Inspire

Happy Mother’s Day!

JM Perez By JM Perez2 min read496 views

“I remember my Mother’s Prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.” — Abraham Lincoln

Happy Mother's Day. Image Source.
Happy Mother’s Day.

MY MOTHER
by Ann Taylor

Who fed me from her gentle breast,
And hushed me in her arms to rest,
And on my cheek sweet kisses prest?
My Mother.

When sleep forsook my open eye,
Who was it sung sweet hushaby,
And rocked me that I should not cry?
My Mother.

Who sat and watched my infant head,
When sleeping on my cradle bed,
And tears of sweet affection shed?
My Mother.

When pain and sickness made me cry,
Who gazed upon my heavy eye,
And wept for fear that I should die?
My Mother.

Who dressed my doll in clothes so gay,
And fondly taught me how to play,
And minded all I had to say?
My Mother.

Who ran to help me when I fell,
And would some pretty story tell,
Or kiss the place to make it well?
My Mother.

Who taught my infant lips to pray,
And love God’s holy book and day,
And walk in wisdom’s pleasant way?
My Mother.

And can I ever cease to be
Affectionate and kind to thee,
Who was so very kind to me,
My Mother.

Ah no! the thought I cannot bear,
And if God please my life to spare,
I hope I shall reward thy care,
My Mother.

When thou art feeble, old, and grey,
My healthy arm shall be thy stay,
And I will soothe thy pains away,
My Mother.

And when I see thee hang thy head,
‘Twill be my turn to watch thy bed,
And tears of sweet affection shed,
My Mother.

For could our Father in the skies
Look down with pleased or loving eyes,
If ever I could dare despise
My Mother.

Happy Mother’s Day to all who lovingly care for a Child.

A Fun-Filled Day

EPEngineer By EPEngineer2 min read1.5K views

Today we decided to cross some items of our to-do list and ran some errands in the morning. Once done and with a full day ahead of us we took to sight seeing around the Victorville area. After much curiosity, we decided to stop by World Concrete Precast on Mariposa Rd in Victorville, CA to check out the beautiful concrete pieces we have only been able to see from the freeway while driving in the area.

The selection of cement/concrete creations is amazing to say the least. If you can think of it; they probably have it or know where to get it for you. I will let the picture gallery speak for itself as you can probably spend a whole day checking out each item. The detail on each piece is amazing and the items that come painted are done really well. I fell in love with the brown five tier water fountain.

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Once home, we decided to eat out in the patio and enjoy the beautiful weather and lack of wind that we were experiencing today. After a couple of minutes we heard the chirping of baby birds and decided to try our luck and try to catch them with the camera. As you can see below, we where successful. They are so small.

Baby Birds in Nest.
Baby Birds in Nest.
Baby Birds in Nest.
Baby Birds in Nest.

They seemed to be in between meals and every time we step out of the patio the mama bird flies away to draw the attention off her babies. This is the second year she uses this nest since she put it up about a year or two ago. We can not wait until they start to fly around on their own.

Self-Freedom

JM Perez By JM Perez2 min read537 views

Self-Freedom, Breaking Free from Bondage, Mind Healing, Seeking the path to Serenity, call it whatever you want as long as it means being at peace with ourselves and our surrounding.

“I freed a thousand slaves I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves.” – Harriet Tubman

Image Source.
Image Source.

We are all slaves of the mind and each one of us in our way is still struggling to break free (often without realizing it). We struggle with honesty, patience, understanding, gratitude, pride, shame, envy, bitterness, gossip, revenge, acceptance, communication, broken promises, forgetfulness, forgiveness, deceits, betrayal, illnesses, letting go, we compete for love, for perishable things as well as nurturing other bad habits just to name a few. Our lack of knowledge is the main cause for us missing on opportunities and being rewarded for what is rightly ours.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. – Hosea 4:6 (NKJV)

When you stay true to yourself, live in accordance with and act in obedience with the Word of God, you change not only the way people view you, but you change people as well. Once you believe and come to terms with the fact that the Word of God is precise, clear, true and that everything you learn and relate back with the World can be found in Scriptures, then and only then will you achieve self-freedom and break free from bondage.

