Penny J. Johnson's Blog, page 134

One Good Thing Every Day: January 14, 2013

From Joan C. Webb’s It’s a Wonderful Imperfect Life

“Procrastination lurks as a clandestine form of perfectionism.”

“Consider doing the hard thing first each morning–or, as an option, right after lunch.”

One Good Thing Every Day: January 13, 2013

A thought to take you into the next week…

“Try to view each day as an adventure, carefully planned out by your Guide.” from Jesus Calling:Enjoying Peace in His Presence by Sarah Young.

One Good Thing Every Day: January 12, 2013

John 15:4-7 became a dearly loved passage during a difficult time in my life. Let the words in several versions bring you closer to the Vine!

Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. (NIV)

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. (NKJV)

Dwell in Me, and I will dwell in you. [Live in Me, and I will live in you.] Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without abiding in (being vitally united to) the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me.

I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.

If a person does not dwell in Me, he is thrown out like a [broken-off] branch, and withers; such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, and they are burned.

If you live in Me [abide vitally united to Me] and My words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. (AMP)

“Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me.

“I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples. (MSG)

One Good Thing Every Day: January 11, 2013

I listen to children recite Sonnet 18 and Sonnet 116, and I wonder if Shakespeare envisioned his poetry would be as the one he compared to an unfading eternal summer and the “ever-fixed mark” we still love.

One Good Thing Every Day: January 10, 2013

As I drove to the roller rink I went to as a child, I felt a bit younger…even when my youngest son said, “No wonder the building looks so old.”

He made up for the remark by pleading with me to skate with him and by holding my hand…to make sure I didn’t fall down.

He smiled back at me as he skated around the next curve…while I captured his childhood with my own skating memories.

One Good Thing Every Day: January 9, 2013

I rode this roller-coaster-day with its car-jarring, chain-yanking, track-clacking climbs. At each crest, I sensed the release into exhilarating descent only to halt at the base of the next hill. By the end of the day, the ride seemed pointless, like amusement disguised as a bad joke.

Roller coasters are best ridden with others, and I never ride mine alone. If I forget that, it’s because I’ve closed my eyes too tight. Opening my eyes, I see the hands gripped with mine on the safety bar. They lift mine up to feel the momentary thrills. I always surprise myself by smiling.

One Good Thing Every Day: January 8, 2013

Because I didn’t feel like posting after a busy day…

2 Corinthians 8:11

Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means.

One Good Thing Every Day: January 7, 2013

After studying internal rhyme within Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “The Cloud”…

I wonder at my own internal rhyme, my urge to sing before the ending of the line.

One Good Thing Every Day: January 6, 2013

It was a blessing to hear 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a read from the Phillips paraphrase this morning.

“This love of which I speak is slow to lose patience—it looks for a way of being constructive. It is not possessive: it is neither anxious to impress nor does it cherish inflated ideas of its own importance.

Love has good manners and does not pursue selfish advantage. It is not touchy. It does not keep account of evil or gloat over the wickedness of other people. On the contrary, it is glad with all good men when truth prevails.

Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. It is, in fact, the one thing that still stands when all else has fallen.”

One Good Thing Every Day: January 5, 2013

“All his wishes centered in domestic comfort and the quiet of private life.” from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

I share Edward Ferrars’ wish when I unpack grocery bags, sort piles of laundry, sip coffee in the afternoon, sneak in a few minutes of reading before dinner, write a poem before my to-do list, knit socks on winter evenings, read “just one chapter” to my sons before bed, fall asleep and wake to the familiar noises of my home.