Tag Archives: common sense

Google is my Mother

Posted on by

Do you remember the good old days of you and Mother? Oh, weren’t they swell? Unless you remember the parts where she said things like this.

” You cannot wear that out of this house!”

“He’s not old enough to drive and no you are not going out with him.”

I don’t care what the other kids do, you are not doing it!”

To which we sometimes sneakily responded under our breath.

Lead me not into temptation? Ha! Follow me I know a short cut!

Then there were the promises of the future.

If you do the thing you need to do when you need to do it, then someday you can do the things you want to do when you want to do them. (Zig Ziglar)

Sigh. Oh yes, the good old days of Mother. Governor Andrew Cuomo said that there are two things in life that will never leave you, The eye of God and the love of a mother. Life comes with a manual called Mother!

But where are we now? Many of our mothers have passed on and we are bereft. Fear not. Google has risen to take her place! Bravely ask questions like this.

Where is the best place to eat in this city? (Lots of recommendations with warnings to check opening!)

Are fascinators in style again? (Apparently yes!)

Google your name to see what shows up. It’s like Mom calling instructions out the door after you!)

Am I too fat? (Like Mom, it says you are perfect just the way you are; if you check the right web site!)

Job openings? Google hints, just like Mom, that you can do anything you set your mind to do.)

Who will win the election? (Google and Mom say “Be sure that you vote!)

Google is my Mother.

Its heart in the right place.

Google is my Mother,

Though it doesn’t have her face.

Google is my Mother,

Through thick and tall and fat.

Google is my Mother.

It even knows where I am at!

I Told You So

Posted on by

 

I Told You So

How often have you heard these words…’If I were you… and I told you so?’  How often do we offer unasked advice to friends and family? How often do people do the same for us? We all mean well though, don’t we?

Do we listen to our elders who are full of life experience?  Do any of us pray before offering up our two bits of wisdom? How do we make the right decision when everyone around us offers differing advice?

Rehoboam made the wrong choice and it landed him in no end of trouble.

But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. He asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?” (1 Kings 12:8, 9, NIV)

He ignored the advice of seasoned experts and followed the advice of the young men and said, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.”(1 Kings 12:14, NIV)

 

This didn’t turn out too well for Rehoboam. You can read the rest of the story for yourself. (Hint: things went down hill from there.)  (1 Kings 18:12)

 

Oh, the consequences and guilt we bear when we make the wrong choice and someone even has the gall to point it out! Remember what happened in Acts 27?

 

But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship.

After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. (Acts 27:11, 21, NIV)

Common sense told the centurion to take the advice of the pilot and the man who owned the ship, but they happened to be wrong. Were their decisions based on business sense rather than common sense? They owned the ship and they had ‘the right of say.’

What do you do when your leader is telling you one thing and your heart is telling you another?

And do you know who your leader really is? (HINT—it is GOD!)

Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out. (Proverbs 10:9, NIV)

Integrity-The possession of firm principles;  the quality of possessing and steadfastly adhering to high moral principles or professional standards.

We hear different advice everyday and we must learn to discern what is right and true. Then we take courage and follow through on what we know to be right. Saint Paul leads by example in Acts 21.

After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabuscame came down from Judea.  Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’”

When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.  Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.” (Acts 21:10-14, NIV)

How did Paul come to this decision? How did he know for sure? He listened to the Holy Spirit.

“And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. (Acts 20:22-23, NIV)

Brenda J Wood aims for integrity in her everyday life and rejoices in calling you to do the same.

Are you looking for a daily devotional? Follow Brenda at everydaychristian.com or listen to her radio program, Heartfelt, at hopestreamradio.com

You can also follow Brenda at:

– http://heartfeltdevotionals.com
-http://www.twitter.com/size10hopefil

– https://www.facebook.com/brendawoodspeaker

Holiday Fear

Posted on by

We have already eaten a ton of our kids’ Halloween candy. Now the real trouble starts. Parties, teas, restaurant events and office showdowns are on the way.

HELP, God!!!

I’m watching my weight, Lord.I’m careful not to botch it.
My life is a bore for I have to watch it.
Others are chewing and swallowing sugars and fats
But me, I am left with food tasting like hats
Oh when will it end? The season goes on
Valentines till it stops and my fear is all gone!

God’s sense of humour

Posted on by

 

This is the devotional i sent to Everyday Christian a few weeks ago   now God sends my own words to me as I nurse my own worry and this broken arm…  okay God  I get the message.

