Welcome springtime! We will now enjoy the gift of the season of spring, a really positive and warm thought. However, our first day of spring here in South Dakota did bring us some surprises. As I returned home from church to that little home on the prairie, large flakes of snow and also rain in the blowing wind made me wonder, is this really the first day of spring?

As I write these lines, the sun is shining and the birds singing their song that spring really is here and not just on the calendar. And now as I travel down memory lane, and recall that just a year ago, on the day after spring, we had a good blizzard. For some reason I must deny that blizzards here in this state do happen even if the calendar states it is spring.

Last year I went to church in Blizzard weather on that day after spring appeared on my calendar and found out that I was the only parishioner. How could I know church was cancelled because of a blizzard? I returned home that cold day and in a moment of creative and quiet solitude, wrote my first column for the Warm Thoughts from the Little Home on the Prairie Over a Cup of Tea. This column of warm thoughts is now a year old and I feel like celebrating. You dear readers have truly been my cheerleaders and cheer me to keep on keeping on.

The smell and aroma of good old home cooking and baking. A recent survey found that 95% of Americans feel that home cooking smells good as well as taste good. They like the smell of bread baking in the oven because it gives them a feeling of warmth, a feeling of hearth and home childhood memories, a sense of relaxation, and a feeling of love.

Love is giving your family and friends a warm loaf of bread. I have baked bread for up teen years from scratch, as we used to say, but I never thought I would change and reach that stage of life. When you buy Mama's frozen bread and surprise family with home baked bread. It took a broken arm on the day Queen Elizabeth broke her arm in England to for me to finally reach the stage of life to buy the frozen bread and have that marvelous smell and the kitchen and all those warm thoughts over a cup of tea. And all this on a marvelous Monday morning as I write these warm thoughts.

In my first column I shared one thoughts on listening. And I will quote from the column the warm fact for the week listening as the prerequisite to almost any kind of effective giving or expression of love. And I will add to that thought that the gospel becomes more believable and people feel loved when we listen. It helps them feel understood. And when they feel understood, they may begin to understand themselves and see their true needs and worth to God.

Listening is hard work. It requires concentration and a great deal of love and communication that you care. I am reminded of a poem by an unknown author entitled, “Listen, Child.”

I never promised you wings, life without wounds. Life without wise. I never promised to your untroubled love. I never promised you eternal delight, life without detours life without mud holes, and never promised you continual son and never promised you tear lists eyes, life without strains. Life without questions. I never promised you faultless answers. I only promise to you life.

Warm thoughts for the week: Great thoughts come from the heart valve and it is possible for everyone to have a heart of love.

Have a great week, selfless life, and warm loving thoughts.

Warm Thoughts from the Little Home on the Prairie Over a Cup of Tea by Luetta G. Werner

March 24 1994

Published in the Marion Record

Download the Found Photo Freebie and cherish your memories of the past.

Enjoy flipping through the Vintage Photo Book on your coffee table.

I hope you enjoyed this podcast episode! Please follow along on this journey by going to visualbenedictions.com or following me on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. You can listen to the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, and Overcast. And don’t forget to rate and review so more people can tune in! I’d greatly appreciate it.

Till next time,

Trina