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God uses things in this world to remind us that He is with us and knows exactly where we are, emotionally, physically and mentally 🙂

A rainbow, a song on the radio, a hug from an old friend, the smile from a new friend. A person who carries more burdens than we do, but reaches out to help us carry our own.

God is with us. He finds a way to remind us every day, because He loves us! We just have to remember to look for them 🙂

A friend sent this and I found it truly helpful. We’ve all lost someone who we really love. Sometimes to death, sometimes they just take another path. One that leads out of our life. But God can and will help us!

Dealing With Grief

“Grieving the death of a loved one is an individual process. Some initially feel numb and disoriented. Others feel anxious and have trouble sleeping. Sudden outbursts of tears are common in grief, triggered by memories or reminders of a loved one. Even those who are confident that their loved one IS with the Lord struggle with sadness over their loss. Dealing with grief IS essential in order to come to terms and move on with your life. To do that, you need to be honest in your grieving and ask God the tough questions that help. As always, prayer and God’s Word ARE Good Resources. An example of the prophet’s anguish and hope can be discovered in Lamentations 3. The circumstances of a loved one’s death can affect your grief. Because of a long period of time spent if anticipating death, this kind of bereavement differs from the intense grief over someone who dies following a brief illness, surgery or accident. Over time, this intensity of your grief will likely subside, but do NOT try to rush the grieving process – do NOT expect your feeling and emotions to be like anyone else’s. God, your Father, made you unique, and your grieving process will be a personal journey.

But keep in mind that the weight of grief IS lighter when shared. Support from others can help you to handle the aftermath of your loss. God also offers His Comfort in these times. Jesus said, “I will not leave you comfortless: I WILL come to you.” Truly, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit IS Good like that!

If grief threatens to overwhelm you, try saying with the psalmist, “My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to Your Word”. Cling to God’s Promises as you work through your grief. “He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases Strength.” Take the emotional energy you would have spent on the loved one who died and reinvest it in God’s Will and Purpose for you while on earth.

If your loved one and you have sought our Lord and know Him, not only will you see that person again in the Eternal Spiritual life to come, but that person who has gone Home IS in an immeasurably better place – in the Lord’s Presence, with no more pain or fear or sorrow. This IS True for ALL who die in the Lord!! “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. Then He who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make ALL things new”. Therefore, we mourn for ourselves, not for our Christian loved ones. They are where we yearn to be.

A friend sent me this story, it brought tears to my eyes and I just had to share 🙂

“Once there was a farmer, who like all the farmers around her, raised their own food to sustain them. She milked cows for their milk to drink, also raised steers for meat and chickens for eggs and meat too. One of her favorite hens, that she raised for chicks, was the one whom was most protective. When she had her chicks out with her, anything that was a threat – she would immediately create such a noise, ruffling her feathers and run towards the suspected intruder – most would run the other direction! Other times, when she thought that her chicks were getting a little too far away from her and a possible threat around, she would create a very specific sound, that her chicks would come running back to her and hide under her body. To say the least, it was quite a spectacle to witness either event!

One day, when the mother hen was out with her chicks, scratching around in the field getting bugs and worms to eat for them, a storm came up very quickly. The farmer was in the barn milking her cows, heard a huge clap of thunder and knew that lightning must have hit very close. She ran out of the barn and seen that the lightning had hit a tree in the field, caught it on fire and the grass around it. She quickly filled a bucket full of water and grabbed an old feed sack, soaked it in the water and ran out to the field to put out the fire. While she was running, she prayed to God to help her put out the fire! The fire moved very quickly across the field, but she kept fighting it – slapping the line of flames with her sack. It was a miracle she was able to keep the fire from spreading farther and eventually put it out.

As she walked around through the burnt field, to make certain all the fire was out, she seen the charred remains of her favorite hen. Her eyes were immediately filled with tears, for she thought that her chicks had also fallen victim to the flames. But as she got closer, she could hear little peeps, that seem to coming from under her. As she carefully removed her carcass, her eyes widen with amazement, for the bulk of the mother’s body had covered them from the searing flames. Though the heat was enough to consume her, it allowed her babies to find safety underneath. Even when the pain reached its most unbearable moment, she made herself stay through the raging flames. She gave the ultimate sacrifice to save her young. The farmer thanked God for helping her put out the fire and saving the chicks!

This illustrates an even Greater Story – this One almost incomprehensible. It IS the Story of the Creator of heaven and earth, your Heavenly Father, who does exactly the same thing to rescue His wayward children from their own destruction. He sent His Only Son, Jesus Christ, whom also gave the Ultimate Sacrifice for His Children on the cross. Even when the pain reached its most unbearable moment, He made Himself stay, so you would not have to suffer through the raging flames of hell.

My thoughts and prayers are that you surrender and ask Him to help you learn how to Trust Him for EVERYTHING in your life! Stop and search for His Awesome Outstretched Arms! When you find them – let go, let Him give you the safety of eternity with Him! Truly, there IS no safer place! In Jesus’ Name. Thy Will be done. Amen. Peace.”

“Thus says the Lord, “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches. But let him that glories in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, which excercises loving kindness, judgement, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight”, says the Lord.” – Jeremiah 9:23

Need more be said? 🙂

I heard this really sad story the other day about the effects of the inflation on people.  A Dad was at the store trying to decide whether he should buy something for his family.  His only motivation was to provide something nice for his family, who he loved so much!  But he couldn’t decide.  Should he buy it or should he save the money in case inflation kept rising?  He couldn’t decide and sadly returned home-with nothing.

Did he make the right decision?  It’s hard to say.  Inflation this month was about 11 percent.  But that 11 percent includes a lot of things that we don’t need, so it might actually be higher. Considering inflation, perhaps the Dad was right to save his money.

