Our God Is Awesome

What an awesome and orderly GOD!!

God's accuracy may be observed in the hatching of eggs.

For example:
-the eggs of the potato bug hatch in 7 days;
-those of the canary in 14 days;
-those of the barnyard hen in 21 days;
-The eggs of ducks and geese hatch in 28 days;
-those of the mallard in 35 days;
-The eggs of the parrot and the ostrich hatch in 42 days.
(Notice, they are all divisible by seven, the number of days in a week!)

The lives of each of you may be ordered by the Lord in a beautiful way for His glory, if you will only entrust Him with your life. If you try to regulate your own life, it will only be a mess and a failure. Only the One Who made the brain and the heart can successfully guide them to a profitable end.

God's wisdom is seen in the making of an elephant. The four legs of this great beast all bend forward in the same direction. No other quadruped is so made. God planned that this animal would have a huge body, too large to live on two legs. For this reason He gave it four fulcrums so that it can rise from the ground easily.

The horse rises from the ground on its two front legs first. A cow rises from the ground with its two hind legs first. How wise the Lord is in all His works of creation!

God's wisdom is revealed in His arrangement of sections and segments, as well as in the number of grains.

-Each watermelon has an even number of strips on the rind.
-Each orange has an even number of segments.
-Each ear of corn has an even number of rows.
-Each stalk of wheat has an even number of grains.
-Every bunch of bananas has on its lowest row an even number of bananas, and each row decreases by one, so that one row has an even number and the next row an odd number.

-The waves of the sea roll in on shore twenty-six to the minute in all kinds of weather.

All grains are found in even numbers on the stalks, and the Lord specified thirty fold, sixty fold, and a hundredfold - all even numbers.

God has caused the flowers to blossom at certain specified times during the day, so that Linnaeus, the great botanist, once said that if he had a conservatory containing the right kind of soil, moisture and temperature, he could tell the time of day or night by the flowers that were open and those that were closed!

Thus the Lord in His wonderful grace can arrange the life that is entrusted to His care in such a way that it will carry out His purposes and plans, and will be fragrant with His presence.

Only the God-planned safe life is successful. Only the life given over to the care of the Lord is fulfilled.

I think a lot about God and what his plans are for me. I ask why or why not a lot of times.

I tell him I need this and want this . . . at times I think he gives us just enough to survive - he gives us what we need - in his own timing.

Life can be hard, but God is always good.

I do know this, God was sure busy creating Alaska.
Chatty

Confucius say - Where ever you go - go with all your heart.

"Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart." ~ Confucius

"Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it," observed the sage who believed with the proper models, every person could find goodness and balance.

Alaska is where I went. Can you believe it? I have to tell you that I didn't have high expectations about Alaska. I believed it was cold. The summers too light the winters too dark. Not true.

Now one reason I picked Alaska was that I wanted to get far away from Georgia. I flew alone. I needed to do something alone, away from family and friends - to see more of who I was. I had never ever done something like this before.

Guess it was my blooming if you will - because staying in the 'bud' was getting entirely too painful. My son and his wife had gone to Alaska a couple of years ago and I went to a lot of the places they did - and more. So I had help from people on where to go.

I sure learned some history about Alaska! Everyone knew the history of Alaska if they lived there - they had a real 'state pride' if you will - and they were more than willing to share it. Plus all the tour trips I went on shared a lot of history as well. Some tour operators were better than others. Some were fabulous - some were not. None the less - I lost my heart there. I would have never believed it possible or imaginable.

So for the next few weeks I'm going to debrief myself and share about Alaska on my Blog. It will be a good way to make a journal for myself. I'm having trouble starting because well one, I'm busy since I got back and secondly, I have all this information running around in my head and it's hard to know where to start.

Music has always been an integral part of my life. I heard this song by Keith Urban (who I love) - it's brand new and I could not help but think of Alaska and all the gelato ice cream I had (lol).
The timing seems to be amazing for me.

Hope you enjoy the song. See below. Chatty

Vacations

My grandson on his vacation at Myrtle Beach.

The following is taken From Daily Celebrations - about Anais Nin - a painfully honest woman.

"My ideas usually come not at the desk writing but in the midst of living." ~ Anais Nin

French writer Anais Nin (1903-1977) began her famous diaries on this day in 1914 when her father, a Spanish concert pianist, left the family for another woman.

"The role of the writer is not to say what we can all say, but what we are unable to say," she said.

Her diaries were sorrowful letters to her absent father, a literary exploration of self and creation of feminine identity.

