Proverbs 20:20
| If a man curses his father or mother |
| his lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness |
Strong words, these! How quickly this brought to mind images of children talking abusively to their parents - children killing their parents. Right on the heels of that come images of grown children talking abusively to their parents - grown children killing their parents. The world is so full of hatred, it seems. So hard to go against the flow of ‘I’ll have mine, no matter what it takes’ - and to instill in myself the words of God - which should dictate all of my behavior.
Food for thought, indeed…
Getting an early start today ! Thought it would add to the goodness of what God’s given me to count these first rather than last!
- We gifted ourselves with the ‘memory-foam’ topper for our mattress, and this has resulted in an amazing difference in the comfort - and the quality of our sleep. A real blessing for my hubby, who has sleep-apnea and painful knees.
- The word from the mission team in India is that they are busy doing God’s work, and of the 350 children of all ages they are ministering to this week, 250 of them have made a decision that they want Jesus Christ as their Savior - a huge blessing!
- I received in the mail a package from my granddaughters - a total surprise! Inside was a lovely bit of ‘fridge-art’ with “I LOVE YOU” blazoned across the top - this blesses me every time I look at it. They also sent me jewelry they had crafted themselves - one of my joys in life has taken root there - a very special blessing!
- I was blesses to be able to buy a crafting book I have wanted for a long time - and got it two days earlier than the shipping estimate! A blessing to buy it, and another blessing to get it early!
- After searching for well over two years, suddenly this week I discovered the exact thing I have been looking for - which will enable me to do a brand new craft that has been in my heart and head for all this time - waiting for the right ‘insides’ to apply it to. Huge blessing!
- Along with the above - the company I ordered from no longer takes orders, but the parent website’s webmaster contacted me and found another supplier for me, so that my order will be fulfilled - going the really big extra mile for me, the first-time customer. Such a pleasant surprise!
- Our interpretive dance team, which had seemed on the verge of collapse, has suddenly turned around - and they are all making huge strides, both in the new dance skills we are teaching them, but in the understanding of the scriptures they are trying to portray through it. A wonderful blessing for the two of us who teach them - who had been so tired and burned out with the teen-age ‘attitude’!
This has turned out to be quite a week -I am continually surprised at how much God’s hand is in my life, and how many blessings He pours out - week after week!
Proverbs 20:19
| A gossip betrays a confidence |
| so avoid a man who talks too much |
This verse made me smile - and then I decided there was great wisdom in those few words! A gossip just thrives on talking about others - we all know someone like this - not a reach to think this is not someone I would tell a secret to - or the whole world would know of it very soon! Then comes the solution - avoid it! The person who talks too much is probably talking about others, and not with the right motives. If I’m not near it, I won’t get caught up in it. Wise words.
Proverbs 20:18
| Make plans by seeking advice |
| If you wage war, obtain guidance |
Sometimes the words I read seem to be written just for me - and I do take them to heart. When I make plans, they just might be right off the wall, so most of the time (not all, to my regret) I do ask for advice - and sometimes I don’t like what I hear - and I might not follow it - but I try to ask. I think there is great value in getting counsel from others - just take care in choosing who the ‘others’ are. And I think the one place to always gain wisdom and guidance is in prayer - for there is One who wil not ever have an agenda other than to benefit me - and that is Jesus Christ!
Borrowing this one from my friend Birdie - where I saw it first this morning on her blog Scenes From The Crooked Maple and thought I would put it here too… from Ben Franklin, who said:
When the people find that they can vote themselves money,
that will herald the end of the republic.
He also said….
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither safety nor liberty.
Food for thought…..
Found this to be an interesting verse to come up today…
Proverbs 20:17
| Food gained by fraud tastes sweet to a man |
| but he ends up with a mouth full of gravel |
Kind of an interesting observation - you can ‘think’ that you’ve gotten yourself something for nothing - but that is never true - there is always a cost. Don’t think for a minute that this can only be applied to literal food - but to everything… have a feeling this one’s going to come to mind often in the future…
Found another good one in my inbox today - and this day before the election seems so appropriate to share…
Those who will not be governed by God, will be ruled by tyrants.
– William Penn
Pretty clear the direction this country seems to be headed. ‘Nuff said.
Proverbs 20:15
| Gold there is, and rubies in abundance |
| but lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel |
Lot of truth here! I love the illustration of words being like jewels - I hear a lot of words in the course of a day - and few are jewels! To me, this verse brings out how I must sift through the barrage of verbiage that comes my way, and find the things that are worth preserving. The words I keep in my heart become part of me - so I want it all to be treasure!
Found this in my inbox this morning - and with election day coming up next Tuesday…..it struck me as particularly meaningful….something to think about before we all vote…
What is morally wrong can never be politically right.
— Lord Shaftesbury
Reading the quote made me curious about the man who said it - and that was an interesting story too - A Bit About Lord Shaftesbury
You just never know where my curious eye will lead me…..
This has been a bit of a tough week, so it’s taking a little effort to see past the negatives to the positive - but there were some…. 
- After much thought, I decided to attempt to sell a few of my favorite jewelry things - so I opened up an Etsy store. Please go take a look - I am considering this a blessing in the making! Just go here… TreasureMore
- My middle son has embarked on his mission trip - on his way to India - it is a blessing that he obeys this call on his life, and that his family backs him 100%, even with a new baby in the house! May God bless his trip richly!
- I am scheduling time more consistently this week to both do my ‘have to’ work, and my ‘want to’ fun - and it worked! Hoping to make this a habit!
- Checked our bank account online today - and lo and behold! The ’stimulus check’ we first thought we’d not get at all, and the one they said would not arrive til after Christmas - arrived today!! What a surprise, and what a timely blessing!
- Our microwave oven died this week, and then we got a $50 gift card to Home Depot from the ‘rewards’ program on our credit card - and Home Depot had microwaves on sale for $49.95 - amazing to see God’s timing!
- Our huge water bill due to the water leak we had arrived - and the city, who really didn’t have to reduce it at all - forgave $169 of the bill - making it much more manageable.
- We went to church and took our ‘circus wagon’ out to the streets to ‘treat’ the neighborhood, and gave away 267 bags of goodies and invitations to come see us at church - and the wagon held together until we got back! The weather was great - and just maybe we touched someone’s life with our ‘treats’.
And there it is……and it didn’t turn out to be way less, as I had thought it would be! Even on the weeks that don’t go well, God is always there, reminding me of His concern and love for me and mine.
