Wednesday, October 1, 2008

the Good Soil

Good morning, Dear friends and Prayer Partners! This is the beautiful, cooler day that the lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it! When I stepped outside in the dark this morning, I could see Venus and some other stars, so the sky was clear and the air was cooler.
God is good!

I didn't get to take my walk yesterday, because of getting ready early for a Celebration of Life service for a long time friend. It was a beautiful, meaningful service with about four hundred people there. I can only hope kind words will be said about me at my final service. :o)

We drove through the park, and I noticed that the grass already needs mowing, so I guess it will wait for the mowing crew, but even though few people were there, it was still quiet and peaceful. My favorite place to be for peace. Many years ago, when our younger son left for another state, I was upset, so on a cold day, I bundled up and walked about a mile in the park, and met a friend from church out running in short shorts and a tank top! She said she wasn't cold because of the running! Anyway, the park holds many memories for me.

From Quiet Moments with God:

Ezekiel 17:8 It had been planted in good soil by abundant water so that it would produce branches , bear fruit and become a splendid vine.

An employee approached his employer and said, "I've had ten years of experience on this job, and I'm still making the same salary that I made when I started. It's time that I got a raise."
His boss retorted, "You haven't had ten years of experience. You've had one experience for ten years!"

Many of us feel that our lives could be described in the same way; one experience over and over again--or at best, boringly few experiences. When this is the pattern of our lives, we not only become depressed, but we also have no growth, just as a garden needs fertilizer and nutrients to enrich its soil, we need the enrichment of activities and experiences to broaden our lives and stimulate our souls.

Joseph Campbell once said, "I don't believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive."

How, then, may we enrich our lives? It must be intentional. Don't think that someone else can do it for you. There are multitudes of ways to get started:

.Take up a sport that you always wanted to play.

.Take your spouse or a friend out to dinner and the entertainment of your choice.

.Plan a trip to see something or someone interesting.

.Volunteer to do work that will help the less fortunate.

.Visit a friend that you haven't seen for a while.

.Get involved in a place of worship that challenges you.

Participate! Learn! Sing! Read! Listen! Give! Talk with your God! In experiences such as these, you will find the Source of all the excitement that you can handle.

EXPERIENCE IS THE MOTHER OF TRUTH, AND BY EXPERIENCE WE LEARN WISDOM.
William Shippen. Jr.

I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!

Love and hugs,
amaryllis