EVERYTHING HAS ITS TIME AND SEASON --- AND REASON, TOO

 

 

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Woke up to a nice cool breezy morning. So I decided to go out to the patio and get me more of that nice cool breeze.. before Mr. Sun (now seen peeking behind the mountains) takes it away.. Saraaap!
 
That's when two teenagers came by apparently on their way to school. Wearing fresh uniforms, backpacks on their backs, and cellphones in their hands (but of course!). Engaging themselves in light banter as they neared the front of my house. Snippets of their chat flew in my direction quite easily as they drew nearer.

Teenager 1: "Hahahah.... si lola kanina o sinabihan akong magdasal lagi bago umalis ng bahay. Kahit daw anong gawin ko, lagi daw samahan ng dasal.. Kulit talaga eh! Hahahah..." --- (Grandma this morning told me to pray before leaving the house. That I should always accompany my activities with prayer. Amusingly pesky I should say... hahahah)

Teenager 2: "Hayaan mo na, matanda na eh! Ganun din nanay ko. Wala na atang ginawa kundi magdasal ng magdasal... magsimba ng magsimba. Ano pa ba ang gagawin nila kung matanda na. " --- (Let it be, she's old. She's like my mom. She does nothing but pray and pray..... go to church at the slightest reason or none at all. So what else can they do at their age!?!)
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The boys were long gone but their conversation seemed to have stuck to my brain. Because it really made me think.
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"So what else can they do at their age!?!" exclaimed the young boy.
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One thing the boys should try to understand..... life has its seasons. There's a time for everything in life. The time of childhood... of growing up... of youth... of studying... of working... of pursuing dreams.. of courtship... of marriage.. of babies.. of raising children.... of growing old... of sickness... of living... of dying.
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When you're young you do anything you want. Nothing can stop you. You are strong, smart, creative, brilliant, with resources at easy reach and surrounded by people. You do great things with who you are and what you have.
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Then one day you realize candles are getting more and more plenty and lit on your birthday cake. Then somebody (like these two boys) calls you 'old'.
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Sad. 

You try to look back to the past for assurance of your own importance and worth which you notice seems to be bit-by-bit diminished with or by every encounter with people, circumstances, and by time.
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But wait.......... there is also this big fact of life which is and has been a great comfort to us all (admittedly or not) --- it tells us that when the emotional, intellectual, and the physical areas of our small lives drain away..... the spiritual stands strong as one great pillar of courage which not even Samson can destroy with his puny human effort and strength! The spiritual is a life giver and a life saver. Somebody up there loves us so much He made it so.
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Everything has its time and season. (and reason, too, if I may add). Live it as required of you. Make it serve a grand or grander purpose ---- wherever you are, at whatever season you may be. This is all by God's design.
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Take care, friends. Live life one wonderful and precious moment at a time. God bless you all!

THE BLACKSMITH, TRIALS, AND GOD

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This is a repost. (Written some time ago but a friend needs to see this today. Take care, dear friend.). So please bear with me on this one, friends. Thank you.
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"Try me in any way you wish, Lord, 

only don't throw me on the scrap heap."

I have singled out that line from the story. You see, that line means more to me and (I believe) to a lot of other people I know. And I guess there's more out there who hold questions in their minds and hearts about --------- 'Just what is God doing to me?'
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Here's how the story goes..... and to quote --
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"You perhaps recall the story of the blacksmith who gave his heart to God. Though conscientious in his living, still he was not prospering materially. In fact, it seems that from the time of his conversion more trouble, affliction and loss were sustained than ever before. Everything seemed to be going wrong.

One day a friend who was not a Christian stopped at the little gorge to talk to him. Sympathizing with him in some of his trials, the friend said.........

“It seems strange to me that so much affliction should pass over you just at the time when you have become an earnest Christian. Of course, I don’t want to weaken your faith in God or anything like that. But here you are, God’s help and guidance, and yet things seem to be getting steadily worse. I can’t help wondering why it is.”

The blacksmith did not answer immediately, and it was evident that he had thought the same question before. But finally, he said..........

“You see here the raw iron which I have to make into horse’s shoes. You know what I do with it? I take a piece and heat it in the fire until it is red, almost white with the heat. Then I hammer it unmercifully to shape it as I know it should be shaped. Then I plunge it into a pail of cold water to temper it. Then I heat it again and hammer it some more. And this I do until it is finished.
But sometimes I find a piece of iron that won’t stand up under this treatment. The heat and the hammering and the cold water are too much for it. I don’t know why it fails in the process, but I know it will never make a good horse’s shoe."

He pointed to a heap of scrap iron that was near the door of his shop.......
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“When I get a piece that cannot take the shape and temper, I throw it out on the scrap heap. It will never be good for anything.”
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He went on ......... “I know that God has been holding me in the fires of affliction and I have felt His hammer upon me. But I don’t mind, if only He can bring me to what I should be. And so, in all these hard things my prayer is simply this:
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TRY ME IN ANY WAY YOU WISH, LORD, ONLY DON'T THROW ME ON THE SCRAP HEAP."
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-Unquote
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Great story, isn’t it? 

God's attention on us simply means that He cares. Oh I know it's an odd way of caring, to our puny human understanding. I had some trouble with that too. It isn’t easy – especially if you’re hurting real bad. That’s a huge Ouch-Ouch!! But as hard as that is to understand, it is THE explanation to our 'why me?!' --- a question we so often pose to GOD. 

