May You Be Blessed

I hope you all enjoy watching this short inspirational video based on the book May You Be Blessed by Kate Nowak… it says it all, my wishes for everyone of us!
Note: Please turn off my playlist at the bottom of this page before starting the video
May you be blessed as you listen..



Visit Spiritua Sundays for more weekend blessings, hosted by Charlotte and Ginger.
Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.
Charles Dickens
                                      Sweet Blessings,
                                            Virginia

White Wednesday

One of my favorite ways to save money is to shop at secondhand stores. I always seem to find a new treasure! And I just found another gem last week (for $40) that I am excited about. I clean it up, painted it in a soft white, antiqued and sanded some of the edges.

And here's a picture of it in all its glory. Isn’t it pretty?

My new Three Panel Folding Screen

 

This Is my first time participating in White Wednesday.....
Go over to visit Kathleen at Faded Charm and all the others for more whites inspiration!
                                                     Sweet Blessings,
                                                           Virginia

God ~~ Healer and Comforter

Sometimes we bury hurts and pretend they did not happen, except they can resurface every so often, or we go to visit the graveside and spend time with our hurts.Sometimes we carry our hurts with us like a big burden and so they weigh us down.They never let us be free, they affect how we relate to others.
But our awesome God is waiting to set us free from our hurts.He is able to help us work through those hurts and how they have affected our lives. It is a process, but freedom from the hurt is achievable.
We can move forward.

 

HEALED AND WHOLE:

One day I dug a little hole,
and put my hurt inside
I thought that I could just forget
I'd put it there to hide.
But that little hurt began to grow,
I covered it every day
I couldn't leave it and go on
It seemed the price I had to pay.

My joy was gone,
my heart was sad,
pain was all I knew.
My wounded soul enveloped me
Loving seemed too hard to do.
One day, while standing by my hole,
I cried to God above
And said, "If You are really there,
They say, You're a God of love!"

And just like that,
He was right there,
And just put his arms around me
He wiped away my tears,
his hurting child there was no safer place to be.
I told Him all about my hurt,
I opened up my heart
He listened to each and every word
to every sordid part.

I dug down deep and got my hurt
I brushed the dirt away
And placed it in the Master's hand
and healing came that day.
He took the blackness from my soul
and set my spirit FREE!
Something beautiful began to grow
where the hurt used to be.

And when I look at what has grown
Out of my tears and pain
I remember every day
to give my hurts to GOD
And never bury them again.

Have faith in our loving God.
There is nothing in this world
too big for our LORD

Author Unknown

                                                     
                                                           Sweet Blessings
                                                                Virginia



Visit Spiritual Sundays for more weekend blessings, hosted by Charlotte and Ginger.

Well, I Wonder If You Know Him

If you’re not already familiar with Dr. S. M. Lockridge powerful sermon delivered in 1976 entitled “That’s My King I urge you to listen to this video. It’s impossible not to listen without responding in a heartfelt praise. (Dr. S. M. Lockridge~1913-2000)

Note: Please turn off my playlist at the bottom of this page before starting the video.

Something For God To Do..... Prayer Box

I started to write people’s names on slips of paper and put them in to a box that I called, Something For God To Do.....I keep this Prayer Box on the window sill above my kitchen sink. It’s one of the first things I see every morning. The names inside are safe there, and I regularly look at them to remind me of why that person needs my prayers and positive thoughts. This box that contains my very own collection of people I care about and who are in need of my focused thoughts and prayer, is a reminder to, be grateful for what I have, share what I have to give, and be humbled by all of you out there who are struggling, in pain, fighting the good fight, yet still able and willing to encourage others.
I got the idea of having a prayer box when I came by this ……..
Give God All Your Problems!
To My Child,
Good morning, this is GOD.
Today I will be handling all of your problems. Please remember that I do not need your help. If you encounter a situation you cannot handle, do not attempt to resolve it. Kindly put it in the SFGTD (Something For God To Do) box. It will be addressed in MY TIME, not yours.
Once the matter is placed into the box, do not hold onto it nor remove it. Holding on or removal will delay the resolution of your problem. If it is a situation you think you are capable of handling, please consult me in prayer to be sure that it is the proper resolution. Because I do not sleep, nor do I slumber, there is no need for you to lose any sleep. Please rest my child.
If you need to contact me, I am only a prayer away. My prayer line is open 24 hours of your day. I love you and will always be with you wherever you may go. As with all good things, pass my message on.
Love, GOD

We all need to take this advice and give all our problems to God. Nothing is too big for him to handle.
                                                     Sweet Blessings,
                                                         Virginia

Visit Spiritual Sundays for more weekend blessings, hosted by Charlotte and Ginger.

