Becoming....

Patty and Frank! I have been out of town so much and no time to be on here, I apologize! As I went to write this entry, I saw the note from John Kennedy, "When written in Chinese the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters. One represents danger, and the other represents opportunity." and at that moment, my son called from Iraq! I read that to him! He was very, very quiet, and said, "That is good!" It has been really hard to have him over there this time.
I really, really have enjoyed this book by Joel Osteen, and the word "Becoming" is beginning to really be a 'stop and think about it' word for me. I purchased the book on CD, to listen to on my way back from the Nebraska Junk Jaunt, www.junkjaunt.com and I didn't get to listen till I got home. As we are doing this Chapter by Chapter, I thought I would only do catch up and then slow down to CxC. However... I listened to it all in two days while working! I LOVE it. There are points in it that just hit me like a hammer. I loaned it to my daughter who has had a recent life changing experience, and she is going to listen to it. Grant and I listened to part of it on the way back from North Carolina last spring, and we don't know where that CD set went, whether he has it or we do! LOL! But I will be sending that to him now, it is an awesome, inspiring book. Becoming. What a new beginning to some old thought processes for me that one word represents. Thank you, Patty, for the recent blog notes. You have caused me to think outside my own little box!

Learning to Like Yourself

Jesus said in Matthew 22:39, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Joel Osteen says, "The prerequisite of loving others is to love yourself. If you don't have a healthy respect for who you are, and if you don't learn to accept yourself...faults and all, you will never be able to properly love other people....you can't give away what you don't have. If you don't love yourself, you're not going to be able to love others. If you're at strife on the inside, feeling angry and insecure about yourself, feeling unattractive, feeling condemned, then that's all you can give away. On the other hand, if you'll recognize that God is working on you, and in spite of your flaws and weaknesses, you can learn to accept yourself, then you can give that love away and have healthy relationships. This basic principle could change your relationships with people around you." When we aren't loving toward ourselves, we have a tendency to think that it only affects our own selves, when, in reality, it affects every one around us. It even affects how we feel toward God. God created us so it is not very respectful of Him to criticize what He made!

If you are challenged with achieving and maintaining a healthy weight like I am, it is helpful to remember that God approves us unconditionally and is our advocate on our weight loss journey. He helps us and guides us. He is our best friend!! Hebrews 12:1-2 says "to look away from everything that distracts." Criticism of ourselves is a distraction from enjoying God's wonderful plan for our lives. We should wake up daily with a grateful heart that God has given us a marvelous home for our eternal spirit....our body!

Weight is my personal challenge. Yours might be something else, but whatever our challenges in life are, we need to realize that we have God's stamp of approval. We need to add our own stamp of approval to who we are!

Love and Light,
Patty

Stop Listening to Accusing Voices

This is a very important topic because most of our accusations do NOT come from other people; they come from our OWN selves. Most of them come about because when we are critical of ourselves, it spills over to others. One way to get past accusing voices is to practice forgiving ourselves and others. God forgives us so why do we like to place so much blame and guilt on ourselves and others?

We need to look at ourselves in a new way and tell ourselves positive things. We can be our own best friends and look in the mirror without fault-finding. I looked in the mirror today and said, "You don't look half bad for being fifty-six." I usually laugh a little at some of my flaws but thank God for a wonderfully functioning body at the same time. Romans 14:19 says, "Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding."

Let's not beat ourselves up. Let's have full confidence and press forward with no regrets. We can always look at ourselves and say, "Well, if I had done such-and-such, my life would be so much better."

My accusing voice is usually pointing a finger at me, telling me that if I had been a better mother, such-and-such wouldn't be happening to my kids. Joel Osteen says, "Let the past be past. You cannot change it, and if you make the mistake of living in guilt today because of something that happened yesterday, you won't have the strength you need to live this day in victory.

Take the pressure off yourself; give yourself the right to have some weaknesses and not to perform 100 percent of the time." By the grace of God, we are worthy. God is not an angry, condemning God. Quite the contrary. He is a loving and merciful God. We just need to change our attitude and stop being negative toward ourselves and other people. We need to see ourselves and others through the eyes of God. We are His beautiful creations!!!

