"We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future."
Franklin D. Roosevelt
(1882-1945)
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"I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life. I've learned that making a "living" is not the same thing as making a "life." I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back. I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one. I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. I've learned that I still have a lot to learn. I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
— Maya Angelou
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"My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in (your) weakness".
Jesus as quoted by Paul
2 Corinthians 12:9
Be IN courage!
With love,
Linda Michelle
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Grandma's Hands
My cousin shared this email with me, and I share with you, praying it will touch your heart and inspire your soul as it has mine.
Grandma, some ninety plus years, sat feebly on the patio bench. She didn't move, just sat with her head down staring at her hands.
When I sat down beside her she didn't acknowledge my presence and the longer I sat I wondered if she was OK.
Finally, not really wanting to disturb her but wanting to check on her at the same time, I asked her if she was OK. She raised her head and looked at me and smiled. 'Yes, I'm fine, thank you for asking,' she said in a clear voice strong.
'I didn't mean to disturb you, grandma, but you were just sitting here staring at your hands and I wanted to make sure you were OK,' I explained to her.
'Have you ever looked at your hands,' she asked. 'I mean really looked at your hands?'
I slowly opened my hands and stared down at them. I turned them over, palms up and then palms down. No, I guess I had never really looked at my hands as I tried to figure out the point she was making.
Grandma smiled and related this story:
'Stop and think for a moment about the hands you have, how they have served you well throughout your years. These hands, though wrinkled shriveled and weak have been the tools I have used all my life to reach out and grab and embrace life.
'They braced and caught my fall when as a toddler I crashed upon the floor.
They put food in my mouth and clothes on my back. As a child, my mother taught me to fold them in prayer. They tied my shoes and pulled on my boots. They held my husband and wiped my tears when he went off to war..
'They have been dirty, scraped and raw, swollen and bent. They were uneasy and clumsy when I tried to hold my newborn son. Decorated with my wedding band they showed the world that I was married and loved someone special.
They wrote my letters to him and trembled and shook when I buried my parents and spouse.
'They have held my children and grandchildren, consoled neighbors, and shook in fists of anger when I didn't understand.
They have covered my face, combed my hair, and washed and cleansed the rest of my body. They have been sticky and wet, bent and broken, dried and raw. And to this day when not much of anything else of me works real well these hands hold me up, lay me down, and again continue to fold in prayer.
'These hands are the mark of where I've been and the ruggedness of life.
But more importantly it will be these hands that God will reach out and take when he leads me home. And with my hands He will lift me to His side and there I will use these hands to touch the face of God.'
I will never look at my hands the same again. But I remember God reached out and took my grandma's hands and led her home. When my hands are hurt or sore or when I stroke the face of my children and husband I think of grandma. I know she has been stroked and caressed and held by the hands of God.
I, too, want to touch the face of God and feel His hands upon my face. (End Quote)
"Behold, you have instructed many, and you have strengthened the weak hands. Your words have held firm him who was falling, and you have strenghtened the feeble knees. But now it is come upon you, and you faint and are grieved; it touches you and you are troubled and dismayed. Is not your (reverent) fear of God your confidence and the integrity and uprightness of your ways your hope?" (Job 4:3-6)
"For You, O Lord, are my Lamp; the Lord lightens my darkness. For by You I run through a troop; by my God I leap over a wall. As for God, His way is perfect; the Word of the Lord is tried. He is a Shield to all those who trust and take refuge in Him. For who is God but the Lord? And who is a Rock except our God? God is my strong Fortress; He guides the blameless in His way and sets him free. He makes my feet like the hinds'(firm and able); He sets me secure and confident upon the heights. He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; and Your condescension and gentleness have made me great. You have enlarged my steps under me, so that my feet have not slipped. ...The Lord lives; blessed be my Rock, and exalted be God, the Rock of my salvation." (2 Samuel 22:29-37,47)
Be IN courage!
United with you in strength and victory,
With love,
Linda Michelle
Grandma, some ninety plus years, sat feebly on the patio bench. She didn't move, just sat with her head down staring at her hands.
When I sat down beside her she didn't acknowledge my presence and the longer I sat I wondered if she was OK.
Finally, not really wanting to disturb her but wanting to check on her at the same time, I asked her if she was OK. She raised her head and looked at me and smiled. 'Yes, I'm fine, thank you for asking,' she said in a clear voice strong.
'I didn't mean to disturb you, grandma, but you were just sitting here staring at your hands and I wanted to make sure you were OK,' I explained to her.
'Have you ever looked at your hands,' she asked. 'I mean really looked at your hands?'
I slowly opened my hands and stared down at them. I turned them over, palms up and then palms down. No, I guess I had never really looked at my hands as I tried to figure out the point she was making.
Grandma smiled and related this story:
'Stop and think for a moment about the hands you have, how they have served you well throughout your years. These hands, though wrinkled shriveled and weak have been the tools I have used all my life to reach out and grab and embrace life.
'They braced and caught my fall when as a toddler I crashed upon the floor.
They put food in my mouth and clothes on my back. As a child, my mother taught me to fold them in prayer. They tied my shoes and pulled on my boots. They held my husband and wiped my tears when he went off to war..
'They have been dirty, scraped and raw, swollen and bent. They were uneasy and clumsy when I tried to hold my newborn son. Decorated with my wedding band they showed the world that I was married and loved someone special.
They wrote my letters to him and trembled and shook when I buried my parents and spouse.
'They have held my children and grandchildren, consoled neighbors, and shook in fists of anger when I didn't understand.
They have covered my face, combed my hair, and washed and cleansed the rest of my body. They have been sticky and wet, bent and broken, dried and raw. And to this day when not much of anything else of me works real well these hands hold me up, lay me down, and again continue to fold in prayer.
