Light, Love, Hope

Two people meet by chance but soon discover all the things they have in common.  As more similarities come forth, they are almost in disbelief.

How can two people that live hours apart be going through similar situations?

At first, it is as if you’re comparing notes.  This happened in my situation … yeah, well, this happened in my situation …

And you stare out into space.

There is someone out there going through what you are going through.  You are NOT alone after all.

Pretty soon, you begin to seek each other out.  When there’s a conflict, you know you can confide in each other.  You find comfort in sharing with someone that truly understands as they have been there or are there right this very minute.

You become each other’s therapists in a way.  Although not licensed by any means, you have the credentials because you have lived it.

When we question why things happen in this life and find no answers, we have come to realize that God allows them so we can be a support system to someone else going through something similar.  That has to be it.  God doesn’t want us walking through life alone, so he puts people in our path so we can help each other through the hard things in life.

Ecclesiastes 4:10

If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.

Psalm 121: 1,2

1  I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
2  My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.

A chapel on the side of the mountains can be found near the South Carolina and North Carolina border.  It is actually the Greenville YMCA Camp; however, most everyone around knows it as Pretty Place.

We stumbled upon this unique chapel a few years ago in our search for waterfalls.  Intrigued by the name, we ventured up the windy mountain road through the fog to have our breath taken away when we saw it.

Pretty Place 

Lining the alter area, that looks out into the valley below, are plagues with various bible verses and sayings.  Above the beautiful wooden cross is the bible verse, “I will lift up my eyes to the hills …” 

I’ll never forget taking my parents to this chapel.  I talked about it several times, but I finally had the opportunity a few years ago when we took my parents on a mini-vacation.  This was one of our final stops, and I’m sure they didn’t know what to expect.

My dad walked into the entrance of the open-air chapel and stopped right in his tracks.  The beauty and reverence of the place struck him, and he had trouble keeping his composure.  After having battled quite a few things in his life and getting ready to face yet another battle, he was overwhelmed with emotion as he took a seat.  Staring out into the wonder of God’s creation with the mountains and valleys in sight, he sat with God.  Although no words were said out loud, none needed to pass his lips as it went straight from his heart to God.

There was no doubt – for we knew my dad met God right there in that fog filled chapel right as the sun was setting.

Today is a great day to make a brand new start.

You can begin again.  Right where you are.

If you don’t like where you’ve been dwelling, change the scenery.

If you don’t like the thoughts that consume you, choose to focus on something more positive.

If you don’t like the choices you’ve made in the past, make better choices from this point forward.

It’s all up to YOU!    No one else can do it for you!

Choose to begin again.  Put your best foot forward, whether it’s in a relationship, on your job, with your family … make the change and be the best person you can be – for yourself and for your loved ones.  They are depending on you and need you in their lives.

It breaks their hearts when they see you struggling with things you’ve done to yourself.  No one got you where you are today except for YOURSELF.   It’s not your mama’s fault, your friend’s fault, your coworker’s fault … it’s not the person that did you wrong when you were 13 or the man down the street that looked at you wrong.  It’s all on YOU.

Remember:  Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% on how you react to it.

There is so much truth in that.

An audience of One.

That is all you need to concern yourself with.

The only person’s opinion that truly matters is that of God above.

Concern yourself not with other people; the naysayers of the world.  As long as you are doing the absolute best that you can, hold your head up high despite what they say.

If you’ve sinned, repent to God and He will wipe the slate clean.  You’re harder on yourself, I believe, than God ever would be on you.  He loves you.  He does not like the things that you do that are of a sinful nature, but He loves YOU.

And think on this.

There isn’t a single person you will encounter that God doesn’t love.

That’s deep, isn’t it?

Those that trespass against you, He loves them.

The ones that say hateful and hurtful things to you and about you?  Yep, He loves them, too.

Even the ones that have stabbed you in the back repeated, He loves them.

I am sure it pains Him greatly when we all sin, for He has such high hopes for us and plans for our future.  And I’m sure it breaks His heart when we make bad choices.  He hates the sin but LOVES the sinner.

He’s longing for us to turn from our sins and come running back into His awaiting arms.

And He will not hold any of those past things against any of us, once we repent with our whole hearts.  Just come clean with Him, strive to do better, and God will walk alongside you to guide your steps if you only LET HIM.

An audience of one is all you truly need to concern yourself with in this life.

