Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do,forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
It’s so true that there are many things of which we have no control of our choices.
Decade in which we are born.
Parents. Birth location. Upbringing.
Physical attributes. Talents. IQ.
These things are given to us, and we have no say.
Yet, we do have a say in how we respond, in how we handle, and in how we carry on once we have them.
And this choosing results in our character.
Which is also a choice.
And it also will become our voice.
How we respond to the things we cannot control will determine our promotions, our successes, and our influences.
We are never a victim.
Being a victim is a choice. And that choice brings about our character.
When we choose to hate these things out of our control, or maybe just fight against them in a rage that wounds all those around us, it shows our character as rude, spiteful and selfish.
When we choose to embrace these things out of our control as chains, and we are just a martyr for the cause, or maybe we just can’t do any better because of all that has befallen us, it shows our character as weak, whiny and self centered.
Yet, when we choose to accept these things out of our control, fight against the things that would try to inhibit us, and become overcomers inspite of the pain, the turmoil and the difficulties, it shows our character as bold, courageous and focused.
And when we take this tenacious attitude a step further and begin to show others how to overcome their own obstacles, it shows our character as loving, giving, and outward seeking.
We can be a hero or a zero.
The choice is ours.
What will you choose today?
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
Romans 8:37
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
Romans 8:31
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28
Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
If we choose anger, confusion, fear or agony, that is our prison.
If we choose joy, love, hope and grace, that is our sentence.
It is a choice, and it becomes our confinement.
Choose well.
For your choices will overwhelm and set shackles on you.
One is for life and one is for death.
And you get to pick and choose.
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
Romans 6:15-18
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
What do you think of when you hear the words freedom, liberty, and independence?
What images come to mind when you hear, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?”
For our modern culture, these words do not seem to invoke the same images and thoughts that appeared to be more commonplace among Americans in years prior. As a matter of fact, the other day I googled the words “liberty and justice,” and one of the first entries said, “pledging this means accepting the reality that today there is injustice and fairness in the society,” followed by numerous political views stated pertaining to diversity and inclusion.
These ideals have their place, and I’m not going to get tangled in a political war of words and opinions; however, it’s important to remember that our Constitution’s message and the words of freedom contained within it were not created solely inresponse to the issues our society faces today. We, as a people, had constructed these words and this declaration so many decades past in order to set the foundation for which our nation stands for freedom. We decided to make these words the very cornerstones for how we should live and respond as a nation.
It’s not a reaction. It is a declaration, a belief system, upon which to build a great nation that will sustain the test of time.
And it is a fragile one. It is one that, if not protected, fought for and defended, can be stolen within a blink of an eye. It is to be cherished, valued and upheld, or it will be taken away by those who work harder to defend their own tyrannical desires.
I love the quote by Ronald Reagan in reference to this concern:
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.
PresidentRonald Reagan, 40th President of USA
As we celebrate this Independence Day in the great country of America, let us ask ourselves what we are doing to protect our freedoms in this country. Let us ask ourselves if we are fighting to value and cherish those freedoms, or are we conforming to the loudest voices amount us who may hate, demean and devalue this great nation.
Let us forever remember that she may have her issues, her difficulties and her need for improvement, but anyone who hates her, I ask you to go to a third world nation and compare. I ask you to travel to the war torn countries around the world and see if you’d prefer their fate.
I ask you to visit the nations who love her and wish they could be like her. Ask them how you should cherish her…
Happy Independence Day!
And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace.
Not having fear sounds like a great statement, but when it’s your dream, your sickness, or your child, it’s not always that simple.
Control seems easier and less unpredictable.
Having more faith and less fear seems like a great slogan to follow until it’s you who has to walk out on the water, weather the storm in the (seemingly) rickety boat, or step out on the tightrope of success and hope it holds.
Control seems more comfortable and less unreliable.
Yet, I have found in life experiences that no matter how intuitive I think I am, He always sees better.
I have found in all my days of leading, advising, sharing, no matter how capable I feel, He is always stronger and more able.
Control seems right through our carnal eyes,
But His ways are higher than my ways.
His thoughts are beyond my imagination.
And His love is beyond my recognition.
And so, I will trust Him, and I will follow.
I have found in my life that my heart is safer within His mighty hands than it ever was within my human ones.
