Wednesday’s Word: Hope

Today around noon, a young man, goes into surgery for a brain tumor. My heart is breaking for this young man, his wife, their unborn child and their entire family. The young man is the son of one of our Wednesday’s Word blog readers. One moment this young man was going to work (a firefighter like his Dad), celebrating the news of his first child – due in the spring and living life to its fullest and suddenly this big challenge stands before him.

One day after receiving the news, this young man’s wife posted the following on her Facebook wall.

“In all things it is better to hope than to despair.”
(Johann Wolfgang)

This young woman’s word has affected me in a way I will never forget. From this day forward the word hope is imprinted in my soul in a brand new way.  Merriam-Webster’s definition of hope: to cherish a desire with anticipation. For me as a Christian, I define hope as confident expectation or a firm assurance. How do you define hope?

Join me today in hope for this family and families everywhere who are dealing with serious health issues. Will you join me in praying for this family with confident expectation and/or cherished anticipation?

Previous Wednesday’s Words

God     Encouragement    Arrogance      Desidarata 

      Priorities       Gratitude         Devotion     Neighbor      Service      

Peace         Rest        Veggies (Twisted Salsa Recipe)      B R E A T H E

What Are YOU Watching This Fall?

Fall Preview TV week is here! Even though I barely have 2 minutes to devote to myself, I do try to find time to watch a little T.V. It gives me a few minutes to veg and then think; hey my life isn’t so bad after all! My husband and I were devoted LOST fans and now I am not sure what we might find to watch together. We do still watch Friday Night Lights, but due to Direct TV we see the new episodes during the summer. So, what will this fall hold? The Event looks interesting and so does Nikta. I watched a little of Undercovers, but I must confess that my guilty pleasure is Vampire Diaries. All my friends say GLEE is absolutely funny, so I am thinking about giving it a look. I used to watch Hawaii 5-0 long ago and a remake might be worth the 60 minutes. So any of you ladies out there with a minute or two to spare, let me know your thoughts! Are you a DWTS kind of girl, or a big fan of Desperate Housewives? If you get a chance to tune in, leave your review here and help save us all some time surfing the channels!

http://www.tvguide.com/special/fall-preview/fall-schedule.aspx

Wednesday’s Word: God

Earth’s crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God.
And only he who sees takes off his shoes, the rest sit round and pluck blackberries.
(Elizabeth Barrett Browning)

“We’re not saying there is no God; we’re saying there is no need for God to explain the universe.”(Leonard Mlodinow, from the Grand Design) The Grand Design was released in September. It was co-authored with U.S. physicist Leonard Mlodinow and Stephen Hawking, the worlds most famous scientist.

Wow! Let me begin by saying that I was not able to understand most of what I read about the new book. (Probably no need to buy the book!) For some reason I found the articles written about the book fascinating. I was especially interested in reading about the life, ideas and discoveries of Stephen Hawking.

From everything I read, Hawking does not think God is necessary for creation, but he still ponders the question, “Why are we here?” Is it more important to you to know why you are here or how you got here?

Do you think there is a need for God in this world?  If given the opportunity what question would you like to ask the famous theoretical physicist, Stephen Hawking?

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Previous Wednesday’s Words

Encouragement    Arrogance      Desidarata 

      Priorities       Gratitude         Devotion     Neighbor      Service      

Peace         Rest        Veggies (Twisted Salsa Recipe)      B R E A T H E

Finding My Inner Athlete!

