Do it Anyway - Mother Teresa

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.

Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway. 

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

A Heart Hollowed Out

Jim Manney's Blog 

 

A Heart Hollowed Out

by Jim Manney

A reflection for Tuesday in Holy Week:

A cup must be empty before it can be filled. If it is already full, it can’t be filled again except by emptying it out. In order to fill anything, there must be a hollowed-out space. Otherwise it can’t receive.

This is especially true of God’s word. In order to receive it, we must be hollowed out. We must be capable of receiving it, emptied of the false self and its endless demands.

When Christ came, there was no room in the inn. It was full. The inn is a symbol of the heart. God’s word, Christ, can take root only in a hollow.

I like this analogy. It is very true. 

I remember how I want to renew myself. I realized that the first thing I need to do is to get rid of "expectations" of myself. I feel like it's damaging because if I don't meet my personal expectations then I am so hard on myself and it can be very depressing.  It is very liberating to let go and surrender to God but it is also very tempting to get back to your "old self". That's why I feel having a journal is very important. Unnecessary thoughts can go in there and stay in there.

 I need to empty it out and let God fill it completely -- like a cup :) You can't go wrong with that.


Billy Graham- April 19 - Depend on Him

To walk in the Spirit is a challenging and inspiring exercise, for it combines activity with relaxation. To walk means to place one foot in front of the other. If you stop doing this, you are no longer walking—you are standing still. Walking always implies movement, progress, and direction. Sin shall no longer rule or dominate you when you are allowing the Holy Spirit to live Christ’s life through you. It is living by faith, living by trust, living in dependence upon God.

If we look to our own resources, our own strength, or our own ability, as Peter did when he walked on the water, we will fail. You cannot live the Christian life by yourself. The Holy Spirit must live in you and express Himself through you. Living for Christ is a day-by-day experience. It is a continuous dependence upon the Spirit of God. It is believing in His faithfulness.

Prayer for the day

Lord, so often I have walked on my own instead of walking in Your Spirit. Guide my footsteps this day, I pray in Jesus’ name.

I advise you to obey only the Holy Spirit’s instructions. He will tell you where to go and what to do, and then you won’t always be doing the wrong things your evil nature wants you to.
–Galatians 5:16 (TLB)


Obama's Easter with Religious Leaders

I am not happy with today's politics and not too crazy about what the democrats/republicans have done but I find comfort in  knowing that Obama is having an Easter with pastors from all over the country to talk about getting closer with the Lord in time of crisis.   Thought you would like to know too. 

My Birthday Gift From God - My Life

1 John

No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
 

Good Morning!!!  I would like to go ahead and write about my birthday week/weekend. God has blessed me with many things and was able to share/celebrate it with my family and friends. There's so much I have to say that I don't even know where to begin.

First of all, in my heart, I was hoping the government wouldn't shut down because of three things, money, my birthday party at work with friends and my birthday party on the weekend with friends. I was so excited and so happy to spend my real birthday with everyone at work - it was so much fun. I don't think they realize how grateful I am to have them as my friends. Now I understand why Dad takes me out to his co-workers house for parties. I always thought it was a drag but now I get it. If the government shutdown, many of my friends would use it as an opportunity to go out of town and then miss my second party too. I would've been sad about it. So I'm thankful that the govt didn't shutdown and I was able to have a party with my friends AND family. That's another blessing I have...I am so thankful for my parents who wouldn't miss my birthday for the world and would come to see me. They tried to surprise me but I knew they would come. I can feel them :) But I was surprised about my in-laws!!! Although I was sad I didn't see Alex, I was shocked and soo surprised to see my father in law and mother in law :) The fact that they took the time to come to see me like this, really means a lot to me. It made me feel very much loved.

Usually, when I drop off my parents to go home by bus or train. I would have to use my every strength to fight back my tears because its so hard living far away and not knowing when I will see them again. It happened at college during my freshman year but after the first year, I felt better because my parents made a habit of seeing me every three months, haha. She did the same when I first moved away. I believe her when she said, no matter how far I am, she will always be there for me. Daddy too. Because of my bond with her and because of God,  I  know I will see them again and that it won't be the last time.   As an adult, I understand how harsh the world can be and how hard it is to be yourself in this world so I appreciate my parents making me and my husband feel number one in their lives. I appreciate their respect for us too.


In my last post, I was talking about the book and the drawing that my dad saw when I was younger. My father saw my post and decided to bring the book and tell me more about the story. I love how God works in mysterious ways. He actually gave me my birthday gift through my father. I didn't know this until my dad told me. When he was out of work, he remembers taking me to barnes and nobles to look for a book to read. He found a book that stood out the most - "I Am With You Always" by people who have had encounters with Jesus. My father told me that he believes in Jesus with his whole heart and doesn't need to see Him but would like for Him to visit me or my mother. After he prayed about that, few weeks later, he heard me screaming from my parents bedroom. Then I remember what he was talking about....

