How can we relate to someone that has had traumas completely outside our experiences ???

Long and Short,,, It is almost impossible in my mind !!! Now we can have compassion and true sadness for that person, but we don’t really know/feel his/her pain !!!

For instance, I had a man that came up to my car numerous times that had lost both legs at the knees,, I always put money in his cup,, because I felt sorry for him,,,, but I truly did not feel his pain (I still had two legs ) He wore two firemen’s boots,,, backward,, so he didn’t fall over backward when he walked !! It was pretty navel to me with both legs to watch this man at the stoplights holding out his cup !!

Well, I have lost, just my right leg, to amputation,,, and believe me,,, I have a whole new respect for that man !!! I can’t even believe that he could do what he did with both legs gone !!!

Here is my point,,, We really can’t relate until we have been there, done that, and have the tee-shirt (So to speak) !!!

So God may have given you some hardships and pain,,, but he is preparing you to be able to relate to someone and comfort them in your future meeting !!!

If you have all your parts and pieces,,, how can you relate to someone that doesn’t,,, If you have never been abused,,, how can you relate to someone that has,,, If you have never been unloved,, how can you relate to someone that has not been loved ??? If you have not been rejected,,, how can you relate to someone that has ???

Here is all I am saying,,, God has given us all trials and tribulations in our life,,, we know the pain, the hurt, and the loss,,,, we don’t have to fake it,,, it is real,,, so why don’t we use it to help someone else get through it ???

If you know someone that is going through what you have already dealt with,,, why don’t you reach out to them with your lessons learned ??? One thing you know for sure,,,, they can’t accuse you of not knowing what you are talking about !!!!

Love Your Neighbor as Yourself !!! I believe that is a Biblical truth,,, for happiness !!!

God Bless You in All You Do !!!

Good Morning !! Yesterday we had a pretty good snowing, blowing, cold snowstorm where I am living !!! Quite honestly, I like a good storm as long as it doesn’t get to the point of tearing things up or hurting people !!! They can be quite invigorating and energizing in a lot of ways !!

At the ground level, these storms can be raging with Thunder, Lightning, Rain, Snow, Hail, and varying degrees of wind!!!

But have you ever experienced the world above the storm,,, For instance, took off in an airplane during a storm on the ground and flew upward until you broke out of the clouds and into Blue Skies and Sunshine !!! Or drove up a mountain road in a storm or fog and all of a sudden climbed above the clouds or fog and opened up into beautiful blue skies and sunshine in the daytime or uncountable stars at night !!! What an experience !!!

Well, it is pretty much the same way with Life’s Storms !! We have friendship storms, greed storms, selfish storms, work storms, people storms, money storms, living storms, and health storms in our daily lives,,, just to name a few !!

The problem with all these life storms is that, in our present state, we are grounded under these storms, and it is hard, basically impossible, to get above them to the Blue Skies, Sunshine, and Stars that are always present !!!

We are all created with three intertwined but differing parts. The Physical which moves us around,,, the Mental which provides our reasoning and knowledge and the spiritual part which is our Soul !!

In my experience,,, the Physical and Mental are adapted to work from the ground,,, under the storms, with varying degrees of success !! The Soul, on the other hand, was designed and given to operate above the ground,,, out in the everlasting realm !! The Soul longs to be above the storms to provide hope, comfort, and peace during these Life Storms on the ground !!!

Okay, so how do you release your Soul to soar above the ground storms, up in the forever Blue Sky, Sunshine, and Stars ???

Well, your Soul has to be linked with the Creator that gifted it to you !! That link provides the freedom that we all long for, but can’t achieve on our own !!

To link your Soul to the Creator,,, you have to go through his Son,,, the Lord Jesus Christ !!! Once you believe and invite him into your heart,,, your Soul is linked to him and the ever after forevermore !!!

So instantly, after you link up, your Soul is free to fly above the storms and lift you up spiritually above the ground and out of the chaos of the ground storms around you !!! You will still be living physically and mentally grounded in the storms, but Spiritually, you are now above the storm looking down and filled with peace, comfort, and hope to confidently move through and conquer any of life’s storms that confront you !!!

I’m here to tell you,,, it works beyond your greatest imaginations !!!

God Bless and have a Sunshine-filled day !!!

As I have stated before,,, I grew up on a farm,,, a farm with lots of animals. We had horses, sheep, pigs, milk cows, beef cows, geese, ducks, dogs, cats, rats, mice, bugs of all kinds, and of course chickens !!!

