The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart ~ Helen Keller
How beautiful and true is that!
When something touches your heart, it can be difficult to describe, however it is always beautiful to experience.
So open your heart today, and let the beautiful things of life truly touch your heart. I can recommend it, it is great therapy particularly when you’re going through some tough times.
When it come to courage, would you consider yourself to be as courageous as a lion or as timid as a mouse?
Courage does not always roar. Sometimes it is a quiet voice at the end of the day, saying, “I will try again tomorrow.” ~ Mary Anne Radmacher
Sometimes when times are tough, to be courageous and strong, requires great self-composure and silence, so you can listen.
Courage isn’t always about physical strength as we often need courage to face difficult situations which do not require physical strength but mental strength. Therefore whether you are a loud roaring lion or a timid quiet mouse, we each possess all the qualities to be courageous.
Why is it that when you go shopping and there’s only one item of something you want left, it’s always at the back of the top shelf that you can’t quite reach
Why are some people always late regardless of how much earlier you tell them they’ve to be there?
Why does toast always land butter side down when you drop it on the floor?
I’ve never understood how you can be too tired to sleep – isn’t that just a contradiction?
Why does it always rain when you forget your umbrella?
Why are dogs said to be “man’s best friend”…what about other human friends!
When you’re in a hurry to print off some last minute notes, why does the printer always run out of paper
Why does it always rain when I go to Edinburgh?
Why do birds always “attack” newly cleaned cars?
and finally…
Who stole the summer this year?!
Have you looked around you recently? No, not just a quick look around you without taking in the reality of the situations you see around you, but a proper look where you notice the heartache felt by the man next door, or the exhaustion on the face of the new mother at the end of your street etc.
People all around us are starving for love and kindness.
When we think about starvation, I guess we always think about those who don’t get enough food and water to sustain their life. However as the above statement reminds us, starvation comes in many forms. No matter what form starvation takes though, it can have devastating consequences if left untreated.
So here’s my challenge to each one of us today…what are we going to do to try to put an end to this type of starvation? After all in this day and age, how can there still be those in our towns and cities who don’t know what it means to be loved and have never experienced the kindness of another human being!
This is allegedly summer-time here, however you’d never have guessed it by our recent weather! Yes, it’s been reasonably mild, but it’s being very wet at times with very few sunny intervals. Not great summer weather at all!
Having said that, it has meant I’ve seen some of my favourite things, rainbows! I don’t know what it is about rainbows but they always bring a smile to my face – maybe it’s the colours, maybe it’s the knowledge that there’s some sunshine around…maybe it’s it possibility of finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!
This got me thinking about the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, because I realised I didn’t actually know where this story had come from. So I did a bit of digging around and found that an Irish leprechaun‘s secret hiding place for his pot of gold is usually said to be at the end of the rainbow. This is a place which is impossible to reach, because the rainbow is an optical effect which depends on the location of the viewer. i.e. When walking towards the end of a rainbow, it will appear to “move” further away, so two people who simultaneously observe a rainbow at different locations will disagree about where a rainbow is.
That explains why I’ve never found a pot of gold at the end of any rainbow I’ve ever seen. Oh well I’ll just need to keep looking elsewhere for my fortune!
I read the following quote recently on Twitter, and it challenged me:
We see not what we are looking at but what we are looking for – Unknown
It also reminded me of the following saying:
Sometimes we can’t see the wood for the trees
Yes, I found that both these quotes/sayings reminded me that sometimes we only see or hear what we want to, and not what is actual there/audible. We can often be most guilty of this when it comes to listening to God‘s directions or instructions for us, by pretending we don’t hear Him or convincing ourselves that it’s not really God’s voice we hear.
We must stay focused on reality and more importantly, focused on God, so that we see and hear His instructions for us. Don’t ignore what God wants you to do, as after all He knows best for you and has been looking for you to make a difference in His world.
If ever you’re in doubt about whether God loves you, have another read at the above, and remind yourself that God made everything around you, including you. He made me, and He made you and just as I’ve said He will always love me, He has also promised that He will always love you too.
And that is “Why Me?”
When you’re waiting for a bus, and get fed up waiting so start to walk away, why do two buses turn up then!
Why can you never get that last bit of toothpaste out of the tube?
When you don’t feel well and try to see a doctor you can’t get an appointment for days, but when you’ve just to go for a follow-up appointment you can get one the day you phone!
Why is it always raining or blowing a gale when I go to the hairdressers?
Why can you never find the matches when you have a power cut?
Why is threading a needle always do difficult when you’re trying to quickly sew a button back on
Why is it nearly always a song you can’t stand that gets stuck in your head all day!
Why are some people morning people and others night owls?
Why are so many of us scared of spiders and other creepy crawlies that can’t hurt us?
Why do cat always seem to know when you’ve left a nice cosy jumper lying on the bed, and then curl up and sleep on it!
Sometimes we wonder why certain things happen in our lives.
Sometimes we even wonder why God allows specific things to happen to us or our family and friends.
Sometimes we wonder how there can possibly be a blessing to be found anywhere!
Could it be that we are simply looking for what WE expect blessings to look like, rather than waiting to see how GOD sends us blessings?
I know for me, when I was at my lowest a few years ago, I felt as though everything was going wrong in my life, there was nobody there for me and I even felt as though God wasn’t doing anything to help me. Then one day, completely out of the blue, someone who I had previously only known well enough to say hello to, but never really had any conversation with, came to me and reached out to me.
At the time I just thought it was someone unexpected being nice to me, but now looking back on it I truly believe that person was God’s blessing in disguise for me! If it hadn’t been for that person reaching out to me that day and me taking hold of their outstretched hand, I can honestly say I don’t belive I would be the person I am today, or even if I would be here blogging.
Don’t close you’re eyes to God in times of difficultly, as God will be there for you, and He will bless you. Some of those blessings may just be a bit more difficult to spot if they’re in disguise.
Once again as I write this blog post I’m reminded of the song Blessings by Laura Story:
When I stop for a minute and look around me at this world God created, it saddens me how much we humans have destroyed this place we call home. We’ve destroyed not just the physical things of this world but also the trust and the love of one man for another.
This world most definitely needs God!
So please join me today in pledging to spread God’s message to the people of this world, and in doing so spreading God’s message of peace, love and trust.
We can help this world find God again, so let’s give it a go!
