A Joyful Mission

Always Room for Growth

When I was younger, I had always wondered why my life took so many twists and turns. Now that I’m older (not always wiser, but I feel as though I’m getting there!), I’m starting to see now how those twists and turns have gotten me to where I am right now. My husband, Barry, said something to me when we first got together and before we got married that always stuck with me. He stated, “I try to learn something in everything that I do.”

In other words, he was stating that there was always room for growth. I’m going to take it a step further and say that that statement should hold true to our professional life and our personal and religious life. Each is tied to the other and makes for a more well-rounded individual.

We need to realize that there is so much that we can learn from each other. We don’t have to always agree, but maybe by watching someone else, we can learn what not to do in our own life. Maybe, by reaching out to others, we can begin to empathize with them instead. Maybe, we can be inspired by how another person holds to their dignity even as they go through something terrible. Maybe, just maybe, it can make us become better people by learning from others.

There’s always room for growth in how we handle ourselves and the things that go on in our lives as well as what we can learn from the world around us. I know that it’s never easy to change ourselves. In fact, I think that it’s one of the hardest things that we have to learn how to do. However, the reward can help us become a better version of ourselves than we were before. (Related post: Seeing the Potential). Just think of it as a “makeover”. Who doesn’t want that? Here’s me in the background, yelling, “YES, PLEASE!!!”

So, what did I learn from this? I like who I am now. I’m also finding that I’m really liking where I am now. All those different pathways that I took long ago, have led me to this place. I can now look back and see that all those things that I learned from those twists and turns in my path through life, were what made this time in my life better. Am I done learning? I hope not! I hope that I can continue to say that until the time that I’m ready to go and be with God. It’s humbling but also so very rewarding at the same time. (Related post: Learning to accept the challenges of life)

What can you gain from this? It’s hard when you don’t know where you’re going. It’s also hard when you don’t understand the purpose behind where you’ve been, either. I think that the key to figuring out what you’ve gained is to write down all of your experiences (yes all, as in the good, the bad, and the ugly). Then take each one of those experiences and figure out what you learned from that experience. Sometimes, we just need to see it in black and white in order to get the full effect. It certainly couldn’t hurt and you never know what you can gain from it unless you try.

Taking the Moral High-Ground

It’s always difficult to teach children how to make good choices. However, in today’s society, how can we help them to have morals that they can learn to live with for the rest of their lives?

Let me tell you some things about what my husband and I choose to do with our own children. Our first-born, Marc was somewhat of a precocious child. If you told him that the sky was blue, he would say to you that it was purple. While I loved that about him, I also knew that we needed to make sure this young man that we were raising could learn how to follow other people’s rules and not just make the rules he wanted to pursue. We also wanted to have a child who would be able to make good choices as he got out into the real world. Our youngest son, Alec, waited until he was a teenager when he tried our patience with some of his antics but the end result was……

I can actually tell you that we succeeded in raising young men we are very proud of! They both have excellent jobs that they enjoy. They also help out by contributing to the family’s needs while still living here at home. In addition, they each have a code that they follow. They understand the difference between right and wrong choices. How did we do that? They each were given consistent consequences that helped them to develop their own radar. Trust me, when I say that it’s never easy to guide young people into having morals in a world that increasingly tries to say that you are “anti-something” or other because of the values that you hold.

So, how do we keep to our morals in that world? You hold true to what you value in life. (Related post: Standing in the Way of Evil). Think about how your faith guides you in thinking about the world. Do you put God first and the world second or do you think of it the other way around? Trust me when I say that it makes a big difference which one you put first. I’d rather turn away from the world that puts me last and turn toward our God who puts me first. Remember that at the end of your lifetime, we all will have to go before God and answer for the choices that we’ve made in this lifetime. You can’t get around that, so think very, very carefully about where you stand so that you won’t have any regrets at the end of your life.

So, what did I learn from this? I know that it doesn’t seem like God is on our side, especially after what happened in Uvalde, Texas where innocent lives were needlessly lost. I’m not going to get into the mind of the person who did that, but I will say that only someone who is missing out on God could have pulled that trigger without a second thought.

We need to put God back in our lives. We need to think about how hatred hurts all of us and then get on our knees and ask Him for His help in healing our minds and hearts. Yes, you can also vote your conscious as well, but God is still at the root of it. Without Him? I don’t really want to contemplate what could actually happen if we don’t change course soon.

What can you gain from this? I have such peace with God even as I struggle to understand how humans can do evil in this world. We try to blame God for what humans choose to do, but I know that with God, our world becomes a much better place to live. If you want that peace that those of us who know Him do, then ask Him to heal you. Trust me. He’s the only one who can.

