Pondering with a Purpose-Showing Love

This Week's prompt is:  Showing Love

Love is a many splendored thing
It's the April rose
That only grows in the early spring
Love is nature's way of giving
A reason to be living
The golden crown that makes a man a king

Once on a high and windy hill
In the morning mist
Two lovers kissed
And the world stood still
Then your fingers touched
My silent heart and taught it how to sing
Yes, true love's
A many splendored thing

Ahh, yes, I'm sure we remember the Four Aces singing this song into our hearts.  What a wonderful feeling when cupids arrow is true to the mark. What is love? This quote by Keith Taylor gives us more insight. "Love is expressed as an action and experienced as a feeling, but it has an essence that resists defining in any single way––it encompasses compassion, tolerance, endurance, support, faith, determination and more. Love reaches beyond romance and embraces us in all walks of life as we encounter one another and make choices about respecting and caring for each other."

How can we show love?  I think that the first step is that we must love ourselves.  How can we pass love on to others if we do not have it within us?   Loving yourself is about having self-respect, discovering what really makes you tick and spending your life being true to your real talents.

When we are secure in ourselves then we can begin to show love to others.  Show your devotion to others by being considerate, respectful and thoughtful of their needs, by doing little acts of random kindness and by showing them that you care about their well-being.

Say the words "I love you".  So often we take it for granted that people know how we feel.  Tell them "You mean a great deal to me", "You inspire me", "You are the most amazing person I've ever known", "I am a better person for having known you",  These are all expressions of love.

Love unconditionally. Love is an action from which you should not expect returns. If you cannot love another person without attaching stipulations such as expecting to be loved in equal measure in return,   then it is not true love, but just selfishness.

Be tolerant. Love is about acceptance and tolerance, You must accept the person and all their warts. This is not to say that you approve of all their actions, but that as a whole you accept them.  You must be able to show empathy--feel their pain.

Love those who don't love you.  This is probably the hardest aspect of loving.  The hateful people need our love.  Often love is the only way to deal with them. Love leads to compassionate responses. When hate is directed toward you, repel it with love and use their hatred as motivation to show that tolerance, kindness and acceptance are better ways to get along.

Accept risk. You cannot love without accepting that there is always a chance of loss of the love or of being hurt. But to truly love you must put yourself out there.  If you are hurt you can learn from it, with the realization that you were lucky to have "loved and lost, rather than to have never loved at all."

Make love your eternal thing. Never stop loving other people who are in your life and who come and go. By sharing love around, you create a loving environment and you inspire others to do the same thing. You also show the best reflection of your worth to others when you love.

These are the steps to showing love.  Personally, I want to be remembered as a loving person.

I love you more than starry nights

Than candy and a cake

Than sugar plums and marshmallows

And clear blue lakes

I love you more than chocolate

And big red roses

Than heart lockets and cute pandas

And boxes of Sweetarts

I love you more than lollipops

Than snugly socks

Oh, I love Sour Patch Kids of any size,

But I love YOU the most!

                                             Anonymous 

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. What can the average citizen do to honor a military veteran and/or those currently serving?
Donate to the Wounded Warrior Project, an organization that benefits those veterans with serious health issues.  Pray for our troops,  proudly fly the flag.

2. Besides a flag what is something you own that is red, white and blue?

I am wearing a tee right now that is red, white, and blue.  I also have made a memory book that is our country's colors.

3. Does love really conquer all?

No, only in fiction.  Love can be a one-way street, and if so interpersonal problems can't necessarily be resolved.  God's love is all encompassing, it doesn't solve all our problems, but gives us the strength to deal with them.

4. Strawberry shortcake or blueberry pie?

BLUEBERRY ICE CREAM PIE

1 baked 9-inch pie shell –prefer graham cracker

1 package (3 oz.) lemon gelatin

1 ¼ cup boiling water

1-pint vanilla ice cream

2 cups blueberries

1-cup heavy cream

¼ cup powered sugar

1-teaspoon vanilla extract

Cool pie shell.   Dissolve gelatin in boiling water.  Cut ice cream into cubes and drop into hot gelatin, one at a time, stirring until ice cream melts.  Chill until slightly thickened.  Fold in 1-1/2 cup berries.  Pour into pie shell. Chill until firm.   Whip cream with sugar and vanilla Put cream into pastry bag and pipe with rosette tip into lattice on top.  Fill lattice with remaining berries.   Chill until ready to serve.      Recipe compliments of my sister.  

5. Do you share personal stuff with your hairdresser?

Just general stuff.

6. Does money lead to selfishness?

Not necessarily.  It is the love of money that gets people into trouble.  Or when money makes us proud, and think that we can have whatever we want--King Solomon is a great example.

7. What piece of furniture in your home most needs replacing or refinishing?

My furniture is in good shape.  I just had my sofa and living room chairs reupholstered.  I also have a lot of antiques, and the wear makes them better.

8. Insert your own random here.

I had a really good holiday weekend.  My grandson barbecued.  I finished a memory book on our family's art.  And the weather was cool.  It was probably our last cool weekend until the middle of September.

Words

Words--I'm sure that we take most of them for granted.  But in the book Words by Ginny Yttrup words are given a whole new meaning.  They are the treasures of 10 year old Kaylee, a child abondoned by her mother and abused by her mother's boyfriend, a child unable to talk due to trauma.  And they are the release of emotions by Sierra, an artist, suffering from past mistakes who uses them on her canvas to seek healing.  These two hurt souls are brought together and the Word--God's Son--helps heal them both.


This book handles the dark subject of child abuse in a caring way, and shows that truth can bring healing.  If you like good Christian novels, be sure and get this book.


I won this book in a giveaway from Linda at Mocha with Linda.  Be sure to check out her blog.  She has giveaways, book reviews, and great blogs.

We Must Never Forget

I am repeating this post,  I love the poem.  It is a solemn reminder of the cost of our freedom.


On this holiday weekend as we officially start summer I want to remember why we celebrate Memorial Day.  This moving poem reminds us of the sacrifice of the men and women who answer the call of their country.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

John McCrae (1872-1918) may seem out of place in the distinguished company of World War I poets, but he is remembered for what is probably the single best-known and popular poem from the war, "In Flanders Fields." He was a Canadian physician and fought on the Western Front in 1914, but was then transferred to the medical corps and assigned to a hospital in France. He died of pneumonia while on active duty in 1918 at the age of 46.

Sunday's Meditation--Compare

Do you "compare and despair"?

1 Corinthians 12:  What I want to talk about now is the various ways God's Spirit gets worked into our lives. This is complex and often mis-understood, but I want you to be informed and knowledgeable....Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits.....You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body.....I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn't just a single part blown up into something huge. It's all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together. If Foot said, "I'm not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don't belong to this body," would that make it so? If Ear said, "I'm not beautiful like Eye, limpid and expressive; I don't deserve a place on the head," would you want to remove it from the body? If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell? As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it.  (The Message)

Good Girl Gone Bad

The statute of limitations has run out on this crime--it happened 50 years ago-- so I think I can safely talk about it.  I was an excellent student and to most appearances 
a shy, good kid, but I had a bit of my Daddy in me, always having a desire to live life on the edge–just a bit anyway.  I had one good girl friend–Anne.  One day at noon as we were leaving high school for lunch, I noticed that my favorite teacher hadn’t turned the ignition switch completely off in his nice red convertible.  So with a little convincing, I talked Anne into going with me on a little ride.  We cruised down main street, past the Irma Grill and  the Rexall drug, where all the “in” crowd had lunch. At the end of main street, probably eight or nine blocks, I turned around and we cruised back.  All the while, I was doing my best Miss America wave while Anne scrunched down in the seat. When we got back to school, Anne was glad that the same parking place was still open, but--the devil made me do it--I parked the car farther down the street, so he would know the car had been moved.  I did make sure to lock the ignition–I certainly didn’t want anyone to steal his car! The next day in class, the teacher asked if anyone had noticed anything the previous day at lunch.  I was in luck--no one ratted me out.  

I did overheard him tell another teacher he was sure one of those bad boys, you know the ones who wore white tee shirts with a pack of cigarettes rolled up in the sleeve–had taken his car for a joy ride.


As far as I can remember, this is the only thing that I knowingly did that was really wrong since I was grown.

Now what is the point of this story--There are several--Even good people do bad things,  You can't tell what is on the inside by outside appearances. You may appear to get away with something, but God knows.

Friday Favorite Things

These are a few of my favorite things this week

Catch that ball-last game of the season and a winner for grandson!

Wind chime my sister made for me

Kindergarten graduation day--granddaughter on left.

Another milestone in her education (or is it this the first?)

Each week, Hilary at Feeling Beachie lists four statements with a blank for you to fill in on your own blogs. If you want to join the fun and come up with four fill in’s of your own, please email them to her at feelingbeachie@gmail.com. If she uses them, she will add you as co-host to the hop! 

1.       After a long day, I like to _have a salad, a glass of ice tea, and sit on the sun porch.__

2.       Clorox bleach__is my favorite cleaning product.  I love the smell of it, and how it sanitizes. 

3.       I can’t stand to watch _adults berating children, telling them how stupid or worthless they are.

4.       I want to _work on my current memory book__ when I _get home from babysitting today__.

Pondering with a Purpose--Dress for Comfort

This Week's prompt is: What are you most comfortable in?I am not a high fashion gal.  I don't own a pair of heels more than 2-1/2" high, and I don't wear skirts above the knee.  My cleavage is a secret--I think it is somewhere around my waist, now.Don't get me wrong, I do like to look nice, but wearing comfortable apparel is my first priority, looking good comes in second, and wearing the current fad is a distant third.

Now that it is summer, I wear shorts or capris and short sleeved tees almost all the time.  For church, I love those long gauzy skirts.  They are so cool (as in keeping me comfortable).  I have them it all kinds of floral prints, both bright and subdued.  Match that with a solid tee, with maybe a bit of sparkle and I am "dressed up"

Shoes--I have a couple that I most often wear.  The sandals are comfortable, and these new Nike tennis shoes, I am breaking in for vacation.  I have another pair in solid white that I usually wear

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. What's something you miss about the 1980's? If you're too young to miss the 80's how about the 90's?

The 80"s were bad for me.  In the early 80's I was suffering the end of a 20+ year abusive marriage, divorced in 84, and then the end of the 80's trying to overcome the guilt of failure, and adapt to a single life.  So, I don't miss a thing from the 80's.

2. Do you have a library card? If so, how often do you visit?

I do have a library card.  Since I got my kindle and all the free books that it offers and the research that the Internet offers, I haven't gone very often.

3. What's the secret to success?

Seeking God's guidance, hard work, and patience.

4. This is National Backyard Games week...what's your favorite backyard game?

Does sitting in a lawn chair, sipping ice tea, listening to the birds count?

5. If I dropped by today what would I find on your coffee table?

Absolutely nothing, having two puppies is worse than having toddlers.  Everything has to be put up higher, or else it ends up outside.

6. Do you own a bicycle? When was the last time you rode a bicycle? Is that something you enjoy?

I don't own a bicycle, although I do know how to ride one, this is not something I enjoy--my balance isn't so good that I can relax and have fun cycling. 

7. What's your favorite cheese?

I love feta in a salad, or mozzarella  in Italian food, or sharp American in a grilled cheese sandwich, or cream cheese on a bagel.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

The temperature has been up around 105+ in the daytime and all my spring flowers are fading fast.  The winter lawn is gone, and the summer lawn is just starting.  It looks like it is going to be a long, hot summer.

Curds and Whey

One of the chores that had to be done twice a day was milking the cows.  We usually had one or two that supplied us with all our dairy needs.  Our barn was across the middle pond and down a small hill.  Fun going down, but a job hiking up with a full pail of milk.

We would bring the milk into the summer kitchen, and Mom would put it into the big bowl on the top of the separator.  We kids would take turns turning the crank.  Cream would come out of one spout and skim milk out of the other.  Then into the refrigerator it would go.

When we needed butter, the cream would go into the churn, similar to this one pictured.  It was cranked until the butter separated from the whey, then taken out of the churn, a little bit of salt was added, and Mom would knead it until it was nice and firm.  The whey was buttermilk and a special treat when chilled.
Sometimes we would make cottage cheese.  Mom heated the milk, then added just a little bit of vinegar, and the milk would separate and make curds.  She poured this into a big colander lined with cheese cloth, and let all the liquid drain off.  After squeezing out the last drop, she would break up the curds, and the cottage cheese was ready to eat.
Isn't amazing what a pail of milk could gift us with!

Meet me on Monday

Waiting for post

1. Finish this sentence - The last book I read and enjoyed was....Words by Ginny Yttrup--the story of the healing of an abused child and an bruised artist.

2. Do you have special Victoria Day (Canadian) or Memorial Day (US) traditions?  If you don't live in Canada or the US, what is the next holiday that you are celebrating where you are?

I like to have a BBQ with my family

3. If you could invent something to make your life simpler, what would it be?

A button to push that would make my 20 year old grandson act more mature and responsible.  Times sure have changed since I was a kid.

