Be Kind

Just recently someone asked me what I thought they should do about their circumstance. It involved another individual and I really did not know the answer. I explained to them that right now there was no clear direction to the situation but for the moment I had some advice. First of all, pray that God would reveal the right answer and second of all while waiting for the answer, be KIND!

Kindness is always the right thing to do in any circumstance. I believe it has the power to heal. 

A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers! Ruth Bell Graham 

 

Who is our Enemy?

 Written March 1, 2014:

Every day we blow it by blaming ourselves or others for our circumstances. We need to realize that the true enemy of our lives is not each other but instead we need to blame our true enemy - Satan. He walks around seeking whom he may devour according to the scriptures. We are attacked through problems, circumstances, disappointments, etc. When Satan cannot get to us then he works around us through others such as our family and friends to defeat us and mess up our life.

We all need people in our life to pray for us during these difficult battles. The worst days of my life I have reached out to friends to pray for me in order to make those days tolerable. Some days I just need a friend to listen to me when I am struggling emotionally and confused. There are people I can count on for support for my own personal tragedies because we are not meant to bear these burdens alone.

My church is a safe haven to me of family and friends I know will pray for me and be there in my time of need. I have a Bible Study group of young people that also pray for me and care for me. I serve in ministry with people that encourage me and love me in spite of myself. It is a community of grace!

A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.”  Ecclesiastes 4:12

This picture was taken on Captiva Island during my niece's wedding, May 2001!

Practice Makes Perfect

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

written during Hurricane Season 2006:
When tropical storm Alberto formed in 2006, I thought it would be a good time for a practice drill to be sure we have our hurricane preparedness plan at home working. I asked Jim to show me how to work our new shutters which all we needed to do was close, pack and leave. I like the sound of that, don’t you? Anyways, we pulled the shutters together, easy, easy, easy and then I asked, why is there a lock on the handles? He said, because you need a key and then I asked, where is the key? He looked at me as if to say, I thought you had it. When you have been married as many years as we have, you don’t have to speak because a “look” speaks volumes. I looked back at him and I said, "No, I don’t have the key so where do you think it might be?" Oh brother, we failed miserably our first hurricane practice drill and a few weeks later when the next tropical storm formed we still had no key. 

My life is a lot like this story, I can have a plan on how I think it should be but if the main "key" is missing then I am left feeling stressed instead. I personally always make the mistake of trying to plan my own life because I become so wise in my own eyes. Then I realize when I can’t get it right that I just need to stop looking to myself but instead look to my Heavenly Father. 

We had to have new keys made for our shutters so hopefully the next practice drill will be smoother.....

This picture was taken at "Vizcaya" when we visited in 2012.