Thursday Thoughts

♪ღ♪░G░O░O░D░ღ░ M░O░R░N░I░N░G░ღ░♪ღ♪

The happiness of your life 
depends upon the quality of your thoughts; 
therefore guard accordingly.
Marcus Aurelius


(¯`´♥(¯`´♥.¸________ღ☆ღ_________ ¸.♥´´¯)♥´´¯)
☆ ▒░ ☆ ♥☆ ♥☆ God Bless You ☆ ♥☆ ♥☆░▒▓ ☆
(_¸.♥(_¸.♥´´ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ღ☆ღ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ `´♥.¸_)♥.¸_)
Far away in the sunshine 
are my highest aspirations. 
I may not reach them,
but I can look up and see their beauty,
believe in them,
and try to follow where they lead..
~Louisa May Alcott

"There is a calmness to a life lived in 
gratitude, a quiet joy."
- Ralph H. Blum 

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"There is no such thing as chance;
and what seem to us merest accident springs
from the deepest source of destiny."
~Friedrich Schiller~ 

Photographs as seen on Facebook

and I believe some from Pinterest

All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, a light from the shadows shall spring; renewed shall be blade that was broken, the crownless again shall be king. — J.R.R. Tolkien

And Spring arose on the garden fair,

Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;
And each flower and herb on Earth's dark breast
rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.

~ Percy Bysshe Shelley, "The Sensitive Plant" ~

Thanks for always putting a song in my heart Stevi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCryyySLbyA

"What if our religion was each other
"If our practice was our life
"If prayer, our words.
"What if the temple was the earth
"If forests were our church
"If holy water - the rivers, lakes, and oceans
"What if meditation was our relationships
"If the Teacher was life
"If wisdom was self-knowledge
"If love was the center of our being"

~ Ganga White


Everything we do is infused with the energy with which we do it. If we're frantic, life will be frantic. If we're peaceful, life will
be peaceful. And so our goal in any situation becomes inner peace. 

~ Marianne Williamson ~

Ash Wednesday

A photograph taken after mass last year

on Ash Wednesday

In other words this selfie is my ASH tag#

smiles

God is Love,

wherever you find pure love,

there you meet God.

Prem Tihan (Shafiq)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3L3c23MfC0

Lord Jesus Christ
by your passion, death and resurrection
ou have set us free from sin and death.
May your grace renew our hearts this Lent
and help us turn from sin in our lives.
May we learn to appreciate more deeply the sacrifice you made for us.
Accept our prayer, fasting and acts of charity as wee seek to 
draw closer to you during this holy season.
Strengthen the faith of your people so that we may be a sign of your love to all the world.
Amen

What Is Lent?

Lent is the penitential season of approximately 40 days set aside by the Church in order for the faithful to prepare for the celebration of the Lord’s Passion, Death and Resurrection. During this holy season, inextricably connected to the Paschal Mystery, the Catechumens prepare for Christian initiation, and current Church members prepare for Easter by a recalling of Baptism and by works of penance, that is, prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

Even in the early Church, Lent was the season for prayerful and penitential preparation for the feast of Easter. Though the obligation of penance was originally only imposed on those who had committed public sins and crimes, by medieval times all the faithful voluntarily performed acts of penance to repair for their sins.

 — 


Remember you are dust and it is to dust you shall be returned.

This Lent work metanoia on me
by turning: pride into humility,
anxiety into acceptance, 
frugality into generosity,
criticism into praise,
...coldness into warmth, 
neglect into concern,
indifference into love,
grudges into joy,
ingratitude into thankfulness,
prayerlessness into devotion
at the foot of the cross.
Lord take the clay,
Begin the shaping in preparation
for the wedding feast of the Lamb.


There is a magnet in your heart that will attract true friends.
That magnet is unselfishness, thinking of others first.
when you learn to live for others, they will live for you. ♥

My religion is kindness


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K93aPRE5-jo&feature=related

A beautiful angel meditation

✿¸.•*¨`*•..¸✿ ✿¸.•*¨`*•..¸✿

╬♥═╬╬═♥=╬╬═♥╬╬═♥╬╬═♥=╬╬♥═╬
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Make yourself a blessing to someone.
Your kind smile or pat on the back 
just might pull someone back from the edge." 
~Carmelia Elliot

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

Peter 4:8 (NIV)


Guard well within yourself that treasure, kindness. Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness.
~George Sand

“If you love someone, the greatest gift you can give them is your presence.”

― Thích Nhất Hạnh

Dear Lord...
Give me strength... so I may uplift those who are weak
Give me courage... so I may rescue those in despair
Give me peace... so I may soothe those in turmoil
Give me food... so I may feed those who are hungry
Give me light... so I may drive away the darkness in the lives of others
Give me love... so I may douse the pain of others
I ask for strength, courage, peace, food, light and love.

May we have the strength to feel someone else's pain more than we feel our own. A prayer is that which benefits others... not ourselves. Today let us pray and bless those around us. God Bless you all!

Buckingham Palace Cookies

~ buckingham palace shortbread  with flower blossoms ~

fit for a queen…

2 cups unsalted butter at room temperature

2/3 cup granulated sugar

4 cups pastry flour

1 and 1/3 cups cornstarch

edible flowers

egg whites

superfine sugar

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. In a medium bowl, stir the flour and cornstarch together. Gently stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture until it forms a soft dough. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Dust the dough lightly with flour. Roll out to a 3/4-inch thick. Cut into desired shapes with a cookie cutter. Transfer to a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and paint on a little eggwhite (using a small pastry brush.) Gently press a small, edible flower blossom into the center of each cookie. Paint a little more eggwhite over the blossoms to flatten and smooth them out. Sprinkle a little superfine sugar over the cookies and bake an additional 5 minutes (or until cookies are just slightly golden and firm.) Enjoy with your favorite English brew!

