Food for Thought

I grew up with practical parents. A mother, God love her, who washed
aluminum foil after she cooked in it, then reused it. She was the original
recycle queen, before they had a name for it… A father who was happier
getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones.

Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived
barely a wave away.

I can see them now, Dad in trousers, tee shirt and a hat and Mom in a house
dress, lawn mower in one hand, and dish-towel in the other. It was the time
for fixing things.. A curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven
door, the hem in a dress. Things we keep.

It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy.. All that re-fixing,
eating, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence.
Throwing things away meant you knew there would always be more.

But then my mother died, and on that clear summer’s night, in the warmth of
the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes
there isn’t any more.

Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away…never to
return.. So… While we have it….. it’s best we love it…. And care for
it… And fix it when it’s broken……… And heal it when it’s sick.

This is true for marriage……. And old cars….. And children with bad
report cards….. And dogs with bad hips…. And aging parents….. And
grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth
it.
Some things we keep. Like a best friend that moved away or a classmate we
grew up with.

There are just some things that make life important, like people we know who
are special…….. And so, we keep them close!

I received this from someone who thinks I am a ‘keeper’, so I’ve sent it to
the people I think of in the same way… Now it’s your turn to send this to
those people that are “keepers” in your life. Good friends are like stars…
 You don’t always see them, but you know they are always there. Keep them
close!

TEN THINGS GOD WON’T ASK ON THAT DAY.

1…. God won’t ask what kind of car you drove. He’ll ask how many people
you drove who didn’t have transportation..

2…. God won’t ask the square footage of your house, He’ll ask how many
people you welcomed into your home.

3…. God won’t ask about the clothes you had in your closet, He’ll ask how
many you helped to clothe.

4… God won’t ask what your highest salary was. He’ll ask if you
compromised your character to obtain it.

5…. God won’t ask what your job title was. He’ll ask if you performed your
job to the best of your ability.

6… God won’t ask how many friends you had. He’ll ask how many people to
whom you were a friend.

7…. God won’t ask in what neighborhood you lived, He’ll ask how you
treated your neighbors.

8…. God won’t ask about the color of your skin, He’ll ask about the
content of your character.

9…. God won’t ask why it took you so long to seek Salvation. He’ll
lovingly take you to your mansion in heaven, and not to the gates of Hell.

10…. God won’t have to ask how many people you forwarded this to, He
already knows your decision.

Gilbert

Made In America

Americans are disillusioned! We are marketed to think that we are “all that” by the names we wear on our backs, arms and by what we drive although we really may not own a thing.  There was a time when we took prided in “Made in America” being displayed on our purchases, but not today. Being a small business owner, it never ceases to amaze me at the women/men who tout “I only wear designer this and that!” or I only shop here or there to assign their financial status as if this truly ranks us.

Ticket on the toll road – In April of 2011 I was in Florida travelling to my granddaughter’s funeral and rented a car. My  arrangements were made in Alabama along with my flight and hotel to take advantage of package savings. I am, by nature, having experienced hard times, not a careless person.  I read the small print at the airport rental booth offering me to purchase a $20.00 toll card to drive on .50 cent toll roads. Well, I drove on a total of 4 toll roads paying my $2.00 for certain. A month after, I notice on my American Express monthly statement a $25.00 toll booth ticket for non-payment. I would never, I mean never, drive through a toll both and not pay 0.50 cents. Why? I am a business owner, home owner, insurance paying, driver license owning American? I know the ticket agencies will penalize me for failure to pay. And I, being me, could use that $24.50 to buy something I could have and keep, not give for nothing.

Could America be in such debt that it has sold toll roads and a lot of its land? – Do you think it could it be a plot of our government to fine certain individuals that they think will not question, what they are be charged with? Yes! We do not know what we are dealing with or facing. America use to be the land of the free but no longer is it the land of the free unless it is in Christ and your YOU is fully grounded, spiritually.

A form of slavery – This is a very down economy and the employment/financial stability is certainly questionable for all of us. Working daily for companies, whose CEO and presidents we may never know but still we walk with out-stretched necks and speak with pride of working here or there but the truth be told, there is no promise. When the role is called for the last man working, your name may be the first to receive a pink slip. Know who provides your provision!!!

Just this evening, plowing through massive amounts of stuff I haven’t seen or used for months helped me realize just how unaware I am of how I respect what I have worked hard for (Money). I am imprisoned by the disarray of disorganization because of the lack of room I have to store (house) stuff I don’t need.  A part of the slavery I have bound myself in is not being my best me. Not being intentional with my choices. Daily I spend unnecessary time looking for things that are ill-fitting and unflattering mistakes I purchased out of habit or because I thought it was a sale I couldn’t turn down. It’s not a sale if you don’t need it, I can hear my husband saying. The merchant is happy I am sure, after all, he has my money, I have his clutter.

Master, Create, Build, Have – What are you the author of, what do you create, what do you really own? Do you search yourself deeply to find the core of the emotional attachment to the things you work your fingers to the bone for??? The day will come when the world as we see it today, will cease to exist and be no more. Man will not be able to buy or sell, then what? Where will you lay your head, where and who will you work for? Whose designer named apparel will you wear and speak of? Made in China, Japan?????? Where? And the MERCHANTS of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.  And the world will marvel at the world’s addiction to abundance and wax coldly.

