Inspiration Shared By Lady Braids

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 10/04/11

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 09/08/11

This is an account of a 92 year old, petite, well poised and proud lady,
who is fully dressed by eight o'clock, with her hair fashionably coifed and
makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind. Her husband of
70 years recently passed away, making the move to a nursing home necessary.
After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she
smiled sweetly when they told her her room was ready. As she maneuvered her
walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of her tiny room,
including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window. "I love it,"
she stated, with the enthusiasm of an eight year old, having just been
presented with a new puppy. "Mrs. Jones, you haven't seen the room...just
wait." "That doesn't have anything to do with it," she replied. "Happiness
is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not
doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged....it's how I arrange it in
my mind. I already decided to love it....It's a decision I make every
morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend my day in bed
recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer
work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a
gift, and as long as my eyes open I'll focus on the new day and all the
happy memories I have stored away...just for this time in my life. Old age
is like a bank account....you withdraw from what you've put in. So, my
advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of
memories....."

Amen.

Inspiration On 06/14/11

Aristotle was right: "Anybody can become angry--that is easy;
but to be angry with the right person, and to the right degree,
and at the right time, and for the right purpose, and in the
right way--that is not within everybody's power and is not easy."

If you can't control your anger, it will control you. " A person
without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls."(Prov. 25:28).

Some of the bombs dropped on England by the Germans during
World War II are still killing people. Sometimes they are
discovered and blow up at construction sites, in fishing nets,
or on beaches more than fifty years after the war. Undetected
bombs become more dangerous with time because corrosion can
expose the detonator. 

What is true of bombs that are not dealt with is also true of
people who have unresolved anger. Buried anger explodes when
we least expect it. And when anger explodes, it does all sorts
of damage. It severs relationships. It causes ulcers. It leads
to murder. When anger is turned inward, it leads to depression.
When it is turned outward, it leads to aggression. Anger has to
be dealt with, not buried.

Anger is like a splinter in your finger. If you leave it there, it
gets infected and hurts every time you use your finger. If you
remove it, the sore heals and you feel better. Take a moment
and confess your anger to God. Defuse the bomb that is
ticking inside you.

Give it up, and move on.  You'll be glad you did. And, all the
people around you will be thankful, too.

  -- New Living Translation Women's Devotional

Inspiration On 03-28-11

The eye of the storm is that one specific spot in the center of a twister,
hurricane, or tornado that is calm, almost isolated from the frenzy of
activity. Everything around the center is violent and turbulent, but the
center remains peaceful. How nice it would be if we too could be calm and
serene in the midst of chaos--in the eye of the storm.

Surprisingly enough, it's much easier than you might imagine to be in the
eye of a "human storm." What it takes is intention and practice. Suppose,
for example, that you are going to a family gathering that is going to be
chaotic. You can tell yourself that you are going to use the experience as
an opportunity to remain calm. You can commit to being the one person in
the room who is going to be an example of peace. You can practice
breathing. You can practice listening. You can let others be right and
enjoy the glory. The point is, you can do it if you set your mind to it.

By starting out with harmless scenarios like family gatherings, cocktail
parties, and birthday parties for children, you can build a track record
and enjoy some success. You'll notice that by being in the eye of the
storm, you will be more present-moment oriented. You'll enjoy yourself
more than ever before. Once you have mastered harmless circumstances like
these, you can practice on more difficult areas of life--dealing with
conflict, hardship, or grief. If you start slowly, have some success, and
keep practicing, pretty soon you'll know how to live in the eye of the
storm.

 -- Author Unknown