Monday, December 27, 2004

Loss, Grief & Christ's Strength

by Donna L. Watkins
Originally Published in A Healing Moment

People all over the world are grieving due to some loss in their life. Grief will break down a body! David says, in Psalm 31:10, "My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my guilt, and my bones grow weak."

I think the loss is always there when you lose somebody. I lost my parents within five months of each other and I still miss them. My Mother died Christmas Eve 1985 and my Daddy, June 4, 1986 (a day after his 76th birthday).

The next month my husband was given the choice to lie or leave at his job. He left. I couldn't find what life meant at that time and my health quickly followed my thought life. I spent six months on the couch barely being able to lift my arm. I spent the next 14 years with burned out adrenals and fibromyalgia.

The past can really take it's toll on you if you don't take the toll on the past. The devil tends to whisper in my ear things that would want me to feel guilty and awful about many things in life, but I know that each day of my life regardless of how awful will be/has been used for good. God promises that to those who love Him. We don't always see it, but I know it's that way.

It wasn't until I got a book, "A More Excellent Way," that I began to learn Truth and take control over my emotions and guilt and pain. My first health victory with this knowledge was for the fibromyalgia to leave overnight, never to return. That was on May 6, 2000.

So, when I see what a mess I've made of something or what an awful circumstance has happened in a season of my life, I realize that the pain can mold me into a better person. I know my heavenly Father has a plan for me that I can't always see and no matter how much garbage the devil throws at me, He is always on my side.

There is war in the heavenlies for our souls and daily lives and it is a true battle to make it through this fallen world, but with our hearts in Christ it can be a pleasant journey and the load is a little lighter when we hang on to those ahead of us --- and those behind us :-)

We have Christ's strength within us to draw upon, for Isaiah 53:4 says speaking of Jesus, "Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrow" and the end of verse 5 is, "and by His wounds we are healed."

Do we believe the Word or do we believe the whispering between our ears. The devil's kingdom has nothing to do but destroy our faith. He certainly can't keep us from heaven if we're saved through Christ, but he can keep us from joy and peace on this earth if we let him. Revelation 20:10 says, "the devil who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur...." Don't wait until the end of the world to get rid of him. Take the power in you to do battle now.

Search for what the root of the pain is that you feel and then take the axe to cut it out. Choose to be healthy and think healthy. The past is past and you are only allowing yourself to be buried with the past, which means you have no future. Life will never change until you change your mindset about it.

The fact that Christ did take upon Himself our sickness and disease. We have access to that power for healing within. It's a process. It's a precept upon precept kind of walk and it's been the most exciting journey of my life! I eat healthy and have a totally different attitude about what life is all about.

God still provides our income from the sale of herbs and supplements because it's His provision for us and others while we learn to apply His Truth. God is always good and His perfect will is for us to be free of sickness and disease.

Copyright and Reprint Information
All photos remain the property of Donna L. Watkins and may not be republished without written permission. You may forward or use this copyrighted article on a website if you include the following credit and an active link back to this site:
© 2000-2007 Donna L. Watkins - This article was reprinted with permission. Visit the author's website, TheNatureInUs.com for more articles and free email subscription.
Link URL: http://www.TheNatureInUs.com

Friday, December 17, 2004

Any Wicked Way

by Donna L. Watkins
Originally Published in A Healing Moment



"O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me. O Lord, you brought me up from the grave; you spared me from going down into the pit. When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple." Psalm 30:2-3 and John 2:7

Working on our health requires a lot of inward looking into our heart and our soul structure. What do we really think all day long? Do our thoughts allow our hearts to sin? Are we really willing to bring up all the stuffed hurts and wounds so they can truly heal, or do we believe it's going to be too painful to live through?

We must be willing to let God search us and for the Holy Spirit to speak to us about things that must be dealt with and washed clean with the blood of Christ. It's so easy to harbor resentment and unforgiveness, to have buried anger unseen by our own eyes.

When you're really ready to go digging, find somebody that really knows you and ask them to be totally honest with you about what they see as spiritual problems in your life. Ask others if they see anger or bitterness in you? What is hidden to us is usually very visible to others.

If somebody accuses you of something, before getting offended, spend some time in prayer asking God if there's any truth in the accusation. Use these times to grow - not to allow the devil to dig deeper into your soul.

From "The Spirit-Filled Daily Devotional" by Dick Mills:

"See if there is any wicked way in me...." (Psalm 139:24 NKJ)
In the Greek Old Testament (LXX), the word translated 'wicked' here is 'kakos' meaning "ill." David is praying for the Lord to check him over to see how spiritually healthy he is. He is saying to the Lord: "How about my attitude? Do I harbor resentment? Is there repressed anger lurking inside of me? Do imaginations and fantasy dominate my thinking? Do hurts, real or imagined, constantly occur?" By asking the Lord to make a spiritual x-ray of his inner man, David is risking the pain and embarrassment of being found guilty of hidden and presumptuous sins. Can we take the same risk and ask the Lord for His inspection?

Man has explored everything but the explorer himself. He has climbed all the mountains of the world, but has not penetrated or searched out all the ridges of his own heart. Jeremiah labored with this truth when he posed the classic question: "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked (Hebrew: anach = "sick"); who can know it?" (Jer. 17:9 NKJ).

In the very next verse, the Lord responds rapidly with these reassuring words: "I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doing." (NKJ)

Heart searching is painful but it is part of the purifying, purging, pruning, perfecting, and polishing process designed by the Lord to bring us to full maturity in Christ. It is possible to approach the Lord with "clean hands and a pure heart," but it does take honesty and a commitment to truth that will not allow us to hide anything in our heart that displeases the Lord.

This book is now hard to find, but Dick Mills' book, "God's Word For You" is a great selection to glean his wisdom.

Copyright and Reprint Information
All photos remain the property of Donna L. Watkins and may not be republished without written permission. You may forward or use this copyrighted article on a website if you include the following credit and an active link back to this site:
© 2000-2007 Donna L. Watkins - This article was reprinted with permission. Visit the author's website, TheNatureInUs.com for more articles and free email subscription.
Link URL: http://www.TheNatureInUs.com

Tuesday, December 7, 2004

Allergies, Chemicals & Immune System

by Donna L. Watkins
Originally Published in A Healing Moment

There are layers to peel away as you walk your way to good health. As I read and reread the book, A More Excellent Way, and other related books, I realize that there is so much that God wants for us in many areas of life....and we walk by the gifts thinking they are not for us. Within us is the power to be who God designed us to be, but the enemy is always trying to convince us that we're nothing. Too often we listen to the wrong voice.