When I was in my parents bedroom, I was facing their mirror and was polishing my nails on their vanity. As I was polishing my nails, I looked up to the mirror and I literally screamed at the top of my lungs and RAN out of the room. When I looked up, I saw a man standing behind me,  maybe 6 feet away. He was tall. He wore brown suit and at the time, I thought he had moles in his hands. His eyes were closed. I thought it was my Uncle Bob or something. I had no idea who it was and I wanted nothing of it. Because of that, I refused to go to sleep in my bedroom and my mother would have to stay with me until I fell asleep. My father kept asking me who did I think I saw...I said I think it was my Uncle Bob. It looked kinda like him from the pictures. My dad never explained it to me. Then until years later, I write about this book on my blog, and he decided to tell me over the weekend that he believes that  I saw Jesus. And he believes that the moles was the holes from the nails. He also thinks Jesus came in a form where I wouldn't be scared of and that it would be easier for me to approach to. Of course. I cried. We all cried.    Now, looking back, I do wish that I had never ran and faced him instead and say....Thank you Jesus - You died for our sins and I will be forever grateful for it. I love You.


On Sunday, I went to the Catholic Church with my parents and my husband. It was a very very emotional service. Actually, it was a very emotional weekend!! So many times I have to fight back my tears at the service that I had to think about my hair just to get my mind off of it!! My mom, didn't hold back, she cried with her whole heart. She has the heart of gold. We were emotional about the reading from the Bible where they talked about Jesus preparing for His Death on the Cross. It was hard to read it. The song was sad too. Children was singing - "were you there when they crucified my Lord"?   This is why I won't watch Passion of Christ, it is too hard. It is like watching your own family dying like this. It's too close to the heart. It is also a good wake up call and a good way to understand it even more. It's still too emotional. If I ever decide to watch it, I would do it alone.

Anyway, Gil had a good point. He said that he doesn't understand why the Catholic church doesn't hand out communion in paper cups and plates. I know that the Church hands it out to people who have received holy communion . But, Gil is a Christian, he should be able to receive the body of Christ. My mother and I talked about this with him. We both agreed that, it's between him and God. It doesn't matter what the Church believes or thinks - that you have to be a catholic to receive it. Christians should receive it too. We told Gil, don't let the Church stop you. We know how you feel about Jesus, you should go up there if you want to.

I can understand how people would have wrong ideas about the Church because of their "rules" and "laws". I don't agree with it. I believe that you should find a Church where you feel that it celebrates Jesus in the way you want to celebrate Him and follow their rituals for spiritual practice.  Like what LG said, some people use yoga, lent, etc. to get closer with the Lord. We shouldn't honor the church, we should honor their ways that makes us focused or closer to the Lord. I can understand why they would require for you to go to Church on Sundays...I do feel like God gives us messages through our priests and pastor and show us that He is here for us and knows what is going on with us. He makes us feel like our prayers are being heard. And life is so materialistic that the devil will distract us from being closer with God. Going to Church on Sundays is a great way to renew ourselves every week. To me, it doesn't seem like a habit or a routine anymore, it has meaning to me now, because of the captions and the interpreters I can finally benefit it and finally grasped the meaning and purpose of it!!

I still have so much to talk about. I am going to read the book that my dad left with me and will share it with you too. I would like to conclude that it was a wonderful birthday and I am so blessed.




Amen :)


I would like to add something that my mother left in my bag. It explains about the concluding rite (Praying the Mass).

When a movie ends, people simply get up and walk out of the theater. But the Mass is a communal ritual, and needs a ritual ending. So we are ritually blessed and then sent : "Go in peace."  When the liturgy was celebrated in Latin, the priest said, "Ite miss est." The Latin word "missa" means being "sent, missioned." Literally, the Latin phrase meant, "Go, it is the sending." Since the fourth century, the whole celebration became known by that word: The Mass.

The Eucharist is not something we celebrate once, and then never need to celebrate again. We do it over and over and over because it is always "live." We also do it because the Lord said, "Do this in memory of me."

We need a healthy sense of "obligation" to prod us to do what we really ought to do, like traveling to a family gathering even though it's inconvenient. The "obligation" nudges us to go and afterwards we're glad we did.

"Going to Mass" is not a decision we should have to make from scratch every weekend. It's something we simply make part of our lives every week.

Picture Mary and the other disciples in those days after the Ascension. They came together for prayer and mutual support  on Sundays.