Stand your grounds, guard your heart and thoughts, do not let anyone fool or use you and do not willingly put yourself in a compromising situation. Know and understand the God you serve and trust that His Words, which are alive and active will prevail and free you from the hands of your oppressors.

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” – Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)

My heart goes out to the Boston Marathon bombing victims. I pray that the souls of the departed rest peacefully in the Almighty’s arms and wish a painless and swift recovery to the injured.

Identifying and Dealing with a ‘Bad Seed’

JM Perez By JM Perez4 min read855 views

“To understand the phenomenon of a bad seed is to recognize that we could be someone else’s bad seed.” – Joan Ambu

There’s an old Elm Tree across from our Home which releases white seeds by the hundred during Spring and unfortunately for us, those seeds land in our yard. I often gather them into piles using an outdoor broom and I either use a dustpan or my garden vacuum to collect the seeds before disposing of them. At the end of the day I still have a few more hundred lying around my property. As long as they are non-existent in the area I want, I let the others be. There’s no way I can possibly get rid of them all as their light shape makes it easy for the wind to move them from one location to another. All it takes for those seeds to germinate is a little bit of water as they seem to thrive in any type of soil (I know because I have spent countless hours pulling the seedlings).

The same scenario applies to Weeds. How do you feel about those weeds growing on your property? If you are like me, I bet you don’t like them (at least not all of them). Year after year you weed, you use chemicals and do everything you can think about to get rid of them yet, they keep coming in the numbers. After a while you realize that it’s not about preventing the weeds from growing or your method of weeding which is questionable. It’s about understanding how those seeds end up on your property and how to prevent them from spreading too much since it’s impossible to completely eradicate them.

Image Source: RelicsWorld.
Dealing with Weeds Dealing with People
»  Know your geographic area
»  Learn about the different types of weeds (to recognize those growing on your property)
»  Figure out the weeds you can live with and those you don’t want
»  Find ways to control them (fencing, chemicals, hand weeding, etc)
»  If you don’t mind the weeds, then just let them be.
  Be aware of your surroundings
  Learn more about the people around you
  Figure out those who are true to you and those you don’t need around you
  Find ways to maintain peace with everyone
  If you don’t care, simply allow bad energy to free-float around you.

Bad seeds are everywhere and chances are, we are a bad seed in someone else’s life.

Some Characteristics of Bad Seeds:

  • Answer to no one
  • Is their way or nothing at all
  • Are resentful
  • Have nothing positive to say about others
  • Play tough and ‘seem’ to have no remorse
  • Erratic behavior when overtaken by guilt
  • Play the victim when hell breaks loose
  • Hope to be forgiven yet withhold forgiveness

The truth about bad seeds is that they can be found everywhere and they are here to stay, just like every other living thing. Their various sizes often make them hard to see and by the time we spot them, they have spread, using their roots to seek out nutrients from other plants, subsequently draining them in the process. Weeds fight for survival, for that last drop of water (not caring about the other plants around them). How does this relate to people? Most of us have become an attention seeking species with a dangerous taste of perfection, which unfortunately, is not of this World. Our quest for self-worth and self-acceptance often cause us to put others down, give ourselves too much credit just to feel superior in comparison (which is self-destructive).

How to Break Free from becoming a bad seed:

  • Be grateful
  • Live your best life
  • Love, respect yourself and know your limits
  • Identify your personal issues
  • Seek peaceful ways to overcome your weaknesses
  • Recognize that all lives have value
  • Be accountable for your own actions
  • Respect others regardless
  • They are many solutions to a problem
  • Practice humility, acceptance
  • Release judgment and remove prejudice
  • Find strength and joy in small things
  • Practice the Golden Rule
  • Forgive others

We often withhold forgiveness as a mean of punishment (“If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” ― John 20:23 (NIV)) and often because somewhere in our twisted minds we think we are better than the other person. Withholding forgiveness is simply fatal to our spiritual growth and the pleasure we get from it is just temporary. In the end we are the ones with a heavy load in our heart and on our mind: unable to find peace, happiness, to think straight, to love ourselves and unable to receive the graces of God (“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” ― Matthew 6:14-15 (ESV)).

Forgiving someone is your gift to yourself to be released from bondage, to start healing and experience joy.

“How much time he gains who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks, but only at what he does himself, to make it just and holy.”― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations