The Lord is my master and takes care of all of my needs.
She sets the sunshine to beam onto warm comfy places where I can take my doggie naps. These beams relax me.
She assures that I always have refreshing water to drink and play in.
She tells me how happy she is with me which makes my tail wag with delight.
She takes me on walks that she knows makes me happy.
When I’m scared, she is always there to assure me of my safety.
She warns me of trouble and gives me commands that keep me safe.
When others may think unkindly of me, she oozes joyful praises and touches me lovingly.
She fills my doggie bowls daily and feeds me treats. Oh how I love treats.
She is always with me and I can trust in her care for eternity.
She is my only master and I am her faithful and loyal friend.

Shimmy lives with her family in Austin TX where she likes to share her colorful ideas.

It was 3:30 in the afternoon. A squirrel rested, unaware he was about to be an afternoon snack for an approaching owl. So, I started my rent car, which startled the squirrel, and he dashed to safety.

My actions saved one, yet, irritated another. Then I wondered about the actions that had landed the young people, I was about to meet, into trouble. What had caused them to act or react?

I was sitting in my rental in the parking lot of a baseball field near the Barbara Culver Juvenile Detention Center in Midland, Texas. I had arrived early and decided to take thirty minutes to collect my thoughts, a little spiritual reasoning….

I began to speak, trying to look past the orange. I told them about myself. Then I was lead to challenge them. I challenged them to be a thermostat, not a thermometer. A thermometer just rises or falls according to what is happening around it. However, a thermostat, on the other hand, regulates.

Read the entire article here Houston Chronicle

Keith Womack is the Media spokesperson and legislative advocate for Christian Science in Texas. He is also a Christian Science practitioner and teacher, as well as husband, step-dad, and musician. Keith lives in Corpus Christ TX.

Are you wondering if the ribbon-tied packages under the tree hold the gifts you are hoping for this Christmas?

One gift you are sure to receive is the gift of grace. I love the idea of this gift, which is mentioned in the Bible on several occasions. In the letter to the Ephesians is the assurance, “[U]nto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ” (4:7).

This message reminds me of a line in the Lord’s Prayer, for which Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered Christian Science, gave a spiritual interpretation: “Give us this day our daily bread; Give us grace for to-day; feed the famished affections” (“Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” p. 17). To me, this grace or daily bread is the gift of spiritual qualities given to us by God to deal with whatever comes up in our day. Click here to read the entire article.

By Inge Schmidt at Time4Thinkers.com

Presents wrapped? Check!
Suitcases packed? Check!
Gas in the car? Check!
Work emails sent? Check!
Schoolwork done? Check…mostly…good enough!

The to-do list was cleared off, and I was ready to go. The next morning, my husband and I were leaving to drive from Massachusetts to Virginia to spend Christmas with my family. I couldn’t have been more excited. It had been a long semester; I had been working hard; and I was ready for a Christmas vacation filled with a whole lot of family and a whole lot of laughter. The only problem? Those flu symptoms that I had been half-heartedly praying about weren’t really getting any better. In fact, as I got ready for bed, I felt downright lousy….

Would we have to delay our trip? Would I feel miserable for Christmas? If Mary could make a pilgrimage to Bethlehem, nine months pregnant, on a camel, couldn’t I make an 8-hour trip to Virginia, very much notpregnant, in a Honda Civic?  Click to read the entire article.

I am one of those children for whom Advent calendars meant just one thing: chocolate – a daily dose ahead of a Christmas Day overdose.

I can’t remember if those calendars also had religious or secular words of wisdom, but I clearly recall the thrill of peeling back each dated window to reveal that day’s delicacy.

In adulthood there is probably no daily nugget which could reproduce the same kind of excited expectancy in the December run-up to Christmas. But given how frenetic those 25 days can be, perhaps a few pointers to a more spiritual approach can make this special time of year less stressful and more enjoyable. Click here to read the 12 steps and entire article.

Tony Lobl is a Christian Science practitioner and a blogger in UK.

By Larissa R.

One regular Friday, I went to school as usual. I went to my science class, and then my math class. I was in the middle of taking a math test, when the intercom went on, I heard the principal say “We are going on lockdown, this is not a drill.” Lockdown is when the school shuts down and no one gets out or in because a threatening person is in the school. There is a high school right next to us, so the high school went in lockdown too.

When I first heard this, I was confused and shocked. I had no idea what was going on. The teacher told us to get into a spot where we couldn’t be seen, and she turned off the classroom lights, shut and locked the door, and covered and closed all the windows, and she told us to stay quiet and that we could whisper. We all gathered to the corner of the classroom and sat there for a while. I was terrified, because I had no idea who was in the school, and what that person had or wanted to do. I started shaking because I was so scared. Thoughts that I was going to die kept running through my head. And then I thought, “Hey stop, God is with me.”

Many kids in my class had their phones with them, and were texting their parents and friends that were in other classrooms. I learned that there was a man with a handgun and a box. I felt panic run through me. I reminded myself what I had thought earlier, that God is with me, and he never left, and he never will. I also thought to myself, that we are all in God’s kingdom, and since we are in God’s kingdom, we are always safe. I also thought that the man who had the weapon cannot harm us since he is perfect too. All of a sudden, my nervousness stopped. And I calmed down instantly. I was actually surprised of how calm I was. I then knew that all of us would get out of the school unharmed, and untouched. I got a book and read, and did my homework, and the kids in my class listened to music and just relaxed. We were all calm. The lockdown lasted 4 hours. Then we were able to call our parents and leave. Everyone left without getting hurt. And I am very grateful for that. And I am grateful for the understanding that Christian Science has given me.

Larissa R. loves turning to God for help when there’s trouble.  She attends Junior High in Austin TX enjoys acting, singing and dancing – when not doing homework.