May 10, 2015

Mom's Love!


This is the first Mother's Day since my Mom died last year & I want to honor her caring love for me by enjoying the animal kingdom displaying a mum's love along with quotes that remind us of the vital role of a mother!


"A mother’s love grows by giving." ― Charles Lamb


"Motherhood doesn't have a nationality." ― Melinda Cross


"The phrase "working mother" is redundant." ― Jane Sellmans


"The best academy, a mother's knee." ― James Russell Lowell


"An ounce of mother is worth a ton of priest." ― Spanish Proverb


"Men are what their mothers made them." ― Ralph Waldo Emerson


"The mother's heart is the child's schoolroom." ― Henry Ward Beecher


"Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother." ― Lin Yutang


"Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother." ― Oprah Winfrey


"A mother is a mother still, the holiest thing alive." ― Samuel Taylor Coleridge


"All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother." ― Abraham Lincoln


"Mother is far too clever to understand anything she does not like." ― Arnold Bennett


"The only thing a lawyer won't question is the legitimacy of his mother." ― W. C. Fields


"My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it." ― Mark Twain


"A mother’s arms are made of tenderness & children sleep soundly in them." ― Victor Hugo


"Mother’s love is peace. It need not be acquired, it need not be deserved." ― Erich Fromm


"All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his." ― Oscar Wilde


"Whatever else is unsure in this stinking dunghill of a world, a mother's love is not." ― James Joyce


"The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother." ― Theodore Hesburgh


"Mom — the person most likely to write an autobiography & never mention herself." ― Robert Brault


"Mother is the name for GOD in the lips & hearts of little children." ― William Makepeace Thackeray


"A mother is not a person to lean on but a person to make leaning unnecessary." ― Dorothy Canfield Fisher


"To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power." ― Maya Angelou


"Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible." — Marion C. Garretty


"When you look into your mothers eyes, you know that is the purest love you can find on this earth." — Mitch Albom


"Motherhood is like Albania ― you can't trust the descriptions in the books, you have to go there." ― Marni Jackson


"The tie which links mother & child is of such pure & immaculate strength as to be never violated." ― Washington Irving


"A mother is she who can take the place of all others but whose place no one else can take." ― Cardinal Mermillod


"A man never sees all that his mother has been to him until it's too late to let her know that he sees it." ― W. D. Howells


"The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness." ― Honore' de Balzac


"Youth fades; love droops; the leaves of friendship fall; A mother’s secret hope outlives them all." ― Oliver Wendell Holmes


"I remember my mother's prayers & they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life." ― Abraham Lincoln


"Motherhood: The most exhausting, emotional, rewarding & life-enhancing journey a woman can take." ― Charlotte Pearson


"I love my mother as the trees love water & sunshine — she helps me grow, prosper, & reach great heights." ― Terri Guillemets


"There is an instinct in a woman to love most her own child — & an instinct to make any child who needs her love, her own." ― Robert Brault



"How beautifully everything is arranged by Nature; as soon as a child enters the world, it finds a mother ready to take care of it." ― Jules Michelet



"Mothers all want their sons to grow up to be president, but they don't want them to become politicians in the process." ― John Fitzgerald Kennedy


"Grown don't mean nothing to a mother. A child is a child. They get bigger, older, but grown. In my heart it don't mean a thing." ― Toni Morrison


"Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard & planted by the water; it was fruitful & full of branches because of abundant water." — EZEKIEL 19:10


"What is more powerful than the love of a mother? Perhaps only GOD's hand in answering her earnest pleadings on your behalf." ― Richelle E. Goodrich


"By & large, mothers & housewives are the only workers who do not have regular time off. They are the great vacation-less class." ― Anne Morrow Lindbergh


"A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie." — Tenneva Jordan


"Education commences at the mother's knee, & every word spoken within hearsay of little children tends toward the formation of character." ― Hosea Ballou


"A mother's love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity. It dares all things & crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path." ― Agatha Christie


"Over the years I have learned that motherhood is much like an austere religious order, the joining of which obligates one to relinquish all claims to personal possessions." ― Nancy Stahl


"The commonest fallacy among women is that simply having children makes one a mother — which is as absurd as believing that having a piano makes one a musician." ― Sydney J. Harris


"When I was a child, my mother said to me, 'If you become a soldier, you'll be a general. If you become a monk you'll end up as the pope.' Instead I became a painter & wound up as Picasso." ― Pablo Picasso


"A woman has two smiles that an angel might envy, the smile that accepts a lover before words are uttered, & the smile that lights on the first born babe, & assures it of a mother's love." ― Thomas C. Haliburton


"My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual & physical education I received from her." ― George Washington


"Most of all the other beautiful things in life come by twos & threes, by dozens & hundreds. Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows, brothers & sisters, aunts & cousins, comrades & friends — but only one mother in the whole world." ― Kate Douglas Wiggin


"No language can express the power, & beauty, & heroism, & majesty of a mother’s love. It shrinks not where man cowers, & grows stronger where man faints, & over wastes of worldly fortunes sends the radiance of its quenchless fidelity like a star." ― Edwin Hubbell Chapin



"A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, heavy & sudden, fall upon us when adversity takes the place of prosperity, when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine, desert us when troubles thicken around us, still will she cling to us, & endeavor by her kind precepts & counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, & cause peace to return to our hearts." ― Washington Irving


I thank the LORD for my birth mother who I've never met because without you putting me up for adoption, I would not have enjoyed a lifetime with my mother whose parenting prepared me to be a house parent at GAP Ministries in Oro Valley, Arizona!


¡Pura Vida!


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April 30, 2015

Dare To Be!


When a new day begins, dare to smile gratefully. 

When there is darkness, dare to be the first to shine a light. 

