Shattered

The vase was knocked to the ground and shattered into many pieces. It was so badly broken that I was sure it could not be mended. But that vase was a very special vase and I knew that I didn't want to throw it away but that I had to fix it. I knew that I didn't have the skill to fix it but that perhaps an expert potter did. So I took the pieces to one and asked him if he could put the vase together again.

That vase was my life. I went to the Master Potter and said, "Why have You allowed me to be broken? I cannot be used by You now -- I am like the vase the potter rejected -- no good. Please let me die."

But the Master Potter had other plans. He said to me, "The vase cannot say to the potter -- 'why have you made me this way?'" (1) He said, "It is through your brokenness that I can use you. Now I can take the pieces and remold the vase and make it into what I want it to be."
He showed me that the broken pieces were guilt, shame, unforgiveness, fear of failure, fear of rejection, perfectionism. And He said, "I am going to transform these pieces into acceptance, love, forgiveness, peace, and excellence."

That made me hope again. But I was impatient because I wanted the process to be quick and easy and I wanted to be used by Him now. But I found that the process hurt very badly and sometimes I didn't think that I could bear the pain.

Again the Lord spoke to me and He said, "Be patient, My child. I have plans for you but you must wait for My timing. Right now I want to mend you and fill you so that when the time is right you can share with others that which I have given you. I know how badly you hurt but you must trust Me because 'I will never leave you nor forsake you'. (2) But I will lead you and guide you and if the way is too rough, I will carry you. Your job is just to follow."

To trust and surrender, often so very difficult and yet the only way that the vase can be repaired. "Help me, Lord, to yield my life to You, the Master Potter, so that You can reshape me and remake me into what You would have me to be so that I may be used by You."

-by Teresa A Morrison

Scripture: (1) Romans 9:20-21 (2) Hebrews 13:5b Other - Proverbs 3:5-6

D art of sharing 5 reasons how God uses problems to help us

The problems you face will either defeat you or develop you, depending on how you respond to them. Unfortunately, most people fail to see how God wants to use problems

for good in their lives. They react foolishly and resent their problems,

rather than pausing to consider what benefit they might bring.

Here are five ways God wants to use the problems in your life:

1. God uses problems to DIRECT you.

Sometimes God must light a fire under you to get you moving.

Problems often point us in a new direction and motivate us to change..

Is God trying to get your attention?

"Sometimes it takes a painful situation to make us change our ways." Proverbs 20:30

2. God uses problems to INSPECT you

People are like tea bags

if you want to know what's inside them,

just drop them into hot water!

Has God tested your faith with a problem?

What do problems reveal about you?

"When you have many kinds of troubles,

you should be full of joy,

because you know that these troubles test your faith,

and this will give you patience." James 1:2-3

3. God uses problems to CORRECT you

Some lessons we learn only through pain and failure.

It's likely that as a child, your parents told you not to touch a hot stove.

But you probably learned by being burned.

Sometimes we only learn the value of something..

.... health, money, a relationship ... by losing it.

"It was the best thing that could have happened to me,

for it taught me to pay attention to your laws." Psalm 119:71-72

4. God uses problems to PROTECT you

A problem can be a blessing in disguise

if it prevents you from being harmed by something more serious.

Last year a friend was fired

for refusing to do something unethical that his boss

had asked him to do.

His unemployment was a problem,

but it saved him from being convicted and sent to prison a year later

when management's actions were eventually discovered.

"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good..." Genesis 50:20

5. God uses problems to PERFECT you

Problems, when responded to correctly, are character builders.

God is far more interested in your character than your comfort.

Your relationship with God and your character

are the only two things you're going to take with you into eternity

"We can rejoice when we run into problems...

they help us learn to be patient.

And patience develops strength of character in us,

and helps us trust God more each time we use it,

until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady." Romans 5:3-4

Here's the point:

God is at work in your life even when you do not recognize it or understand it.

But it's much easier and profitable when you cooperate with Him.

"Success can be measured not only in achievements, but in lessons learned,

lives touched and moments shared along the way"

LIFE IS AN ECHO. What you send out, you get back.

