Adding Enthusiasm

Taken on the table of our outdoor setting under the trees. Isn’t it just a little beauty? I love visitors like these in my garden.

From My Garden

I need to remember that enthusiasm is not

an accessory to my life. It is an absolute necessity.

Today is the first day of the rest of my life.

I have 100% of the rest of my life left to live.

 Yesterday, I did some cooking in the morning. I made Hungarian Goulash. I’ve never made this dish before. It was quite simple, very colourful, with very few ingredients, and enough , with mash and peas, to serve 4 people. I couldn’t find a recipe in my multitude of cookbooks, so I resorted to asking the internet for help. I was delighted with the result. My next culinary effort is going to be goulash soup. We had some on board ship in Hungary and I quite liked what we ate. 

 Later i was able to fit time in, in my garden. I had bought punnets of flower plants and planted up my hanging baskets.  Soon I will have baskets of flowering delight. Evev now with only the greenery the baskets look so much better than empty bare baskets.

 Today I found it hard to be enthusiastic about a visit to the accountant and all the paperwork and information required. However, at the end of my visit, when the accountant told me my tax return results, I became most enthusiastic indeed. In my head I was spending it on the new roof for my deck which we have yearned for, for a couple of years now. In summer it gets so hot out there.  A roof is badly needed. The visit was very productive.

So once again I have contributed to positive, productive and peaceful and added enthusiasm. Well done!

 So on to my next project for today, which is Apple Slice – with only 4 ingredients. I have made this  dessert before, and it is even easier than Hungarian goulash. I will have that ready in no time…. and it is very yummy indeed!

 And then into the garden…….

 I wish you a positive, productive, peaceful, and enthusiastic day and hope you too can share it with others. C 

 If I am to particpate in the game of life I will need to appreciate every precious moment.

The Game of Life

Early morning fog at the bottom of my garden

From My Garden

When something seems impossible I need to go

within myself and call upon my inner strength, and

engage the power of God’s love. With all this power

of God’s love and my own inner strength anything is possible.

 

Today is the first day of the rest of my life.

 I have 100% of the rest of my life to live.

Good morning! I woke to a bright, sunny, very chilly morning. How exhilerating is that! The fire is burning and inside our home it is so toasty warm.

 Well, yesterday went just as I planned. We went to church . Father Dan is still with us. Our sermon this week was from John’s Gospel about the loaves and the fishes, and how differently John portrayed this story than Mathew had done in his Gospel. I had never realised that before. Being a literal person, I had always seen it as a miracle that Jesus performed when there was not enough food to feed all of his followers. Father Dan is certainly very good at engaging me to listen in and actually hear what  I am really being told.

 I managed to get more fertiliser for my rose garden (among other things), and after lunch I finished pruning, fertilising and watering my rose garden. Gardening is certainly soul food. Not only did I finish my planned rose garden chores, but I managed to start on my geranium garden as well. Yesterday was such a glorious wnters day as well – so crisp, so clean, so bright , so exhilerating- a really God-filled day.

 So, on this inviting morning, I have much planned and hope things turn out as rewarding and prodictve as yesterday.

 I hope you too have an enjoyable day and find God in all that you do.

 If I am going to participate in the game of life, I will need to appreciate each delightful and precious moment. C.

Positve,Productive, Peaceful Outcome

 

One of the bonuses of living where it is cold.

 

From My Garden

I must not let failure defeat me.

I must get up and begin again.

 

Today is the first day of the rest of my lifel

I have 100% of the rest of my life to ive.

 This week has been a week of failures for me – not drastic ones thank goodness -but failures to get up and be motivated. I have had a bout of the flu and while my health has been improving day by day with the help of medication, my cough hangs on and pulls me down.

 So yesterday I decided to do a couple of extra things that were different from what I’ve been doing everyday.  I spent time pruning my roses, fertilising and watering them – a job well done. But the job didn’t get finished because I ran out of fertiliser and had to wait till today to be able to purchase some more. But I made the start, and it’s such a beautiful morning this morning, that I know when I come in from church I will have the motivation to finish the job.

 But the best thing I did yesterday was to attend our Community Art Group meeting. Only 6 of us attended but they are such a delightful group and so motivated, I came away feeling quite happy and with a few plans to put in place to keep me busy over the next month. Thank you to my Art Group friends who really lifted my spirits when I most needed it.

