Dance On Your Disappointments!

I am thankful today that nothing is impossible – NOTHING is impossible!

When it all seems to fall apart; when sadness and disappointment come to overwhelm even the most thankful of hearts, there is still hope.

Nothing is impossible!

Make the most of your disappointments by changing one letter. Change the “D” to an “H”

Think of your Disappointments as His appointments; An opportunity for faith to take advantage; An occasion for God to turn your sad into joy.

It may not seem possible now, but He can and will make all things beautiful!

Dance on your Disappointment!

Claim it as His Appointment!

Let Hope arise!

Expect a Miracle!

“What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise.”

~ Oscar Wilde

“Let the love hidden deep inside your heart find the love waiting in your dreams. Let the laughter that you find in your tomorrow wipe away the  pain you find in your yesterdays,”

~ Author Unknown

“God can dream a bigger dream for you…far beyond what you can hope or imagine!”

~ Oprah Winfrey

Trust Him.

Keep on giving thanks.

Never let hope die.

And remember – Even Miracles take a little time

Connie

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Thankful for Bugs - No, REALLY I am!

Insects and Bugs.... What's to be thankful for?

Lady Bugs are the angels of the bug world. When one flies to meet me, to sit on my finger and visit for a moment, I cannot help but smile. Even when they swarm in great numbers (although it can be a be unnerving to see so many (even lady) bugs in one place) they are somehow still acceptable to the human space...  A good thing!

Fire Flies glow in the dark! How can I not appreciate the joy of that!...True, the part of them that glows just happens to be their poop....but somehow that doesn't come to mind when I see them shining bright..... Fire flies are a good thing!

Dragon Flies  I don’t really appreciate it when they buzz to close to my head. But generally they are the most polite of all insects – they seem to understand what is their space, and what is mine -- I appreciate that.  Their colors and the fragile film of their wings is lovely…. Dragon flies are a good thing.

Flies in general; I’m still thinking….. Everything God created is good… flies are a good thing (I think)

Butterflies  

 Who does not love a butterfly? Such beauty and grace; gentle creatures that start out as earth bound caterpillars (also loveable in their own squishy way), and then struggle against incredible odds to come forth from a tight constricting cocoon; to fly free!!... Butterflies are a good thing!

 

Bees have a painful sting, and when they buzz around my head threatening to hurt me, I do not like it!

But when they buzz around a flower, and fruit hanging on the vine, they make me smile. And they make me honey! Yum! Their strange amazing hive lifestyle is mesmerizing, their ability to navigate miles to find pollen, and to communicate in mime is fascinating!… Bees are a good thing

Spiders are creepy, with their strange shapes and sizes, 8 legs and hairy bodies; and when they take it upon themselves to visit my home, scurrying across the floor headed for somewhere to hide and then to appear suddenly to make my heart pound and my skin crawl; on my bed, in my bath, on my ceiling…. No they are not welcome in my home!

But when I watch them (from afar) where they belong; outside between the trees and between the bushes, building their bridges and webs, I cannot help but be amazed at their patience and persistence and at the beauty of their artistic creations… Spiders are a good thing.

Ants in my food – no thank you. Ants on my skin – get off!

 But follow the ant as it carries his load; a piece of food twice his size, carry it back to the anthill where hundreds of ants are working in harmony, exerting incredible strength and creating engineering marvels… Ants are a good thing.

Mosquitoes   

Now there’s an insect it’s difficult to find a thank you for! And so I choose to remember a lesson from a mosquito.

I don’t know who said this, but I like it. I learn from it:

 “If you think you are too small, too insignificant to make a great impact; try climbing in bed with a mosquito.”

 Until we talk again, may you find joy in the little things of life. And may you think of yourself as a (good) mosquito, filled with happy juice, going about leaving little bumps of joy here and there – making a great and lasting impact.

Connie

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Just for Fun!

Today I am thankful for FUN!

How different our life would be without it.

We each define fun in our own unique way.

The Dictionary defines it this way:

Fun:

·         a time or feeling of enjoyment or pleasure

·         something that provides mirth, amusement or laughter

·         playfulness or playful activity

·         playful joking, often at the expense of another

·         a mood for finding or making  light of something

Fun can be found almost anywhere,

if we keep our eyes and our hearts open.

Even watching others have fun, can be fun.

Children are especially adept at creating their own fun. We can learn from them. And the things of childhood can, if we let them, bring us joy well into our adulthood.

“Balloons, Yo-Yos, building-blocks, jacks; pick-up-sticks, dice, playing cards, bats; balls, hula-hoops, Frisbees, clay; dolls, teddy bears, trucks, piggy banks; little yellow ducks in a bathtub full of bubbles, and blowing bubbles from a wand; memories or still playing with them now, thank You for toys that cheer us up.”

