Mornington Beach

We have not left yet, but here is a picture of a place I hope to see soon.  I thought it was time for a happier post.

A friend sent me this interesting poem, which figuratively attempts to explain where all the sorrow goes if we let it.  

Two Boxes

God's Boxes

I have in my hands two boxes,
Which God gave me to hold.
He said, "Put all your sorrows in the black box,
And all your joys in the gold."

I heeded His words, and in the two boxes,
Both my joys and sorrows I stored,
But though the gold became heavier each day,
The black was as light as before.

With curiosity, I opened the black,
I wanted to find out why,
And I saw, in the base of the box, a hole,
Which my sorrows had fallen out by.

I showed the hole to God, and mused,
"I wonder where my sorrows could be!"
He smiled a gentle smile and said,
"My child, they're all here with me.."

I asked God, why He gave me the boxes,
Why the gold and the black with the hole?
"My child, the gold is for you to count your blessings, the black is for you to let go."

We should consider all of our friends a blessing.
Send this to your friends today just to let them know

you are thinking of them and that they are a joy in your life.,

A ball is a circle, no beginning, no end.
It keeps us together like our Circle of Friends.
But the treasure inside for you to see,
Is the treasure of friendship you've granted to me.

Today I pass the friendship ball to you.
Pass it on to someone who is a friend to you...

And as packing has helped my thinking a lot, and  want to share what most people share in times of sorrow: remember to love and to honor and to forgive while your parents are with you, and your grief when they are gone will not hold the wrenching regrets. Make things right with your parents while you can. Ladies, and several men who have recently written to me have expressed regret about their attitudes toward their parents.

When my Mama's mother in law died, she wrote " remember always to love and to forgive."

One man wrote that his mother wanted him to visit her but he was in the middle of personal busy-ness and asked if  could come the next day.  When he got there, she was gone. Another lady said she still feels the pain of separation from her mother and has repented of every thing she had done that made her mother unhappy.  We all need to do this while our parents are living, so emphasize this when teaching your children. Tell them the torture of regrets that will ensue if they do not keep a clear conscience with their parents.  Parents do many things to help their children succeed, so children must be taught to pay their parents back with respect and be eager and ready to help when needed. Children should be taught to drop everything and run when their parents need them--within a Christian reasonableness, of course.

So much for a cheerful post. Actually, it is cheerful when you consider the happy, weightless feeling on the soul when the burden of sin is removed by doing the right thing before it is too late. At many mothers funerals my husband has preached, he has said our mothers would rather we give them a rose every day than all the flowers at the memorial service. Consider an kindness, consideration

 and politeness as the flower you give your mother every day. Especially thank her for what she has done for you, when these things come to mind.

Hoping for happier times, 

Lydia