What you give, you receive.

WHEN YOU BRING OUT THE BEST IN OTHERS,

YOU BRING OUT THE BEST IN YOURSELF.

(as per Frenz' email)

D Art of Sharing the Wheels of Life

Isnt this the truth??

Do You Know Where You're Going To?

Can someone pls tell me where am i heading / going to? Should I proceed further or should i retreat???? Didnt i already ask for confirmation, from GOD??? Perhaps, I was afraid...afraid of the truth. Was the so-called "answer" really "from GOD" ????? i gave up my authority to GOD, or should i say..almost??....yet, Im still leaning on my own understanding?????Can u pls let me hear U..just for once and i'll know what to do.....plss!!!!!......
Do you know where you're going to?
Do you like the things that life is showing you?
Where are you going to?
Do you know?

Do you get what you're hoping for?
When you look behind you, there's no open doors
What are you hoping for?Do you know?

Once, we were standing still in time
Chasin' the fantasies that filled our minds
You knew how I loved you but my spirit was free
Laughin' at the questions that you once asked of me

Do you know where you're going to?
Do you like the things that life is showing you?
Where are you going to?
Do you know?

Now, looking back at all we've planned,
We let so many dreams just slip through our hands
Why must we wait so long before we'll see?
How sad the answers to those questions can be

Do you know where you're going to?
Do you like the things that life is showing you?
Where are you going to?
Do you know?

Do you get what you're hoping for?
When you look behind you, there's no open doors
What are you hoping for?
Do you know?

-by Diana Ross

-love to sing this song during Karaoke session lately...and love it even more when Janice Wei Lan sang it.

WHY ME LORD????

The Lord is a God who never fails, but so many a times I sit and ask the Lord why me. And do you want to know why, because when I look around in the world today so many young persons are not serving Christ. They are having a nice life, but me I am trying to worship God who reigns forever and mine life does not seems to be enjoyable.
Sometimes I sit and ask myself why can't I stop serving the lord and go to the worldly pleasures, but then I realize how much suffering he went through just to save a sinner like me I just have t give him all honor and glory.
Sometimes life-road seems so tough and rough , it seems like I cannot go on forever I ask myself WHY ME LORD. But I come to a place where I stop asking the lord that question because he has done so much for me I cannot even stop speaking, I just have to ask the lord WHY NOT ME.
And as I grow more in faith I come to realize those young persons are not enjoying life they are pretending to enjoy life the only real and I mean real enjoyable life you can get is found in the lord Jesus. No matter what people may say there is no regret in serving the Lord as your personal SAVIOR and FRIEND.

-author unknown

D art of Sharing TWO pebbles

Many years ago a London merchant owed a huge sum to a moneylender. The creditor, who was old and ugly, fancied the merchant's daughter and proposed a bargain. He told them he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty bag and have the girl pick out one of the pebbles.
If she chose the black pebble, she would become his wife and her father's debt would be canceled. If she chose the white pebble, she would stay with her father and the debt would still be canceled. If she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail and she would starve.
As the moneylender stooped to pick up the pebbles from the pebble-strewn path, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked her to choose.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok, let's pause here to think of a solution to the girl's dilemma. Can you think of any way out? If she refuses to choose a pebble, the father will go to jail and the daughter will starve? Is that the "least bad" of her choices? If one follows human logic, "linear" logic, it seems there is no way out. But, "lateral" thinking might discover a way out. Well, maybe there's a solution to the girl's problem which will turn the old man's treachery back on him. What did she do?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The girl put her hand into the bag and drew out a pebble. Then, without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall, where it was immediately lost among the thousands of other pebbles in the path.
"Oh, how clumsy of me!" she said. "But, never mind, if you look into the bag you will be able to tell which pebble I took by the color of the one that is left."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Simple, eh? Well, that's the way it is many times with our problems. God really has provided a simple solution, but we are stuck the rut of human logic. God promised that He "will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." The solution is always there! But, we often can't see it - or don't want to see it.

