Thoughts from a Starbucks Cup...

You can learn a lot more from
listening than you can from talking.
Find someone with whom you
don’t agree in the slightest and ask
them to explain themselves at
length. Then take a seat, shut your
mouth, and don’t argue back. It’s
physically impossible to listen with
your mouth open.

Valuable Lessons from a Wise Woman

Just finished reading LETTER TO MY DAUGHTER by Maya Angelou.
Very good book. Some light stories and personal accounts of her life. I enjoyed her insight. Since this is a library book and must be returned I have jotted down one passage that was particularly meaningful:

" There have been people in my life who meant me well, taught me valuable lessons,and others who have meant me ill and, have given me ample notification that my world is not meant to be all peaches and cream.
I have made many mistakes and no doubt will make more before I die. When I have seen pain, when I have found that my ineptness has caused displeasure, I have learned to accept my responsibility and to forgive myself first, then to apologize to anyone injured by my misreckoning. Since I cannot un-live history, and repentance is all I can offer God, I have hopes that my sincere apologies were accepted.
You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them. Try to be a rainbow in someones cloud. Do not complain. Make every effort to change things you do not like. If you cannot make a change, change the way you have been thinking. You might find a new solution."

Very wise woman.

ELECTION WOES

I'll admit it. I'm confused.
All of this election stuff has my brain jumbled.
Apparently I'm supposed to be for one candidate or another. I don't find it that easy. I listen and read and try to decipher what they are saying. And I find good and bad in both. I'm not convinced that either one is the answer to this world's problems. My husband gets frustrated with me. He is very outspoken in what he believes and doesn't understand why I don't always agree with him. It's not that I don't agree, but I do tend to see things from a different angle at times.
I'm not sure, yet, who I will vote for in this election, but I was thankful for this passage that God gave me today in my devotions. Again, an assurance that whoever wins...God is still in control !

Isaiah 65:17-22 (The Message)

"Pay close attention now:
I'm creating new heavens and a new earth.
All the earlier troubles, chaos, and pain
are things of the past, to be forgotten.
Look ahead with joy.
Anticipate what I'm creating:
I'll create Jerusalem as sheer joy,
create my people as pure delight.
I'll take joy in Jerusalem,
take delight in my people:
No more sounds of weeping in the city,
no cries of anguish;
No more babies dying in the cradle,
or old people who don't enjoy a full lifetime;
One-hundredth birthdays will be considered normal—
anything less will seem like a cheat.
They'll build houses
and move in.
They'll plant fields
and eat what they grow.
No more building a house
that some outsider takes over,
No more planting fields
that some enemy confiscates,
For my people will be as long-lived as trees,
my chosen ones will have satisfaction in their work.

A God-Season

I like fall. I don't love it. It is too close to winter for my liking, but it is a pretty season. And I do enjoy the crispness of the air that requires pulling out fluffy wool sweaters to wrap up in. I think I'm noticing this changing of the season a little more this year. I'm not so distracted with other things. Maybe I should be...with the economy, the upcoming election and the pain and struggles that I see all around me.
I guess in all the changing of the colors I see someone who is the same. Who is consistent and giving me assurance that whatever changes come there is One who is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He is as comforting and warm as my big, bulky sweaters...I need to put them on with the first chill of autumn, not wait until I'm cold!
Luke 12:54
Then he turned to the crowd: "When you see clouds coming in from the west, you say, 'Storm's coming'—and you're right. And when the wind comes out of the south, you say, 'This'll be a hot one'—and you're right. Frauds! You know how to tell a change in the weather, so don't tell me you can't tell a change in the season, the God-season we're in right now.

TIPS FOR A BETTER LIFE (PART 2)

--Don't take yourself so seriously-NO ONE ELSE DOES.
--Get rid of everything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
--Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what
their journey is all about.
--However good or bad a situation is it will change!
--Do the right thing!!
--No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
--Forgive everyone for everything.
--Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
--GOD heals & transforms everything that YOU LET HIM!!
--THE BEST IS YET TO COME !!

TIPS FOR A BETTER LIFE (PART 1)

--Take a 10-30 minute walk every day.
--Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes every day.
--Read more books.
--Take time to pray.
--Spend more time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.
--Eat more foods that grow ON plants, eat less food that is made IN plants.
--Don't waste precious energy on gossip, energy vampires(we all know people that feed off negativity),issues of the past, negative thoughts or
things you cannot control. Invest energy in the positive present moment.
--Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn.
--Eat breakfast like a KING, lunch like a PRINCE, and dinner like a COLLEGE KID with a maxed out charge card.
--Life isn't fair, but it's still good!

I had just pulled into Target and my mind was spinning. Decisions. Next steps. Wondering what God has in store for me and my husband. When this little sparrow hopped onto the cart rack beside me and looked at me through my car window, as if to tell me "Ya know what? I don't worry about what I'm going to wear, or what I will eat,or even what tomorrow may hold...I have a heavenly Father who takes care of ALL my needs!" We looked at each other for awhile, then I began to smile. Thanks God for that simple reminder...you are all I need!

My interpretation influences my situation. It’s not what happens to me that matters as much as how I choose to see it. The way I react will determine whether the circumstance makes me better or bitter. I can view everything as an obstacle or an opportunity for growth – a stumbling block or a stepping stone. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4 NIV). (Rick Warren)