Shake It Off

Hello Fellow Sojourners!

This Carolina Wren shares his song with us in the mornings. It seems he takes his place on the deck post just to praise the Lord. It certainly makes my heart rejoice in God's Creation.

Life certainly passes by quickly when you look back, although some challenging days seem to last for a very long time. Since my last issue we have had many events to count as blessings. We drove to Leesburg, VA, to meet family mid-way between them and us. Since we all enjoy the natural world, we visited three parks while there for the day.

At the first one, I got to see a Rough Green Snake (click double arrows to the right to see more snake photos). My mind still says 'fear' when I see snakes but I so want to be able to love them as much as I do the rest of God's Creation. So few of them are poisonous but they all suffer for those that are.

We also got to see a Great Blue Heron (click double arrows to the right to see more heron photos) before leaving the last park. That was very special. They are just awesome birds and I had a good view behind bushes so he didn't fly off before I could take a bunch of photos. View all photos of our Leesburg day trip.

Randal's birthday was on Monday, but we celebrated over the weekend with a Mexican dinner (cheese enchiladas are his favorite) and a carrot cake. Besides that he wanted to get some English movies from the library, so we went back in time to a seemingly simpler era. I doubt there has ever been a truly simpler era. The past always looks sweeter or most sour so I think it best never to dwell in it. The present is the best place to be so we may as well be about the business of today.

Yesterday provided some excitement. I was at my desk in the kitchen by the window when all the birds from the feeder flew towards the house to the safety of the bushes. At the same time I saw a large bird land on the corner of the deck at the edge of the roof only 13 feet away. It was a hawk! I grabbed the camera nearby and he stayed for about 4 minutes looking all around for a birdie lunch, but thankfully didn't get one in my view.

I think raptors are awesome birds but I don't like to think of my songbirds becoming a meal for one. I know they have a purpose and the birds that are caught are generally weak or old so he's probably a blessing to keep them from later suffering. I like to think so ... and besides I believe birds go to Heaven, so it can't be all bad. Besides one day hawks won't be eating birds. The entire kingdom will be peaceful without fear. View photos of Juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk (click double arrows to the right to navigate through them).

An organization that is near and dear to our hearts for many reasons now has a website presence. The main business of League of Prayer is prayer and they have much to show for it, but they are also involved in ministry to the poor around the world. We've known them for many years .... since we had our retail store in Alabama, which is where they are based. They've been a blessing to us and many. I hope you will take time to click on their site link just to help their search engine rankings a bit. While you're there I'm sure you have a prayer request. They are so faithful in prayer.

Hugs and Blessings!
Donna

Today's Featured Article

Shake It Off
by Donna L. Watkins

Do you begin your day with a shout of, “This is the day the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it?” Or do the words of your mouth sound less than hopeful for a good day?

Perhaps you are on a spinning wheel going from one awful thought to the next. Even at night, your mind is troubled with negatives thoughts.

How we see the day when we arise in the morning has a lot to do with how it will look all day long. If we look for good things in each day, we will find them. If we focus on our aches and pains, physical or emotionally, we will not find joy.

Habits are hard to break and if you begin your day by saying, “Oh! My aching back!” you may miss the kind of days you dream about. Proverbs 23:7 says, “As a man thinks in his heart, so he is.”

Fill your mind with good things and every cell of your body will get the message that life is good and worth living. We are commanded to renew our minds.

Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

If you watch the news or read the newspaper in the morning, ask yourself if that’s what you want to believe about the day. The media will fill your heart with fear and trembling and make you think that life is evil. Just because “everybody else” watches the news and reads newspapers doesn’t mean you need to. I realized a few years after I got saved in the late 70’s that if I was going to get out of the many fears I had, I was going to have to give up things that kept feeding them, so we have not gotten newspapers since then and I have not watched the news.

If you’re watching soap operas, you will definitely believe life is full of misery and you will think that romance is the answer to it all. Both are lies.

Take the time you spend in newspapers and television and dwell on the Good News instead. Read God’s Word to you and memorize it so you can fill your mind daily and be renewed.

Do you want to know what God’s will is for your life? Are you looking for your purpose? Read again the words of Romans 12:2: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. THEN you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Notice the good things of the day. It will be hard to do at first if you’ve been rehearsing all the bad things about life, so journal the good you see in each day for a month until you form a new habit of looking for and seeing the good in life. Your mind and body will respond in ways you never dreamed of. There is no way to be depressed when you begin to see God’s love for you in the Scriptures. Your physical body will respond and be renewed also.

Consider Proverbs 4:20-22 which says, “My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.”

You can do this. You already do it all day long in some form or fashion. People look daily for their winning lottery number. They watch the clock at work to be able to go home. Some young folks are looking intently for the one they will marry. Make it like a scavenger hunt.

I always loved this as a kid and still do. We called our home in Alabama, The Refuge, and we would have gatherings of our Nature’s Sunshine managers and distributors and do fun things outdoors because most of them lived in the city. At one of the gatherings I designed a scavenger hunt and it was so much fun to see a group of adults act like kids again.

When things go wrong, don’t allow the devil to tell you that God did it. He is the deceiver. God can only do good. He sent His only Son to redeem us because He loved us and through Christ we are now children of God. He is not doing evil to you. He is a good Papa.

Life has its challenges and bad circumstances, but don’t let it get you down or kill you. Kick back! The Bible says in Psalm 91 that God’s Truth is our shield and buckler. This is our defense against the devil. Use it!

For a visual illustration of what to do with bad circumstances, consider the donkey that fell into a dry well and the owner could find no way to get him out. Thinking he was dead anyway, he decided to fill in the well with dirt to make it a memorial to his faithful donkey.

He threw one shovel of dirt in at a time and unbeknownst to him, every time that dirt hit the donkey, the donkey shook it off and stepped on it. As the owner looked to see how much more dirt he needed to add, he saw the donkey alive and well on top of the dirt. Of course, he continued throwing in dirt until the donkey was beside him again.

The moral of the story is, when life throws dirt at you, shake it off and step on it and keep doing it because you will rise to the top alive and well.

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© 2006 Donna L. Watkins

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This article originally published in "A Healing Moment" was reprinted with permission. The Herbs Place provides a free email subscription to "A Healing Moment." Visit the author's website for more articles and other free newsletters available. http://www.theherbsplace.com/ahm.html