~ Connie Ruth Christiansen; Excerpt from Take the Thank You Challenge

 “Fun is a state of mind. If you have a zest for life, you will never miss out on fun. Don't be uptight all the time. Drop your worries and just learn to chill-out. The key to a good life is to have fun.”

~ Author Unknown

When life is hard, and it will be; Remember the good things. There are always good things.

Be thankful for the fun in your life!

Be aware of the fun in your life!

Make a list of things that are fun for you

Choose something fun

Do something fun

(It might even be fun to make the list)

  

Laugh at your troubles; Make the devil mad

Find some Fun 

Enjoy Your Day!

“Dance as though no one is watching you; love as though you have never been hurt before, sing as though no one can hear you, live as though heaven is on earth.”

~ Author Unknown

“Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.”

~ Dr. Seuss

May your day be filled with joy!

~ Connie

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Wings to Fly and Blessings in Disguise

It’s been a long hard journey.  It took every bit of strength you had to climb to the top. Now you stand on the mountain peak. It’s beautiful here and the view is amazing.

You think back over the trouble and pain it took to reach this point and are grateful to have finally arrived here. But now what? You suddenly have an epiphany that this place is not  your truest heart's desire. This mountain top, as beautiful and rewarding as it is, it is not the goal. It is but a stepping off place to where you truly long to be.

 

Many steps to come this far and it has not been easy. But this next step is the most difficult of all - to step forward  off the mountain top, knowing there is nothing to step upon, except for trust.

This climbing upward, this reaching for higher ground was more than a struggle; it was a blessing in disguise. As you climbed, the air grew thinner, the pathway steeper, the hand and footholds less sure. And so it was necessary for you to shed all extra weight. Every burden that was on your back, your worries, your bitterness, your past, your fears; one by one you left them behind. As each familiar but unwelcome burden was shed, you gained more of the unfamiliar but welcome fortitude and focus to climb.

And now at last you stop, you breathe deeply, you see things from a grand new perspective; and you realize that your back upon which your heavy loads have been; your back is free! Free for Him to place your wings.

Here on this mountain top He will give you your wings to fly.

This next step, this trust-step, you will not fall into nothingness. You will not fall! You will fly!

His Love compels Him to rid us of our heavy weights.

His Heart is to teach us how to trust.

His Wisdom is to grant us whatever it takes for us to realize the best of this life.

His Compassion is to be there each step of the difficult journey.

His joy is to give us wings to fly!

 

Are you in the valley? Look up!

Are you climbing a mountain? Don't give up!

Are you at the top? Learn from what you see!

Are your wings in place? Trust ,and leap!

 

~ Connie

 

 

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Is It Really That Simple?

Today I am thankful for the ways of a  child, and for the amazing thoughts, ideas, and motives that can come from us who are beyond childhood, if we but return to the innocent faith, hope and dreams of a child.

Learn much from children, for they are wise in their innocence

Learn much from children for they are truthful in their ways

Learn much from children for they have no prejudice until they learn it

Learn much from children for they love from the heart, and not with motive

Learn much from children, for their faith is reality

When we turn our thinking around, send it backward a ways in time, to that of our beginnings, our childhood, we may remember what it is to be truly wise in our reasoning and truthful in our ways; and to rid ourselves of prejudice, and to love again from the heart and without selfish motive; and we might just once again find our hearts filled with a hope that believes nothing is impossible, and a faith that can actually move mountains.

I am determined to continue returning for this wisdom, this truthfulness, this love, this hope, this faith; to truly understand what Jesus meant when He said, "Unless you are converted and becom as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." ~ Matthew 18:1-5

Have the faith of a child and watch the miracle of heaven on earth happen -- is it really that simple?

Perhaps it is. And how will we know for sure? There is only one way to know for sure.

It must be possible for us to reach back and re-grab ahold of these childlike traits, or He would not have pointed out to us the importance of them.  When I think of how to go about doing so, I can’t help but recall grandparents and children’s books:

·         I find it fascinating that as a person enters into their later years of 80 and 90+, and as the short term memory begins to falter, long forgotten memories of childhood begin to reemerge. It is as if proper preparation for heaven requires a bit of childhood in order to enter.

I wonder, is it possible to remember and capture the faith and wonder of childhood without also becoming senile to the present? Yes, I am sure that it is, for I have had moments of childlike faith and wonder while still remaining in the present... I want more of that!

I love the following short story – read it again and again; it tells more than you may first realize:

“A grandmother was telling her little granddaughter what her own childhood was like: "We used to skate outside on a pond I had a swing made from a tire; it hung from a tree in our front yard. We rode our pony. We picked wild raspberries in the woods." The little girl was wide-eyed, taking this all in. At last she said, "I sure wish I'd gotten to know you sooner!"”

