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WITandWISDOM(tm) - May 22, 2003 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: "A leader leads by example, whether he intends to or not." - Author Unknown Source: Quotes of the Day, mailto:rheamo@centurytel.net?subject=Subscribe_Quotes_of_the_Day ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: Be Still With God By Nancy B. Gibbs mailto:Daiseydood@aol.com All day long I had been very busy; picking up trash, cleaning bathrooms and scrubbing floors. My grown children were coming home for the weekend. I went grocery shopping and prepared for a barbecue supper, complete with ribs and chicken. I wanted everything to be perfect. Suddenly, it dawned on me that I was dog-tired. I simply couldn't work as long as I could when I was younger. "I've got to rest for a minute," I told my husband, Roy, as I collapsed into my favorite rocking chair. Music was playing, my dog and cat were chasing each other and the telephone rang. A scripture from Psalm 46 popped into my mind. "Be still, and know that I am God." I realized that I hadn't spent much time in prayer that day. Was I too busy to even utter a simple word of thanks to God? Suddenly, the thought of my beautiful patio came to mind. I can be quiet out there, I thought. I longed for a few minutes alone with God. Roy and I had invested a great deal of time and work in the patio that spring. The flowers and hanging baskets were breathtaking. It was definitely a heavenly place of rest and tranquility. If I can't be still with God in that environment, I can't be still with Him anywhere, I thought. While Roy was talking on the telephone, I slipped out the backdoor and sat down on my favorite patio chair. I closed my eyes and began to pray, counting my many blessings. A bird flew by me, chirping and singing. It interrupted my thoughts. It landed on the bird feeder and began eating dinner as I watched. After a few minutes it flew away, singing another song. I closed my eyes again. A gust of wind blew, which caused my wind chimes to dance. They made a joyful sound, but again I lost my concentration on God. I squirmed and wiggled in my chair. I looked up toward the blue sky and saw the clouds moving slowly toward the horizon. The wind died down. My wind chimes finally became quiet. Again, I bowed in prayer. "Honk, honk," I heard. I almost jumped out of my skin. A neighbor was driving down the street. He waved at me and smiled. I waved back, happy that he cared. I quickly tried once again to settle down, repeating the familiar verse in my mind. Be still and know that I am God. "I'm trying God. I really am," I whispered. "But you've got to help me here." The backdoor opened. My husband walked outside. "I love you," he said. "I was wondering where you were." I chuckled, as he came over and kissed me, then turned around and went back inside. "Where's the quiet time?" I asked God. My heart fluttered. There was no pain, only a beat that interrupted me yet again. This is impossible, I thought. There's no time to be still and to know that God is with me. There's too much going on in the world and entirely too much activity all around me. Then it suddenly dawned on me. God was speaking to me the entire time I was attempting to be still. I remembered the music playing as I'd begun my quiet time. He sent a sparrow to lighten my life with song. He sent a gentle breeze. He sent a neighbor to let me know that I had a friend. He sent my sweetheart to offer sincere sentiments of love. He caused my heart to flutter to remind me of life. While I was trying to count my blessings, God was busy multiplying them. I laughed to realize that the "interruptions" of my quiet time with God were special blessings He'd sent to show me He was with me the entire time. Nancy B. Gibbs is a pastor's wife, mother, and grandmother. Nancy is a weekly religion columnist, a regular writer for TWINS Magazine and a freelance writer. She is the author of Celebrate Life...Just for Today, Once Upon a Memory, and Prayerfully Yours, from a Mom's Heart to you. Her stories and articles have appeared in Chicken Soup for the Nurse's and the Grandparent's Soul. She has also been published in numerous magazines, devotional guides, and books, such as Heart Warmers, Chocolate for Women, Stories for the Heart, God Allows U-Turns, Honor Books, Decision, Angels on Earth, Woman's World, Family Circle and Happiness. Her website: http://hometown.aol.com/daiseydood/ ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: A Texas Blessing Bless this house, oh Lord, we cry. Please keep it cool in mid-July. Bless the walls where termites dine, while ants and roaches march in time. Bless our yard where spiders pass the fire ant castles in the grass. Bless the garage, a home to please carpenter beetles, ticks and fleas. Bless the love bugs, two by two, the gnats and mosquitoes that feed on you. Millions of creatures that fly or crawl, in Texas, Lord, you've put them all!! But this is home, and here we'll stay, So thank you Lord, for insect spray. Submitted by Sherry Purdy ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: My wife and I were assisting in decorating a cafeteria dining room for a wedding reception. Someone needed supplies that had been left in a pew at the church across the street, and I volunteered to go after them. Our 3-year-old son went along. As we entered the church foyer hand in hand, Richie was jabbering loudly. Here was a great opportunity to help teach Richie reverence for the house of God. Leaning down toward him, I placed a finger over my lips and whispered, "Shh! This is Jesus' house." Richie looked up with a serious expression on his face and asked, "Is Jesus sleeping?" By Larry Davis, Moses Lake, Washington Source: Adventist Review, ISSN 0161- 1119, (c) November 2002, http://www.adventistreview.org/ Submitted by Nancy Simpson ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: MERLOT Let's say you are college professor (or even a home school parent) and you want to explain the Ideal Gas Law (PV=nRT) in such a way that your kids will not only remember it but understand it! You'd probably create some sort of hands-on simulation. MERLOT, Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching, is a free, peer-reviewed collection of over 8,000 different online learning tools and simulations developed (mostly) by college professors around the world. http://www.merlot.org Source: Tourbus, http://www.tourbus.com |