HAPPINESS!

Happiness is something we DECIDE. is a state of mind and comes from counting our blessings and being grateful for what God has given us. Each moment of life asks us to make a choice, a choice of action, word, thought, emotions. The manner in which we greet every breath of every day determines our level of peace and happiness.
Give birth to happiness in your own heart…. you always have the choice to be happy, may happiness become your habit.

                    Wake up and start happy, you’re living in God’s house!
                                                         Smile!
                                                       Blessings,
                                                        Virginia
 

Story behind the picture of Praying Hands

- Albrecht Durer’s Praying Hands -

Back in the fifteenth century, in a tiny village near Nuremberg, lived a family with eighteen children. Eighteen! In order merely to keep food on the table for this mob, the father and head of the household, goldsmith by profession, worked almost eighteen hours a day at his trade and any other paying chore he could find in the neighborhood. Despite their seemingly hopeless condition, two of Albrecht Durer the Elder’s children had a dream. They both wanted to pursue their talent for art, but they knew full well that their father would never be financially able to send either of them to Nuremberg to study at the Academy. After many long discussions at night in their crowded bed, the two boys finally worked out a pact. They would toss a coin. The loser would go down into the nearby mines and, with his earnings, support his brother while he attended the academy. Then, when that brother who won the toss completed his studies, in four years, he would support the other brother at the academy, either with sales of his artwork or, if necessary, also by laboring in the mines. They tossed a coin on a Sunday morning after church. Albrecht Durer won the toss and went off to Nuremberg.
Albert went down into the dangerous mines and, for the next four years, financed his brother, whose work at the academy was almost an immediate sensation. Albrecht’s etchings, his woodcuts, and his oils were far better than those of most of his professors, and by the time he graduated, he was beginning to earn considerable fees for his commissioned works.
When the young artist returned to his village, the Durer family held a festive dinner on their lawn to celebrate Albrecht’s triumphant homecoming. After a long and memorable meal, punctuated with music and laughter, Albrecht rose from his honored position at the head of the table to drink a toast to his beloved brother for the years of sacrifice that had enabled Albrecht to fulfill his ambition.
His closing words were, “And now, Albert, blessed brother of mine, now it is your turn. Now you can go to Nuremberg to pursue your dream, and I will take care of you.” All heads turned in eager expectation to the far end of the table where Albert sat, tears streaming down his pale face, shaking his lowered head from side to side while he sobbed and repeated, over and over, “No …no …no …no.”
Finally, Albert rose and wiped the tears from his cheeks. He glanced down the long table at the faces he loved, and then, holding his hands close to his right cheek, he said softly, “No, brother. I cannot go to Nuremberg. It is too late for me. Look … look what four years in the mines have done to my hands! The bones in every finger have been smashed at least once, and lately I have been suffering from arthritis so badly in my right hand that I cannot even hold a glass to return your toast, much less make delicate lines on parchment or canvas with a pen or a brush. No, brother …for me it is too late.”
More than 450 years have passed. By now, Albrecht Durer’s hundreds of masterful portraits, pen and silver-point sketches, watercolors, charcoals, woodcuts, and copper engravings hang in every great museum in the world, but the odds are great that you, like most people, are familiar with only one of Albrecht Durer’s works. More than merely being familiar with it, you very well may have a reproduction hanging in your home or office.
One day, to pay homage to Albert for all that he had sacrificed, Albrecht Durer painstakingly drew his brother’s abused hands with palms together and thin fingers stretched skyward. He called his powerful drawing simply “Hands,” but the entire world almost immediately opened their hearts to his great masterpiece and renamed his tribute of love “The Praying Hands.”

The next time you see a copy of that touching creation, take a second look. Let it be your reminder, if you still need one, that no one – no one – ever makes it alone.