So if you know me, you know that I am an active person. I like to run and I have started to bike and swim. I have done a couple Triathlons and a lot of running races. I am comfortable with my place in the middle of the pack. I usually scroll down to the middle of the results page before I start looking for my time. Yes, I have placed 2nd in my age group twice and I have those cute little medals in a special place, but Saturday I did something I haven’t done before! I ran a race with the intent of beating someone.
So, the gun goes off and Kelly starts us out a little fast and after the second mile, I was ahead of my targeted person. Kelly left me at mile 3 to go catch her own rival, with the advice of keep up the pace and don’t let her get ahead.
Well, by mile 5, I thought I was still going strong until I heard at the water stop, “Hey Maria, Wait Up!”
Oh, well. So much for that strategy I thought! We ran the next mile together, but as we started mile 6, she started to pull ahead!
Enter, inner voice saying, “Its okay, you ran a good race, you did your best.” And then something in my brain changed. It said “no, you can do this, just stay with her and try to beat her at the finish.”
For the next mile, I was totally out of my body and following the advice inside my head. I am not sure how I did it, but adrenaline took over and I caught her with about 1/10 of a mile to go. And that is when I let loose. I took off and ended up beating her!
I was so proud of myself!! I had actually pushed myself to do something I had never tried before! And it felt great! Sometimes we just have to put it all out there and see what life has in store!
What about you? Ever taken a risk?

Have you been photo bombed?

 During our Rambling Rose Triathlon, Team Forsyth Woman took plenty of pictures at the finish line reveling in our vitory!  Little  did I know there was someone there waiting for the snap, watching as we all lined up, stalking……

This stalker though was harmless, it was a photo bomber, someone who jumps into the picture unbeknownst to you until you download your picture and really look at them.

On a recent trip to Nashville, I was challenged to photo bomb.  I stalked a group of girls on a Bachelorette weekend, easy target because there were jello shots involved and lots of girls.  I pretended I was walking past as I watched one start to aim with the camera, then made a goofy face behind the girls as the camera flashed!  They went off their merry way oblivious that I was in their picture until they downloaded the pictures and REALLY looked at them!  My sister in law accepted the challenge but got busted as the girl taking the picture frowned then deleted the picture off her camera.

We spent the night trying to photo bomb but the funny part of the story was how many people photo bombed US during that night.  This travels back to that Ramblin Rose picture, see if you can find the photo bomber.

Want to have some fun?  Take a look at http://thisisphotobomb.com/ the “This is Photo Bomb” website and see how creative people get when trying to crash a photo!

Wednesday’s Word: Encouragement

You need to be aware of what others are doing, applaud their efforts,
acknowledge their successes, and encourage them in their pursuits. 
When we all help one another, everybody wins. 
(Jim Stovall)

Today’s word, encouragement, has the potential to make your day better – guaranteed! Could you begin your day with a commitment to offer honest, authentic words of encouragement to most of the people who cross your path today?

Encouragement is not flattery. Flattery is false and has nothing to do with an authentic word of encouragement. Flattery has no substance; it is merely hollow words that fool no one.

How can you offer words of encouragement during the day? Give thought to this. Begin in your home; take encouraging words to work or to school, then to the grocery store or restaurant and THEN . . .

Take a good look at the words that are going on inside your own mind. Can you give your own self an encouraging word? This is probably the most difficult of all. What difference would it make in your life if “The Encourager” had the loudest voice in your head? Many people allow “The Critic” to have the loudest voice. What difference would it make if the loudest voice in your head was “The Encourager?”

Correction does much, but encouragement does more. 
(Johann Wolfgang von Goeth)

A word of encouragement during a failure
is worth more than an hour of praise after success. 
(author unknown)

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Previous Wednesday’s Words

Arrogance      Desidarata 

      Priorities       Gratitude        Devotion     Neighbor      Service      

Peace         Rest        Veggies (Twisted Salsa Recipe)      B R E A T H E

Fall Fashions

13 days and fall will officially begin. I love fall. I like having to put on long sleeves and not sweating after 10 minutes outside. I love football and leaves falling and Halloween! I also love fall clothes. Between working, my daughter’s school, after school activities and exercise, I barely have a minute to myself. So here is the low-down on the hot new trends for fall that anyone can wear!

