For Friday, March 8th, 2013

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE

March 8th, 2013

12 DAYS UNTIL SPRING

If you can't see the Bright Side, polish the dull side

It's FRIDAY

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

Each year around the world, International Women's Day is celebrated on March 8th. It is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future.  Encouraging women to honor their mothers, daughters, sisters, friends and all the amazing women in their lives. 

There is a great line of women stretching out behind you into the past, and you have to seek them out and find them in yourself and be conscious of them. 

 Doris Lessing

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

Sooner or later we all discover that the important moments in life are not the advertised ones, not the birthdays, the graduations, the weddings, not the greatgoals achieved. The real milestones are less prepossessing. They come to the door of memory.

Susan B. Anthony

I am a woman and today is my day!  It's a day that comes around each and every year and it's a day I'm officially one year older than I was yesterday.  This is supposed to be a great year for me. My mom always told me that it is after you hit 70 that it all goes down hill.  Next year I'll turn 70, so this year should still be a good one!  

Of course none of us knows at all, one day from the next, just what might lie ahead, so for today, I'm going to celebrate and enjoy!

I hope you all have a fantastic Friday!  I will !

PRAYER REQUEST

Please join me in praying for DS#3 as he is suffering from Shingles right now.  It's a very unpleasant thing to have and I'm praying for a speedy recovery for him. 

PRIORITY FOR TODAY:

It's important to have a twinkle in your wrinkle.  

Author Unknown

Old Age, I decided, is a gift.

I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometime despair over my body, the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the sagging butt. And often I am taken aback by that old person that lives in my mirror (who looks like my mother!), but I don’t agonize over those things for long.

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I’ve aged, I’ve become more kind to myself, and less critical of myself. I’ve become my own friend.

I don’t chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn’t need, but looks so avant garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don’t question myself anymore. I’ve even earned the right to be wrong.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging. Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon?

I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 50, 60, & 70?s, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love .. I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set . They, too, will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody’s beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

So to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever. But while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day (If I feel like it!).

Author Unknown

COUNTING MY GIFTS

A birthday is just the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun.  Enjoy the trip.  

Author Unknown

I am trying to count at least 3 things I'm thankful for each day and then in 1 year's time I'll have counted 1000 gifts.

I’ll be sharing them and giving thanks to God for these gifts each day,

339.  for another wonderful year of life to celebrate

340.  for birthday greetings from near and far

341. for a cake without candles, I hope!

Enter into His courts with thanksgiving — and in His presence is fullness of Joy!

PRAYER FOR OUR TROOPS

Please pray for God's protection of

our troops and HIS wisdom for their

commanders.

Lord, hold our troops in

your loving hands.

Protect them as they protect us.

Bless them and their families for the

selfless acts they perform for us

in our time of need. I ask this in the

name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

AND bless our Police Officers, Firefighters

and Paramedics and EMT's

GOD BLESS YOU !

We turn not older with years, but newer every day. 

 Emily Dickinson

A little smile, a word of cheer,
A bit of love from someone dear…

Love,

ma