As I've been working on allergies and the layers and Biblical truths that relate to them, I've renewed my mind with some new tapes. You know how when you really grab a Truth, you kinda grab hold of God's hand with it and His power sinks it into your heart and soul and it becomes a part of you. Without that you can read and read something and it just not make any sense or have any 'guts' to it.

One of which is that God didn't create us to live in the world He placed us in. In our own generation. I've often thought how great it would be to live in earlier times when the world wasn't so full of environmental catastrophes that challenge our immune systems so greatly. I didn't realize that I was not believing that God placed me in this moment in time because that's where He decided I should be and made all things around me as they should be for me.....for His purpose in me. I realized that believing or wishing otherwise made me very ungrateful for being born when I was.... and it also, somewhere deep inside, made me think that God didn't love me as much as somebody that wasn't born at a time with so much pollution and trauma to the earth.

Let's take the topic of allergies! If God chose our point in time to enter this world before the foundation of it.....then perhaps we think He's a cruel God to choose a time when the world would be polluted and our immune systems wouldn't be able to handle it? God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow......are we really much worse off today? YES! the Earth is in a bad state of health, but has He give us provision for our bodies to adapt to it? Much like the bugs have adapted to the chemicals? You gotta admit that there are still healthy people around the world and if it's the chemicals that are killing us and making us sick....then why isn't everybody sick? Is it something within each of us "sick" people that makes us that way....rather than the environment around us?

Are our immune systems challenged not by what they were created to fight off, but by our own thought patterns? So many people are almost paranoid about germs. My generation grew up with the Mr. Clean commercials. It built within us a type of fear of germs. Fear will destroy our immune system, germs won't. We were meant to fight off germs, but how does fear consume our immune system functions? Does the anxiety about dirt (or about other's seeing our dirt, for some) weaken the immune system enough so that it cannot handle what it was designed to do?

God placed us in this generation at this point in the environment and I refuse to believe He loves me less than somebody centuries ago when the chemicals were nil. If the bugs have adapted, we probably have too. My belief is that our weak leak is not the chemicals or germs but the fear, stress, and anxiety that we accept as commonplace daily living...and that weakens the immune system that was designed to handle the environment around us.

It is certainly a different focus to have. With this new focus we can get busy working with ourselves to change the inside environment so that we can be healthy. A book that I've found to help determine the wrong emotions with individual health problems, and to encourage me on this journey is "A More Excellent Way" by Pastor Henry Wright.

Copyright and Reprint Information
All photos remain the property of Donna L. Watkins and may not be republished without written permission. You may forward or use this copyrighted article on a website if you include the following credit and an active link back to this site:
© 2000-2007 Donna L. Watkins - This article was reprinted with permission. Visit the author's website, TheNatureInUs.com for more articles and free email subscription.
Link URL: http://www.TheNatureInUs.com

Saturday, November 27, 2004

Who Are You Performing For?

by Donna L. Watkins
Originally Published in A Healing Moment

I turned 50 this year (2000). I never thought much about my age before, but 50 has always sounded rather old to me. Now those of you who are in your 60's and 70's will just giggle and say, "young whippersnapper."

© 2008 Donna L. Watkins - Montezuma Oropendola
When you have health problems that prevent you from doing what you want to do, you sometimes doubt that you can make a difference in life. People rather expect to slow down and do less when they get "older" but that doesn't mean they are worth less.

I saw a plaque one time that said, "By the time you get to greener pastures, you can't climb the fence." No matter whether we age as we get older, or if we've "aged" rather young due to health problems, we really like to be able to do all that we want to do. Much of our opinion of ourselves might depend on our being able to do so.

Performance is a big deal in our culture and it's hard to escape from it even with the greatest of efforts to simplify your life.

Performance is definitely overrated in our society. Your level of performance has nothing to do with your value as a person. Just because you can't do some things that others may be able to do doesn't mean that you can't do other great things.

Scripture tells us that it's not what you do that counts with God. It's what you ARE. Life is a process of becoming more like Jesus. The God of creation is looking for a personal relationship with you, not a power-packed performance that wins the gold. He wants us to KNOW HIM and the power of His resurrection. He wants to be our very best friend without any expectations.

What a goal to look at ... rather than the list that the world gives us.

Copyright and Reprint Information
All photos remain the property of Donna L. Watkins and may not be republished without written permission. You may forward or use this copyrighted article on a website if you include the following credit and an active link back to this site:
© 2000-2007 Donna L. Watkins - This article was reprinted with permission. Visit the author's website, TheNatureInUs.com for more articles and free email subscription.
Link URL: http://www.TheNatureInUs.com

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

Stewards Of Our Children

Excerpts from a devotional by Debra Klingsporn

"She grieves the chill of an estranged relationship with one of her children. Blaming herself, she struggles to let go of the "if onlys" and longs for the warmth of reconciliation. She lives with the dull ache of unspoken anger and the sting of love turned dutiful.

Winter's cold is not always cozy and the Winter years are not always golden. Yet we each, in our own ways, do the best we can for those we love. Our love is always human, always short of perfection.

We, too, will be inadequate stewards of our children's childhoods, incapable of meeting the needs of those we would wish to spare from all of life's hurts and disappointments.

Although I can't offer healing to one who lives in the Winter years or bears a wintry heart, I can offer hope. The God of Spring's new life, of Summer's joy, and of Autumn's fullness is also the God of Winter's chill. Although we never know what lies buried beneath the frozen stillness, we can trust that surely, surely, after Winter comes the Spring."

Psalm 33:18-22 - "But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name. May Your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in You.

Hebrews 6:19a - "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."

Friday, October 1, 2004

Doing What Your Heart Desires - Every Day!

by Donna L. Watkins

Are you thinking about beginning a home business to get away from the rat race in the corporate world --- or to provide for your own job security?

What's the first question that comes to mind?

"What kind of business would I do at home?"

Our pastor preached a message over a year ago entitled, "What is Your Destiny?" This message has had me thinking many times on its list of questions to ponder when wanting to find your 'walk' through life. I believe our pastor's message would help people to find what kind of home-business they would like to do. What they would want to get out of bed for in the morning even when they weren't punching a time clock.

