A NOT SO PEACEFUL DAY

 

 

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So what do we do when that comes to our day and life?

Maybe I will be hearing replies like.... 'not much' - 'I don't know' - 'who cares' - 'so what' - or other soul-wrenching remark such as 'life is mean and cruel'.

Some of us will simply grit their teeth - shrug their shoulders - or feign strength and courage as they carry their burdens and woes inside their backpacks while traveling down life's weary road.

Others will pray.

Allow me some thoughts.....

Whoever you are or may be... no matter your brilliance, wealth, beauty, power, or influence.... no matter your race,color, or creed

I believe that Someone still stands over you.... watching, guiding, protecting, and making sure that everything comes out right with you and your world.

But......

All according to His design, reasons, and plans for you. Do not try to read His thoughts or reasons or plans because these are way beyond your own understanding. Way beyond human understanding.

We, as mere puny individuals or people, are reminded every now and then in a diversity of ways He can devise (painful or not) of one simple task He asks in return ---- to have faith. He would be mighty pleased even with just one tiny-mustard-seed-size of faith!

That is all that would take to open the gates of heaven and release bountiful blessings as He promised. That kind of faith which keeps its eyes firmly set on Him... no matter what the world does to shake it up. No matter what the world does to make you think and feel that there is no Divine Presence in this ugly world, ugly people, and ugly life

And we struggle with that.. simple as it may seem. Why? Because we are a culture of 'instant coffee' ---- we want everything pronto! Solutions must come with a snap of our fingers and it must solve our problems ... instantly!! .We don't want to wait because waiting would mean suffering some more. .We don't want to suffer. I know this to be true. Life has shown me much of suffering.

Our greatest enemy is ourselves.

Yet, He does not give up on us so easily. Pheww! .. thank God for that!

Instead..... He says (and I am quoting this from my favorite book)
 
 "How I love you! How I lavish my love upon you in great generous helpings! The love of God is boundless, unequaled, in all the universe. None can slip from my grasp, none can go beyond my love, for there are no limits, no conditions to the tremendous love of God. Rest easy in this love. Curl up and rest easy each and every moment of your life. I am with you, I am beside you, I am with you. I am the great 'I AM'. Never do you walk alone, never do you work alone, never do you breathe a breath without Me, without my watchful love surrounding you, cushioning you from all of life's blows."
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(Quote lifted from the book "Good Morning... God", by Pamela Steinke)

TREMENDOUS LOVE. Where else can you find that?

And because of His magnificent love we continue to have hope... keep on building new dreams... persevere with our faith... renew our strengths and courage... and believe again and again.

I hope this helps you with your not so peaceful day or days (when it comes). As it has helped me in mine. God bless you.

(Thanking the internet for these lovely images.)

A PEACEFUL DAY

 

 

 

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Days come to us in a bucket of wide diversity. They can be nice... pleasant... exciting... happy... boring.... dreary... monotonous... agitated... lonely... confusing... scary... mind-boggling... funny... interesting... bland... peaceful. calm... serene... high-energy... slow... hopeless... promising... creative... challenging... overwhelming... embarrassing... threatening... suspicious... and plenty more heaped on our plate. We respond to it in ways we each have been programmed for since birth by experience, habits, genes, and preferences. All that combined even makes for quite an interesting day.
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I like best a calm, serene, peaceful day. Everybody does, I guess.. It's unchanging. It's there just waiting to be called forth. Rising from the heart. Always from the heart.
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Peace.... then and now. What a lovely blessing!
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(Thanks to the internet for these lovely images.).

A PERFECT FAMILY

 

 

 

At the usual coffee bar I go to, I sat about two tables away from a group of young girls and boys who were spilling out their frustrations over the flaws seen in their families, respectively. It all seemed so huge hearing them talk about it. They all pined for perfection and yet according to the standards they each had set for themselves. That already by itself seemed shortsighted to my mind. I could be wrong but

That made me think.....

