I purchased a cute little book at a garage sale Saturday titled "Happy Thoughts:  333 Things to Make You Happy" by Suzanne Bellenson & Lisa Berman.

Here are a handful of them (installment #1 of 2!).

Happy Labor Day!

#5:
Waking up and nothing hurts
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#35:
A kiss from a small child
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#41:
Finding a bouquet of flowers
waiting on your doorstep
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#65:
Making resolutions you can keep
*

#91
Being met at the train station/
bus stop/airport by someone you love
*

#93
When the leaves turn colors
*

#128
Laughing so hard you cry

#212
Fresh-baked warm bread
*

#213
Not buying a dress because it's
too expensive; going back later
and finding it on sale in your size

*****]

"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May all who love this city prosper. O Jerusalem, may there be peace within your walls and prosperity in your palaces. This i ask for the sake of all my brothers and my friends who live here; and may there be peace as a protection to the Temple of the Lord."

~ Psalm 122:6 - 9 LAB

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Bible Commentary:  "The psalmist (writer David) was not praying for his own peace and prosperity, but for his fellow citizens of Jerusalem. This is intercessory prayer, prayer on the behalf of others. Such prayer is unselfish in its motive. Too often we pray for our own needs and desires when we should be interceding for others. Will we intercede for someone else in need today?"

***

Yesterday's entry in "365 Days of Prayer for Women" (good for men too!) by Stephanie Sample:

GREAT THINGS

"Using the Scriptures, the person who serves God will be capable, having all that is needed to do every good work."

~ 2 Timothy 3:17 NCV

" God, I know you don't need me, but I pray you will use me. I want to achieve great things in your name, whether it's to just a handful of people or to thousands or even millions. I'm so grateful for what you've done in my life, and so excited about the purpose you gave me, I want to serve you and bring you glory. Please equip me, Lord. Plant your Word in my heart and empower me with the ability to reflect your goodness. No matter how large or how small the assignment, let my life be of service, and may it bring you the glory you deserve."

"How do you want God to use you?"

***

Something in my email inbox from several days ago by Max Lucado:

ENTER JESUS CHRIST

"After Adam and Eve rebelled, God set in motion a plan of redemption that includes promises, prophets, and miracles. He made a covenant with Abraham. He raised up Joseph in Egypt. He gave courage to David and strength to Esther. But still the people sinned. It would take a perfect man and a perfect sacrifice to overcome it.

"Enter Jesus Christ.

"Like Adam, Jesus had no earthly father. Like Adam, Jesus was given authority over creation. Like Adam, Jesus was tempted. But unlike Adam, Jesus never sinned. We can thank the apostle Paul for this concise summary found in Romans 5:18 (MSG): 'Just as one person did it wrong and got us in all this trouble with sin and death, another person did it right and got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, he got us into life!'"

***

Last week, I tried to change the channel on my main floor televisions using my remote. Didn't work.

Maybe it needed new batteries. It took me a couple of minutes to recognize that I had inadvertently brought my upstairs remote downstairs with me. 

This remote wasn't programmed for that t.v. Right television; right remote. It worked!

Made me stop and think about our relationship with Jesus. Are we 'programmed' to Him? So we can 'receive' His messages?

From Jesus:
"Take care to live in Me,
and let Me live in you.
For a branch can't produce fruit
when severed from the vine.
Nor can you be fruitful
apart from Me."

~ John 15:4 LAB

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I am either by nature or from learned behavior, I am a 'worrier'. If you are like me, this Karen's Korner is for you.

"Draw the Circle:  The 40 Day Prayer Challenge" by Mark Batterson is a study in which I am currently a part.

Here is a quote on page 146:

"If you are a worrier by nature, I have good news for you. You have a tremendous prayer potential. The apostle Paul writes, 'Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything.' If you worry about everything, you'll have a much higher likelihood of praying without ceasing. if you simply learn to turn your worries into prayers. The Holy Spirit can redeem your anxious thoughts by using them as prayer triggers. Think of worry as a prayer alarm. Every time it goes off, you put it to prayer. And when you do, you'll discover that your anxieties will evaporate like early morning fog. So quit wasting your worries. Redeem them by recycling them. turn your worries into prayers!'

