I went shopping at our new Dollar Tree store that just opened on Sunday. Took the grand kids. Told them only one toy. Two grandkids. Should have been $2 right. Well, $25 later we walked out. I got some teacher stuff and 3 cards. Well, after the stress of my grandkids filling the basket up I reread the cards I picked out. (Only 50 cents for them but they were already picked over or I would have gotten more). Anyway, one card turned out to be a really cool prompt. I am going to share it with you all. It is just so "prompt"ful of journaling ideas all on one card...
On the front of the card it says "Finally, a thank-you note that says how I really feel."
Inside says...
grateful, happy, excited, elated, bewildered, amazed, loved, adored, cherished, supported, important, fussed-over, acknowledged, pleased, obliged, praised, honored, recognized, merry, mirthful, joyful, cheerful, delighted, gleeful, glad, contented, satisfied, enraptured, cheery, jolly, sparkling, enchanted, blissful, jovial, peaceful, exhilarated, gratified, ecstatic, charmed, pleasant, overjoyed, lighthearted, radiant, vivacious, sunny, smiling, content, animated, lively, spirited, exuberant, good-humored, jubilant, playful, thrilled, carefree, in good spirits, happy as a lark, beside myself, jazzed up, bubbling over, tickled to death, happy-go-lucky, in seventh heaven, on cloud 9, walking on sunshine, high as a kite, forever in your debt, embarrassed, unworthy, pleased as punch, happy as a clam, overjoyed...
^^^^^^^^^^
Now, wasn't that a cool prompt and all from one little fifty cent card.
I am going to take each word and do a word study on it. I love to look up the word. Find synonyms of it. And write how it relates to me at the time. So, maybe if you have time you could find a word in there or one of the phrases and do a word study.
I always wonder how we would know that a clam was happy? And why did they use cloud 9 as the one to say we are happy etc? Why not cloud twelve or whatever? Well, enjoy my virtual card I send you. Happy prompts....
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Is the grass really greener?
Traveling home from work each day I go down a certain road where the color on the right side is yucky browns and tans. The grass is dead. There are weeds that intermingle with the patches of dried grass. But on the color on the left side is the brightest green you can imagine. It is winter wheat. It is so green because it has been fertilized. It will remain this bright green until the wheat is harvested.
Each day I drive down that road that is between such contrasting colors I am reminded of how on the right side it represents a time of death for the land and grass. It is in a need of renewal. It needs watering and it needs tending. Just as we do in our spiritual lives. We need a daily renewal and watering by the Holy Spirit. We need to tend to it and conserve the nutrients we harvest from it.
On the green side I am reminded of how when we fertilize our spiritual lives with God's Word it will continue to grow and give life more abundantly. Our walk through the fields with Jesus could very well be like the green pasture that is filled with life giving sustenance.
But there are thoughts occasionally as I drive through the two different colors of land that I think of the times I thought the grass was greener on the other side of the fence.
The times I would have rather been at my girlfriend's house visiting and being teenaged girls than having to go on a vacation with my family.
The times I would have been happier listening to the radio or my 45 records than studying for a test.
The nights I would have felt better to be with my family than to have to work two shifts to make ends meet.
The times I wished I was somewhere else instead of being at home with my alcoholic husband.
The many nights I wanted to be in bed instead of doing my homework for my masters program.
And so on and so on...
Are there episodes in your life you thought what you was doing was better than what you should have done?
Are there situations in your life that caused you to wish you were somewhere else?
Are there circumstances that make you want a better life, a different life?
Are there times you covet your neighbor's or your friend's things or even their life?
Is the grass really greener on the other side of the road?
When I lived at home my parents were well off. I had any materialistic thing I ever wanted and then some. But I was physically abused. I was mentally abused. I was the step child. I never felt loved by my own mother or my step father. I could care less about the money. When they would give me money I usually just gave it away to my friends. All I really wanted was a family who loved me. I ended up spending more time with my friends than I ever did with my family. As I was growing up I envied my friends who had family time, who had family who showed love and affection. So there are those who think the grass is greener for those who have money. I traded money for love. And after years of looking for love in all of the wrong places as the song says, I finally found true love. The love of Jesus Christ who came into my heart and I found my Savior who loves me.
