CHOOSE JOY IN MEDITATING

It's "meditating" Monday and there's joy because of a cleared agenda.

No agenda gives space without hurry.

A time not just to" taste and see"  the goodness of the Lord but to savor it. (Psalm 34:8)

A time to interweave prayers from the heart with the scripture that prompted them.

It's not an "either-or" but a both-and" of meditation and prayer. 

When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, (Ephesians 3:4, Paul to the church in Ephesus) 

R + P = M 

Reading and Praying = Meditation.

When you read scripture as you pray it brings revelation and that brings great joy. 

CHOOSE LAUGHTER

Sometimes we just have to laugh at ourselves.

More often than NOT, it seems, my dearest friends and family have a "feast of laughter" (Ecclesiastes 10:19) at my expense. They even give me endearing gifts to remind me.

So.....I choose to laugh at those as well!

CHOOSE SINGING

Choose singing---even if it's a "joyful" noise, as in my case. (Psalm 100:1)

Gift from Ashley Bryan--- Used with his Permission

For me, singing and praying sometimes go hand in hand and I end up wanting to "shout" for joy!

Shout to the Lord all the Earth, let us singPower and majesty, praise to the King (Zschech)

Christianity is one long shout of joy. (John Stott) 

Hmm-m-m-m.....choosing singing could be a precursor for choosing shouting!

CHOOSE SYNONYMS

Wordsmiths use words well. I couldn't get a good or bad word in edge-wise yesterday---at least not for the timely posting of this entry. The day just flew by.

Weeks are flying by---Wordsmith Wednesday has come and gone.....without words for this entry.

Wordsmiths and "wannabe wordsmiths" have an affinity for language and its uses. For me, that entails blogging.

Before "google," wordsmith's used a thesaurus---often using too many words instead of saying the most with the fewest words, which to me is the sign of a true wordsmith.

2017 word choice, "joy"  spoke to me of word choice possibilities because I wanted to regain  my liveliness. To get "my kicks" again wherever God had placed me. So, today I googled joy.
** (Ck below to peruse both synonyms and antonyms.)

Which will you choose to be? A synonym? An antonym?

**

So many choices. Choose to be a "joy" synonym every time!!

CHOOSE KINDNESS

Each Saturday as I pray for "grands," mine and others, I pray for them to choose to practice kindness in their lives. (Ephesians 4:32) As I finished my "prayer chair" time, I received a text with this picture from "my" NY family. Lucy made a sign that said, "We can be kind." As she matures, may this be written on the tablet of her heart as well. (Proverbs 3:3)

What an affirmation. May we all choose to be kind to others.

CHOOSE MVPs

Most of us have "many valuable people" in our lives. But.....do we tell them? Do we thank God for them? Do we encourage them?

TX son received an MVP award of sorts at the Allen Sport's Association banquet last Friday night. He was recognized as "Coach of the Year" at this non-profit's youth sport's association's 40th year celebration.

As "the" mom, I knew it was very deserving. Other spoken and written accolades confirmed this as well.

His boys, all 5 of them,  know first hand what a sports coach and life coach he has been---(Proverbs 22:6) How fitting a verse, as I have prayed it for him for 40+ years.

This worthy recipient, coached 61 teams in 4 different sports in 10 years!!!

Just ask those boys of his as he has coached them all! Most Valuable Papa indeed!

CHOOSE generosity

During the recent snowy/cold/rainy days, I decided to offer Maurice, our mailman a cup of hot chocolate. It's easy to offer him bottled water or cokes, his favorite----but to offer something cooked in our home is going out on a limb. Folks are understandably very leery these days of accepting home-made goods.

Relational fostering precedes such acceptance.

Easy also to choose bestowing generosity on Maurice, whom I like and then blogging the results, whatever they are! He's such a friendly, nice guy; whether he accepts it or not, will not change that.

However, notice in the entry title, "generosity" is written in lowercase letters as well as throughout the entry. That's because sharing this "generous" act was similar to "touting" which is rampant on all forms of social media.

True GENEROSITY is preceded by humility, is God-directed and is usually done anonymously.
I know that.
My cup of hot chocolate is a step in building a relationship of one who is a part of my life only because of my address. Ones's generosity to another is to benefit the receiver.
For me, that requires knowing a bit more about my mailman than his truck number or mail route times for my street.