In the quiet moments, it is hard to escape your thoughts.  They tend to take over, no matter if they are good or bad.  You speak to yourself more than you do anyone else, it seems.  Are you kind and gentle?  Or do you beat yourself up over past things that cannot be changed?

It’s over.  Let it go.

Words so easily spoken but so hard to live by.

Old wounds still hurt deeply.

You said and did things that you’ve never done before, and it has left you wondering if you even know who you are any more.

Go easy on yourself.  You are your own worst enemy.  Just learn from the mistakes of the past and move on to become a better person.

Make that vow to yourself.  You are the only one that can make the change deep inside that is necessary.  Do it …

We all search for things in our life. It might be a new home, a new car, a new job or something that is not really a physical item such as kindness, comfort or love. There is a lot of time and energy that can go into your search. What I wonder is if people are really searching for what really matters to them. So I ask you, what do you really want? I am not talking about the superficial things like a car, a house, a job. I am talking about what is truly deep in your heart. What do you REALLY want? It is a hard question that many people overshadow with things they think they want. For me there is only one thing I really want. I know what that is. But after all these years of searching, it still continues to elude me. I may never get what I really want and I am okay with that. But I can always hold it in my heart as a dream for the future.

Pause. This is something that we all should do at various times in our lives. We are all so busy that we get wrapped up in everything going on that we can miss out on a lot. Think about this. If we would just pause for a minute. If we would take a breath for a minute. We might just discover something we would normally have let pass right by. You see we all have things that we want in our lives. They might be right there in front of us but we are wrapped up so much in being busy with everything we just can’t see that a thing that we have always wanted is right there in front of us. So we should pause for a moment or two and take a good look around us and really see what is there. We might be surprised at what we find. We might just find that one thing that we have always wanted. So pause, take a deep breath, look out at the sky at the wonder and beauty of this earth that God gave us. You never know what you may find.

It’s no secret that I am over-the-moon happy after learning that our family will be blessed with another baby in the year 2019.

I am a firm believer in praying over your family and even your future family members.  I think I’ve written in the past about how I prayed for my oldest daughter to find a man that would treat her like a queen.  Long before she ever met him in college, I was praying for their love and future together.  Now, I pray for their union when they do decide to take that step and for the future babies they will have together, if it is God’s plan for their lives.  I pray for their love to stand the test of time; for them to keep their love alive and as a priority when things of this world pull at them.  I pray that no one nor nothing will ever take them away from each other; that they will be like the tall unbending oak tree with deep roots in the ground where nothing shakes them nor uproots their love for each other.

And I pray for their unborn babies.

While I would never push my wishes upon them or anyone else, if they ever should decide to have children in the future, I will be there to spoil them completely rotten!  If they choose not to have children and prefer to only have the four-legged kind, I will spoil them, too!  (And I have … Fancy, their “rescue” pup is a prime example right this very minute!).

I’m even praying for my youngest daughter’s life so that she will find a lasting love as well.  It is my desire for my children to come to know the kind of love I never really had in this life.  If I had it, it was short lived or fleeting; never a constant.  One time I even told my oldest daughter how happy I was that she found the love of her life.  I’ve watched how he treats her so respectfully and noticed the sparkle he gets in his eye when he looks at her.  My heart grows more fond of him with each passing moment.  My husband got a little offended when he heard me say this, but the truth is the truth.  It’s no secret that we’ve had our share of problems in the past, and if everyone is honest, NO ONE out there has the “perfect” marriage.  Problems crop up in every relationship and marriage from time to time.  It’s how you handle it that matters and keeps you together.

Back to the subject at hand.

I’ve prayed for my niece all of these years, and now I take great pleasure in praying for her “bun” she has in the “oven.”

And in all my prayers, I make sure to give thanks and praises to God above for all of the blessings He has given to us!

“When are you due?” I asked with great anticipation of the date.

“May 12,” my niece replied.

My oldest daughter sat across from me at lunch as I told her of what I had just learned.  I watched her eyes light up as she leaned forward with delight while a huge smile formed across her lips!

Ten weeks and two days. That is how far along my niece is at this point.

I can’t help myself as I am already shopping for this baby!

Neutral colors are a must at this point … but I am drawn to baby blue …

Oh the cute little boy suits … the baseball hats … I could snatch them all off the rack and buy every single one of those cutie patootie outfits!  She really believes she is having a boy, but with us not knowing for certain at this point, I resist the urge  …  to  … buy!

Will it be a boy?

OR

Will it be a girl that we can dress in lace and frills?