And I will walk forward with faith.
I will move toward the goal with my focus on Him.
And even if I’m trembling within, I will trust He’s got this because He loves me beyond reason.
For as the heavens arehigher than the earth, So are My wayshigher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:9
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:11-13
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Tonight, I wrote five sympathy cards to friends who have lost a loved one recently.
Three of these were within the same family, and they had personally lost 3 family members among them.
And this is just after losing a son/nephew last year and a few more members the year before.
Another couple has lost their brother, cousin, nephew, great grandmother and a distant relative, all within just months of each other.
Yes. Those are each one, a different person, and relationship with said friends.
A third family lost their son, just over thirty years of age. He lived in the Midwest, and they had to take a plane to get to him.
My husband and I received an added message tonight from an old friend who sorely misses his wife who died several years ago. He just wants to see her again.
My family is also in this list of losses, as my own grandmother passed just weeks ago.
If I only looked at all these losses, my heart would be overwhelmed.
If I only looked at the tears, the weight inside would be unbearable.
Grief is hard.
Grief is exhausting.
Grief can be all consuming.
It’s what we do with it that makes the difference.
For me and for you.
A father, close to my age, lost two sons in a boating accident a short 11 years ago, and he shares his grief publicly to encourage others.
A wife shares her story of losing her law enforcement husband to his life in duty, and she gives others support, telling them they can and will survive.
A grandmother describes the last few years of her disabled mother’s life in desire to bring joy to others hearing how her mom always said, “I love you” with a smile to most anyone she met.
Grief is all around us.
If you don’t see it, it’s simply because your eyes are blinded.
If you don’t feel it, you may be oblivious or just plain self consumed.
I’m begging you to open your eyes.
I’m pleading with you to say a prayer.
I’m imploring you to look around and reach beyond self indulgences.
And grasp the hand of those bereaved, lost, or confused.
You never know whose life you might save,
Simply by giving a ray of hope in their dreary world.
Be the joy.
Be the peace.
Be the hope they desperately need.
But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.Therefore comfort one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.
And bonus: when you’ve walked through the fire, and you’ve slain your dragon, there are those following.
And they need your victory.
So, be like Joan. Be not afraid.
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
He looks all nice and cozy, chewing his cud, minding his own business.
But don’t get too close, or you’ll feel his horns.
That bull goes about his day, grazing, watching, or just lazing around.
But you get into his sight, and he’s liable to gorge you.
That bull has a family, or maybe he’s a loner.
Leave him alone.
Don’t prod him.
Don’t prick him.
And certainly, don’t pet him.
He’s there to do his thing, and he will come and go as he pleases.
Just keep your eyes on him.
Never let him out of your peripheral view.
For that is when he will sneak up for the kill.
And you’ll be fortunate to survive the pounding.
Let him roam.
And keep your vision clear.
Learn from every encounter but try not to remain.
He will move on down the pasture when it’s time; although, he will always be there.
Just let him roam further and further.
But never let him out of your sight.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation.
2 Corinthians 3-7
And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thornin the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.
If my life had a tagline, it would be #complicated.
Sometimes, it might be #gentle and #mild.
But it would never be #overbearing and #rude.
It might be #fierce and #courageous one day
And #meek and #hesitant the next.
It could even be #growing and #growling
But it hopefully wouldn’t be #biting and #gnashing.
Although it will always be #repenting and #forgiving, #forgiven and #purified.
And it would definitely always be
#JACKEDUPLIKEEVERYONEELSE
But yet #savedbygracealone.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
My journey didn’t stop with mere time travel or writing; it led me to become one of the most sought-after empaths, a soulful psychic who reads the hidden depths of the human spirit. I’ve been blessed—or perhaps burdened—with an ability that allows me to feel the emotions of people from every corner of time.
I am a licensed psychologist based in Greece. My love for housekeeping has inspired me to create this blog about home management and family relationships. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing!
Dedicated to movie nerdom, nostalgia, and soul invigoration. In the late 90s, I worked at Blockbuster Video where they let me take home two free movies a day. I caught up on the classics and reviewed theatrical releases for Denver 'burbs newspapers and magazines. Today, while raising two young, beautiful daughters with my amazing wife, I look forward to anything rated R and not Bluey. Comments and dialogue encouraged!