We should picture ourselves as part of those early disciples gathered every Sunday. It is not hard to get the feeling : This is where I belong.

Read this...very interesting

Communication - ThruErinsEyes

I enjoyed my friend's blog and thought it was a great topic and wanted to talk about it too on my blog. (Hope she doesn't mind!)

Communication


Have you ever thought of this way? .... you know when someone sends you a chain letter where they show you an optical illusion picture that you have to stare hard at it so you will see something else "popping out"? Sometimes we would stare so hard at it that nothing will show up? Until someone points it out to you and then all of sudden you can see the picture!!! It's the same thing with God. Like what my friend said on her blog -- God communicates with us differently...and I love how God reminds us by showing how diverse this world is everyone sees things differently but if you're open to it then you will understand why they see the way they do...

 

It looks real but you know that it's a chalk design that makes it look like it's there.  

 You know that this is a picture. It's not a video. If you look away, it looks like it's moving but if you look right at it, it doesn't move anymore. Interesting huh?

That's why government and major corporations value diversity because all of us together can meet so many different needs in this world. A world with diverse people is a complete picture for God.  That shows you that God meets all of our needs. Also, it teaches us to step outside of the box and come up with new ideas for our products/services. Along the way, we figure things out a lot faster if we know there might be another shortcut if we use different way of thinking.This helps us to show and learn respect for each other. That creates Harmony in this world.


God uses this to remind us that we need to be open and step outside of the box to be able to see Him. I have so many examples. One of them is the picture of God's I love you sign language on my wedding day...let me give you other examples...I do wish that I could've kept a record of it and document it...but I do remember this in college...


My father came to visit me at RIT for a whole weekend without my mother. It was a big deal. We always depend on my mom for communicating with each other. We were nervous but determined to get along with each other and enjoy each other's company. I've always wanted to be friends with my father and sometimes it's hard because it's either our personalities clash too much or we are too different from each other. There were times where I wanted to give up on our relationship but I couldn't because I love him.


I was praying really hard one night in class when I was watching a student do a presentation. I was spacing out as usual and was talking to God about my upcoming weekend with Dad and how well I want it to go for the both of us. Anyway, in the presentation, there was a picture of the Flat Iron building and as he was talking about it, I became homesick. I remember staring at it and was missing home because I usually go shopping in the area where the Flat Iron bulding was. 


After that night, I forgot about the presentation but I didn't forget about my prayer in class. So when my weekend with my Dad began, we decided to go to downtown Rochester to check out the coffee place - SPOTS. We actually had a nice time, we even talked a little and I felt good. I think he did too. We decided to walk around, it was a beautiful day. We have never been in the area before so we didn't know what to expect. Then, of course, my father points to the building that resembles the flat iron building that was shown in the presentation the other night - immediately I thought - God is saying Hello to me and is reminding me that He heard my prayer.  I never forgot that moment. I don't know why I didn't tell Dad. I guess I was still trying to absorb it myself and didn't want to ruin the moment. It was a great weekend and I will always cherish that memory of us. 


I do remember Dad telling me about the time where he noticed God saying hello too. I think I was 10 years old. And I think he thought it was Jesus because he was reading a religious book and in the chapters there was a picture that looked like a gold feather, it's hard to describe it. Anyway, I was playing a computer game on my old computer from the 90s! And my father was watching me and as I was erasing the white color to see what the picture was behind it and it resembled the one in his book that he showed me. I was like wow, God knows exactly how to communicate with all of us. We just need to be open. 


As, I'm writing this- I received this e-mail and I can't believe how much it fits to this topic!!!  Check it out...

One day God was looking down at Earth and saw all of the rascally behavior going on.
He sent one of his angels to Earth to look into it. 
When the angel returned, he told God, "Yes, it is bad on earth;
95% are misbehaving and only 5% are not." 
God was not pleased, so he decided to e-mail the 5% that were good, because he wanted to encourage them and give them a little something to help keep them going... 

Do you know what the e-mail said?

 

 Okay, I was just wondering because I didn't get one either.

Haha, God may not send a direct message to us but where's the fun in that? He's much bigger than words. I find it more fulfilling in looking for Him in the Sunrise, Sunsets, through Friends, Families, etc.

Have fun looking for God, keep your hearts - not your eyes - open for Him :)

Have a Sense of Humor

Check out the pictures I got by email....they are so funny and so true.

