Making and Fixing

 

BancoWe live in a small rural village in Virginia.  Close to the mountains with farmland and foothills all around us.  Yesterday our little corner of the world was bustling with activity.  The three doors down artist was outside in his field with easel and paints, capturing green fields and children playing.  The two doors down mechanics were changing huge tires on an even bigger tractor.  The next door cabinetmaker was creating new custom furniture from old beautiful wood.  And me?  Well, I was teaching students how to make music the best I could…sculpting and shaping their notes into phrases that communicate something, hopefully something beautiful.  Making, fixing, creating….it made me grateful for the neighbors, for their amazing work ethic, for how they find joy and fulfillment in what they do.  And it made me grateful that we are all made in God’s image….creating is what He does and continues to do every day.  He’s making new people, fixing old ones, and creating beautiful things everywhere you go.  And that is something to smile about.  :)Slainte, Lisa

Helper, Hero, Friend

Throughout the Boston tragedy, the thing that stands out the most to me is the heroes, the first responders, the men and women on the street who stepped in to help those who were hurt.  People helping other people, not thinking about possible risk to themselves, but just doing what they could to be there for someone else.  And it might sound corny, but that is where hope and faith and love can be seen through pain.  The bad and evil cannot win, because Love trumps all.  Every time.  So this is just my small salute to those who helped, and will help today, and might help tomorrow.  It matters.  Blessings, Lisa

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True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost. – Arthur Ashe

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“…Encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.  Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:14-15

“The older you get the more you realize that kindness is synonymous with happiness.”  – Lionel Barrymore

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Within

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Sadness, sorrow, disbelief, anger…mostly sadness, for all those innocent people hurt, killed and traumatized by the Boston Marathon attack.  What kind of person or group of people is capable of such a senseless act?  A person with no love or compassion in their heart.  A person who can’t think beyond him or herself and their own personal agenda.  We need to take a hard look within our hearts, find what is in there, and go after the love.  And love is only found in God.

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.  Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.  This is how God showed his love among us:  He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  This is love:  not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”  – 1 John 4:7-11

Find and hold onto God with all your heart, soul and mind.  Because He is love.  He is hope.  And He has the answers, although we might not understand until we’re with Him one day.  Love and blessings, Lisa

Sole Check

What are you walking on this morning?  Flip-flops, scruffy house slippers, sensible lace-ups, or teetering high heels?  Now check out your soles…are they in good shape, or are they wearing down in places?
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“If you have one pair of good soles, it’s better than two pairs of good uppers.” – Irish proverb

It’s no use carrying an umbrella if your shoes are leaking.”  – Irish proverb

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Just like our shoe soles, our life’s soul can get worn down too.  Hardships, weariness, illness can all wear us out and make us feel like we have soggy shoes.  When I get like this, and I do, I know I need to take a step back from life, and focus on being thankful, even for the bad stuff, because it means that I’m alive.  That God still wants me here for a purpose of some kind, and that’s  a great thing.  He’s my foundation, my good sole for my shoes.

“Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.”  -Matthew 7:24-25

May your feet be safely on the Rock today.  Blessings, Lisa

Light

What is it about light that is so wonderful and comforting?  We humans are attracted to light, whether God-made or man-made.  Even as a child, I was happier when I was playing on a bright sunny day or a lit room.  When the clouds roll in, I instinctively look and yearn for the break in the clouds, for when the sun will return.  I think that God has placed that longing for the light, the Light, inside all of us….because light reflects who He is.

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“I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  – John 8:12

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“God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” – 1John 1:5

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“There will be no more night.  They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.  And they will reign for ever and ever.”  – Revelation 22:5

Blessings for your weekend…whether the sun is shining or not, it’s always right behind the clouds, just waiting to come back.  🙂  Lisa