The first diary was published in 1966 and spanned the years from 1914-1974. She wrote 35,000 pages in 150 volumes. "I write emotional algebra," Nin observed in 1946.

Writer Henry Miller, her mentor and lover, called the diaries "a 20- year struggle toward self-realization... Each line is pregnant with a soul struggle."

The erotica of her voluminous writings was not something ladies talked or wrote about. Passionate and explicit, Nin delved candidly into her voyage of self-discovery as an artist and believed a woman's dreams were the source of nourishment. She launched Gemor Press and self-published her own novels and short stories.

"To write is to descend, to excavate, to go underground," she explained. As she searched to understand the forces within, she created an inner person she named Linotte: "impossible and must be hidden, hidden."

She gave voice to feminine perception. Writer Lynn Sukenick explained, "Nin's diaries are books of wisdom which have elevated their author to the status of sage and have had a healing effect on many of her readers."

About perceptions, Nin wrote, "We don't see things as they are. We see them as we are."
~~Live passionately so you have a tale to tell.
dailycelebrations@yahoogroups.com; on behalf of; _lei_aloha [leialoha@dailycelebrations.com

I love Anais Nin and this is my favorite quote:

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”

I believe I blossomed on my trip and I'll start sharing it with you later this week. The state was wonderful and the people I met - totally awesome.

Now my daughter and grandson went to Myrtle Beach. I went on my vacation the opposite direction. Went to a different ocean entirely. Not Norway or Switzerland. It was in the USA. I'm getting my pictures ready.

My grandson and daughter at Myrtle Beach.
Love, Chatty

To be busy or not to be busy - that is the question.

I'm back and unpacking today - trying to do it slowly, without stress. I did some thinking about 'this topic' when I was gone on what shall I call my spiritual journey.

Beware the barrenness of a busy life. Vs. Doing absolutely nothing. Are they totally opposite?

I know some people who are workaholics - it can be with their jobs, in their personal lives, anywhere - people who run around and don't take time to breathe and relax and see the beauty of life or take time for other people.

There are other people who try (?) to do nothing and they are so busy trying to do nothing that it can obsess their mind - they still aren't really relaxing and seeing the beauty of life or taking time for other people.

Opposite sides of the same coin.

And a third type person - one who can't see who they are - another story - the avoider of life.

I find for me there must be that balance of work and rest. I try to make sure that I live in a balanced life, but after this trip I am going to make darn sure that I carve out some time for myself to meditate and breathe, make an effort to talk to to a friend, do something that makes me stop and realize that I am alive. It does feel good to feel I've found out.

Ecclesiastes 3
A Time for Everything

1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

So my gift to you today was this blog and this video - it is breath taking and I am going to watch it again myself. Stop - take a couple minutes - ENJOY it - and tell someone you care.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mass74ZgGS4&feature=email

Chatty Crone

So where did I go? I'll give you a hint for a couple of days while I get my head together.This place sells more ice cream in the winter than any other city in the USA. My personal favorite type of ice cream is Gelato and they had a lot of that there too. Where did I go?

Deep Love

Deep Love

You cannot reach deeper within another than you reach in your own self.

If you love yourself for your achievements, your current assets, the way you do things and handle the world -- and despise yourself for failure in the same -- it follows that your relationship with another will also be transient and superficial.

To achieve deep and lasting love of another person, you need to first experience the depth within yourself -- an inner core that doesn't change with time or events.

If it is the true essence, it is an essence shared by the other person as well, and deep love becomes unavoidable.

Love,

Chatty

Whispers

Whispers Click here

Love, Chatty

Creat your own poetry.

"You will not find poetry anywhere unless you bring some of it with you."– Joseph Joubert

Chatty

Perks of being older . . .

Someone had to remind me, so I'm reminding you too.
Don't laugh.....it is all true...
Perks of reaching 50 or being over 60 and heading towards 70! or even 80!

01. Kidnappers are not very interested in you.
02. In a hostage situation you are likely to be released first.
03. No one expects you to run--anywhere.
04. People call at 9 pm and ask, did I wake you?
05. People no longer view you as a hypochondriac.
06. There is nothing left to learn the hard way.
07. Things you buy now won't wear out.
08. You can eat supper at 4 pm.
09. You can live without sex but not your glasses.
10. You get into heated arguments about pension plans.
11. You no longer think of speed limits as a challenge.
12. You q uit trying to hold your stomach in no matter who walks into the room.
13. You sing along with elevator music.
14. Your eyes won't get much worse.
15. Your investment in health insurance is finally beginning to pay off.
16. Your joints are more accurate than meteorologists at the national weather service.
17. Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can't remember them either.
18. Your supply of brain cells is finally down to manageable size.
19. You can't remember who sent you this list!