So, here are the questions that have helped others determine what they want to do in their life:

1 - What is the deepest desire of my heart?
2 - What stirs my passions?
3 - What flows naturally out of me?
4 - Where do I bring forth fruit or produce good results?
5 - What do other mature people see in me?
6 - What thoughts, visions, and dreams are impossible to put out of my mind?
7 - To what can I give 100% of myself for my whole life?
8 - What do people want to gather around me and help me to do?

If you will sit down and honestly consider these questions with somebody that knows you well, you'll come up with some surprising answers. You can find a purpose in life that will allow you to provide an income for yourself and your family while you are doing what your heart desires - every day!

Spend a few days with this "assignment" and then proceed to the following information:

If you have determined what touches the very soul of your being and have chosen to build an income around that driving desire, you're already headed for absolute success. Within us is a need to share what we have been given from life. It may seem impossible to make a living doing it, but let your creative brain flow and fan that flame of desire, and you will see it come to pass.

When we began a web site, we already had a business. Our business evolved years ago because we were sharing what had been given to us ... hope for seemingly hopeless health problems. When all our hopes and prayers for an answer to our own health problems seemed to end in despair with the doctors' saying, "You'll just have to learn to live with this," my husband said, "There is an answer somewhere, for we serve a God of hope."

We 'stumbled upon' an herb book and decided to try some things. When they began working, others began asking what we were doing, and if there was something for their health problem. We just kept sharing everything we learned and we ended up with an herb business in our home. When it became overwhelming, my husband left the corporate world in 1987 and joined me. Look around at what comes naturally to you. It's okay to love what you're doing. When your desire and focus is to help others, it's a natural win-win situation. It's the Law of Sowing & Reaping.

We moved to the woods in 1990. I seemed to begin losing my 'checklist' approach to life (although I'm still very task-oriented) when we moved to the woods, but still had a 40 minute drive to our shop. In 1998, I decided I was tired of making the drive on my days down there and began dreaming of being able to stay at home 7 days a week. I love working with the windows open, the birds singing in my ear, and the trees swaying in the breeze. What do you love around you?

I love the woods and wildlife around us and that desire to stay home led to an internet adventure. "If you build it, they will come." Build that desire you have until it becomes a reality! Herbal tea and lunch breaks are now enjoyed on the porch alone or with my devoted husband. Those small visits with Creation and my Lord provide an 'office environment' where I can work harder and longer without stress, and play harder at any hour of the day or week that I choose to schedule.

My sweet husband, Randal, is always telling me he wants me to do what I want to do, and everything else will take care of itself. When you're doing what you love to do, you are so fulfilled that all the routine stuff (like dishes, and cooking, and cleaning), just seem to get done more quickly and easily. They are no longer considered another chore. So much of life becomes all you want it to be.

We had no internet experience when we began. Although Randal had some computer knowledge, the internet was a new playing field. He used the free online information available to Webmasters and Web Designers and learned as he built the web site. There are some excellent sites out there. We were so absorbed in cyberspeed, we didn't track the ones we used. Do a searches and search for the sites that fit your understanding.

We made a decision that we weren't going to pay for anything when there was a free option. That desire allowed us to build the web site with no other costs but the $40 monthly fee to be there and the cost of an additional phone line. That avoids debt on a new venture, which can get you real discouraged fast! Of course, it's great to begin with some capital and get started fast, but most people don't have that luxury so building slow is building sure. It's not a get rich quick way of making money, but they don't last very long anyway.

Our business choice was Nature's Sunshine Products - they processed the credit cards for us. Now they have replicator sites for those who don't want to design a website. We became information seekers. Subscribe to newsletters relating to your area of interest and business. Cut and paste the parts of the newsletters you want to keep and delete the rest (it takes less time than scanning the whole email again and again). Keep your info organized or you'll never find anything you need.

You'll need to provide free information at your site on your topic of interest. People on the internet are looking for information. There may be a thousand other places already providing it, but there will be those who are led right to you instead of the others.

We worked hard and put in a lot of hours, but it was ours. We stood in awe of what evolved in nine months. We had made enough sales to cover the initial investment of the computer and the monthly expenses. When our lease came up for renewal at the retail shop, we decided to go for the dream. We discovered that our expenses had been cut drastically with no commute expense and the great tax deductions for an in-home business.

Maybe you're still at the stage of unbelief. You can't imagine leaving the 'security' of your current job. Maybe you don't think you are disciplined enough to make a living at home. As many millions have found out in the last decade, there is no such thing as "job security." Your best job security is your own desire and talents. The lack of discipline is something that my hubby thought would be a problem, until he realized that you don't need to be disciplined to do something you love to do. You wake up wanting to get started.

Let me encourage you to pursue your dream. Share your dreams with your spouse and/or family and make them happen! We love to tell people that we have a "20 second commute, and we can wear pajamas to the office."

Here's several home-based businesses that we find exciting. We invite you to join us in these opportunities.

Nature's Sunshine Products (herbs, supplements, personal care, essential oils, beverages)
Life's Abundance (pet food and supplements)

Friday, September 3, 2004

Honey of God's Word

by Donna L. Watkins
Originally Published in A Healing Moment




As I read my Bible today, I noted again that anxiety is nothing new. David mentioned it in Psalm 139:23-24:

© 2008 Donna L. Watkins - Baltimore Oriole - Costa Rica
" Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

The first true "in the face" introduction to anxiety being sin was when I purchased a copy of "A More Excellent Way" by Pastor Henry Wright.

Yes, I know the Bible says, "Be anxious for nothing," and that it is a command. I just never looked at it from the angle of it being sin since it seems everybody does it.

But then....everybody doesn't.

Like me, you surely know some people that look like they must live on a different planet because the worries of life don't seem to affect their peace and joy. I've wondered what genes they have and if they are really human.

David is stating that "anxious thoughts" are "an offensive way" to the Lord and requests to be led a different way. How exciting that David's words can be power for us even today! We CAN remove anxiety out of our lives and minds. We can choose to ask God to lead us in another way and if we choose to take those initial steps and keep taking them, He can provide peace in the midst of any storm.
His Word is all-powerful, but we have to feed on it and meditate on it all day long as Psalm 1 instructs. If we don't feed on the Word, we will feed on the enemy's lies and those thoughts will bring health problems.