 I remember when I was young, my Mum used to quote “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, and try again” ( I think it may have been part of an old poem ) . So here I am back today blogging again, being positive, productive and peaceful, after a week of feeling sorry for myself. There seems to be something into the mindset of ‘keep on keeping on’

 Sunday, HERE I COME!

 Be inspired:

Take a stand for yourself in a big way or even a small way – starting today……….. and when you do and you succeed: PASS IT ON. C

Let there be peace on earth

With love from my garden

        From My Garden

There has always been a longing within myself

 that is only satified when I am embraced and

 wrapped in the love of my Creator.

Each day when I make my daily prayer

I ask that each of my friends and all of my family

be wrapped in the loving embrace of God.

I ask him to wrap each person in the world in his love,

to make the world a better place for all of us to live in,

help the leaders of the world to make to right decisions

for the benefit of all of us,

and let their be world peace.

Please join me in my daily prayer.

Maybe if all our prayers are joined

together we can make a difference

for the suffering peoples of the world. Thank you. C 

Sharing a word

My Love with a rose

            From My Garden

 If I listen with my heart, as well as with my ears,

I will hear so much more and respond differently.

Today is the the first day of the rest of my life.

I have 100% of the rest of my life to live.

 I am a lover of words. Last night I attended a church meeting . We always start and end our meetings with a prayer.

 Last night Bill’s Prayer began with a word.

 The word Bill used was GUIDANCE.

 I would like to share that word with you. It is by an author unknown…. and very clever indeed.

 Dancing With God.

When I meditated on the word Guidance, I kept seeing “dance” at the end of the word. I remember reading that doing God’s Will is a lot like dancing.

 When two people try to lead in a dance, nothing feels right. The movement just does not want to flow with the music, and everything feels quite uncomfortable and jerky.

When one person realizes that, and lets their partner lead, both bodies begin to flow and move together with the music

 One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back or by pressing lightly in one directtion or another.

 It’s as if two become one body, moving beautifully. The dance takes surrender, willingness, and attentiveness from one person and gentle guidamce from the other.

Then my eyes drew back to the word Giudance. When I saw the “G” I thought of God, followed by “u” and “i”. “God” “u” and “i” dance. God you and I dance.

 As I lowered my head, I became willing to tust that I would get guidance  about my life. Once again I became willing to let God lead me.

 My prayer for today is that God’s blessings and mercies be upon you on this day and everyday.

May you abide in God as he abides in you.

Dance together with God , trusting God to lead and to guide you through each season of your life.

Thanks Bill for sharing this great find. It touched my heart deeply.

 “you changed my mourning into dancing”

                           Ps. 30.12

  And so on this beautiful sunny day here in the  great land “downunder'” let us dance with God and trust that he will lead us in the right direction towards blessings and mercies and love and laughter. Life can be so much better with God helping us on our journey through the seasons.

 And … when you find your way to dance with God… share it –  pass it on. C

What is Success?

A relaxing space where I sometimes read, write eat, or think. From My Garden  Success in my life is found in loving and  giving,  Not in winning or owning THINGS.  Today is the first day of the rest of my life.  I still have 100% of the rest of my life to live.  Lasting happinss does not come from what I can GET. I find lasting happiness in what I can GIVE.  And… that giving is not always gift giving, but it can be something like that…… like when I have shared something from my garden, or something I have cooked with my garden produce.  But the best giving of all is A friendly smile,  an enquiry about a persons health or that of a loved one, an offer to pray for someone in need,  a card to wish someone well when they have been ill,  a postcard to a lonely person when I am on holiday And… these are the kind of things that I too appreciate. There is nothing more special than a phone call from someone I haven’t heard from in a while,  or a visit from a friend I haven’t seen in ages,  a sharing of conversation about the happenings in our lives. I’ve found age brings wisdom  And with wisdom comes the appreciation of thoughtfulness and friendship and LOVE.  Money can’t buy any of these things.   So…. today I pass these thoughts to you to share around and hope that you too can find lasting happiness…. and can PASS IT ON! C

If I am to partipate in the game of life I will need to appreciate each precious moment, especially those that have come from the heart.

In all things beautiful

             From My Garden

 

A Rose for love

Faith does not only believe that God can, but that God will

And…. faith without works is dead.

Today is the first day of the rest of my life.

 I still have 100% of my life left to live.

I can’t imagine life without God in it.

