Goodbye

An iris in my spring garden

From My Garden

 

We are all family

 and the planet is our home.

 

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

 I have 100% of my life left to live.

 

Today is my last day of blogging. I didn’t quite achieve what I set out to do.

 Thank you to any body who has followed my blog.

 Thank you to the beautiful people whose  blogs I have followed. Life has been more wonderful  for having had you in my life.

 Keep good.

God bless.

 Let us all pray for each other. C

Golden Opportuinities Are Everywhere

As you leave my front garden this is what you see     From My Garden  The ocean of life is lavish with abundance Golden opportuities are everywhere.   I still have all of the rest of my life to live.  There is still 100% of the rest of my life ahead of me.  The opportuinity this week for me has been presented by the beautiful warm sunny mornings and afternoons that are following chilly mornings and nights.   And I have made the most of this time tidying my straggly winter garden. And as I have pruned and watered and dug,weeded and planted I have noticed that lots of trees and plants have new leaves budding – like the roses and stone fruit.The rhubarb is sprouting lovely new leaves and the strawberry is covered in blooms. The apricot tree is just covered in gorgeous pink blossoms. I am hoping to have a really good crop of apricots this year,    We only ended up with 6 delicious apricots from our very first harvest. So this year I have fertilised, mulched, sprayed amd watered the tree and covered it with bird proofing net, nice and early, and I am hoping that with all this lovely pampering I am going to be rewarded with a beautiful abundant,golden harvest.  So, now that I am participating fully in my life (with the help of a brand new massage therapist and my cheerful,inspiring, motivating chiropractor), I am appreciating each precious moment, and the abundance of the life I have ahead of me.  Today, I am wishing good people to present in your life and that golden opportuinity arrives to improve your quality of living. And as life improves share your abundance of living……. pass it on so others may have joy in their hearts too. C

Asking For Help

More of those pesky rainbow lorikeets.

    From My Garden

I am keeping my thoughts centred on what I wish to experience more of in my life:

More love,

more happiness,

more positivity,

more enthusiasm,

more motivation,

more inspiration,

more travel,

more communicationa with my family,

more giving,

more excitement,

more LIVING.

I have all of the rest of my life left to live.

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

It is in admitting to and accepting that I have many weaknesses as well as strengths, that I have many times called on God’s help to get me through. And it is in that, that I have found my true potential.

And I am enjoying my new found freedom of getting on with life and not looking back.

In these last few days we have met up with a young  lady who was part of our lives for 2 years when she was just a young baby – through the fostercare programme. She was such a lively little being and won the hearts of our family with her love of life. Myssie was lucky to be returned to her family and had a good life .

For a while we missed her bright little nature, but  knew we had to move on and not continue to mourn for  what could not be.

Well, through the institution of Face Book and the help of an”Unlikely Genius” we made contact again. And she has turned out to be a lovely person – much quieter than the lively tot we first knew, but that’s growing  up-  but none- the- less a nice human being. That’s all we can ask of our children. That was what I always wanted for my children, and that’s exactly what I got.

 And I can only thank God for the children who touched my life over the years and enriched my life beyond all measure. I am sure that some of them have no idea what they have done for me, and now they are gone and living there own unique lives have little thought for what they gave me and what I have learnt about being a human being, and through them have learned to move on and continue with life in it’s present form.

 And of course God’s help  in moving to that space has been immeasurable. Thank you Lord for being there.

 I wish you a day of love and happiness and that you find life worth living every single day. C

A Job Well Done

 

Some rainbow lorikeets decided to visit- such great chatter boxes and such flighty natures.

    

From My Garden

I find that it is much easier to do a good job while I am doing things, rather than do a shoddy one and have to fix it later.

I think that is called having pride in one’s achievements.

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

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

My Mum used to say ‘if something is worth doing, it’s worth doing properly’. And for someone who was never going to be like her Mother, I’ve done a good job at looking like her in “my living longer” years and living up to lots of her sayings, which I am very good at quoting I must say.

 And I’m always saying  ‘why spend all that time doing something the wrong way when you can spend the same amount of time doing it the right way!’

  A story I love to tell is that one of our kids would be asked to tidy up his room…. and he would – and his room would be spotless. And a week or so later I would go right into his room to put away folded clothes, or some such thing, and all the tidy would be stacked up behind his chest of drawers where I couldn’t see it from the doorway. And he would have been given praise for a job well done. How long it must have taken him to stack that mess there when it could have taken the same amount of time to put the things where they went.Gives us all a good laugh now he is grown up and hopefully knows the value of time.

Another of my sayings is ” the time wasted, is life wasted. We can’t get it back.’

 Today was church day- Father Dan’s last day. Father John will be back from his travel to Vietnam next week.

Father Dan spoke about how we can spend some time with God each day. He gave us 3 suggestions:

1. To look in every day life at the good things we have in our life, to look for the good in people.

2. To spend 5 minutes reading the word. To listen to what God is trying to tell us through the Word. Quite often that is explained in the weekly sermon.

