My Lines

Myths about Genius

Beliefs that only special, talented people are creative and you have to be born that way diminish our confidence in our creative abilities. The notion that geniuses such as Shakespeare, Picasso and Mozart were `gifted' is a myth, according to a recent study at Exeter University. Researchers examined outstanding performances in the arts, mathematics and sports, to find out if ?the widespread belief that to reach high levels of ability a person must possess an innate potential called talent.

The study concludes that excellence is determined by:
. opportunities
. encouragement
. training
. motivation
. and most of all practise.

Few showed early signs of promise prior to parental encouragement. No one reached high levels of achievement in their field without devoting thousands of hours of serious training. Mozart trained for 16 years before he produced an acknowledged master work. Moreover many high performers achieve levels of excellence today that match the capabilities of a Mozart, or a Gold Medallist from the turn of the century. (The Vancouver Sun, Sept.12/98)

Just For Women Devotionals - Powered by InJesus
Lord, I Am So Tired
Osella Clabaugh - In The Garden Ministries

Just for Women
With Osella Clabaugh

"Lord I am so Tired"
Scripture Reading: Philippians 4:12-19
Scripture Text: "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Philippians 4:13

Listen to today's devotional:
Have you ever been so tired and wore out that you felt like you could not even take another step, that you could not keep going? Sister you are not alone, but praise God there is help out there. Good morning, this is Osella coming to you from In the Garden Ministries, come and join with me for a few refreshing moments at the feet of Jesus. Today's scripture is found in Philippians 4:12-19 and my text is the 13th verse, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
It seems like you run from morning till night, from sunrise till sunset. You get up, fix breakfast for the family, take the kids to the sitters or make sure they get to school. Then you go to work and put in a full day. After work, if your husband was not able to you make sure the kids get picked up and taken to this and that practice and hurry home to get supper ready, do the dishes try to spend quality time with the children and husband. Next you make sure the kids are all bathed and in bed, only to kick your shoes off and fall across the bed and lay there to tired to move.
OR your a single woman holding down two jobs just to make ends meet. You leave one job grab a fast food sandwich and hurry off to the next job, wondering if something is wrong because you have heartburn and a nervous stomach. You have no time to go out with friends or to enjoy your hobby. You come home at night kick off your shoes, throw a frozen dinner in the microwave, check your messages. Then you turn on the television and sit down to eat your dinner and find yourself falling asleep.

Or maybe it is just you and your husband, but in this day and age you both have to work long hard hours just to make enough to make the house payment, the car payment (sometimes 2), pay off doctor bills, student loans, credit cards etc. By the time you get home fix supper, throw in a load of laundry and vacuum the floor you are so wore out and weary you just want to lay down.
I am sure one of these or a combination of them fit most of you ladies. You find yourself taking care of everyone in your life - husband, children, parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters or even aunts and uncles or friends. That is you take care of everyone except your self. You wash and clean, your plan you save and now you find yourself so weary that you just don't even want to move. Maybe you have thoughts of giving it all up, and just letting chaos rule. You just don't seem to have it in you to make it all work and to keep it all together anymore.
Don't DESPAIR! Just shout unto God, Lord I am so tired!! Sisters God is your helper. God loves you, He made you. Come to Him, let him refresh and renew your spirit. Let Him work miracles for you. Give up your struggles by giving them to Him. Turn it all over to Jesus. Read His Word take time to pray and leave it there. When you get home this evening, after supper go run a nice warm bath, lay back and relax and say thank you Jesus. Let's pray.
Lord please take our tired and weary souls and bodies and renew them and refresh them. Lord we place our whole lives, every minute, every second in your hands. Lord revive us with the energy of YOUR LOVE. Father we commit our lives into your hands. I love you Lord. Thank you for loving me, in Jesus name I pray AMEN
In The Garden MinistriesT

In The Garden Daily Devotionals - Powered by InJesus
With Pastor Wayne Clabaugh I
SERIES: The Coming King ( Book of Luke)
"THE PROMISE OF A TINY SEED"
Scripture text: Luke 13: 18-21
Scripture Text: "It is like a tiny mustard seed planted in a garden; it grows and becomes a tree, and the birds come and find shelter among its branches." Luke 13:19 (KJV)
George Bernard Shaw once said, "Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations."
Good morning, and Welcome to another edition of In The Garden. Have you ever looked at your child struggling in their school work or perhaps with relationships, and just wish that you could somehow help them? Communication is of course the key to any healthy parent-child relationship, and what's more, it tills the ground for future seeds to be planted, and gives us hope for a better life for our children, and hopefully for our grandchildren.

