Category Archives: Inspiration

Mar 18 2013

Hello world, take two!

For the child we each are…cheers!  May your road be blessed, as you journey to an understanding of yourself, others and the world around you.  Peace :)

I first published that sentiment, October 3, 2011, as a way to break into the  world of journaling with technology. Reflecting back on my blogging beginnings, I do not appear much different, physically, emotionally or spiritually. At the most, I wonder why I publish such intimate thoughts.

I have continually asked myself what I really want to accomplish on my WordPress site? If I go down the list of personal interests, rarely do I encounter posts written on quilting, cooking or gardening. I want to change that aspect of our experience together. Of those three activities, which do you participate in? Quilting? Cooking? Gardening?

I notice I delve quite a bit into my spiritual being, but I am not reaching the audience to the extent I had hoped. I have longed to encounter hurting people looking for answers to some of life’s most difficult questions. To have a dialogue with believers and unbelievers about what life has taught and provided each of us. What can you share? Do you have a blog? Feel free to ad a link to the comments so we can find you.

There is never enough time to spend with our dearest friends and dearest passions. I want to be able to reach out to those who need a gentle hug, an understanding, a heart of love to pave a new road for their tired and worn feet.

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23

If you do nothing else today, for yourself, a stranger, or a friend, be reminded that time is fleeting. Store up for yourselves not things that rot, rust and can be stolen, but treasures that endure for eternity. I sincerely pray that we are able to spend more time together, if not in person, enjoying a favorite beverage, at least through the waves of air, light and speed. Technology often feels like a barrier, but we can conquer our fear by interacting and sharing life. Feel free to drop a line. Be brave. Ask. Inquire. Let us learn and grow together.

©jeannelizabeth

Jan 2 2013

To Life in 2013!

Is your life complicated? Do you have power over your circumstances?  Do you feel as if you are floating on the water, waiting for the crashing waves and the rains to begin to fall?  Or have you found a solution to the mounting despair, loneliness and despondancy.   

Isaiah 6:1-3To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory. NLT2007

What a promise! This is certainly what my blog is all about. Finding the promises of God, applying them to our personal lives, and finding true peace in our hearts and minds, regardless of the circumstances surrounding us.

Navigating the waters, whether they be rolling rivers, choppy lakes or vast bodies of open water with no sign of land for days, we have a Book to take with us, to give us counsel and guidance. Applying the Word from that Book will prove enormously fruitful. Be patient. Take heart. Have faith. ©Jeannelizabeth

Dec 27 2012

In our despair comes HOPE!

Our country is in trouble. The world is in trouble. What is the Lord Jesus’s advice?

John 14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.”

What a beautiful reminder that God is in control. Over and over I am reminded of this, yet in my flesh I try over and over to make things better, but all these things must happen before He returns.

Come Lord Jesus!

Still, not in my strength, but in HIS, I was moved by the Sandy Hook tragedy. I felt that same drive to run or fly to those in need as when I heard the news of my brother, but with no sense of direction, I sat still, mourning. We are either paralyzed with fear or set in motion by hope. Hope that God is in our midst during our despair. The following Sunday morning brought inspiration to take the scrap cloth that has amassed in my sewing room and mend my heart and pass my creation onto someone in need of love.  I had wanted to send this quilt before Christmas, but like all my projects, there is only so much time. Indiana’s snowstorm, yesterday, gave me the much needed time to spend with my beloved family as well as heal some more for lost innocence. December 26, 2012 was a great day to finish the project.

DSC_0005 DSC_0001

It is finished! This quilt will go to Wheeler Missions Women and Children’s Center in memory of Sandy Hook victims. I heard of the love outpouring and the city’s wish that further gifts be given towards others and I will fulfill that wish.

Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

That is my prayer for you today. Shalom! ©Jeannelizabeth

Aug 13 2012

Gone

If you were gone today, how many people would miss you? Truly miss you?

If you were gone today, what would be said about you? Would it matter to you what others say?

If you were gone today, would you regret anything?

We do not know how many days we have to love, forgive, wonder and dream. Do not waste one more second hestitating to hug, smile and befriend a stranger. Be an angel to the lost and lonely, not seeking anything in return, but simply encouraging them to be.

If you were gone today, would your loved ones be able to manage? Do they know when to pay the bills, feed the dog and clean the toilets?

If you were gone today, how would your family remember you? Honor you?