When there is injustice, dare to be the first to condemn it. 

When something seems difficult, dare to do it anyway. 

When life seems to beat you down, dare to fight back. 

When there seems to be no hope, dare to find some. 

When you're feeling tired, dare to keep going. 

When times are tough, dare to be tougher. 

When love hurts you, dare to love again. 

When someone is hurting, dare to help them heal. 

When another is lost, dare to help them find the way. 

When a friend falls, dare to be the first to extend a hand. 

When you cross paths with another, dare to make them smile. 

When you feel great, dare to help someone else feel great too. 

When the day has ended, dare to feel as you've done your best. 

Dare to be the best you can. 

At all times, Dare to be! 

By Steve Maraboli 



April 5, 2015

An Arizona SONrise!

An awesome Arizona sunrise reminds me of a SONrise that is spectacular!


Miami Marine Stadium on Virginia Key in Miami, Florida was originally built for powerboat racing but the memory I will cherish forever was an  Easter Sunrise Service only a few months before Hurricane Andrew in 1992. As the group Truth sang "Holy of Holies" the sun began rising over Biscayne Bay filling the sky with unforgettable colors.


"Watch the Lamb" by Ray Boltz fills my heart & spirit with tears of gratitude for all that JESUS has done for me & for you!



Daisy's Song" by Dominic Balli expresses beautifully the love JESUS has for you & for me!


"Peace on Earth" by New Zealand's Parachute Band will happen if we allow JESUS to be the Peace in us!

"Let the peace of CHRIST rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful." — COLOSSIANS 3:15


"Que la paz de CRISTO reine en vuestros corazones, a la cual en verdad fuisteis llamados en un solo cuerpo; y sed agradecidos." — COLOSENSES 3:15


If we are able to live the truths of "Devoted" by Mynista our journey will be filled with Faith, Hope, Joy, Love, & Peace which will keep us refreshed emotionally, mentally, physically, & spiritually to complete the things that HE created for you & me to do!


"For we are GOD's workmanship, created in CHRIST JESUS to do good works, which GOD prepared in advance for us to do." — EPHESIANS 2:10


"Somos hechura de Dios, creados en Cristo Jesús para hacer las buenas obras, que Dios preparó de antemano para que anduviésemos en ellas." — EFESIOS 2:10


"Step by Step" by Rich Mullins is an awesome way to end this entry & I hope you have been blessed & encouraged.



As we each continue on our own personal journeys, may we be aware that something as simple as a smile or a pat on the back may be just what someone needs & that means you & I are literally how the LORD chooses to express HIS love to others by JESUS loving people through you & me!

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February 3, 2015

The Road of Life


At first, I saw GOD as my observer, my judge, keeping track of the things I did wrong, so as to know whether I merited heaven or hell when I die. HE was out there sort of like a president. I recognized HIS picture when I saw it, but I really didn't know HIM.

But later on when I met CHRIST it seemed as though life were rather like a bike ride, but it was a tandem bike, & I noticed that CHRIST was in the back helping me pedal. I don't know just when it was that HE suggested we change places, but life has not been the same since.


When I had control, I knew the way. It was rather boring, but predictable ... It was the shortest distance between two points.



But when HE took the lead, HE knew delightful long cuts, up mountains, & through rocky places at breakneck speeds, it was all I could do to hang on! Even though it looked like madness, HE said, "Pedal!" 



I worried & was anxious & asked, "Where are You taking me?" HE laughed & didn't answer, & I started to learn to trust.


I forgot my boring life & entered into the adventure. And when I'd say, "I'm scared," HE'd lean back & touch my hand.


HE took me to people with gifts that I needed, gifts of healing, acceptance & joy. They gave me gifts to take on my journey, my LORD's & mine.


And we were off again. HE said, "Give the gifts away; they're extra baggage, too much weight." So I did, to the people we met, & I found that in giving I received, & still our burden was light. 



I did not trust HIM, at first, in control of my life. I thought HE'd wreck it; but HE knows bike secrets, knows how to make it bend to take sharp corners, knows how to jump to clear high rocks, knows how to fly to shorten scary passages. 


And I am learning to shut up & pedal in the strangest places, & I'm beginning to enjoy the view & the cool breeze on my face with my delightful constant companion, JESUS CHRIST.


And when I'm sure I just can't do anymore, HE just smiles & says ... "Pedal."

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June 24, 2014

Dead Duck


A woman brought a very limp duck into a veterinary office. As she lay her pet on the table, the vet pulled out his stethoscope & listened to the bird's chest. After a moment or two, the vet shook his head sadly & said, "I'm so sorry, your duck has passed away."

"Are you sure?" the distressed owner wailed. "Yes, I am sure the duck is dead" he replied. "How can you be so sure, I mean you haven't done any testing on him or anything. He might just be in a coma or something." The vet rolled his eyes, turned around & left the room, & returned a few moments later with a black Labrador Retriever.


As the duck's owner looked on in amazement, the dog stood on his hind legs, put his front paws on the examination table & sniffed the duck from top to bottom. He then looked at the vet with sad eyes & shook his head. The vet patted the dog & took it out, & returned a few moments later with a cat.


The cat jumped up on the table & also sniffed delicately at the bird. The cat sat back on its haunches, shook its head, meowed softly & strolled out of the room. The vet looked at the woman & said, "I'm sorry, but as I said, this is most definitely, 100% certifiably, a dead duck."

The vet turned to his computer terminal, hit a few keys & produced a bill which he handed to the woman. The duck's owner, still in shock, took the bill. "$850!" she cried. "$850 just to tell me my duck is dead?"


The vet shrugged. "I'm sorry, if you'd taken my word for it, the bill would have been $20, but with the Lab Report & the Cat Scan it's now "$850!"

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