Dear Reader:

Dr. Wayne Dyer, popular author and presenter, has started his presentation, on occasion, with an orange. He asks the audience or (sometimes) a particular person in the audience to tell him what will happen if he squeezes the orange….what will he get?

The immediate response is: orange juice. He then asks if his mother, father, grandmother, friend, or stranger squeezes the orange what will they get?

Once again the response is: orange juice. Sometimes Dyer will keep this “game” going by asking if he will ever get tart or bitter lemonade or pineapple juice if he squeezes an orange…..Amid loud “No’s” the confident response continues: Orange Juice!

Dyer then asks his audience: Why?  How do you know that every single time you squeeze an orange ….its juice will pour out?

The most common reply is that one will get orange juice if he/she squeezes an orange because it is what is inside.

Exactly! responds Dyer. This is a constant in our knowledge and experience with oranges…when squeezed…no matter the situation….an orange will produce orange juice.

Now….how about you? If your mother, or teacher, or coach, or a friend squeezes you…what will pour out? Do you have a constant?

Suddenly a quiet comes over the crowd….no one is certain about one “correct” response. Cries of “It depends on who and why you are being squeezed….it might be anger or frustration pouring out.”

“That’s right….another voice might call out….What pours out of us can run the gamut, according to our feelings at the time squeezed. Curse words might emerge or laughter.”

Feeling squeezed or stressed…produces unsavory tastes on our tongues, our teeth and the words that emerge are unsavory too.

What would you like your “constant” to be when squeezed? asks Dyer.

“Sweetness” responds one in the audience….more softly “Love” responds a young woman in the back of the auditorium.

“So….we are realizing that we can always depend on an orange to produce the same “sweetness” over and over…no matter the situation when squeezed…but not ourselves. Is this a fair observation?” Dyer concludes.

…………………………….

Don’t we all wish we could have the constant of “Love” in us…no matter how stressed or squeezed we feel in our own personal and professional lives?

Educational Psychology magazine cited Dyer’s commentary on the orange as an example of self-efficacy.

Self–efficacy is the extent or strength of one’s belief in one’s own ability to complete tasks and reach goals…

Shouldn’t every human being on earth’s goal be to have “love” as a constant living within ourselves…the love that pours out every time we are squeezed…no matter the trying circumstances we might find ourselves in?

If we sit back and look for a model of constant love….we find the answer immediately ….God. God is Love. And no matter how many times we squeeze Him (when we feel squeezed into a corner and stressed beyond human limitations.)…His love pours out for us. We can depend on its “sweetness” every single time.

We are children of God. Don’t you think God loves us as we love all our children of the world? Wouldn’t we do anything for our children…even sacrificing ourselves for them?

We know that God’s Love resides in us…in all His children.

What if…we could form a circle of love in every country and then squeeze each other and find universal love “actually.” That elusive love we spend a lifetime searching, wishing, hoping, and praying for…

So until tomorrow….Father, let us be a “constant” ….a “beacon” of love for all who come into contact with us…Let Your love shine through us when we are squeezed every time.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* Anne sent this follow-up picture and personal story on trees and their importance in our lives.

 Hi Becky,

Your Sunday (April 19^th) blog about living, loving, and connecting with trees caught my attention because my friend Millie had sent me the attached photo just the day before!  She’s visiting her grandson in Seattle and is passing on to him her love of trees. How precious is the gift she is giving him!

I then began to think about the gifts MY grandparents gave me – too numerous to count, but one from my dad’s dad popped to mind.  I remember being out in his garden as he was tending his roses one day.  He had remarried years after my grandmother had passed away.  He helped me read the sign he was placing next to the rosebush: Grow old along with me; the best is yet to be.  I thought it was so very sweet of him to think of his new wife in that way.  But all these years later, in rethinking the scene, and knowing he was a man of faith, he was also acknowledging and giving glory to God…another important gift from many years ago.

* We also heard from Ambika….things are getting very exciting in Dubai……

Hi dear Becky,

Family all doing well by God’s grace… I’m running 8th month now…. God willing the estimated date is June 14th 2015… Baby is busy kicking n boxing… Lol…. With the excitement and anticipation of the baby, I’m just having  bouts of anxiety about the delivery process… I’m sure you know this feeling… But thanks a lot for asking Becky… Please do pray for us and I will continue doing the same… Take care…

With loads of luv n prayers,

Best regards,