If you were gone today, would they regret anything?

We can only live one day at a time. Worry brings nothing but takes everything. Live!

PRAYER: Lord, teach me to number my days. Give me wisdom where I fail to understand. Give me courage to break free of this world and not worry what others think. Let me be a loving person, willing to forgive, able to heal wounds of my own and others and truly be an instrument of your will. Let peace reign in my heart, let me be covered in your presence and awaken the hardened hearts and souls.

Jun 4 2012

Books Read Recently

I love to read.
I love to write.
I love to write about what I read.

Recent reads include The Chosen by Chaim Potek, A Writer’s Diary by Virginia Woolf, Ultraviolet by RJ Anderson and A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf. I like them in that order. I will read some more writings by Mr. Potek in the future. I like his style, full of depth but so easy to follow. You can go really deep into the significance of his universal thoughts, or take them at face value, and cherish the simplicity of meaning. I prefer to go both ways and depending on the circumstance. Without spoiling the ending of The Chosen, I would say that as parents, we give our children everything, so we do not die fruitless.

Virginia Woolf has always intrigued me on many levels. I survived the suicides of my grandfather and brother, and in my quest to understand the mind of a person who takes away their breath, I naturally gravitate towards those on that same path. Her novels are difficult. I have attempted them many times. They start so slow, my interest wanes and I find I soon lose heart to push through. Someday I will finish one of her novels, but until then, I will proclaim that A Writer’s Diary is a read that I will find myself picking up often. I immediately went to the last day of her diary that was published, seeking clues as to her thoughts before she ended her life, and was left unrewarded. Her books are not futile, thankfully, and even if they never paint a good picture for me to begin to understand, I at least feel closer to something that haunts me often.  Her other book, A Room of One’s Own, since I am not finished with it, I will leave for a later date to comment, but wanted to hear from any of you that have read it and your thoughts.

Lastly, I am in the middle of reading Ultraviolet, a young adult novel, and so far I am intrigued. I am sorry to say I would not replicate RJ Anderson’s writing, finding too much description takes away from the depth of the story, but the theme is interesting enough to keep me plugging along. An interesting side note to the story is that people actually are afflicted with a colorful perception to their senses: synesthesia.  If you would like to check out a test you can take to see if you are a synesthete, click here
http://synesthete.org/
. You can also google synesthesia and find many websites to browse.

Happy reading,

Jeannelizabeth©

Jun 4 2012

Just where have I been?

Much is new in my life. No, I did not move, marry or fall to martyrdom. Nor did I abandon, ditch, forsake or malign my Sweet Promises blog (even though I have been absent for some time). Instead, I have been in upheaval. My feet are firmly planted but my head is in the clouds. I wonder who I am, pursuing truth. Actually, I think I know who I am, but like a diamond in the rough, I yearn to be polished. Underneath the veiled image, I am quite fragmented.

I wonder if I suffer from a dissociative disorder. I am prone to daydreaming. I get lost in thought. I find that I am not organized enough to tell the thousand stories locked inside. Several white pages of paper, more than I care to acknowledge, have been wasted in my pursuit of perfection. I am wasteful. Not just resources of tangible goods but the unconsciousness of time squandered pursuing answers seems unforgivable. Time is running out.

Funny how life seems to zoom, halt, sputter, tumble to a lull and just when you think you have it figured out, well then, you realize you were wrong. Somewhere, perhaps years ago, you took a disastrous turn. Life left you questioning. Ask me if I believe in God, and the answer is “I do”. And Jesus, the Bible and the Spirit He left when He departed earth to be with His Father in Heaven. So why do I struggle? To be brutally honest, I have faced hell.  Many moons ago, I only struggled with growing up. Today, it is painful memories that clog my veins.

Mother’s Day week 2012, I took a summer job as a gardener at Rita’s Backyard. I love gardening. I love plants. I love being outdoors. I have posted here my gardening musings and photos. So I think you believe me. Those are a few of my favorite things but it means time pursuing my craft of writing, to get a pure message to my audience, is faltering. To make matters worse, I burned every written word I had ever produced (years ago). This random act of stupidity was an impulse I carried out while stomping through fire.  I’ll never know if any of what I wrote was worthy of seeing daylight, but it left a hole inside that yearns to be repaired. I wonder if I burnt it to be freed of my tortured past?  At that particular time, absolutely, yes. Now, a clamoring, resounding no, rings inside my head.

