I AM EVEN MORE

-----------------
While sorting through my old stuff meaning to throw away those no longer needed, I stumbled on a piece of paper which was apparently creased badly like somebody meant to throw it away but changed his mind. It was typewritten. Well, I brought it out to the table and began to read it.....
.--------------------------------------------------------------------------
.
I am even more.
.
Life has been tough. A roller coaster ride through hills, mountains,
and valleys. I had been bombarded with cares and woes that I've lost
count on my fingers, toes included.
.
I've lost chances. Plenty of them which could have made my life
different. I've lost people too which could have lent my existence
some joy and fun.
.
I have faltered, stumbled, and fallen a dozen times. All different
from the other, not the same, but I soon discovered that everything
served the same goal of my learning.
.
I fumed, cried buckets, felt sorry over lost chances, and regretted
mistakes. Many things angered me, and many more succeeded to break my heart.
.
BUT..... I have realized that I can't fix everything even if I wanted to or no matter how I try. Strange but some things sorted themselves out. Divine intervention some would say. That then saved me a lot of 'huffin-and-puffin' just to bring the bad ones down. A good number I figured out myself, fortunately. Yet some do not disappear and simply stick out like a sore thorn on the side. You just have to learn to live with it. I learned that, too.
.
Bruised and scarred by my own battles, (life is indeed tough, amigo) and yet here I am. Still standing. Because I have learned that I am even more. So much more.
.
Somebody up there must be smiling. I guess HE meant it that way. And you know what... I'm glad that HE did. Thank you!
.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
.
Heyy.. that's my story! :-) I think it's everybody's story, too. You are even more. If you do not know it yet..... let me say this again --- You are so much more!
.
God bless you.

VICTORY IN OUR STRUGGLES

 

------------------
March 29, 2015 - PALM SUNDAY
.
Palm Sunday commemorates Jesus Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, according to Christian belief. It marks the beginning of Holy Week and always falls on the Sunday before Easter Sunday. (Unquote)
.
Some of my friends say this about its significance in our lives seeing it through their own eyes of understanding i.e. it gets better first before it gets worse... joy always comes with pain... the alternating good and bad, etc.
.
If you look at those lines and then look hard into your life, you could say that it's true... negatively true. In some of our life experiences we do get to have a taste of the unsinkable duo -- joy and pain. Then too we ride high on good times and in the next beat of the heart plunge down to the bottom as misfortunes assail us unexpectedly and mercilessly. Just like the highs and the lows of a roller coaster ride. Yup, that's life.
.
But it doesn't end there. My friends' interpretation of the significance of Palm Sunday is a half-picture view of the full glory of Jesus' final walk on earth. They could only see the pain and misery of His journey and the sad end on the cross. What they may have missed is that the story continues and ends in full glory. Glory......... magnificence! That magnificence is in Jesus' finishing his job of winning our salvation and winning his rightful seat at the right hand of the Father.
.
We're free... sinless! Until our free will (both a blessing and a bane) pulls it down to erratically sin-no sin conditions on this planet. Now....... it's our turn to fight our battles to get back our old glory. A battle being fought everyday... nonstop.
.
So I guess the story of Palm Sunday tells us that there is victory over our struggles in life. Small victories or big ones.... victories coming in-between the beginning and the end of our own stories... or victories waiting at the end of our journey.
.
Victory. Hope. Faith.
.
A blessed Palm Sunday to everyone!
God bless you.

LIFE ISN'T ALWAYS HAPPY 100% OF THE TIME

----------------------
I was thinking about this...............  'No one is happy and perky 100% of the time.' Quoted from the book 'Limitless' by Nick Vujicic. (I haven't finished the book yet.)

That's true. But we try to be. It's also true that what we are on the outside is also different from what we are on the inside. Here's to remember that everybody on earth is fighting some battle, without or within. People try to cope with that in so many different ways. Some would seek help from others, several would share their feelings to release tension, and a good number would silently fight their battles while keeping a cheerful exterior with a prayer in their heats.

I find myself in each of these categories depending on the battle at one time or another.

One thing I have learned....  it's okay to be 'all of the above', so to speak. Humanly natural and real. Life is a leveler, everybody gets his share of ups and downs. None exempted. We cope in ways that we know or are available to us. That is the rule.  All is good.

What becomes a problem is when we cower and grovel in the dark utterly overwhelmed and defeated by our challenges.  We then begin to lose control or grip on life happening to us. It's the feeling that the world is oblivious to our misery and God deaf to our prayers. I've seen it happening to friends and I myself have been there before.

When this happens we need to push ourselves hard and harder. The battle is no longer with the issues confronting us but the battle is with the self. I have read somewhere, to quote .. 'we are our worst enemies and our biggest battles'.

But we can also be our own heroes.

Step up to courage, determination, hope, and a faith which God can be so proud of as He watches us. Happily He will bless our efforts far more than our weary hearts can hold.  Joy will be restored in our hearts. So much to be happy about!
---------------------

Hope you're all enjoying this long weekend. I did with mine. Yesterday was a lovely dinner spent with family. Precious.

God bless you and yours!