Dawn Marie

jumping jacks & toe touches!

Published on November 16, 2015November 16, 2015 by Dawn Marie6 Comments

it’s the monday giggles:

At morning Mass today

the first reading had much to say!

“In those days there appeared in Israel men who were breakers of the law, and they seduced many people, saying: “Let us go and make an alliance with the Gentiles all around us; since we separated from them, many evils have come upon us.” The proposal was agreeable; some from among the people promptly went to the king, and he authorized them to introduce the way of living of the Gentiles. Thereupon they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem according to the Gentile custom.” 1 Maccabees 1

Hmmmm…Breakers of the law

built a gymnasium.

(And that’s when it hit me!)

I now know why my body is adverse to exercise…

It’s Breaking the Law!

(giggles!)

hugs n’ blessings & morning walks that change the world!

What Kind of Tree Are You?

Published on November 15, 2015November 15, 2015 by Dawn MarieLeave a comment

My Sunday Reblog (as part of the NaBloPoMo challenge,) comes from one of my blogging HEROs!! I discovered Bill during my first Blogging101 course through WordPress. Bill was kind enough to “Like” one of my posts and moved by this stranger’s extreme kindness & encouraging words to me, I looked into his site as well. It has been a blog-loving-affair ever since!!! I cannot get to his site fast enough once I’ve received a notification of a recent post and I know when you go there you too will immediately understand why!

In late October of 1996, just weeks after his 36th birthday, Bill was diagnosed with a terminal disease called Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. (ALS or “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” after the famous New York Yankee’s player who brought this Disease to the public light in a very poignant way.)

Bill’s motive for starting his blog is to pass along some of the lessons he has learned through the course of this trial and hopefully help others avoid some of the detrimental (hope-stealing) mistakes he has made. These are important lessons for all of us to learn because, as Bill points out, “If you’re not going through a trial now, a trial is coming. I know that’s not good news, but it’s the truth. But, as I hope to show, we don’t have to fear trials because God can handle anything that this life throws our way and we can handle them too if we see the trials through the eyes of Christ!”

I am rebloging today one of my favorite posts from Bill and I just know if you take time to read it too you will be just like me & the other 2,700+ believers…in Bill’s Unshakable Hope!

Unshakable Hope

Some might be disappointed, but this is not one of those quizzes like I see posted on Facebook. (There actually is one of those quizzes with this same title, but I didn’t take it because I was afraid that the results would show that I was Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tree).
Ten or twelve years ago, let’s just say eleven, Mary and I were shopping at Home Depot. After finishing our shopping in the store, we wandered out to the garden department to look for some small trees. It was November, and most of the plants were marked down because they were making room for Christmas trees.

Mary got hung up looking at wreathes and other boring items, so I cruised my wheelchair over to go look at trees. As it turned out, there were not many trees left, and I didn’t see anything I was interested in. Just when I was…

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I’m just sayin’ … honesty isn’t always kind

Published on November 14, 2015November 16, 2015 by Dawn Marie3 Comments

I have decided as part of my NaBloPoMo challenge to Reblog posts I have enjoyed reading myself on Saturday & Sundays. Perhaps you too will find something that touches your own heart in a special way as you read along!

I have always appreciated kindness & have made a conscious effort to extend kindness to others, (as God would have me do.) Donna at ayearoflivingkindly.com does a stunning job encouraging those with this same goal to persevere in their efforts to be kind in a sometimes difficult world that we live in! This most recent article touches on the importance of honesty and it’s proper use as we strive to be a conduit of kindness to one another.

The article struck a cord for me due in part to an emotional scar that has been difficult to heal as the result of someone’s “honesty.” Not many years ago someone wrote a defamation letter against our family regarding their “honest” opinion of my loved ones. This letter damaged not only relationships that were already strained, but had such a domino effect that a marriage eventually was destroyed.

I remember the letter trying to be “rationalized.” When we were told the writer was “entitled to their opinion” and “to share it how they wished,” all I kept hearing in my own thoughts was Thumper from the Disney movie Bambi saying…. “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all.” How could a cartoon rabbit in a forest (with an adorable foot-twitch,) have the wisdom to be kind and yet it be so lacking in the actions of this person was fascinating to me in this moment. Admittedly, they were/are entitled to a personal opinion. But…being dishonest, when our honesty has a potential to hurt others, is most times a far kinder gesture to make. God is pleased with our ability to discern when to quietly be dishonest…all as a measure of love.

I’ll be back on Monday with a “giggle” of my own to share, but for now enjoy the beautiful insight from Donna’s site & I pray there will be a special nugget unearthed as a wonderful discovery for you as well!!

A Year of Living Kindly

“Today I bent the truth to be kind, and I have no regret, for I am far surer of what is kind than I am of what is true.” (Robert Brault)

“I’m just saying this for your own good.”

“Don’t be so thin-skinned. I’m just telling it like it is.”

“Hey, I call it like I see it.”

“Jeesh, you’re so touchy!”

These phrases are often used to justify saying hurtful things. Sometimes the speaker may really believe that the listener needs to hear his unvarnished opinion about the poor sap’s looks, abilities, opinions, or prospects.

Speaking on behalf of poor saps everywhere, we don’t. We don’t need someone to tell us all the things that are wrong with us or all the things we don’t do as well as we should. That’s what that persistent little voice in our own head does—and it doesn’t need any help.

There are…

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