The Breakfast Nook

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"Near to the Heart Of God"

Welcome

Welcome to the Breakfast Nook, the perfect place to enjoy the early morning.

~Mmm…coffee~ Good morning! Won't you have some coffee? Sit down and have a cup with me as you peruse some thought-provoking and inspirational stories mingled with bits of humor to help you start your day with a warm feeling in your heart and a glowing smile on your face :o)

Be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed
by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what
is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Romans 12:2 KJV

Blessings

The man whispered, "God, speak to me"
And a meadowlark sang, but the man did not hear.

So the man yelled "God speak to me!"
And the thunder rolled in the sky, but the man did not listen.

The man looked around and said, "God let me see you."
And a star shined brightly, but the man did not notice.

And the man shouted, "God show me a miracle!"
And a life was born, but the man did not know.

So the man cried out in despair,
"Touch me God, and let me know you are here!"
Whereupon, God reached down and touched the man.
But the man brushed the butterfly away and walked on.

- Author Unknown -

Don't miss out on a blessing because it isn't packaged the way that you expect.

Isn't that a great message for all of us?

Many times, we tend to look for answers or anticipate events with our own pre-conceived notions of what to expect. Then, when our life doesn't play out in some grandiose fashion, we assume that God has failed to respond to us, when, in fact, we have failed to see that which God has provided. Remember, God provided a lamb, but many people failed to accept the "Lamb of God" Jesus Christ, because they were expecting a lion. God sent His servant, Jesus Christ, to teach us humility in serving the needs of others; however, this image of a lowly servant did not fit our man-made mold for the Messiah, the Anointed One, the great and mighty King, for He was to be a powerful ruler to whom others would be subservient. God has already given us the greatest blessing of all in His Son, Jesus Christ.

"Don't miss out on a blessing because it isn't packaged the way that you expect."

by Marcia G. Phyfer

Adversity

C. S. Lewis likened God's use of adversity to walking a dog:
"If the dog gets its leash wrapped around a pole and tries to continue running forward, he will
only tighten the leash more. Both the dog and the owner are after the same end, forward motion,
but the owner must resist the dog by pulling him opposite the direction he wants to go. The master,
sharing the same intention but understanding better than the dog where he really wants to go, takes
an action precisely opposite to that of the dog's will. It is in this way that God uses adversity."

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are
my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV

"God's Embroidery"

When I was a little child, my mother embroidered a great deal. I can remember the time when, as I was sitting at her feet and looking up at her, I asked her what she was doing. She informed me that she was embroidering. I remarked that it looked like a mess from where I was. As, from the underside, I watched her work within the boundaries of the little round hoop in her hand, I complained to her that it sure looked messy from where I sat.

She looked down, smiling at me, and gently said, "My child, you go and play for now, and when I am finished, I will put you on my knee and let you see it from my side." I wondered why she used some dark threads along with the bright ones and why they seemed so jumbled from my point of view. Later, after some time had passed, as I was playing, I heard my Mother calling for me to come and sit on her knee. I went to her, and as I settled into the comfort and security of her lap, my mother said, "My child, from underneath it did look messy and jumbled, but you did not realize there was a plan on the top, a design that I was following. Now look at it from my side, and you will see what I was doing." Then, when she showed me her completed work, I was surprised and thrilled to see a landscape scene full of beautiful flowers adorned by the radiant glow of a magnificent sunrise.

Many times, I have looked up to my Heavenly Father and asked, "Father, what are You doing?" He has answered, "I am embroidering your life." I say, "But it looks like a mess to me. It seems so jumbled. The threads seem so dark. Why can't they all be bright?" My Father gently says, "My child, you go and do My will for now, and one day, I will bring you to Heaven and put you on My knee, and then you will see the plan from My side."

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes."
-Marcel Proust-

Humorous Glimpses

A good laugh overcomes more difficulties and dissipates
more dark clouds than any other one thing.
- Laura Ingalls Wilder -

A woman had invited some people to dinner. At the table, she turned to her six-year-old daughter and said, "Would you like to say the blessing, dear?" "I wouldn't know what to say," the little girl replied. "Just say what you hear Mommy say," the mother said. So, the little girl bowed her head and said,
"Dear Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?"

"Big Trouble"

There were two brothers, 8 and 10 years old, who were exceedingly mischievous. Whatever went wrong in the neighborhood, it turned out that they had a hand in it. Their parents were at their wits' end trying to control them. Hearing about a priest nearby who worked with delinquent boys, the mother suggested to the father that they ask the priest to talk with the boys. The father agreed, so the mother went to the priest and made her request. He agreed to talk with the boys but said he wanted to see the younger boy first and alone. So the mother sent the younger of her two sons to the priest.

The priest sat the boy down across from him at a huge impressive desk.
For about five minutes, they just sat and stared at each other.
Finally, the priest pointed his forefinger at the boy and asked,
"Where is God?"

The boy looked under the desk, in the corners of the room, and all around,
but he said nothing. Again, louder, the priest pointed at the boy and asked,
"Where is God?"

Again the boy looked all around but said nothing.
A third time, in a louder, firmer voice, the priest leaned far across
the desk and put his forefinger almost to the boy's nose, and asked,
"Where is God?"