Makes 4 dozen cookies.

Happy TeaTime!

http://www.chindeep.com/2012/06/05/buckingham-palace-shortbread-with-flower-blossoms/

As seen on this blog

His light can pierce the darkness

And reach those places where all hope is lost ...

~ Traveler

People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child .. our own two eyes. All is a miracle.

~ Thích Nhất Hạnh ~

Happiness is a good location, within everyone's reach: just stop by and pick it up.

"Walk with a big heart. Wear a big smile. Live happy." ~ A.D. Williams



There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called yesterday and the other is called tomorrow. Today is the right day to love, believe, do and mostly live. ~Dalai Lama

As I lean on the kitchen counter, 
looking out the window into the early morning sky...
My thoughts
are in a little kitchen, far across the ocean, where a husband spoke these words to his wife as they watched the sun rise above the darkness of night....

"Isn't it amazing, that each day
the sun comes around so faithfully
and no matter how dark it is,
the darkness can't stop the light."

They are beautiful words that deeply touch my soul ~

I stand in awe
as I watch these words take life...

In the sky ~
mornings first light is breaking the darkness...
And the darkness can't stop it. ~ Neva

The light shines in the darkness
and the darkness can never extinguish it. -John 1:5

Good morning!
Have a beautiful day. ~ Neva
as read on facebook
under Snippets of Life
How beautiful indeed.



My Son and his family plan to visit here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwzY1o_hB5Y#t=39

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwzY1o_hB5Y#t=39

Happy Shrove Tuesday

Enjoy the sweets

“When you're young, you think everything you do is disposable. You move from now to now, crumpling time up in your hands, tossing it away. You're your own speeding car. You think you can get rid of things, and people too—leave them behind. You don't yet know about the habit they have, of coming back.

Time in dreams is frozen. You can never get away from where you've been.”

― Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin

Hooray for Hollywood

''Dance is the hidden language of the soul.'' ~Martha Graham

She glances at the photo and the pilot light of memory flickers in her eyes ~Frank Deford~

Ellen did such a great time hosting

the Academy Awards

and what a fun and fabulous night it was to watch

2014 marks the 75th anniversary of the beloved classic The Wizard of Oz. In order to celebrate the 2014 Oscars arranged a tribute by having Pink perform one of the film's signature numbers, Somewhere Over The Rainbow. Amazing the way she sang this song. I loved it

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ღ♥ღƸӜƷღ♥ღ Have A Lovely & Blessed Week. ღ♥ღƸӜƷღ♥ღ

╚══════════....๑ ƸӜƷ ๑♥๑ ƸӜƷ ๑....═══════════╝

(¯`•.•´¯) (¯`•.•´¯)
*`•.¸(¯`•.•´¯)¸.•´
¤ ؛° ¤ .`•.¸.•´ ¤

March Brings Spring
Spring Brings Flowers
Flowers Bring Happiness♥

A sponge to erase the past, a rose to sweeten the present and a kiss to greet the future.

Anonymous

http://www.buzzfeed.com/lyapalater/the-best-moments-from-2014-academy-awards

"Right now, my life is just one learning

experience after another.

By the end of the week, I should be a genius!"

Quote sent to me by my dear friend Elaine.

Love you babes

Smiles

Coffee is a hug in a mug

If I Were

If I were:


a colour, the colours of spring
a verb, love
a day(s), Weekends or Tuesday the day I was born on
a TV show, The Waltons, I love Lucy, Mad Men to name a few
a taste, a meal cooked for me by my Son or my loved ones
an emotion, joy and happiness
a month, April May and June
a flower, a spring bouquet
a holiday, every single one combined
a movie, too many to name one
an article of clothing, a pink cashmere sweater or a black cashmere coat
a book, Any childrens book
a car, cadillac escalade
a piece of furniture, baby crib
a scent, spring or your loved ones colognes
an instrument, harp, mandolin, guitar, piano
a store, The Old J. L. Hudsons Detroit Michigan or a card shop or book store or any store in Asia
a shoe, wedding shoe
a fruit, summer fruits fresh from the stands
a song, My Love and a gazillion others
a tree, Japanese cherry
a planet, Earth
a tool, my computer
or my pens for writing

Have a fabulous and soulful Sunday

My son and his wife and her family having a luncheon in Seoul

☆ Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams. ~Ashley Smith ☆

Rabbit Rabbit

Rabbit Rabbit

Happy March 1st

Rabbit Rabbit

Rabbit Rabbit

May March bless us all with the very best indeed.

How out of breath you are!

Dear March, how are you?

And the rest? Did you leave Nature well?

Oh, March, come right upstairs with me, 

I have so much to tell!

Emily Dickinson. 


It is the first mild day of March
Each minute sweeter than before
There is a blessing in the air........

William Wordsworth

March arrives, the last hurrah of winter and the first whisper of spring.  Slowly our spirits reawaken along with the natural world, from a long winter's slumber.  Branches that just days ago were bare, now blossom with new growth.  Deep within we feel stirrings of hope.  Turn over the earth in the inner garden.  This month we plant seeds of the fertile soil in our souls.

From the  book Simple Abundance
A daybook of Comfort and Joy
Sarah Ban Breathnach




Here comes the Sun☼
A most fitting song with the hopes of Spring arriving
soon after the long long winter


Happy Birthday greetings to our lovely
family member Frances
Much love and many blessings to you 
May God bless you always♥

Smile ♥
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(>'.'<)
(")_(")♥•.¸¸. ´´¯`•♥

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.