Loving all God's people


" That is why since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God's people, I have not stopped giving thanks to God for you. I always remember you in my prayers ..."

Ephesians 1 : 15 - 16

Thursday, June 30, 2011

... God Moments everywhere ...

Welcome to Thursday God Moments ...


Kind over Matter is a blog that shines Love and Compassion and all things Wonderful.

This post below is a snippet from her blog ... it resounds the idea of Presence and Listening ...


The majority of us lead quiet lives


The majority of us lead quiet, unheralded lives as we pass through this world. There will most likely be no ticker-tape parades for us, no monuments created in our honor. But that does not lessen our possible impact, for there are scores of people waiting for someone just like us to come along; people who will appreciate our compassion, our unique talents. Someone who will live a happier life merely because we took the time to share what we had to give. Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have a potential to turn a life around. It's overwhelming to consider the continuous opportunities there are to make our love felt.

Leo Buscaglia



Why not go check out what Kind over Matter has to offer ... especially if you want a safe place to fall and an understanding ear ...


Be blessed and be a blessing

Teena

...

Monday, June 27, 2011

... God's promise to Speak and Listen ...

 Hello World ...

" Here I am!  I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me."
Revelation 3 : 20

What I love about this verse is the 'and they with me' ... this talks about a two way communication.

My God is all about being interactive ... he wants relationship.

Listen with all your 6 senses and you will see and hear Him all day long ... His voice is everywhere.

Know Him better and you will start to be more like Him.




(extract from my writings)

Kneeling down ... the tears flowed freely.
Her breath was heaving and gasping.
Large wet patches were appearing on her skirt where the tears collected as they ran down her arm.
The lights were off in the bedroom but she could feel the wetness on her thighs as it soaked through her skirt to her skin.

The feeling of utter helplessness was overwhelming.  Knowing her husband did not like the thought of the nurses helping him and that he relied on her to wash and feed him.  He tried so hard to hold onto what little dignity he had but his strength was escaping fast.  The life was being sucked out of him by the ravages of cancer.

Now he was too heavy for her to lift.  Today she had finished bathing him as usual but when it came time to lift him out ... the struggling was tireless and even with the little help her husband gave, it was useless.  She had to call the nurses for help.  She could still see the image of her hand reaching for the buzzer on the wall ... it seemed like the seconds were slowing downs.  This was far more significant and she knew it.  No one had to tell her ... her whole body wrenched on the inside.

It felt like all her worlds were colliding and coming to an end.  Her heart was crushing under the weight of being her husbands carer and now she was letting him down.  

"God ... this is not fair!"

" Can't you make it stop."

" Make this pain go away."

She was pleading with God.  
These word were spoken from heartache and exhaustion.  

As her sobbing began to slow down she noticed all the tissues by her knees and gathered them up in her hands ... these days were a surreal mixture of seeing someone leaving this life and struggling to let go, that intense internal struggle before death and at the same time having to do the everyday tasks of cooking, cleaning and washing clothes.

Much of her conversation with God that night, happened heart to heart ... no words were spoken but the healing had began on the inside ...



Think of someone who needs your love and encouragement ...

Why not send them a quick text to remind them they are valued ...

Now you have just passed on God's Love ... it's as easy as that ... DONE!

Be blessed and be a blessing

Teena

...

Thursday, June 23, 2011

.. Your Hands by JJ Heller ...

Welcome to Thursday GodMoments ...





JJ Heller sings a great song about being held by the Hands of God ...

I pray that you will feel His presence everyday ...

Be immersed ...

Your Hands

Feel the smile these bring to your face ... now think of someone who needs your love and encouragement ... send them this link ...

Now you have just passed on God's Love and Presence... it's as easy as that ... DONE!

Be blessed and be a blessing

Teena

...

Monday, June 20, 2011

... God's promise of His Presence ...

 Hello world ...

" He has put his own Holy Spirit into our hearts as a proof to us that we are living with him and he with us."

1 John 4 : 13


We are never alone ... He is our ever constant companion ... He is our rock!