FREE

On his way to church, a scholar was surprised to see a man in tattered clothes and barefoot. Nevertheless, as a good Christian, he greeted the poor man: "May God give you a good morning!"

The poor man replied cheerfully, "I have never yet had a bad morning."

"Then may God give you good luck!"
"I have never yet had bad luck."
"Well, may God give you happiness!"
"I have never yet been unhappy.."
The scholar then asked the man, "Could you you please explain yourself to me? I do not understand."
And the poor man replied, "With pleasure! You wish me a good morning, yet I have never had a bad morning. For when I am hungry, I praise God; when I feel cold, or when it is raining or snowing, I praise God; and that is why I have never had a bad morning.
"You wish that God may give me luck. However, I have never had bad luck. This is because I live with God and always feel what he does for me is the best. Whatever God sends me, be it pleasant or unpleasant, I accept with a grateful heart. That is why I have never had bad luck.
"Finally, you wish that God should make me happy. But I have never been unhappy. For all I desire is to follow God's will; I have surrendered my will so totally to God's will that, whatever God wants, that is what I also want.
"That is why I have never been unhappy."

-by Meister Eckhart

"NO! Thank You"

After having studied the life of Jacob in Genesis..how he worked hard for Rachel and even being cheated by his uncle, Laban...i was asked by someone, whom i met only for few times at a cg and yet in my shallow opinion who has the ability to think deep and uniquely different from others (from a biblical perspective and real life experiences...i was truly impressed when i first heard him shared), whether i would be willing and ready to endure another similar/identical painful "love story of my own", if given a chance...my spontaneous simple and direct answer was "NO!!!!" Then he replied saying that's because I have not enjoyed or rather learned to enjoy the whole process of being in a hurtful/heartbreaking condition. How could I have enjoyed it???? "Learning?"...mayb yes...BUT "Enjoying???"....N.O.! Seriously, I hate it so much and I would be lying if i were to respond by saying that I'm enjoying it...Sorry-la, not even a bit!

Things being said, of course I know what he meant by that....Once we have learned to enjoy "it" - by enduring the pain and suffering thru' total reliance on His grace and mercy, only then will we know HIS flawless yet hard to comprehend Will....coz sometimes, "KEK" things happened for a reason and it's all within HIS permissive will. At times it might seem harsh or mean...BUT HE knows what HE's doing with our lives coz HE's our CREATOR...I just think that we need to have more faith....especially when "the storm is raging".

Have you enjoyed/Are you enjoying the whole process of being in your own version of a hurtful state in various aspects of your life???

PRAYER shall b our first response and NOT our last resort!

"As long as you are happy, I would be blissful"

Dear P.S.,

Tried REALLY REALLY hard to forgive and to forget...wasn't really successful, I guess...but, at least I tried...very HARD! I was devastated again "that day".....yet.....a simple passage that i picked up from a song i heard on the radio today sent a tinkle...yes!...that was my initial intention i.e. leaving with a blessing...and I'm soooo proud to say that I still carry with me the same thought with the saying, "As long as you are happy, I would be blissful" It's gona be HARD...but I'll try, I promise...not b'coz I'm able BUT GOD is.

as Always, Lots of blessings from me, P.R.

C.C. my GOD papa (I need U, Lord)

