Saturday, August 27, 2011

Joy comes in the Morning

I love mornings.  When I was a kid, I had to get up really early in order to get ready for school and make the mile hike to the school bus that came about eight o'clock.  When I had my own kids, it was early rising in order to feed them and spend some play time with them before the hectic day began.  During my years working, I got up early so that I could be at the gym at 5:00.  Now that I am retired, I still wake about five, and truly enjoy the early hours of the day.  There is beauty that only a morning can bring.  Witness this cactus by my front patio which only blooms in the morning.


Each day is the chance for a new beginning.  The scripture says in Lamentations 3:22-23 "The faithful love of the Lord never ends, His Mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning" NLT.

Mornings bring hope 'Weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morningPsalm 30:5


Morning is a gift that each one of us is given, I look forward to each new morning and the gifts that the day may provide.

Friday, August 12, 2011

Lions, and Tigers, and Bears, OH MY!

Today, August 12, 1939, that great film, The Wizard of Oz, was released.  It is one of my favorites.  So many of its lines come to mind.
There's no place like home.
We're not in Kansas anymore
Somewhere over the rainbow
I'll get you, my pretty
A heart is not judged by how you love, but by how you are loved by others.

I remember reading all the Oz books when I was young.  It was like the "Harry Potter" for past generations.  On the surface it was an entertaining adventure, but so many values and lessons were woven into the story
Accept your friends as they are
Look for your pathway in life
Don't try to be something you aren't
You have great power within you
Dream, become inspired
Don't give up--Don't run away--Be positive
Step back and the answer for your problem may come to you
It's hard to pick my favorite character--But I think that it might be the Cowardly Lion--is that perhaps because I can see myself in him? I know that I often have to dig deep to do the hard stuff.

Who is your favorite character and why?

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Much Ado about Nothing

Ahhh, its August 7th.  "And why is this a memorable day?", you may ask.  First of all, most important for those of us from Phoenix, TODAY we are halfway through summer! It was 109 today, but now we are on the down hill side of summer.

Just for the heck of it, I was curious what other things were notable for today. 

Well, in 1498 Columbus arrived in the Caribbean.

Today in 1560, Elizabeth Báthory, Hungarian countess and serial killer (d. 1614) was born.  Boy was she a piece of work!

Today in 1876, John Heathcoat, inventor of lace-making machinery was born.

Another infamous women was born today in 1876 that famous Dutch spy, Mata Hari.

Two events took place today in 1909--Alice Huyler Ramsey become the first women to complete a transcontinental auto trip, taking 59 days to travel from New York City to San Francisco.

And the US issued the 1st Lincoln penny.

Finally in 1944 IBM unveiled the first calculator.  And that was the beginning of the end of kids learning math!

And here you thought that today was just another day!.