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INSPIRATION
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••• Eyes Anew ••• by April James www.BeyondTheSilverCoin.org As I sat on the deck swing having a little time of devotions, a descending feather caught my eye; it was a long white beautiful feather catching the morning rays, illuminating it as it drifted in a slight morning breeze. The feather came to rest only a few feet from where I sat watching. I was amazed how small it was, then as I went to pick it up it was even smaller, perhaps an inch in length, more like a down feather, soft flexible with hardly anything to it. My first thought was “is this an example of heavenly blessings as they leave the Father?” - big and beautiful, a delight to behold and watch coming, but then we trivialize and minimize them, so they are no longer the blessing the Father intended. Does it break His heart when we look upon His gifts with disregard or thanklessness? How often do I longingly look out at my small deck, yet rarely sit on it to enjoy the crisp morning air before the heat of the afternoon or listen to the joyful chirps and twills of the birds as they greet the day, nor simply sit watch the grass grow and marvel at creation and the Creator. I
- - - Deceiving Looks - - -
want to see with eyes anew the wonder of creation, to enjoy everyday things and blessings He has given me to delight in. Lord, open the eyes of my heart to see the wonder of what you are doing in each new day; to simply pause and marvel at the works of your hand instead of blindly rushing past them to accomplish my agenda. May I never trivialize anything you have done, are doing, or will yet do. I want to be filled, like a little child, with a sense of awe at the works of your hands. For you alone are God and sit upon the throne of heaven. Help me to be still and know that you are God, to pause and reflect, to take hold and delight in you. My friend – what about you? What do you see? What are you taking delight in? “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart.” Psalm 37:4 AMPC
face and again poised my hands over the keys. How was my not-even-performed piece that time? Wonderful! I have to admit, even though I got the answers I was looking for, I was a little startled. I really did not realize to what extent our appearances affect those around us. This all got me to thinking about us women, how we notice the outside of each other so much. The problem with that is that I know what a mess I am on the inside, but I am comparing my inside with someone else’s outside. I look at another lady in the grocery store with her hair perfectly colored, her nails done and her healthy veggies in her cart and I compare that to how stressed or maybe even depressed I am feeling that day. The ironic thing is that she has probably already done the same thing to me, comparing something she sees about me
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Open the Eyes of my Heart Lord...
by Christy Boals www.gracefilledpurpose.com “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” “Looks can be deceiving.” “You only get one chance to make a first impression.” Hold on, which one is it? We receive so many conflicting messages about appearances it is hard to know that to think. I had an opportunity recently to test impressions based on appearances alone, at a workshop I held for my piano studio. This is a time for students to get together in a more casual environment than a recital, perform for each other, learn a little music theory, play some music games, and of course have cake! At this workshop, I wanted to focus on stage presence and work on things such as bowing to their audience. To emphasize the importance of stage presence, I asked my students, (who, by the way, ranged in age from 4 to 50) to pretend that we were at a recital and it was my turn to perform next. I got up from my seat, ambled up to the piano, plopped myself down, poised my hands over the keys and sat there with a bored expression on my face. I then asked my students how my performance was going to be. The unanimous answer? Terrible! So, I tried again. This time I popped up from my seat, walked confidently to the piano, bowed, sat down with a smile on my
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