Family Harmony, an Unspoken Bond

From the first time you hovered around the piano and stood next to your brothers and sisters, your mother and father, aunts, uncles and cousins a unique resonance of harmonic tones came from somewhere inside of you, somewhere in your gut you felt the vibration. The tones flowed outwardly and met in the open air and as you adjusted to one another, a dove tailing affect smoothed them into a seamless fit creating one distinctive voice out of many….. Family harmony, an unspoken bond; can be a one of a kind link with its own tone, rhythm and vibe that authenticates and validates each member’s inclusion.

You first heard it in you mother’s womb. Vibrations penetrate into your life-sustaining sack, with each wave pounding out the formation of your being, embossing its code into your soul. You feel the connections, you may not understand them, you may not be able to articulate them, but without question you intimately KNOW them. Then countless times we weave our voices together to express the faith we believe, the celebration of life, the joy of our love and the comfort of our pain. Each one of these life experiences expands us to a deeper, richer, fuller range of that harmonic bond.

When one voice goes silent its missing tone changes the dynamic of the harmony. It’s felt by all of the other voices simultaneously……… and they do adjust…… they do cope……. They do continue to sing. The groans and moans from the depths of each heart, fully sense that silent sound now reshaping the harmony. Harmony is defined as ‘a situation in which there is friendly agreement or accord’, ‘a pleasing combination of sounds’ and, pleasantness in arrangement’. I would add that Family Harmony brings pleasantness in arrangement that naturally flows on its own in a situation where disagreement can easily step in to create discord. The quality, class and beauty of a family are revealed when the unspoken bonds automatically unite the voices as they adjust the harmony of their distinctive sound.

Grace, Peace and Blessings are upon you who have an ear to hear.

Written by LJN 8.27.08

Photos by Trish @Through the Viewfinder

http://www.tljnicholas.com

Photo: Baby Bump - Courtesty of our Missy

West Coast Family Photos - Courtesty of our Piano Man

Photo: Tree Shadows by LJN Another Awesome shot!

“Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.”—Colossians 3:14-15

Happiness for me is…

I know that many of us at some point in time in our lives have experienced being unhappy. It does not take much thought or contemplation to recall how we felt when we deemed ourself to be in a “state of unhappiness.” We could also say where, when and what the circumstances were that produced this unhappy feeling.

We have all found ourselves considering what would make me a totally happy person? Or what would happiness for me look like? Many people have thought that having a lot of money, having the perfect job, house, car (fully loaded of course), an all expenses paid vacation and the list of “things” can go on and on and on.

If you stop for a moment and ask yourself this question, what would happiness not be for me? Would surly get you to start thinking about what true happiness for me is all about. This brings me to a recent conversation that I had with my daughter. We were discussing what kind of window treatments she wanted to put up in her new home. She responded to my inquiry with, I can tell you this, “I know what I don’t want at my windows.” I found myself saying to her well at least that’s a good start. She had focused more on knowing what she would not like, which in the end helped her to discover what would really make her happy.

I would like to leave you with my own personal revelation about what happiness is for me. Up until two years ago I was a very healthy active person and then out of no where I had a serious blow to the foundation of my health. Happiness for me is in the purely simplistic things that I had taken for granted all of my life such as breathing, standing, walking, and thinking.

But now EACH day and EACH moment is so precious to me. There is no such thing as just another Birthday, just another smooth jazz concert, just another sunset, just another raindrop, just another white cloud in the sky, or just another full moon…the list is ENDLESS. Sometimes we find ourselves in a continual state of dwelling on the “things” that we believe will make us truly happy, you need to break free of the “things” that will only provide a temporary state of happiness.Don't wait until the doctor walks into the room and states you have been diagnosed with______ before you discover what true happiness should be.

Trish

Think of the blessings we so easily take for granted: Life itself: preservation from danger; every bit of health we enjoy; every hour of liberty; the ability to see, to hear, to speak, to think, and to IMAGINE ALL THIS comes from the hand of God. - Billy Graham

Photos by Trish at through the Viewfinder,
With the Exception of **Happy Birthday Trish Photo -**Photographer - LJN Awesome photo!
http://www.tljnicholas.com/

Lord I offer you me

I don't have a mansion on the hill

I don't have a yacht at the dock

I don't have millions in the bank

I don't even drive a Rolls Royce

I don't have a seven carat diamond from Tiffany's

I don't even have a mink coat

Lord, I do have a heart for you, so I offer you, me today

I ask that you lead, guide, and direct my footsteps

Take over my thoughts I pray

Let, me live for you in a very special way

I want to shine in dark places with your love

I want you to be pleased with me from above

Lord, I do have a heart for you, so I offer you, me today

I don't always get it right and ask for your forgiveness

I don't always pray like I should but you are not far from my thoughts

I don't even read your Word like I should but, I offer you my heart

Lord I offer you me

Written By Cheryl Thomas on 08/07/08

Cheryl Thank you for sharing your poem with me.

Photos By Trish at Through the Viewfinder

http://www.tljnicholas.com/

Why Go to Church?

A few months back I received an email that raised the question Why Go to Church? This question started a real controversy in the 'Letters to the Editor' column. Someone wrote, 'I've gone for 30 years now, and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them... So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all. Another reader of the column answered with this response... 'I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this ... They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!

This is an interesting analogy… I believe that we should not forsake assembly as it says in Hebrews 10:25. AND I also strongly believe that it is vitally important to have a one on one complete relationship with God EACH and EVERY day. How often do we REALLY spend time connecting with our Lord and Savior during the week? The nourishment and spiritual strength that this answer speaks of can only be received by having a personal relationship with God. Not by simply attending church on Sunday. The sermons or messages that God gives to the pastor are also helpful in our daily walk with the Lord. But far too often we don’t choose to take the time to talk to our heavenly Father. Attending church on Sunday becomes a way to catch up on spirituality. It would be like being married to a person for 30 years and only talking to them every Sunday and what kind of a relationship would that BE? I believe that building a relationship with God is of a far greater importance than attending church every Sunday. You can not look to the pastor, man/woman or the church building with its rows of pews and sometimes stained glass windows to establish the kind of relationship that I am speaking of. When you asked the Lord to come into your life it was just you and the Lord. Somewhere along the line Christians have blurred the significance of going to church with establishing a true relationship with the Lord… after all didn’t this begin with just you and God coming together? In my pastor’s message last Sunday he told us that the masses, "have no idea what we as Christians know…" how much more effective could you be in letting other people know about your Lord and Savior if you are daily relating to him... now lets go to CHURCH!

Trish

Photos By: Trish At Through the Viewfinder

http://www.tljnicholas.com/

http://www.courageous.tv/