3. And to spend some time in prayer or spiritual mediatation.

 And I thought, how easy is that!

 I’m with God when I listen to people talk and hear the goodness in there living.

I am at church and I am with other good people listening to the Word and understanding God’s message to me.

I am at home peeling the potatoes and can pray for my sick friend, or a thank you prayer for a good day or the sunshine or a great family.

 So I can spend time with God no matter what I am doing. How wonderful!

 I have completed my project part of the day doing my most favourite gardening chore – pruning. I can’t wait for the new leaves to start sprouting once spring is here. That is my reward for the time I spend in the garden. 

I hope your day has been as happy as mine and that you too did your most favourite thing today.C

 I know that if I am to participate in the game of life I really must appreciate each very special moment of it.

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

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.

Still Living the Dream

From My Travels Putting others needs before my own  will be the surest way to personal happiness.

Our travel companions – on the last day of our trip in the Uk We are at left. Our bus driver at front and tour director in red skirt near us. This was taken at Bath in England. The next day we were in Amsterdam. We took the rain with us to there as well.  Today is the first day of the rest of my life.  I still have100% of  the rest of my life to live.  The journey home was very long. We left the cruise ship at Budapest  on Sunday at 10am. We had a 7hr wait till our plane flew out to Munich.  We had a 5hr wait at Munich until we flew out to Dabai. Slept on the  plane. Had another wait at Dubai and then an all night flight to Brisbane.  We arrived in Brisbane at 6.25am on Monday morning. We lost 8hrs on the backward flight.We brought the rain home too.. We arrived home about midday, showered, ate lunch and slept and slept, and washed. We are still washing and because of the rain we are drying in the clothes dryer. Well, the trip might be over, but the dream is still there…. and the memories,people, places, the experiences. It is so incredible. I don’t think I will ever come down out of the clouds. Although I should…. washing dishes and washing and drying clothes, and making the bed, and cleaning house should quickly bring me down to earth, don’t you think! I enjoyed sharing my dream and excitement with you. If I never get to do that again it won’tmatter because that one was so big it will last for the rest of my life. Hope your dreams come true for you too…..  And the sun has just decided to rise. C

Today is all yours…..

A Shady retreat

      From My Garden

Today:

When the sun comes up and you wake for the day,

And the dew drops, and falls sparkling on the leaves so green ,

and the breeze sings its song and the wind chimes tinkle their joyful sounds,

and the clouds dance in the magnificent blue yonder….

and the mountains echo their wisdom and bird song resounds in the distance,

and the rivers and streams ripple along with merry mirth and tinkling laughter,

and the planets pirouette through space,

and the stars tiptoe gently, softly round the moon…..

today is all yours……

made especially for you – to enjoy and admire,

because you are special and unique

and deserve the vey best life can offer.

A Winter’s Day

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

 There is no greater journey than to follow the path of my dreams, to create my destiny, to live my life fully, and experience all that life has to offer me.

 I cannot choose all the experiences that will come into my life but I can choose how to handle them.

 Well, after a lot of busy days I am at last finding time to blog again this week, and last week we celebrated two important times in our church season.

 Last week was Ascension when Jesus said goodbye to earth and moved permanently to heaven, leaving behind his legacy of love and caring for the apostles to share with the rest of the world.

 And this week is Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles to empower them  with the ability to speak in different languages so that the messages God wanted to convey could be understood by everybody.

And we here are also left with the same legacy of love and caring and peace to share with those we meet in our everday lives.

 We have been lucky enough to share our home with our cousins this weekend. We have had an amazing time conversing and sharing our comings and goings and family experiences with each other.

 Yesterday we attended a thanksgiving day to show generous members of our community the appreciation of the citizens in our little town for good things they have done for people in need.  It was sponsored by local combined Christian Churches. We had a picnic lunch, shared some hilarious games. and some guessing competitions ( I won one of those), and children’s races. It was a really good reason to get together to celebrate.

Today we said goodbye to our visitors. We are alone again.

We have had some lovely rain, some very cold weather, some gorgeous sunshine and fluffy white clouds in our region today. We have loved warming around our beautiful fire, eating lots of hot soup and stews and enjoying the change in our climate this week.

Sharing our toasty warm fire

What has been good  for me this week?Having our family visit with us, attending the thanksgiving picnic.

 What I have been grateful for this week.

Being cared about, feeling well and having somewhere to feel warm and toasty.

 God in my life

Attending church, having good and kind people in my life, daily prayer. I no longer have my little white book to read each night, so I am feeling a bit lost. Our next little book won’t come out until Advent is on it’s way, which is a long way away. I will have to find something else to fill that time.

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

 So till the next time we meet let happiness go with you as you go. And let that happiness grow…. and as it expands and grows within your heart…. pass it on. Peace be with you, C.