BUT have we tried, even for just a moment, to imagine what we would be without God? Yup, maybe right there on that unfortunate scrap heap. 

And have we also tried to imagine what we would be or have become with God? The answer to that is ---- the best we could ever be.... and that work isn't even finished yet. Imagine the exciting possibilities and potential when HE's done with us. It can be awesomely mind- boggling!

More trials? Yet is there a life without one!? Let’s try to see it this way (we can always learn, di ba?) ------- What are they but simply God's loving and undivided attention upon you and me and everybody who believes. HE is making us even better (believe this) --- worthy of life and of Heaven. By God's design. Whom God loves he disciplines. Like a mother disciplines her child with the intent of seeing her child grow into a fine human being. Gold is made better when passed through the furnace or fire.

Hard to take that? Well, maybe it's time to try to see things from the eyes and heart of God. -- God THINKS you are special. God SEES you as special! The reason why He gives you His full attention and care. .God works not to harm you but only to make you better. (Check out the poster on Jeremiah 29:11)

YOU are SPECIAL! And GOD LOVES YOU SO MUCH!
Blessings to you all!

MUCH OF THE BEAUTY OF LIFE IS FOUND IN PROPLE WHO CARE

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Yup, I'm back at my laptop again! Three weeks of nursing a bad, very bad cough, and I'll say this much..... never again! I'm done with coughing-fits, meds, doctor-visits, and a brief stint at the er when I had trouble with my breathing. But I'll say this, too, that something good came out of that sick-cay-tion --- I was able to catch up on my reading. Cruising down my tiny library of favorite books I chose this one "1000 Stories - Volume One" by Frank Mihalic, SVD. Would you believe that I got this book that lucky month of December in 1993?! And yes, the glue which held the book together finally gave up its job and caused the pages to free itself from its bondage of many years! And gosh the edges of its pages have browned with age, too. But no, I didn't discard them ... everything is still here --- all of its 243 pages and all of its 500 stories intact!

Books never grow old, especially books like this one. Here are six of my favorite stories lifted from the book (oh but there are so many and each one a treasure) which I would like to share with you.
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1) POLITENESS

One time at a dinner given in honor of Marshall Foch, one of the guests remarked that there was nothing but wind in French politeness. Marshall Foch retorted, “Neither is there anything but wind in a tire, yet it certainly eases the jolts in a highway, as politeness eases them along life’s highway.” - Quote
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2) GOD IS NUMBER ONE

In arithmetic we learned how valuable is the position of the zero relative to the decimal point. The more zeros separating a one from a decimal point, the less the value of the one if the zeros come first. (.000,000,1)
Put one first, however, then add the zeros and finally the decimal point and the very reverse is true. Why? Because the one is first. (1,000,000.)

So long as God is first in our actions, everything we do and the more we do will add up, the greater value it will have. The further away God is from our minds in our actions, the less their value. – Frank Mihalic
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3) JUDGING

A tale in a German song told of a contest between a nightingale and a cuckoo, to prove which sang more beautifully. As it happened, the only creature around to judge was an ass.

The nightingale sang first. As its beautiful melody trilled through the woods, the ass twitched its long ears and looked on with a stupid, puzzled expression.

Then the cuckoo called its simple, two-note song. Suddenly the face of the ass registered a serious, appraising look, then he began to nod. This he could understand: cuckoo, cuckoo… really isn’t all that different from: hee-haw, hee-haw.  It should come as no surprise that the ass judged the cuckoo to be the better singer.

And thus it is with all who pass judgement. We all judge according to our own limited perceptions, our biases, our varying degrees of ignorance. – Nuggets
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4) SUPPORTIVE WORKERS

One day when I was eleven years old, I came home weeping because I had been given a small part in the background of a children’s program at the church, while my playmate was assigned the leading role. Quietly, my mother took out her watch and put it in my hand.
“What do you see?” she asked.
“A gold case, a face and hands,” I replied.
Then she opened the back of the case and repeated her question. “What do you see?’
“I could see tiny wheels and screws.” I replied.
“This watch would be of no use at all,” mother said, “without every part --- even those you cannot see.”
Her little lesson has made me happier all through life. – Ms. Floyd Crook
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5) LOOK IN THE MIRROR DAILY

A Californian had two daughters in their early teens. One was attractive, the other, plain. One day, as they were getting ready for school, the better-looking girl peered into the mirror beside the face of her unflavored sister. The latter complained to their father that this was done as a reflection on her lack of looks.
Instead of growing angry or taking sides, he advised them,
“I want both of you to look into that mirror everyday. You who are favored of Nature, to remind yourself never to dishonor the beauty of your face by the ugliness of your actions. And you who lack beauty, that you may hide your lack of it by the superior attractiveness of your virtue and beautiful conduct.” - Tonne
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6) YOU ARE MADE TO HELP

I saw a small girl on the street, cold and shivering in a thin dress, and very evidently hungry. I became angry with God and said, “Why did You permit this? Why don’t You do something about it?”
That night I heard a small voice inside say, “I DID do something about it, I made you… What have YOU done about it?”             - After De Mello



  Hope you're all having a lovely day! Blessings!

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