Something Green ...

Shining Through The Tears

It’s easy to be pleasant when life flows like a song. But the man worth while is the one who can smile When everything goes dead wrong.

For the test of the heart is trouble; and it always comes with years. And the smile that is worth the praises of the earth Is the smile that shines through the tears.

With St. Patty’s day fast approaching I was looking at Irish quotes and blessings. That proverb ‘Shining Through The Tears’ jumped out at me and I had to share it. It’s amazing what you can find when you google. I laughed as I read some of the Irish quotes, toasts and blessings. Can someone please explain this toast to me because I’m just not getting it!! HA HA

Here's that we may always have a clean shirt, a clean conscience, and a guinea in our pocket.

A guinea pig in our pocket??? Oh my! You just have to laugh reading that one! Here is a couple more things I read that jumped out at me and I felt like sharing.

IRISH PROVERBS.

Time is a great story teller. A friend’s eye is a good mirror. Put silk on a goat, and it’s still a goat When a twig grows hard it’s difficult to twist it. Every beginning is weak.

A FEW BLESSINGS.

May your neighbors respect you, Trouble neglect you, The angels protect you, And heaven accept you.

May you have the hindsight to know where you've been, The foresight to know where you're going, And the insight to know when you're going too far.

May the sound of happy music, And the lilt of Irish laughter, fill your heart with gladness, that stays forever after.

May you live long, Die happy, And rate a mansion in heaven.

May the strength of three be in your journey.

I had a crazy week filled with a few smiles, a few tears, a few prayers, and a few blessings. It’s always amazing to me the peace I can find when I finally slow down, let go, and let God handle my worries. I’m blessed with sweet friends who remind me to let go and let God carry my heaviness. Since I gave my heavy heart to God I won’t take it back and share it with you.

I would like to share with you though a couple things I read this week.

Sheila Walsh is one of the Women of Faith speakers and I’ve been blessed to meet her a few times. I enjoy the WOF conferences so much. Each year these women travel across the US sharing their stories of finding God in their life journeys. Sheila just wrote a book entitled, "God Has A Dream For Your Life" and she is giving a pre-conference lesson on her book in addition to her main conference speaking session. Sheila gave us a sneak peek into her thoughts and inspirations for this book a while back in her devotional blog. Here is what Sheila had to share.

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

Matthew 11:28-30. The Message

"As I read and re-read this invitation from Christ, recorded in Matthew's Gospel, two words stood out - freely and lightly.

I don't know how your week has been so far but I wouldn't use those exact words to describe mine.

As I look at the overwhelming grace of this call, I see that we are invited to "get away with Him, and we will recover our lives." Only Jesus can show us what it is like to really rest. He has promised to show us how to do it. So my mission for the next few weeks is to take an in-depth look through the Gospels at how Jesus ordered his days, what mattered to Him, what He said "yes" to and what he said "no" to.

I want to encourage you where possible to take out some time to do the same. I don't want even one of us to miss the space and grace He offers to us.

As I am preparing my message "God Has A Dream For Your Life" for the pre-conference and main conference this year, one thing is crystal clear. Our illusions are heavy and God's dream for us is light.

We walk around with a backpack full of the things that we think matter to God. We think we have to be good enough. We question ourselves when our prayers are not answered as we hoped they would be. The invitation from our Savior is to lay it all down and only take up what He gives us. May He give each one of us the grace to know how to choose."

The second thing I want to share is a letter I got in the mail from our sponsor child in Uganda. My husband and I sponsor a young boy in Uganda through Compassion International. His name is Mukanda Geoffrey and he is such a delight! Mukanda loves school and is in grade P-6. I love to get his letters in the mail. He hand writes these letters to me and sometimes his parents ask the compassion staff to include a few thoughts from them as well. Here is a recent letter he wrote to me.

Dear Michelle, I greet you in the name of Jesus Christ. How are you over there? I am so great full for what you have done for me since I joined the project. We are going back to school. I always pray for you and your family. My parents send greetings to you. I thank you for all the gifts you are sending to me. I don’t have much to say this time but may God bless the works of your hands. Goodbye. Mukanda

There was a note from a compassion staff worker this time as well it said:

Mukanda Geoffrey’s parents are fine and they send you their greetings, they are proud of you and really appreciate the support you are giving to their son. May God richly bless you.

In some of his other letters Mukanda has shared that he loves to play football and read books. He talked about preparing for end of year examinations and hoped he would do well. He wrote me later with excitement that he had passed from grade P-5 to grade P-6. We sent extra money at Christmas and he was excited to let me know he got a new shirt, trousers, bread for his family, a hen. In the past he was excited to tell me about his goat. He tells me about the Bushikor Center and how they read the bible, sing and praise. He asked me if I like praising the Lord too.

I think these words he wrote touched my heart the most though when I first read them. They are short and simple but oh how much they mean to me!

Mukanda said, "Thank you for loving and caring for me".

I would not have chosen Mukanda to sponsor through Compassion International if Clay hadn’t shared his journey there with us. What a blessing Clay and Mukanda are to my life. I believe Sheila when she says God has a dream for our lives.

My most favorite scripture verse is

John 1:16 "From the fullness of God's grace we all have received one blessing upon another".

Clays blessings became Mukanda’s blessings which ultimately became mine.

You've blessed me with friends and laughter and fun With rain that's as soft as the light from the sun You've blessed me with the stars to brighten each night You've given me help to know wrong from right You've given me so much, so please Lord give me too A heart that is always Grateful to You.

Wishing you a Happy Saint Patricks Day be blessed

Sing your lifesong!

~Meesh~