Love, Chatty

Milestones or Moments?

Life isn't a matter of milestones, but moments. ~Rose Kennedy

Enjoy them all!

Chatty

Little Things to Help You Succeed In Life

Little Things to Help You Succeed in Life

While some people face life-changing events, most of what defines and redefines us as people is not the stuff of big-budget epic movies, but rather the boring, mundane stuff of everyday life.

How can we grab hold of those little things that say so much about who we are -- and use them to move us closer to who we want to be? We have to go through an ongoing process that involves:

1. Discovery

The key to change in your life -- and really, the key to satisfaction as well -- is self-knowledge. Take some time to go over and record the moments that reflect problems you’re dealing with, as well as the moments that are typically “you.” The idea is to see patterns emerge. These patterns will be the grist for your analytical mill in the next stage.

2. Analysis

Look at your inventory of “totally you” moments -- what do they say about who you are? Now, who do you want to be? What’s meaningful for you, what values do you want to realize in your daily life?

3. Intention

At this point, it’s time to think about change: what do you intend to do about all this? The trick here is to be positive, not negative. It’s important that you find the motivation and intention within yourself if you’re to make real change that sticks. Doing things because you know others think they’re what you should do, or worse, to “show them,” might get a short-term shift out of you, but over the long term isn’t likely to be very satisfying -- or self-sustaining.

Personal change is hard, and harder still because there’s so much little stuff going on in our lives that all push and pull us in different directions. Which is precisely why it’s so important to pay attention to the little things, no matter how trivial they might seem.

Sources:

Lifehack November 5, 2008

Don't brood

On no account brood over your wrongdoing. Rolling in the muck is not the best way of getting clean.-Aldous Huxley

Love,
Chatty

Act as if the whole world were watching . . .

"Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching." ~ Thomas Jefferson

Love,

Chatty

The Art of Now - Six Steps to Living In The Moment

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20081027-000001.xml

This is a great article I read in a doctor's office while waiting. It talks about the six steps you can take to start to live in the new.

I thought it was great and wanted to share it with you.

You are Not Your Thoughts
1 To improve your performance, stop thinking about it (unselfconsciousness)
2 To avoid worrying about the future, focus on the present (savoring)
3 If you want a future with your significant other, inhabit the present (breathe)
4 To make the most if time lose track of it (flow)
5 If something is bothering you, move forward toward it rather than away from it (acceptance)
6 Know that you don't know (engagement)

Hope you read it and enjoy it.

Love,
Chatty

Confessions of a Late Bloomer

A also read this. It is an article that talks about late Bloomers. My grandson is a late bloomer. I worry and pray about that all the time.

They put so much pressure and stress on the kids and I just have to believe in the end everything will be okay.

This article gave me some hope. There are some pretty smart cookies out there that have bloomed 'late'.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20081027-000002.xml

Love,
Chatty

What Women Want In A Man

What Women Want In A Man"

Original List (age 22):

1. Handsome
2. Charming
3. Financially successful
4. A caring listener
5. Witty
6. In good shape
7. Dresses with style
8. Appreciates finer things
9. Full of thoughtful surprises
10. An imaginative, romantic lover


Revised List (age 32):

1. Nice looking (prefer hair on his head)
2. Opens car doors, holds chairs
3. Has enough money for a nice dinner
4. Listens more than talks
5. Laughs at my jokes
6. Carries bags of groceries with ease
7. Owns at least one tie
8. Appreciates a good home-cooked meal
9. Remembers birthdays and anniversaries
10. Seeks romance at least once a week


Revised List (age 42):

1. Not too ugly (bald head OK)
2. Doesn't drive off until I'm in the car
3. Works steady -- splurges on dinner out occasionally
4. Nods head when I'm talking
5. Usually remembers punch lines of jokes
6. Is in good enough shape to rearrange the furniture
7. Wears a shirt that covers his stomach
8. Knows not to buy champagne with screw-top lids
9. Remembers to put the toilet seat down
10. Shaves most weekends


Revised List (age 52):

1. Keeps hair in nose and ears trimmed
2. Doesn't belch or scratch in public
3. Doesn't borrow money too often
4. Doesn't nod off to sleep when I'm venting
5. Doesn't re-tell the same joke too many times
6. Is in good enough shape to get off couch on
weekends
7. Usually wears matching socks and fresh underwear
8. Appreciates a good TV dinner
9. Remembers my name on occasion
10. Shaves some weekends


Revised List (age 62):

1. Doesn't scare small children
2. Remembers where bathroom is
3. Doesn't require much money for upkeep
4. Only snores lightly when asleep
5. Remembers why he's laughing
6. Is in good enough shape to stand up by himself
7. Usually wears clothes
8. Likes soft foods
9. Remembers where he left his teeth
10. Remembers that it's the weekend


Revised List (age 72):

1. Breathing
2. Doesn't miss the toilet

Love,
Chatty

Ram Dass - Still Here - Embracing Aging, Changing, and Dying

I read this book as I was trying to study some different practices of meditation.

