Small and Wonderful Things . . .

 

"The world is fairly studded and strewn with pennies cast broadside from a generous hand. But who gets excited by a mere penny?...It is dire poverty indeed when a man is so malnourished and fatigued that he won't stoop to pick up a penny. But if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted with pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days. It is that simple. what you see is what you get." ~Anne Dillard

A few of the small and wonderful things which bring untold joy into my life. It's the small things in life which truly mean the most. Simple abundance . . . it's the best.

There is really no such thing as a private happiness.
If it is not shared, it quickly dies . . .
Do not build a wall around the heaven you possess.
If you do the bird of joy soon flies.

Do not make a closed-in garden of the heart's content.
Leave the gate ajar and let it swing  . . . 
Someone weary hearted down your pathway may be sent,
And find through you some good and lovely thing.
~Patience Strong

I am grateful for a sharing heart.   They say a sorrow shared is halved and a blessing shared is doubled.  I know this to be true.  What are we here for if it is not to help one another and lift each other up when we need to and rejoice with each other in times of happiness.

I know this to be true.   Even when I have behaved most despicably, I have felt of His redeeming love.  Knowing that He loves each of us no matter what and equally . . . helps me to look at others in a kinder, gentler way.  We are all children of God and equal in His eyes.  He does not treat any of us any differently than another . . .  it is we who do that.  Shame on us.

I am so grateful for my husband who loves and cherishes me.  No, we do not get along 100% of the time.  We have our moments as everyone does, but we are able to rise above them and move forward.  We are a partnership in ever sense of the word.  We are evenly yolked in all things.  When I am weak he is my strength, and vice versa.  For better and for worse.  In sickness and in health.  For time and all eternity.  I love my husband so very much.  He is the yin to my yang.

So very grateful for my Saviour, Jesus Christ.  I know that He was much more than a "good man."  He was everything the Bible says He was and did everything the Bible says He did, and more.   He is who He said He was.   He could not have simply been a "good man."   A "good man" would not lead his followers down the path that they took, along with millions and of followers in the years following His death who would be persecuted and tortured for His namesake and for their belief and faith in Him.  A "good man" would not ask people to stand up for, die for and believe in something which He knew to be a lie.  The Saviour was a real person.   He is a person of historical value and truth.   If He was not the Son of God, then He was a very bad man.  I know He was the Son of God.  I did not have to be there in Bethlehem to witness His birth.  I did not have to be in the Temple when He was a boy listening to Him teach.  I did not have to follow Him through the hillsides and streets of the Middle East or to listen to Him speak.  I did not have to be in the Upper Room with Him at the last Supper, to be with Him in Gethsemane or in the crowds outside the palace of Pontius Pilate or at the foot of the cross at Golgotha to know He was the Son of God . . .  to feel and see the marks of the nails in His hands.  I have always known He was my Saviour, since I was a little girl.  I am so grateful for my believing and faith filled heart.  My heart has never doubted these things.  Like Elder McKonkie I am one of His witnesses, and in a coming day I shall feel the nail marks in His hands and in His feet, and I shall wet His feet with my tears.  But also like Elder McKonkie I shall not know any better then than I already know now that He is the son of God, my redeemer and my Saviour.

I am so grateful that I am a person who respects others.  I do not always have to agree with them, but I am a person who respects other people's rights to an opinion, even if it differs from my own.  And I have opinions, plenty of them.  Just ask Todd.  LOL  But I would never go onto someone else's wall and shout them down because I think that what they have said is silly or stupid, or that I don't agree with them.  If I don't like what they have said, or if I disagree or disapprove, I simply don't "like" it.  I just shrug and pass it by.  Yes, I am talking about facebook and it has been a virtual sea of negativity  filled with abuse and intolerance lately.  I hate to see what I know are very nice people behaving badly.  It breaks my heart.   Why can't we just agree to disagree.  Half the time the perpetrators of this abuse and intolerance are the very ones who are shouting the odds against abusive and intolerant behavior in the first place.  Abuse and intolerance are just what they are, no matter which side of the issue you stand on.   Be kind.  Make love not war.  Have your opinions, but reserve the right for others to also have theirs.  Respect others.  Be tolerant with your intolerance.  Play nice.

It costs nothing.  Practice kindness in all things.  You will never regret it.  I know this to be true.  An unkind word/thought/action can never be taken back.  Real change begins with YOU.

And those are my small and wonderfuls for this week. 

A thought to carry with you through today  . . .


.° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★
 *.˛.° ˛°. . 
˛*  Anxiety happens when you think 
        you have to figure everything out.
          Turn to God, He has a plan.
               ~unknown    •。★★ 。* 。

Spiritual Enlightenment

I am going back to the basics in The English Kitchen this week with some simple ideas of thing you can cook and then what to do with the leftovers, beginning with a Basic Roast Chicken.    I am trying to teach my daughter about making her food dollar stretch.  I hope that she is able to get something out of it.

Have a fabulous Monday.  I hope your week ahead is filled with lots of small and wonderful things.  Don't forget along the way that  . . . .

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And I do too!