The boy panicked and ran all the way home.
Finding his older brother, he dragged him upstairs to their room
and into the closet, where they usually plotted their mischief.
He finally said, "We are in BIG trouble."
The older boy asked, "What do you mean, 'BIG trouble'?"
His brother replied, "God is missing, and they think we did it!"

Author Unknown :o)

After listening restlessly to a long and tedious sermon, a 6-year-old boy asked his father what the preacher did the rest of the week. "Oh he's a very busy man," the father replied. "He takes care of church business, visits the sick, ministers to the poor, and then he has to have time to rest up. Talking in public isn't an easy job, you know." The boy thought about that, then said, "Well, listening ain't easy, either."

"God, Are You Listening?"

A man was walking through a forest pondering life.
He walked and pondered, walked and pondered.
He felt very close to nature and even closer to God,
so close that he felt if he spoke, God would listen.

So he asked, "God, are you listening?"
And God replied, "Yes, my son, I am here."

The man stopped and pondered some more.
He looked up to the sky and said,
"God, what is a million years to you?"
God replied,
"Well, my son, a second to me is like a million years to you."

So the man continued to walk and ponder... walk and ponder...
Then he looked to the sky again and said,
"God, what is a million dollars to you?"
And God replied,
"My son, a penny to me is like a million dollars to you."
It means almost nothing to me.
It does not even have any value, it is so little."

The man looked down, pondered a bit,
and then looked up to the sky and said,
"God, can I have a million dollars?"
And God replied, "In a second."

Author Unknown :o)

There was a five year old boy who went to Sunday School, and after class his father asked him, "What did you learn in Sunday School today?" The young boy replied, "The teacher told us about Moses and how he brought his people out of Egypt, and that, when they got to the Red Sea, they saw the pharaoh was following them with his army. Moses looked up to God, and he prayed for help, and so God sent Moses concrete to build a bridge." The father looked at his son and asked, "Is that really what she said to you?" The boy shook his head and said, "No, but if you don't believe THAT story, then you'll NEVER believe what she REALLY said!"

"Thank God!"

There's this guy who had been lost and walking in the desert for about 2 weeks. One hot day, he sees the home of a missionary. Tired and weak, he crawls up to the house, collapsing on the doorstep. The missionary finds him and nurses him back to health. Feeling better, the man asks the missionary for directions to the nearest town.

On his way out the back door, he sees this horse. So he goes back into the house and asks, "Could I borrow your horse to get to town?" The missionary says, "Sure, but there's a special thing about this horse. You have to say 'Thank God' to make it go and 'Amen' to make it stop." Not paying much attention, the man says, "Sure, OK."

So he gets on the horse and says, "Thank God," and the horse starts walking. Then he says, "Thank God, thank God," and the horse starts trotting. Feeling really brave now, the man says, "Thank God, thank God, thank God, thank God, thank God," and the horse just takes off. Pretty soon, he sees this cliff coming up, and he's doing everything that he can think of to make the horse stop: "Whoa, stop, hold on!!!!" Finally he remembers, "Amen!!" The horse stops only 4 inches from the edge of the cliff.

Greatly relieved, the man leans back in the saddle and says, "Thank God!"

Author Unknown :o)

A priest was walking along the corridor of the parochial school near the preschool wing as a group of little ones went trotting by on their way to the cafeteria. One little lad of about three or four stopped and looked at him in his clerical clothes and asked, "Why do you dress funny?" He told the boy that he was a priest and that this was the uniform priests wear. Then the boy pointed to the priest's plastic collar tab and asked, "Do you have an owie?"

The priest was perplexed until he realized that, to the boy, the collar tab looked like a band-aid. So the priest took it off and handed it to the boy to show him. On the back of the tab were raised letters giving the name of the manufacturer. The little guy felt the letters, and the priest asked, "Do you know what those words say?"

"Yes, I sure do," said the young lad, who was not yet old enough to read. Peering intently at the letters, he said, "Kills ticks and fleas up to six months!"

After church, Johnny tells his parents he has to go and talk to
the minister right away. They agree, and the pastor greets the family.
"Pastor," Johnny says, "I heard you say today that our bodies came from the dust."
"That's right, Johnny, I did."
"And I heard you say that when we die, our bodies go back to dust."
"Yes, I'm glad you were listening. Why do you ask?"
"Well you better come over to our house right away and
look under my bed 'cause there's someone either comin' or goin'!"

Inspirational Glimpses

Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today,
so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.
Hebrews 3:13 NIV

The Power of Words

A group of frogs was traveling through the woods when two of them fell into a deep pit. All of the other frogs gathered around the pit. When they saw how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead. The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit with all of their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead. Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down and died. The other frog continued to jump just as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He jumped even harder, and he finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, "Did you not hear us?" So the frog then explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.
There is power of life and death in the tongue. An encouraging word to someone who is down can lift them up and help them make it through the day. A destructive word to someone who is down can be what it takes to kill them. Be careful of what you say. Speak life to those who cross your path. It is hard to understand how an encouraging word can go such a long way. Anyone can speak words that tend to rob another of the spirit to continue in difficult times. Special is the individual who takes the time to encourage another. Be special to others.

- Author Unknown -

Inspirational Pages

The Tree

A Lesson from the Butterfly

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