Are you a carrot, egg or coffee bean?

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her.

She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as if as soon as one problem was solved a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water.

From a Lump of Clay

 Diamonds and coal are both comprised of carbon. So why are diamonds so prized, while coal is merely thrown into the fire to burn?

What makes the difference between the glistening gem that is a symbol of purity & strength, worn in the crowns of royalty, & given as engagement gifts or to celebrate 60 years of marriage, & its humble cousin, coal?

It is the amount of heat and pressure that each has undergone.

Coal is formed when a layer of eroding vegetation is compressed under the weight of much dirt, rock, or water above it.

Diamonds are crystals of pure carbon that have been subjected to tremendous heat and pressure in the bowels of the earth and brought to the surface by volcanic eruptions.

It takes much more pressure and heat to make a diamond than it does coal.

Happy Thanksgiving....

It's time for another Thanksgiving Day - in the US this time. Once again, the orginal intention of this day-off was to give Americans a day to thank God. Here are some excerpts of the proclamation President Abraham Lincoln made in the middle of the American Civil War:

Child care is continuous



Caring for our children...

If you want children to keep their feet on the ground,

put some responsibility on their shoulders.

~Abigail Van Buren

I agree...the point is you must not turnover your responsibility (or even authority) as a parent to them - children cannot raise themselves! Prov 29:15 - 'The rod and rebuke give wisdom, But a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.' (NKJV)
Secondly, if you brought them into the world, which you did, you are responsible for providing what they need...and sometimes what they want - if you approve of it (please remember that when buying gifts for Christmas and other occassions).

Finally, children are God's heritage - so He will hold you accountable for raising them to be responsible individuals...now is a good time to start. 

Fun Fact:

Did you know that today is Universal Children's Day? The United Nations' (UN) Universal Children's Day is an occasion to promote the welfare of children and an understanding between children all over the world.* That's one of the responsibilty of parents. 

*Source: http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/un/universal-childrens-day

The 33

Time flies...it's been 33 days to the day that the 33 Chilean miners were rescued.

It was amazing to watch the rescue operation and even more amazing and inspiring how they kept their spirits up and what some of them did while they were down there and when the reached the surface...

Fifteen facts about failure

1. The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure. ~ Sven Goran Eriksson

2. There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure. ~ Colin Powell

3. Success doesn't make you and failure doesn't break you. ~ Zig Ziglar

4. Failure is not fatal. Only failure to get back up is. ~ John C. Maxwell

5. Failure is success if we learn from it. ~ Malcom S. Forbes

6. Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm. ~ Abraham Lincoln

7. Failure is a detour, not a dead-end street. ~ Zig Ziglar

8. Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success. ~ Dale Carnegie

9. Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor. ~ Truman Capote

10. Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement. ~ C.S. Lewis

11. Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure. ~ George E. Woodberry

12. There are no failures - just experiences and your reactions to them. ~ Tom Krause

13. Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently. ~ Henry Ford

14. Remember the two benefits of failure. First, if you do fail, you learn what doesn't work; and second, the failure gives you the opportunity to try a new approach. ~ Roger Von Oech

15. Don't be afraid to fail. Don't waste energy trying to cover up failure. Learn from your failures and go on to the next challenge. It's OK to fail. If you're not failing, you're not growing. ~ H. Stanley Judd

I have one question for you:

"Have you ever seen a toddler who learnt how to walk without failing/falling?" I pray your answer to that will change your perspective and response to failure...it’s just a stepping stone to get up and keep going.

I'm sure there are many more facts about failure, one more that I found extremely interesting was the flip side - according to John Ortberg (author of: If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat) -"Sometimes people are even more frightened of succeeding than they are of failing."

The bottom line is:

Fear of anything or anyone except the reverential fear of God is bad for your life.

Fear no failure

Talking some more about fear, one area of life where it shows is in the fear of failure.

 No one likes to fail but it is in fact one of the ways we grow…yes it is.

Recently I was going through some sad moments because of something I didn’t do as well as I could have. Yes I felt like a failure…but the Holy Spirit kept reminding me that the fact that I failed in something doesn’t make me a failure. “Sure it does” (I thought)…NO it doesn’t!!!! It most definitely doesn’t. The thing to do is not gripe about failing but ask yourself not just the important, “why did I fail?” question but more importantly

 “what can I learn from this incident?”

The tussle

Something dropped in my heart last night...

...I was up late thinking and praying about it...

...I kept asking for a word to be sure it was the Lord

This morning while putting Faith quotes together...the Lord gave me a direct word for me. "When God calls you to do something, he enables you to do it.

 ~ Robert Schuller

Look at it again tell me if you see the word "faith" anywhere...obviously, God predestined that it would be tucked in with Faith quotes so I'd find it today
- talk about a word in due season.
Can't say the tussle is over - you know we always have the 5 Ws & 1 H -

Who? What? Where? Why (me)? When? How?

Irrespective of the answers to those questions and whether or not I accept them, it's clear and I know I have some more (challenging) work ahead of me - please pray for me.

Beautiful weeds

One day as I was leaving the office, I noticed a lovely plant on closer inspection, it was a weed. The next day when walking to the office, I noticed a cluster of flowers  - actually weeds - then this title sprung up in my heart.

If we want to speak idiomatically we'd say: "Not all that glitters is gold" - isn't that so true. It is even more interesting how many different forms and colours weeds appear in - have you noticed that too? I'll put a few examples here...

So what are the functions of weeds other than to take up space, be an irritation, choke and stifle life out of the plants we want to grow? They may also be there to challenge the plants to be courageous enough to ignore them (the weeds) and keep growing. However, the danger in this is if not checked, the weeds could eventually win if the plants are not properly rooted. (Botanists may put it differently).

Cast it into the Sea!!!

My daughter was one of the top performers at the end of her primary school education. She received about 14 different awards for various achievements ranging from Service, Character, Christian values, Academics, Social etc. She has recently moved on to secondary school and her half term result was abysmal to say the least and her teachers complained that she is not taking her work seriously. When I got her score card, I was mortified and the Holy Spirit immediately dropped a rather strange word in my heart – “Cast it into the sea: ref. Jonah”. I had to go read the book of Jonah to understand what the Holy Spirit was up about.

When I sat my daughter down to share these words with her I was also blessed by the words and I want to share my appreciation of these words with you.

In the book of Jonah (we know the Jonah and fish story from childhood), the sea men set out to go to Tarshish (their goal/destination/purpose). Along the way a storm began to rage, the seamen panicked (a very natural response to a storm), but they did not let panic immobilize them (like some of us would). They did some other things to ensure that they reached their destination, achieved their goal and fulfilled their purpose in life. I learnt a few lessons from them…

Think on these...

We have nothing to fear but fear itself ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt    

Nothing is so much to be feared as fear. ~ Henry David Thoreau

 

A life lived in fear is a life half lived. ~ Spanish proverb

 

Faith attracts the positive. Fear attracts the negative. ~ Ed Cole

 

Remember the "acronymic definitions" of FEAR & FAITH - from previous postings?

False Evidence Appearing Real                                            Full Assurance In The Heart

The bottom line is: Fear stops you from achieving your purpose in life while Faith gives you the impetus to pursue your purpose in life with passion. Even in the dictionary, Faith comes before Fear...but it's up to you to decide which one you live by... 

Fear no flood

A few months ago we talked about the ability to identify (& utilize) teachable moments that come our way. Teachable moments do not only relate to raising responsible children...it is also very important for adults.  This cartoon a friend shared with me captures it so well...