D Art of sharing A Shmily For You

My grandparents were married for over half a century, and played their own special game from the time they had met each other. The goal of their game was to write the word "shmily" in a surprise place for the other to find. They took turns leaving "shmily" around the house, and as soon as one of them discovered it, it was their turn to hide it once more.
They dragged "shmily" with their fingers through the sugar and flour containers to await whoever was preparing the next meal. They smeared it in the dew on the windows overlooking the patio where my grandma always fed us warm, homemade pudding with blue food coloring. "Shmily" was written in the steam left on the mirror after a hot shower, where it would reappear bath after bath. At one point, my grandmother even unrolled an entire roll of toilet paper to leave "shmily" on the very last sheet.
There was no end to the places "shmily" would pop up. Little notes with "shmily" scribbled hurriedly were found on dashboards and car seats, or taped to steering wheels. The notes were stuffed inside shoes and left under pillows. "Shmily" was written in the dust upon the mantel and traced in the ashes of the fireplace. This mysterious word was as much a part of my grandparents' house as the furniture.
It took me a long time before I was able to fully appreciate my grandparents' game. Skepticism has kept me from believing in true love-one that is pure and enduring. However, I never doubted my grandparents' relationship. They had love down pat. It was more than their flirtatious little games; it was a way of life. Their relationship was based on a devotion and passionate affection which not everyone is lucky experience.
Grandma and Grandpa held hands every chance they could. They stole kisses as they bumped into each other in their tiny kitchen. They finished each other's sentences and shared the daily crossword puzzle and word jumble. My grandma whispered to me about how cute my grandpa was, how handsome and old he had grown to be. She claimed that she really knew "how to pick 'em." Before every meal they bowed their heads and gave thanks, marveling at their blessings: a wonderful family, good fortune, and each other.
But there was a dark cloud in my grandparents' life: my grandmother had breast cancer. The disease had first appeared ten years earlier. As always, Grandpa was with her every step of the way. He comforted her in their yellow room, painted that way so that she could always be surrounded by sunshine, even when she was too sick to go outside.
Now the cancer was again attacking her body. With the help of a cane and my grandfather's steady hand, they went to church every morning. But my grandmother grew steadily weaker until, finally, she could not leave the house anymore. For a while, Grandpa would go to church alone, praying to God to watch over his wife. Then one day, what we all dreaded finally happened. Grandma was gone.
"Shmily." It was scrawled in yellow on the pink ribbons of my grandmother's funeral bouquet. As the crowd thinned and the last mourners turned to leave, my aunts, uncles, cousins and other family members came forward and gathered around Grandma one last time. Grandpa stepped up to my grandmother's casket and, taking a shaky breath, he began to sing to her. Through his tears and grief, the song came, a deep and throaty lullaby.
Shaking with my own sorrow, I will never forget that moment. For I knew that, although I couldn't begin to fathom the depth of their love, had been privileged to witness its unmatched beauty.
S-h-m-i-l-y: See How Much I Love You.
Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa, for letting me see.

By: Laura Jeanne Allen

...our GOD is an awesome GOD!!!

Author Unknown - But juz wana share it with u all, Bros!!....also to serve as a REMINDER for myself

I know you're tired. I know you feel overwhelmed. You may feel as though this crisis, this problem, this hard time will last forever.
It won't. You are almost through.
You don't just "think" it has been hard; it has been hard. You have been tested, tried, and retested on what you have learned.
Your beliefs and your faith have been tried in fire. You have believed, then doubted, then, worked at believing some more. You have had to have faith even when you could not see or imagine what you were asked to believe. Others around you may have tried to convince you not to believe in what you were hoping you could believe.
You have had opposition. You have not gotten to this place with total support and joy. You have had to work hard, in spite of what was happening around you. Sometimes, what motivated you was anger; sometimes fear.
Things went wrong....more problems occurred than you anticipated. There were obstacles, frustrations, and annoyances en route. You did not plan on this being the way it would evolve. Much of this has been a surprise; some of it has not been at all what you desired.
Yet, it has been good. part of you, the deepest part that knows truth, has sensed this all along, even when your head told you that things were out of whack and crazy, that there was no plan or purpose, that God had forgotten you.
So much has happened, and each incident....the most painful, the most troubling, the most surprising....has a connection. You are beginning to see and sense that.
You never dreamt things would happen this way, did you? But they did. Now you are learning the secret....they were meant to happen this way, and this way is good, better than what you expected.
You didn't believe it would take this long, either...did you? But it did. You have learned patience.
You never thought you could have it, but now you know you do.
You have been led. Many were the moments when you thought you were forgotten, when you were convinced you had been abandoned. Now you know you have been guided. Now things are coming into place. You are almost at the end of this phase, this difficult portion of the journey. The lesson is almost complete. You know....the lesson, you fought, resisted, and insisted you could not learn. Yes, that one. You have almost mastered it.
You have been changed from the inside out. You have been moved to a different level, a higher level, a better level.
You have been climbing a mountain. It has not been easy, but mountain climbing is never easy. Now, you are near the top. A moment longer, and the victory shall be yours.
Steady your shoulders. Breathe deeply. Move forward in confidence and peace. The time is coming to relish and enjoy all which you have fought for. That time is drawing near, finally.
I know you have thought before that the time was drawing near, only to learn that it wasn't. But now, the reward is coming. You know that too. You can feel it.
Your struggle has not been in vain. For every struggle on this journey, there is a climax, a resolution.
Peace, joy, abundant blessings, and reward are yours here on earth. Enjoy!
There will be more mountains, but now you know how to climb them. And you have learned the secret of what is at the top......abundant life! Freedom! Everything that your heart has desired. It will all come to pass.
Remember to keep climbing to the top, don't look back. You will make it because Jesus is leading the way and has a hold on you that will never release. He will make sure that you have success. You will make it. Don't give up! And remember, I love you, but Jesus loves you so much more than I ever could.

