Image credit www.wallsave.com
If hope should die what would life be
But a sunken ship lost beneath the sea.
It would be like night without day,
Rain without sunshine and winter without spring,
If hope should die it would be
Like being alive without really living
And having an ending without a new beginning.
Hope is the fuel that feeds our soul
to reach for tomorrow and fulfill a new goal.
So hold on to hope when troubles come
With a hopeful heart, you will overcome.
Oh Lord I am so thankful
Each and every day
For loving me the way I am
Enough to gentle say
“My child I made you different
Than anyone else on earth,
So don’t compare your talents
With others to find worth.
“And when you fail or make mistakes,
I’m here to hold your hand,
To dust you off and dry your tears
And give you strength to stand.
“I have a plan and purpose
Designed for you alone.
My word will lead and guide you
Until I call you home.
“So do not be discouraged,
Have faith and trust in Me.
Abiding in My counsel,
I’ll meet you every need.”
Written By Valerie Bauer Rous>
With all the madness and chaos going on in the world it is easy to become distracted. However it is important that you do not lose focus of the things that are important to you. Do not get caught up in the hype or spent valuable time concentrating on the successes of others. You don’t know what they had to do to get to where they are. Do not set your goals based on the expectation of others or with the idea that you have to keep up with the Jones-es.
Do not put on false air or pretend to be someone you are not in the hopes of pleasing others. Remember that we all have issues and problems at one time or another. No one has the perfect life. At all times be yourself. Go after your goals with confidence and let no one make you feel inadequate. Focus not on riches instead pray for good health and happiness, in these days these are rare commodities. In all that you do stay focus and you will see those dreams come true.
A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through the little hole at the end.
Eventually, the butterfly stopped making progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther. The man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily, but it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.
The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.
Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.
What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were nature’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If nature allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. And we could never fly…
– See more at: http://www.spiritual-short-stories.com/spiritual-short-story-121-Struggle.html#sthash.Yw7PRxuO.dpuf
Image credit mythfolklore.net
Many of you may have heard the story of The Greedy Dog but how many of you grasped the moral of the story. In life there are people who behave like this dog. Life pours many blessings on them but it is not enough. They get opportunities that others are denied but it is still not enough. The more they receive the more their desire for more increase. It is always more, more, more. Well we all know what happened to the greedy dog. He saw his reflection in the water and of course he wanted the other bone. He opened his mouth to bark at what he thought was the other dog and in the process lost his own bone.
In life always give thanks. If your blessings are small, give thanks. If they are many, give thanks. Do not be like the greedy dog who was envious of his own shadow. Be satisfied and give thanks.
Each day we take a step of faith although at times we are unaware. We go out each day with faith that we will get through the day and make it back home. With all that is going on in the world today sometimes all we have is faith that God will see us through. So have faith always. Have faith in your potential for greatness. Have faith in your ability to succeed. Have faith that you will conquer the enemy. Have faith that you will fulfill your dreams. Have faith that you will see a brighter tomorrow. Have faith that no matter what comes your way you will survive and you will overcome. Have Faith!
Old Liza was such a miser
She refused to part with a cent.
She went to church without her purse
and got the pastor incensed.
He spoke of greed, he spoke of weeds,
He spoke about those who came to church
and left without planting a seed.
To begin to live is to accept yourself with all your faults, flaws, insecurities and doubts. Take them and channel them into something greater.
Let your faults teach you that no one is perfect.
Let your flaws be a reminder that we all have issues.
Let your insecurities teach you that we all are vulnerable.
Let not doubt make you feel like a failure,instead let it be a guide to make you question the authenticity of a situation before you jump in.
Take the things that others consider negative and turn them into something positive. Live, laugh, love and forgive. Be happy.
Downtown Kingston
Some people might scoff at the mention of ESP and explain that anything related to it is merely coincidental, yet how many of you have had dreams and see the things you dreamed about unfolding in real life? I for one dream a lot and yes sometimes these dreams happen.
Some dreams are messages to warm and guide us and if we understand them it can actually save us from harm. I will share with you some of my own experiences. One night I dreamed that my slippers was full of ants, this was a slipper that I normally slip into the moment I get home from work. The following day I got home from work kicked off my shoes reached for the slippers and there it was full of ants. I laughed showed it to my daughter and said “look even the stupid things that I dream happen.” So it was just a silly dream and it happened no big deal…no! this was preparing me for something more serious that was about to happen.
The following day I was planning to go into Kingston to do some shopping. For those of you who do not know, Kingston is Jamaica’s capital; it is also unfortunately one of the crime hub of the country. I was living in Port Antonio which at the time was almost crime free. That night I dreamed I could not find any shoes to wear, each time I put on a pair of shoes it would fall a part and for the entire night shoes after shoes just fell apart the moment I put them on.
I left for Kingston the next morning as planned but I was full of misgivings. I knew something was going to happen, I just didn’t know what. I prayed all the way that we would not have an accident. Arriving safely in Kingston I went about my shopping on high alert, very cautious, looking to spot trouble around every corner. I was tense the whole time. Nothing happened, I carried out my shopping without incident. Finishing my shopping for the day I slipped my handbag ( which I might add – I don’t normally carry) into one of my shopping bags and zipped it up. I was ready to go home I could relax and breathe easy. I figured if anything was going to happen it would have happened already. I was wrong. On my way to the bus stop a woman was selling clips on the side-walk. I stooped picked up a pack and reached inside the bag for my handbag to get the money to pay her. My hand came up empty, the handbag was gone I had been robbed! My keys were gone, my purse with the money in it was gone but strangely I felt a sense of relief because I finally knew what was meant to happen. The stuff that was gone did not matter because I still had my life. Many people had died trying to defend what was theirs so I considered myself lucky.
Dreams sometimes come to guide us and prepare us for the unexpected. Have any of you had any such experience?
You went away not knowing
whether you would return,
Brave men and women,
You made the ultimate sacrifice,
By laying down your lives
to defend others.
Our fallen soldiers,
Our silent heroes,
Fathers, brothers, husbands, lovers,
Mothers, sisters and wives.
Though no longer here,
Your spirits run free,
On this day and always,
We salute thee.
Author Marva Seaton 
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