Sense of humor is a great way to relieve stress and laughter is the best medicine. I do feel that joking around in the right time and right place is important and it also helps lighten up the soul too. We all should remember that no religion is the right one. Pg. 51: Religions should be understood as only the fingers that point to the moon, not the moon itself.  many people believe that their religion is the "best" and the "right" one.   Each church has their own routine and rituals that they follow. As long it "points to the moon" that they focus on God and love, that's all it matters. People should remember not to worship the church but to worship God and Jesus Christ our savior.    I believe that going to one church and follow what they do everyday or every Sunday can lose meaning. It becomes a habit and we forget what we are doing or why we are doing it in the first place.   I have absolutely respect for all Churches and I admire their discipline and the way they praise our Lord.  I like to take a little bit of their "rituals" and apply it to my life. I believe that it is important to be open minded because everyone is so different. God made everyone different so He doesn't expect us to be the same. That's why forgiveness is so important because if someone insults us because we are different from them, we have to forgive them and remind them that God created us the way He wants us to be and we should respect and obey his decision. 

I love what Lon Solomon said in his sermon about obeying.. (4/3/2011)

Now, I'm sure none of you ever do that, but sometimes I do. And so this one time I was coming in the neighborhood not too long ago, and it just so happened as I rolled the stop sign that there was a Fairfax county police officer making a routine cruise through my neighborhood. You say you idiot! If there was a policeman right there, what in the world did you roll the stop sign for? Well, I didn't see him until after I rolled it!
So he pulled me over. And he came walking up to my car, and he said, sir, he said I know that there is not much traffic in this neighborhood, he said, but, sir, do you see that little red of course toke tag nail sign back there. He said I want to remind you, sir, that that sign is not a suggestion.
It is an order to be obeyed. Do you understand, sir? I said, yes, officer, I do. You say, did he give you a ticket? No, he gave me a warning. And I know for those of you who drive 55 on the beltway that this just irks you to no end that he didn't give you a ticket. I know it bothers you. But all I got was a warning, praise the Lord!
However, he made his point. He made his point. And that is my friend, a suggestion is something for us to consider. But a stop sign is a command, and a command is something for us to obey, and that's exactly what the Lord, Jesus is telling us about the great commission, that the great commission is not a suggestion. It is a command to every one of his followers, and every one of his Churches. 

I will write more about this in my next blog. Lon Soloman is a great pastor!! Anyway, I thought I would end with a good joke that my friend told me at work. :) 

Silent Battle With The Pope

 

Several centuries ago, the Pope decreed that all the Jews had to leave Italy. There was, of course, a huge outcry from the Jewish community, so the Pope offered a deal. He would have a religious debate with a leader of the Jewish community. If the Jewish leader won the debate, the Jews would be permitted to stay in Italy. If the Pope won, the Jews would have to leave. The Jewish community met and picked an aged Rabbi, Moishe, to represent them in the debate. Rabbi Moishe, however, could not speak Latin and the Pope could not speak Yiddish. So it was decided that this would be a "silent" debate. On the day of the great debate, the Pope and Rabbi Moishe sat opposite each other for a full minute before the Pope raised his hand and showed three fingers. Rabbi Moishe looked back and raised one finger. Next, the Pope waved his finger around his head. Rabbi Moishe pointed to the ground where he sat. The Pope then brought out a communion wafer and chalice of wine. Rabbi Moishe pulled out an apple. With that, the Pope stood up and said, "I concede the debate. This man has bested me. The Jews can stay." Later, the Cardinals gathered around the Pope, asking him what had happened. The Pope said, "First I held up three fingers to represent the Trinity. He responded by holding up one finger to remind me that there was still one God common to both our religions. Then I waved my finger around me to show him that God was all around us. He responded by pointing to the ground to show that God was also right here with us. I pulled out the wine and the wafer to show that God absolves us of our sins. He pulled out an apple to remind me of original sin. He had an answer for everything. What could I do?" Meanwhile, the Jewish community crowded around Rabbi Moishe, asking what happened. "Well," said Moishe, "first he said to me, 'You Jews have three days to get out of here.' So I said to him, 'Up yours'. Then he tells me the whole city would be cleared of Jews. So I said to him, 'Listen here Mr. Pope, the Jews ... we stay right here!" "And then?" asked a woman. "Who knows?" said Rabbi Moishe. "We broke for lunch."

The Blame Game

Yesterday, I  had an emergency meeting at work that was talking about preparing for a shutdown in our agency. This has been going on for a while. When I first heard about the shutdown at the beginning (March) first I have to admit, I was nervous and freaking out. Then I turned to God for help and gave him all of my burdens and I haven't been feeling stressed out since then. Until yesterday, the meeting has gotten me upset again, I texted my good friend and we both prayed together. I needed that and all of my worries slowly lifted back up to God again. Thank goodness I had a long commute home because by the time I got home, I was fine!

