Truth

The truth is the truth even if only you and God know…. When we confess our sins to others, but only the portion that has been revealed, enough to get us out of hot water and enough to make us look forthright, is that really the “truth”? The truth is the truth, even though we confess we have taken four cookies to those in the flesh, God and you know it was actually six. This isn’t about your truth this is about Gods truth.
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The truth is the truth even if only you and God know….
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There is a truth in all situations and the truth works sometimes for you and sometimes against your wishes. The truth is Gods wish. You have choices; whether it is to tell the truth, admit the truth or live by the truth, you have choices. No, I didn’t say the truth was easy, no I didn’t say the truth came out in every situation, and no I didn’t say that we could expect the truth from others. What I am saying is that there is always a truth; it may affect us good or bad. Sometimes you may be the only one who knows the truth but God always knows the truth, the whole truth, even when you don’t. God knows it was really six cookies.

You choose how you are going to live; you choose how you are going to confess, you choose how much of the truth you reveal. You choose what to teach your children, you choose how much you’re going to tell your spouse.
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Choose the truth, the whole truth…God “knows” the Truth!

Little something to put things in perspective...

After a forest fire   in Yellowstone National Park:

  

The forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage.

  

  

One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree.  

  

Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick. 

 

When he gently struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother's wings.

The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base  of the tree and had gathered them  under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise.

 She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies.  

Then the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body.

The mother had remained steadfast.

She had been willing to die, so those under the cover of her wings would live.

  

  

 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge." (Psalm 91

  

 
Being loved this much should make a difference in your life.

 
 Remember the One who

loves you, and then be different because of it.

Dream...

Here is a short summary of a dream I had the other night. What do you think it means???? 

There is a small seemingly one room wood sided house, with white paint mostly chipped off sitting on a lot not much bigger than the house. In front of the house there is a huge tree, with thousands of leaves in full blossom. There might be sparse grass under all the junk on the ground in front of the house. In the driveway there are several junk cars, probably not running. I approach from the west I believe there are three large men in colored business shirts standing on the edge of the driveway looking through some papers. I quickly realize they are looking through a used book of yellow carbon copy of temple recommends. I assume they picked up the book from the ground in front of them. I run into the house. I am in an old kitchen. The house is really clean. I turn and run back out and up the street. The men jump into a car and chase me. The house is on the bottom edge of a very large open gorge. I run across the bottom and up the road on the west side of the gorge. As the men chase me up this one lane dirt road, I am suddenly told to run off the road into the gorge. Without question I do. Not surprisingly I am standing in the air over the gorge. The men’s car crashes down the rocky side of the gorge. I noticed for a moment what seems like the first time. There are several cars down there. I realize I have done this several times. I turn and run back toward the house (across the air of the gorge.) I am told from somewhere “At all cost, protect the family secret” I agree back to where the direction comes from. I remember thinking it would have been easier to fly and not run.

Intentions...

Today let’s think about our intentions.  The word suggests to many of us the vast gap between what we intend to do and what we actually do.  We intendto be kind and tolerant, but some uncontrollable impulse changes our attitude into something we later find ourselves regretting.  We intend to accomplish so much, but unless we start out with a realistic estimate of what we are capable of doing, we fall far short of our expectations.  We intend to make a good life for ourselves and our families, but we seem constantly to be deflected from it by others.  Or we permit the actions of others to prevent us from fulfilling what we hoped to do.

My intentions are good.  When I do not fulfill them, I am disappointed; I may even be weighed down by a sense of guilt.  How can I avoid this?  I will try to clarify my intentions. Decide what I really mean to do, say and accomplish.  This will help me keep my life on a satisfactory, productive course.

“Let me first be sure what I intend and the reasons for my choices; this will guide my thoughts into constructive channels, and keep me from attempting the impractical or impossible”.

(Celebra Tueli)

Again, remember that when we set our expectations too high, we set ourselves up for disappointments.

Remove Your Burdens

Remove Your Burdens-Ro Paxman

You just can't begin to imagine how this cartoon hit home for me. I struggle to a large degree with headaches as you are all well aware by now. The depression that comes from being in pain both physically, mentally, and emotionally is overwhelming. If letting go...and...letting God is as simple as removing a heavy coat, why is it so hard for me to do?

I have started to write again, and as I develop the important points of where I came from and my perception of what my childhood was. I find myself overly cautious of the possible readership of my writing. What if so-n-so reads this. They will be hurt, mad, and likely in firm disagreement. Do I tell them it is fiction? Do I tell them this is how I remember life, and risk validating their feelings? 

Some of the heaviest burdens I feel is from my own wild and crazy rantings. Now that is something that I can work on. It is something I can let go...and...let God. My imagination is a crazy place full of wonderment and torment all at the same time. Go figure.

When Help Hinders

When Help Hinders

(Darla Isackson)

          What is Christ’s pattern for service?  He mercifully does for us only what we cannot do for ourselves, he never infringes on our agency, and allows us to suffer the consequences of our own choices.  In the Bible dictionary, a portion of the definition of “Grace” is to “receive strength and assistance to do good works that (individuals) otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means.  This grace is an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation, after they have expended their own best efforts.”

      If we follow Christ’s pattern, we will not step in and keep someone from expending their own best efforts.  We will not do for others what would strengthen them to do for themselves.  To do so sends a powerful crippling message that they aren’t good enough or strong enough to accomplish it on their own.

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     Are we in service to others when we “help” them do things they should do for themselves? Are we in service to others when we “help” them even for the right purpose with grudging feelings in our hearts? I for one find it very easy to become resentful towards others. Are we in service to others when we let others serve us? This questions points to Christ in so many different ways for me. Through my struggles with Co-dependency, I have an almost impossible time allowing others to help me with the simplest things little lone being in service to me. I always have to appear strong and in control. Any sign of weakness is totally disastrous. As you are well aware I have had a tremendous increase in the headaches I have in both frequency and intensity; which has forced me to accept the help and service of my family members. Accepting help from others especially my family is one of the most challenging things I’ve ever had to do. I find myself asking, is the God’s purpose for the increase in my headaches, to help me humble myself enough to accept the love and service of others?

The New Year

Here we are in a new year. Many people are making “New Year’s Resolutions” with the best intention of keeping them. Others aren’t making any resolutions, just because they are tired of failing one more time. I am to that point; I just can’t bear to fail one more time. Secretly, I have thoughts of losing 20 lbs, and getting healthy. What changes in my life would I have to make in order to make a resolution like getting healthy possible? I believe that most resolutions are set to broad, and that is why people seem to fail. Yes, it is absolutely essential to dream big and set high goals. More essential is setting the steps you intend to take to achieve the big resolutions… What steps am I willing to take to achieve big resolutions in my life?

For the past couple years, I’ve heard about “The Word of the Year” It is where you pick a word that you want to represent you in the coming year. I’ve heard words like; faith, intentional, purpose, love, present, and so on…. I’ve wanted to, I’ve tried, and put a lot of thought into it; I haven’t been able to come up with a word the past several years.

I’ve talked about vision boards before, so I won’t go into much detail about building a vision board again. The question I have is, will the use of a vision board and/or finding my “word” give me what I need to find the steps and the courage to take the steps necessary to achieve the big resolutions in life?