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This is a 're-run' of a Karen's Korner from September 10 of 2008. It's #1398:

We got home from church on Sunday and I began to make dinner. It included peas.
 
When I picked up the can from the cupboard, it felt too light and sloshy. I cut open the can and drained it. Lots of liquid. About three large tablespoons of peas were left in the strainer.
 
What happened? I didn't get what I had wanted!
 
As I looked at my 'less than enough' servings of vegetables, I thought about our lives with Christ or without Him!
 
Without Him, there is some substance. The can might even look good, but there is a lot missing. Bunches of 'stuff' that needs to be poured down the drain.
 
With Him, He adds to the missing ingredients stored in the can. We might look the same on the outside. But the inside is completely changed. Filled up!
 
Thanks be to Him who restores, remakes and refills us!
 

"So you have everything when you have Christ,
and you are filled with God through your union with Christ.
He is the highest Ruler, with authority over every other power."
 
~~ Colossians 2:10
 
**

"How can man be wise?
The only way to begin is by reverence for God.
For growth in wisdom comes from obeying His laws.
Praise His name forever."

~ Psalm 111:10 LAB

Bible Commentary:  "The only way to become truly wise is to reverence God. Too often people want to skip this step, thinking they can become wise by life experience and academic knowledge alone. But if God is not acknowledged as the source of wisdom, then the foundation for making wise decisions cannot be laid and we are doomed to mistakes and foolish choices. Always remember that the foundation for growing in wisdom is to recognize that God is the source of wisdom and that obeying His laws is the path to wisdom."

***

This is yesterday's writing taken from  September 11, as we walk away from the 23rd anniversary of 9/11 and its terrorist attacks on the U.S.:

Something by Sarah Young and her "Jesus Calling:  Enjoying Peace in His Presence". 

"Do not be afraid, for I am with you. Hear Me saying Peace, be still to your restless heart. No matter what happens, I will never leave your or forsake you. Let this assurance soak into your mind and heart, until you overflow with Joy. Though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, you need not fear!

""The media relentlessly proclaim bad news for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. A steady diet of their fare will sicken you. Instead of focusing on fickle, ever-changing news broadcasts, tune in to the living Word---the One who is always the same. Let Scripture saturate your mind and heart, and you will walk steadily along the path of Life. Even though you don't know what will happen tomorrow, you can be absolutely sure of your ultimate destination. I hold you by your right hand, and afterward I will take you into Glory."

~ Mark 4:39 (NJKV); Deuteronomy 31:6; Psalm 46:2; Psalm 73:23 - 24

***

The Bible is full of good news!

The ages that we are getting to, we either have aches and pains. Or we too often hear of new diseases and ailments of our friends and family.

But God takes care of all of it, like He does everything else.

"For we know that when this tent we live in now is taken down---when we die and leave these bodies---we will have wonderful new bodies in heaven, homes that will be ours forevermore, made for us by God himself, and not by human hands. How weary we grow of our present bodies. that is why we look forward eagerly to the day when we shall have heavenly bodies. These earthly bodies make us groan and sigh, but we wouldn't like to think of dying and having no bodies at all. We want to slip into our new bodies so that these dying bodies will, as it were, be swallowed up by everlasting life." 

~ 2 Corinthians 5:1 - 4 LAB

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Bible Commentary:  ""We will still have our own personalities and individualities in our resurrected bodies, but they will be made better than we can imagine through Christ's work. Scripture is unclear about what our resurrected bodies will be like, but we know they will be perfect without sickness or disease."

(For even more information on our new bodies, check 1 Corinthians 15:46 - 58.)

***

Something  in the book "Draw the Circle:  The 40 Day Prayer Challenge" by Mark Batterson.