I have two girls … and my niece, of course.  So it stands to reason that girls could run in the family.

But what if that doesn’t ring true this time?  We just don’t know … other than what she feels in her heart … and what a psychic medium told me last year.

This is where I will lose a lot of my reading audience, I’m almost sure.  However, I feel the need to risk that and put it out there.

A year ago I went to a psychic medium that my friend in Illinois knows.  She predicted that my niece would come back into my life at some point when she was no longer under the control of her paternal influences.  I was not sure if any of this “reading” was real or would come to pass, but I held on to each word that she spoke with great anticipation.  Hoping.  Wanting.  Almost willing it to be …

Fast forward a little over a year and a half later, and it has come to pass!  My niece is back in my life after moving to be with her boyfriend.

Part of that has come true.  So we wait to see if the other half comes true as well.  What that other half is will remain a secret at this time.

Today my beautiful niece went to the doctor.  Not just any doctor, though.  An OB/GYN!

I realize I’m not even writing in correct sentence form either.

But who has time for that when you’re trying to make a point?!

MY NIECE IS PREGNANT!!!

She is so incredibly smart that she finished high school a year early.  Having just graduated in June, she moved shortly thereafter to live with her boyfriend in North Carolina.  We were so sad to see her go but looked forward to our visits together.  We took them to Carowinds this summer and had a great time, and she’s been back here a few times since to visit with us as well.  I have enjoyed every bit of time spent with them!

I’ll never forget the phone conversation with her when she said she had news to tell me.  Immediately I responded with, “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!!”  and she hadn’t even said anything beyond that yet.  Ha!  When she told me the news, my heart leaped out of my chest!

My sister’s baby is having a baby!!!

Oh, what joy filled my soul upon learning this.

Now I realize she’s probably already heard people saying things like, “You’re so young …” and she is, but she has graduated from high school and has been attending college. She still plans to continue with college and building her future.

Me?

I want to be a part OF that future!  NO matter what it holds.  And … in her future, WE will be HOLDING her baby!

She messaged me after the appointment today, as she goes back in a week for an ultrasound and blood work.  I was having lunch with my oldest daughter at that time, and we were both so excited we could hardly contain ourselves!  My daughter told me to ask if we could have a gender reveal party for her.  I had just picked up balloons at a store about 15 minutes before that which would be appropriate for a gender reveal OR we could use them at her actual baby shower.

Now, I was nervous asking her such a question.  I don’t want to intrude, but I want to be a part of all of this.  Only if she wants me to, though.   And I pray she does!

There I go again with the incomplete sentences.

But … the greatest thing has happened.  When I told her I wanted to be there for the ultrasounds, she responded with, “COME ON then!”

~SQUEAL~

And my heart did a back flip!

My niece has invited me in to be a part of this.

Let me say that again.  SHE HAS INVITED ME IN TO BE A PART OF THIS!

Not only has she invited me to be a part of the appointment when she has the ultrasound, but she has agreed to let them tell ME what the gender will be so we can have a gender reveal party for her!!!!

We are soaring!!

And the tears form in my eyes as I think of such an exciting time that I was a part of years ago … when my sister told me that she was pregnant.  It was such a special time the way my sister announced her pregnancy also.  I’ll never forget her allowing me to be a part of this time with her as well.

I can’t help but think of the tragedy in losing my sister two weeks after my niece was born.  I think of how my sister should be here to celebrate the anticipation of her grandbaby’s arrival, and yet, she’s in Heaven watching over them as we prepare.

My heart hurts!

Honestly, I wanted to call my sister to ask her, “Did you hear the news ….”  My sister was always the very first one I’d call to talk to, and now I can’t.  A part of me thinks she already knows, though, because God whispered it in her ear before he placed this little angel in my niece’s womb.  I believe God sent a little angel to us, to provide joy and to bring lots of laughter as we watch him or her grow.  I also believe He did so in a way to allow my niece and I to further bond together through this.  That is my prayer, at least.

She wants me to be a part of this!

And I swoon!

Thank you, Lord!

Everyone needs to have a person they can talk to when times are rough.  The world can seem like such a lonely place without this.

Do you have that in your life?  The one person you know you can turn to about anything and everything.  The one that will not sit in judgement of you but will lend a helping hand if needed.  The one that will offer advice even if you failed to take their well-meaning advice in the past.

