A Beautiful Poem

Roses
by Joyce Kilmer, 1917

I went to gather roses and twine them in a ring,
For I would make a posy, a posy for the King.
I got an hundred roses, the loveliest there be,
From the white rose vine and the pink rose bush and from the red rose tree.

But when I took my posy and laid it at His feet
I found He had His roses a million times more sweet.
There was a scarlet blossom upon each foot and hand,
And a great pink rose bloomed from His side for the healing of the land.

Now of this fair and awful King there is this marvel told,
That He wears a crown of linked thorns instead of one of gold.
Where there are thorns are roses, and I saw a line of red,
A little wreath of roses around His radiant head.

A red rose is His Sacred Heart, a white rose is His face,
And His breath has turned the barren world to a rich and flowery place.
He is the Rose of Sharon, His gardener am I,
And I shall drink His fragrance in Heaven when I die.

The Waning Days of Summer

August is half over, school starts next week and summer is waving good-bye as it retires until next year. This has been the hottest summer on record here in Florida, and the humidity has been horrendous. There's been times it's been so hot and humid it's been hard to breathe and I've lived inside as much as possible this year. One good thing about that, I've read a lot of books I had on my shelf and even gone back and re-read some golden oldies.

I'm looking forward to fall, it's my favorite time of year. I'm looking forward to putting away the Americana decor from my home and bringing out the fall colors. They're so relaxing and comforting. It'll be time to put away the summer fruity candles and bring out my favorites, Autumm Wreath and Home Sweet Home...there's nothing like a Yankee Candle for bringing the scents of fall inside.

I'm ready for fall...are you?

ASK A SMART ALECK QUESTION, GET A SERIOUS ANSWER!

The other night my sweet husband was telling me how since he's been reading his Bible every day he's noticed it has all the answers to life's questions. Being the smart-aleck I can be at times, I asked, "do you suppose there's a diet in there that would really work?" (We'd also been talking about our need to eat healthier and for both of us to lose some pounds.)

I didn't give it anymore thought until I was surfing the television channels as I played with Kyle and noticed a man reading Isaiah 55: 1-2. What caught my ears was the phrase, "let your soul delight itself in fatness." That brought to mind one of my husband's favorite phrases, "oh forget the diet, eat what you want and die fat and happy." I don't think that's what this scripture really means. What it really means is that we work and struggle to try and find happiness. Instead we find depression, anger, tiredness, or _____ ( fill in your personal blank here) and then we eat to try and medicate that feeling. Instead of eating to live, we live to eat. We plan our next meal before we digest the one we just ate. If you're anything like me, if there's a piece of pie in the refrigerator it calls my name until I go eat it. We eat when we're really not even hungry, we eat because the clock tells us it's time to eat.

Anyway, I recalled Daniel in Babylon and how he didn't want to eat the King's rich foods and instead asked for pulse and water. Pulse? what's that? Basically it's seeds, whole grains, fruits and nuts. Hmmm that sounds more delicious than pulse! Then I remembered Ezekiel being in the wilderness and God giving him a specific recipe for bread...that's in Ezekiel 4:9. Then I read Ezekiel 4:10 and found out God even says how much meat to eat...."20 shekels a day". Okay, what's a shekel? I looked it up and 20 shekels of meat is 8 ounces. And there we have it....God's perfect diet! Whole grains, nuts, seeds, fruits and 8 ounces of meat a day, water to drink. How easy is that?

So I'm giving it a try.....I'll let you know how my progress goes as time goes along.