My long-time friend, Dianne, recently called and told me she was really focusing on harvests. The beginning of that is a seed and she'd heard that every seed is programmed to burst forth in a specified amount of time. You've seen the seed packets telling you how many days till germination when you'll see those little sprouts peeking out of the dirt.

She mentioned something that I wrote down and have been focusing on myself:

That our words, thoughts, and deeds are all seeds in the Kingdom of God. We plant/sow these seeds and we harvest/reap the results of them. If our thoughts are seeds .... what kind of crop have you been planting?

Ever wonder why it seems that life takes you from one trouble to the next? Maybe it's because of what we're planting with our thoughts!

"A More Excellent Way" was written to expose the spiritual roots of disease and to show you the thoughts and beliefs that are underlying various diseases so that we can be free of dis-ease and live life with the ease that God offers in His peace and joy.

Jesus died for this! It is no light matter to God. We are to be anxious for nothing, but by prayer with thanksgiving, let our requests be made known to God.

Ask today to be led away from anxiety and feed on His Word and chew on it all day long as you would a piece of gum. Remove the bad taste of the devil and put in the honey of God's Word.

Copyright and Reprint Information
All photos remain the property of Donna L. Watkins and may not be republished without written permission. You may forward or use this copyrighted article on a website if you include the following credit and an active link back to this site:
© 2000-2007 Donna L. Watkins - This article was reprinted with permission. Visit the author's website, TheNatureInUs.com for more articles and free email subscription. Link URL: http://www.TheNatureInUs.com

Monday, August 2, 2004

What We Do

by Donna L. Watkins
Originally Published in A Healing Moment

There was a time I went to bed at night after a long list of chores accomplished in the day, not to recount all that I had done .... but to ponder all that I didn't get done. Almost exhausted with my 18-hour super shift at super speed, I still expected more of myself.

"No rest for the weary" I could hear my Daddy saying. He worked hard to provide for the family in steel factories, driving coal trucks, part time jobs on the side when I was younger. I guess I grew up thinking that life was tough and I had to hit the trail at full speed to get it all done.

Funny how we grab a few words here and there from childhood and run with them. My Daddy's entire life did not portray hussle and bussle. He worked hard, but he came home and relaxed. On Sundays we played games, took walks and drives in the country. He taught me how to ride a bicycle and later how to drive a car. His job got easier while I was a teenager when he got a job managing a huge apartment development with a number of perks.

By the time I was 18 I was ready for two jobs and lots of activities to fill in the rest of the hours and that lifestyle pace continued into my marriage and parenting. During those years I now remember my Daddy often saying, "You better slow down or you're gonna make yourself sick."

Like the white rabbit in "Alice in Wonderland" there seemed to be no slowing down. Until ..... my body demanded it with illness.

I had no mercy on myself and rarely on others. What drives driven people to their own ruin? Is there one major root cause? I speculate that we each have some hidden message that keeps us wound tightly. I've certainly remembered messages from my past, but we ultimately make the choice at who we are going to be.

Is our life based on who we are in Christ, or what we get done? It's been noted that our #1 need in life is to be loved. Are we seeking love and acceptance, security and sufficiency in what we do?

We are told that we were made to fellowship with God, as Adam and Eve did. They rebelled and we now have the curse of working for our food and shelter, but their sin didn't take away God's desire to fellowship with us. He made us "in His own image" because He loved us and wanted our love given by our own choice.

Do we cover up that need with busyness? With our minds swirling with lists of things to do, we can't possibly get from the Word what God has to give us. It will be as jumbled and confusing as our busy minds. "Be still and know that I am God."

Stillness is an art! I believe people cover up their lack of security in who they are with busyness. They drive themselves to exhaustion so they don't have to think on the real issues of life. Being a taskmaster is a full time job mentally and physically.

For whatever reason, many of us don't believe that God truly loves us. That is the first step in turning away from the worldly schedules and walking at the pace of Jesus.

Consider these words by Brennan Manning: "God's love is based on nothing, and the fact that it is based on nothing makes us secure. Were it based on anything we do, and that "anything" were to collapse, then God's love would crumble as well. But with the God of Jesus no such thing can possibly happen. People who realize this can live freely and to the fullest.

Remember Atlas, who carries the whole world? We have Christian Atlases who mistakenly carry the burden of trying to deserve God's love. Even the mere watching of this lifestyle is depressing. I'd like to say to Atlas: 'Put that globe down and dance on it. That's why God made it.' And to the weary Christian Atlases: "Lay down your load and build your life on God's love." We don't have to earn this love; neither do we have to support it. It is a free gift. Jesus calls out: "Come to me, all you Atlases who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you."

We all were never meant to be lean, mean, fighting machines. That's why your body isn't keeping up with it. At some point, lifestyles must be changed and hopefully before our daily path leads to the STOP sign with a major health problem.

I didn't listen to my earthly Daddy about slowing down and my health was the STOP sign that caused me to reconsider what I was living for. If you live in a whirlwind and think there is no way out, do not believe it. There is a way out if you truly want it. God's promises are true and He will give you rest if you seek it.

Isaiah 30:15 "For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; in returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.."

Let Christ take your burdens and give your weary body rest. Time with Him is well spent and there is always enough of the day left for what needs to be done. You may need to evaluate "need" with the Lord. May the peace that passes all understanding keep your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

Copyright and Reprint Information
All photos remain the property of Donna L. Watkins and may not be republished without written permission. You may forward or use this copyrighted article on a website if you include the following credit and an active link back to this site:
© 2000-2008 Donna L. Watkins - This article was reprinted with permission. Visit the author's website, TheNatureInUs.com for more articles and free email subscription.
Link URL: http://www.TheNatureInUs.com

Monday, July 5, 2004

A Gentle Answer

by Donna L. Watkins
Originally Published in A Healing Moment

How often my mouth gets carried away in a life of its own. In my quiet time with the Lord I have often come across devotionals or Scripture relating to the power of the tongue. James 3:6 says “it is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.”