8 easy new styles for fall:
• Leopard Print Cardigans
• Parkas
• Full Skirts with body-fitting blouses
• Fair Isle Sweaters
• Fur Vests ( not touching this one)
• Cargo pants
• Floral Dresses
• Leather Jackets
So now you know the latest and greatest fall trends. When those cool winds begin to blow, I want to see you about town sporting the latest trends! But first, tell me where you shop to get your trendy clothes of the season!

Wednesday’s Word: Arrogance

Political Arrogance is beginning its creep around. It creeps and creeps, then it stands up and then, right before the election it begins shouting exaggerations and subtle mistruths from every direction. It jeers at anyone who thinks differently because it knows it is the source of all knowledge and truth. Gosh, I would like to skip right over the next few weeks . . . you know, I might! I just might turn off the news after the first fifteen minutes. I might not read the newspaper.

Now do not think I am sticking my head in the sand, I will do my research and I will vote according to my values, hopes and dreams for the future, but I will not listen to the endless political spin and the millions of “yes buts.”

Just wondering, would it be possible for Americans to return to a time a time of informed truth, integrity and mutual reverence? Is it possible for you to disagree with someone respectably?

Arrogance and rudeness are training wheels on the bicycle of life -
for weak people who cannot keep their balance without them.
(Laura Teresa Marquez)

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Previous Wednesday’s Words

Desidarata       Priorities       Gratitude        Devotion     Neighbor      Service      

Peace         Rest        Veggies (Twisted Salsa Recipe)      B R E A T H E

My Quest to Find the Perfect Jeans!

As we say good bye to the pool, and the beach and the hot, hot days of summer, it is time to say HELLO to jeans weather. We are not there yet, but we are edging closer and closer. Jeans have gotten a lot better over time and a lot worse. Some jeans are so low, nobody needs to be wearing them, and some jeans are so expensive, you need to sell a kidney just to purchase them!
I have found a couple of pairs that I like, but as time wears on, so do my jeans! The stretchy material is losing its elasticity, like some other parts of my body! I think I am going to have to go out and find some new favorite jeans. Oh, Boy!
So I decided to do some research before I ventured out. I checked several websites and found a great one that gives you different options. I had to scroll through the first 2. If you are tall…nope, if you have skinny legs…don’t think so. But this one also had, if you are pear shaped, hourglass, have short legs, which I felt gave a more realistic view of most women’s life.
Here is the site:

http://www.glamour.com/fashion/2010/07/how-to-find-your-bodys-best-jeans

Let me know what you think. It at least gives me a place to start. I will update you on my jean excursion. If you have had any success with jean hunting, let me know!!! PLEASE!

Wednesday’s word: Desidarata

The word desiderata is Latin and means “things that are yearned for.”  Desidarata is the name of a poem, a friend shared with me; it was her father’s favorite poem. Tucked into this poem I found many nuggets of wisdom and I found some ideas that left me a little confused. 

Nuggets of wisdom I found were:

• remember what peace there may be in silence
• even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story
• take kindly the counsel of the years
• it is still a beautiful world

An idea that left me wandering – be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. This was an odd phrase to me because I cannot imagine that what I conceive God to be has any bearing on who God is. For some I realize God does not exist, for others God is an overwhelming and fearful judge and for some God is the purest definition of love and hope. I suppose it does not really matter who we conceive God to be, but rather who God is. Yet who we conceive God to be will influence our relationship with God. (OK, I have confused myself now!)

Read the poem below for yourself. Are there any phrases that especially stand out as useful wisdom to you? Are there any phrases that make you feel uncomfortable?  People are much divided on this poem, they either enjoy it or they dislike it – what is your take on this poem? 

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.
Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, Written-1927

Previous Wednesday’s Words

Priorities       Gratitude      Devotion        Neighbor      Service      Peace     

Rest        Veggies (Twisted Salsa Recipe)       Counting Calories       B R E A T H E 

Special thanks: Thank you to Becky Smith for today’s photo.  Please email me if you have photos that I can post.  I am looking for photos that make our spirits say thank you for the beautiful world we live in.