Scatter the flowers

  Vincent Van Gogh, The Good Samaritan- 1890 "A helping hand can be a ray of sunshine in a cloudy world." ~ unknown ✋David & Goliath.  Superman & Lex Luther.  Holmes & Moriarty.   Harry Potter & Voldemort.  Hamilton & Burr.  Regina George & Cady Heron.  The Palestinians & Israelis. The Hatfields and McCoys.  The Red Wings & the Avs.  What do they have in common?  All famous enemies-some real life, some fictional.   ✋ Even if you aren't familiar with many of the stories in the Bible, you probably know the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:29-37, and are wondering what this has to do with enemies.   "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him, and beat him and departed, leaving him for half dead.  Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.  So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side

Ruth and Naomi - Yael Harris Resnick   "The trouble is not in dying for a friend, but in finding a friend worth dying for." ~Mark Twain 🦮  Loyalty.  What does it look like?  Is it that you promise to shop at the same store more than others?  Do you go to a restaurant so much they know your name?  Would you still sit in the stands of your favorite football team with a windchill of -30 (hmmm - any Bronco fans out there)?  Do you vow to never eat at Taco Bell again until they bring back the spicy tostada?    I personally swear by Joico hairspray level 10 because I know if I endure a windstorm of 60+ mph my hair will still be in place, however flammable it may be. As a reward for reading my blog I give you (from Pinterest of course) the copycat recipe for Zuppa Toscana soup .  Trust me, you'll want to make it.   Probably not the best examples of loyalty.  But take a look at these: 🦮 For over nine years a Japanese Akita dog named Hachiko would faithfully wait at the train

  "The meaning of life is to find your gift.  The purpose of life is to give it away." ~Pablo Picasso 🖌 Ever feel like you aren't living up to something-either a person, a memory, a position, being a mom/daughter/mother-in-law/grandma?  Or you find yourself playing the comparison game?    I have to be careful or I find myself doing that as I reflect back on my teaching career, or being a grandma, or reading about someone accomplishing something great for the Kingdom of God.  It was hard enough before, but social media and the internet have taken it to a whole different level. 🖌 Because talking about purpose is more than a short one-time blog , I wanted to keep discussing it.  Judging by his quote, Pablo Picasso seemed to have a confident grasp of who he was and what his purpose was.  His 1932 painting at the top of this blog is called "Girl Before a Mirror", which seems to represent how convoluted of a perception we can have of ourselves.  Picasso's full

  Tree of Life, Metropolitan Museum of Art "The only way to get rid of your past is to make a future out of it.  God will waste nothing."   ~ Peter Marshall As the new year rolls around, our minds reflect and revise  (" New Year, New You! ") .  Dreams (old and new) and exciting opportunities bounce around our heads, and then quickly get squashed- But what if I fail? But what if I look weak?  But what if they don't like me?  But what if I'm not good enough?  But what if this happens again to me?  Oh the devil does love these statements.  He loves when we have this kind of  thinking because his work is done.  He doesn't even have to try anymore because his thumb is holding us down as we wallow in lies designed to steal our God-given purpose from us. These inspiring stories of per severance show an amazing depth of persistence, of not hearing what the devil wanted them to hear: "Chicken Soup for the Soul" was rejected by 130 publishers; has now so