What power it has in our lives. It doesn’t take me much time to think back on today, or yesterday, or many years in the past, how my tongue has set a fire. It’s so easy to “let it all fly” around family. For me, that’s only my husband now. Our son is grown and living halfway across the country from us. We have all grown up a lot and he sees how his own mouth stirred up strife as mentioned in Proverbs 18:6-7. “A fool’s lips bring him strife, and his mouth invites a beating. A fool’s mouth is his undoing, and his lips are a snare to his soul.”

Interesting how one mouth tempts another to argument and in the process we all become fools. God’s way out of that is Proverbs 15:1: “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”

This is such great wisdom. When you determine that your mouth will not be evil ‘just for today’ and focus on every word you are saying, the evil one will make sure you run into many opportunities for practice. Don’t you know people like the fool above? Those that are just looking for somebody to argue with or rant to.

When somebody says something that would usually upset you, and you make the choice to take control over your tongue and give a soft answer, it is an amazing thing! They are looking for somebody to share their misery and when you change the subject to something pleasant, rather than joining in to provide fuel on their burning fire, they become more and more frustrated.

Not allowing yourself to be burned up with somebody else’s mouth will make a real difference on your health. You can’t listen to negative talk without being affected. They will most likely move on to somebody else who is willing to wallow with them, but some of them will take it as a challenge to “convert” you to their way of thinking and will rant for hours if you allow it.

With that type of person, you will have to remove yourself from the situation or boldly tell them that you have some health issues and have chosen to think on good things because you notice it makes a difference in your health. I have had to do that with family members. There are people that you can’t dump out of your life so you have to inform them of your own boundaries.

“The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.” Proverbs 15:4

You cannot associate with these people and stay healthy. Consider Proverbs 17:22: “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”

Listening to a mouth that spews and reviews the evil of the world crushes the spirit and a crushed spirit dries the bones.

Do you know that the defenses for the body are manufactured in the liquid marrow of the bones? If your bones “dry up” your immune system is greatly affected and in our world today, we know that immune problems are rampant.

Bone marrow is the spongy material found in the center of most large bones in the body. Bone marrow produces red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets and it will only do so if it is healthy.

What we see, hear, think and say has a tremendous effect on our body, mind and obviously our health. Is it no wonder that I gave up newspapers and news programs many years ago? There are times at somebody’s home or while traveling that I ‘catch’ a segment of the news and I really notice what it does to my thought life and how I feel after listening to the evil. Sometimes people have had so many years of evil news that they block their emotions. Numb to the horrors of the images, but I believe the mind still has to deal with it.

Isaiah 33:15b-16: “[he] who stops his ears from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from looking at evil - he will dwell on high. His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks. His bread will be supplied. His waters will be sure.”

“A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones.” Proverbs 15:30

Purpose today to be the bearer of good news. You will give health to yourself and those around you.

Copyright and Reprint Information
All photos remain the property of Donna L. Watkins and may not be republished without written permission. You may forward or use this copyrighted article on a website if you include the following credit and an active link back to this site:
© 2000-2008 Donna L. Watkins - This article was reprinted with permission. Visit the author's website, TheNatureInUs.com for more articles and free email subscription.
Link URL: http://www.TheNatureInUs.com

Wednesday, June 2, 2004

Balance

by Donna L. Watkins
Originally Published in A Healing Moment


About 12 years ago I kept hearing the Holy Spirit say, "BALANCE." It seemed that every where I turned - in magazines, in devotionals, in sermons, talking with friends - I would hear the word "BALANCE."
Balance is a key to any level of good health. There is balance for diet and sleep and even exercise. The scales of live are a challenge, but we must determine what brings true emotional health to our own lives and how to achieve that state of mind in this world.

I was following a link from an ezine I get and found an article that made me think about how much our work has to do with the pressure, stress, and health we can attain in this lifetime. I firmly believe that there is no possible way to build health and live in the stressful lifestyles of the American Way.

When my health challenges began in 1986 I was Super Woman. I didn't realize it then, but I thought who I was, was what I accomplished. How much I got done. How much I could check off the To Do List. How many balls I could juggle in a day. I was very frustrated and said that I wanted out - wanted help - wanted a break - wanted some time for me - but it was like an addiction. It never happened. I kept running at top speed until my body said, "NO MORE!"

I stopped. I had no choice. My body had taken all it could take and it now demanded 16 hours rest/sleep a day and performed much too poorly during the "up and about" hours. It didn't take long to realize that I was going to HAVE TO let go of some of those balls and find a different life path than juggling. I also discovered that it took a renewing of the mind. Even dropping things that I could no longer do didn't change my mindset of believing that every minute of energy I had was to be spent getting something DONE.

In the process, I found simplicity. At first I thought simplicity was just learning how to enjoy doing nothing. How to be content just being, and not doing. That was a great lesson to learn, but it wasn't what life was all about and as my body got the rest it needed to begin to heal, I found that simplicity was making the right choices on what I actually wanted to do with my life. When I was Super Woman, I had a list of things that I said I'd do if I didn't have to be Super Woman, but I never took a minute of time to consider myself valuable enough to take some steps toward my dreams.

Slowing down provided a life-changing mindset of seeing that the world around me really didn't depend on me. Life actually went on without my juggling career. Oh yes, there were some who were saddened by the fact that I wasn't "doing it all" any more, but did I really think that my life belonged to everybody around me? Was it really their decision on how I lived it? Well, it's easy to look at those questions and think of the obvious answers, but that's not how I was responding.

I am more than 10 years down the road since then and I'm still learning the real meaning of simplicity. It's not rocking on the porch all day. It's setting priorities and spending your time in a slower lifestyle, but getting more of the things done that are truly your heart's desire for your life. It's not getting swept away by the media and worldly lifestyles around you. It's seeing that simplifying and sacrificing offers a more compassionate lifestyle for the time we have on this earth. We can be good stewards of everything that comes into our lives, and our time being the most important.

The satisfaction that comes from doing this is far above any thing that can be bought and sat around the house. The small things you can do to change the world and make a difference are incredible and so fulfilling. I used to go to bed thinking about all that I had done for the day --- kind of evaluating whether I really had a right to sleep probably :-) Now, I go to bed thinking about the difference I am making with the choices I make day to day and the lifestyles that have come out of those choices. It offers a better night's sleep for sure.

Balancing our work and personal lives is perhaps one of the most challenging tasks we face. In the last 50 years, Americans have added a full month to annual work hours. In 1997, we surpassed Japan as the country with the highest annual work hours of all industrialized nations.