I find God….

in the birth of a baby

in a child’s smile

in the love of a Mother for her children

in the sincere love between husband and wife

in a beautiful sunrise or sunset

in the greeting from my dog/ cat when I come home from somewhere.

in a beautiful rose

in a sunshower

in the goodness and kindness within people…….

in the innocent eyes of my grandchildren

God is everywhere if I take the time to look.

Take time to look at all things beautiful and maybe you too will find God there. ….. and share your find. C.

Partipating In the Game of Life

An abundant crop of oranges. A reward like this makes gardening well worthwhile.

         From My Garden

Even if happiness forgets me sometimes I never give up …. I keep on keeping on.

I am responsible for making my own happiness.

Happiness is Not having things. It’s inner peace, a spiritual glow, a reaching out to others, a love of self, and appreciation of the good things life has to offer.

Today is the first day of the rest of my life.

 I have 100% of the rest of my life to live.

To wake up to sunshine today was so uplifting. After a number of overcast, raining and gloomy days, and still suffering a little jet lag, was most helpful to my spirits. But today is so much brighter. It was nice to get back to church and catch up.

Father John is in Vietnam for 5 weeks and we have been blessed with the presence of Father Dan, who has such a sunny disposition. He makes any gloomy gospel reading seem bright and encouraging. Today he spoke about the disciples being sent out to preach wearing sandals and only having one tunic- to travel light. and Father Dan said……” and when they washed their tunics they sat around in their underwear while their tunics dried”…… which made us all think about how difficult it must have been for the preachers to go out to spread God’s word.

And afterwards a cuppa and scone and shared conversation with other parishioners we hadn’t seen for 5 weeks. A bit of lightheartedness when, after about a half hour, Bob turned up looking a little flustered, saying that he and Father Dan had spent all that time trying to get out of the church. While he and Father Dan had been deep in conversation the church had been locked up with them still inside talking. Naturally everybody thought that was quite hilarious. But Bob wasn’t impressed because he had to go back in and fix the door they had broken out of.

 Even going to church can be exciting as well as rewarding.

If I am going to continue to participate in the game of life I am going to need to continue to  appreciate each precious moment and most especially the lighthearted ones…………. come join me in finding and appreciating those precious moments. C

Finding Love

Tiny birdseye chillies always make a lovely display.  I use so few of them and the bush is always full.

          From My Garden 

      Each time that I give love sincerely and

unselfishly, I give God, because…. God is love.

 

This is the first day of the rest of my life.

I still have 100% of the rest of my life to live.

 

I see God in the love I have for my family.

I see the goodness and kindness in people as the

God part of humankind.

 But most of all I find God in the pure innocence of a small child, and the trust and love they have in their parents.

It would be so good to be able to be childlike and trusting in love as little children are, instead of growing up to be so mistrusting of everybody and everything.

 f I am going to participate in the game of life, I will need to appreciate each precious moment that I have here on earth….. join me. C..

Finding excitement in everyday living

Some mystical creatures who grace my indoor garden. A cute gift from my daughter-in-law

       From My Garden

Today is the first day of the rest of my life.

I have 100% of the rest of my life to live.

 

Some smart employers share both profits and credit with their employees.. This is not always because it is deserved, but because the employer knows it is a way to greater success for a business and for the benefit of encouraging the employee to participate and enjoy the fruits of that success. 

 I love my job.

The benefits from working where I work is not only the monetary reward, but the reward of being part of a very successful enterprise. I hear that everywhere I go, when I tell people where I am employed. I am told constantly ” that place has a very good reputation”. That’s so great to be part of something  like that and to know I make a small contribution to it’s success in my own unique way.

 The other rewards that I reap are:

 that I am much older than all the people who are employed at my place of work, and I am truly grateful that at my age I can still make a contribution to a thriving business;.

 my children and grandchildren are a long way away so I am lucky that I work with younger people who are around my children’s ages and give me stimulating company as I work; 

  and of course the nature of my work is with children, so while I don’t have my grandchildren in my daily life I can share the joy and excitement and company  of small children as they journey through their lives unaware of the contribution they make to my life;

 and the fact that I have other things to contribute to conversation at home other that my garden, housework, my pets, the weather.

 So it makes life more exciting to go to a job that rewards me in more ways than with money.

I like the money too. It allows me to travel and get to see my family at least once a year.

So once again the mundane can be exciting if I look at the positives within the eveyday environment of where I live, how I live, why I do what I do, and how I make that all work.

 I wish you the joy in finding excitement in the mundane of your everyday life. I know you will find it there if you just look. C.