In case today, you can't think of anything for which be thankful today:

"After our sermon, I decided to approach your challenge to thank God for the daily miracles we generally take for granted. Knowing the list of thanks could be infinitely long, I decided to focus only on the miracles I was receiving at the moment of my prayer. So I started praying, 'Thank You, God, for aerobic respiration. Thank You for mitochondria, which right now are creating ATP. Thank You for ATP. Thank You for glycolsis. Thank You for pyruvate.'

"With a biology degree, I ended up having a lot of things on the list. By the time I got back to my place in Arlington, I was thanking God for for each of the amino acids. 'Thank You, God for glycine. Thank You for leucine and isoleucine and tryptophan.'

"I started thanking God for the fact that all organisms that form amino acids have the same chirality so that my body can reuse the nutrients and cellular building blocks of the food I break down. I found myself in absolute awe of His creation.

"I prayed while I took a walk outside, thanking Him for bones and ligaments and tendons. I also thanked Him that i somehow never took an anatomy course in college, because otherwise I would have felt compelled to thank Him for each bone by name, which would have definitely set me back even more in my quest to get through most of the miracles I was receiving at that moment.

"I spent the day praying without ceasing! I literally didn't stop and just consciously kept listing things I was thankful for. I listened to music and thanked Him for my ear's cochlea. While I made, dinner, I thanked Him for system in the plants I was preparing. I spent a lot of time thanking Him for the molecular properties of water. I thanked Him for bacteria in my colon that helps me digest food. I thanked Him for the genetic recombination that made developing and cultivating cotton plants possible for the jeans I was wearing.

"At around nine o'clock that night, I think God got amused with the futility of me trying to thank Him for everything. The Spirit finally hushed me, saying, You can stop now!'"

(pages 162 & 163)

***

Taken from a small booklet titled "Healing Scriptures:  Powerful Promises for Divine Healing" by Joseph Prince.

A PRAYER FOR HEALING

"My friend, whatever your medical situation or challenge would you pray this prayer with me?  (If you are praying for a loved one, just say your loved one's name as appropriate). Say this with me:

"Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for Your love for me.

"Thank You for showing me in Your Word that You want me healthy and strong and that You are my healer. That You are not just able, but willing to heal me and give me a good, long life.

"Whatever challenge I am facing right now, I know it is not too small for Your attention nor too big for Your grace and power.

"I see it completely covered by Your perfect and finished work at the cross. And because of the stripes You bore for me, I declare I am healed.

"Thank You that as I meditate on Your healing promises, according to Your Word, they are being made life and health to all my flesh.

"I declare that Your Word is working powerfully in my body, healing me, protecting me, restoring to me, and invigorating me with Your resurrection life. I thank You that it is also bringing peace, soundness, and strength to my heart, my mind, and my emotions.
Amen!"

*

Prince has a medical disclaimer to remember there are lots of ways that God can heal. And they may include doctor appointments, medicines, various procedures, and surgeries. Don't discount those as aiding in our healings as well.

This is a Max Lucado from yesterday in my computer inbox:

OUR FATHER HAS THE WHEEL

"Be assured, God is at work. His plans are proceeding at the right pace, in the right places, and according to his will. What he has said, he will do.

"When our daughters were young, I took them on many road trips. On the eve of our departure, I’d tell my daughters what was about to happen. 'Early tomorrow, while you are still sleeping, I will carry you to the car, cover you with a blanket, and buckle you in your seat. By the time you wake up, we will be on the road.' I told them in advance what would happen. Consequently, they relaxed. Their father had told them what to expect.

"Our good Father has done the same. So, as his promises are being fulfilled, we have no need of fear. We can relax, knowing that our Father has the wheel."

***

"For this great God
is our God forever
and ever.
He will be our guide
until we
die."

~ Psalm 48:14 LAB

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Bible Commentary:  "We often pray for God's guidance as we struggle with decisions. What we need is both guidance and a guide----a map that gives us landmarks and directions and a constant companion who has an intimate knowledge of the way and will make sure we interpret the map correcntly. The Bible will be such a map, and God will be the constant companion and guide. As we make our way through life, we need to learn to lean upon both the map and the Guide."