Jesus first likened the Kingdom of Heaven to the germination of a small seed. Now, did you ever stop and think about that? Christianity beginning with one simple man(John the Baptist) crying in the wilderness, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make His paths straight"? This great fellowship of millions of believers all over the world beginning with a few hand-picked disciples who were so transformed by the presence and teaching of a simple carpenter that they carried forth His gospel even at the cost of their very lives? How awesome!

That was the purpose for the Kingdom of God, and is the purpose yet today. For that Promise of a tiny seed was one day dropped into a hole in the ground - and it grew a "rugged tree" fashioned like a cross. Oh my friend I would be amiss here if I did not stop and remind you that a single tree is filled with life-giving properties for humans and animals alike. It is the process of "photosynthesis" and to make it as simple as possible photosynthesis is the process by which green plants and certain other organisms use the "energy of light" to convert carbon dioxide and water into the simple sugar glucose. In so doing, photosynthesis provides the basic energy source for virtually all organisms. An extremely important byproduct of photosynthesis is oxygen, on which most organisms depend.
That tree(the cross of Christ), has stood the test of time as the life-giving properties of all mankind. There is no life without it; for it is the very breath of God on which all life should depend.
Jesus, wanting to make a point also likened the Kingdom of Heaven to yeast used by a woman making bread. He said,
"Even though she used a large amount of flour, the yeast permeated every part of the dough."
Are you getting this my friend? Yeast, is a yellowish substance used in the fermentation of alcohol or the chemical change or agitation of bread dough causing it to rise. In fact, that's what fermentation means; to be in a state of agitation or intense activity. Now if we look at that word agitation, we see that it means to give motion to; to excite and often trouble the mind or feelings of someone for an ultimate end result.
That's what the blood of Jesus does. Touching every nation and every land, His precious life-changing blood excites and agitates, stirs up that status quo attitude, and moves us to a place of mingling with every culture and every lifestyle - permeating truth in the inward parts of the heart and soul of every man, "...and the birds(or all mankind) come and find shelter among its branches." Luke 13:19 (KJV)
Friend, Have you gotten excited, agitated and stirred up about Jesus?
Let's pray.
Father, I get so busy for you some times, I forget those times when in the quiet solitude of your presence I have made powerful decisions about my life. All alone In The Garden of my heart, there was no one around to hear or witness my integrity, no one around to say, "Amen" or support me in my time of getting stirred up over the "stuff" of my life - and yet my life was changed. Father I would ask that you would so fill me with your Spirit that the transforming power of your blood will speak through my life, and that many will come to you through my humble efforts. In Jesus' Name I pray, Amen.
In The Garden MinistriesT

Thank You

my tea's gone cold, i'm wondering why i got out of bed at all
the morning rain clouds up my window and i can't see at all
and even if i could it'd all be grey, but your picture on my wall
it reminds me that it's not so bad, it's not so bad

i drank too much last night, got bills to pay, my head just feels in pain
i missed the bus and there'll be hell today, i'm late for work again
and even if i'm there, they'll all imply that i might not last the day
and then you call me and it's not so bad, it's not so bad and

i want to thank you for giving me the best day of my life
oh just to be with you is having the best day of my life
push the door, i'm home at last and i'm soaking through and through
then you handed me a towel and all i see is you
and even if my house falls down now, i wouldn't have a clue
because you're near me and

i want to thank you for giving me the best day of my life
oh just to be with you is having the best day of my life

By Osella Clabaugh - In The Garden Ministries Jul 20, 2004
Scripture Reading: Psalms 32