For those who don't know, I'm a democrat and my husband is a republican. From that, you should know that there is always fire going on between us, it does make our marriage very exciting :)   I absolutely adore my husband, he is a sweetheart with the most beautiful soul that God has ever given him. We both have our disagreements, who doesn't!?  We both have learned to agree to disagree but in this case, we both believe that both parties are at fault. They are so blinded by how this is affecting the American people and is using this for their self interest for the elections for next year, come on! I'm tired of hearing them blame each other. I'm tired of anybody pointing fingers at each other.  Have we all learned that it doesn't get us anywhere??

So after my discussion with my husband, I decided to go back to reading the book "Everything Belongs", I am now on Chapter Four. Of course, I'm not surprised, this is what I found in the book. I know I didn't read this by accident. God knew when it was the right time for me to read this chapter.

"It's so easy, too easy to demonize the other side. We see it written large in elections in this country. All either party knows how to do is attack the other side. I don't know how much contemplation our national political leaders do. They probably don't know about it. But it is dangerous to have public officials who have no inner life. They'll operate out of illusion, self-interest, power, and fear, especially fear of not being reelected. We don't have anything positive to believe in, anything that is enlightened or rich or deep. Negative identity, shallow as it is, comes more easily than dedicated choice. It is frankly much easier to be against than to be for." pp 107

"We also live too much in reaction to others. There is something strangely sweet about negative or accusatory feelings. It's a strange way to achieve moral superiority: to feel right because someone else is wrong. We keep thinking until we've maneuvered ourselves into a position over somebody else. Now we've got righteous control over somebody else, but we have nothing beyond that control. It is another dead end." pp 109.

We need to stop focusing on who's right and who's wrong, it's hurting us. We also need to stop focusing on being the "best" and show humility.    "The Gospel is not a competing idea. It's that by which we see all ideas in proper context. We believe as Christians that Jesus has given us the ideal eyes by which to see the real nature of reality. He does NOT LEAD with his judgements. When we lead with our judgements, we can't see correctly. When we lead with fear, we can't see correctly. That doesn't mean that at a later time where there isn't an appropriate point for a cautionary response of judgements, but we can't lead with them. If we lead with the calculating mind, we'll never get to love.     God refuses to be known except by love." pp.95


Have you ever felt that you're always right? or think that you're right? Or become annoyed with someone who thinks that they are always right? Judge them for judging us?  Or try to make others feel guilty? Or make others think the way we think?  

It can be frustrating to me who says that they accept you who you are but yet, tries to change you. We need to remember that no matter how controlling, rude, hypocritical, convincing that they are, we should not feel obligated to follow them. We also should not blame them no matter how difficult they may be. We need to remember to "love thy neighbor" and "to forgive as God as forgiven you".  All they want is a reaction out of you, it's wrong but it's worse when you give it to them. God wants us to be who we are and respect others for their uniqueness too.

Sometimes groupthink can be dangerous...it is easy to follow what others believe because you want to be respected and have their approval.  The only approval we should be seeking from is God's.

                                              TRUST YOURSELF

"Jesus tells us in the Gospels 'Don't be afraid'. He is saying it is radically okay. You can trust yourself because God trusts you, using your journey, your experience. Nothing will be wasted; all has been forgiven; nothing will be used against you. In fact, God will even use your sins to transform you!" pp. 129.

Agnostics/Athesist

I bet you are all surprised to see this topic, huh?   I was challenged by someone who asked me to read agnostic/athesist blogs. Heck, I am even considering reading one of their books just to see....WHY they wouldn't even think of eternity and do they even understand the costs of dismissing it? I found this perfect blog from  Christ, the Con-Man check this out

I am going to quote from someone that I thought she perfectly stated it. Exactly what I was trying to explain to my friend over coffee one night.

"SO…Let us say, if you, as an un-believer, and I, as a Christian, were to make a wager concerning Christianity, eternity, etc., I have ‘all the cards’, so to speak.  I didn’t become a Christian because of a ‘bet’ per se…never thought of it…but I NOW can’t LOSE this wager!  If I’m wrong in betting my future on belief in God and Christianity I’ll suffer no loss…since there’s nothing after death, I wouldn’t even know I was wrong!  YOU were RIGHT, but of course gain nothing. You won’t even be aware you’ve won a pyrrhic, useless victory. We won’t exist.        Score: even.  If I’M right and YOU are wrong, well, I have a blissful eternity ahead of me. You have at best the unhappy realization that you’ve given up that eternity, and at worst…well, who knows what ‘hell’ might be, really? I don’t imagine it’s a ton of chuckles.  Score: me, plus one… you, a BIG minus-one!  I can’t really lose anything, and you can’t really win anything. How bleak!  If you win, you (as my dad, sadly, used to say) will just ‘die and lay there like an old horse’…there will be nothing.  If you lose, you’ve given up paradise for some sort of eternal damnation.  NOW: before you make any snap conclusion that this is reducing faith to a mere wager…not so.  It’s merely an apologist’s attempt to encourage someone to do what he considers the obvious: EXPLORE the possibility that there’s something there!  Eternity is far too important a consideration!  I can’t say what you’ll find in your searching.  I only hope and pray you WILL search! "




