Expression?

Hinting. Beating around the bush. Assumptions.

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What happened to honesty. What happened to being authentic and real with people. Are we ever straight forward anymore? Does our word mean anything?

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If you love someone... tell them.

If your excited... be excited.

If you need to yell... just yell.

If you miss someone... let them know.

When you set a goal... do everything you can to achieve it.

If you have something special... hold onto it with love and appreciation.

Laugh, and enjoy life!

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Appreciate what you have. Don't forget that all this can be gone just as fast as it appeared. Why not share in your joy... and your pain? Not one of us is truly alone. Always remember that life is temporary. Every second that goes by is one less second we have to live life... to do something meaningful. We are not just beings.. God gave us a purpose. He will always provide. Don't let the stress of tomorrow stop you from living life today.

Better things to come!

There was a young woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live. So, as she was getting her things in order, she contacted her Pastor and had him come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at the service, what scriptures she would like read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in. Everything was in order and the Pastor was preparing to leave when the young woman suddenly remembered something very important to her.

'There's one more thing,' she said excitedly. 'What's that?' came the Pastor's reply. 'This is very important,' the young woman continued. 'I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand. 'The Pastor stood looking at the young woman, not knowing quite what to say. 'That surprises you, doesn't it?' the young woman asked. 'Well, to be honest, I'm puzzled by the request,' said the Pastor. The young woman explained. 'My grandmother once told me this story, and from that time on I have always tried to pass along its message to those I love and those who are in need of encouragement. In all my years of attending socials and dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, 'Keep your fork.' It was my favorite part because I knew that something better was coming...like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie. Something wonderful, and with substance!

So, I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder 'What's with the fork?' Then I want you to tell them: 'Keep your fork, the best is yet to come.

'The Pastor's eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the young woman good-bye. He knew this would be one of the last times he would see her before her death. But he also knew that the young woman had a better grasp of heaven than he did. She had a better grasp of what heaven would be like than many people twice her age, with twice as much experience and knowledge. She KNEW that something better was coming. At the funeral people were walking by the young woman's casket and they saw the cloak she was wearing and the fork placed in her right hand. Over and over, the Pastor heard the question, 'What's with the fork?' And over and over he smiled. During his message, the Pastor told the people of the conversation he had with the young woman shortly before she died. He also told them about the fork and about what it symbolized to her. He told the people how he could not stop thinking about the fork and told them that they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it either. He was right.

So the next time you reach down for your fork let it remind you, ever so gently, that the best is yet to come. Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us. Show your friends how much you care. Remember to always be there for them, even when you need them more. For you never know when it may be their time to 'Keep your fork.'

Cherish the time you have, and the memories you share... Being friends with someone is not an opportunity but a sweet responsibility.

Perspective

Wow. Life can be kinda funny. Oh man the tables can turn quickly. This happens way too often and is starting to make me wonder why I trusting my own judgment in the first place. It is becoming redundant. I always end up falling back on God... because there's like nothing that compares, nothing as stable, nothing as consistent. I can't do it myself. Call me weak , call me unsound... well yeah, alone that’s exactly what I am. I'd even go as far as using words like inadequate and incapable.

So why not eliminate the middle step? Why go through the trials alone? Would be so much easier to take refuge in God in all things, to praise Him through the good... and the bad...? The worse part is that I know to do this, but I don't always and God has been showing me so much this week that I need Him.

Psalm 139
1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

In God I can find reason to smile, I find patience, I am forgiven, and I am loved.
I won't turn my back on this love for worldly desires for I have been blessed with logic and perspective.

This may be a tad elusive...

I can see the obstacles in front of me, but I can't feel their pressure.
You make the pressure bareable.
Giving in is not an option.
I want to dive in. Deeper then before.
The little things... they are taking me over.
They make me smile.
I notice.
You are sunshine.
I trip over my own feet.
Show me your ways.
I want to demonstrate pure authenticity.
I'm not good at sugar coating.
I like control but I enjoy watching what happens when I let go.
I want more then this in every way. Is that selfish?
I hunger to know you more.
What's next?

Love and Suffering

This is an excerpt I came across in the book I’m reading, A Case for Faith by Lee Strobel.

“Would you agree that the difference between us and God is greater then the difference between us and say, a bear?

Okay then imagine a bear in a trap and a hunter who, out of sympathy, wants to liberate him. He tries to win the bear's confidence, but he can't do it, so he has to shoot the bear fill of drugs. The bear, however, thinks this is an attack and that the hunter is trying to kill him. He doesn't realize that this is being done out of compassion.

Then in order to get the bear out of the trap, the hunter has to push him further into the trap to release the tension on the spring. If the bear was semiconscious at that point, he would be even more convinced that the hunter was his enemy who was out to cause him suffering and pain. But the bear would be wrong. He reaches this incorrect conclusion because he's not a human being.

Now, how can anyone be certain that's not an analogy between us and God? I believe God does the same to us sometimes, and we can't comprehend why He does it any more then the bear can understand the motivations of the hunter. As the bear could have trusted the hunter, so can we trust God.”
-Peter Kreeft

I think this is one of my favorite parts of the book. It deals with the issues we all struggle with.... suffering, pain, injustices and the tough question... does the presence of suffering necessarily mean the absence of God? Why does a loving God allow us to suffer?

This is what I have learnt …

Suffering is a result of sin. I've seen suffering firsthand in very real ways. Children born into a third world country dealing with extreme poverty... not by choice or related to anything they’ve done... not to mention everyday realities such as disease, natural disasters, car accidents, broken families, addictions and the list trails on. Is God really standing by and letting this happen?

We are human therefore we have the ability to sin. So why do we have choice? Why did God give us choice which therefore giving us the ability to harm each other? If He loves us, how can He stand by and watch bad things happen to good people?

God made us this way because He loves us. He chose not to make us puppets that followed along blindly. He wants a relationship with us. Love is paramount here. True love can never be forced or demanded. You have to choose to love and it can never fully come from someone who wasn’t able to choose otherwise. Only when you make the decision from your will or desire can it truly be said to be complete and true love. This is why we have choice; why God gave us the ability to choose for ourselves. Sometimes we do good, and sometime we do evil.

With that said, I believe God to be a deity who loves. I know that life is difficult, testing, demanding, and rigorous… and sometimes we can’t explain why a loving God would allow certain injustices to happen. I have complete faith that He loves us and has our best interest in mind. I know that we cannot see the big picture, but He can.

Faith is active; it demands a response.
My thoughts are a meaningful confusion.