I AM HERE TO ENCOURAGE YOU

To anyone reading this - (you know you are probably the only one) - I am here to encourage you.

Life sucks and then you die - right? Wrong. Life doesn't have to suck. Life can be full of promise if you let it.

Jesus came that you might have LIFE and that you might have it more ABUNDANTLY. So why aren't you living the Abundant life?

What is it we do wrong?

Well, first of all, we don't acknowledge God in everything we do. We should be living our life with Jesus as our closest friend. Everything we do each day should include Jesus. He is closer than a brother or sister. He is the best friend you could ever have.

Does that mean you wouldn't have problems in your life? No, absolutely not. Jesus said we will have trouble and persecutions - BUT - He also promises that he will never leave us or forsake us.

No matter what we are going through, Jesus is there with us. He will give us the strength to face whatever comes our way.

So why doesn't he just remove our problems?
That is a good question.
If we never experienced sadness, we could never enjoy happiness. If we never experienced sickness, we would never appreciate being well. So many of our experiences help us to realize the good things in life that we take for granted.

God will use times of testing or problems to help to mold us and make us into the people he wants us to be. We experience loneliness so we can reach out to others who are lonely. We experience need so we can reach out and help others in need.

That's not good enough - you might say.

Well, how about if I told you that the God of Creation wants a personal relationship with you. It is true.

God, The Big Man, The Man upstairs, Whatever you want to call him - wants, longs and desires to have a personal relationship with his creation. He came as a man in the form of Jesus to show us that it is possible to know him.

When Jesus left the earth he sent "The Comforter" The Holy Spirit to live in our lives and be a constant companion. The Holy Spirit is there to lead us into all truth and to lead our lives every day.

So again I ask, Why aren't we living the abundant life?

Do you talk to God on a moment by moment basis? Do you ask his opinion on things you do each day? Do you acknowledge his presence in your life moment by moment? Do you KNOW him or do you just know things about him?

I'm not talking about going to God in prayer. That is something we all should do for sure. I am talking about a walking talking living personal relationship. He is the invisible friend that is with you every moment of every day. He longs to have you talk to him and be with him. He longs to talk to you and tell you how much he loves you.

The problem is that most of us NEVER REALLY LISTEN. That is right. We just don't listen. We figure we have his words written in the Bible and that is all there is. But there is so much more.

Jesus will actually talk to you. Really. He talks to me when I am willing to listen and he can talk to you. God is always, always always talking but very few of us are ever listening. He talks through circumstances, people, sickness, joy, nature, etc. but he also talks to us in that wee small voice.

Sit quietly for a few minutes. No t.v. no radio, nothing but pure silence. Listen. Ask him to speak to you and he will. Open your mind to what God wants to say to you. If you find yourself arguing with the thoughts that are going through your mind, it might be because God is that other voice talking to you. Would you argue with yourself?

Are you afraid it might be the enemy talking to you? Then ask Jesus to cover you mind and your thoughts with the Blood of Jesus. Ask God to only allow you to hear the thoughts that He wants you to hear. He is a great daddy and will hear and answer.

Give it a shot. What have you got to lose? Are you afraid of what God might say to you? If so, then there are probably things in your life that you know you shouldn't be doing. Confess them and ask forgiveness and he is faithful and just to forgive you. He wants to communicate with his creation. You were made in His image and he knows every little things about you. There is nothing you can hide from God.

You will be amazed at the things he says to you. It is not what you expect at all. Even when he corrects you about something it is done with such love and caring that you don't mind being corrected. It is not a hard thing to talk to the God of creation. He longs to impart his wisdom to us. He longs to tell you of his great love for you. He longs to have you go to him like a child and just hold you and love you.

Just acknowledge him throughout your day and see how your life becomes more abundant. See how your problems don't seem half as bad when you share them with Jesus. You can even ask him to remind you to think of him or talk to him and he will do it.

Well that is about all I have to say for today.
Let me know how it goes and if you have any questions please feel free to ask.

I Surrender all

Hello Hello Hello

Hello to anyone reading this. It has been quite a while since I wrote on here. I have been busy with facebook but now I am feeling it is time to write again.

I have been going through alot of changes since my husband died. It seems I am reinventing myself or refinding myself. Before I was a wife and mother and suddenly I am a single person again. It is like my old life died and now there lies a whole new world ahead of me. So what do I do?

Do I keep going on like I have been - doing nothing and being depressed? Or do I push forward and creater the life I want or the Life that God wants for me?

Well I decided to start living the life that God wants me to live. In doing that I am finding the enemy is not too happy. Since my decision, it is like he is attacking me at every turn. But he will not win as God is on my side.

