Tag Archive | peace
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FRIENDSHIP

A dear friend of mine died several years ago & I mourned her being gone. As I came to realize, I was focusing more for what I’d lost than what I’d gained. One day I heard–as if spoken from above–

“Why are you wasting your time crying and ruining your make up? Get on with it–you’ve got lots to do!”

And so the mourning ended and the joy of knowing her filled my heart once again.

I never came to you, my friend

That I didn’t go away

A little stronger for the moment–

A bit more determined for the day.

You never came to me, my friend

That I didn’t make you feel the same

Helping you through a burden

Along life’s difficult way

 

I’ve driven the road to your house many times

Always sure of the things I’d find:

Laughter that was too loud, tears that often came,

Words that were never spoken but heard just the same

So how do I carry on now? Just the same you’d say.

The memories of us will get you through the worst day.

For you see, I’ll always come to you, my friend,

In thoughts and memories again, again and again.

 

 

Carole King – You’ve Got a Friend (Official Audio) – Bing video

 

 

 

Featured  

Music is My Prayer

When I find it hard to go on without those who’ve gone,

I turn to songs.

I mix a potion to heal my wounded heart by melding

lyrics to those songs.

When I seek to bring hope and peace to others,

I write words that rhyme.

But when I try to say how you touched my life,

I find the music is out of tune and out of time.

I know this dissonance surely can’t be right.

But I know One who can calm the troubled shores~

One who loves no matter what – and then even more~

One who says, “You don’t have to do it all alone.”~

I’ll stay with you through the darkness of the journey home.

I can feel when we’ve turned the corner into light.

th[8] (2)

I reach deep inside for the music that strengthens my heart.

I listen quietly, the prayers take rise, and the music starts.

With your memory close inside me for the lonely times,

I’ll come back again and sing to you the words I’ve I turned into rhymes.

thP7Z7MNNR

Featured  

Traveling With Me

 

Today is the first anniversary of this blog, so I wanted to let you know I appreciate your spending time here.

If you’ve been traveling with me for the last year, THANK YOU for hopping on board.

If you are reading this post and visiting this blog for the first time,  WELCOME to my journey. 

 I’m reminded about the message of love I gave my children:th3US0WZ7J

If I could write a blueprint for living, I would wrap it in love, tie it with ribbons of hugs & present it to you anytime you need to be reminded you are God’s child.”

I hope my message has been clear, both to my children & grandchildren.  I believe in treasuring the wonderful times & even the troubled days…for how can you know you are blessed if you haven’t seen the other side. 

To say that I’m in my second “life” would be an understatement…I’m living again and maybe fully for the first time…but I can clearly see it’s right for this time.

When I retired, I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to do.  I thought my purpose was over.  Now I’m finally understanding that I am here EVERY DAY for a purpose.  It has amazed me the people who have followed my blog or tweets who connect because of a comparable belief, thought or interest.  I never imagined some of those casual contacts would become true friends across the miles – but that’s what has happened.  I didn’t imagine either that old acquaintances would re-visit me emerging from this new tool.

I’m honored to hear from my readers with comments such as:

  • “I needed your thought today” 
  • “Thank you for caring”
  • “ Welcome to my world”
  • “Hope to meet you”
  • “Good to see your post”

With a dream in my heart, I knew it was time to live it! Nothing fades faster than an opportunity not explored.  Writing has been my passion, so I began this journey one year ago. It is here on these blank pages I can pour out my thoughts, beliefs, ideas & words.  It has become my peaceful place to offer a word of encouragement or a lesson learned in my life. 

Having come through some health issues, daily I’m grateful I’m still standing upright & even standing!  I’m really careful about where I step, walk & things I do…but for the most part…I’m trekking down paths I never thought I would be able to explore.

New Journeys on Old Roads has become more than just a title for my blog; it has come to describe my life more than I ever imagined. 

  • Sometimes the roads are rough, so I slow down and approach with caution. 
  • Sometimes they have detours, so I look for an alternate route. 
  • Sometimes they are brand new black-topped roads over what used to be dirt, so I speed up a bit. 
  • Sometimes I get lost…but I get out my map, connect to my GPS, and try again…a lot like what happens when you fall down or fail.

If something I’ve presented here has been helpful, I invite you to post a comment or contact me in other methods listed here on this blog.

THANK YOU FOR TRAVELING WITH ME ON  MY 

NEW JOURNEYS ON OLD ROADS!

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Featured  

Understanding Yourself

This is what I want from now on:

a slower pace~

a more centered existence~

and the feelings of perfect happiness to be found

in the moments I come home to myself.”

Linda Weltner

 

fall-wallpaper-8[1]

Featured  

Peace in the Midst of Pain

I glanced at the calendar this morning. I don’t really need to do that to know what day is near.  Each year I begin to feel it permeate my thoughts for weeks before.  I need no calendar for that purpose th[3]

It’s been a few years since a friend of mine left this earth. Among my circle of family and friends, we have had time to experience life without that precious presence.

…it doesn’t seem right…it doesn’t seem fair…
it doesn’t make sense…

There’s not much of anything you can do about it when a person’s time is up. Obviously, you can mourn.  You can stop living yourself.  Or, you can decide to do your best to carry on.  But you are not the keeper of time or extender of life.  You have no input or vote on that.

But then you ask yourself:

How am I going to get through this world without them? 

You need an answer for that, so you dig into your psyche and you try to reach into your heart and you can find nothing that really explains why it happened and what you are supposed to do about it.

