Priorities

2015 Planning

The priorities you choose will dictate the life you live.

So choose carefully.

(100 Days Of Prayer For Women, p. 37)

31 December 2014

What Am I Thinking

And once you understand that your emotions and behaviors come directly from your thoughts, you will simultaneously understand that the way to attack any personal problem is to attack the thoughts that support your negative emotions and self-defeating behavior.
(Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, The Sky's The Limit, p. 358)
30 December 2014

It's Not My Problem

Face facts: the upcoming day will not be problem-free. In fact, your life can be viewed as an exercise in problem-solving. The question is not whether you will encounter problems; the real question is how you will choose to address them.
(100 Days Of Prayer For Women, p. 247)
29 December 2014

The Course Of Our Lives

Capitol Christmas Tree

Capitol Building Shrouded in Plastic and Scaffolding

Christmas 2014

Photo by Mr. Dickie

Failure is one of life's most powerful teachers. How we handle our failures determines whether we're going to simply get by in life or press on.
(Beth Moore, in 100 Days Of Prayer For Women, p. 31)

... it takes a close call before most people will put the emphasis in their lives on the sense of purpose and meaning.
(Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, The Sky's The Limit, p. 322)

The course of our lives is seldom determined by great, life-altering decisions. Our direction is often set by the small day-to-day choices that chart the track on which we run. This is the substance of our lives - making choices.
(Gordon B. Hinckley, Stand A Little Taller, 2 January)
28 December 2014

Material Wants

Lincoln Memorial

Lighted model, at the U.S. Botanical Gardens, Washington, D.C.

27 December 2014

Photo by Mr. Dickie

Many times material wants are based on emotional needs we don't know how to satisfy. ... it may be difficult to stop using material purchases as pacifiers.
(Amy E. Dean, Night Light, 4 May)
27 December 2014

Attitude

Most of us bring to everyday life a somewhat naive psychological attitude in our expectations that our lives and relationships will be simple.
(Thomas Moore, Care Of The Soul, p. 14)
26 December 2014

O Come, All Ye Faithful

Christmas Tree - 2014

O come, all ye faithful,

Joyful and triumphant,

O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;

Come, and behold him,

Born the King of angels,

O come, let us adore him,

Christ, the Lord.

(John Francis Wade (c. 1743))

25 December 2014

Complacency

Complacency ... is rarely listed among the major human faults, yet it can hinder us in every form of personal growth.
(Hope For Today, 15 February)

If great care is not taken to deal with problems, they can soon throw a monkey wrench into the smooth machinery ... [of life].
(Harry and Emily Griffith, This Love We Share)
23 December 2014

Where Am I?

You may not be where you should be, but at least you're not where you used to be.
(Joel Osteen, Become A Better You, p. 88)
22 December 2014

Serenity

2014 Christmas Cactus

... acquiring a sense of reality 

... is absolutely essential to serenity

(One Day At A Time In Al-Anon, 15 February)

21 December 2014

Uncharted Waters

We are literally walking through uncharted waters here. And everyone involved is doing the best they can with the knowledge and understanding they have at this point in time and space.
(Louise L. Hay, Meditations To Heal Your Life, p. 11)
13 December 2014

Understanding

I have understood nothing of what I have read so I have to go back and read it all over again.
(Frederick Buechner, Listening To Your Life, p. 276)

******

We went to the thrift store yesterday. I was looking for one more 2015 calendar. I found two and didn't like either. They were offering a 40% discount with their VIP card. I looked at the CDs twice and found six in like-new condition that I bought for $1.19 each. Three are Bluegrass. Mickey Basil, a cousin of Kathy Lee Gifford, plays piano and sings in the Annapolis, MD area. Mickey played piano at one of Wayne Taylor's Bluegrass concerts in Crofton, MD.

1. Gene Pitney - 20 Greatest Hits
2. The Bluegrass 45 - Once Again From Kobe, Japan
3. Claire Lynch - Friends For A Lifetime
4. Claire Lynch - Crowd Favorites
5. Mickey Basil - Live at Sam's Waterfront Cafe
6. Trisha Yearwood - Where Your Road Leads

Dick Henthorn

12 December 2014

Choices

Whatever you love most be it sport[s], pleasure, business, [alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, sex, money, your stuff] or God, that is your god.
(Billy Graham, altered by Richard E. Henthorn, in 100 Days Of Prayer For Women, p. 37)
11 December 2014

Choices

We create our own feelings by the thoughts we choose to think. We have the ability to make different choices and create different experiences.
(Louise L. Hay, Meditations To Heal Your Life, p. 90)
10 December 2014

Hurried Decisions

National Harbor Christmas Tree

When against one's will, one is high-pressured into making a hurried decision the best answer is always "not" because "no" is more easily changed to "yes" than "yes" is changed to "no."
(Charles E. Nielson in Night Light by Amy E. Dean, 27 March)

******

The Christmas decorations are up. This morning we returned the empty boxes to the attic.

