Romans 12:6-8 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago
I love the differences I see in life. There are different cultures. There are different plants, different animals, and so forth. In the animal kingdom, there are mammals, birds, reptiles, rodents and so forth. But if you take just one area of say mammals, and think of the many different species under that huge umbrella; the many different species of cats, even the different house cats! Then you have dolphins, totally living in the water, but also called a mammal! Or let’s look at dogs—German shepherds, beagles, rottweilers, Chihuahuas, Boston terriers, and again the list goes on and on. So many differences under the broad heading of dogs.
There are different kinds of flowers. And again, look at the different species—roses, tulips, amaryllis, forsythia, and lilies. If we take lilies, we see some many different varieties of them also, each with its own kind of beauty.
How blessed we are there are so many individual kinds of beauty. How blessed we are to have eyes to see, ears to hear to experience these differences. We can see different birds flying in the sky. The sky may be blue and clear, gray and foggy, or dark gray and threatening, and yet we can usually still spot the birds in flight. And birds…we may see seagulls, vultures, robins, bluebirds, orioles and more…the list is large and and different depending on which area of the country one lives, and whether coastal or mountains. All these differences are so wonderful and to me, blessings, gifts from Him by the Artist and Creator of all. There are sunsets and sunrises, rain storms and rainbows, first snows, and raging fierce snowstorms.
We are so blessed with all the differences. And how wonderful our Creator created each of us to be different and unique. He created us all with our own personality, strengths, and beauty.
I encourage my family to look and see the different kinds of bounty that is all around us. Sometimes folks forget to take a breath, pause, and look around. While you’re looking, let a breath out, take a deep breath in, pause, then slowly let out, and let in the reminder of God’s presence– which is everywhere, all the time– and bask in His care and love. You have the reminders of a species differences and the love which is all around. How foolish to be bogged down in our own worries and troubles. So let your breathing, pausing remind you that God cares, and he has created so many different things and will help you deal. Don’t remain so bogged into yourself and troubles that you miss the differences and pass on the beauty of the species.
I’m so thankful that I recognize the importance of appreciating all ‘mybellaviews.’
Psalm 19:7-11 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward.
Psalm 51:1-4 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight—that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge.
I’m a sinner. I always have been. My thoughts are initially selfish, thinking of me first and foremost. Certainly, I can recognize that my thoughts have become less selfish than previous, but still there are sinful things in my nature that occur all the time. I don’t usually act on them, but the sinful thoughts appear, maybe tempt me into wrong-doing, maybe I have bad thoughts toward another, I eat improperly, enjoying sweets and things that are not healthy for ’this temple.’ And vow to change the next day, and succumb AGAIN to the lure of sweets and unhealthy fats.
So, it does not mean you are sinless when you seek God and He forgives you. He means you are initiating a relationship with Him, you learn more about Him and the plans He has for each of us, the expectations He has that we will grow in love, forgiveness, and becoming more and more like Jesus.
Never will I reach that level of maturity and being sinless. But I do find thwarting those errant thoughts which tempt me to do wrong bring me a thankful feeling of joy. The Holy Spirit has jumped into my mind and reminded me of what the proper thing to do is. It’s my choice to follow through and get my behavior in line with God’s wishes.
And when I do there is such a feeling of pleasure. It is pleasing to me when I obey. There is a flash of pride (and I wonder if that might be sinful, since being prideful can be!) But I believe God is more happy with the fact that I have not caved to the temptation of sinning and have instead corralled my thoughts and been obedient.
We were given freewill and has we walk closer with God, we learn more about His choices for us all to live. It’s a learning process and like all relationships, it is one that grows over time to become deeper and deeper. It is so worth it to me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Hebrews 13:16 But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased
Matthew 5:42 Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.
I come from New England, and when an opportunity for us to move elsewhere and not have to return there to live, my husband I were blessed to be assigned to eastern NC. We were not winter people for several reasons—long winters, shortened daylight for several months, snow, cold, increased fuel costs to heat our home, and the rest of the list also involved winter issues. We were just not fans.
So we landed close to the coast. In mid-February of that first year, it was lovely and warm an d we hurried off to Lowes to buy flowers and bulbs. How blessed were we to be able to plant things in our garden and be able to see them so early in the season—technically still winter!
My cousin who was raised in Vermont came to visit for a short while that day while we were out planting, and he kept saying, “When Spring comes…” Part of me laughed and countered with, “But this is Spring.” He never argued, just nodded and chatted. That night we had a freeze and my bulbs, plants and flowers almost all died.
Aw well, a learning curve.
However, this week Jan 3, 2018, most of the eastern part of the country suffered snow and ice, and for our area, it was a real mess. A plow did a main street, but no parking lots were done, no side streets, so we stayed under ice and the bitter cold for several days. It was certainly pretty, but wreaked havoc with water pipes freezing or bursting, treacherous walking and yet we all remarked how blessed to see this. It is strange for snow to last longer than 36 hours or so in this area. For me it is wonderful. Yay! Snow coming, here and gone! That is perfect for me. But this lingered, and the neighborhood came together to help one another. Those who didn’t have water borrowed a shower from neighbors who did; they would fill buckets to have flushing toilet ability, and so on. It was cool from that standpoint. We have a close neighborhood anyway, but it was fun to experience all the support shared.