Worry Wort

Do you worry? Nothing I say here will change that. That is your personal choice. As a worrier you must enjoy being bothered, sleepless and unsettled. You must crave anxiety and useless concern.

You love restlessness, irritability and muscle tension. You enjoy headaches, nausea, and numbness in both hands and feet. You live with twitching, hot flashes and rashes. Of course, you must experience all these symptoms and more because you keep on doing it; worrying that is.

There is a cure, but you don’t bother with it because you like your current state of discomfort. That must be so because otherwise, you would have chosen the cure for worry.

Therefore I tell you, stop being perpetually uneasy (anxious and worried) about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink; or about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life greater [in quality] than food, and the body [far above and more excellent] than clothing?
And who of you by worrying and being anxious can add one unit of measure (cubit) to his stature or to the span of his life?
And why should you be anxious about clothes? Consider the lilies of the field and learn how they grow; they neither toil nor spin.

But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and green and tomorrow is tossed into the furnace, will He not much more surely clothe you, O you of little faith?
Therefore do not worry and be anxious, saying, what are we going to have to eat? Or, what are we going to have to drink? Or, what are we going to have to wear? (From Matthew 6:25-31, AMP)

Of Interest-Organic vs Conventional Foods

Posted on by

Stanford university-

http://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2012/09/little-evidence-of-health-benefits-from-organic-foods-study-finds.html

Arizona University-

http://extension.arizona.edu/sites/extension.arizona.edu/files/pubs/az1603.pdf

Harvard

http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/organic-food-no-more-nutritious-than-conventionally-grown-food-201209055264

 

Worn and Ragged

Posted on by

Before you get anxious about me, I am only speaking about some of my clothes. God blessed me with lots of new ones so now I have to toss the ‘what is not so good’ away. After all the closet is only so big, right?

But I love those tattered old bits. They’ve accompanied me through thick and thin, hardship and joy.

They are like old habits. Some of them have to go. What old habits are hanging around your body? I won’t even begin to discuss that. Take it up with God.

Hugs. Brenda

 

Functioning Grief

Posted on by

Thanks to Bonnie Dean of Memory Bears for allowing me to reprint her post here. Her full address is at the bottom of the page…  Pop in and say Hi. You will like her site!

———————————————————————

There is ample information today on the process of grieving. All you have to do is pick up any book and therein you will find instructions and a schedule for grieving.

Some information can bring clarity to the grieving process; too much information brings only confusion. This confusion can add unnecessary weight to your grief.

The sole authority concerning your grief is you. No one else can experience your grief. No one else can walk in your shoes. Others can have empathy and sympathy to some degree, but the grief is yours, only you know the depth and pain of it.

If you, in your grief, are able to function with the affairs of daily living, then you are doing okay. Grief is now part of your life. The pain will lessen with time and life will continue, as it should. Your grief, your sense of loss will always be with you.

memorybearsbybonnie.wordpress.com/

 

Freshly Refreshed

Posted on by

So many people have used these words to me. Fresh…your grief is still so fresh…. So I decided to look up the word fresh and then refresh, in scripture. I just used the small concordance in my Amplified version.

Because you might also need refreshing, I am sharing what I learned with you.

Psalm 23:2. He makes me lie down in fresh pastures. As a kid, I lay in the fresh pastures at our farm, inhaling the intoxicating blooms alfalfa and clover. My bed of greens cushioned and comforted and I could see the blue of the heavens above. Today God offers cushioning and comfort when we fix our eyes on him. Verse 3 adds this note. This peace happens not because we are worth it, but because it is God’s very nature to offer it.

Song of Solomon 2:5– Refresh me with apples, sustain me with raisins for I am sick with love. I guess you can say that I am sick with love…missing my Honey, but proper eating will make a difference in how I feel physically.

It is three weeks since Ron went to be with Jesus. I’ve read a ton of books that say you can change a habit in 21 days. Stop smoking, lose weight, stop biting your nails. Don’t you believe it. 21 days have not made me prefer living without him and I doubt another 21 will either.

Isaiah 28:12– this verse seems to refer back to #10. True refreshing comes from God’s Word, precept upon precept, line upon line….

Acts 3:19-Repent, because revival and refreshing comes from the presence of the Lord. Now we all knew this, right, but  a reminder didn’t hurt me and likely won’t bother you any.

Brenda J Wood

http://heartfeltdevotionals.wordpress.com