Freedom – Get out of debt. Minimize your potential fall. Wear this world loosely and be not conformed to the things of this world. Only what we do for Christ will last and in the great getting up morning fair ye well!

Now Faith

As a married Christian business owner my daily walk with Christ is represented in how I trust God. In the past quarter, I opened a new business, The Crystal Chalet www.crystalchaletroom.com and it consumed all of my disposable cash and my husband invested quite a bit to. Normally in the summer, owning a retail body-care store, my sales decline as do the rest of the world’s. Our economic plummet,  also suggested that I should cut hours during those summer months and normally I do.

Well, this year I did not cut hours and I also spent the funds that I would have normally used as a cushion so I had to trust God. Monday morning having my normal chit-chat with my hubby he asked about my financial condition and admitted to me that if he was facing what he knew I was, my deficit would cause him great concern. I immediately told him that for me there was no place for that level of concern because I knew that I had to trust God. Not only did I start this new venture but families depend on my financial decisions for their livelihood so I trust God to be a part of our success.

Sunday as a part of my routine, I dialed my 1-800 banking norm and the numbers were not pretty. My faith kicked in over-drive because I knew that my online scheduled bill pay would just do it’s thing. God is a good God. I went to work and went about my day as normal except my level of expectancy was increased because I knew that it would take God to make up the shortage. God loves us so much and is so intimately aware of our needs and I was reminded of this so graciously when at the end of the day I had more than enough to cover my bill pay drafts but build my confidence even more. In the bible when it says that if we would use our God given talent, that they would make room for us, they will. I rejoice because I know that if I keep God first in everything that I do, He will cause the necessary increase, not just for me, but for all that trust him and obey.

Today I say; Yeah though I walk through the valley of death, evil and uncertainty, I will fear no evil or live in anxiety because I know that God is with ME! Again, this is Ms. Val and I approve this message!

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Your Thoughts Determine Your Destiny

Have you considered the thoughts you ponder regularly? What do you do with them? How are you influenced by your thoughts and have they turned in to actions?

My thoughts are a combination of things I have read, heard, saw, felt and tasted and how interpret those thoughts,  create actions. My thoughts have power and create energy that cause affect. Therefore, I must be in charge on my thoughts!!! It is the words I rehearse in my mind that control what I do and the outcome! So I am what I say.

Recently my thoughts are that I want to be on woman of God whose life  represents true Christianity and influence those around me. The essence of this thought is that it requires more than I sometimes am willing to commit to completely do on my own! Did you get that? On my own? I recognize that I am limited to how I can personally empower, myself and I need a real God to do the work for me. Every time I try to change myself, truthfully it is short-lived and that is because if I could make all the necessary changes needed, why would I need God?

I have self prodded, rehearsed, taken therapy, tried meditation….. and these things work, but only for a short time. What produces permanent change, is total surrender, prayer,  trusting and walking by faith knowing that God can and will do what needs to be done in me, completely.

How far have we gone?

My heart longs for the real truth of what Christianity is and should be. There is a lot of discussion and idea of how to obey the commandments of God and what that should mean to each of us. Recently I participated in a study with content rich data. The material was really excellent but it seems as if we as a people have gotten really off track.

From the beginning of creation,  it records the world as it was, the fall of mankind and God’s plan of redemption. How sad it is to see  how we forgotten the essence of this commitment.

If you could  imagine having the ability to form creation and cause life, then witness its daily deterioration, could you then  form a plan to redeem your creation? The inception of this thought would be an endless fight for mortals but Christ pressed forward agreeing to be the sacrifice for our sins that He did not commit and pay the ultimate price; death! What an amazing ordeal to undergo.

Fast forward the clock six thousand plus years to where we are today! We have fallen further from God than ever. We have also lost the true essence of present truth (right now) and been hoodwinked by the enemy. Certainly we have traded right for wrong and blindly said yes as if we have no redeemer, nor any idea of what the true requirement represents. Looking around the church is the representation of how far from Christ we have really fallen and the condition of the hearts of men.

We have traded our prophet and the power of God for idols, in things, prestige,  trinkets and material dressings that in essence are a representation of a form of godliness. Many of us are so trapped that we sacrifice our health in the face of false gain. We have given up the commandments for the freedom of what appears to be choice. After all, isn’t it my thing to do as I choose? How sad the reality……………..And for me, I am sorry to say that I too, bought in to this foolishness and it is hard because of the amount of self I have traded.

But there is an answer. What does the bible say? Why do we not recognize that we have been tricked by Satan? Could it be that we think it feels or looks so good and forgotten that the wages of sin; all sin, ultimately is death?

Hello Pretty Praying Women With Purpose

It’s your girl Valerie, better known as Ms. V to many. I started this particular blog as a part of my 2011 purposeful change. I have a lot of hot things going on and many friends, customers and clients often ask how it is that I am able to do all the things I do. On this blog I will detail what I am doing and offer tips to hopefully inspire you to find your passions and joy in the things you do so…I hope you will read and enjoy the blogs.

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