Presence is the one thing that I can say has been with me 100% of the time ... even when I am screaming at God in anguish ... my words are always about why or when but never about where are you?

He has a tight hold and will never let go ... For which I am truly grateful.

His Grace covers me and carries me to feel is presence.




(an exert from my writings)

I knew it was about 3 o'clock in the afternoon.  The sore spot on the inside of my little toe was like an alarm.  It was always the same area on my foot that seemed to get sore and around the same time every day.

Knowing it was only another hour to go till the next town ... I kept on walking.  There would be a hot meal waiting for me in the albergue when I arrive.

I keep adjusting the way I walked slightly to relive some of the pressure on the the blister.  All this walking had definitely worn my feet into the soles of my shoes.  My stride had changed much over the past weeks.  Carrying a heavy pack and walking about 18 kilometers everyday does wear you down.  As sore as my feet were, the rhythm of walking called to me every morning at dawn, when I got up in darkness and began the again on the pilgrims track.   

Santiago seemed to be only days away ... so close my imagination could hear the bells tolling to announce the 12 noon mass.  Over the past 40 days my body had learned to walk in step with the earth but my heart struggled with letting go of material possessions.  The decisions on what to discard from my pack became easier as the days passed ... easier as my weary body climbed mountains, all the while knowing there were still more ahead. 

The days became one long conversation with God.  The blisters became reasons to complain to God about how hard things were.  Even through all the endless dribble from my mouth ... his ear seemed to be always there ... that sense of being listened to ... and comforted ... and understood.  Those amazing moments when I would walk around a corner and see thick golden wheat fields rolling over the hills and a meandering red dirt paths up the side of a rickety wooden fence that seemed to go on into the horizon forever ... the appearance of an old bow legged lady collecting chestnuts with her granddaughter and seeing their loving interaction and the freedom in their steps ...  these views and snapshots in my mind became a conversation with God overflowing with gratitude and compassion.

Nearing the end of my pilgrimage, I could feel the relief, mixed with sadness.  Northern Spain had been a time of growing and letting go ... It had also shown me a glimpse of what it was to be carried by the hand of God.  His ever presence in my days had become very obvious but not because he wasn't there before ... but because my eyes had been opened and my heart now sensitive to His Presence ...


This time for me was one of closeness to God ... of wrestling with God and coming to a place of peace.

May you also know the same peace with him.


Be blessed and be a blessing

Teena

...

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Jacqueline Novogratz: Inspiring a life of immersion

 Welcome to Thursday GodMoments ...

Jacqueline is a great and inspiring woman ... listen to her share stories of women who are faithful ... faithful to their passion ... faithful to their families ... faithful to building a future ... faithful to their God.

The world is no longer such a big place with technology to connect us -

It is the us and the we ...  that see really sees ... and the possibility in us all.

The purpose in all of us ... to see and accept and value each other ... to be immersed in a life of passion and justice.





Feel the smile these bring to your face ... now think of someone who needs your love and encouragement ... send them this link ...

Now you have just passed on God's Faithful Love ... it's as easy as that ... DONE!

Be blessed and be a blessing

Teena

...

Monday, June 13, 2011

... God's promise of Faithfulness ...

Hello world ...

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you or forsake you."
Deuteronomy 31 : 6

This has proven to be true all through my life.  God has been my one true constant.  He has always been there.  No matter what I have done or said ...  He has always been my ever present.




(an exert from my writings)

The old man hobbled into the room.  Looking around he saw his wife sitting in her seat by the heater.  The large lounge room was more empty than usual and he wondered if something had happened to cause so many to be absent.  Usually there is a group of men sitting at the corner table playing cards or backgammon but they were not there and this seemed to make the room a lot quieter.  The crochet twins were not sitting on the other side of the heater opposite May.  Instead he noticed the heavy breathing of the lady in the wheel chair ... she seems like a newcomer he thought.

As he walked closer to his wife he saw the smile rise on her face as she recognized him.  Though she did not say a word, her smile and motioning toward the door showed him she remembered his daily visits.  For May this meant she would be able to go outside and slowly make her way around the garden paths.  

There routine was the same everyday.

As they journeyed around the garden beds full of color and vibrancy ... the different smells bought back memories of a life well lived.  Occasionally May would murmur out a story, as though the memories were yesterday and the people very much still alive.  The decades seemed to all merge into one for her ... and her aging mind often confused yesterday with today.  But none of this mattered much to either of them.  May lived in her inner world and Burt was just content with these minutes with her and the hearing of her voice.  

There route around the garden was always the same.

The stories May recounted were mostly familiar to Burt, since they had been married for 60 years, and he knew all there was to know about his darling May.  He lived only to hear her voice and see her precious smile.  His faithfulness meant he never missed a day of visiting May ... 



Life is so fleeting to us but still, time is often taken for granted ...

Make the most of being true to the treasures in your life that really are important.

Be faithful to a God who is ever faithful to us ... Spend time getting to know the one who thinks you are everything!

 
Be blessed and be a blessing

Teena

...

Monday, June 6, 2011

... God's promise of Salvation ...

Hello world ...

Today begins my musing on God's Promises ... and the rich bounty of blessings that follow.


" I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

John 10 : 10

These words remind me of Jesus heart for me and His sacrifice for me.  Salvation is about accepting a free gift of Love ... it is about saying yes to what is going to bring Life ... salvation is about coming with empty hands and leaving with a full heart ... it is all out receiving.



 


( an exert from my writings 2011)

Little Belle carefully placed the last blanket over the corner chair, leaving just enough gap for a door.  Finally her most magnificent castle was ready for guests to come and have a tea party.  She hurried down the hall to gather her friends.  Sally and Lucinda were patiently waiting in the dolls house and she tucked them under her arm, as she whisped up Kittykat in one hand and her apron in the other.  Back in the castle she seated them next to each other, along the velvety cashmere back wall and asked if they wanted milk and sugar in their tea.  

Suddenly realizing that Tess was missing she ran back down the hall again to find her.  Searching the floor ... lifting up discarded clothes ... pulling out the tubs ... looking for any glimpse of her shiny purple mane. 

"Where was she?"  

As Belle walked around the end of her bed she saw two glittering hooves sticking out from under the covers.  

"TESS ... I found you!"  

Pulling Tess free and skipping back down the hall ... telling Tess how relived she was to have found her ... then sharing her joy with the friends already gathered.  They all sat down to the beginnings of a lovely tea party, in such a magnificent castle. 



 It is such a joy to be able to share stories with each other. 
The art of knowing when to talk and when to listen.
Salvation is a beginning ... never forget your journey in life ... where you began and all the twists and turns since.

I would encourage you all to share a part of yourself with the world ... and ask your friends what stories they have to share ... be encouraged by what you hear and pass on God's Grace.

 Be blessed and be a blessing

Teena

 ...

Friday, June 3, 2011

... I am blessed ...

Hello World ...

Friday has come again to visit us ... how fast has this week gone by ...

My gratitude week has shown me how Blessed I am.

I HAVE SO MUCH TO GIVE BACK AND SHARE WITH THIS WORLD BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN GIVEN SO SO MUCH!

GOD HAS BLESSED ME IN ORDER THAT I MAY BLESS OTHERS!  AMEN





 Be blessed and be a blessing

Teena

...

Thursday, June 2, 2011

... Friendship gratitude ...

Hello World ...

Today I am bursting with Friendship gratitude.

I just spent the night having dinner and endless chit chat with my closest friend ... it sure is edifying to spend time with good friends ... to know that safe space ... to be relaxed ... to be able to talk about everything ... to have fun.
 
It makes me smile inside and out.

Thanks God for creating friends.




Be blessed and be a blessing

Teena

...

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

... Love gratitude ...

Hello world ...

Today being the first day of Winter I am grateful for Love!

Love keeps you warm on the inside ... Love takes the edge off ... and Love keeps me on track ...

Find someone to love ... share the Love around.




Be blessed and be a blessing

Teena

...