...to Mend a Broken Heart???

I was tryin to prepare a decent lunch for myself (cooked pasta) when the ketchup bottle just slipped away from my hand and knocked on my "fav japanese tea pot" (bought it when i was chambering) and broke it. ALAMAK!!!!!! WHY LIKE THAT 1?????? SIGH!!!!! Sad..bc it has always been my favourite and...very sad + upset, coz i have always used it in the past in many different occassions....I was proud of it,... But now,...all that has changed. No longer serves its purpose....Thought of "fixing it" at first, but what's the point????? Meaningless....meaningless.....it will never be the same again....coz there will always be a visible crack just like a deep wound on a broken heart. Guess, sometimes, broken things are best left to be discarded....so that a better and suitable replacement could be found. Should the Jap. T pot not been broken, i would not have the courage n chance to pick another "superior" pot.....to Mend a broken heart???..not this time...sorry coz the scar has reminded me of desertion, betrayal and blank promises!!!

D Art of Sharing Philip's Egg

Philip was born with Downs Syndrome. He was a pleasant child . . .happy it seemed . . . but increasingly aware of the difference between himself and other children. Philip went to Sunday school faithfully every week. He was in the third grade class with nine other eight-year olds.
You know eight-year olds. And Philip, with his differences, was not readily accepted. But his teacher was sensitive to Philip and he helped this group of eight-year olds to love each other as best they could, under the circumstances. They learned, they laughed, and they played together. And they really cared about one another, even though eight-year olds don't say they care about one another out loud.
But don't forget. There was an exception to all this. Philip was not really a part of the group. Philip did not choose, nor did he want to be different. He just was. And that was the way things were.
His teacher had a marvelous idea for his class the Sunday after Easter. You know those things that pantyhose come in . . . the containers that look like great big eggs? The teacher collected ten of them. The children loved it when he brought them into the room and gave one to each child.
It was a beautiful spring day, and the assignment was for each child to go outside, find the symbol for new life, put it into the egg, and bring it back to the classroom They would then open and share their new life symbols and surprises, one by one.
It was glorious. It was confusing. It was wild. They ran all around the church grounds, gathering their symbols, and returned to the classroom.
They put all the eggs on a table, and then the teacher began to open them. All the children gathered around the table. He opened one and there was a flower, and they ooh-ed and aah-ed. He opened another and there was a little butterfly.
"Beautiful!" the girls all said, since it is hard for eight-year old boys to say 'beautiful.' He opened another and there was a rock. And as third-graders will, some laughed, and some said, "That's crazy! How's a rock supposed to be like new life?" But the smart little boy who'd put it in there spoke up: "That's mine. And I knew all of you would get flowers and buds and leaves and butterflies and stuff like that. So I got a rock because I wanted to be different. And for me, that's new life." They all laughed.
The teacher said something about the wisdom of eight-year olds and opened the next one. There was nothing inside. The children, as eight-year olds will, said, "That's not fair. That's stupid! Somebody didn't do it right."
Then the teacher felt a tug on his shirt, and he looked down. "It's mine, Philip said. It's mine."
And the children said, "You don't ever do things right, Philip. There's nothing there!"
"I did so do it right!" Philip said. "I did do it right. The tomb is empty!"
There was silence, a very full silence. And for you people who don't believe in miracles, I want to tell you that one happened that day. From that time on, it was different. Philip suddenly became a part of that group of eight-year old children. They took him in. He was set free from the tomb of his differences.
Philip died last summer. His family had known since the time he was born that he wouldn't live out a full life span. Many other things were wrong with his little body. And so, late last July, with an infection that most normal children could have quickly shrugged off, Philip died.
At his memorial service, nine eight-year old children marched up to the altar, not with flowers to cover over the stark reality of death . . . but nine eight-year olds, along with their Sunday School teacher, marched right up to that altar, and laid on it an empty egg . . . an empty, old, discarded pantyhose egg.
And the tomb is empty!

