March 24, 2012

A SONG PLAYING IN BETTY'S BLOG

I was visiting Betty's construction site today, not even planning to post something here in my site.


It is a hobby I have been enjoying for quite sometime now, going to the sites I follow everyday, especially if something is up for reading, and knowing fully well that I will be getting something to take back home.


Claiming my portions from what God is saying through my friends' blogs, is a big part of my day.


While at Betty's, I heard this song being hummed softly by her, as she was keeping busy in her construction site.  I asked her permission to steal it and put it up here in my own site.


Here it is:

He still working on me to make me what I ought to be
It took Him just a week to make the moon and the stars
The sun and the earth, and Jupiter and Mars
How loving and patient He must be
He's still working on me

There really ought to be a sign upon the heart
Don't judge her yet there's an unfinished part
But I'll be perfect just according to His plan
Fashioned by the Master's loving hands

In the mirror of His Word reflection that I see
Makes me wonder why He never gave up on me
He loves me as I am and helps me when I pray
Remember He's the Potter, I'm the clay 

I am positive this should be the theme song  that's appropriate for my blog.  I sub-titled it as:  "A Clay Molded-In-Progress."  

I am amazed at  "how loving and patient He is to me, that He is still working on me."  Please don't judge me yet," there's an unfinished part still under the Potter's wheel.

Thank you so much, my dear Betty, for sharing this song today.  May God give you all the materials and parts necessary for your construction, even in the inner side of the building, as with the outside.


And to my fellow "works-in-progress," we need to rely on the pureness of the Master's plan and intentions, letting Him "fashion us in His loving hands."


March 22, 2012

I AM A PROMISE

Smiles






I am a promise with a  capital “P”
I am a great big bundle of potentiality
And I am learnin' to hear God's voice
And I am tryin' to make the right choice
I am a promise to be anything God wants me to be


I can go anywhere that He wants me to go
I can be anything He wants me to be
I can climb the high mountains
I can cross the wide sea
I'm a great big promise you see!


I am a promise
I am a possibility
I am a promise with a capital “P”
Kinder
I am a great big bundle of potentiality
And I am learnin' to hear God's voice
And I am tryin' to make the right choice
I am a promise to be anything God wants me to be
Anything God wants me to be
Fun

Luke 18:16

New International Version (NIV)
16 But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.



Aren't they? A "promise?"

Each child is a promise, a possibility, a bundle of potentiality.  This is the song which Nigel and his kindergarten class will sing today as they graduate.  Isn't it so apt?

Any child could become what God promises him or her to be.  It is great delight for us to have partners in building the life of each child...... "learn to hear God's voice, and try to make right choices."  They are the teachers in school and in church.  They have one big responsibility, as do parents.  Not only in Academics, but also in Godly living.

It is our hope that the mentors would dedicate their time and efforts, in working with parents, to make an impact to a child's character.  Soon they will be the future leaders, teachers, doctors, engineers, accountants, writers and so many fields of endeavor.  And we got a hand in this.  

May we be able to usher them into a world of great possibilities, into the exciting and breath-taking world of many opportunities.  And may in all of these, there will always be God at the center.

It is my prayer that they will be assisted, nurtured in a loving environment, trained in the Word of God, and will have a deep knowledge of who they are in the eyes of the Father in heaven.  They are precious to Him.


----------

I will post photos of Nigel's graduation soon.







Related Post:  Who Am I   (A list of who you are in God's eyes,
                                           according to the Scripture)

March 21, 2012

THE RED UMBRELLA


Photo credits: Giulio Bernardi
Shticks character Arts by:  Ms. Veronica Shticks Anderson of Theshticks.com


This is the first  picture Veronica did for me.  She was inspired by my post Rain, Rain, Rain.  She dropped this beautiful comment:


Veronica Shticks said...
Lolita, I was very touched by the part where your mother comes and picks you up with her bigger umbrella. I want to be like your Mom and have my little girls remember all the times I was there for them. this is a very sweet post with cozy imagery--at least for me who also associate rain with wonderful happy things. The pictures are beautiful and the storytelling is heartwarming!

We became friends through Diane, as did most of my blogging circle of friends, and we exchanged e-mails.  Once you follow her blog, you get updates.  Your comments can be posted in those e-mails and I made one.  Gosh, she has the grace of replying to my comments.  You may visit her blog and find inspiration, some good laughs about daily life, and see her hand displayed in the characters.

Thus, she proceeded to ask me if I wanted to be a "Shticks?"  I told her that it would be my honor.  Who would decline such a generous offer from a very talented lady?  I will be on her drawing board.  Can you imagine that?  What would it feel like being scrutinized with Photoshop brushes and pens?  I think, it needs her heart, her time and her talent.

I gave her freedom to envisage my own character and she produced the Umbrella scene for me.  This is a true gift.

Thank you so much, dear Veronica.  My memory of my mother and the umbrella days will be forever itched here in my page.


 


P.S.

To Pam:  I think the picture could well be Irish or Scottish Hills.  One of those travel dreams of ours.

March 20, 2012

MY AMERICAN DREAM






This is Lolita Shticks, in her American dream of personally witnessing the colors of autumn.  ( Pssst.... it is still a dream until now.)  This would be my delight, upon seeing for real, those leaves turning to all kinds of colors, and watching them take their eventful flight down to the ground.  Isn't God the author of Arts?



