Imagery

The wire thread through the middle of each precious jade piece. The different shades of green stacked one by one until the strand's length reached desired lengths and the tiny gold beads that separated each stone created a shine like the sun. The wire was tied off and clamped by metal so that the ends my be affixed to the coveted charm. A single cut of leather, fashioned in the shape of love and threaded by Cupid's arrow symbolized the meeting of all this brilliant loving energy. The stones continuously heal their owner and the adornment releases love to all eyes that it meets, granting not just the bearer fulfillment, but also the witnesses who adore it. "Shot Through the Heart" by love and affection, these precious gifts come from heaven above and serve for the greater good on earth. Gleaming like the parts in all their beauty, the gift bearer and receiver bask in the fruits of the spirit - always and forever.

Proverbs 17: 8 

"Receiving a gift is like getting a rare gemstone;

any way you look at it, you see beauty refracted."

A Moral True North

In this video, Henry Rollins uses the phrase, "moral compass," and I immediately tuned into it.  

I read the phrase in a recommendation for my event planning skills on LinkedIn, which reads, 

"She is a very hard worker, a great communicator and has a profound moral compass."

According to Dictionary.com, a moral compass is anything which serves to guide a person's decisions based on morals or virtues.

On Moralcompass.com, a group of men compiled a list of those virtues:

Integrity

Responsibility

Compassion

Forgiveness

and continue that if you embody these traits, then whatever organization you serve will have:

Purpose 

Trust 

Camaraderie

They even offer a Self Assessment if you so wish to try.

I found some great images of what am moral compass would look like:

There have even been studies that have found a part of the brain that is the moral compass,

and then decided to play with magnets and try to offset the good judgments of the participants in the study.

In that same study, they also mention a "God spot," which I have also heard about, but when I went to research it, many studies have debunked the theory.  

However, on the subject of the moral compass, let's get one thing straight: 

There is good and bad, 

an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other, 

the voice of reason, or the voice of desire. 

A moral compass measures  how we choose to interpret and act on our own personal situations.

We are the only ones who ever know what we truly felt, 

and equally the only ones who have to live with our choices.  

Look at the moral compass as a gift - 

choose to use it wisely and it will continually direct you to a true moral north.  

Happy Trails!

My Toolbox

We all have gifts that must be recognized and built to their full potential in order to fully live out our God given purpose in this life.

The tools needed to realize our gifts and excel in our work are different to each of us individually.

As a writer, my gift is the ability to clearly communicate my thoughts from my heart. My toolbox, however, must be loaded with the right words, pens, journals, computers, knowledge of programs like Microsoft Word, knowledge of how to correctly craft a sentence, and most importantly - the life experience to draw upon that makes for interesting content.

As an artist, one may have the visions in their head for astounding work, but without paints, brushes, canvases, solid techniques, and inspiration in their toolbox, those images might as well remain locked in their mental storehouse forever.

As I've been growing in my faith, I realize that the same concept applies for Christianity. I have the love in my heart and the desire to grow more. The next step is to stock my toolbox with Christian family and friends, lessons from His word, unconditional love and forgiveness to others, chairty and prayer.

As I was praying yesterday, I asked the Lord to give me these things in my life and as I waited in silence - the Holy spirit spoke to me.

These words have come out before...I wonder if they are actual
Bible verses??

It said,
"I am with you - in you and around you.
I am there - don't you know I care?"

I answered,
"Yes Lord, I know you're there.
Yes Father, I know you care."

And I prayed this prayer poem:
"Give me tools. Help me grow. Make my toolbox overflow."

I pray the same prayer for any of you reading this that have a calling to do something BIG-
Something that is in you - a gift from God. I pray that you not only recognize your gift, but run with it, wrapped around your heart, with your arms wide open to receive the tools the He has made for you!

Amen.