still pushing me on to my finish line. I pray that when I’m in those years of fast approaching my finish line that I’ll be reminded that though life is fragile – we can handle it -- come what may -- with care and prayer for each other.

2 Timothy 4:7 "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

Kind Words = Sweetness and Good Health

Kind Words = Sweetness and Good Health
Yesterday, I exposed my DELIGHT for chocolate -- that SWEET, savory, God-given, delicacy of DELIGHT and I exposed my DELIGHT in God and His Word. I must be all about sweetness, because today, I was led to carry on in that same vein.

KIND: friendly, generous, considerate, loving, warm, caring Proverbs 16:24 says "KIND words are like honey— sweet to the soul and healthy for the body."

"KIND words are like honey - sweet to the soul" (That reminds me of honey on a biscuit or roll - YUM!), and whenever I think of something healthy, I think of fresh tomatoes, avocados, basil picked from my little herb garden (garden is an overstatement -- it's a little patch of my favorite herbs: basil and cilantro) slathered in balsamic vinegar glaze, perfectly guilt-free and healthy to eat.

The words SWEET and HEALTHY are rarely mentioned in the same sentence yet that is exactly how this proverb describes KIND words. They are like honey. And it’s both sweet to the soul (our soul -- our will, mind and emotions would be in sweetness -- not anger, fear, anxiety) and healthy for the body (our body would reap the rewards of our kindness). Just imagine what a steady diet of our kind words could do -- not only for others, but for us!

What if we chose to use our words, the ones we speak and the ones we write, to bring KINDNESS into the lives of everyone around us? What if we actually saw each and every KIND word we say as an agent of healing, a sweet balm for another’s soul AND our soul? What if we became very intentional about being a bearer of KIND words?

There are enough of harsh, bitter, angry, stinging words being thrown around today. What if we were KINDNESS dealers, handing out doses of KINDNESS everywhere we go? Kindness costs little but pays huge dividends in our own lives and in the lives of those we touch. It’s a habit that paves the way to a sweet and healthy, joy-filled life.

Lord, we give our words to You. We pray that Your words of loving kindness will fill us to overflowing to others. Help us to speak only kind and encouraging words. Help us to be a people of love. Thank You for being the Giver of all true kindness. We recognize that all kindness comes, first and foremost, from You and You alone. And we thank You. Through Christ our Lord, we pray! Amen! So be it, Lord! AMEN!

How Does Our Garden Grow? Healthy or Poisonous?

Day 115 of Photo Inspirations -- How Does Our Garden Grow -- Healthy or Poisonous?
As I look out the window in our dining room this morning, I see land on the port side.  It's the southern tip of England -- we're traveling through the Isles of Scilly and "Land's End", the Cornish Peninsula of Great Britain.  Soon we'll be entering the English Channel that separates southern England from Northern France.  Tomorrow morning, we'll be docking at Le Havre, France.

But, I'm still remembering the wonders of yesterday in Ireland.  What a thrill it was!

During our tour of the Blarney Castle in Ireland, we saw the area outside the castle called the Poison Garden.  (Photos attached are of the garden and though some are beautiful, the plants are potentially poisonous).   It was created to educate visitors about poisonous plants found in the wild and in our own gardens -- aimed to show positive and negative uses of plants -- medically and traditionally -- historically and in modern times. Not many people die from poisonous plants, but they do when they're not used in their natural state.  Once they start making products from the plants -- thousands of people die from overdoses, like in heroine.  And 5 million people die annually from smoking related diseases.  The plants aren't bad, but we make them harmful in how we use them.

So how do our gardens grow?  My analogy today is about the gardens we grow.  The decisions we make with our words and actions and the care of our bodies are either healthy and nutritious or they are poisonous.

I have a Certified Nutritionist who helps me stay healthy.  She ensures I am putting into my body pure, natural herbs and plants via supplements.  And, if there's a little something that seems to be missing in my healthy lifestyle (a little physical issue I experience), she'll provide the correction via another natural supplement.

Isn't that God's intended purpose for what He created?  He wants us healthy and He gave us what we need -- in His Word.  Everything we need is there -- to keep us strong mentally, physically and spiritually.  But when we go off course in our thoughts and actions, as well as in what we take into our bodies -- we'll be like those who alter plants, making them harmful to our health.

I live and learn more everyday about what God intended in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve had everything they needed there to ensure an abundant, blessed life, but they lost that when they took the "poison" -- the forbidden fruit.  He ensures a Garden of Eden for us, but we must stay away from those things that keep us outside of His intended purposes for the best for our lives.  There is so much He has afforded us when we are drawn to the beauty of everything else He's provided us. That is when we really do realize that He came to give us life....and life more abundantly. And what a sweet and full blessed life it is!