And I know that Athesist simply do not believe in God. PERIOD. While Agnostics are open to believe what they can sense with their 5 senses. I've seen online that Agnostics means "without knowledge" or "undecided". Well, I hope one day they make sure they thought about everything before its too late and make a decision. Athesist depends on science and facts. You know what's funny about science? It can be conflicting too. Have you ever notice in the news, magazines, or online where they tell you different things about their "studies" ? Let's take coffee for an example since it's so common...how many of you have heard that coffee is bad for you and you should not drink it...while the other scientists from maybe different country says that coffee is great for you and it even helps you prevent cancer!!! BOTH are scientists? Who should we believe? The point is that they both actually have FACTS but they come to different conclusions....it's up to you to decide which evidence you want to believe...just like what Jesus did...He came to prove that He is the Son of God by healing the blind, healing the Deaf...etc. Yes we weren't there to witness it but guess what? We weren't there to witness what the scientists did to experiment and draw conclusions to the research/study they have did. So why are we so eager to believe them? Is it because they graduated with Ph.D? I don't know about you but I rather believe in the 'supernatural' something that is much much more powerful than we are !!! If you think about it, I am SO glad that Jesus came to Earth when He did because there were no technology back then, there is NO way He could just 'con' us. No TV manipulation or anything like that. It's real. It's so real that it has been passed on for 2011 YEARS!! Christ's death is the only reason why we have this date? If he wasn't real, why would they put this date based on a "myth"? 


The reason I want people to know about this is because I am so determined to not let the devil sell you with their "science" and recruit you to a place where you will suffer for eternity!! And I guess it is for selfish purpose too, I want to see all of you in Heaven with me so we can be family & friends for an eternity :) 


    I think there’s something else with which the atheist could hardly disagree . I can envision a scenario: two hospital beds, side by side. I am in one, our atheist friend in the other. We are in our last moments of life here.  I would be a sad excuse for a Christian if I feared death. I fear the process…the pain, all the attendant mess of the body shutting down, etc….but death itself? NO! To me, this is the door to Paradise!  My real life is about to begin!  I believe that last instant, that last breath will see me smiling, with the name of Jesus on my lips. But I wonder what my roommate will be thinking in those final seconds as his organs begin their final failures and darkness starts to settle. Will there be a doubt, now?  Will the scoffing, the witty derision still mix with his final breath?  Might he then, in this extremis, think, “What if?…What if been wrong (I’ve heard it said ,“Everyone has doubts” I’ve heard more than one Christian admit to the occasional doubt. Do atheists have doubts about LACK of faith?  They seem so cocksure!) I know this:  I would love, if able, in those final seconds, to ask my roommate his thoughts as death settles on him. What does a man have to look forward to when his highest hope is NOTHINGNESS at the end of it all…when the alternative to that nothingness (should he be wrong in his non-belief) is a HORROR…alienation from his creator, the realization, at last, of the paradise he’s passed up, even a hell, whatever its exact nature?  We can’t debate the greatest of all questions. He can’t prove a negative and I can’t give him the sort of empirical evidence he seems to need.  But how can he be happy?

From my personal opinion and observances from the blogs, I may be wrong but this is the feeling what I'm getting  from  Agnostics/Athesist that they don't like to be judged, they are independent and want to do what they would like to do and they have a lot of pride.    I know some and they are actually are wonderful people that I feel blessed to have met and get to know them.  I hope they  and others will give it a chance again because they don't know a lot of things in the Bible because they haven't whole-heartly made an effort to learn about it. I blame on all the religious leaders in the past and even now -- where they use religion to manipulate people which I think it's terrible and because of that many people have doubts and missed the big picture. I don't blame them for thinking that way. I just hope people would give it a chance, at least. After all, what do they have to lose?

