RELAX. BE STILL. LET GO. LET GOD.

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When things aren't happening the way desired ... when feeling so utterly alone and lonely, weak and helpless, maybe hopeless... and making it even more larger than life is this pandemic looming over our heads,  one in seething anxiety and desperation would seek out the quickest now-na remedy to ease the situation. Yup, that's what humans do anywhere everywhere everytime. 

But God reminds us to do just this.......

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.

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FAITH IS WHAT WE HAVE

FAITH IS WHAT WE GOT.
COVID-19  ...
WE'LL BEAT YOU YET!!!

There's SOMEONE Bigger Than You and Me

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When you think nothing is happening, think again. You might be in for a big surprise. The Big Guy upstairs loves dishing out surprises. Though sometimes it may not be what you want. But definitely it's what you need. You can't know any better. HE DOES!!👼

THREE FAVORITE THINGS --- AND SOMETHING MORE

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When the muses are quiet and no inspiration pushes the pen or laptop keys.... or when some days are lonely... or when saddled with cares and woes... or when days are even boring... I turn to three favorite things. One, I go out to the garage and have a nice chat with my three dogs -- Lucky, Buddy, and the new addition Scruffy. (There's a fourth one Maxie but she prefers napping on the couch in the living room.) Or.... two, I get myself a cup of yummy ice cream (if there happens to be one inside the freezer), sit on the couch and watch my favorite show on TV. If nada on the ice cream thing, a peanut butter sandwich takes its place with a glass of iced tea... and eyes still glued on the TV screen. Or..... three, my daughter and I go out to the mall to watch a good movie or have our favorite frappe at Starbucks. 

And...... Oh by the way, also squeezed in-between those three are the one-and-a-thousand details of things we usually do around the house. Plus.... the different roles a mother plays to her children regardless of their age. Plus.... the things done for 'me-time'... listen to music, paint, read a good book, sew a bag from an old pair of jeans, call up a friend, sort through old files for some hidden 'gold' to feed the writing, etc.
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Now I almost forgot this. After listing down the I, Me, My, Mine of being human and was set to move to the next thing to write ---- I remembered this >> Plus..... this precious life nurturing-connection.... Being still to acknowledge God's presence in my life. The wonders of His Magnificent God-ship. Those should be etched in the heart for nobody would last a day or a second without Him. All that we are -- our brilliance, intellect, talents, wealth, beauty, successes, achievements, acquisitions, titles, positions, or greatness -- everything comes from His goodness, love, compassion, and mercy. Gifts from His divine heart. The magnificent I AM. Thus if I have the 'me-time'.... this one's called the 'HIS-time'.
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Now why am I telling you this? Because I have learned something very important which I'd like to share with you. It is this........
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"Look only to the good. Look only to what you have, to what God has given you. Do not let your eyes come to rest upon any other thing but the blessings and peace of Christ. Do not fix your gaze upon the negatives, upon the past or the future. Remember, your life is hid with me. By now you know that I can be trusted and that I have all your affairs in My hands. Not one thing escapes My attention." --- God 

 
(Yes, those lines are from the book 'Good Morning... God')
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Nice, aye? Give it a try. You might like it, too. Furthermore you will soon discover that trusting God gives you more time to be you.. with your life... with your gifts.... with your God.
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God bless you!

LIGHT TRUMPS DARKNESS EVERYTIME

Came across this quote: "There's always going to be bad stuff out there. But here's the amazing thing -- light trumps darkness, every time. You stick a candle into the dark, but you can't stick the dark into the light." -- Jodi Picoult

Exactly! Some friends I know curse the darkness with their hearts, hating everything bad that's happened to their lives. I don't blame them. It's hard enough having to go through misery to have to sing along through it. Easier said than done.

But I do know one thing... that bad is just as real as good. That it too has its own place and time in our lives. Yes, nothing beneficial derived from it. Well, that seems to be the general perception. But you know what, when you have gone through so much you come to this new understanding that it's temporary... that it's weakness is its own nature. Meaning that bad is strong as it is also weak. Weak in the sense that you can pierce through its darkness with the right tools.

