Finding joy in the everyday

By Ivana Besevic  Emotions : a strong feeling deriving from one's circumstances, mood, or relationships with others. Any of the feelings of joy, sorrow, fear, hate, love, etc. 😓😒😊😂😡😠😟 We all have emotions and they change depend on the circumstances we find ourselves in— we laugh, we cry, we rejoice, we smile, we get angry, we become fearful, we giggle, we feel disappointment and grief. Emotions are normal and not only do we have emotions — so do our pets, just watch a cat or dog for a while and see their emotions.  Some people will cry when watching a sad movie or laugh at a funny part of a book. Others get angry when watching the news and they see something they feel passionate about. However, there are those who control their emotions and avoid showing them to others, they often seem cold or detached because they won’t allow anyone else to see how “they feel”.  Jesus wept. (John 11:35) Some cultures are very open with their emot...

Artist: Justyna Kopania Here is a link to Justyna's Facebook page where she has many lovely examples of her art.  https://www.facebook.com/justynakopania.studiounderthemoon/

Gaetano Bellei (Italian painter) 1857 - 1922 Recently I found this lovely blog post and I so much wanted to share it with you. It was written by Mary Lowman from  Christian working woman's blog .    It tells the story of an elderly lady called Betty who goes out every day to buy a few items from her local grocery store. However, her mission is not just to  buy food, but to minister to all those she meets —  Betty uses her daily trips to the grocery as a way to meet people, to offer encouragement, to pray for people, and to let them know that Jesus loves them.  Almost every day she has an opportunity to speak to someone—mostly strangers—and simply offer a moment of caring and concern .  We too should use every  opportunity we have to reach out a change a persons day, just as Betty does. This is one of the reasons why God does not ask us to seperate ourselves physically from the world, because if we shut ourselves in our homes...

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. (Philippians 4:8) How many books published each year are worth reading?  How many are noble and pure?  Most are utterly empty, they give us short term pleasure but do not make us wiser or better.  They leave no trace of beauty, no inspiration, no vision of loveliness, no impulses towards higher things and no enrichment.  Some are harmless and leave no debris in our minds, in fact they are quickly forgotten as we move onto another mindless book. However some do leave lots of debris and they linger and draw us into other books that are also full of moral decay.  Many people make no choice in what they read - they read what they enjoy whether it is bad or good. However, as C...

By Terry Jack Artist: Terry Jack

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.  (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) Dear ladies, not matter what your plans are for today, whether that be going off to work, working from home in a home-based business or a stay-at home wife and mother, we must rejoice in whatever situation we find ourselves in and we must pray without ceasing .  Do not face the day until  you have faced God in prayer.  Five days a week I roll out of bed at 5:40am  which isn't something I enjoy — I look forward to the weekend just so I can get a few  extra  hours of snoozing. I shower, get dressed, feed the cats, pack my bags and off to work I go. I am in the car by 6:20am so no time to eat breakfast, instead I have it at work. The drive is quite pleasant and I listen to music on the way. I  dropping my son off at his workplace and...

Lot’s wife L ikewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. “In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. (Luke 17:28-33) There is very little written about Lot’s wife, we don’t even know her name.  However, we all remember one thing — she looked back and that was her downfall.  Lot, his wife and daughters lived in the wicked city of Sodom — a place of terrible sin and debauchery and one no Christian would ever want to reside. The story of Lot starts with the arrival of two angels:...