Good Answer

What can I say to someone who says, "I don't believe in God."

Here's a good quote by Albert Camus.

"I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isn't, than live my life as if there isn't and die to find out there is."

Oh, My Goodness!

Let's talk about expressions......
What comes out of my mouth when I am startled, surprised, terrified, shocked or relieved?
Sometimes I wonder, "Where did that come from?"

The words we use say a lot about our character. It seems almost laughable how we try to "sanitize" colloquial expressions to make them OK.
Some expressions are just silly, funny and inane, but here are just a few that bother me because of what they infer and I wince a little every time I hear them.

Holy Cow!.........only God is Holy
Holy Mackerel!......an ugly fish is holy?
Jeez.!............ we may as well say the whole word
What the Heck!.........Hell
Oh My Gosh!.........only the last sound is changed
Friggin'..............I won't go there

Shoot! ....only the vowel is changed. I am guilty for using this one too many times.
I remember sitting in the office at work, sending Floral Transworld Delivery orders. Every time I made a typing mistake, I said,"Shoot!" My boss remarked that from where she was sitting it sounded like the "i" vowel, and to watch my language.

Of course, many other expletives come to mind which I will not print here, but it seems that cursing and vulgarities are considered a sign of "coolness" or "macho-ism" to some. It is almost impossible to find a good movie without them. Stand-up comedians can't be funny without them. Is it becoming so acceptable that we hardly notice or care anymore?

There are so many references to the importance of "words and speech" in the Bible. These two come to mind.
Colossians 4:6 ...Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.
Psalm 19:14 .... "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer."

My Name

For those who are checking out the new blog team, allow me to clarify the name of my site.
"Dream On Queen". Sounds rather vain, doesn't it.
When I was a little girl, I was enchanted with pictures of the British royal family. Then I found out that I was named after Queen Esther in the Bible, and childhood imaginations of living in a palace filled my mind.
Looking back now, the only thing I envy of a Queen's life is that she has servants to do her cleaning & cooking.
I admire the wonderful qualities that the biblical Queen had, such as beauty, courage, grace, tact and faith. I want to be like her.
In the Veggie Tales Version, they call her "Essy". Funny...that's what my siblings called me when we were growing up.

Flowers

The Florist Industry touts their slogan,"Flowers say it Best".
I came across an old Chinese proverb that says it even better. "A Bit of Fragrance Clings to the Hand that gives the Flowers".

I have often said that flowers are one of God's best ideas! Always well received, no matter what the occasion may be.

Silently they say, "I'm thinking of You, Welcome little Baby, I Love You, I'm Sorry, Happy Anniversary, Happy Birthday, Heartfelt Sympathy, Cheer Up, Welcome Home, I Care."

Without a word, they unpretentiously brighten up a drab community hall or hospital room. Their bright colors help to momentarily ease the pain of grief in the starkness of a funeral chapel.

Oh, the beauty of Nature! Oh, the hand that designed it!
In our province we can drive through forest, alpine meadow or desert and see splashes of color in the most unexpected places.
Ground-covers of magenta and purple cling to rocky mountain crags. In the interior desert, bright yellow blooms appear on the prickly cacti. Pink rhododendrons bloom at the foot of the pine and fir. High atop of the mountain, a sea of blue, red, white, mauve, and yellow blooms dance in the cool breeze.


The wonderful colors of spring are emerging.... mauve crocus, yellow daffodils, pink cherry blossoms, white snowdrops, purple lilac, red tulips, blue iris, purple heather,etc.
Green must be God's favorite color. It provides the lush background palette that enhances and brings all the others to life. ENJOY!

When I was Young

"When I was young, running water was ...me, running back and forth, carrying a heavy bucketful from the well into the house. When I was young, I used to walk 5 miles to school, uphill both ways. When I was young, we heated bricks to keep our feet warm in the horse-drawn buggy. When I was young, we ate everything on our plate, because we knew what it felt like to go hungry. When I was young, girls didn't wear jeans to church. When I was young, toilet paper was a page from the Eaton's catalogue. When I was young, all I got for Christmas was one box of crayons and an apple. When I was young, we didn't talk back to our parents...children were seen and not heard. When I was young, we shared our bathwater with seven other siblings. When I was young, we did our school lessons by the light of a coal-oil lamp."

Many times, I heard my parents make statements such as these. Each one surely could have been the opening line to a wonderful story. But I wasn't interested. Now I wish I would have said, "Tell me more about it" instead of rolling my eyes and thinking... "Here we go again...I've heard that a hundred times before".

Anger

"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. " Proverbs 15:1
Retaliation is easy.....a sign of weakness, but real strength of character and power is most evident when anger is controlled.