And what are these tools? Easy. We do it everytime. The tools of hope, love, trust, faith, strength and courage, knowledge and understanding, and the belief that it too will pass... just like everything else in life does. It's fleeting - temporary - impermanent - transient - and that it has no defense against the good that could and would permeate it.

And it has no armor to shield itself against a person's willingness to learn from it. So thus it will be tossed and turned, beaten blue, shaken and rolled around, and squeezed tight until the lessons are extracted from it.

Neither can it revel in the mistakes it pounds upon a person because a person who sees clearly with the eyes of God is enabled to see mistakes as friends and not as enemies. We learn from mistakes.

Good and bad. Yin and Yang. Darkness and light. Each have their uses. But truly 'light trumps darkness everytime'.

Have a pleasant and blessed weekend, everyone! Blessings!

(Photo courtesy PDPhoto.org)

YOU AND YOUR PERCEPTIONS

Claudia Black said this >> "Trust in yourself. Your perceptions are often far more accurate than you are willing to believe."

--- Perceptions about people come from keen observation and insight on those who travel to your own sphere and space. You get a lot of practice because many are sent by God to you for your good learning. You can get better at it from person to person to person. Learn well. It can help you sift through the pebbles to get to the grain.. or something like that.

STAND BY ME

"No matter who you are, no matter where you go in life, at some point you will need somebody to stand by you."

That's a beautiful line from the song 'Stand By Me'. If you think that you can go through life all by your lonesome independent self, think again. Because that isn't so. You can't be all those things you want to be nor do everything you think you can do. It does not work that way. In your every thought, idea, or action lies within a special need which not even you can provide for yourself. Why? Because admittedly there are things which another person's thought, idea, or action could serve perhaps better than you - like it or not.

You can't know everything there is to know, you will need a thousand lifetimes to know or learn them all. And if mistakes are the tools for learning, you can't make all the mistakes you need to do to gather those lessons. You have to learn those from others as well. You can't be the sole reservoir of talent or skills or brilliance. Others have it too in great measure. Perhaps even more than what you know.

We all stand connected in many different ways. I need you for something in my life in the same way you need me for something you have to fill to get on with life too. Whatever it is -- intellectual, social, spiritual, physical, moral, political, business, relational -- whatever it is the bottom line is we need each other at some point or another.

And when life gets tough don't we look around for something or someone who could help us get through and out in one piece? I do. I need somebody to be here or there for me. Somebody who through thick and thin would --- stand by me. That, by the way, is also by God's design.

At this point, I'd like to say 'thank you to lovely people -- my gorgeous family, steadfast friends, strangers who were angels in disguise -- who in my small life have stood by me whenever-wherever-whatever'. And to our wonderful Father up there in His Holy Throne --Hugs, Daddy! Thank you. :-)

PROMISE NOT - IF YOU CAN'T

A promise, they say, is a word or words offered another person which contains a pledge to do something at an appointed time regardless. Promise! I remember an uncle say that when someone promises something to him – correspondingly he pours out to that person a bag of expectations, anticipation, trust, hope, and zeal. A promise he pointed out is a guarantee, an assurance, or a pledge of truth and stands on one’s integrity and honor. Well, don’t we actually lean heavily on such things in our day-to-day lives? Isn’t it part of a two-way human communication traffic built on a desire to keep things moving along? Thus we promise loosely, tightly, falsely, or truthfully just to get things done or undone. Don’t we?

Promising to come back on Tuesday to return the book you borrowed as you know how important it is to its owner to have it back -- and doing it, reflects your concern and thoughtful consideration towards your friend - a sentiment coming from the heart. But on the other hand, your brain may sometimes tell you differently, that …

--you can do it another day as you’re very busy (just when are you ever not busy?!)