I've had to make a few decisions about my life but my problem is that I am too impatient. I want things done and I want them done NOW. God is trying to teach me patience but I seem to fight him every step of the way.

I have decided to sell my house and move back to the city. There I am planning to have a total makeover. I need everything in my life changed from the way I dress, makeup (which I never wear now), to how I live each day. I want to lose weight, quit smoking, get into an exercise program, etc. and stay open to what God wants me to do.

Anyone with advice or help, please let me know.

I have given my notice at work and applied for a few apartments. Please pray for me that I will get the exact apartment that God wants me to get and that somehow I will be able to help others there.

So for now, that brings you up to date on what I have been doing. Hopefully I will continue to blog more often again.

Love to all who read me. Take care and God Bless.

WHO ARE THEY?

Something has been bothering me lately and I have a bone to pick with "they".
You know who "they" are.
They are the ones we always hear about but never know who "they" are?
You know like in "they say it is going to rain" or "they say blah blah blah"
Who the heck are THEY? I really want to know.

Anyway, "THEY" say that when you get old, you go through your second childhood.

Well, I would like to say emphatically that "THEY" are totally and undeniably mistaken. Wrong, very wrong.
I am older and I know many people even older than myself and I can tell you that there is NO WAY they go through a second childhood.
Who are these dummies?
Have they never watched any children themselves to see?
It is as plain as the nose on your face that there is NO WAY - NO HOW that an older person goes through a second childhood.
We only WISH we could.

Now, if I am wrong and THEY are right, then pray tell, what part of childhood do we go into?
The first few months? The Toddler stage? Preschool/kindergarten? Grades 1 - 6?
I believe the teen years come next, and we don't go into second teen years do we?
So what age group do these people in their second childhood fit?

Now I have a great grandson who is just 6 weeks old.
I watch him lay there. All he does is eat, sleep, and dirty diapers. He lays on his back with his legs and arms flapping all over the place and he stares at everything.
Is that what old people in their second childhood do?
Really now, I don't know anyone anywhere that has ever done that beside babies so I guess that isn't the age group. (Sure would be funny if that is how we all ended up!)

Now I have two grandsons that will shortly be two years old.
I would imagine their behaviour will extend till at least grade six, just getting stronger and stronger as it goes along.
They can both walk fairly well, even run and jump and dance.
They have boundless energy and want to do the same things over and over and over again. They love to be tickled. They love learning new things and learning to talk.
They never want to quit when they are doing something they love and they will let you know it. They like trying things on their own.
They easily express their feelings and go from one feeling to another very quickly.

Now again I ask - Do you know any older people that fit that description?
Sure some of that might fit us but most of us would agree
- no matter how active you are -
that you just can't keep up with kids at this age.
They seem to run with the pink bunny.
They just keep going and going and going and.........

I really and truly believe that this idea of a "second childhood" is a gross misrepresentation of the older generation.
It is a conspiracy I tell you.
Our children are trying to feed us this stuff so they can get rid of us in old folks homes or hospitals or dare I say it " Mental facilities".
They have come up with this - what do I call it? a disease? a condition? what?
Second Childhood! What is that?

We hear them wispering behind closed doors about us going into our second childhood, and that peaks our curiosity and we get excited. Oh, if only it were true. I only wish I could get back some of the energy that children have.

Please, if there is anyone out there who knows how I can get into MY second childhood, please please let me know.
I need a good dose of childhood energy.
I need to be wanting to not give up on things again.
I need a whole lot of what kids have.
Show me the way and I will show you the money....

Also, if anyone out there knows who "THEY" are,
please let them know my position on their statement.
I demand an apology in writing and a general announcement to the public, stating that they are wrong. (and I don't mean some little three lines at the end of the newspaper but a front page apology)

Now, if you agree with my position, I suggest you copy this post and forward it to all your friends and ask them to forward and on and on, so that eventually "THEY" will get it and read it and maybe we can all get together to get this horrible matter cleared up.

Hope you have a childlike day.

USE THE FORCE TINK, USE THE FORCE!

O.K. so it has been awhile.
What can I say?
With CWO cutting out their "Spring into Summer" writing contest, I have no more topics to blog about. Boo Hoo.
I liked the writing contests as it gave me ideas of what to blog on. Not that I ever thought I would win any of the contests. I know my forte is not in writing - but - you just never know what might happen in the blogosphere. Miracles can and do happen.

So what have I been up to you might ask - if you really wanted to know - if you didn’t then why ask at all? Huh. O.k. I am in a mood and just wanting to do something with my time so I am just writing whatever comes into my head. As I was saying - please quit interrupting me. As I was saying - what have I been up to? Well how would you know if you didn’t ask. I can’t ask you now can I? So I guess I just better tell you myself - seeing you asked.

On a Friday about three weeks ago, I gave a type of resume to this place that I thought MIGHT be hiring someone for part time office work. Now, they never had an office person before but word of mouth said that they had been thinking of getting someone. So I acted on gossip I had heard and wrote a resume. Here is the resume - if you can call it that.

To whom it may concern,

I heard you MIGHT be thinking of hiring someone for office work. I would like to apply for the job.

I am 55 years old and have not worked out of my home in years.

Many many years ago I took a course at Red River Community College. At that time I took "Clerical Bookkeeping and Office machines". Many of the machines I learned to use are now obsolete. When I left school I could type 80 W.P.M. on a manual typewriter.

I worked in an office doing some bookkeeping, accounts receivable/payable, payroll, as well as other clerical duties. I love working with numbers and I love working on the computer. (I am self taught on the computer and own Windows XP.)

I cannot give you reference numbers, as most of the companies I once worked for are no longer in existence.

I can offer to work for you for free for the first month or so till I get to know your program and how you do things. If you like my performance at the end of that time you can elect to keep me on or let me go.

I am only looking for an office type job as I have bad legs and cannot stand for long periods of time. I would also like part time work as I don’t know if I could keep up the long hours.

To talk further on this matter you can call me at xxxxxxx or email me at xxxxxxxxx

All I can offer is my best. I would try to be a valued employee.

Well, surprise, surprise, I got a job.

They liked my resume. (Snark, snark) They said it sounded so "honest." I can’t believe I even wrote a resume like that - I learned how to do resumes both in school and at Red River but I did not put much thought into writing this resume at all. I guess I stumbled on a great piece of advice for resume writing - BE HONEST!

They took me on for two weeks to see if I would like it and if they would like me.
I handed in the resume on a Friday and started working on a Monday. Tomorrow will be a month I have been working.

I only work three days a week for approx. 4 hours each day. (Mon, Wed, Fri.) Some days I work 6 hours but only if there is something pressing that needs doing.

The first thing I do when I get there is enter the sales and credit card sales onto sheets of paper. Then I file the days accounts and warranties. Up till now I have been working on some books. I check each item in the book to see the sales history and jot down info. These books are all done for this time. We only will be doing them twice a year. At the end of the month I got all the invoices from the files and sent them out to customers. The other day I sorted through files and stored old files making room for newer ones. Each day I go to the bank to buy change and stop at the mailbox and pick up the mail. Sometimes I have to go to the other store to get them change or drop something off.

Basically I am a gopher or a pilot. I go for this and that or I pile it here and there.

At first I was soooo very nervous.

You don’t know nervous till you get to be my age and haven’t worked in an office for over 35 years. And in all my years, I have been very much a loner. So entering the "Work Force" was the scariest thing. It was like joining the Air Force or some other sort of "Force". I did not know if I was ready to use the "Force" yet.

As I sat at my desk Yoda’s little voice sounded in the distance. "Ready you are, worry do not. Trust the force Luke, use the force." Oooops, oh, where was I. Oh yes, I was very very nervous.

As I sat at my desk the first few days, my body went through the motions they were supposed to go through - I think, but my mind was waging a battle.

Part of me was praising God and thanking him for this remarkable miracle of a perfect job for me.

The other part of me was accusing me constantly for being inept and saying that I would screw up. It also kept reminding me of having to drive all that way each day and what about summer traffic and winter snow. Then I would argue that I didn’t really have to work, that I could make it, if I only cut out a few things. Then I would argue that I didn’t have to stay, I could quit if I wanted to. I wasn’t dependant on a job. Then another part was saying hey, give it a try, what have you got to lose. These and many other thoughts kept reeling in my mind.

When I would get home from work I was totally exhausted from all the thinking. I didn’t even want to talk to anyone yet everyone wanted to know how I liked it.

It is a miracle I even made it through the first week but having the day off in between really helped "The Force" begin to work in my life.

Now it is going to be four weeks and I feel a lot more at ease working and driving. I am even beginning to understand some of what I am doing.

Daily I ask Jesus "THE Force" to either help me to love the job or to hate it. He seems to be leaning towards getting me to like it a little at a time.

I am beginning to feel the "Force" getting stronger and stronger in me. Not that the "Force" gets stronger cause it already is the very strongest, but that I would get stronger at using the "Force" and recognizing the "Force" in and around my life.

For now I will leave you wanting more, more, more.

Till next time - May THE Force be with you.