There will be a lot of decisions in the coming years that we will find really difficult, but choosing to Accept Christ has No Downside and provides us with the only real Safe Space that exists.  There is not a list of pros and cons for us to consider, because there are only pros 😊.

When one truly accepts Christ, it’s like a “free pass” to Heaven.  And we know how wonderful that is!  But it’s more than that.  It’s gaining a best friend who will never let us down, and who will always love us no matter what!  And who will always be there for us, on the good days and bad!  A friend who is there to listen 24/7 and who will never give us bad or selfish advice.  A friend who will always forgive us, always help us, and always walk through our days and nights with us.

What could be better than that?

“And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. ³⁰ I and My Father are one.” -John 10:28-30

America stands at a Cross Roads, but we don’t have too.  We can choose Jesus and start on the road Home to Heaven.  And no one, and no government can stop us, because Jesus will be with us every step of the way 😊

“¹¹ And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:

¹² And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

¹³ And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?” – 1 Kings: 19: 11-13

We can all, each one of us, hear God’s voice; we just have to listen for it – and obey Him. 😉

About 15 years ago, we were all praying for Russia. A school was violently attacked by terrorists in Beslan, Russia. Over 300 people were killed, most of them children! As Britannica says, “the Russian people were traumitized and the world was horrified!” and “hundreds of wounded” would bear the emotional scars for the rest of their lives.

Our hearts and prayers went out for all of the children and families involved!

Fast forward to today and the same Russian families that suffered so, live in a country that is attacking the families of Ukraine with even more violence. Children have been killed and injured!

But there is a difference, with the Russia’s media under complete state control, some of them truly do not know that Russia is violently and indiscriminitely attacking the families of Ukraine! Sadly, America’s media is growing closer to becoming like Russia’s media. Government controlled. Pray for our nation as well!

And Please pray for the people in Russia. All a Russian mother and father may know is that their son is dead. They may not now know how or why. Pray that God will lift the veil that covers their eyes so that they may see the truth. And pray that God Comforts them in their loss and has Mercy on them, for God loves them too!

We should forgive otheres because Christ forgave us. And we should forgive others because Our Father wants us too. And we should forgive others because it helps us 🙂

“and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” – Matthew 6:12

But our Lord in His wisdom also wants us to forgive others because it is the only way our hurt will begin to heal so that one day we can let go of our pain completely. For the longer we hold on to the hurt and anger, no matter how justified, the longer we hurt.

Some people think that forgiving someone means an immedicate sessation of pain and/or anger. But forgiveness is not a feeling, it’s a choice.

And once we make that choice, a next step to take in healing our own pain, is to pray for that person. The more we pray for them; the more that we will find that the heaviness that lays on our heart will lift and the easier it will become to forgive.

And as our forgiveness grows, so will God’s Grace. And our pain will fade until one day it is gone 🙂

“To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts”-Hebrews 3:15

So often we think of this verse, and we forget it applies to us! In order not to “harden our hearts”, we must be willing to feel not only the happy feelings that life brings, but the sad and hurtful ones too.

The joy of holding your baby; the sadness of watching the children who are suffering so horrifically in Ukraine. The warmth of a hug, the heart wrenching that comes when we see an elderly person suffer.

We are commanded to love God with all of our heart and soul, and our neighbor as ourselves-all of them. And that means we have to be willing to feel the good and the bad, because that is something that love commands.

So if we are to love God, we must not “harden not our heart”. We must be willing to be persistant in our prayer lives, but we must also be willing to accept when God says “no”, or “not yet”. And when we love others, we must be willing to accept the good and the bad-and love them anyway 🙂

I often think of Mary with awe! Although we often talk of Jesus’ sacrifice, we don’t talk of Mary’s nearly enough.

As a Mom, I can’t even imagine the horror and pain she endured watching her Son dying on that Cross.  A million thoughts must have raced through her mind and heart.  That she didn’t simply collapse is a testament to her courage and faith, her love for Jesus, as well as our Father’s strentgth and the Holy Spirit’s Comfort.  It’s was a miracle in and of itself!

Personally, I know I would have collapsed.  Just as I know I would have begged our Father not to allow my Son to die, especially in such a horrific way.  But that was not Jesus’ Will.  He came to save us from our sin, no matter the cost.  Instead, Mary gave Jesus what He needed most, Her love and strength, and Her faith in our Father’s Will.  Mary trusted our Father.  She knew God’s ways were, and are, “higher than our ways”. And I am sure she prayed for Him! For Mary knew just how important prayer was and is!

Mary gave God Her all and trusted God with the outcome…

As a Mom, the sheer horror of watching my Son crucified would have broken me, but it didn’t break Mary.  Because Her love for Jesus and our Father was that pure and that strong.  And that love helped Her to overcome all.  And for that alone, I will always be grateful to Mary.  Just as I will always hope to be more like her!

Too often, modern day churches seem to argue about Mary’s role in the “church”.  But the truth is – there really is no need for we are all the “church” 

Mary was Jesus’ Mother and one of the best role models we will ever have.  By Her sacrifice alone, she has not only proven Her love for our Father, His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, but for each of us as well. 

And Jesus loves Mary so very much too, as only a Son can love His Mother.

As for the confusion of “praying to Our Blessed Mother Mary”.  It is not that we are “praying to Mary”, but rather we are asking Mary to pray for us!  And why would we not?

Mary is in Heaven with God and I talk with her every day!  Sometimes simply to thank Her for all she sacrificed for us.  And sometimes to ask her to pray for me or others.  And I know she does, because She loves each of us. 

Mary has enriched my faith and brought me great joy and peace!  She can do the same for you. Happy Mother’s Day Mary, and thank you!😊