"To be nobody but myself, in a world which is doing its best night and day to make me everybody else, means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight and never stop fighting." - E.E. Cummings God creates each of us uniquely. Each one of us is special and different. I believe that we are created for the time and place we were designed for. We are born with the spirit, personality, and talents we need to fulfill our destiny. We are on a journey to find the purpose for our life. The world can encourage us or discourage us. People in our life can set our feet on the right path or block our way. It doesn't matter. Our job is to overcome the obstacles and find God's Will. Someti

"Every man has his own courage, but is betrayed because he seeks in himself the courage of other persons" - Ralph Waldo Emerson. Why am I always comparing myself to others and falling short. God made me for a specific life. He gave me the gifts that I would need to accomplish His Will for my life. We are all individuals and we are all created with unique and wonderful talents. I have been given the gift of writing, but long for a beautiful singing voice. I have been given the gift of connecting to others in strong individual relationship, but I long for the gift of public speaking. I criticize myself for a lack of courage, being unable to do the things that others can and encourage me to do.

"Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded." Hebrews 10: 35 Am I persistent in prayer? Or do I give up if the result I want doesn't arrive when I want. It is easy to forget that God is eternal, and works in His own time. In fact, He lives outside of time. Do I have the faith to persist in prayer? I need confident faith. The God who loves me and created me not only hears my prayer, but answers it in the best time and the best way. On the other side, it is easy to fall into the idea that I control God with my prayers, somehow magically getting Him to do what I want instead of what is right. That is arrogance. I have heard so many Christians announce that their prayers were

"Your Love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies." Psalm 36: 5 Do I believe this? When everything is going right and my little world is safe and comfortable I probably do. However, when everything in my life is falling apart and nothing is going according to plan I wonder why God is against me. I tend to forget that He lives outside of time. I forget that to Him the past, present, and future are ever present before His eyes. I live in the moment unable to see the reason or benefit for trials until many years later. Sometimes, years later, I can see how a problem became an opportunity. Often I can see that living through a tragedy or learning to heal a deep wound made

"The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie - deliberate, contrived and dishonest - but the myth, persistent persuasive and unrealistic." - John F. Kennedy Pilate asked Jesus, "What is truth?" Isn't that one of the questions that we all must answer in our lifetime. In todays relative society everyone is encouraged to believe whatever they want to. A phrase, "That's your truth, my truth is different" is a common saying. It promotes the thought that truth is whatever you want it to be. That there is no absolute. However truth does exist. We can't pretend that 2 +2 = 5 just because we would like to believe that it does. To think as modern society does causes more harm than we reali

"Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those that love him. " James 1: 12 Yesterday I watched a man on T.V. who asked a jury to have mercy on the man who killed his sister. With tears in his eyes, he asked them to give the hate-filled racist life instead of the death penalty. I wanted to cry myself. He was following the Way of Christ. It is easy to follow the way when the road is smooth. It's easy when living in a country that has freedom of religion and everything is going fine. It's a snap when there are no hard choices or hard feelings. But can I follow the way, the narrow

"I place before you Life and Death, Blessing and Curse. Choose life so that you and your children will live. And love God, your God, listening obediently to him, firmly embracing him. Oh yes, he is life itself, a long life settled on the soil that God, your God, promised to give your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." Deuteronomy 30: 19-20 There are times, I find it hard to make decisions. I can agonize over which way to go, and what is the best thing to do. One way to decide is to remember that my God is a God of Life, and anything that promotes life is what He would want. It can be as simple (although difficult) as following the diet the Doctor gave me or getting out of the chair and g

"Don't worry about anything: instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7 Worry? I was once told that worry was a sin. A mother is supposed to worry, right! A grandmother should have double worries! However worry is an insult to God. It is the opposite to faith. In secular society worry seems to be a gage of how much you care. I refuse to accept that. When I feel concern about my family, I don't have to let it build up. When I feel worry creeping up on me because of family conce

"The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak."-Hans Hoffman I can clutter things. I'm not a hoarder, nor a collector, but I can accumulate things until inspired to declutter on a regular basis. I always feel better after throwing out the old bills, the ugly Knick-knacks, and the stale spices. The same is true of my prayer life. I can collect prayer books, Bible verses, and lengthy religious poetry as easily as I as I can be convinced that reciting or reading these inspirations will open my relationship with God. It clutters my soul. The Little Flower said that her prayer life consisted of sitting on God's lap with her head on His shoulder, no wo

"Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them." John 2:38 Living Water? How does water live. If it stays still it loses oxygen. It muddies, and becomes stagnant. Is my spiritual life stagnant? Fresh water is always on the move. It flows over rocks and fills nooks and crannies. The best water rushes in rapids and over cliffs to form waterfalls, picking up oxygen as it moves. My spirit can easily become comfortable, cozy and warm. I hang with friends of similar beliefs and interests. I follow my usual religious habits and prayers. I even reread the same prayer books and Bible verses. Jesus calls us to growth and movement. Do I have enough fai