The world wants us to think that the grass is greener on the other side, but I will take the side of Jesus any day over the world's side. As far as I am concerned the side of the world and the devil's demons is the yucky dry dead brown and tan side. Give me the side with Jesus Christ on it and I know that I shall have greener pastures and life more abundantly.
Hope this has prompted you to write of times you thought the grass was really greener but turned out not to be so. Praise the Lord you do not have to straddle the fence nor stick your head through the barbed wire to reach the green pasture. If you have Jesus in your life you are walking on the pathway to see the Lord and heaven.
May we join together on this journey and never feel as if we have missed out on something. The world cannot offer anything more important than life everlasting.
Each day I drive down that road that is between such contrasting colors I am reminded of how on the right side it represents a time of death for the land and grass. It is in a need of renewal. It needs watering and it needs tending. Just as we do in our spiritual lives. We need a daily renewal and watering by the Holy Spirit. We need to tend to it and conserve the nutrients we harvest from it.
On the green side I am reminded of how when we fertilize our spiritual lives with God's Word it will continue to grow and give life more abundantly. Our walk through the fields with Jesus could very well be like the green pasture that is filled with life giving sustenance.
But there are thoughts occasionally as I drive through the two different colors of land that I think of the times I thought the grass was greener on the other side of the fence.
The times I would have rather been at my girlfriend's house visiting and being teenaged girls than having to go on a vacation with my family.
The times I would have been happier listening to the radio or my 45 records than studying for a test.
The nights I would have felt better to be with my family than to have to work two shifts to make ends meet.
The times I wished I was somewhere else instead of being at home with my alcoholic husband.
The many nights I wanted to be in bed instead of doing my homework for my masters program.
And so on and so on...
Are there episodes in your life you thought what you was doing was better than what you should have done?
Are there situations in your life that caused you to wish you were somewhere else?
Are there circumstances that make you want a better life, a different life?
Are there times you covet your neighbor's or your friend's things or even their life?
Is the grass really greener on the other side of the road?
When I lived at home my parents were well off. I had any materialistic thing I ever wanted and then some. But I was physically abused. I was mentally abused. I was the step child. I never felt loved by my own mother or my step father. I could care less about the money. When they would give me money I usually just gave it away to my friends. All I really wanted was a family who loved me. I ended up spending more time with my friends than I ever did with my family. As I was growing up I envied my friends who had family time, who had family who showed love and affection. So there are those who think the grass is greener for those who have money. I traded money for love. And after years of looking for love in all of the wrong places as the song says, I finally found true love. The love of Jesus Christ who came into my heart and I found my Savior who loves me.
The world wants us to think that the grass is greener on the other side, but I will take the side of Jesus any day over the world's side. As far as I am concerned the side of the world and the devil's demons is the yucky dry dead brown and tan side. Give me the side with Jesus Christ on it and I know that I shall have greener pastures and life more abundantly.
Hope this has prompted you to write of times you thought the grass was really greener but turned out not to be so. Praise the Lord you do not have to straddle the fence nor stick your head through the barbed wire to reach the green pasture. If you have Jesus in your life you are walking on the pathway to see the Lord and heaven.
May we join together on this journey and never feel as if we have missed out on something. The world cannot offer anything more important than life everlasting.
Monday, March 14, 2011
The "I Wonder" land of prompts
Have you ever had those moments when you begin to "wonder" what if? What if this or what if that? Do you sit and wonder what would have happened if you had done this differently or if you had done something better or if you had not done something or if you had done nothing at all...? Well, there is a place called "I Wonder" land and it will take up your time dwelling on those what ifs. If you visit that place often it can become very distracting. So, when that starts happening, journal those feelings, those thoughts and close the book. You cannot change those what if things had been done differently, what if those things had been said differently... They have already happened and you cannot change them. Now, get out another journal and write the things that are happening at the moment, things that are bothering you at this time and share them with the Lord. Discuss them with Him in your journal and turn them over to the Lord. Turn to Him first and then your decisions will be in the will of the Lord and you will not have to record more what ifs in that other journal. Pretty soon your what if journal will not even exist. You can discard it and not visit the "I Wonder" land again. It is a place that you should not have to visit. Instead of journeying down that road take the path to the Lord instead. It will be a journey worth going on.
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