Love & Light,
Patty

Discovering Your Destiny

In these tough economic times, it's hard to think about destiny. Is this a really fate or a predetermined course of events? What is the lesson here? I think we need to avoid getting into a fear mode. We need to keep on living life to the fullest and pursuing our passions. That's is the advice Joel Osteen gives, and I think it is worthwhile advice. We keep on keeping on, doing what we are called to do with enthusiasm and excitement. "God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well." (Romans 12:6) Proverbs 18:16 says that our gift will make room for us. We keep pressing forward no matter what Wall Street does. We will shake off negative mind-sets and live in blessing. One of the action points from Joel Osteen's new book BECOME A BETTER YOU is this: "I will be more aware that the decisions I make today will affect future generations as well as my own life. I will be more careful and deliberate about making wise decisions.......I will make choices based on my desire to leave my family better off than they were previously." Kahlil Gibran wrote: "When you work you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music. To love life through labor is to be intimate with life's inmost secret. All work is empty save when there is love, for work is love made visible." I am a flute and my work is love made visible. Every day I teach children. My goal is to excel in that to honor my God. My work is made visible through my students. Their response to learning is my music. Another labor of love is writing on this blog or writing a facebook note. I don't get paid for it, but I love doing it and that is reward enough. In the ancient Hindu holy scripture, God tells his student, "While the unwise work for the fruits of their actions, the wise offer all results of their action to Me." I offer my actions and my work to You, Lord, and You will take care of all my needs. I have no reason to fear NYSE. My God is bigger than Wall Street!

The Generational Blessing

"Today is a new day....God has promised that your seed, your family line for up to a thousand generations, is going to have the blessings and the favor of God--all because of the life you've lived," promises Joel Osteen in BECOME A BETTER YOU. What a wonderful blessing! My new grandson Samson came into the world a week ago. He is strong and healthy, and so is his mother. After every thing Tori has gone through with her motorcycle accident, she gave birth to her son naturally! Praise God! She feels so empowered. I feel the favor of God so strongly. Celine Dion wrote a song for her son in 2002 that is perfect for my brand new grandson. Here are the lyrics:

"A new day has come
A new day has... come

I was waiting for so long
For a miracle to come
Everyone told me to be strong
Hold on and don't shed a tear

Through the darkness and good times
I knew I'd make it through
And the world thought I had it all
But I was waiting for you

Hush, love

I see a light in the sky
Oh, it's almost blinding me
I can't believe
I've been touched by an angel with love

Let the rain come down and wash away my tears
Let it fill my soul and drown my fears
Let it shatter the walls for a new, new sun

A new day has... come

Where it was dark now there's light
Where there was pain now there's joy
Where there was weakness, I found my strength
All in the eyes of a boy

Hush, love

I see a light in the sky
Oh, it's almost blinding me
I can't believe
I've been touched by an angel with love

Let the rain come down and wash away my tears
Let it fill my soul and drown my fears
Let it shatter the walls for a new, new sun

A new day has... come

Let the rain come down and wash away my tears
Let it fill my soul and drown my fears
Let it shatter the walls for a new, new sun

A new day has... come

Ohhh, a light... OOh"

Breaking Free from the Strongholds of Your Past

I wrote a note a while back on facebook on this very subject. One the most powerful concepts that I have ever come across is the idea to live in the moment. Omar Khayyam, a scholar and astronomer who lived in Iran from 1048? to 1122 said, "The Moving Finger writes; and, having, writ, moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it." Wayne Dyer in the WISDOM OF AGES writes, "One of life's greatest illusions is the belief that the past is responsible for the current conditions of our lives." When we are fully conscious, we are "plugged in" and aware. We live in the present moment. When Tori had her motorcycle accident, her body started the healing process immediately. Of course, the doctors had to clean her wounds and pump new blood into her. We have to do the same things with our emotional wounds. We have to close them and pump new blood into them. Omar Khayyam says that none of our tears can erase our story so we can't live in the past and expect to be healed. We need to remove all blame and guilt from our minds because it is the attraction to these negative feelings that keeps us from feeling peaceful and loved. When we choose peace through love and forgiveness, all blame and guilt will disappear. Joel Osteen says that we have to get past the misconception that because we love God, we're supposed to be perfect. We can't change the past, but we can change the future by making the right choices today. The Articles of Confederation of the Iroquois people exhorts humanity to think seven generations ahead when we make decisions. If we all took that kind of responsibility, we would certainly have a better, healthier earth. If I take responsibility for my own actions toward the planet, I can make it a better place for my grandchildren. Right now that seems like a worthy goal.

The Power of Your Bloodline

"For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption." (Romans 8:14-15). I am a creation of God, pressing forward in my capacity to live the abundant life. So I stand tall because I am a beloved child of God. "God, you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Your works are wonderful. I know that full well. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." (Psalms 139:13,14,16). There is great comfort to me in these verses because I am expecting a grandson any day now. My daughter plans to name him Samson. He will be a strong little boy. I love knowing that this little baby boy is extremely valuable to God, as well as he is to our whole family. On this Labor Day I am grateful for my bloodline because we are children of the Most High. My grandmother, my mother, myself, my daughters, and my granddaughters are all fulfilling our destinies. Now a boy is about to join this matriarchal society. It's about time! Eleven years ago, when Frank and I combined our families, he brought a boy into this family of girls, and now Frank thinks it is high time for another one to join us. Me too. I love the name they chose for him too. The biblical Samson had supernatural strength and toppled a building. I believe our Samson will also be a victor and leave his mark on this world in a wonderful way.