The Value of Life

I recently had a friend call me. He asked me if I could sing at his nephew’s funeral. The saddest part about this funeral was that this nephew of his was only 32 years old and he had died due to an overdose. How sad I felt for this family. And the worst part was that he died on Mother’s Day. Such a tragic loss.

So, I think that we need to ask ourselves some questions about what the value of a life is. God created us. I like to think that He and all those under Him in Heaven, weep when there is a needless loss of life. I feel that this includes those who have drug addictions in addition to the life that was snuffed out before it could even be born. What about those lives lost who died fighting for a cause that they believed in? What about those who put their life on the line in the service of others? I could go on and on. The examples are endless.

The point of this post? It’s to remind us that all of life is precious. From the ones that are yet to be born all the way to the old and feeble. From the sick with health issues to the simplest of minds. I think that it’s time that we begin to see that and take each life as a precious commodity that God cares for. We need to see each other as God sees us-valuable, loved and infinitely redeemable. We need to treat each other as we ourselves would like to be treated, with dignity and respect. It’s not that hard really. We just need to take the time as well as make the effort. Life is worth that amount of respect that we should have for each other.

So, what did I learn from this? I love you. Why? That’s what God wants me to do. I don’t have to agree with the way that you live your life or what you believe or even how you act. All I need to do is love you because God loves you. It’s that simple but trust me when I say it’s not as easy as it looks and I have to work at it sometimes. Even though it’s hard, it’s what God wants me to do. As a child of God, I can do no less than that nor should I.

What can you learn from this? We all have value in the eyes of God. There is no one, and I do mean no one who will value you more than Him. Humans are flawed. We don’t have the depth of God’s love but we can learn and we can grow and become better. We just have to remember that we have to work at it all the time. Love makes everything better.

Miracles Exist

Yes, miracles do exist. How do I know that? I just had one!

I recently had done a post titled God’s Got This. In that post, I thought that I had had pre-cancerous cells in my uterus, but what I actually had was Stage 1, Endometrial Cancer. The doctor stated that it actually was what they termed a Probable Stage 1A, which means that it had just started to grow and hadn’t spread its tentacles out. Notice that I said had. I ended up having a hysterectomy in April in which they removed my uterus. As they sliced and diced it, they found a 1mm cancerous section. When I spoke with the doctor yesterday, he said that we had taken care of it. It was gone! I had my miracle.

My miracle was that I have a God who gets me to a doctor whose radar was triggered by something that was off in my body and that she wanted to do more to figure it out. My miracle was the so many family and friends that prayed for me when it could have been so much scarier. Those prayers are what helped me to completely turn my very scary issue over to a loving God!

In the movie, Miracles from Heaven, Anna Beam was a young girl who had to live with a very rare incurable disorder that affected her ability to digest food. During this time, her mom, Christy, struggled with her faith. At the time, she doesn’t see how God is there guiding her through. However, at the end, when Anna is cured, Christy sees that they had experienced miracles the whole time that they were going through this journey. Yes, Anna was healed after a horrific accident where she fell into a hollow tree. That part was God, but what her mom also needed to see were the little things that those around us do for us when we’re really not paying attention or we are consumed by our own suffering.

Those are our miracles. So, maybe yours isn’t cancer. Maybe it’s something else that you are struggling with. Maybe it’s nothing huge. Maybe it’s a small thing that is affecting you in some way. Don’t hold on to it and keep that pain inside. Reach out to a God who loves you and values you, but also realize that you need to reach out to your family and friends as well. They can’t help you until they know what’s going on. I have found that God likes to work in the simplest of ways. Your miracle is out there. You just have to look in order to see it.

So, what did I learn from this? Our God isn’t just awesome sometimes. He’s awesome all the time! Stuff happens. There are no two ways around that. I have found that while I may be suffering my very worst fear, that is when He is carrying me in order to get me to the next phase that He has planned. (Related post: Traversing the hills and valleys of life with grace). I just have to give Him the reins. So far? It’s been a very interesting ride!!

What can you gain from this? Life is still scary, but once you have God then you know that He can make it just a little less scary. It’s learning how to let go and let God do what He wants to do in your life. That is the hardest step for us to take. Yes, even with the not-so-fun things that we as humans suffer through, He has a purpose. So…. are you ready for your miracle yet? Start looking, because those miracles are all around you.

God’s Promise

Psalm 118:8 states that “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.” According to the website, http://www.merriam-webster.com, the word refuge means to find shelter or protection from danger or distress. More specifically, in the Bible, it means that God can always be trusted to look out for us so that we don’t need to be afraid.

