Note

NOTE: Commentary is made as a private citizen and not as Regional Coordinator for Silent No More or any other ministries.

Thursday, December 31, 2015

Words of Hope for the New Year


2016 is right around the corner.  Instead of my usual reflections on the past year or sharing my resolutions, I thought I would share some beautiful quotes from Elisabeth Elliot who passed away on June 15, 2015.  May her words bring you hope, comfort and gratitude as you enter the New Year. 


“The fact that I am a woman does not make me a different kind of Christian, but the fact that I am a Christian makes me a different kind of woman.”

 “I realized that the deepest spiritual lessons are not learned by His letting us have our way in the end, but by His making us wait, bearing with us in love and patience until we are able to honestly to pray what He taught His disciples to pray: Thy will be done.”

“Today is mine. Tomorrow is none of my business. If I peer anxiously into the fog of the future, I will strain my spiritual eyes so that I will not see clearly what is required of me now.”

“Where does your security lie? Is God your refuge, your hiding place, your stronghold, your shepherd, your counselor, your friend, your redeemer, your savior, your guide? If He is, you don't need to search any further for security.”

 “One reason we are so harried and hurried is that we make yesterday and tomorrow our business, when all that legitimately concerns us is today. If we really have too much to do, there are some items on the agenda which God did not put there. Let us submit the list to Him and ask Him to indicate which items we must delete. There is always time to do the will of God. If we are too busy to do that, we are too busy.”

“Work is a blessing. God has so arranged the world that work is necessary, and He gives us hands and strength to do it. The enjoyment of leisure would be nothing if we had only leisure. It is the joy of work well done that enables us to enjoy rest, just as it is the experiences of hunger and thirst that make food and drink such pleasures.” 

 “But the question to precede all others, which finally determines the course of our lives is, 'What do I really want?' Was it to love what God commands, in the words of the collect, and to desire what He promises? Did I want what I wanted, or did I want what He wanted, no matter what it might cost?” 

“God has promised to supply all our needs. What we don’t have now, we don’t need now.”

“Don’t dig up in doubt what you have planted in faith.”

 “The secret is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances.”

“When ours are interrupted, His are not. His plans are proceeding exactly as scheduled, moving us always (including those minutes or hours or years which seem most useless or wasted or unendurable).” 

"Leave it all in the hands that were wounded for you."



My New Year's Prayer



Thursday, December 24, 2015

A Christmas Prayer



Heavenly Father, our hearts are filled
With endless hope and joy,
As we celebrate the birth
Of a wondrous baby boy.
We also honor Mary,
Who faithfully agreed
To bear Your gift of Jesus,
So we sinners can be freed.
On bended knee we thank You,
Though words seem not enough
To express the praise that’s in our hearts,
For Your mercy, grace and love.
Amen
Patti J. Smith
12/24/15



Tuesday, December 15, 2015

A Trip Down Memory Lane



My husband and I were chatting the other night about our first jobs and how things have changed – not just salary-wise, but with the equipment used. For you youngsters who follow my blog, I’m sure you will be mortified at the prehistoric methods of accomplishing tasks “in my day”, as well as how much money I made.

My very first job (in high school) was babysitting two kids during the summer.  I was overjoyed with the $100 made from June through August. 

I waitressed and made a whopping $1.65 an hour plus tips (which at the time was usually around $2.00 per table if I was lucky – in fact, I waited on Leonard Nimoy and he left $3.00).

I worked as a secretary for an insurance company while in college and made $1.80 per hour. 

Before I started my government career, I was a keypunch operator and that was the beginning of “big money”.  I didn’t know how I was going to spend the monumental wage of $3.00 per hour. 

Believe it or not, all my jobs, except babysitting, of course, were above the minimum wage for the time. 


Now for the fun part.  Here is some of the equipment: 

























And to think I used to laugh at my parents when they spoke of how hard things were in "their day"! The cycle of life (and technology) continues!