But the best gift for me and the neighbors was the display of activity going on in the ocean. There were dolphins leaping and playing and putting on a wonderful free show. On Sunday we spotted two whales, a large and a smaller, moving north for about twenty minutes until they were out of sight.
this is my normal view out that kitchen window, not the ice……
So although this snow and cold lasted for several days, we saw the blessings in many areas. It was pretty, our neighbors had a festive time with one another, and the nature show supplied by God was phenomenal! And today, our temps are 59* as I write this—snow almost totally melted, the Sound which was ice covered for over a week is melted, and I am thankful for the wonderful life I have. I am blessed at ‘mybellaviews.’
Jeremiah 29:11-13 For I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
Psalm 103:2-4, 8-10 Bless the Lord, o my soul, and forget not all His benefits; who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s…. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities.
Wow, another year behind me, and a new year ahead; a time of expectancy for many, for hope, for looking ahead. Some may harbor thoughts of the past and regrets they might have.
God sent His son Jesus, to free of us from worry, regrets. We all have misgivings and wish we had sometimes taken a different path. But God has a plan for each of us.
And He gave us free choice….sometimes we’ve made wrong choices. Yet He offers his mercy so one becomes brand new by sincerely confessing and asking for forgiveness. Again, it’s our choice to ask for this forgiveness, to seek Him and become a new creature in Him.
We are forgiven when we seek Him and ask for it. Done. Given. Granted. You are His child and He forgives you.
It’s then a process of learning more of Him on a deeper level, seeking His words of wisdom and instruction written centuries ago in the Bible, and growing to be a freer creature. You recognize that you have been forgiven and your sins are in the past (which does NOT necessarily mean that you still may not have consequences of past actions). And yes, there are many times our doubts and humanness whisper lies of not being truly forgiven, or we believe our sins were more dark, black, awful than God is capable of forgiving. Those my friend, are lies from Satan.
Yes, you may still have to face consequences of some of you past actions, sins. Being promiscuous might end in a child or a permanent venereal disease; experimenting with drugs may impair your physical or dental health. But even if you may have consequences of past actions, you have the opportunities (and blessings) to experience freedom and the plan that God has now for your life. His word promises, “I know the plans I have for you; plans to prosper and not to harm.”
But we have to choose that path, the living way through Jesus and His death on the cross. It’s so incredible to me that we confess and just seek His way, and we have forgiveness, promises to live with Him for eternity, and the opportunity to be free of worry and unrest and anxiety. That does NOT mean we will be free of troubles and difficulties at times. But it does promise that if we maintain faith, it will work out and God will carry our burdens.
So as I wonder and hope for the future, I’m thankful for the fact that I have God and know my needs will be carried. Thank You for your abundant mercy and love.
Wishing you all the assurance of knowing Him as I do at ‘mybellaviews.’
Mark 3:35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
Matthew 12:48-50 He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
This was a blog I published at the end of 2017, but it’s message is true and needs to be repeated, and now that my site is back up and running more efficiently, I am re-posting it
2017 has been a year of many and varied reunions for me. It’s been lovely, and certainly made me wonder why I’ve let so many relationships not flourish. Relationships need attention to thrive, grow, deepen… and I let many of mine go for many years.
Why was I so busy that I could not exert effort to see and be with? Yes, I know while raising my children and helping my family through several moves, they were priority. And the relationships I let lapse were folks who were also involved in their own lives. We get busy. I get that. But then it seems, since so much time has lapsed anyway, it gets easy to let things slide further.
I remember reading the Clan and the Cave Bear series by Jean Auel several years ago. Once a year these clans would travel a several days journey to meet up with other clans, friends, and family. They spent several days visiting and enjoying one another. But they put forth the effort with enthusiasm, even excited about the prospect of the trip.
Yet I made no effort for the longest while. Especially when I was no longer working, why did I not reconnect then. My husband died 10 years ago, so I was free to travel and get re-acquainted. But I didn’t. What was I doing that was more important than maintaining relationships with friends and family? I don’t know.
But this year, through various opportunities (or God opening doors), I grasped at the travel and loved reconnecting. It was a wonderful time seeing these folks and reliving memories, but was humbling and shaming to realize I had let so much important time pass before visiting with them again.
My first reconnection was going to Ireland and seeing cousins again. We had a wonderful trip, my sister and I, and it was great to share the trip with her.
In late September, one of my sons and I went to Pinehurst area in NC and met with a couple of friends we’d known and loved dearly while we were living in Germany. Except for Facebook, much of those relationships had waned. But one of the friends was traveling from New Zealand, and we met at the other’s home in middle of NC. We had such a lovely, laughing reunion. And again, I was struck by how important it was to see the friends and keep in touch.
My next big trip was to go to Vermont for a family reunion. I had not seen many of these cousins in twenty years. So much time had passed. I traveled from Vermont to Maine to see some friends I had not seen in forty years. Along the drive I kept wondering what had kept me from seeing all these important people sooner. After all, I know how short and sudden life can change or end. So what was my delay?
Bottom line is selfishness, I think. I was content doing whatever, and just kept on moving along that line and not varying. Stuck in my own kind of rut, actually. Yet, once I reconnected, I realized how important seeing these people were, how my heart lifted and was warmed, and I have determined I won’t let so much time pass before the next time we are together. I may not be able to see them all yearly, but I will try to. Trips to Ireland may have to be every two years, but I am going back soon.
Relationships are too vital to let grow cold. I won’t do that again.
Thank You, thank You, God, for giving me the opportunities to renew time and memories with special folks who made such an impact in my life. This has been an endearing year seeing these wonderful people.
They are all woven into the tapestry which makes ‘mybellaviews.’
Hi, I'm Kathy. Welcome to my website!