Presenting The REAL Seven Wonders

Celebrating the simple wonder of being alive with The REAL seven wonders of the world in images.

1. To see

2.  To hear

3.To  touch

4. To taste

5. To  smell

6.To love

7. To Laugh

Human Love Will Never Be Enough

As Christians we are often surprised to discover that we are not as Christian as we suppose. Many attitudes from secular society lurk deep in our minds and hearts. Our attitudes to love and friendship are no exception.

Do you find yourself waiting secretly for your knight in shining armour to whisk you off your feet so you can live happily ever after?

Or for a wonderful woman to lift off your depression and sense of aimlessness?

Although we laugh at such ridiculous fantasies as the stuff of naïve, lovesick teenagers, we all must face the deep temptation within ourselves to ask our partner to fulfill all of our needs.

Most of us are not conscious of this tendency which propels us to seek out our soul mate, someone to complete us and make us whole. The stark truth is that nothing outside of ourselves will ever fill that hollow place within us, not money, not cars, nor beautiful homes, nor relaxing vacations. Nothing outside of ourselves can complete us.

Depending on someone else to complete or make you happy just doesn’t work.

When someone puts unrealistic demands on us, even if we love them and desperately want to fill their emptiness, we will always fail. A natural instinct of survival is to pull back. If we force ourselves to comply, we become suffering victims, scapegoats, resentful and bitter.

You cannot save anybody who passively expects you to fulfill the role of savior. Period. The most loving thing is an AA kind of response to addictive behavior, and let them fall down. Then, there is hope that they will face themselves, take themselves on and begin that inner journey.

I will leave you with this image. One partner is at the bottom of a well, sitting passively. The other partner is leaning down the well as far as they can, dangling a rope in front of their beloved. Only problem is that this particular loved one has vaseline on their hands.

Only God can save any of us. Only Christ can save us from ourselves, from wounding each other, and only the Holy Spirit, living deep in our souls, can satisfy our hearts craving for love.

Great Quotes About Children

Dr. Seuss, authour

“A person’s a person, no matter how small.”

Nelson Mandela,

We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear.”

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”

Albert Einstein -

The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives. 

- Anonymous 
 “Children are great imitators. So give them something great to imitate.”

Barbara Bush, former U.S. first lady“

You have to love your children unselfishly.”

English proverb

The soul is healed by being with children.”

                                                                                    John W. Whitehead, founder, Rutherford Institute

“Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see.”

Frederick Douglass

 It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.

The most interesting information comes from children, for they tell all they know and then stop.

Mark Twain  

Mohandas Gandhi,“

If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children.”

Emma Goldman, author“No one has yet fully realized the wealth of sympathy, kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure.”

Lady Bird Johnson, former U.S. first lady

“Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them.”

 Mignon McLaughlin, journalist and author

“Only where children gather is 

there any real chance of fun.

When Animals Are Loved

We believe that kids need to relate to animals to grow up into well balanced, caring adults who can relate and feel connected to the natural world not just technological society.

Michael and I love animals almost as much as we love kids. That love has been a powerful source of energy that has transformed both our animals and children. Watching our children’s delight as they gently held day-old chicks sitting cross legged and giggling under the warming lamps, confirmed how important animals were to their development and sense of well-being.

Just try to come in the front door of our house without tripping over our huge, guard dog. Shadow is a humongous, drooling, black lab mix, with overgrown feet and a clumsy personality. He was part of my children’s lives for 13 years. This dog was the most quirky and annoying pet we have ever owned. He was also messy, bossy and slightly dense. His utterly hilarious behaviour would take an entire chapter in a book to really describe. After any visitor climbs over Shadow, he cannot sit for five minutes without Rebecca’s cat jumping on his lap. He will certainly be distracted by Daniel’s guinea pig squeaking for veggies every time the fridge door opens and he might become dizzy watching Iggy, Mary’s rabbit chase the dog around in circles.

Even farm animals respond to love. Everyone seems to like pigs a bit more these days, especially tea-cup pigs but our family loves real farm pigs. For twenty years we have raised meat birds, laying hens, pigs, a calf and cared for an old horse and a beautiful warm-blooded horse. We've survived many adventures with animals but some of the most amusing and heart warming have to do with pigs.

When the local hog farmer delivers our little piglets they literally leap and twist in utter bliss as they emerge from the truck because they have never breathed fresh air, seen the sun or touched the dirt or vegetation. They dive into the tall weeds, making pathways and flatten little areas so they can sunbathe, rest under a tree, make their way to the food, their mud bath and the low wooden shed with straw bedding. Pigs are very clean and they love to be sprayed with water from a hose; it helps sunburns as does a good thick coating of mud. I don't know who has more fun-the kids holding the hose or the pigs; both are squealing with delight.

Well-loved farm animals want to be part of the family, too. They they keep us entertained with their antics even more than our more traditional pets. Take Daisy. This socialized goat had a charming personality. If she hadn’t seen anyone in a long time, she’d bleat until one of the children at least poked their head out of the door and talked to her. She would have made more friends if she had quit eating my flowers or stealing little people’s’ hats and pulling on their scarves. Consequently, most of the time we tied Daisy to a post so she could see family life but not cause any problems. However, a couple of times a week we let Daisy follow us around in the garden. As long as she mainly ate the weeds.

