Hello everyone.  I apologize for not blogging for a while. I have been ill and haven't felt up to doing much of anything.  I am feeling much better now, thankfully.  
     I saw this verse from 1 Timothy, chapter 2, on a dear friend of mine's Facebook page.  And, I thought I would make it the focus of my blog today.
     Prayer and thankfulness are of the utmost importance in my life.  I try to be vigilant about them both.  However, there are times when I know I fall very short.  Actually, if I am honest, I probably fall short more often than not.  I guess that is the human way of it.  My intentions and hopes are usually much better and more ideal than my actions.
     One of the reasons I chose to write this particular post at this particular time is because of my recent illness.  I know that there were some people out there praying for me and checking in on me via Facebook.  I appreciated it more than they know.  And, it got me to thinking about how much prayer and little kindnesses for others mean to people.  
     There were also some people who either didn't pray for me or didn't let me know that they were and didn't check in on me, even on Facebook, that I was hoping would.  And, it made me sad.  Yet, I thought about how many posts go by on my timeline each day and how easy it is to miss a post.  I also know that there are so many people on my Facebook page and in my life who needs prayers every day that I don't check in on or tell them that I am praying for them.  So, in the end, I understood.  I can't judge, especially since I don't always do what I was hoping for either.
     I do want to thank all those people who checked in on me in one way or another and who prayed for me while I was ill.  I deeply appreciate it.  Also, if you know of anyone going through a difficult time, needing prayer, or for whom you are thankful; consider checking in on them, letting him or her know that you care, praying for them, and giving thanks for them.  I know, from experience, that it is very appreciated and means so much.
     Thank you.  And, if you need any prayers, please feel free to contact me or let me know in the comments.  I will do my best to try to pray for every person and keep every prayer request in mind.  Thank you.  God bless. 

     Today's world seems so fast paced.  Roads are packed with speeding cars or wall-to-wall traffic.  People walk around attached to electronic devices.  It seems like people go from work to home to bed and back to work again.  People hardly ever visit others or take a Sunday drive any more.  
     Sometimes the world seems to be one big ball of stress.  I see people every day affected with cancer, heart disease, and other things that can be caused in part by stress.  It is very sad at times, especially when a change of life style can help.
      I know there are moments when I catch myself in the rut of the hustle and bustle world.  I feel stressed, rushed, overwhelmed, and chaotic.  It is times like that when I know that I need to take a moment to "smell the flowers."
     I don't know about you, but I think I would love it if the world would slow down a little.  Take a little time every day to smell the flowers.  (Yes.  I know that the saying is "take time to smell the roses."  I didn't want to let any flower out.)  Lol!  You don't have to do it literally, although it isn't a bad idea.  But… take a little time each day to look around and be thankful.  Look at your surroundings; enjoy a bird or a flower.  Look in the sky and enjoy the clouds.  See someone's smile.  Take a moment to see the struggle of someone else and admire that person's perseverance to go on.
     Have you taken time to smell the flowers today?  Try it.  You might enjoy it.
     
*Note:  I created and posted the image above on the "DUO Inspirations" Facebook page yesterday.  I share things on the Facebook page that I don't share here at times.  Sometimes I share things on the DUO Inspirations website that I don't share on the page.  Please, take time to explore both every once in a while.  I am continually looking for inspirational things to share.  And, if you have anything you would like to share, please feel free to contact me.  Thank you.

     Hello everyone.  I haven't felt well and have had some healthy issues lately.  So, I have been thinking quite a bit, but doing less and less.  It has been difficult emotionally and physically, not to be able to do the things I would like to do and accomplish all the things I dream.
     All that thinking has got me to realize how short life is and how we need to prioritize based upon our situations, beliefs, and dreams.  So, that is what I have been trying to do lately.
     My time at the computer doesn't help my health, so I have cut it way down.  I have been focusing more on getting healthy than promoting anything.  I focus more on friendships, than on selling.  
     It has been difficult, because "I should be doing more.  I should be doing something different.  I enjoy doing this.  I have to have this," and similar thoughts keep creeping into my mind.  I am struggling against myself at times.  But… right now, the priority is love, wisdom, faith, and health.
     I found a verse, Psalm 90:12, which I think really helps me focus and fits with today's post.  I hope you find it inspirational.  Our days are numbered.  So, we need to search for wisdom and apply ourselves to follow it… and that includes prioritizing.  God bless.

     Hello everyone.  Today, we have a special treat.  And, in it's own right it is inspirational.  My husband agreed to write my blog post for me today.  This is a man who has never sat down at the computer in our house before.  He doesn't like to write.  And, he has no idea what a blog is.  So, it shocked me when he actually sat down at the computer.  I thought he was just joking when he said he would do it.  (Joking is his middle name.  He doesn't do serious well.)
     Yet, sure enough, he sat down at the computer hen pecking away, one finger at a time.  Click, click, click.  "How do you erase?"  Click, click, click some more after I told him about the delete button.  Click, click, click.  I had no idea what the final result would be.  
      A little while longer, he came up with a version of the following that needed a few spelling and grammar corrections:

     "Once upon a time there lived a Jodi.  In the forest, she roamed and played in the winter’s snow; running and jumping, making lots of snow angels.  She would run so fast she would warm the winter’s wind into a warm summer’s breeze.  The smiles of all those around her would warm the face of winter’s sun who would then warm mother earth’s face; awakening sister spring and bring joy to all earth’s creatures."

      I hope you enjoyed it.  And, I hope you realize that anyone can surprise you and inspire you at any time.  Thank you, Joe, for writing my blog.  I love you.

