We all make mistakes but the hard part is forgiving ourselves.
Forgive yourself
Jesus loves and forgives you
Jesus loves you
Jesus forgives you.
Keep hope alive.
Hang in there.
Don’t give up
This too shall pass.
I painted some hearts with these messages. I made some for Christian co-workers and some who prefer none religious messages.
I took them to work and left them in our break room. I am sorry that I didn’t have more wood hearts to paint but I am limited on my spending. I am hoping that someone smiled at the messages.
Very few of my coworkers took some of them. So, I took the remaining six to the laundromat. Hopefully someone there will want them.
Hope
I have been searching for something to be thankful for this week. Then, I thought of hope. I am thankful that I have hope.
I find a small amount of hope helps me to get the energy to do my housework. Yet, no hope leaves me watching YouTube videos or starring at walls hardly blinking.
Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. Anne LaMotta
God, I need hope for each day. You tell us to “pray for our daily bread.” Hope is as important to me as my daily bread. Without hope, I can do almost nothing. Without hope, I sleep too much and do nothing productive. Please supply me with the reassurance of your presence and a continual flow of hope. Amen
Thank You for the hope that You have given me throughout my life. Amen.
People would be better off without me
People would be better if I were dead. This thought ran through my head numerous times during high school. Since I couldn’t get along with my step-father, I made my mom and sister miserable.
If I kill myself, it will hurt my parents. This is another one of my high school thoughts. While I see now that they cancel each other out, I didn’t see it then.
This tombstone says, “There is no feet too small that it can not leave an imprint on this world.”
This saying is what reminded me of my past two thoughts. I found myself praying that I have left a positive impact on this world.
If you are having thoughts of suicide like I did in high school, please asked a friend, teacher, parent, couch, co-worker or a hotline volunteer for help. We all need to get help at times.
If you need help, please call 800-273-8255 (national suicide hotline) or visit your local hospital especially when you don’t trust yourself not to act on the thoughts.
Thanks for ?
Thank you, God, for this good life and forgive us if we do not love it enough. – Garrison Keillor
I can’t think of something to share for Thanksgiving Thursday. So, this quote fits today.
If you are keeping a gratitude journal but you can’t think of anything just skip that day. Forgive yourself and try again the next entry date.
Make a Difference Mondays
“Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day.” Sally Koch
I have always wanted to make a difference by helping others. I dreamed of being a missionary doctor or joining the Peace Corps. I wanted to be like a super hero and save the world. Maybe, I’d fly below a crashing plane and guide it in for a safe landing.
But, I am very ordinary. So, I am only able to make a difference in small ways.
On Sunday, I gave a neighbor a ride home from the laundromat. Tomorrow, I will working the polls for our primary elections.
What have you done to help someone in your family? Work place?
Vision boards
I love to do creative things. So, I have made two vision boards in my past.
The first one was made before 2008. My church had a visioning retreat for creating my Church’s mission statement. So, I created a mission statement and cut images from magazines to portray that statement.
I will seek a closer relationship with God through prayer, Bible Study and service to my fellowman.
There is a drawing of my church from one of our church flyers near the center top. Near the bottom is a drawing that a child drew me while I was volunteering at my local homeless shelter. I still have strong memories from that place even though I spent most of my time straightening the toy closet, donations in the basement or pots and pans in the kitchen cabinets.
I will seek to improve my relationships with others by listening to and spending time with my family, friends and others.
I am not going to share a picture of this part because I want to keep my family and friends private.
I will improve myself by continually seeking opportunities to learn from others and life situations.
The WCTC and my therapist on this part is how I know that this was before 2008. I graduated from WCTC in 2008.
I have kept the mission statement but selected more focused goals as the years went by. Here is another vision board focusing on yearly goals from before 2019.
That year, I wanted to learn Spanish, eat healthy, be able to climb a tree, write for money, God and fun, study the Bible, go on more mission trips with my new church and take lots of walks.
In 2020, I wrote some work goals but Covid-19 destroyed them. I didn’t even write any work goals for 2021.
What is your mission statement? My church at the time did a formula. The beginning of the statement starts with who we are. I dropped this part when I created my mission statement. The next part was the goal followed by how we will achieve the goal.
Have you created a vision board? If so, please share a picture or any thoughts about the experience.
I will do a review of how I am doing on these goals and share a more current vision board.
Sow a thought
Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an action and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny. William James (1842-1910)
Sow a thought, an action, habit, character…
Working hard can produce these great rewards. I like the above quote because it reminds me to keep working on building good habits. It also reminds me that good habits and character takes time just like growing crops.
I have been failing to build good habits in 2022. Yet, every month and day is a new chance to try again.
What new habit are you working on building into your days and months? How have you been doing on them?
Thanks for longer days
When it is five o’clock, it is not black outside now. This is a wonderful reminder that spring and hopefully better times are ahead.
I am also thankful that winter has been mild mostly this year.
What are you thankful for this week?
Thanks for my job and state protections
I have been working in a factory for two years. In November, we had a team meeting. I was expecting the meeting to be an update on the vaccine mandate. But, they announced that they will be closing our plant letter this year. I stood there with my mouth hanging open. I obsessed about the shocking news for days afterwards. They told us that we would receive a sixty days notice in advance of the lay offs.
When I researched lay offs online, I read that Wisconsin requires a sixty notice for mass lay offs and plant closures.
So, I am thankful that I have a job and that my state is looking out for me.