Inspiration Shared By Lady Braids

Inspiration On 2/14/12

 

The last thing I wanted to do was go out for lunch. Even with my best
friends. Since my husband and I had separated three months before
I didn’t really want to see anyone.

“Come on,” my friend Kristin urged when she called to invite me. “It’ll
do you good to get out and have a few laughs.”

I couldn’t imagine ever laughing again, not the way I was feeling. But
I couldn’t put my friends off any longer. I showed up at the restaurant,
knowing I wouldn’t be very good company.

Everyone looked so sunny and happy, I felt like a black cloud as I
settled into my chair. Please, God, help me have some fun today.
I didn’t want to ruin everyone else’s good time.

My pals passed around the salsa and told jokes. I pasted a smile on
my face and let my eyes drift around the restaurant.

A young girl sat with her parents at a table opposite ours. When her
big eyes met mine I felt like she saw right through me, down to the
sadness inside.

A moment later the girl appeared at our table and dropped something
into my palm: a sticker. A little brown bear hugged a bright red heart.
“Somebody loves me,” it read.

The little girl returned to her table. I stuck the bear on my blouse.
My friends—these dear friends—burst out laughing, and so did I.

Somebody loved me, all right. Enough to send me the perfect message
on a silly sticker.

How could I not take joy in that?

 -- Karen Clanin 

 

 

Inspiration On 1/26/12

An artist went to visit a dear friend.  When he arrived, she was
weeping. He asked why.  She showed him a handkerchief of
exquisite beauty that had great sentimental value, which had
been ruined by a drop of indelible ink.

The artist asked her to let him have the handkerchief, which
he returned to her my mail several days later.  When she opened
the package she could hardly believe her eyes.  The artist, using
the inkblot as a base, had drawn on the handkerchief a design
of great beauty with India ink.  Now it was more beautiful and
more valuable than ever.

Sometimes the tragedies that break our hearts can become the
basis for a more beautiful design in our lives.  Be patient with the
hurts over which you have no control.  They may become a source
of healing, help and beauty.

 -- Thomas Land Butts

Inspiration On 1/16/12

To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than
to be alive without breathing.     (Martin Luther King Jr)

The following is from a clipping that Steve Worden from
Tulsa OK found on the inside cover of his Grandfather’s well
worn 1909 Scoffield Bible: 

This book contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way
of salvation, the doom of sinners and the happiness of believers.
Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories
are true and its decisions are immutable.  Read it to be wise,
believe it to be safe and practice it to be holy.  It contains light
to direct you, food to support you and comfort to cheer you.  It
is the travelers’ map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass,
the soldier’s sword and the Christian’s character.  Here paradise
is restored, heaven opened and the gates of hell disclosed. 
Christ is its grand Object, our good its design and the glory of
God its end.  It should fill the memory, rule the heart and guide
the feet.  Read it slowly, frequently and prayerfully.  It is a mine
of wealth, a paradise of glory and a river of pleasure.  It is given
you in life, will be opened in the judgment and will be remembered
forever.  It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the
greatest labor and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents.

Inspiration On 11/09/11

 

You've got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
And latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between

You've got to spread joy up to the maximum 
Bring gloom down to the minimum
Have faith or pandemonium's
Liable to walk upon the scene

To illustrate my last remark 
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark 
What did they do just when everything looked so dark?

Man, they said "We'd better accentuate the positive"
"Eliminate the negative" 
"And latch on to the affirmative" 
Don't mess with Mister In-Between (No!) 
Don't mess with Mister In-Between

  --  Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer

 

 

Inspiration On 11/04/11

It is difficult to make a man miserable while he feels worthy
of himself and claims kindred to the great God who made him.

 -- Abraham Lincoln

Inspiration On 10/20/11

For a good part of my life I suffered from a disease. This disease
dampened my spirits, drained me of my energy, and robbed me of
my vitality. Sometimes it even made it hard to get out of bed in
the morning. It made every part of my life more difficult and
demanding. For a while too it looked like this disease would be
a weight I would have to carry for the rest of my life. This
disease was called, "And then I’ll be happy." 

I think I first caught it in middle school. During my younger
years I seemed to always enjoy the moment and relish each
day of my life. At some point during those middle school years,
however, I remember starting to look to the future more and
more and enjoying today less and less. At first I thought getting
into high school and being a teenager would make me happy. Then
the dream switched to being the high school football star. That
was followed by being on my own in college. Next came having a
great career and high paying job. Getting rich and having that
big house followed it. After that was the dream of raising a
family. Then there was retiring and finally enjoying my life.
Each dream postponed my happiness a little further down the
road. Finally I realized that if I kept going this way, I would
be dead before I was happy. 

That is when I came to see that it would be a lot better to be
happy now than to live with this disease. Life I knew would
always have fresh problems and frustrations, but I thought
it would be a lot better to meet them with a happy heart and
loving soul rather than waiting for life to be perfect.

These days I am in remission.  I still have occasional flare ups
of "And then I'll be happy," but I heal them by knowing that
I can choose love and joy every second of my life.

God loves us all so much and wants us to be happy today,
tomorrow, and forever. Let’s not let Him down. Let’s choose
love, share joy, and spread happiness with every moment we have.

 -- Joseph J Mazzella

Inspiration On 10/19/11

 

I believe above the storm the smallest prayer will still be heard.

I believe that Someone in the great somewhere hears every word.

Every time I hear a newborn baby cry, or touch a leaf or see the sky,

Then I know why . . .  I believe!

  -- Irvin Graham, Jimmy Shirl, Ervin M Drake & Al Stillman

 

Inspiration on 10/11/11

A person who has no legs can still achieve great heights; a person who has no hands
can still grasp an idea; a person who has no sight can still have great vision; and a
person who can't move can still lead. (Lyle Bert)

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weak-
nesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake,
I will delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.
For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 9-10)

May each of us look beyond our "limitations" and see what God can do through us!

 

 

Inspiration On 10/04/11

Humility is perfect quietness of heart. It is to expect nothing,
to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing done
against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me and
when I am blamed or despised. It is to have a blessed home
in the Lord, where I can go in and shut the door, and kneel
to my Father in secret, and am at peace as in a deep sea of
calmness… when all around and above is trouble.

 -- Andrew Murray

Inspiration On 10/03/11

* Note from Linnda: I love this quote, but I
  substitute "God" for "the Universe".

Giving tells *the Universe that you believe you
are provided for. For even as you empty your purse,
you fear not. The act alone is a demonstration of
faith that you will remain whole, that your coffers
will be replenished, and that love is what matters
most. And for whomsoever believes these things to
be true, it shall become their reality, and abundance
shall be showered upon them unceasingly, as if the
heavens had opened up.

 -- Mike Dooley