~Author unknown~

1 Cor 15

Felt disappointed...exhausted...wanted to give up.....so I left early. Went to a place where another "cg" been held. Read about 1 Corinthians 15 and found this comforting verse lurked behind the heading of "The Resurrection Body" ~ Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. Verse 58

Almost been a year now since i got baptised during last Easter ..so many fond memories with profound impact on my life...yet, nothing has survived the "earthquake" that has brutally uprooted "the Tree" from my heart. Halleluyah!!! God SURVIVED the calamity and HE lives!!!

Broken Vow

Heard this song b4 but never really "like" it (hasn't been my fav) until recently.Well, i wasn't bothered to learn its lyric in the past BUT now i don't even have/need to read it for me to love or memorize the wording....permeates into my heart, naturally. Please DO NOT SPECULATE....Just close ur eyes and listen to Josh Groban.....narrating some1 else's story, I guess...a reflection of "partial" truth, expressed in a song.

BROKEN VOW

Tell me his name, I want to know
The way he looks and where you go
I need to see his face I need to understand
Why you and I came to an end

Tell me again, I want to hear
Who broke my faith in all these years
Who lays with you at night While I'm here all alone
Remembering when I was your own

I let you go, I let you fly
Why do I keep on asking why
I let you go now that I've found
A way to keep somehow
More than a broken vow

Tell me the words I never said
Show me the tears you never shed
Give me the touch The one you promised to be mine
Or has it vanished for all time

I let you go, I let you fly
Why do I keep on asking why
I let you go now that I've found
A way to keep somehow
More than a broken vow

I close my eyes and dream of you and I
And then I realize
There's more to love than only bitterness and lies
I close my eyes

I'd give away my soul
To hold you once again
And never let this promise end

I let you go, I let you fly
Now that I know, I'm asking why
I let you go now that I've found
A way to keep somehow
More than a broken vow

Music and lyrics: Walter Afanasieff and Lara Fabian

Life's .....a constant change

It has been nearly two months now since the "tree" been uprooted from my heart..and various reclamation attempts been made to avoid/prevent further erosion but i guess, not much of a success. ...."curled up like a snail with eyes of that of a turtle while laying eggs". From forgiving to hatred and acceptance to total perplexity...all are sooooo confusing,Yet I truly feel BETRAYAL in my sub-conscious mind! I fought a meaningless battle and defending a "plant" that i shouldn't have and ended up being hurtful (and hurting the ppl around me) and the biggest idiot myself.Dear "enemies", I know....my stupidity has caused me to become the laughing-stock of others. So, come on...laugh at my defeat!!..coz I have lost in a way.

I know things are inevitable sometimes BUT I just HATE the feeling of having to "start all over again" and being in a state of solitude. I HATE to run though i have kinda given that impression lately...running from one place to another...with the aim of deceiving myself that "im still ok".

I can relate to some of the lyrics in some songs that i purposely chose to listen to lately...and "CONSTANT CHANGE" by Jose Mari Chan is one of them. I fell in love with his songs many many years ago after my bro introduced those soothing songs to me.