Then, with time, comes the answer.  In a moment of clarity and perception you understand the simplicity of that answer.

There’s nothing you can do about the fact it happened & most likely nothing you could have done to prevent it. 

Your job is to continue on without them.  Maybe you can make a memorial to them; perhaps continue a legacy they began; you can live your life…that’s all.  The choices are few but it’s evident the only plan left for you is to honor the person with a permanent place in your thoughts allowing and not rejecting those thoughts.  It’s not a bad thing to think about a person who is no longer breathing on this earth.

conversation bwI’ve discovered one way to honor your loved one is to talk about that person.  Think about that person.  Tell your family about that person.  Especially tell your children about that person.  Share with someone else who knew them in a different way and you’ll have a new light shed on the person you loved.  It’s OK to have all those feelings because you still love them.  That doesn’t have to die–it can live on in you and those with whom you share your memories.

The only way I’ve been able to make it through such losses is to remember the good things, and time itself takes care of the bad things–they begin to move to the rear of your thoughts.  Oh, sure, you can harbor them and hang on to them but to what end?  That is no honor to your lost one.

broken-heart-red-cartoon[1]When the thought of their absence is so real it hurts, that’s okay, too!  Spend a moment in that thought…and then think about another time, another memory, another story.  Perhaps a smile will cross your face or you might even laugh out loud at what seemed a silly thing back then.  Allow yourself those beautiful and funny thoughts…that’s okay too.

There are no rules, no guidebook, no right, no wrong.
It never gets easier—it just gets different!

That’s what I’ve learned from experience.  My hope for you is that you find people around you who allow you to talk about your loss and your feelings.  I hope you have special memories that become more precious now that they have been entrusted to you to keep.  That’s a big job…to keep the good of a person going.  But you can do it—with love, hope, prayer, faith.  Then trust in all the memories you have to become the stories for others and create that as the legacy for your loved one.

If you are reading this and you have lost a friend or loved one, I am sorry for your loss.

May you find peace in the midst of your pain.

From Broken thTNI9F6VU

   To Healingserenity box

  ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥    ♥    ♥    ♥    ♥    ♥
     If you need more help than you’ve been able to find, 
there are professional people for you. Look around your 
community for churches or organizations that offer counseling,
or call your local hospital or contact your minister/rabbi/priest.
     For those related to a military member/veteran, contact
your local Veteran's Affairs office or your military base 
commander/chaplain.
     Here are three organizations online where you can find 
help immediately.

http://www.onlinegriefsupport.com/

http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/find-support-groups

December 26, 2013  

Empty Tree

Empty Tree

What do we do now that the tree looks so empty?

If that’s what your are wondering today, it may be a perfect time to gather the family round the tree, hold hands and say a prayer of thanksgiving for God’s gifts and opportunities of this past year.  Every person may have a different thing for which they are thankful.  Sometimes though, families may have the same thanks and wishes for the days ahead.

God honors the requests and prayers of those who remember to give Him the praise for what they already received.

It’s not too early to think about your plans for how you will contribute to your family, your community, your church, your own future when the calendars change in just a few days to 2014.

If your tree looks empty, fill it with faith, hope and love.

And now three things remain; faith, hope & love…and the greatest of these is love.  [ I Corinthians 13:13]
December 24, 2013  

Christmas Wishes

angel

There are angels among us and

Christmas wishes can come true

Hope your many wishes, prayers and thoughts are strengthened with the joy of knowing it’s possible.  There’s nothing as precious as wishes made in your heart at Christmas time.

May peace fill your mind and heart today and for every day of the year(s) ahead. There is no greater peace than what God offers.

Whisper a prayer, and let this angel deliver it to the heart that needs it most…I just did and sent it to you..

http://

One of my all-time favorite singers with a great song.  Thanks, B. J. Thomas, for all the music through the years…and for this particular one!

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.  Luke 2:14 KJV
December 10, 2013  

Wintertime

Wintertime

I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape — the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn’t show. ~Andrew Wyeth

Wintertime http://wp.me/p466rU-4g

December 4, 2013  

Thanksgiving All Year

Have you recently heard someone say, “At least Thanksgiving is over.” I did and was puzzled at first and then sad to think that a person does not or cannot find any other day of the year to say “thanks” or give “thanks” or count their blessings.

Did you let such an opportunity pass by? So many times I should have said those words.  We often fail to express our gratitude to God or one another.  God provides people on this earth to direct us to certain experiences which by that very experience should emit from our mouth those simple words: THANK YOU or THANK GOD or just THANKS.

Is the giving of thanks over? I know it’s been a week since many of us gathered around the table and ate our fancy turkey or garnished ham and stuffed ourselves with Gramma’s great pumpkin or pecan pie. And who brought that mouth-watering salad and dressing? Was that you, Auntie?

It’s such a simple concept to stay in the mood of thankfulness and gratitude, but we try so hard to get it over and move to the next busy thing—the next advertised holiday—or the next crisis (the kind we often make for ourselves).

If we were to stop here at the time of Thanksgiving and vow to make it a year-long holiday, perhaps we could carry that feeling through the days, months and years. Shouldn’t it be about more than eating that pumpkin pie and watching the football game?

Lord, help me to thank you for all you have done for me and given me and blessed me with BEFORE I ask you for something else—before I start wanting more things. Let me ponder on the miraculous things you have given me to ease my journey along this road of life—the most selfless gift you could give—
Your Son for My Sin.
Amen – (vh)
 

“Thankfulness creates gratitude which
generates contentment that causes peace.”
― Todd Stocker

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