9 December 2014

Christmas Village

(Not Our Christmas Village)

Don't get ahead of yourself if you want to maintain control of where you are going.
(Richard E. Henthorn, 2 March 2014, after Perry Tilleraas, The Color of Light, 1 March 2014)

******

Our 2014 Christmas Village is set up. I used those thumb sized Christmas lights to illuminate most of the houses.  I switched to a string of of fifteen sockets.  A few houses and lighthouses have their own cords for the lights. 

We added three new items this year, purchased at the University Park community yard sale.

• Winery
• Covered Bridge
• Clock Tower

The main display is set up in the living room on the buffet and a folding table.

• Barn and Silo
• Butcher Shop
• Churches (2)
• Victoria Train Station
• Ceramic Christmas Trees (2)
• School
• School (with movable brass bell)
• Sweet Shop
• Santa's Workshop
• Church (with plastic window)
• City Hall
• Daily Blizzard Newspaper
• Covered Bridge
• Blythe Pond Mill
• Village Inn
• Clock Tower
• White & Black Lighthouse
• Brown Lighthouse
• Crystal Creek Winery

There's also an overflow display on an end table.

• White Lighthouse 
• White & Black Lighthouse
• Bakery & Inn
• Three Snowmen (with illuminated "Let It Snow")

Dick Henthorn

8 December 2014

Pearl Harbor Day - 7 Dec 1941

Yesterday, December 4, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

(Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) - address to Congress delivered on 8 December 1941)
7 December 2014

The Struggle

There is one thing that keeps many people from gaining ground and from fervently striving to improve; the dread of difficulty, or more accurately, the effort of the struggle.
(Thomas 'a Kempis, The Imitation Of Christ, Book 1, Chapter 25)
6 December 2014

Wisdom

People who think themselves wise are seldom humble enough to allow others to guide them.
(Thomas 'a Kempis, The Imitation Of Christ, Book 3, Chapter 7, p. 94)
5 December 2014

Boundaries

... boundaries are a civilizing ingredient in social interaction, a matter of self-respect and respect for others. Setting limits requires some degree of communication skills because others cannot read my mind nor I theirs. Others need to know how I feel and I need to lovingly communicate my feelings. Likewise, it is important that I listen to and respect their feelings.
(Hope For Today, 6 November)

******

Melva hung the ornaments on our little Christmas tree. I unwrapped the rest of the figurines from the Christmas Village display and replaced three light bulbs that I didn't like in the ceramic houses yesterday. I'll need to go up in the attic one more time to organize the empty boxes and to put away the last boxes when the decorating is done. We've been working on the project for at least three days.

Dick Henthorn

4 December 2014

Quality Of Life

The quality of a man's life is in direct proportion to his commitment to excellence.
(Vince Lombardi, in The Little Book Of Virtures, 3 December)
3 December 2014

Christmas Is Coming

When you have the choice to be right or to be kind, always pick kind.

(Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, Excuses Begone! p. 234)

2 December 2014

******

We are into day two of working on putting up the Christmas decorations. Yesterday we brought the boxes and the artificial tree down from the attic. That's so much fun, especially taking all the clothes and shoes out of the closet to gain access. We unpacked all of the Christmas Village houses and some of the other decorations. This allowed me to to put the empty boxes back in the attic before putting the ceiling panel back in place.

Today, we moved some furniture around in the living room. I washed the front windows and moved the round table in front of the big window. I put the 4.5 foot artificial tree up and set it on the round table. The permanently installed lights on the tree worked. We have them flashing white and then multiple colors. Melva will put the decorations on the tree later.

During the year, at a community yard sale, we bought three ceramic items to add to my Christmas Village: a covered bridge, a town clock tower and the Crystal Creek Winery. Later in the week I'll set up everything on the buffet and a folding table along the carport side of the living room. I'll need to buy a couple of power strips to do it right.

Dick Henthorn

2 December 2014

Attitude

Attitude is the mind's paintbrush, it can color any situation.

(Barbara Johnson in 100 Days Of Prayer For Women, p. 54)

1 December 2014