Come One. Come All.

Come one. Come all.
I saw the Mother Teresa movie a few nights ago. It made me even more inspired about the work this wonderful saint did. She was relentless in caring for the poor. She went "against the grain" when it came to pleasing the status quo, and those who represented the status quo. From sun up to sun down, her love for humanity was seen as she reached out to the homeless, the sick and suffering. She worked so zealously that it affected her physically. When her doctor told her she must get some rest. Her reply was "I have the whole of eternity to get rest."

I thought about her love for humanity that drove her to untold hours of making a difference in the poor and needy, but to the wealthiest, they, too, were affected by her compassion. She left everyone better off after she had spent time with them. She didn't see through the eyes of comparison and measuring up to a certain standard. She just was.

If she had been in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and she saw one of those "beggars" that stand on the street corners with a sign that says "Please help", I don't believe she would have ever passed them by. Somehow I think she would have gotten out of her car and managed to figure out a way to help them. To her, they were Jesus. "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in." (Matthew 25:35) She was accustomed to picking babies up out of garbage cans. Those little ones discarded by leper parents, perhaps, who could no longer care for them.

I heard a speaker tell about a wealthy individual that drove up to his church in a Rolls Royce and was concerned about the security of his car when he went into the church. An attendant parked the car in a locked and secure area that the church provides. Then a homeless man came up to the church pushing his grocery cart with everything in the world he owns in it. He, too, was concerned about the security of his grocery cart. The attendant took his cart and parked it right next to the Rolls Royce. I loved that story. They cared equally for both individuals.

That's what Mother Teresa did. That's what Jesus does. He loves us unconditionally. And isn't that how we should love, too? After all, God didn't give us a measuring stick to use on who measures up and who doesn't. He did give us a measuring stick, and it's the Golden Rule stick and it says. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." And another measuring stick that says "This is the first and greatest commandment. Love the Lord with all your heart, your soul and love your neighbor as you love yourself." (Matthew 22:35).

In a world that needs this love and compassion, how can we rest on our laurels? Maybe it's time for us to get busy loving and caring. After all, like Saint Teresa of Calcutta, we have the whole of eternity to get rest!"

Have You Noticed How Opposites Attract?

Day 132 of Photo Inspirations -- Have you noticed how opposites attract?
You might think "How did THEY ever get together?"  I know that's the way it was for my husband and I.  He had a serious, intuitive, methodical, perfectionist, deep-thinker personality.  I, on the far end of the spectrum (as far as the East is from the West), was/am a lighthearted, saguine, fun-loving, upbeat, go-with-the-flow personality.  It worked well for us.  We completed each other.  We made each other better because of what one of us lacked, the other had.  But, it didn't come without years of maturing and adapting.

I started thinking about our relationship with God -- how very opposite we are.
He is perfect.  We are not.
His ways and His thoughts are so much higher than our ways and our thoughts.
He loves unconditionally.  We do not.
He forgives and forgets.  We try to forgive, and seldom forget.
He gives without expectation of return.  We give expecting to receive.

But, here's the really good news.  He is attracted to us, and we are attracted to Him.  Everything that He is, and we're not, is okay -- He knew that, so His perfect plan of giving us His best, His one and only Son, bonded us together in perfect completion.  Yes, "In Him you have been made complete......" Colossians 2:10  And, everyday as we spend time with Him, we'll find ourselves taking on more and more of His characteristics and His beauty, and before long, we start to think as He thinks, forgiving and forgetting like He forgives and forgets, and gives and loves unconditionally.

Oh, how much we want to be like Him, but it's a long, slow process of growth. Like in our marriages, maturing in Him, is a gradual, progressive development that will take the rest of our lives.  St. Paul said, "This will continue until we are . . . mature, just as Christ is, and we will be completely like him." (Ephesians 4:13).  We are a work in progress, but the longer we are in relationship with Him......the more we will be complete in Him.  And, in this case -- OPPOSITES DO ATTRACT!
#OppositesAttract #PerfectGod

Happy Mother's Day to My Two Mothers

Day 124 of Photo Inspirations - #TBT -- Happy Mother's Day to My Two Mothers
These two precious women, on the left -- my mother-in-law, Lydia Wuerch, and on the right, my Mom, Edna Wheat -- were my mentors and the greatest influences I could have ever had as Godly women and mothers. Best friends, they were also visionaries.  They KNEW that their two kids were meant for each other.   I owe so much of who I am to them.   They were prayer warriors who didn't stop until they had an answer.

They literally prayed my husband and I together -- and those prayers kept us together.   We watched their own example as they went through tough times, and came through them because of their unwavering faith.  They impressed upon us that tough times don't last, but tough people who believe in commitment, keeping their promises and vows -- that they'll be honored for keeping them.  How I thank them for their unwavering support and relentless prayers for us.  They not only talked the talk -- they walked the walk in their own lives. My Mom is heaven.  Mom2 at age 92 is still here to celebrate this Mother's Day with me.

So on this Throwback Thursday, I honor them and all they've stood for, lived for and set the example for.  By their example, I've learned that:

A mother is someone who loves unconditionally and places the needs of her children above her own, and not only with words, but also actions.

A mother is someone who loves and cares for you in every way -- even when you don't deserve it.

A mother is the woman who raises you, who is there to hold and comfort you when you are sick or hurt, the woman who laughs with you, who cries with you, who loves you, even when you aren't exactly lovable.

A mother goes to whatever means it takes to instill in you that there isn't anything that you can't accomplish.  

All that I am and ever hope to be.....I owe it to my mothers!  Happy Mother's Day, Mom and Mom2!