Many people are choosing not to be part of those statistics. In fact, thousands of individuals in this country have restructured their lives to permit a part-time work schedule, 20 to 30 hours a week. This schedule frees up time and energy for other high priorities in their lives, like spending time with family and friends, self health care (enough sleep, exercise and nutritious food), providing services to others, developing their spirituality, and spending time in nature.

The biggest hurdle is simply believing that it can be done without feeling deprived of our material needs. Once we realize this truth, the rest is easy.

Copyright and Reprint Information
All photos remain the property of Donna L. Watkins and may not be republished without written permission. You may forward or use this copyrighted article on a website if you include the following credit and an active link back to this site:
© 2000-2008 Donna L. Watkins - This article was reprinted with permission. Visit the author's website, TheNatureInUs.com for more articles and free email subscription.
Link URL: http://www.TheNatureInUs.com

Sunday, May 2, 2004

Finding Peace in the Ocean of Life

by Donna L. Watkins
Originally Published in A Healing Moment



There is a part of the sea known as “the cushion of the sea.” It lies beneath the surface that is agitated by storms and churned by the wind. It is so deep that it is a part of the sea that is never stirred.

© 2008 Donna L. Watkins - Clay-colored Robin - San Jose, Costa Rica

When the ocean floor in these deep places is dredged of the remains of plant or animal life, it reveals evidence of having remained completely undisturbed for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Unaffected by all the turbulence that was above it.

The peace of God is an eternal calm like the “"cushion of the sea."” It lies so deep in our hearts that no circumstance or difficulty can reach it. We can go within and access that place at any time, and in doing so in the midst of difficult circumstances, we draw those around us into the presence of our God whose everlasting arms are beneath all of our stormy seas in life.

Psalm 62:1 says, “"My soul finds rest in God alone."”

We don't find it in eating or shopping. They don't satisfy even for the moment we do them, because we know they are substitutes for what will truly satisfy, and guilt begins to creep in before we finish eating or arrive home with our packages.

Why are we so unsatisfied? Why does there seem to be gulf between us and the love of God? The words are written and spoken that God loves us, but we don't seem to be able to feel it, to touch it, to know it so much that our lives are changed by it.

When we fall in love with somebody it turns our world upside down. We become somebody different and all of life seems wonderful. If we could grasp God's love every day would be grand and magnificent, regardless of what it held.

Is it because we feel unworthy? If you are allowing those thoughts to continually be in your mind, you will not be able to see life with clear vision. You will not be able to see the love of God. You can't afford the luxury of a negative thought. Thoughts are seeds and they have power to grow into an awful harvest of depression if you are planting bad thoughts.

God pardons you! Why won't you let yourself off the hook? You're not a bad girl! You're not a bad boy! You were created by God and He calls you GOOD!

Consider Micah 7:18-19:
“"Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea."

God did that with Jesus. He gave His Son to die for us so we might receive forgiveness. Who are you not to forgive yourself when God forgives you? Do you think you are a better judge than God?

Release the past. Live for the future. Forgive yourself, forgive others! Don't sacrifice your entire life for a few awful moments you endured. Dump those transgressions into the sea and take God's peace!

It will take time to renew your mind, but you can do it with one “"healing moment" at a time. Refuse to listen to those thoughts. When they come, immediately think and visualize a big NO and think God loves me and I love Him, so I will not think badly of His creation. You can do it! Put in on a piece of paper and stick it in your pocket - put it on the mirror - on the kitchen counter, on the refrigerator when you go for something that will not satisfy. Wrap your credit card in it and read it before you make a purchase.
Don't give up the best for what the world offers in place of it. Eating and shopping will not satisfy. God's love will fill all of your emptiness.

Copyright and Reprint Information
All photos remain the property of Donna L. Watkins and may not be republished without written permission. You may forward or use this copyrighted article on a website if you include the following credit and an active link back to this site:
© 2000-2008 Donna L. Watkins - This article was reprinted with permission. Visit the author's website, TheNatureInUs.com for more articles and free email subscription.
Link URL: http://www.TheNatureInUs.com

Thursday, April 29, 2004

Taking Care of the Temple

by Donna L. Watkins
Originally Published in A Healing Moment


© 2008 Donna L. Watkins - Costa Rica
Medical researchers are finding that your thoughts can affect your health. It always makes me giggle when I hear that science is catching up with the Bible. I love it! This link between our brain and our health only glorifies our God, Creator of Heaven and Earth. It supports Scripture. The Apostle Paul tells us in Philippians, "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things."

We all know that we feel better if we think good thoughts, but do we believe that it really affects our health? Too much research out there not to believe this. How about Proverbs 17:22, "A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing."

The cells that manufacture white blood cells can be directly controlled by the brain through the nervous system. Using the language of neurotransmitters (hormones) the brain can direct immune cells to kill invaders. Immune cells in turn communicate back to the brain using these more of these hormones. It has been shown that highly emotional states (stress) makes this communication less efficient, so the incredible immune system God has given us can't do the job it was designed to do.

Macrophages are a Pac-Man type of cell that devour bacteria and viruses. These amazing cells can even eat iron filings. Did you know the iron fillings in your teeth gradually are absorbed into your bloodstream and body tissues? We have cells that even eat iron fillings! Isn't it amazing how God has taken care of designing our bodies to even fight the heavy metal toxins of our day and age. During times of stress, prolonged periods of feeling helpless, hopeless or grief-stricken, these macrophages become very sluggish, so they can't do their job.

If we keep our temples working properly with good food, plenty of water and if we are anxious for nothing as commanded in Philippians, our body will handle any invaders. That's a tall order or prescription to follow with our daily lives jammed so full of details and events. It takes years to effect a change in our lifestyles and pace we choose to follow.

Even with that, God does not leave us helpless. He has also created plants for our healing. The scientific world is just beginning to discover a tiny bit of what God has placed within plants for the health and healing of our bodies. Many indigenous cultures have used these natural remedies for thousands of years, but "modern civilization" thought they had something better. Now we are going back to what was considered "old fashioned" and "unscientific."

Cleansing is so important since our bodies cannot run efficiently when clogged with toxins, no more than a machine can run effectively if it's clogged with dirt and debris. There are herbs that will cleanse the blood, the liver, support the kidneys, even clean out heavy metals and yeast and fungus. God's design for us was always healing! One way or another, He desires us to be well. Learn more about what symptoms indicate cleansing is needed.