So, what do you think the meaning of Psalm 118:8 is? Does it mean that we can’t trust men at all?

No, because I know that there are good people who exist in this world, but no one can be trusted as fully as God can. That’s His promise to His people. He gives us that safe place where we know that we won’t be judged or looked down on because of our past mistakes. (Related post: Finding Our Safe Space)

But isn’t that the truth of things? I know many people. In fact, there are many, many good people that I’ve made sure to surround myself with. Yet as many good people that there are out there, there are also those who don’t care about what happens to us. God’s not like that at all! We have a God who waits for us to humble ourselves and ask Him for healing so that we can find that refuge that we all want. (Related post: Our God Waits). We have to look within and see our faults so that we can ask Him for forgiveness. God alone can heal us and make us better than we were before, but He won’t do it until you ask. It’s the hardest step, I know because I’ve been there myself. However, if you want to find joy and peace, then it’s the most important step to take.

So, what did I learn from this? Humbling yourself is so hard. There was a poem I read one time and although I can’t remember who wrote it or even the whole part of it, there was one portion that stuck with me. So, in the poem, it states that this person had come to God so that He would fix everything that was broken in their life. And here is where I only remember a small but what I feel is a significant part of the poem that I will try to quote exactly. It stated, “In frustration, I snatched it back and said, “My God, why are you so slow?” And He said, “My child, you never did let go.””

That poem always, always, always is a reminder to me that if I want peace and joy, then I have to trust Him enough to let go so that He can help me. Trust me, I’m still working on that even though, I can tell you that it has surely gotten easier over time!

What can you gain from this? The point of that part of the poem is so true for all of us. God can’t give us TRUE healing until we are fully ready to give it to God. God gave us free will, but we keep messing it up because we aren’t trusting Him to fully take over and cleanse us. Until I fully let go and then gave it to God, I was only half of the person that He knew that I could be. Yeah, it’s hard. I get that. But you can’t heal your hurt if you don’t trust Him enough. When you are able to let go, then you start to realize that it wasn’t such a hard thing after all and then the next time is that much easier.

The Value of Truth

I’m hopeful that many of us have heard of the story at some point in our life about The Boy Who Cried Wolf. This is a fable that was attributed to Aesop, a Greek storyteller from 620-564 BCE. In this story, which I will summarize for you, Aesop tells of a young boy who was a shepherd. He was very bored with his job and wanted to have some fun with the villagers, so he proceeds to run back to the village, yelling that there was a wolf that had come to attack the sheep and that he needed their help. He did this several times and each time the village people would run out in order to protect their property. The boy thought that this was very amusing, so he laughed and laughed each time about how he had tricked them. In the end, the people became very angry at this young boy, so they decided that they would not listen to him if he did it again.

Of course, he did call for them again, but this time there was a wolf who had come to attack the sheep but no one would listen.

Why? Why is it that no one would listen when it was actually the truth that time?

To understand that, you have to understand the moral of the story. The moral of this story points to a truth that we too often forget, especially in today’s world, and that is: When someone constantly lies, then they lose the trust of others.

Now, it has gotten to the point that in today’s time, we have begun to mock those people who do that in order to hopefully shame them into recognizing what they’ve done. All too often, that hasn’t worked though. We know that because these are the same people who continue to lie. They haven’t learned this moral or the lesson. They haven’t learned that they are no longer trustworthy because they don’t value the truth. Or is that they keep hoping that the lie will eventually become the truth? Honestly, I don’t know.

My hope is that each of you reading this has understood that the lie(s) will keep getting bigger. You may have come to realize the value of the truth and know that if the lie keeps getting perpetuated then the person who perpetuates that lie, is also untrustworthy as well. Ron White, a comedian, said, “You can’t fix stupid.” If you’ve tried to correct them and they still refuse to stop with the lies, then all you can do is tune them out and listen to those who are trying to speak up and speak out about the things that matter to you. Trust me, you don’t want to go down that whirlpool with them.

So, what did I learn from this? I’ve always been taught to trust my instincts. I’ve found that if something smells fishy, I have learned to ask myself why it smells fishy. I value the truth even when it is hard to hear. It makes me a better person. I surround myself with others that I can trust to look out for my best interest as well as theirs.

What can you learn from this? Learn to trust your instincts. Learn to question that person’s motive for lying. Realize that if they don’t value themselves enough to tell the truth, then they certainly don’t value you either. You deserve so much more than that! Yes, the truth is always hard to hear, but think about how much better off you will be because you had recognized and valued the truth. You could say that you have become enlightened and that is NEVER a bad thing!