Scripture Text: "Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance." Psalms 32:7

Sometimes those you love and care for hurt you. Sometimes it is not intentionally, but sometimes it is. They may hurt you physically or emotionally. Both hurt and both leave scares. Too often women feel they are helpless against their attack. Sometimes we feel if we say or do anything that we will just be abused more. I am afraid that women are often made to feel helpless and are told that they could never get along with out their abuser in their life. Ladies this is not true. No one, deserves to be abused. All too often I hear those who have been abused say, "I deserve it, it is my fault" STOP!! right there. You do not deserve it. You are God's creation and He did not make you to be anybody's punching bag nor did he make you to be emotionally abused, to be called stupid, worthless, or other names or to belittled in public. If you are in an abusive situation you need to get help. Even if you think you love the one abusing you, You need to seek help. You can make it. No mater how badly you have been beaten down or how belittle you have been made to feel. There is help and you do need to seek it. There is something more powerful than their curses and their fists. Our Lord, Himself has promised to stand against our enemies and He will protect you. He has the power to restore and to heal you. Jesus can mend and make pure. Jesus can show you how to make it. Jesus will never leave you and He will always treat you like a lady. You are His wonderful creation and you are made in His image. If you are in an abusive situation, get out of it. There is a better life waiting for you. Pray for your abuser, and let God do the changing but, do not stay in the relationship waiting on the change. Go forth and let God lead you and heal you. Let's pray

Lord so many of our sisters are being abused each and every day. Father reach out and comfort them. Lord help them to realize that all they have to do is turn to You. Father I ask that you will heal them and make them whole. Give them the faith they need to believe in their selves and to believe that they can make it. Lord today we open our hearts, our souls and our lives to You. Lord protect, comfort and keep us. In Jesus name I pray Amen.
In The Garden MinistriesT

"Life" by Our Lady Peace
How many times have you been pushed around?
Was anybody there?
Does anybody care?
How many time have your friends let you down?
Was anybody there?
Did anybody stare?

How many time have your friends let you down?
Just open up your heart
Just open up your mind
How many times has your faith slipped away?
Well, is anybody safe?
Does anybody pray?

Oh, Life is waiting for you
So messed up, but we're alive
Oh, Life is waiting for you
So messed up, but we'll survive

How many days have you just slept away?
Is everybody high?
Is everyone afraid?
How many times have you wished you were strong?
Have they ever seen your heart?
Have they ever seen your pain?
Oh, Life is waiting for you
So messed up, but we're alive
Oh, Life is waiting for you
So messed up, but we'll survive

She gets high
She gets lost
She gets drowned by the cost
Twice a day, every week, not a lie

She gets high
She gets lost
She gets drowned by the cost
Twice a day, every week, not a lie

Oh, Life is waiting for you
So messed up, but we're alive
Oh, Life is waiting for you
So messed up, but we'll survive
All messed up, but we'll survive.

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Just for Women With Osella Clabaugh
"Be A Provider"

Scripture Text: Hebrews 10:25 "NOT FORSAKING THE ASSEMBLING OF OURSELVES TOGETHER, AS IS THE MANNER OF SOME, BUT EXHORTING ONE ANOTHER, AND SO MUCH THE MORE AS YOU SEE THE DAY APPROACHING"

In this portion of scripture we are told of how important it is to spend time not only with each other but also in lifting each other up. The world we live in today promotes individualism. However, individualism tends to isolate people from one another and cuts them off from the mainstream of life. Today with more and more people working at home or in their own little cubicles we separate ourselves from each other. It seems as if schedules keep us so busy with work and activities that we have less and less time with loved ones and with friends. Today we have an increase in feelings of loneliness and depressions. One of the biggest markets in today's world is that of narcotic drugs, more than half of Americans take pills for depression. At the shelter where I work there are individuals who take pills to help them sleep, pills to get them up and keep them going, anti-depression pills and pills to help them keep calm. Please do not allow isolation to overcome you!!! And you can keep it from overcoming someone else. Reach out with the love of Jesus to others.

The next time you visit a very dense forest, or just go to a book and look at pictures of a deep dense forest, think about what is going on there. Scientist now KNOW when the roots of trees come into contact one another, a substance is released (this is so fascinating) which encourages the growth of a particular kind of fungus. This fungus helps link the roots of different trees - even those of dissimilar species. If one tree has access to water, another to nutrients, and another to sunlight, the fungus enables the transfer of these items to trees that may be in need. My friends, trees have the means of sharing with one another to preserve them all. Think about this, trees are totally reliant upon God and he provides the means for them to provide for each other. If only we, as humans would learn to totally rely upon God, He gives to us the means to communicate and provide love, strength, hope and nourishment for each other. I challenge you to reach out to others. Begin to give where you can. Learn to receive when others give to you. Build a network of friends, NOT JUST COLLEAGUES. Get yourself into a group that nourishes and builds you up spiritually. God needs each and everyone of us to build others up, to encourage others, to give hope to others, to be a friend to others. Today give a smile, a hug or a word of encouragement to someone, you may be surprise to find out who you have reached out and touched and given a reason to keep on going. God bless you. Let's pray.
Father we thank you for your love. We thank you because you are always there when we need to talk to someone. Lord use us today to bring a little joy and hope to someone else. We love you so much Lord and we long to be like Jesus and to be used by you. Bless us Lord and may we in turn bless others. In Jesus name I pray Amen.

In The Garden MinistriesT

1. More people die from suicide than from homicide.
2. Suicide rates among the elderly are highest for those who are divorced or widowed.
3. For young people 15-24 years old, suicide is the third leading cause of death.
4. 80% of people that seek treatment for depression are treated successfully.
http://www.save.org/ has rich information on suicide prevention and depression. It teach you how to recognize Symptoms of Depression and Warning Signs of Suicide of your friends or families.
We encourage every Angel Volunteers here to visit the pages.
With my best wishes,
Admin of FA

A Little Bit Is A Lot When God Gets Hold of It
Osella Clabaugh May 4, 2004

Scripture Text: John 6:9 "There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?"

Do you feel as if you have nothing to offer in the service of God? Do you feel that you have no talents nor abilities? Come with me to the feet of Jesus and see what God did with a small boys lunch. Today's scripture is found in the 6th chapter of John verses 1-13. Today's text is found in John 6:9 says, "There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?"

The fame of Jesus had been spreading, it seemed as if everyone young and old knew the name "Jesus". There was a little boy, we don't even know his name, the Bible says a young lad, he had heard that Jesus was coming and he wanted to go hear him. This young lad had a loving mother and she knew her little boy would get hungry. She fixed him a lunch to hold him over till he returned. A lunch of 5 small barley loaves and two fishes. You see there is more to that story. GOD KNEW, Jesus needed this little lunch to perform a miracle. That morning He placed it upon the heart of this good mother to fix her boy a lunch, remember in that large crowd of 5000 men plus women and children ONLY THIS ONE SMALL LAD HAD A LUNCH, God looked down and smiled as she packed it. You see God knew what was going to happen. He knew He was going to use this SMALL lad's SMALL lunch. Use it He did. Jesus took that lunch and raised it to heaven and asked the Father to bless it, and boy oh boy did the Father bless it!!! Can you just imagine the expressions on the faces of the crowd and the disciples, and the smile on the little boy's face as Jesus broke the bread and kept breaking it and breaking it and that small lunch just kept multiplying. Can you imagine that little boy running home and telling mama about it. There was enough food for everyone to eat till they were full and then there were 12 baskets full left over.