         ~ Author Unknown

 

·          Some adults have the wonderful ability to bring childhood back to us; and to speak words of wisdom to us, as if from the mouth of a child. A.A. Milne (Author of Winnie the Pooh), and Dr. Seuss are two such wonderful adults. There is magic and wisdom in their words:

 5 Lessons of Childlike Wisdom from Dr. Seuss:

1. "Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You."

 

2. "Why fit in when you were born to stand out?"

 

3. "You have brains in  your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction  you choose."

 

4. "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."

 

5. "Today I shall behave, as if this is the day I will be remembered."

 

 

 5 Lessons of Childlike Wisdom from Pooh and His Friends:

1."The things that make me different are the things that make me.”

 

2. "Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them."

 

3. "Sometimes, the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.”

 

4. "When you do the things that you can do, you will find a way.”

 4. "Promise me you'll always remember:

You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem,

and smarter than you think"

 

Talk to you again soon. In the meantime: Think Child Wisdom!

~ Connie

 

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“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” ~ Jesus; Mark 10:14

The Truth Will Set You Free!

Today I am thankful for the Truth that sets me free from whatever it is that holds me back, ties me down, diverts my best course, dissuades my dreams, entangles my dancing feet.

TRUTH

It may not look the way you think it should

It may not sound the way you are expecting

In order to find it, you may need to approach something you want to avoid

In order to recognize it, you may need to change your way of observing

It begins with Wisdom which is found in solace

It is often waiting outside of your comfort zone

Push your agenda aside and you may just find it directly in front of you

Reach out and grab ahold of it – hold on for life!

Truth – It will set you Free

                                                                                ~ Connie Ruth Christiansen

  

“We occasionally stumble over the truth but sadly most of us pick ourselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.”

~ Winston Churchill

“There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth. One is to not go all the way. The other is to not start.”

~ Ancient Chinese Proverb

“Truth is by nature self-evident. As soon as you remove the cobwebs of ignorance that surround it, it shines clear.”

~ Mahatma Gandhi

“There is a world of differences between truth and facts. Facts can obscure truth.”

~ Maya Angelou

“Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.”
~ Mark Twain

“If any of you lacks wisdom (truth), ask God. He will give it to you in abundance.”

~ James 1:5 paraphrased

“You will search for Me, and find Me, when you pursue Me with all of your heart”
~ Jeremiah 29:13

“Then you will know the truth. And the truth will set you free.”

~ John 8:32

Let us be always searching for the Truth in every situation, so that we may be living free in every moment.

~ Connie

"Ask and it will be given, Seek and you will find, Knock and the door will be open."
~ Jesus

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Damaged Goods

In the beginning Earth was beyond perfect. Eden knew no death, there were no damaging elements, there was no disappointment; there was no pain.

Things have changed.

Incredible beauty all around us, within us, is a constant reminder of a once pristine planet, of unflawed bodies and innocent souls. But many things have become what they were never meant to be.

Life can sometime beat us up, wear us down; we are left battered and bruised and scarred; faces stained lines of strain and with tears, hopes dashed and trust lost.

What good can possibly come of such things?

The One who Created the perfect in the first place longs for us to realize it again. He promises a day when it will be so again. In the meantime, He specializes in making new the old, repairing the broken, building up the fallen, finding the lost, healing the hurt.

It is impossible for our finite minds to understand how He does this, but oh how we long for it! And are hearts are glad when we see it is so.

One of my favorite earthly examples of these heavenly happenings is illustrated in this description of an ancient custom:

              “When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold. They believe that when something suffers damage and has a history, it becomes more beautiful.”  ~ Billie Mobayed

 The beauty of Eden began from nothing and became something incredible. From the perfect dust, the dirt, the clay of Eden human life was lovingly formed. And although we are no longer the perfect image of those early formations, we are still clay in the hands of the same loving Creator. We are His artistic formations of dirt.

In Jeremiah 18:1-12, and 2 Corinthians 4:7, where we are compared to lumps of clay on the potter’s wheel, being made into something of beauty and function, jars of dirt designed to carry around inside of us the incredible perfect beauty of the Creator Himself.

He made us. He has the power to remake us when we are damaged or broken. And He loves to do so. It is His desire that we attain to the beauty, the function, the form of Eden.

I am thankful today, for something I do not fully understand – that I come from dirt. That I was created for beauty and for greatness. That when I am damaged, I can be remade into something even more beautiful; something even greater.