Really, if on some days they get on your nerves or if they seem to impede your progress in whatever you have set out for yourself or when they seem to be oblivious to who you are and what you do..... think again.

If you wished that you had your friend's family as they seem to be so adorable and perfect.... think again.

If you feel that your wings are being clipped unreasonably (that's what you're thinking anyway).... think again.

If you feel that God isn't fair because He gave you such a not-so-cool family..... think again.

And THINK you should.

Wanting a perfect family? Don't sweat it at all because you can't and because you won't have one. You can't choose them as they can't choose you either. God had other things in mind when He gave you to each other. So if you're seeing flaws in them and you feel that you could be better off without them.... think again.

As a mother (as all mothers would agree), I die a thousand deaths to my own dreams, goals, preferences, and plans...... everyday. I can't be myself sometimes but I am me where it matters most to be me ----. a mother and friend. Aside from being the maid and yaya..... driver (to school and back)..... cook (well, pancakes at least)..... laundrywoman (hankies and socks matter too, right?)..... seamstress (broken zipper and missing buttons)..... and other dozen-and-one things they can think of for you to do for them. Not discounting too those times of feeding bottles, diapers, and thermometers of long ago years.

But that's okay because that's what mothers do. So much the same way that fathers have their own tasks rolled out for them, too. So do children... they too have their own respective roles to play as members of the family. That is by Divine Design.

God had something else in mind when He gave you your family and It may not fit your own set of standards and expectations of what a family should be. But whoever told you that HE has to consult you for everything HE does, particularly in your life!?

You don't get to choose your family, really. Somebody up there does that for you. HE is better at it than we could ever be by ourselves. Like many things in life ---- it may not be what you want but maybe it is what you need!

Further, allow me to quote these lines from the prayer of ST. FRANCIS...

LORD, make me an instrument of your PEACE.
Where there is hatred, let me sow LOVE;
where there is injury, PARDON;
where there is doubt, FAITH;
where there is despair, HOPE;
where there is darkness, LIGHT;
and where there is sadness, JOY.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as TO CONSOLE;
to be understood as TO UNDERSTAND;
to be loved as TO LOVE.
For it is in GIVING that we receive;
it is in PARDONING that we are pardoned;
and it is in DYING that we are born to eternal life. Amen
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Unquote

And THAT is what we do to each other in our families inside the home. Humans are not perfect but FAMILY LOVE IS!

May God bless you and your family. 

(Thanks to the internet for these lovely images.) 

WHERE IS NUMBER 3?

  

 

 

 

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Mr. Quote Man sent me this story and I promised him that I would share it with everybody here. It's a good one and I think that you'll like it, too. It had no title to it, so I'm going to call it ...... 'Number 3'.
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NUMBER 3

It all started one lazy Sunday afternoon in a small town near Toronto in Canada.

Two school-going friends had a crazy idea. They rounded up three goats from the neighborhood and painted the numbers 1, 2 and 4 on their sides. That night they let the goats loose inside their school building.

The next morning, when the authorities entered the school, they could smell something was wrong. They soon saw goat droppings on the stairs and near the entrance and realized that some goats had entered the building.

A search was immediately launched and very soon, the three goats were found. But the authorities were worried..... WHERE WAS NUMBER 3??? 
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They spent the rest of the day looking for goat No.3. The school declared classes off for the students for the rest of the day. The teachers, helpers, guards, canteen staffs, boys were all busy looking for the goat No. 3, which, of course, was never found.

Simply because ………… IT DID NOT EXIST!

Those among us who, in spite of having a good life, are always feeling a -- “lack of fulfillment” -- are actually looking for the elusive, missing, non-existent goat No.3. Whatever the area of complaint or dissatisfaction -- relationship, job-satisfaction, finance, achievements .....

  AN ABSENCE OF SOMETHING IS ALWAYS LARGER THAN THE PRESENCE OF MANY OTHER THINGS.

Let’s Stop worrying about goat No.3. Let's enjoy life instead !!!

 ---------------------- End of Story ----------------------

Thanks, Mr. Quote Man. And thanks to the internet for these wonderful images.
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May God bless you all! Enjoy your day.

THIS LIFE --- WE DON'T RUN IT, WE JUST LIVE IT. BE BRAVE

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This is Celia's story but it could be anybody else's.
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She's your ordinary person... perhaps your next door neighbor.. or office mate.. or passenger sitting across you in the jeep.. or the person behind you queuing at the cashier's counter.. or one walking beside you, behind you, up ahead on the busy sidewalk or street .. people coming and going.
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She and life have never agreed on anything. She has her dreams but life sends her different things which take her off the desired path and keeps her busy with stuff that every ordinary mundane person does on this planet tending to needs which, as we all know, dictate priorities.
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Live, love, work, smile, cry, hate, fear.... or be disappointed, embarrassed, feel sad and lonely, know what it's like to have hopes shattered to the ground, know about rejection and betrayal, know about the helplessness of watching life move along without any help from yourself. And sometimes she even wonders if it ever knows that she wants certain things changed....and pronto!
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"Oh well, some people have control over their lives and some don't. But life definitely is a hard taskmaster." she would rationalize to herself. But a kindly old priest and good friend of her father, who visited her family one lovely summer's day before her father passed, corrected her with this....
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"This life.... we don't run it. We just live it. What you see before you is all that you should do or be doing at that moment it is asked of you. It may not be what you want but definitely it is what you need. Set your eyes on the present. Live it though without losing sight of your dreams and goals. It will come in its own allotted time. Understand that you are put there for a reason. Maybe for yourself... maybe for others... maybe for the world or even mother nature... but definitely it is a part of the whole tapestry put together by divine intent. You must do your part. Nobody can or will do it for you. Everybody has his own allotted task. Be you in the present. Bravely."
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Celia's story doesn't end there. The last time I spoke with her, she was beaming with quiet confidence and joy while still tending to the business of life and living. I asked her for its reason. She replied..... "I am me."
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I think I understand now.

TRUTH, LIKE ROSES, HAVE THORNS ABOUT THEM

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Remember my dear friend from India.. Mr. Quote Man? Not his real name, of course. He is a longtime friend since my early days in the blog at Indiatimes. That's about a decade ago. We haven't skipped a chance to connect every time we're online, in both highs and in lows, in all those great years of friendship. A treasure, indeed.
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Well, in the past two years or so he somehow made it his mission to pass on to me his favorite quotes the goal of which is to make me write, particularly when I'm down to a 'writer's block'. He knows how it is because he struggles with it, too, being a writer himself.
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Making the selected quote the subject of the day we then bombard each other via email (back-and-forth) with insights, perceptions, interpretations enough to fill a book. A thick one, I should say.
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It's always such fun and a wonderful learning moment every time because he is such a rare specie of open-mindedness, is broadminded to a fault, unbelievably selfless, and is the least concerned with the usual I-Me-My-Mine of life and living. (Hmmm... I remember someone say this before .. "At this age you don't bother about that anymore.")
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Can you believe that!? Yeah, sometimes it does make me think maybe this guy might be from some strange planet in the galactic realm out there.... an alien! A nice alien... so much like some nice earthlings that have crossed my path, too.
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Well, this was another quote he sent to my email.........
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"Truths, like roses, have thorns about them."   -   (Henry Blinn)
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That's right, isn't it?
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Truths are not always welcome and why we shrink or shirk from it with elaborately cooked up excuses.  Motivated by so much an aversion or diversion from what could be apparent challenges to one's preconceived notion or notions.  But all for naught because truth will seek you out. Always. Sooner or later. Know that to be true?

 (I found this lovely quote/poster online and loved it.  Again true, right?)