"CONSTANT CHANGE"

We're on the road, We move from place to place, and oftentimes when i'm about to call it home, We'd have to move along, Life is a constant change....

The friends we know we meet along the way, too soon the times we share form part of yesterday, Cause life's a constant change And nothing stays the same, oh no.

Clouds that move across the skies are changing form before our very eyes.

Why couldn't we keep time from movin on? Hold on to all the years before this moment's gone? Why must we live the days at such a frightening pace?

Have we outgrown our Peter Pans and wings? We've simply grown too old for tales of knights and kings, 'cause life's a constant change and nothing stays the same, oh no.

We're all like clouds that move across the skies, and changing form before our very eyes.

(Words and Music: Jose Mari Chan)

Thank You, Lord coz u have not forsaken me......I need You...I truly need u JESUS!! This I recall to my mind, therefore I have HOPE -Lamentations 3:21

...EVeryDAY...

Every day I need you Lord But this day especially,

I need some extra strength To face what ever is to be.

This day more than any day I need to feel you near,

To fortify my courage And to overcome my fear.

By myself, I cannot meet The challenge of the hour,

There are times when humans help,

But we need a higher power To assist us bear what must be borne,

and so dear Lord, I pray -

Hold on to my trembling hand And be near me today.

God's MATE selection

Everyone longs to give himself or herself completely to someone, to have a deep and committed soul relationship with another, to be loved thoroughly and unconditionally.
But God says: No, not until you are satisfied, fulfilled and content with being loved by Me alone, with giving yourself totally, unreservedly to Me alone.
I love you, My child, and until you discover that only in Me is your satisfaction to be found, you will not be capable of the perfect human relationship that I have planned for you. You will never be united with another until you are united with Me; exclusively of anyone or anything else; exclusively of any other desires and belongings.
I want you to stop planning, stop wishing and allow Me to give you the most thrilling plan existing -- one that you can't imagine. I want you to have the very best. Please allow Me to bring it to you.
Just keep your eyes on Me, expecting the greatest things. Keep experiencing that satisfaction knowing that I AM. Keep learning and listening to the things I tell you. You must be patient.
Don't be anxious. Don't worry.Don't look around at the things others have. Don't look at the things you think you want. Just keep looking up to Me, or you will miss what I want to give you.
And then, when you are ready, I will surprise you with a love far more wonderful than you could ever dream. You see, until you are ready, and until the one I have for you is ready (I am working even this minute to have both of you ready at the same time), until you are both satisfied exclusively with Me and the life I have prepared for you, you won't be able to experience the love that exemplifies your relationship with Me .. and this is perfect love.

...ShaRing it "Anyway"

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered;Forgive them anyway.
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If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;Be kind anyway.
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If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;Succeed anyway.
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If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;Be honest and frank anyway.
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What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;Build anyway.
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If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;Be happy anyway.
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The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;Do good anyway.
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Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;Give the world the best you've got anyway.
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You see, in the final analysis, It is between you and God.It never was between you and them anyway.

D Art of Sharing ~ "SMILE" : )

A little girl walked daily to and from school. Though the weather that morning was questionable and clouds were forming, she made her daily trek to the elementary school.
As the afternoon progressed, the winds whipped up, along with thunder and lightning. The mother of the little girl felt concerned that her daughter would be frightened as she walked home from school, and she herself feared that the electrical storm might harm her child.
Following the roar of thunder, lightning, like a flaming sword, would cut through the sky. Full of concern, the mother quickly got into her car and drove along the route to her child's school.
As she did so, she saw her little girl walking along, but at each flash of lightning, the child would stop, look and smile. Another and another were to follow quickly, each with the little girl stopping, looking at the streak of light and smiling.
Finally, the mother called her over to the car and asked, "What are you doing?"
The child answered, "God just keeps taking pictures of me."
--"And a little child shall lead them...."
Lord, help me to trust You as much as this little one, especially when the storms of life crash around me.