So what to do?

I hope you do not think I have totally turned my back on Christianity or my Sweet Promises blog. I just have started to think out loud, trying to form a picture from a thousand puzzle pieces, and wanted to draw in those who are pursuing the unknown, with me, to finally be a polished rock worthy of hearing the words in Matthew 25:23…”Well done, good and faithful servant.” In the meantime, I started a Blogger site, called A Grain of Sand @ http://manygrainsofsand.blogspot.com/ and a pure poetry blog @ http://sharpenedpoint.wordpress.com/, which I rarely publish on because poetry takes more time than a few random lines now and then.

May 24 2012

These are the days.

This is the time. Make the best of what is
and do not think about tomorrow, it is only a possibility.

I am here. Now.

Those were the days to remember. They will never come again.  You were my best friend. You were the light of my mind. You shone in the crevices of my dark alleys and hidden thoughts. You breathed life into my cold heart. You were the spark that revived the lost child, lurking in the shadows of broken promises. Someday soon, I will walk this way again, and cherish the moments together.

Since you have been gone, the color has left my world.
I see shades of gray, black and white.

I long for the hues of oranges, greens and blues.

These are the days and this is the time, I will remember forever.

Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Psalm 34:18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

Philippians 1:3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,

Jeannelizabeth©

Apr 19 2012

Insurmountable

Forgive! …such an easy word to give out.

Okay Lord, in your loving arms I can forgive.

Then my sinful nature asks “Why?”
“Look what they did to me Lord? Can you not see their evil deeds against me?”

“Yes, I see.”

Forgive! It is the only way to find freedom.
Peace! Let your heart not be troubled child.
Mercy! Show compassion to the lost.
Joy! It is your strength to hide in me and lose yourself and your evil ways.

“Did I not forgive you?”

“I did not want to nail you to the cross.
My tears flow
and wash your feet
but you still cling to the
CROSS!”

“You died….
for me…
and the whole world…
and you wait patiently
for all hearts to turn back to you.”

“I need your grace again…
I sin day and night…
in my anger I plead for justice
but in my heart I plead for mercy.”

Indeed I forgive Lord.
Renew me daily lest I fall.

We find in Romans 12:14 these words: “Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse.” Oh Lord, give me lips of honey. Soften my heart that no hatred can find home. Till the earth of my soul, that no seed can root that is only a weed. Forgive my unforgiveness that hides from sight, lurking, waiting for a chance to strike. You fashion your children in ways that produce fruit, let my vines be bountiful this year. Hold my tongue against sinful words and keep my thoughts pure. AMEN!

Apr 11 2012

Organized Chaos

Okay, I admit it. I am forever disheveled. I try to organize only to find a horrible mess a few hours after tidying up. What makes some of us so coherent and capable of keeping ourselves together, while others are in a constant state of flux?

God certainly did not make a mess. He is steadfast in all He does. For those of us crying out “Why do you tarry in fixing the mess we are in?” I suggest that He is waiting for us to be still. We struggle our way through life, burdening ourselves with problems, seeking solutions, when resting in His arms is all He asks.

Psalm 46:10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.” (NIV)

Apr 10 2012

Ocean of Ideas

It has been an extraordinary time of ideas.  I cannot seem to keep up with the numerous configurations popping into my mind at all hours of the day and night.  I should be happy, but instead I am feeling run down and exhausted by the sheer number of little pieces of paper floating around my desk.

How should I rememdy this conundrum?

I am grateful that a wind cannot blow them around like leaf litter.

What have I accomplished since April 2011?

Nothing. For lack of focus, my life is no different today, than a year ago.

Yet, the waters splash and keep me hopeful!

Where do I go from here? Persistance and perseverance are worth persuing. Here are my top ten people who persevered:

  1. Corrie ten Boom
  2. Mother Theresa
  3. Helen Keller
  4. Gandhi
  5. Abraham Lincoln
  6. To be determined…

The one thing they all have in common, beyond being persistant, is their peaceful journey. They did not shove others aside to get their point across. They were not arrogant, rude or pushy. They quietly went about their life, pursuing in a sacrificial way, a beautiful fragrance that all could enjoy. They kept nature in bounds and people were freed!

I simply wanted to start a conversation. I hope you can share your story.

Hebrews 12:14 Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. (NLT, 2007)