Ram Dass - Still Here - Embracing Change---

Some thoughts I liked in the this book:

Healing is not curing. Page 5

I'm still learning to be here now. page 7

I saw I had a choice, to change my mind of stop living. page 34

Learn to feel what is, without taking on the suffering. page 42

There is a big difference between being lonely and being alone. Loneliness is an affair of the Ego. Being alone can be a moment for the Soul. It is necessary to be a lone to have the time to be quiet, to meditate, to get to know ourselves. Being alone is an opportunity. page 43

Loss of Role/Meaning
It is important that we not wait until we find ourselves at such an impasse before seeking an alternative means of confronting our aging years. page 48

When we cease to resist our grief, for example, we learn that, painful though it may be, grief is an integral part of elder wisdom, a force that humbles and deepens our hearts, connects us to the fired of the world, and enables us to be of help. page 50

Age is an opportunity for considering questions like "What am I doing here? What has this all been about? page 53

Facing Fear:
In a calm moment, allow yourself to consider the list of the most common fears and challenges facing us as we grow older, from the usual suspects, to things like abandonment, death . . . page 53

We must be willing to look at everything - our own suffering as well as the suffering around us-without averting our gaze, and allow to be in the present moment. Rather than closing our mind to fear, we learn to open it, to sit with it, allowing it to arise and pass in its own time. page 54

If I Had My Life Over - I'd Pick More Daisies
Nadine Stair
If I had my life to live over, I'd dare to make more mistakes next time. I'd relax, I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat more ice cream and less beans. I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I'd have fewer imaginary ones.

You see, I'm one of those people who lived sensibly and sanely, hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I've had my moments, and if I had to do it over again, I'd have more of them. In fact, I'd try to have nothing else. Just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead of each day. I've been one of those persons who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat and a parachute. If I had to do it again, I would travel lighter than I have.

If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I would pick more daisies. Page 105-106

I love that poem. I am also reminded that we cannot live life over -so I must try to live it 'right' as I go along.

Chatty

Don Herold - If I Had My Life To Live Over

"Don Herold
Of course, you can't unfry an egg, but there is no law against thinking about it.

If I had my life to live over, I would try to make more mistakes. I would relax. I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I know of very few things that I would take seriously. I would be less hygienic. I would go more places. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat more ice cream and less bran.

I would have more actual troubles and fewer imaginary troubles. You see, I have been one of those fellows who live prudently and sanely, hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I have had my moments. But if I had it to do over again, I would have more of them - a lot more. I never go anywhere without a thermometer, a gargle, a raincoat and a parachute. If I had it to do over, I would travel lighter.

It may be too late to unteach an old dog old tricks, but perhaps a word from the unwise may be of benefit to a coming generation. It may help them to fall into some of the pitfalls I have avoided.

If I had my life to live over, I would pay less attention to people who teach tension. In a world of specialization we naturally have a super abundance of individuals who cry at us to be serious about their individual specialty. They tell us we must learn Latin or History; otherwise we will be disgraced and ruined and flunked and failed. After a dozen or so of these protagonists have worked on a young mind, they are apt to leave it in hard knots for life. I wish they had sold me Latin and History as a lark.

I would seek out more teachers who inspire relaxation and fun. I had a few of them, fortunately, and I figure it was they who kept me from going entirely to the dogs. From them I learned how to gather what few scraggly daisies I have gathered along life's cindery pathway.

If I had my life to live over, I would start barefooted a little earlier in the spring and stay that way a little later in the fall. I would play hooky more. I would shoot more paper wads at my teachers. I would have more dogs. I would keep later hours. I'd have more sweethearts. I would fish more. I would go to more circuses. I would go to more dances. I would ride on more merry-go-rounds. I would be carefree as long as I could, or at least until I got some care- instead of having my cares in advance.

More errors are made solemnly than in fun. The rubs of family life come in moments of intense seriousness rather that in moments of light-heartedness. If nations - to magnify my point - declared international carnivals instead of international war, how much better that would be!