4. What is your favorite recent blog post?  Bleeding Hearts, a story of the mischief of a little girl got into.

5. And now a question for you--What is your favorite food to cook on the grill?  Mine--Drunken Chicken (A whole chicken placed over an open can of beer, it is so moist)-- Paula Deen's recipe follows:

Ingredients

• 1 (3-pound) chicken
• Seasoned salt
• House seasoning, recipe follows
• 1 (12-ounce) can beer
• 1 sprig rosemary

Directions

Preheat a charcoal grill over high heat. When the coals are hot and glowing, carefully push them over to the sides of the grill, leaving an open space in the middle of the grill. Wash and drain chicken. Coat the chicken inside and out with seasoned salt and House Seasoning. Open the can of beer and carefully insert a sprig of rosemary. Then, place the beer can into the body cavity starting at the rear of the chicken. Carefully place the chicken on the center of the grill, facing 1 of the banks of the coals, making sure not to spill the beer. Cover the grill and cook until chicken is done, approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour, turning the chicken as necessary. The chicken is done when the juice runs clear.

Serve chicken with favorite BBQ sides.

House Seasoning:

• 1 cup salt
• 1/4 cup black pepper
• 1/4 cup garlic powder

Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Sunday's Meditation--Life is Strenuous

Life is strenuous; don't let your clock run down.

Life is hard – your boss will not always be the nicest person in the world. Your job will have challenges that you did not foresee. Your workmates will sometimes be a pain. You won’t always get the salary and recognition that you want and deserve at work. Your clients may not be the nicest people in the world.

Life is hard – your kids won’t always be the ideal kids you want them to be. Your wife or husband may not be as perfect as you thought they were when you married them – in fact I can guarantee you they are not. Your home may not be the ideal place you would want it to be. You may not the perfect wife or husband that you once thought you were.

Life is hard – running a business is not as easy as you thought it would be. No one is lining up to bring money to your business, even though you are a really nice person and your business has great products to offer.http://www.motivation-for-dreamers.com/life-is-hard.html

Is there help?  Is there a solution?  Fortunately yes--

Matt 11:28-30  "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."  (NIV)

Picnic with a Purpose

On special summer days Mom would pack a picnic lunch load us all into the car and drive up to the forest, which was nearer to Yellowstone Park, 
Past all the unusual rock formations each with a road sign bearing its name–chimney rock, elephant’s head and sleeping giant. 

Chimney rock

Elephant Head

We would find a grassy picnic area somewhere along the North fork of the Shoshone river. There we would have our lunch, perhaps peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on homemade bread, and a soft cookie washed down with ice cold fresh milk.  

After eating and some playtime, we loved to  pick wild choke cherries which Mom would make into wonderful jam or jelly, or maybe some syrup for our pancakes.  Sometime there were wild elderberries that would become a delicious pie.  We always had a race to see who could fill their pail first.  Mom would just smile.

Friday Favorite Things

These are a few of my favorite things this week

Son making beautiful music on the BBQ

Granddaughter showing off her new room (with bf's help)
She did most of the painting herself, now just waiting for
black shades, and then g-ma might make a zebra valance.

Gorgeous plant son gave me for Mother's Day

Cute handmade card from my bff

Baked a bunch of chocolate chip cookies

Oh, oh the cookie monster
must have come during the night

Mama hummingbird patiently sitting on nest

And finally from around my yard

Loving the warm weather

Yellowbells

Saguaro cactus at nearby park

Each week, Hilary at Feeling Beachie lists four statements with a blank for you to fill in on your own blogs. If you want to join the fun and come up with four fill in’s of your own, please email them to her at feelingbeachie@gmail.com. If she uses them, she will add you as co-host to the hop! 

1.       I like to avoid _arguments__ if possible.  I hate conflict and wish that everyone would get along.

2.       Enjoying housework_ is a virtue I do not have.  I consider it a necessary evil.

3.       Sometimes the __old shoes_ are the _most comfortable, even though they may not be the most stylish._

4.       I think that _scallops_ are the best _seafood._

Pondering with a Purpose

This Week's prompt is:  Favorite ColorHands down my favorite color is Apricot

It is that color that lies between yellow and orange, and carries the best of both colors.

It is warmer than yellow and lighter than orange.  It is vibrant, yet soft.

And it goes with two of my other favorite colors--lime and amethyst.Whether it is for a blouse, an accent color in my home, or a spot of color in my gardenApricot is for me.