Finding Our Safe Space

We just added to our immediate family unit. We have a friend whom I will just call Kay who recently moved in with us. She has now become part of the family. Unfortunately, she has to sleep on the couch because we don’t have an extra room but we’re making it work. She had a need that we could fulfill. She needed a safe place in order to regroup, where she wasn’t made to feel less than what she was. I find that the most difficult part about her situation is that it was her mom and other family members who call her a “black sheep” just because she’s made mistakes in her past. They haven’t let her live those choices down, no matter what she has done to prove herself now. So, she needed a family who would support her and help her to feel that success. She also needed a place where she didn’t have to worry about verbal abuse and cut downs.

We all have a need to find a safe place where we are loved and cared for. We all need to have a place where our past doesn’t matter, only the future that we are trying to create at this moment. We have that with God. He gives us our safe space because we matter to Him. For whatever it is that we are going through, He loves and cares deeply for us. We all need to know that it is okay to reach out and ask for help. That doesn’t make us weak. Our strength is in getting through our perceived failures. (Related post: Accepting failure is actually the key to success). When we’ve come through those low points, then we are lifted so much higher!

So, what did I learn from this? The whole safe space thing has made me realize that how we treat others, matters. I can’t always give as much as I would like to but the important part is that I give what I can. Why? It may make a difference to someone and it also demonstrates that I am attempting to show God’s love in the ways that I can. Remember that God is love and love needs to be shared. When I put my life in God’s hands, He shows me what He wants me to do with it, just as it says in Matthew 25:37-40. Let me sum it up, when we’ve tried to help others in all the ways possible, then we have done it for Him as well.

What can you gain from this? Put others first before yourself. That person who cut you off in line, don’t repay them by getting in their face and yelling. Instead, pray for them and try to look beyond what is just on the surface. We can’t know what that person is going through. They might have gotten some devastating news, for all we know. Give others the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes that doesn’t always work. So try to pray for them instead, asking for God to heal them and to help keep you from anger. You never know if something will help unless you try. Kindness goes a really long way.

An Interesting Life

I’ve always admired people who were able to work in one job until they were ready to retire. I can’t say that I’ve been able to do that, though! When I was younger, I used to wonder why I never could seem to stay in one place for long periods of time. I used to think that there was something wrong with the fact that I had had many, many jobs over the course of my life up to this point. (Related post: Traversing the hills and valleys of life with grace). Maybe it’s with getting older that you become wiser, but I now know that I shouldn’t regret the twist and turns that my life has taken. I can fully say now that I’ve led a very interesting life, to say the least. The so many twists and turns that my life has taken have given me more than I might have had if I had stayed in one job.

Why is that, you may ask?

I found that I grew and blossomed. I learned and became more than who I was before. I thrived and prospered.

How did that happen? I had a family who supported me as I struggled to understand the path that God wanted me to take. I had friends who prayed for me as I grew to know that God’s purpose in my life was so much more than I had thought that it could be or even should be. God knew that I had needed all of those interesting twists and turns in order to grow and blossom, in order to learn and become more, and in order to thrive and prosper. This was God’s plan all along. I just had to trust Him and go along for the ride! (Related post: Finding the Strength Within Our Struggles).

My advice, try not to regret how you got to this point. If you learned from all those twists and turns, then you now possess the power to help others. That’s an awesome power to have!

So what did I learn from this? I like to be in control of where I’m going, but I had to learn to let go and let God so that He could guide me where He wanted me to go and so that I could learn what He needed me to learn. It’s all part of His grand scheme when we are open to Him!

Realize that God gives us free will but one of the best gifts that we can give back to God is that free will. When I gave it back to Him, He lead me in so many different directions! Even though I didn’t understand at first, when I opened myself up to God, then the things that happened in my life have become much clearer. I see things with so much more clarity that I couldn’t see before!

What can you gain from this? The thought that I want to leave you with is this, try not to be overly concerned about the many twists and turns that your own life has taken. Understand that God has a plan for you and these twists and turns might have always been a part of you discovering the person that you were meant to be. You now know that you are much wiser than you were before and can put everything into a better perspective. Then you too can also say that you’ve led an interesting life as well!