Through out the scriptures God took the little things and performed miracles. He took the rod of Moses and parted the red sea. He took a small boy, a sling and a pebble to slew the Giant. He took a hand full of meal and a little oil to feed the prophet and keep a woman and her child in food for ever. He took a walk around the walls of Jericho to win the battle. Yes God loves to do His mighty works and he does it by using the little things, by using what we have to offer. What do you have to offer? What has God given you to give back to Him that He might perform His miracles? Many broken hearts have been healed by a loving touch and a kind word. Men and women have been made to feel good just because someone smiled at them. Brush an elderly persons hair or rub their feet, what an opportunity to let them know that they are loved and cared for. Take food to a struggling family or elderly person. Invite someone to church. Tell your pastor you appreciate Him, you cannot imagine how good that will make him feel and it will encourage him. Pray, pray for the sick and hurting, for those having problems. Read a story to a child or the Bible to someone, God's word will not fall void. Give words of encouragement not condemnation to a teenager or a young couple, or a Sunday School teacher or even your boss. You have so very much too offer. Next time you feel you have nothing or that God cannot use what little you could give, ask yourself, what if that little lad did not give his lunch to Jesus? What if he told the disciples, no it is mine and it is all I have? What if? The many would not have been fed and they would have missed out on the miracle of Christ. Let God work through you. You will see miracles happen. Remember with God "Little is Much". God bless you, let's pray.

Father we come to you today and say, take us Lord, take us and use us. We are your vessels Lord. We have so little to give, but we give it all to you. Father use us to share Jesus with others. O Lord I pray that those I come in contact with will see Jesus in me. Father may all that I say and all that I do and even all that I think be acceptable to thee and may I always be Christ like. In Jesus name I pray Amen

Just For Women Devotionals - Powered by InJesus
In The Garden MinistriesT

"There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it."
Edith Wharton is inspiring in the many ways that she worked to spread her light. She lived a bold life that exceeded the boundaries dictated to her by a rigid, controlling society. She wrote stories that still touch hearts and minds a century later. She acted to make a difference in the lives of others.
She was the recipient of the French Legion of Honor for her philanthropic work during World War I and of the Pulitzer Prize for her novel The Age of Innocence. In 1923 she became the first woman to receive an honorary doctorate from Yale. Wharton was a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

One of the major figures in American literary history, Edith Wharton (1862-1937) presented intriguing insights into the American experience. Her upbringing provided her with insights on the upper class, while her incisive sense of humor and polished prose produced fiction that appealed to a large audience.
Author of more than 40 volumes--novels, short stories, poetry, non-fiction-Wharton's life and worked touched on many of the great minds and writers of her time. Her childhood literary endeavors were encouraged by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and her friends included Henry James and Theodore Roosevelt.
She held salon where the gifted intellectuals of her time gathered to discuss and share ideas. Teddy Roosevelt, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Ernest Hemingway were all guests of hers at one time or another.
Wharton greatly admired European culture and architecture and crossed the Atlantic 66 times during her life. She was living in France when World War I began and used her many high level connections within the French government to travel extensively to the front lines. In Paris, she worked for the Red Cross and with refugees, for which she was awarded the French L?gion d'honneur (Legion of Honor).
In 1885, aged 23, she married Edward (Teddy) Robbins Wharton, who was twelve years her senior. They were divorced in 1913.
She retired to Pavillon Colombe and continued to write until a stroke took her life in August 1937. She is buried in the American Cemetery at Versailles. The inscription on her grave stone reads: "O Crux Ave Spes Unica", which translates: "Hail, o cross, the one hope."
In 2001, two of her books, House of Mirth and The Age of Innocence, were named to the list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century by the editorial board of the American Modern Library.
In her words:
"A classic is classic not because it conforms to certain structural rules, or fits certain definitions (of which its author had quite probably never heard). It is classic because of a certain eternal and irrepressible freshness."
Habit is necessary; it is the habit of having habits, of turning a trail into a rut, that must be incessantly fought against if one is to remain alive.
If we'd stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time.
In spite of illness, in spite even of the archenemy sorrow, one can remain alive log past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways.
Life is always a tightrope or a feather bed. Give me the tightrope.
Life is the only real counselor; wisdom unfiltered through personal experience does not become a part of the moral tissue.
Old age, calm, expanded, broad with the haughty breadth of the universe, old age flowing free with the delicious near-by freedom of death.
There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
True originality consists not in a new manner but in a new vision.
"I suppose there is one friend in the life of each of us who seems not a separate person, however dear and beloved, but an expansion, an interpretation, of one's self, the very meaning of one's soul."
MUSINGS BY DAWGGONE