Quote: A Child’s Prayer

A Child’s Prayer

M. Bentham-Edwards

God make my life a little light,

Within the world to glow;

A tiny flame that burneth bright

Wherever I may go.

God Make my life a little flower,

that giveth joy to all,

Content to bloom in native bower,

Although its place be small.

God make my life a little song,

That comforteth the sad;

That helpeth others to be strong,

And makes the singer glad.

God make my life a little staff,

Whereon the weak may rest,

That so what health and strength I have

May serve my neighbors best.

May we strive as this child’s prayer states to be: the glow into the world of darkness and to bring joy into peoples lives no matter how small, to always watch for the sad and bring them comfort and lastly keep alert for the weak that we may be a resting place for them and a source of strength.  May we always strive to serve our neighbors best.  Isn’t that what our LORD would have us do?

Joy – A Fellow Sojourner & A Woman After God’s Own Heart!

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30 Days of Gratitude – Day 21 Grateful I Can Change

Today I’m grateful that I can change with the help of God.

Max Lucado puts it well in, “Grace for the Moment: A 365 Day Journaling Devotional” in January 21st entry called, “A Heart Like His”.

God wants us to be just like Jesus.  Isn’t that good news?  You aren’t stuck with today’s personality.  You aren’t condemned to “grumpydom.”  You are tweak able.  Even if you’ve worried each day of your life, you needn’t worry the rest of your life.  So what if you were born a bigot?  You don’t have to die one.

Where did we get the idea we can’t change?  From whence come statements such as, “It’s just my nature to worry.” or, “I’ll always be pessimistic. I’m just that way.”…Who says?  Would we make similar statements about our bodies?  “It’s just my nature to have a broken leg.  I can’t do anything about it.”  Of course not.  If our bodies malfunction, we seek help.  Shouldn’t we do the same with our hearts?  Shouldn’t we seek aid for our sour attitudes?  Can’t we request treatment for our selfish tirades?  Of course we can.  Jesus can change our hearts.  He wants us to have a heart like his.

What a blessing it is to know that change is possible.  If we are living with the cancer of bitterness we needn’t die with it.  Jesus can give us a heart of love and forgiveness that will kill the cancer of bitterness.  If we are hanging on to things of the past Jesus can help us to live in the present and let loose of the past that only hurts and interferes with our todays.  As the poem says, you won’t find God in the past He isn’t, I was, and don’t look for Him in the future He isn’t, I will be, look for Him in the present because His name is, I Am.

I’m so grateful for where God has brought me from already and I look forward to where He is going to bring me to in my journey to become more and more like Jesus.

Let Jesus do the work He has in store for you to bring you into His likeness.  We all must remember our place at the wheel.  We are the clay and He is the potter, longing to mold and make us in His likeness.

Joy – A Fellow Sojourner & A Woman After God’s Own Heart!

Quote from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Today’s quote is a poem from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

I shot an arrow into the air,

It fell to earth I new not where;

For, so swiftly it flew, the sight

Could not follow it in its flight.

I breathed a song into the air,

It fell to earth, I knew not where;

For who has sight so keen and strong,

That it can follow the flight of song?

Long long afterward, in an oak

I found the arrow, still unbroken;

And the song, from beginning to end,

I found again in the heart of a friend.

I believe what Longfellow is trying to say in this poem is that our actions eventually come back to us.  Possibly the actions of the arrow were compliments and words of encouragement that long after they were given were found unbroken, cherished by the receiver the oak.

The song could have been actions or deeds that whisked off because they had become habit to the individual and that is why they are found in the heart of a friend.  When we tend to naturally do the right thing we attract people to us.

It is my hope that what Longfellow describes is what I become one day.  Shooting out words of encouragement to all that pass by and that my actions speak even louder than my words of encouragement.  That’s the kind of person I want to be.  How about you?

Joy – A Fellow Sojourner & A Woman After God’s Own Heart!

Quote for 12/7/12

I don’t know who the author of this poem is of today’s quote but I’m begging to believe that God wants to make sure I get the message clear and loud.  Father, I’ve hopefully got it that procrastination is the enemy.

Mr. Meant-To has a comrade,

And his name is Didn’t-Do;

Have you ever chanced to meet them?

Did they ever call on you?

These two fellows live together

In the house of Never-Win,

And I’m told that it is haunted

By the ghost of Might-Have-Been.

Whoever wrote this poem knew that meaning to and not doing will have you wind up not wining and leave you and me if we allow these things in our lives with nothing but regrets of what might have been.

This is procrastination in its worst form and I pray that these quotes God’s shared with me will teach me to stay far from it.  I don’t want to live a life of regrets.  I doubt you do either.  So let’s say we take to heart what these sages have to teach us?  I’ll do my part.  How about you?

Joy – A Fellow Sojourner & A Woman After God’s Own Heart!

Quote From McGuffey’s Primer

Today’s quote from McGuffey’s Primer is a poem that children memorized in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Work while you work,

Play while you play;

One thing each time,

That is the way.

Do with your might;

Things done by halves

Are not done right.

There is a beautiful simple wisdom in this poem, that we can learn from.  Those who study with music blaring or the television on might gain some insight from these lines.  Or employees spending more time chatting with co-workers or smoking cigarettes than at their desk actually working might gain some insight here.  Likewise are the people that can’t go to the beach or on vacation with out their laptop or iPad.  There is a time to work and a time to play and as the poem says both times should be respected and separated.  I think if we live by this poem we may find that 1) We get more done when we work and 2) We have more fun when we play.  Both are equally important for a healthy life.