G.K. Chesterton once said, "A characteristic of the great saints is their power of levity. Angels can fly because they can take themselves lightly. One 'settles down' into a sort of selfish seriousness; but one has to rise to a gay self-forgetfulness. A man falls into a 'brown study'; he reaches up at a blue sky."

In a world in which practically everybody else seems to be consecrated to the gravity of the situation, I would rise to glorify the levity of the situation. For I agree with Will Durant that "gaiety is wiser than wisdom."

I doubt, however, that I'll do much damage with my creed. The opposition is too strong. There are too many serious people trying to get everybody else to be too darned serious."

Love,
Chatty

Toes by the Zack Brown Band

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPMpOrF66UE&feature=email



Artist: Zac Brown Band
Song: Toes
Album: The Foundation Zac Brown Band Sheet Music
Zac Brown Band CDs

I got my toes in the water, ass in the sand

Not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand

Life is good today. Life is good today.


Well, the plane touched down just about 3 o'clock

And the city's still on my mind

Bikinis and palm trees danced in my head

I was still in the baggage line

Concrete and cars are there own prison bars like this life I'm living in

But the plane brought me farther.

I'm surrounded by water

And I'm not going back again


I got my toes in the water, ass in the sand

Not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand

Life is good today. Life is good today.


Adios and vaya con dios

Yeah I'm leaving GA

And if it weren't for tequila and pretty senoritas

I'd have no reason to stay

Adios and vaya con dios

Yeah I'm leaving GA

Gonna lay in the hot sun and roll a big fat one

And grab my guitar and play


Four days flew by like a drunk Friday night as the summer drew to an end

They couldn't believe that I just couldn't leave

And I bid adieu to my friends

Because my bartender she's from the islands

Her body's been kissed by the sun

And coconut replaces the smell of the bar and I don't know if its her or the rum


I got my toes in the water, ass in the sand

Not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand

Life is good today. Life is good today.


Adios and vaya con dios

A long way from the lake

Its where all the muchachas they call me "big poppa" when I throw pesos their way

Adios and vaya con dios

A long way from GA

Someone do me a favor and pass me the Jaeger

And I'll grab my guitar and play


Adios and vaya con dios

Going home now to stay

The senoritas don't care-o when there's no dinero

You got no money to stay

Adios and vaya con dios

Going home now to stay


With my ass in a lawn chair

And toes in the clay

Not a worry in the world a PBR on the way

Life is good today. Life is good today.


Just a fun song I just heard. And I'm getting ready to go on vacation this week - leaving good ole Georgia for a few days. Thought it was fun.

Love,
Chatty

Daily Celebrations

This is from Daily Celebrations - I thought it was kind of interesting - if I can say one thing for George - she was an irregular woman!

"There is only one happiness in life: to love and be loved." ~ George Sand (a woman)

Born on July 1st, independent woman George Sand (1804-1876), born Amandine Aurore Lucile Dupin to an aristocratic Parisian family, did the unthinkable in her time: she claimed her equality, took on a man's name, and left a loveless marriage to pursue her dreams to write.

"We cannot tear out a single page of our life," she observed, "but we can throw the whole book in the fire."

A bold and dynamic woman, she had open love affairs, famous ones with composer Frederic Chopin and poet Alfred de Musset. She cross-dressed, smoked a pipe, and said with brutal honesty, "Man. . . is only too glad to have woman hold strictly to the Christian principle of suffering in silence."

Biographer Rene Doumic called the courageous Sand "a genius...and daughter of Rousseau,"and celebrated Sand's spirit as "vibrating with every breath, electrified by every storm, she (Sand) looked up at every cloud behind which she fancied she saw a star shining."

An inspiration to writers Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Virginia Woolf, Victor Hugo, and others, Sand's prolific career included over 100 novels, plays, and essays, including her famous novel, Lelia (1833).

"It is a mistake to regard age as a downhill grade toward dissolution. The reverse is true. As one grows older one climbs with surprising strides," she remarked. "

By:_lei_aloha [_lei_aloha@yahoo.com)

Now, I'm not agreeing totally with the only happiness in life is love and being loved - although that is nice, but you have to admit she's a heck of a woman and trail blazer. . .

Chatty

Adam's greatest challenge

Adam's Challenge
----------------

Adam was the direct handiwork of God.

No other human being could ever be as magnificent.

Yet he had only one temptation to resist and he gave in.

Which teaches us that the greatest challenges in life are those that are closest to your purpose of being.

To the point that if you wish to know your central purpose in life, you need only look at where your greatest challenges are.

Love,

Chatty