For photo credit, with gratitude, and for the stick figure of me, thanks to  Thesticks.  The stick figure is an original design by Ms. Veronica Shticks Anderson.  She's got the liveliest, most creative analogies of life in her stick figures, featuring her own family circle, and with great honor, myself in a cameo role (laugh).


Indeed, this is a dream-come-true for me.   This is my first autumn picture.  I was hoping I could stay for winter.  But I was recalled to the office.  Perhaps, I will come back next year in time for the snow.  See you then!


 




March 16, 2012

"QUOTED"

WORDS TO LIVE BY

QUOTES AND ONE-LINERS

You cannot win if you do not begin.





A day without the presence of God, is a wasteful day.
 





In every life, it's hard to learn which bridges to cross and which bridges to burn.
 
 
 
The best way to be successful is for a person
to follow the advice they give others.

Whoever gossips to you will be a gossip of you.

Jesus is a friend who knows all about your faults
but loves you anyway.

Faith is daring the soul to go beyond what the eyes can see.

The right angle to approach a difficult problem is the "try-angle."

Even a woodpecker owes his success to the fact he uses his head.

 church is a place where you are not too bad to come in and you are not too good to stay out.





Keep on "keeping on" for the Lord. 
 
 
By perseverance, the snail reached the Ark.
 
The happiness of every country depends upon the character of its people,
instead of on the form of its government.
 
 
The worse moment for the atheist is when he is really thankful,
and has no one to thank.
 
 
Some minds are like concrete, thoroughly mixed and permanently set.
 
 
It is not guided missiles, but guided morals, that is our great need today.
 
 
When you flee temptations, don't leave a forwarding address.
 
 
May your day be filled with blessings
Like the sun that lights the sky,
And may you always have the courage
To spread your wings and fly.








The memories of tomorrow depend on your attitude today.


Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still. 

You have to love life to live it and vice versa. 

A journey begins with a single step. 

How we spend our days is, how we spend our lives.





 
Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.


Faith is the vision of the heart. It sees God in the dark as in the day.


The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears.


As you think, so you are; you make or mar your success.


It is better to forgive and forget than to resent and remember.


Wherever the Spirit of the Lord sways a heart, there is a passion to serve.


A good thing to remember, a better thing to do--work with the construction gang, not with the wrecking crew.


Pray as if everything depended on God and work as if everything depended upon man.


Silence is one of the hardest arguments to refute.


Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm.


Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy.


Be careful of your thoughts: They may become words at any moment.


Life is not a problem to be solved but a gift to be enjoyed.


The world needs the peace that passes all misunderstanding.


A handful of common sense is worth a bushel of learning.


Believe and you'll achieve.


Doubt and you'll do without.


Keep your words sweet---you may have to eat them!


The successful person is one who does not let the 
disappointments of life turn him bitter.


Friendship is the art of overlooking the shortcomings of others.


Remember when you were at your best? Now be there again.


The world at its worst needs the witness of Christians at their best.


What we are is God's gift to us. What we become is our gift to God.


One refused to do anything but his best. The result? Success.


Every moment is the right one to be kind.


Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.


Romans 12: 2 NKJV.


There is no royal road to anything. One thing at a time, and all things in succession.


That which grows slowly endures.


The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.


"For nothing is impossible with God."


People may doubt what you say, but they will always believe what you do.


Character is not made in crisis, it is only exhibited.


The man who humbly bows before God can walk upright before men.


Kindness is the oil that takes the friction out of life.


Your greatest power lies in the power of prayer.


Don't forget that God is between you and your enemy.


Better, though difficult, the right way to go.
Than wrong, though pleasant, which ends in woe.

Accustom yourself to commune with God, not with thoughts deliberately formed to be expressed at a certain time, but with the feelings with which your heart is filled.
 If you enjoy His presence, and feel drawn by the attraction of His love, tell Him that you delight in Him, that you are happy in loving Him, and that He is very good to inspire so much affection in a heart so unworthy of His love.
 But what shall you say in seasons of dryness, coldness, weariness? Still say what you have in your heart. Tell God that you no longer find His love within you, that you feel a terrible void, that He wearies you, that His presence does not move you. 
Say to Him, "0 God, look upon my ingratitude, my inconstancy, my unfaithfulness. Take my heart, for I cannot give it; and when Thou hast it, oh, keep it, for I cannot keep it for Thee; and save me in spite of myself."


I am fond of collecting quotes and one-liners.  The above lines are taken from a friend's collection, who shares lots of Godly wisdom in our Multiply community.  His name is Alfie Eskander.
If any of you feels like it, you may pick a line or two to make a post and share it in your own blog. 


 If we are connected and follow each other's blogs, I will be able to catch it immediately. Otherwise, please link.  This would be a lovely avenue to share our thoughts about a "one-liner" and in a way, this would be a sure way to "enrich" ourselves with wisdom picked from our circle of Godly-wise-hearted-extravagantly-loving-encouraging people.


Share also, if you have one written in the past, of quotes, which may not be found in those listed above.  Just put the link in the comments box.  It would be, as sure as five o'clock strikes the face of the clock, I will go and read it. Even if I've been there in the past, still I would re-visit.

This is not an essay writing contest.  It is only intended for learning from each other.  Who knows what would be stirred by these one-lines in us.  No deadline also. 

Pardon also for this may tire your eyes, or make you "thought-weary," but will exercise our hearts and wisdom-fill our minds.

Alfie did not put the owners names.  So I assume they are free of copyright limitations.  But if you recognize any of the quote's owner, I urge you to affix it.  

Thanks.