Quote Of The Day

                                                                                                                    Story of the day:  The Itsy Bitsy Spider (yeah, right!)

   I have always been afraid of spiders.  Give me a lizard or a snake, and I think I would be better off.  My idea of killing them is throwing a shoe at them and then running in the opposite direction just hoping I got it. 

   There’s something about spiders that sends chills up my spine.  I think it stems from a spider that I encountered as a teenager that was carrying it’s egg sack on it’s back.  I didn’t realize it at the time, but that little spider was just trying to get all of it’s babies to a safe location.  Well, needless to say, I threw my shoe at it from across the room, just like I normally do, and ran as fast as I could in the opposite direction.  As I looked back from around the corner, I was lucky in my mission to have hit it, but in doing so, knocked the egg sack off of the spider, which in turn opened the egg sac and all of these little babies came running out of it. 

   I don’t know what was worse, that I hurt the spider or seeing all of those little babies everywhere.  So I did what I normally do, screamed like a girl (oh yeah, I am a girl), and ran in the opposite direction, looking from behind a wall to see if they were all gone. 

   The task before me was great, because I had hurt this mama spider and her babies.  Even though I don’t like spiders, I still don’t want to hurt them.  I think that’s why I throw my shoe at them, because I know my aim isn’t great, and I will probably wind up not hitting them all, but it makes me feel better. I wanted to take this moment back, because I didn’t want to hurt that mama and her babies, but I know I did.

   Our words are like that shoe that are being thrown at that spider.  We either have the ability to hurt someone with them or not.  Our words, once they hit,  can scatter just like those baby spiders and can do more harm than we intend for them to do.  Once they leave our mouth, we don’t know where they will end up and who they can effect.

   I encourage you today, to take caution in what you say, and if it is not uplifting to the other person, than do what my mama does best, “don’t say anything at all.”

Quote of the day:  Will Rogers

“So live that you wouldn’t be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip.”

Bible verse of the day:  James 3:10

“Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing.  My brethren, these things ought not be so.

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank You that You have given us language.  I thank You for the ability to be able to communicate with others.  Father, I don’t always use my words wisely, and for that I am sorry.  I pray to always use words that are encouraging to others and if they aren’t, then do as my mama does, and “not say anything at all.”  Father, guard my heart, protect my mind, and help me to bridle my tongue so that my words don’t scatter in a bad way as to hurt people.  I thank You for this day!

In Jesus Name I pray,

Amen

                                                                                                                                                                                                Story of the day:  God’s words and time table, not mine

    I usually get up every morning, do my quiet time with God, and then write for Quote of the day.  Lately, God has been showing me that it’s not always going to work like that.  I am a scheduled person and like to do things the same everyday.  God has now been telling me to wait on Him, which I usually try to do, but lately, I have been struggling because when I am ready to write, God has been telling me to wait.  So, I first want to apologize for not getting the quotes out as early as I had every morning, but at the same time, I don’t apologize for God telling me to wait, because through my waiting, God has shown me that His timing is perfect.   

    Not only is His timing perfect it is everything!  As I was reading in the book of Jeremiah last night, I began to notice just how important His timing truly is.  There are times that I think that Quote of the day is ready to go out for the day and God says, no wait.  And I ask God, are You sure?  Like He needs me to ask Him.  Again I always hear crickets and imagine Him standing over me, and looking at me like I look at my children when they’ve asked me a question like that.  And although the waiting has been uncomfortable and challenging to me, I see the importance of why He had me wait. 

    Have you ever wondered what you were going to say to someone about Christ and were afraid that you didn’t know exactly what to say and when to say it?  That has been my dilemma my whole life.  It’s not that I was afraid of telling people about God, it’s just I didn’t know where in the Bible to look.  Along with that were struggles with reading.  I have always had to read things a couple of times to make sure that I got it, so I thought, well if I am struggling with saying things and reading things, maybe I should write it down, but even that was so hard for me.  Give me a math problem, since I love math, and I could figure it out, but with writing, my thoughts would speed past me and my hand’s couldn’t write it down fast enough before they became just a memory.  And even though these things were always hard for me, God is amazing in that He took the things that I struggled with the most and turned them into a strength for His glory! 

    God began to show me in Jeremiah last night just how impecable His timing is.  It is so perfect that He knew that I would be writing this right now even before I was born.  Jeremiah 1:4-5,7b-9  says this:  “Then the Word of the Lord came to me, saying:  Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”  For you shall go to all to whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.  Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you,” says the Lord.  Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me:  “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.” 

    I stand amazed every single day that He puts into my mouth the words that He will have me write and does so in a way that ministers to me, the one that is doing the writing. It has come full circle to me understanding my purpose even during the times that I didn’t understand it.    And as long as I continue to do what He has asked of me and to remember that it’s all on God’s time table, and not mine, then no matter what time I get Quote of the day sent off during the day, I now know that it will be sent on His perfect time, whenever that may be.

Quote of the day:  Esther Fields