     Hello everyone.  I am pleasantly surprised at how well DUO Inspirations is doing so far.  I consider myself a fairly creative person.  However, DUO Inspirations has brought out creativity in me that I didn't even know I possessed.  I am learning, doing, and even selling inspirational products that I wouldn't even imagined a short time ago.  I am also meeting some very nice and inspirational people.

     Hello everyone.  I would like to introduce to you a wonderful friend of mine, Rhonda Patton.  She is a great friend with much talent and inspiration.  She is here today to share a personal story about keeping a prayer journal.  Thank you, Rhonda, for sharing with us today.

Hello all.  My name is Rhonda Patton.  I am the author of Ted and Raymond’s Children’s books.  My website is www.thecroak500.com.

For years I wrote a daily prayer journal.  This helped me really get into the feeling of prayer.  It touched my heart to write my deepest feelings to God out on paper and keep a journal.  It helped me on my daily journey with God.

The church I go to suggested to keep a prayer book or journal to see God’s work.  When you write in this journal put a date and time if you want specifics.  I just wrote a date.  The pastor told everyone when you pray, pray for specific things. 

Every morning I would pray, but every night at bedtime I would write my heart on a piece of paper.  I would open a simple notebook telling God how my day went or how someone was in need of prayer.

I recently started getting my notebooks out and reading information on bible stories I taught to kindergarten kids and looking back at everything I learned.  My heart was touched once again when I started reading my journal.

In my journal on August 28th, 2008, I asked a certain prayer request that touches my heart deep knowing God made a path for me exactly one year later.

On this date I write:

Dear precious Father,
Please help us clean out our bills and forgive us of our debt Lord so we can move on and have another child soon Lord. Prepare us a way in YOUR will. Lord I thank you for the money you have provided for us already to make ends meet. I thank you for Chet's job he started today. I thank you for Madison doing well in school. Keep her safe and happy. She is so blessed in you. She is your beautiful child. Be with the Church and the daycare.

There is a lot more. But do you see what happened on this date....

GOD made a way for us to have a child and find out on the VERY EXACT DAY I asked. Also I had been praying for Chet a job and he got it on THIS VERY DAY.­­

ON AUG 28th 2008 we were having a garage sale. The night before we took the test. We thought it wasn’t working because there was NOTHING on the stick... I didn’t want to be let down by a no, so my husband looked at it the morning of Aug 28th. He asked what two lines meant.... IT MEANT WE WERE EXPECTING A CHILD...

This date also had another special meaning to me.  My grandma’s birthday is August 28th.  She passed away on August 1, 2005.

Remember the timing is GOD’s Time.  Not ours.  If you really want to see if you have amazingly answered prayers, start a journal.  I was always told to ask for specific things. He even gave me a specific date.  How AWESOME is our GOD!?!

 

Hello everyone.  I would like to introduce you to an author friend of mine from Australia.  His name is Paul G Day.  For more information about him, you can check out his site at http://www.bravebearbooks.com.  Today, Paul is sharing with us an inspirational poem that he has written.  Thank you, Paul, for stopping by and sharing with us.


 Sometimes heroes are the very ordinary people around us, who through circumstances anything but ordinary, manage to be extraordinary. If you look closely around you when you are out and about, you see them everywhere. That single mother wrestling with her kids to keep them behaved, that caregiver with her adult disabled son. Those grandparents raising children because their own parents cannot. That blind woman bravely crossing a street. That deaf person with the hearing dog. These are all heroes and yet, they are so seemingly ordinary in every other way. They have no capes, no masks, no special powers. But they have great courage, resilience, determination and spirit.


Blind From Birth

She was an ordinary girl,
So Simple, innocent, kind.
But from birth this little child,
Was born completely blind.

She wondered at the sound of bees,
And the birds which nested in the trees.
She listened to the sounds of night,
The crickets, frogs and owls, so right.

She walked without a stick for aid,
As she followed paths her pa had made.
She learnt to swim and ride her horse,
Guided by her Pa of course.

She fed the ducks, the geese, the hens,
Stopping only every now and then,
To listen to the sounds they make,
As her pa swept paths for her sake.

But at night she lay so quiet and calm,
And imagined life beyond the farm.
Where she was not so blind from birth,
But could see all wonders of the Earth.

In truth she didn’t need her sight,
And she never complained about her plight.
She lived her life beside the streams,
But left her thoughts inside her dreams.

She was just an ordinary girl,
Though at birth she was born blind.
Yet she was to her Pa, a hero,
For she was simple, gentle and kind.

Paul G Day.

     Hello.  How are you?  Have you ever felt you could follow your dreams if you get a little inspiration or encouragement?  Do you, as I do, enjoy surrounding yourself with inspiration, friendliness, and encouragement?  Do you like to inspire and be inspired?  If so, you are in the right place.

     I will be starting out by posting on Wednesdays.  I am apt to post about anything that relates to inspiration, creativity, education, sharing, and life’s journeys, as well as DUO Inspirations’ products and services.

     Inspiration is an interesting and “feel good” source.  It can tug at your heartstrings, bring out the tears, and motivate people to do wonderful things.  However, inspiration can be sweet and simple as well.  It doesn’t have to be a heroic story of saving someone from death or running the extra mile.

     Everyone has a journey in life.  They may even split their life into many journeys.  More importantly, everyone can be a source of inspiration.  I guess that is why I titled this blog, “Inspirational Journeys.”  Everything we do or don’t do is part of our journey.  You have much to share and so do I. 

     I will be looking for inspirational quotes, books, sites, products, services, anecdotes, and ideas.   If you are interested, please feel free to comment below or contact me.  I would love to chat with you and welcome you into this inspirational community.  The diversity of guest posts will be a welcomed addition to Inspirational Journeys.  Let’s make the world a better place, “one inspiration at a time. “