***

Thank You, God,
that You promise to be with us
through all the days of our lives.
And even better,
You promise to take us with You
after this life is over.
You are the only Thing
in our lives which lasts forever.
What Good News!
Amen.

Mark Batterson in his book "Draw the Circle" shares this story by Ken Gaub. Sounds impossible but it happened to Gaub:

"A few years ago, I heard author Ken Gaub share one of the most amazing prayer testimonies I've ever heard. He and his family were driving on I-75 near Dayton, Ohio, when they decided to stop at a restaurant. Ken's wife and children went right into the restaurant while he stretched his legs. As he walked past a nearby gas station, he heard a pay phone ringing. The phone kept ringing, and Ken thought it might be some sort of emergency so he answered it. He heard the voice of an operator, who said, 'Long distance for Ken Gaub.'

"Ken almost passed out. He said, 'You've got to be kidding me. I was just walking in the middle of nowhere and heard this phone ringing.' The confused operator said, 'Is Ken Gaub there?' After making sure there weren't any candid cameras, he said, 'This is Ken Gaub.'

"A voice on the other side of the line said, 'Mr. Gaub, my name is Millie. I'm from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. You don't know me, but I need your help.' She went on to explain that she had just written a suicide note but had decided to give prayer one more shot. She said, 'God, I don't really want to do this.' And as she prayed, she remembered seeing Ken Gaub on television. She thought to herself, 'If I could  just talk with him, he could help me.' But this was pre-Google, making it extremely difficult to track him down, As she prayed, some numbers popped into her head, and she wrote them on a piece of paper. She couldn't help but think, 'Wouldn't it be wonderful if God were giving me Ken's number?' Then Millie said, 'I decided to try calling the number, and I couldn't believe it when the operator said it was you.'

"Millie asked Ken, 'Are you in your office?' When Ken said no, Millie sounded surprised. She said, 'Then where are you?' Ken said,' You made the call. Don't you know?' She said, 'I don't even know what area I'm calling. I just dialed the number on a piece of paper.' Ken said, 'You won't believe this. I'm in a phone booth in Dayton, Ohio.' Millie replied, "'What are you doing there?' Ken said, 'Answering a pay phone!'

"Ken went on to draw this conclusion"

"I walked away from the phone booth with an electrifying sense of heavenly Father's concern for each of His children. What were the astronomical odds of this happening? With all the millions of phones and innumerable combinations of numbers, only an all-knowing God could have caused that woman to dial that number in that phone booth at that moment in time.

"When Ken hung up the phone, he walked over to the restaurant and sat down with his family. Still stunned, he said, to his wife, Barb, ' You won't believe this. God knows where I am.'"

****

God, what shall I tell Karen's Korners readers today?"

"Remind them how much I love everyone!"

So here is #2 of "100 Things God Loves About You" by Tama Fortner:

GOD LOVES THE TREASURE OF YOU.

"Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth; the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession."

~ Deuteronomy 14:2


"God and silver? They're just heavenly pavements to Him. Rubies and sapphires? Simple stones for His gates. Diamonds? They're as common as coal. But you? You are His child. You are precious. Worth searching for, worth saving, worth every sacrifice. And when God counts up His heavenly treasures, He counts........you."

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"

(I will be away from my computer all next week. Another Karen's Korner will be in your inbox on Monday, October 7.)

It was this date in 1969 when I was added to the Weld family as I married Jim. I have been and am, so blessed!

Here is Sarah Young's 'Jesus Calling' for September 27:

"Relax in my everlasting arms.
Your weakness is an opportunity to grow strong in awareness of My Almighty Presence. When your energy fails you, do not look inward and lament the lack you find there. Look to Me and My sufficiency, rejoice in My radiant riches that are abundantly available to help you.

"Go gently through this day, leaning on Me and enjoying My Presence. Thank Me for your neediness, which is building trust-bonds between us. If you look back on your journey thus far, you can see that days of extreme weakness have been some of your most precious times. Memories of these days are richly interwoven with golden strands of My Intimate Presence."

~ Deuteronomy 33:27; Psalm 27:13 - 14

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