Moonlight, our ancient but still regal Arabian stallion, also wanted company.One afternoon, this Arabian stallion was plaintively looking through the window. He looked so forlorn that all the kids begged to let him step in for a cuddle. I finally relented, inviting the huge animal to step into the kitchen to eat a carrot and soak in a bit of love for a while. Moonlight then passively followed us out afterwards.

No wonder we cherish these creatures; not only do we love animals, they love us in return, nourishing and enriching all our lives with their antics. Most importantly they reconnect us with the natural world. They bring us back to our more primitive roots.

Copyright © 2010 motherofnine9

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The Power of Love

A loved child can change the world
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If my children could  remember only three things to take with them into their adult life , what would I want them to be?  Tony Berkman at BlogCatalog asked me this question.

1.Trust that I love you and believe in you. Let that love be your foundation and your springboard into life.

2. God loves you,  just as you are. Relax in that Love, let it sink in , heal you, strengthen you and release you into freedom and joy. Don't try to save yourself and everybody else on your own . Notice that I called God Lord. Let God be God and don't steal His job.

3. Reach out and allow love to flow through you to your partner, children, neighbours and in doing so discover your unique vocation, your work in the world.

A child rooted in love becomes a secure, warm, giving adult who attracts as much light as he reflects. He can live in relative peace with himself and others. With his basic emotional needs fulfilled,  he is free to love and serve other people and to develop intellectually as well as creatively.

Baltasar Gracian , a Spanish Jesuit scholar who lived from 1601 till 1658 said:

"Give me the child until he is
seven and I care not who has him thereafter."
or
"Give me the child till the age of seven
and I will show you the man."

A child grounded in his parents' love, who knows  that the Lord loves him,  is strong and resilient Most of us spend years dealing with love, trust, fear, guilt issues. Imagine a whole generation of young people healed and set free to serve the world in  and through Love? It would be heaven on earth. It would be the beginning of a revolution that would change the face of the earth.

The Shock of the Nativity Scene

Credit: ifoodtv
God's vulnerability

The manger scene is a startling image of the vulnerability of God who became an infant.

This season we contemplate the nativity scene and the image of Mary holding the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords in her arms as a tiny, vulnerable infant.

We should be shocked at the extent of His humility when He came to live among as us a man, beginning His time on earth as a baby in a barn, surrounded by unwashed animals and the smell of manure. Mary, as the mother of God, revealed a mother's love as she nursed and cared for Jesus. He was completely dependent on this girl to meet all of His needs. Actually He willingly placed His life in the hands of a thirteen to fifteen-year old kid. Perhaps Jesus's trust was based on the powerful love that God has placed in every mother's heart for her baby.

I am reminded of a quote.

"The loveliest masterpiece of the heart of God is the heart of a mother."- St Therese of Liseux

This Christmas, look at every mother with new eyes and let her remind you of the nativity scene and the One who entrusted His life to the loving care of a teen mum.

The Fountain of Youth

Youth is not found in a bottle of vitamins or in a jar of face cream.

Advertizers have tapped into a universal craving to stop the relentless ravages of time in the human body by pushing countless gimmicks to keep us youthful. These products keep us healthy but the secret fountain of youth is not a thing to buy but rather an attitude, an inner way of living.

Mortals were created to connect with the light and energy of the unseen, the invisible Force/ Higher Power/ God who created them. I am not so arrogant as to believe that only one spirituality works. In fact many who call themselves atheists are in fact spiritual people in communion with nature They commune with the Spirit who infuses nature with his energy. Without this connection to the Holy Spirit we slowly become depleted of energy, drive and goodwill. And nothing, absolutely nothing can fill this hollow well within us but the Spirit of God.

There are countless ways to connect with the Spirit but as a mother, I discovered a secret, a secret few people seem to recognize. Living with little people keeps you young. Children live in the present moment, filled with awe at the discovery of a ladybug, fascinated with observing how sand spills through their fingers or completely absorbed as they create a clay sculpture. Mothers concentrate on giving love and nurture to their offspring but if we don't allow our little ones to nurture us we can become tired, empty and even resentful.

An infant touches our hearts when we gaze into their guileless eyes but there is much more grace that we can receive if we relax and allow their their love to flow into us! In the early, hectic years I would focus on trying to carve out quiet time to sit and replenish myself. One day while nursing one of my babies, I experienced a powerful surge of love pouring into my heart from my baby to me. I started smiling, heaviness and exhaustion lifted and joy started to bubble up from deep within me!In fact I discovered how to let my infant's love fill me. replenish me. energize me and infuse my heart with a fountain of youth.

Let new light shine insight into the role of mothers.

Raising children is definitely not a default chore for women who were not successful in the world of business, power and wealth.

A smile

for the wisdom of mothers

practical

intuitive

simple

clear.

Tears

for the suffering

necessary to acquire

wisdom

not knowledge.

Painful regret

for this hectic
modern
society
scrambling after
glitter
efficiency
success
while pushing
the wisdom of mothers
to the fringes of influence.

Joyful hope
that mothers
will reveal
their unique
wisdom
joy
strength
to a jaded
cynical
world
a world that has forgotten
that all is fleeting
except Love.