Here’s the thing, though.  They have to keep things confidential.  They can’t spill the beans when they get mad at you.  OR the absolute worst thing – use what you’ve confided in them against you later!  They simply cannot, under any circumstances, use what you’ve told them against you later during an argument.  That’s the lowest of low!  And, it feels like the ultimate betrayal!  If you’ve ever had that happen to you, it stings!  You sit there feeling their assaults with each word they launch at you, wondering who that person is that is doing this!  Surely not the one you thought you could trust and that said they love you and have your best interest at heart!

You have to be wise about who you trust these days and how much of your life you share with them.  If you’re certain the friendship will stand the test of time, then share away.  However, be more reserved when you talk to someone that you really don’t know that much about.  That’s common sense, right?  But, a lot of people are in such desperate need to talk to someone – anyone – that they end up pouring their heart and soul out to someone unworthy of such an honor.

When someone comes to you to talk about what is bothering them, be the person you’d want to confide it.  Be the person that will keep things to themselves.  Honor the individual that trusts you so much to bare their soul to you.  Appreciate that they could talk to anyone about what is happening in their lives, yet they’ve chosen you!  Respect them enough not to share their business with anyone else and certainly never throw it back up in their faces later.

And here’s the biggest thing – BE THERE for them.

I’ve gone to friends in the past to talk about something I was going through just to come away feeling as if I “bothered” them with my stuff.  That is the biggest insult when you trust someone to confide in them, and they give the impression that they’d rather not be involved or would prefer not to be “that person” who will be there for you in your time of need.

There was a popular song by Casting Crowns a few years ago entitled “Praise You In The Storm.”  As I look back on that time period, I’m reminded of a gentleman who was struggling with cancer at the time this song came out.  This gentleman was my husband’s boss, but he became a mentor to my husband after he started working there.

He was a great businessman, but more than that, he was a man of God.  He believed in sharing his faith, and he set a good example for my husband to look up to.  He is the reason for all of the good things that came to pass while my husband worked under him, as he believed in looking out of his hardworking employees.

When he fell ill, he started a Caring Bridge page where he documented his journey through cancer treatments.  He had five beautiful blond-haired, blue-eyed little girls, and it broke our hearts what they were going through.  Sadly, although he praised God throughout his entire ordeal, he lost his battle on Earth with cancer but gained his angel wings in Heaven.

He was an example of praising God through the storms of life.

This tested the faith of those around him, but he did not show any wavering in his own faith.  Instead, he held his head up high and continued to minister to people he encountered even as he struggled with terminal cancer.

The day he died, hundreds gathered in the church watching a video of his life on the large screens on both sides of the stage.  And his niece took the “stage” to sing a song in his honor.  There wasn’t a dry eye in the place, including her, as she had to stop at the end due to the grief she was feeling singing at her uncle’s funeral.

Would you be able to display unwavering faith in God through your storms in life?  I know for me, it has been hard not to question God with what all my family and I have had to face.  However, I think my faith has remained strong throughout each and every situation.  I know I could not have made it this far without my Lord and Savior.

In a situation within my own family, my father became angry with God when we lost my sister, Pamela.  His faith was tested, and he all but turned his back on God at one point.  Who can blame him, really, after he prayed for God to “take care” of his oldest daughter, and yet she killed herself in the end.  That isn’t exactly what my father had envisioned when he prayed asking God to “take care” of her.  And we were all heart broken over the tragic way in which she left this world.  We could not comprehend how this could happen, and yet praising in the midst of our hearts shattering was the very last thing we wanted to do.  It was hard to even breathe in and out at that point.  Yet years later, my dad turned back to God and mended his relationship with Father God.  And, our hearts rejoiced.  I’ll never forget my grandmother asking my dad how he ever planned on seeing Pam again if he was so angry that he turned his back on God.  I am not exactly sure what swayed my dad to turn back to Jesus, but I’m sure glad he did.  Maybe it was a series of things from my grandmother’s words to their prayers, or maybe the cards filled with bible verses that she and my aunt would send finally got to him.  I’m not sure, as at the time he’d open the cards to find what it said on the inside and toss it down immediately.  But maybe a combination of things allowed him to answer to the knock at his heart once more when Jesus stood there asking to come back in.

It’s been several years since my dad answered the knock, and he and Jesus have walked hand in hand together.  I’m sure my dad still has questions, as we all do, but he’s managed to come back to God … and in doing so, he’s dug deeper into his bible and is able to pray “preacher worthy” prayers.  It was not something that happened over night, but we are glad my father found his way back to Jesus.

And we praise Him.