From the Author

Saturday, February 22, 2014

It could be me

Many times in my life I wondered where and when I would get the money to have enough food for my family.  I worried constantly about money, especially with unexpected issues such as appliances breaking down, illness and cost of medicines, unexpected costs for school, etc.  I know there are many families that are homeless or close to being homeless.  It is probably one of the most gut-wrenching situations that may be caused by external problems and not from laziness or lack of desire to succeed.  I hope that we all remember those who are not as fortunate as we are and need prayers and opportunities and our help.  I think it is one of the hardest hurdles for individuals who are proud and trying hard to better themselves to reach a time when they have to receive help.  It is especially hard to need something, ask for help and to find no assistance available.  While we can't save the world, we can help those we know or come in contact with.  It is amazing how often kindness can come back to us when we are in need ourselves.  I hope I remember to stay alert and aware of others, especially others who are hurting.  I thank God for the blessings I have been given.  

Monday, February 10, 2014

Living to Work or Working to Live

I remember when my adult children were young.  I was a single parent and at times had to work two jobs to keep us going.  At other times I was working full time and going to college at night.  I regret the time away from my children and often felt that I wasn't the parent I wanted to be.  I was only living to be able to spend most of my life working. Work consumed most of my energy that wasn't involved with trying to pay bills and keep food on the table. I don't know if there was any other way to keep a house over our heads.  As I look back, I feel sad for all of the things I missed as a parent.  I was happy that we survived.  Some of us get so used to working excessively that we don't realize we have what we need and it isn't necessary to continue making "more money", If we can do that, it will be possible for us to take time off, take vacations, and spend quality time with family and friends.  Money and things are not the goal in themselves.  They are only valuable in what they can do to help ourselves, family and friends to have their needs met and achieve their goals.  It is the love of family and friends that we carry with us.  I hope that all of us can learn to work with the goal of living constructively and interacting passionately with our families, friends and world.

Friday, February 7, 2014

mistakes

    Today I want to celebrate mistakes.  I know what I am talking about since I have made many mistakes in my life.  Mistakes can often be the beginning of self-understanding and acceptance.  We are not perfect.  We are not dead yet.  If we are living our lives, we are making mistakes!  It is so much easier to do nothing.  We don't have success but we are not having any failures either.  We are only existing because of a fear of making mistakes.  When we make mistakes we know we are alive because we hurt.  We are on a huge learning curve because we have the opportunity to explore what we have done wrong, right those wrongs by forgiving ourselves and ask for forgiveness, and then to go forward with a better plan.  Many things in this world were created because of mistakes! These creations happened when there was another goal, a by-product of another product that was a mistake!  How exciting to discover something new, beneficial and previously unknown because we had the courage to make mistakes!  God takes our efforts and makes them beautiful and productive if we ask Him.  We have the opportunity to look back and laugh at ourselves as we use hindsight to understand what we did "wrong".
   When we learn from our mistakes, it was not a mistake at all.  When we clearly see our mistakes and forgive ourselves, we can begin to accept and forgive others' mistakes.  There is a saying, "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw bricks".  Who are we to judge others when we are not perfect, we are not God.  The world would be more peaceful if we let God do the judging and we practice doing the accepting and forgiving.  God loves us mistakes and all.  Some "mistakes" occur when we do nothing.  Mistakes can occur for things we didn't have the courage to do. Lets begin to live life fully and strive to be the best we can be!

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

schools

I think it is very sad that we have taken God out of schools and put guns in.  No matter how many guns are available with the individuals with the right training, it is not enough to make schools safe.  The wonderful thing that God gives us is the opportunity to develop self awareness, a strong value system and the ability to have tools to make positive decisions in our lives.  We can develop a conscience, an ability to empathize with others and decrease the power of others over our lives.  God can give us the strength of conviction, faith, courage, and selflessness to stand up collectively to bullies and to show others that we can overcome obstacles in our path in school and in life.  The majority of individuals and families believe in God but we allow the minority to take our faith out of the schools.  There can be accommodations for the minorities who don't believe in God. Then we can allow the majority who believe in God to learn to develop an inner core of decency, love, compassion, acceptance, and forgiveness to embrace all faiths.  God needs to be the center of our lives instead of a forgotten, discarded, unwelcome and sidelined afterthought.  It is through God and faith that we can find true safety.  Children need a moral foundation for their lives.  They are the future of the world.  God is an excellent compass.