--and that it won’t be missed anyway (are you sure of that every time you delay or put it off?)

--or say to yourself that your friend would understand it if you delay (stretching it again for the __nth time?).

Let’s go over a life scenario or two, real ones (names changed).

“Billy, we’ll go to the carnival on Saturday night…..and ride on your favorite carousel for as long as you want.” ------- a beaming father tells his 5-yr-old kid whose eyes sparkled with glee over the prospect of getting on his favorite carnival ride. Come the promised day, the father stayed at the office till 11pm on overtime work. He forgot about his promise. Do you think that it crossed his mind at all while working at his desk that his child was waiting back home expectant and trusting over a promised ride? Can you imagine the fragile thoughts and feelings of a little child who must have hoped so hard for that promised thrill only to have it crushed just like that?

“Darling, I’ll be away for only a year to work there and save up for our wedding. When I return, you’ll be my Mrs. Jose Rivas.”….… He sweetly promised as he gently wiped away the tears from his sweetheart’s eyes. A year and several months after, a relative who flew in from that same country told her that he was living with a girl with whom he has a son. Distraught and stunned she cried her heart out locked in her own room. The following morning they saw her lifeless body on the bedroom floor with a locket clasped in her cold hand. Inscribed inside were the words ‘Love Forever’, signed Jose.

So tragic how empty or careless promises can shatter a heart or snuff out precious life. A dear close friend once told me this, referring to her suitor --- “I don’t really care what he says, he can promise or not promise the entire world to me; but what he DOES or WON’T DO --- will tell me all I need to know ‘bout him.”

That brings to mind another of my dear uncle’s wise sayings -----

IT IS NOT WHAT YOU PROMISE -- BUT WHAT YOU DO THAT COUNTS.

LESSON 7 - MISSED THE NEW OPEN DOOR? -SO THEN LOOK AGAIN!

A new opened door-- now let me see. First, let me sort out the fog in my brain -- I see many closed doors and keys thrown out and which spun through several years. Some of those doors I wished were left open and some of those keys stored for safekeeping …perhaps to be taken out again at a future time desired.. But it couldn’t and wouldn’t. And of course a few of those closed doors and thrown-out keys may well be best kept that way. So then where does all that put me – still with a bunch of closed doors and thrown-out keys!

But we’re talking of happiness here… and not about a whole bunch of closed doors -- Just one door of happiness.

To questions what happiness is to me, I’ll say that Happiness is, among other things, a family – a complete one. And I suppose too to many people it is and when a member is lost or gone, a void stands in his or her stead. The idea of family thus crumbles along with that irreparable loss, one that none can fill. Family isn’t with an empty room devoid of the familiar presence -- now empty chair, empty plate, empty closet, and empty garage. That door of happiness then closes with finality… its key tied to a balloon that’s set free with an earnest prayer that it flies high where an angel will find it and bring it home to His throne. And maybe…

But… something seems to be nudging at my side. Is there something that I am missing? Then let’s walk through this foggy brain of mine.

Life, as I understand it, stops for no one or for anything. Oh I know that but it flew out the window back there when sorrow entered the front door. And it’s also true that it’s a big wide world out there with so much for everyone to explore, appreciate, and too be pleasantly surprised by. Further I have always believed that life won’t hold back on those things which would certainly help a person in his journey to learning, discovery, and wisdom. Isn’t that part of what and why we’re here for?

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens;
but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see
the one which has been opened for us." -Helen Keller

With that thought I’d like to say --- “I’m ready”. I’m seeing the new open door. Yet… a brief moment of hesitation holds me rooted to the ground -- Because facing the unknown can be quite scary. It could lead one to anywhere, up to glory or down to misery. So then one tiny prayer now rises from my wobbly heart--- that God be my friend and companion and together we journey to happiness, peace, and blessing. Already I am grateful to a Magnificent God whose great love for His children, meaning us regardless of color, culture or creed -- is ever constant, unchanging and faithful.