Interested in doing a bit more digging? Your stools also indicate various things going on inside. Read "What Your Stools Will Tell You".

I'm sure there aren't many stool watchers out there, but I remember while growing up back in the early 50's that my grandmother, now and then, would want me to let her "see the toilet" before I flushed. She also gave me a Spring cleaning and tonic every year also. There's a lot of wisdom that we are leaving behind with our ancestors. We need to be sure it is not lost.

Home remedies may again need to be revived as medical costs go beyond the reach of many people. We haven't had health insurance since 1987, so I can tell you from my own experience that herbs, vitamins and minerals do work! We've invested a lot of time learning more about our bodies and physiologies so we could make wise decisions about our health. Might I suggest you pray about doing the same?

Copyright and Reprint Information
All photos remain the property of Donna L. Watkins and may not be republished without written permission. You may forward or use this copyrighted article on a website if you include the following credit and an active link back to this site:
© 2000-2007 Donna L. Watkins - This article was reprinted with permission. Visit the author's website, TheNatureInUs.com for more articles and free email subscription.
Link URL: http://www.TheNatureInUs.com

Tuesday, March 2, 2004

Living With Yourself

by Donna L. Watkins
Originally Published in A Healing Moment

Some people are hard to live with and sometimes those people are even family members, but it gets really close to home when you realize that you can't live with yourself.

How often those who are sick are those who don't take time for themselves. They don't properly care for themselves with diet, supplements, sleep or by making sure there is enjoyable personal time in their lives.

The Bible says we are to be like little children. Children know how to play. Does growing up mean you can no longer play? A friend of mine recently came back from spending a couple of weeks in Italy and she said "over there they work to live, here we live to work." In most of the world the pace is much slower and priorities in life much different.

There are so many diseases that are now linked to stress. There are many who don't know when to quit and take on more than they are supposed to be doing. Often the mind/thoughts complain knowing they are doing too much, and at some point the body sends out messages to stop [pain].

Do you make sure each day includes a time you truly enjoy? That segment of the day that is just for you? What would you fill in the blank with on this statement?

If I had more time, I would _________________________.

List the things that come to mind. In your time with the Lord, ask Him how to change your life around so you will enjoy living with yourself.

Those mental messages of all you "have to" get done and all that is to "be done" takes a great toll on our body. It's like we're never satisifed with our performance. There's always a higher bar to jump. As we attack ourselves, our body begins to agree with us and begins an attack within. I have to work daily to renew my mind with right thoughts and Scripture because I was a driven person for so many years. The tasks had become more important than my health and welfare.

I've always had a hard time with mercy and I realize it's because I was never merciful to myself. Consider Proverbs 11:17: "The merciful man doeth good to his own soul: but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh."

What is your life wrapped up in? Do you have your priorities in line with what you really want from life? What example are you passing along to your children as you live your lifestyle before them? Do you life on a basis of "Tyranny of the Urgent" without choice of what you do next?

Seeing the devastation of Katrina and hearing the stories certainly causes one to think about what's important in life. If a hurricane, or fire, or earthquake, or tornado took away all that you owned, would you find anything left about your life?

When the stock market crashed in 1929 men jumped from office buildings. Why? I have guessed that it was because their lives were their work and the money it created. Having poured all of their life into their work and the money that was now gone, they had no identity left of themselves.

What is your identity? Choose today to make it what you really want it to be. Appeal to those around you to understand your new purpose and schedule. You may entice others to a new way of life. Are you fulfilling your purpose in life? Generally you will find it in something you do that comes naturally and that you love doing. Pursue that!

Psalm 103:1-5
"Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgives all my iniquities; who heals all my diseases; Who redeems my life from destruction; who crowns me with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfies my mouth with good things; so that my youth is renewed like theeagle’s."

God loves us so much. Make time to love yourself!

Copyright and Reprint Information
All photos remain the property of Donna L. Watkins and may not be republished without written permission. You may forward or use this copyrighted article on a website if you include the following credit and an active link back to this site:
© 2000-2008 Donna L. Watkins - This article was reprinted with permission. Visit the author's website, TheNatureInUs.com for more articles and free email subscription.
Link URL: http://www.TheNatureInUs.com

Wednesday, February 4, 2004

Believe It Can Be Different

by Donna L. Watkins
Originally Published in A Healing Moment - 2001

When we're in the middle of a bunch of health challenges, it's hard to think of going anywhere. I don't mean across the room, or around the town, but really going somewhere other than the state of mind we are in at the moment.

Poor health can be very discouraging. It takes your dreams and twists them up and throws them in the toilet, seemingly waiting for somebody to push the lever. Sometimes, we just go ahead and push the lever ourselves.....figuring there is no hope left for those dreams.

I believe it can be different!

All of us have seen people who have had serious health challenges and overcame them. Think of Helen Keller, deaf and blind - Franklin D. Roosevelt, President in a wheel chair - Norman Cousins, laughed himself out of a crippling incurable disease, proving laughter truly is good medicine.

What about us? Are they special people? What did they have that we don't? Nothing more than a right choice! We make choices every day ... I believe that it's what we BELIEVE that makes that choice for us, before we even know it.

I've been developing belief for many years and that's what took me from the couch in the city of Montgomery, AL, to a new home in the woods of Prattville, AL, with an acre and a half of land which we named, "The Refuge." We moved there in January of 1990 and the previous year we had made less than $10,000. We put all we had into that mortgage so we could get a no document loan, meaning the bank couldn't ask what our income was.

The next few years we didn't make much more than that, but we scrimped and pinched because we believed that's where we wanted to be. I couldn't be in the sun with vitiligo, so it gave me a place to walk and talk with God and be in His Creation that I loved....and we felt it was a good choice for our son, who was ADHD, as we home-schooled and gave him a place to release his excess energy.

It wasn't a sensible move. It wasn't even something we should've thought as possible. But somewhere inside of me, with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue and vitiligo restraining my life, I knew there was more. The woods were my refuge in life. For many years I lived with "my diseases" peacefully since I was in awe of being able to do it in the woods, but somewhere not too long ago, I realized that there was more to life than that and just as we were able to make that move and to pay that house off in 7 years, which was a miracle in itself, I knew there was something else - something even more. And the real knowledge came when I began to believe that it was okay for me to have something more.

