Happiness Belongs to You!

Benjamin Franklin was concluding a moving speech on the guarantees of the Constitution when a heckler shouted, “Those words don’t mean anything. Where’s all the happiness you said it guarantees us?” Franklin smiled and calmly silenced his critic.
“My friend, the Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness; you have to catch it yourself.”

Jesus, expounded this same teaching with the Beatitudes (Matthew 5). When we read Blessed are you, we are reading and hearing “Happy are you:”

Try reading the scriptures below by replacing Blessed with Happy and catch happiness.

And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
3) Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 )Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
5) Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
6) BleContinue reading “Happiness Belongs to You!”

MOSAIC OF JOY

Sara’s Notes of Joy

(Zephaniah 3:17) “The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”

What do you do when The Lord is rejoicing with gladness and singing over you?

In the book of Zephaniah the prophet is describing the destruction of Judah, Philistine, Moab, Ammon, Ethiopia, and Assyria by the might nation of Babylon. Yet, Zephaniah was assuring these nations that not one nation of people was too far from God’s love, and not one nation was too small for His power! Then he closes this little book with powerful promises and encouraging the people to respond positively to God’s full circle of love.

How? (Zephaniah 3:14) “Sing, shout and be glad and rejoice with all your heart. (Verse 15 Amplified) (For then it wiContinue reading “MOSAIC OF JOY”

Attitude=’s character

“Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.
– Albert Einstein

attitude |Л?atiЛЊt(y)oЕЌd| noun a settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or something, typically one that is reflected in a person’s behavior : she took a tough attitude toward other people’s indulgences | being competitive is an attitude of mind | differences in attitude were apparent between ethnic groups. • a position of the body proper to or implying an action or mental state : the boy was standing in an attitude of despair, his chin sunk on his chest. • informal truculent or uncooperative behavior; a resentful or antagonistic manner : I asked the waiter for a clean fork, and all I got was attitude. • informal individuality and self-confidence as manifested by behavior or appearance; style : she snapped her fingers with attitude. • the orientation of an aircraft or spacContinue reading “Attitude=’s character”

The joy of an artist

Painting Pugs and Poodles, Shelties and Shih Tzus, Collies, Mixed-breed and
Cockers and Poms;

Oh the joy of watching pure white canvases burst forth in phases of shape,
color and poise. Capturing framable companions of love for memories
to last a lifetime.

Light out of darkness, in many ways to others joy, to Him praise.
I take out my trusty water worn brush, a flash of color or a
tinted hush. Browns and tans, blues with hues, a twinkling eye,
one pup or two.

My gift of painting is an outpouring of the love that was poured
into me through hard work and true friendship by many.

“Life is to be fortified by many friendships, to love and be loved is the greatest happiness of existence.” Sydney Smith…..(On an earlier blog by Sara she asked is this true?) My answer was yes and what I am writing is why I said yes. By painting doContinue reading “The joy of an artist”

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEEDLES

Come on Lilies! Rally it up for the ‘O girl hitting the big 04! Sorry I meant to say the big 40! Thought this was the jackpot for a moment. That is what getting old does to the mind.


For my dear friend I want to be the first to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEEDLES! You are loved and cherished. Now one and all prove it with words of gratitude to Needles of NC.Continue reading “HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEEDLES”

POP QUIZ

“To expand your portion expand your mind.” Gary Mullennex

Let us go to work and expand our portion by expanding our minds. Take the pop quiz and see how many words we can come up with. I will be grading your pop quiz and submitting to a panel of judges for the most creative, funniest and numbers right. You may just win something special! Let’s put Gary’s quote to the test. Let’s have some fun. Will be looking forward to your answers.

DORMITORY:
When you rearrange the letters:
DIRTY ROOM

PRESBYTERIAN:
When you rearrange the letters:
BEST IN PRAYER

ASTRONOMER:
When you rearrange the letters:
MOON STARER

DESPERATION:
When you rearrange the letters:
A ROPE ENDS IT

THE EYES:
When you rearrange the letters:
THEY SEE

GEORGE BUSH:
When you rearrange the letters:
HE BUGS GORE

THE MORSE CODE:
When you rearrange the letters:
HERE COME DOTS

SLOT MACHINContinue reading “POP QUIZ”

Mother-in-Law/Daughter-in-Law

Most of us (women) can understand what it means to be a daughter-in-law and/or Mother-in-law. It evokes humor in the comedians. All too many times we see pain in the face and heart of the in-law, being daughter or mother. Sometimes joy, sometimes angry but many times jealousy and or resentment in the heart.

God honors the family in many ways and speaks of each and every family relationship. But, we so often look to TV sitcoms, soaps or comedians to give us a map to relationships including our in-law relationships.

So many times I wonder what God is thinking about all this. I am speaking mostly of Americans since I only see America TV.

Most of us have read the story of Naomi and her two daughter-in-laws Orpah and Ruth. We many times inscribe the following scriptures in our wedding rings and Bibles and want so much to live out this story. Or, I should say the life of Ruth noContinue reading “Mother-in-Law/Daughter-in-Law”

Roses: Good Food?

If you would like to add some variety to your diet try this:
Does anyone have any good recipes for these?

Flower Power

Eating flowers may seem strange at first, but really people have been doing it since ancient times. They belong to an old heritage of recipes – used in flower waters for flavoring cakes, or for adding delicate flavors to jams and jellies. Today we use them in teas or as a garnish for desserts. Flowers can provide a stunning visual enhancement in leafy green salads and add decidedly bold or subtle flavors to many dishes.

Before you nibble, please remember that not all flowers are edible! If not purchasing flowers marked as edible in produce departments or farmer’s markets, always check your flower selections with a botanical authority before eating. Don’t eat flowers purchased from florists and, in many cases, even wildflowers. Unless labeled as “organic,” theContinue reading “Roses: Good Food?”

Happy Valentine’s Day

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength; loving someone deeply gives you courage. Lao Tzu

February always brings thoughts of Love while we find ways to celebrate a special day that is set-aside on the 14th day of February to let others know how much we care.

When we read and study the works of the Apostle Paul and others we find there is a struggle to love and to be loved. Yet, it is the number one thing God is looking for.

He starts with His church. There is where the problem starts. Yes, the church! Why, because we seemly spend more time on our disagreements than we do on our agreements. Our disagreements when focused on become a wall, a mountain, and a pain.

We have our favorite scriptures that are made in heaven and written in law just for others and of course not for ourselves.

God has given each of us a gift or gifts and we are encouraged to use our Continue reading “Happy Valentine’s Day”