                  “The potter adds dry clay to water and mixes vigorously until smooth. He pours the blend into progressively smaller sieves to strain out even the tiniest of impurities; shaking, tipping and turning the mixture until it is the consistency of his desire.
                  This newly formed lump sits on a shelf until it is just right for breaking, and kneading and pounding into submission; and then around and around on the wheel it goes, the potter’s hands guiding the lump into a useful and beautiful shape.
                  Off the wheel a design is added, and then the vessel is placed into an oven hot enough to build strength, and to bring out the true colors.
                  Could it be that what seems to be trouble without end is actually the Master Potter bringing His creative thought of you into being?”   ~ Excerpt from “Thank You 1095-Take the Thank You Challenge”

You are beautiful. You are more than your loss; you are more than your past. You are His work of art. And if you are damaged, His remaking of you will bring about a masterpiece that will outshine those who have known no pain.
~ Connie

Post Script:
Famous damaged goods in the Bible:
Noah was a drunk; Elijah was suicidal; Peter was a coward and a liar; Jacob was a deceiver and a manipulator; Matthew was a thief; Thomas was a doubter; Rahab was a prostitute; Mary Magdalene was a prostitute; The Samaritan woman was divorced ( a lot!); Samson was a womanizer; David was an adulterer and a murderer

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Stretching Times

I am thankful today for the stretching times. For the days and months and years; the challenges that force me to step outside my comfort zone, learn something new, try something brave.

There are mountains to climb, rivers to cross, giants to slay, fears to conquer, dreams to be chased, hopes to be realized, stars to be reached for, gold rings to grasp…. and none of these come easy.

To be brave is not easy; but to be brave is the key to finally stretching far enough.

“A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Only a brave person is willing to honestly admit, and fearlessly to face, what a sincere and logical mind discovers.”

~ Roden of Alexandria

“ A brave man is a man who dares to look the devil in the face and tell him he is a devil.”

~ James A. Garfield

“All brave men love; for he only is brave who has affections to fight for, whether in the daily battle of life, or in physical contests.”

~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

“Be convinced that to be happy means to be free and that to be free means to be brave. Therefore do not take lightly the perils of battle.”

~ Thucydides

“Thank You for the valleys, and the waiting times. For in those lonely hours Your comfort has been mine.
Thank You for the baby steps, and for when I fall. For it is when I’m small and weak I need You most of all.
Thank You for the mountains I am forced to climb. For on those rocky cliffs I have grown my wings to fly.”
~ Connie Ruth Christiansen -- Excerpt from "Thank You 1095-Take the Thank You Challenge"
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“Be brave enough to live life creatively. The creative place where no one else has ever been.”

~ Alan Alda

Be Brave! Nothing is Impossible!
~ Connie


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4th of July Reflection

I am thankful to day for the good ol’ U.S.A.

This country is one of contradiction, to be sure

There is beauty and there is ugly;

There are people peacefully working together to accomplish great things

and there are stormy political battles;

There are millionaires and there are

people living on the streets;

There is safety and there is fear,

There is love and there is hate,

There is greed and there is great compassion;

It is not perfect, it is not Eden,

but for all its flaws it is lovely;

I am so grateful to the founders of this nation,

for their dream of a better place,

for their courage to follow that dream;

 I am grateful for the men and women who have

laid down their lives in order to keep that dream alive;

I am grateful for the freedom to follow my own dreams

and to worship as my conscious dictates;

For all her flaws this country is still the best,

the brightest,

and the only place I want to call home;

May we never take for granted

the good that is here;

And may we continue to believe for,

dream for,

and fight for the better that we can be;

God Bless America!

Happy 4th!

~ Connie

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Word

·       His Word written in human words, passed down through generations, Truth, and Beauty, and Promises, and Power, and Hope, and Blessing, and Answers to Questions, and Mysteries still to be discovered


·      His Word hiding around us in the stars, the sky, the ocean, the flower, the face of a child, the wag of a dog's tail, the touch of a hand, a mountain to climb, a dream fulfilled, a butterfly released from her cocoon, a baby taking his first breath, the beat of a heart, death and dying and all the bittersweet in between

·         His Word spoken deep in my heart, into the places of me that are far beyond my intellect, understanding belonging to another realm, grasping ahold of mysteries and promises too big for this life, impossible except for the truth that nothing is impossible

·         His Word in human form, Jesus; God walking around among us, showing us the Father’s heart

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
~ John 1: 1-5; 14

Now this is something BIG to be thankful for!
The Word! Jesus! A safe place to run for answers, for direction, for love.

P.S.   I took a walk in the hot summer sun, and sat out under a tree, looking up at the beautiful sky
and this is a piece of the unexplainable truth I heard from the Word, deep in my spirit:

More than just blue above me

Hope shining brighter days are ahead

Ever changing formations of nothing is impossible white

Soaring on wings above the storm

Endings and Beginnings are written in the Summer sky today

My prayer for you today is that you will hear clearly, the Word of God speaking to your heart!
~ Connie


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