That's when we began the process of being able to move to a cooler climate so that I could enjoy Creation even more and even be a volunteer for organizations that want to preserve it. Alabama has eight (8) good months of heat. That put me inside for most of the year, and with that lifestyle, it was hard to change my mindset to do anything the other four (4) months of the year.

In August 2000, we decided to move to Virginia and believed we could make it happen. We found a house in September and moved in November. Here we are. The house in Alabama hasn't sold, we have a mortgage here, and we're scrimping again. But! we're making dreams come true ... and getting better at it.

Sacrifice is worth it and makes everything look so much better. We learned to be frugal when we bought our first house in the woods and that lesson stayed with us ... that's how we paid off that house ... and it's how we're making this mortgage until the Alabama house sells. There is so much more to life than stuff, and it's the stuff in our lives that keeps us from doing many things. What we own, owns us, in one form or fashion.

The lesson to be learned? BELIEVE in yourself! God has no stepchildren! You are a child of Abba Father. He loves you enough to have sent His only Son to die for you. Why would He not give you good health? Would a good father want His child to be sick? Of course not! I'm still chewing on and digesting the Bible fact that Jesus bore all our sickness and disease. My belief is going to make the difference on how that is operating in my life.

Remember when you had a bad day at school and you just didn't want to go back the next day? You went to sleep thinking of it and when your Mom woke you for school, you had an awful tummy ache and informed her you had to stay home. So, you now had the day to be sick, whether you were or not.

Do we have "bad days" in life or maybe even in the womb, or in our early childhood, where we somehow decide that life is scary and we don't want to participate? Do we set up a belief in something that we would now know in our maturity wasn't necessary? Are those beliefs buried within us somewhere? Do they form the root or foundation of our health?

I'm asking myself these questions......I'm finding some very interesting answers. I'm finding some beliefs I formed in my early days of "religion" are not what I believe any more.....but it's hard to renew my mind. It's work to renew the mind. However, it is also a command, so if you find things you believed without really going through the process of making that choice --- in other words it was presented as a fact, and you didn't have the option to think otherwise --- then maybe it's time to go back over and review those beliefs. What do YOU believe? Are you being true to yourself?

That's why I write and challenge you and myself to think about what you believe and why you believe it. If you see something that you don't agree with, do you just click the unsubscribe link? Or do you chew it for a while before you decide whether to swallow or spit? I was in a stage of my own Christianity that when I saw something that didn't line up with my list of laws, I would flee from it. What was I thinking? Did I believe that the words could contaminate me? Did I believe that if I read it I would change my mind? If that were so, then I didn't really have a belief, but a legalistic list.

Take some time - you can find 5-10 minutes, even if it's in the shower or on the toilet - to think about what your dreams would be if you dared to dream. If you become more of who you are ... of who you truly want to be ... it will affect your health for the better! I am slowly leaving behind the diseases I've carried and once believed were a lifelong burden.

I will continue.....and I know there are many of you who are walking beside me. March on....there are others following. Let your light so shine before men that they will see our Father in Heaven.

Copyright and Reprint Information
All photos remain the property of Donna L. Watkins and may not be republished without written permission. You may forward or use this copyrighted article on a website if you include the following credit and an active link back to this site:
© 2000-2007 Donna L. Watkins - This article was reprinted with permission. Visit the author's website, TheNatureInUs.com for more articles and free email subscription.
Link URL: http://www.TheNatureInUs.com

Sunday, January 4, 2004

Living Each Moment

by Donna L. Watkins
Originally Published in A Healing Moment




June marks the entrance to summer in my mind. School is out, children are playing everywhere and flowers are brightly bobbing their heads towards the sun. My favorite part of summer is when the sun is setting and you can open the doors and windows back up for the night.

When I was growing up in the 50's we used to sit outside after dinner and talk to people who walked by, or just talk between ourselves. It was family time. I guess now it would be called "quality time." Our only son is grown and lives half way across the country from us, so it's just Randal and I out on our porch, but we're in a community of many walkers, so the evenings we spend outside usually offer a nice visit with somebody.

If we have important things to discuss, we sit on the back porch and enjoy the woods. I love forests! There is no place that heals my soul quicker than to be in the middle of the woods. Living near the Blue Ridge Mountains, the views tell me that the world isn't as crowded as it seems. Looking at the immenseness of Creation allows me to realize that my troubles are truly small.

I like this quote:
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away." -- Dr. Bob Moorhead

It's easy not to worry about the past or tomorrow when we get caught up in a moment that stands still in time. While we watch a sunset or a sunrise. When we sit by the ocean and see the waves beat the shoreline and recede back out to sea with all of our troubles washed far away.

We have so many thoughts about our lives. I love to read over and over and over again, the words of Jesus to His disciples in Luke 12:22-32:

"And He said unto His disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body [is more] than raiment.

"Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?

"Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothe the grass, which is today in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven; how much more [will He clothe] you, O ye of little faith?

"And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. "But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."

We need to live the moment. We are too often living in the past or in the future with our thoughts and actions.

How much more meaningful life is when we can live in the moment of now!

Consider these comments by Gail Sheehy: "The spirit is an area of growth most of us set aside, half hoping the day will come when some soul-stretching peak experience will lift us out of our ordinary consciousness for a glimpse of the sacred and eternal. But we have to prepare our consciousness for taking such a path. We need to change the way we measure time and relax our insistence on control.Instead of focusing on the time running out, it should be a daily exercise....to mark the moment. 

The present never ages. Each moment is like a snowflake, unique, unspoiled, unrepeatable, and can be appreciated in its surprisingness.If every day is an awakening, you will never grow old. You will just keep growing."

Remember the quote I mentioned above?

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away."

Take some time to schedule those breathless moments! Sunsets, oceans, forests ... nature offers a lot of God in it. Share this world of wonders with your children - or find children that need somebody to show them the world that God created for them.

Copyright and Reprint Information
All photos remain the property of Donna L. Watkins and may not be republished without written permission. You may forward or use this copyrighted article on a website if you include the following credit and an active link back to this site:
© 2000-2008 Donna L. Watkins - This article was reprinted with permission. Visit the author's website, TheNatureInUs.com for more articles and free email subscription.
Link URL: http://www.TheNatureInUs.com

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