Chickens were my least favorite of the bunch, mostly because I was the one, when little, that had to gather the eggs (get pecked by the hens on the nest), feed and water them, and clean under the roost every week or so. What a pleasant experience that was !!

We had a pretty big chicken house (as my dad called it) and a good-sized, chicken wire-enclosed chicken yard. This chicken yard fence was probably about 8 feet tall, I would guess, a lot taller than I could reach at the time.

Of course, there was a reason for this high fence,,, 1- To keep the chickens in and 2- to keep the chicken eaters out. We had farm dogs that loved to chase these chickens and foxes and coyotes that would come around at night. They love a good chicken dinner !!!

Well, some of these chickens hated staying in that pen and as they got older, and their wing feathers grew out,,, some of them learned to hop and/or run to take off flying up to the top of that fence. They would set up there like proud Eagles and then fly off to the garden or barnyard for better food they could find,,, I guess.

That wasn’t a huge problem during the day, but became a big problem at night !!! You see, chickens, as with most bird types, return to a central spot to roast at night,,, usually, a place that is safer from the night predators !!! Usually high places like trees or the top of a building or high structures where these predators can’t easily climb.

Now there are two, pretty major problems, with chickens being out on their own in a predator prone area,,, their body is too big and heavy for their wings, and they can’t see at night !!! Chickens don’t really fly,,,, as you think of birds soaring in the wind !!! They have to get up on something off the ground a bit and then jump off flapping their wings and gliding in a declining trajectory down to the ground,,, usually 10-20 meters max !!!

So as you can imagine by now,,, these freedom-seeking chickens would roost on a low fence or the bottom branches of a tree or bush !!! A lot of times all I found the next morning, while doing chores, was the feathers left from the deadly encounter with a dog, coyote, fox, or cat !!!

So to help keep these chickens in the pen where they were safe, we would clip the long wing feathers of these chicken’s so they could not gather enough air to fly out of the chicken yard !!!

Now,,,,, You may be wondering,,,, What is the purpose of this chicken story ???

Well, the thought occurred to me that God had applied this principle in my life. As my Heavenly Father, that loves me, he saw that I was getting too far from the roost and venturing into the predator-infested world. I was deceiving myself into believing, because of my arrogance and pride, that I could survive and play on my own in this world,,,,, without consequences,,,, and then return to him after I had my adventure !!!

WRONG ,,,,,,,,, So Very Very WRONG

(To be continued)

God Bless You

So the question is,,, does God speak to us ??? Well, the short answer is,,, YES !!! But there are a couple of prerequisites for us in order to hear what he is saying !!!

First,,, we have to believe in who he is and accept him- After all,,, how can you expect to hear from someone that you don’t believe exists in the first place ??? As it says in the Bible, Romans 10:9, ESV: “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

What does it mean to be saved ??? That means you have admitted that you are a sinner (not perfect, none of us are), believe in Jesus Christ as the only-begotten son of God, and asked forgiveness for your shortcomings (sins), and have been filled with the Holy Spirit of God (Everlasting Peace and Love) !!!

Okay, so what do you do now – You study/learn about him from his word (Bible) and you begin to talk with him (pray) about all your worries, concerns, and fears !!!

So when do you hear from him and get your prayers and requests answered ??? Always, but you may not know it until you get to know him better and let him deeper into your life !!

I can honestly say, from my experience and reflection on my life, that all of my prayers were answered !!!

Sound a bit pompous ??? Let me clarify that statement,,,, all my prayers were answered,,, but,,, they were not always the answers I wanted,,, but they were always the answers I needed to fulfill my needs !!!

Who else, but your Loving Heavenly Father and Creator of every part of you,,, mind, body, and soul,,, would know exactly what you need even though it may not be what your worldly outlook wants !!!

I can tell you, looking back over all my years,,, every answer was “spot on” and far better than what I could have ever hoped for, even though, at the time, they weren’t what I worldly wanted !!!

So open your heart and invite Jesus in and set back and enjoy all the blessings he will shower you with and the heavenly truth he is going to fill you with !! This Truth will set you free from the weight of the world you are carrying !!!

As the lyrics from the song Amazing Grace declares,,, “I was lost, but now I’m found,,,, I was blind, but now I see”

God Bless and Merry Christmas !!!!