RESULTS: I'm glad I offered Maurice a warm cup of chocolate.
He did not accept it, saying his stomach couldn't tolerate chocolate.
However, his refusal was gracious with a smile that warmed my heart.
Then, he added, "you know those cokes are still my favorite."

He's right I do know that cokes are his favorites. For that reason, I will keep them on my grocery list.

And if I'm not going to be home, I can just leave his "treat" in the mailbox.

He'll know who put it there.

CHOOSE JOY of SIMPLICITY

Real Simple! A Magazine---found in Dr. Nutcracker's offfice, no less.
Who are they kidding!

Just finding time to sit down and read this "deceitfully" titled periodical is a joke.

Not only that, the article I was seeking, "Sleep Better" was no where to be found.
Not in the Table of Contents. Not in subscripts. Not with a "thumb through"

That, like the title, is false advertising in my book."
Nothing in my life seems REAL SIMPLE.  I tend to make the simple difficult!

Real simple/Simple assembly required----weren't those deceiving phrases on the package directions of every late Christmas Eve project we (mainly hubby) tried to construct for Santa's delivery!
The KISS acronym has been around, (Keep it Simple Stupid) for years, yet complexity seems to be the word of the day in my life.

Simplify is the "mantra" of the social domain of our western world, but who can do it "easily" ?

These days everyone seems to espouse the philosophy of simplicity whether it's one's decorator, photographer or "Nutcracker" MD.

Word to self----

Theologically only one "simple" thing is needed---"...the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:3) Such simplicity and purity will take care of everything else.
Don't be overwhelmed by complex ideas from every realm of our culture----just simply trust Him.

Complexity overwhelms--kills ideas. Simplicity gives birth to ideas---His ideas/truths which give birth to JOY! The simple joy of knowing Him!

CHOOSE ANTONYMS

When reading Philippians 2:14, Do all things without grumbling or disputing, Pastor Cole introduced the term, captious as a synonym for the word grumbling, when used as an adjective. A grumbling person. A "Crankshaft" of sorts. 

Captious. Fault finding. Petty. Hard to please.

I don't want to be a captious Christian. Captious folks can't get close to God.
I don't want that descriptor to be applied to me.

So....I looked up antonyms for it. Instead I was overwhelmed with synonyms---28 to be exact!

Cantankerous, carping, hypercritical, nagging, testy......to name a few!

I had to search hard for some antonyms, which in this case were "positives." I don't want it to be that way in my life. I don't want folks to have to really search to find some positive descriptors based on my attitude and word choices.

Today I choose antonyms of captious....but I can only find 6. 

Commendatory, complimentary, encouraging, flattering, laudatory and praising.

Of the 6, commendatory, complimentary, flattering and laudatory seemed more "works" based to me.

That narrowed my "choices" to encouraging and praising. I focus my praising on the Lord.

Therefore, I choose encouraging even though I know that means changing some "words" for the ones whom I love most. More loving and encouraging words than training and disciplining words.

May i continually choose to display antonyms of captious in my life!

CHOOSE GRACE

For Christians, "under grace" is the best life choice. The place to be.

Pastor Cole continues to remind us that God desires progress NOT perfection in our Christian Walk. So.....why don't we seek grace not perfection as Emily Ley's 2016 title, coupled with God's word, implores us. (Ephesians 2:8)

Young women, juggling careers and motherhood, would especially appreciate the encouragement in this book to embrace simplicity and celebrate joy.

• Here's the thing about doing it all: even if you can do it all, no one can do it all WELL. (p.13 )
• I will hold myself to a standard of GRACE not perfection. (p.16) 
• Sometimes the problem isn'a our organizational skills; it's our abundance of things. (p.45)
• You don't need a Pinterest-perfect home; you need a home that works for you and makes you feel ALIVE. ( 55)
• We're more likely to lose our patience with our loved ones when we carry the weight of stress on our shoulders. (p.135)
• Grace and Gratitude go hand in hand. (p. 151)

Even this "old granny" found some "grace gems" worthy of choosing.