'These hands are the mark of where I've been and the ruggedness of life.
But more importantly it will be these hands that God will reach out and take when he leads me home. And with my hands He will lift me to His side and there I will use these hands to touch the face of God.'
I will never look at my hands the same again. But I remember God reached out and took my grandma's hands and led her home. When my hands are hurt or sore or when I stroke the face of my children and husband I think of grandma. I know she has been stroked and caressed and held by the hands of God.
I, too, want to touch the face of God and feel His hands upon my face. (End Quote)
"Behold, you have instructed many, and you have strengthened the weak hands. Your words have held firm him who was falling, and you have strenghtened the feeble knees. But now it is come upon you, and you faint and are grieved; it touches you and you are troubled and dismayed. Is not your (reverent) fear of God your confidence and the integrity and uprightness of your ways your hope?" (Job 4:3-6)
"For You, O Lord, are my Lamp; the Lord lightens my darkness. For by You I run through a troop; by my God I leap over a wall. As for God, His way is perfect; the Word of the Lord is tried. He is a Shield to all those who trust and take refuge in Him. For who is God but the Lord? And who is a Rock except our God? God is my strong Fortress; He guides the blameless in His way and sets him free. He makes my feet like the hinds'(firm and able); He sets me secure and confident upon the heights. He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; and Your condescension and gentleness have made me great. You have enlarged my steps under me, so that my feet have not slipped. ...The Lord lives; blessed be my Rock, and exalted be God, the Rock of my salvation." (2 Samuel 22:29-37,47)
Be IN courage!
United with you in strength and victory,
With love,
Linda Michelle
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Wait in Order to Gain Strength and Wisdom
Wait: 1. To remain inactive or stay in one spot until something anticipated occurs.
2. To remain or be in readiness or expectation.
In this New Year it will benefit us greatly if we learn to wait more. Wait in the presence of God, at His feet, so that we can not only be refreshed in our strength and spirit, but so that we have time to catch our breath and assess where we are on our journey in life. How comforting it is just to sit and relax in the company of golden silence and peace. There is much to do this year as we move further into our purpose and the things that God has ordained for our lives. In order not to "miss a beat" wait more. You will be encouraged by the ease of your movement afterwards (Acts 17:28)
Gain insight and courage from Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest. And wait...the best is yet to come.
January 4th.
WHY CANNOT I FOLLOW THEE NOW?
"Peter said unto Him, Lord, why cannot I follow Thee now?" John 13:37
There are times when you cannot understand why you cannot do what you want to do. When God brings the blank space, see that you do not fill it in, but wait. The blank space may come in order to teach you what sanctification means, or it may come after sanctification to teach you what service means. Never run before God's guidance. If there is the slightest doubt, then He is not guiding. Whenever there is doubt - don't.
In the beginning you may see clearly what God's will is - the severance of a friendship, the breaking off of a business relationship, something you feel distinctly before God is His will for you to do, never do it on the impulse of that feeling. If you do, you will end in making difficulties that will take years of time to put right. Wait for God's time to bring it round and He will do it without any heartbreak or disappointment. When it is a question of the providential will of God, wait for God to move.
Peter did not wait on God, he forecast in his mind where the test would come, and the test came where he did not expect it. "I will lay down my life for Thy sake." Peter's declaration was honest but ignorant. "Jesus answered him ...The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied Me thrice." This was said with a deeper knowledge of Peter than Peter had of himself. He could not follow Jesus because he did not know himself, of what he was capable. Natural devotion may be all very well to attract us to Jesus, to make us feel His fascination, but it will never make us disciples. Natural devotion will always deny Jesus somewhere or other.
Be IN courage.
United with you in strength and victory,
With love,
Linda Michelle
2. To remain or be in readiness or expectation.
In this New Year it will benefit us greatly if we learn to wait more. Wait in the presence of God, at His feet, so that we can not only be refreshed in our strength and spirit, but so that we have time to catch our breath and assess where we are on our journey in life. How comforting it is just to sit and relax in the company of golden silence and peace. There is much to do this year as we move further into our purpose and the things that God has ordained for our lives. In order not to "miss a beat" wait more. You will be encouraged by the ease of your movement afterwards (Acts 17:28)
Gain insight and courage from Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest. And wait...the best is yet to come.
January 4th.
WHY CANNOT I FOLLOW THEE NOW?
"Peter said unto Him, Lord, why cannot I follow Thee now?" John 13:37
There are times when you cannot understand why you cannot do what you want to do. When God brings the blank space, see that you do not fill it in, but wait. The blank space may come in order to teach you what sanctification means, or it may come after sanctification to teach you what service means. Never run before God's guidance. If there is the slightest doubt, then He is not guiding. Whenever there is doubt - don't.
In the beginning you may see clearly what God's will is - the severance of a friendship, the breaking off of a business relationship, something you feel distinctly before God is His will for you to do, never do it on the impulse of that feeling. If you do, you will end in making difficulties that will take years of time to put right. Wait for God's time to bring it round and He will do it without any heartbreak or disappointment. When it is a question of the providential will of God, wait for God to move.
Peter did not wait on God, he forecast in his mind where the test would come, and the test came where he did not expect it. "I will lay down my life for Thy sake." Peter's declaration was honest but ignorant. "Jesus answered him ...The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied Me thrice." This was said with a deeper knowledge of Peter than Peter had of himself. He could not follow Jesus because he did not know himself, of what he was capable. Natural devotion may be all very well to attract us to Jesus, to make us feel His fascination, but it will never make us disciples. Natural devotion will always deny Jesus somewhere or other.
Be IN courage.
United with you in strength and victory,
With love,
Linda Michelle
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