Four Seasons

This morning was the first time that I didn't get mad at myself for being late to work. I actually felt at peace, I changed my routine a little this morning and decided to have breakfast before I put my make up on and stuff. I usually eat breakfast at work. I just felt a little bit more open today. When I parked and arrived at the garage before going to my desk, I realized that I left my jacket in the car. I was so happy that it has gotten warm again where I don't need my jacket again. I remember when fall/winter was starting and I was excited to wear my jacket with my cute scarf and hat and feel safe and warm when I put the jacket on. It's weird how different we feel at each season. Then I realized something right there and then. I just accepted it. That is why God created seasons to change our routine and actually make us appreciate life in a different way. Well how about that? God is one step ahead of us and has been changing our routine without us realizing it!?  That just to show how much He knows us and that if we just accept the natural order in life, it makes more sense to us spiritually. Our social order in society sometimes make sense to us humans but not to our soul. We are always at conflicts and sometimes we believe that materialistic things is the answer to it when God is the one who can heal our inner conflicts as a human and a child of God.


I have to admit something and I feel absolutely silly for saying this and I hope you won't feel offended by it. I take my job for granted. I'm always feeling depressed about my job. I always have to remind myself that there are people out there who don't have jobs or health insurance where they probably need it worse than I do! I don't have a micromanaging boss - actually sometimes it feels like I don't have a boss at all!!! I have these feelings sometimes because of my memories from RIT and I recently visited RIT for a recruiting event. I went to NTID Career Center where I used to work with the employment advisor staff. They are the *BEST* staff I have ever worked with. Truly the best. The atmosphere at RIT is so positive and so engaging and so warm. I miss it terribly. This doesn't mean that I want my old job back but it means I wish I could have that feeling again with my current staff at work.   It's very awkward here and I feel like there is no leader and that we are pretty much left to our own devices.  Then again this morning, I realized something else...God is my leader. He brought me here for a reason, maybe not to depend on my staff for keeping me feeling engaged and satisfied but to show me that He can keep me satisfied no matter where I am.

Also, I have a question. Do you ever feel like you have to wait for New Year's or your birthday or some special event to "start over"? Like what the book has said, that we should keep transforming ourselves to help us let go more and more. I like that because I have to say that when I went through "changes" from college, to being a wife, and working as a government employee that it has always been for the better. I have to make sure that the transformation is aimed at the direction where my soul is coordinated/aligned with God's plan for me.

Well my birthday is coming up soon, maybe I should focus on how to improve my attitude and my positive thinking and LIVING in this world. Then for May, for mother's day, I would like to improve my relationship with my mother and make her feel appreciated. I always feel like she deserves more than what she gets from me sometimes. I love how she has no expectations and unconditional love for me that I will never take for granted. For June, I would like to focus on my relationship with my husband and cherish all the times we have had together and plan with God for our future :) Then July, I will appreciate what America has done for me! You get the idea!!!  It will be like Lent every month or something. I have to figure out the details before my birthday! :)

Check out this blog about Lent by Mark Batterson

Lent


Let me explain what it means.
The key to spiritual growth is developing healthy and holy routines. They are called spiritual disciplines. But once the routine becomes routine, you need to disrupt the routine via a change of pace or change of place. Why? Because sacred routines can become empty rituals if you forget why you started doing them in the first place.
I’m certainly not suggesting that routines are bad. Most of us practice a morning ritual that includes showering, brushing our teeth and putting on deodorant. On behalf of your family and friends, continue practicing those routines.
But here’s the spiritual catch-22: good routines can become bad routines if we don’t change the routine. When you start going through the motions spiritually, it’s time to mix up the routine. And Lent is a great opportunity for a natural change of pace.
Lent disrupts the status quo. It can get us out of an old routine and into a new routine.
In physical exercise, routines eventually become counterproductive. If you exercise your muscles the same way every time you work out, your muscles start adapting and stop growing. You need to disorient your muscles by changing your routine. And the same is true spiritually.
When I’m in a spiritual slump, I often snap out of it by a change of pace or a change of place. And it was Jesus who modeled this practice. He would often walk the beach or climb a mountain. I think those changes in geography are not disconnected from the practice of spirituality. It is a simple change of place that precipitates many of the epiphanies that happen in Scripture.
To snap out of a slump, sometimes all it takes is a small change in routine. Volunteer at a local homeless shelter or nursing home. Start keeping a gratitude journal. Get plugged into a small group or Bible study. Take a day off and do a personal retreat. Or just get up a little earlier in the morning and spend a little extra time with God.
One of the small changes in routine that has helped me rejuvenate me is picking up a new translation of Scripture. New words help me think new thoughts. And while you can institute those changes at any time, Lent is a perfect excuse to mix up your spiritual routine.

Why not leverage Lent by mixing up your routine? If you do, you’ll celebrate Easter like you never have before.