Our God Waits

Most people have heard the many stories that Jesus told the Pharisees and the Scribes as he was ministering to the people. There is one story in particular that Jesus told that, I believe, can have such a huge impact on us today and that is The Parable of the Lost Son which is found in Luke 15: 11-32. This parable has such a rich and deep meaning. In this parable, a man has two sons and the younger son asks for his inheritance early and then goes off to spend it lavishly and in a very sinful manner. When he is broke and has to get a job working with the pigs, he realizes that he has sinned and goes back home so that he can ask for his father’s forgiveness. The father sees him coming home and rejoices because his young son has returned home from a life of sin. His father knows that he was lost but now was found. His father throws a feast in celebration, however, the oldest son is angry because his father never did anything like that for him. The oldest son can’t forgive his own brother or let go of his own anger at his father for what he sees as unjust treatment.

So, how does this parable relate to today?

We need to realize that we have a Father in Heaven who waits for us to realize that we are sinful and to not blame others for what we choose to do or even what we don’t do. (Related post: Just Passing the Buck). We also have a Father who knows that we need to be more forgiving of those who do us harm. This is not to say that you haven’t released that other person from their own sin (that is on them), but you have instead released yourself from the anger that holds you from accomplishing all of what our God knows that you can accomplish!

In addition, during the Lenten season, while we wait on our Lord and Savior to rise up after His crucifixion, we need to realize that our God also waits for us to understand and recognize that we are sinful creatures and that we need to come back to Him on bended knee. We have a God who waits on us just because He loves us enough to look past all of our faults to see the bounty and beauty of what we could be. He won’t hold our sins over our heads. We do that enough on our own! (Related post: My dad always said that “You can’t woulda, shoulda, coulda…..”). God knows that we can’t change our past. Instead, He wants us to look forward to our future. He wants us to see the potential of what we can do if we just let go of everything that holds us down and keeps us from reaching out to a God who loves and values who we are.

So, what did I learn from this? I’m a sinful person, but God loves me anyway. God loves the potential of me. God loves that I listen to Him and knows that I hear, most of the time, what He’s trying to get me to understand. God knows my heart and He rejoices when I do the right thing. God hears my prayers and gives me the answers that I need. Simply, God loves me!

What can you gain from this? Knowing our God can bring you peace. Knowing our God can give you joy. Knowing our God can help you to understand that He loves you just as you are. He doesn’t ask that you change the essence of who you are. He just wants you to be better than what you are right now. He wants you to know that He will wait on you to come to Him and ask Him for His forgiveness. Our God waits because He loves you. It’s just as simple as that.

Just Passing the Buck

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

I used to take care of children as a nanny. During that time there was one particular incident that had stayed in the back of my mind. This young child that I was taking care of had just passed by a wall. She ran into the wall then turned around and slapped at the wall with her hand. I asked her what she was doing and she stated that her mom had told her that if she ran into the wall then to just hit it. Now, it made an impact on me because her mom was essentially telling her to blame the wall for her own actions.

Hmmmmm…..

I really couldn’t just let that go. It sounded too much to me like she was not understanding the consequences of her actions and if anyone who has read my blog knows, I don’t like that at all. So, after she had told me what her mom had said, I proceeded to tell her that the wall had always been there and her job was to go around the wall. If she wanted to blame anyone then she needed to blame herself for not being more careful. Oh, and by the way, this little girl has turned out to be a very beautiful and productive citizen now.

The point that I’m trying to make here is that there are too many people in the world who like to pass the buck or blame someone or something else for the choices that they themselves have made. Ever heard the phrase, “They can’t see the forest for all the trees.”? Yeap, these are those sort of people. Unfortunately, I have been seeing that many of these same people are those who are in positions of power (government) and influencers, such as some of those in Hollywood.

The problem that I have with these sorts of people is that, right now, the choices that they’ve made haven’t hurt them. They’re insulated because of their power and wealth. However, it does affect those who aren’t powerful or wealthy. And that just boils my blood. Fortunately for us, the thing that they aren’t counting on is the fact that we have been watching and understanding more now than ever before. I also have begun to truly see that there are more of us than there are of them. So, ultimately, we are more powerful because we can see them for who they truly are and can take action to change where we want to go. (Related post: Correcting Our Course).

So, what did I learn from this? I have to be selective in whom I trust. I need to know that they have my best interest in mind. I need them to show me through their actions and not just listen to their words. I also know that actions speak so much louder than words ever can. I also know that if I don’t trust them now, I will never trust them and I need to look out for my own self-interest and what is best for my family, friends, and my country.

What can you gain from this? Pay attention to what is going on around you. Listen carefully to what is being said and compare that to their actions. If you are starting to get uncomfortable with what you are seeing then realize that there is a reason for that. Your instincts are trying to tell you that this is not a friend. They only want you because they think that they can influence you to vote for them or to go along with what they are saying. These very same people will turn on you in a heartbeat when you start to question them about their actions. Trust should never, ever, be given blindly. That’s how you get burned.

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