Spend Eternity with me :)

Of course, I want to see my family and friends to spend eternity with me in Heaven with our Father.  I hope that we all will greet each other when our time comes and have a party :)


Romans 9:5-10   The Message of Salvation to All

For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. But the righteousness based on faith says, Do not say in your heart, "Who will ascend into heaven?" (that is to bring Christ down) or "Who will descent into the abyss?" (That is to bring Christ up from the dead).  But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is the word of faith that we proclaim); 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. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame.


How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?

Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.


There's a lot more verses from the Bible that supports this. I can show it to you in person if you are interested.  I love learning about Jesus and writing about Him but recently, I have realized there might be a reader who is curious about how to become a Christian or how to go to Heaven. I've actually had a conversation with someone who said that she will try her best to be a good person and hopes to get to Heaven but doesn't want to get her hopes up because she doesn't know if it's real. You can't experience this with all of your five senses- hearing, smelling, touching, seeing, feeling but don't forget your sixth sense - your gut where the Holy Spirit resides in you.   Have you ever thought of this? That in the old days - ancient days, that we assumed that there's nothing beyond our sky and that the sky's the limit. Nobody ever THOUGHT that there would be planets behind the Earth's outer atmosphere (don't know the scientific terms but you get the idea) until one day someone used a telescope and discovered it! Then we found it and now we have evidence that Earth is not the only planet here -- there's more!!  We will discover Heaven when it's our time but the problem is that we have to be ready for it. That's why God sent his son Jesus to show us the way and died for us so we can live through Him to go to Heaven. God loves us so much and wants us to be with Him again.   I don't want people to have to die to realize that Heaven and Hell is real before it's too late. It's not. You can be saved   anytime and anywhere. It is up to you where you want to do it and if you want to do it with someone you trust. But most of all, you have to be ready to genuinely believe in Jesus Christ and commit to Him. Once you do, the Bible and everything else will make sense!! That you know that Jesus will always be with you and will never leave you.


First, confess your sins to Jesus Christ, forgive others and ask for forgiveness,  then accept/invite/ask/welcome/ love Him to your heart and KNOW that He will never leave you.

The Blood of Christ - His gift to us will bring us to Heaven and  once you have accepted him as your savior --KNOW that it is guaranteed that once your body dies, your spirit/soul will be with Him ....and that is in Heaven :)

Trust the Big Mystery

Today is the first day that I actually slept in and felt great about sleeping in my bed that I often take for granted!!!  As much as I appreciate the things that God has blessed me with -  I believe that everything is planned for  me to realize this that God is my comfort zone - not my bed!!   It's hard to put it in words. But something just didn't feel right. Then I went to RIT for a recruiting trip with my co-worker but she is also my friend. 

(She's a wonderful friend and I feel blessed to have met her. We both have graduated from the same college but different times. I feel that I was meant to meet her at one point if it wasn't at RIT then it's at work. )

At RIT, we both were nervous about the information session and the Career Fair. For some reason we didn't have faith in ourselves and we were scared that we were going to forget everything we wanted to say and not do a good job. Once we entered the room and set everything up,  then we were ready for it and I knew that everything was going to be just fine. And it was. After that, I think I was somehow "punished" lol I don't think it's the right term for it but as a result of worrying so much , my stomach was completely sore from being so tensed and being in knots!!! I literally made myself sick! In my mom's family, we have a history of having sensitive stomachs. I guess its from all the unnecessary worrying that we always do! It actually caught up to me and I want to get rid of it. I should have trusted God that everything was going to be just fine!

That night, I slept terrible and even was seeing things in the middle of the night. I still don't know what to make of it. I told everyone about it hoping to find answers, one person thinks I had a fever and became delirious and the other thinks I was seeing ghosts. Whatever it was, I was beside myself seeing the green darting light on the top of my bed sheet covers. I was nervous and then I turned on all of the lights. Then I went to bed thinking about it, I knew God was with me but was wondering what was going on!? I felt God calming me down and went back to sleep. All day I was worried I was going to be tired and irritable but I wasn't. God was on my side and the day went well. I'm blessed that God shakes me out of my comfort zone to say hello to me. I love Him for that :)

At the Career Fair, a very good friend of mine that I have became close with when I worked with her on my audio training for my cochlear implant. I think it's amazing how we connected so fast after we met each other. I felt that it was meant to be for me to work with her. She's one of the most thoughtful, considerate and caring person I've ever met too. She loves her family and she always wants to know how's everything going with our family too. She stopped by at the career fair and gave me a birthday present which was unexpected and sweet of her. She gave me a book "Everything Belongs" by Richard Rohr.  The writing style is amazing, it is not simple or easy to read, it is definitely challenging but the descriptions and analogies he uses are awesome. I just finished the second chapter and still have a lot more to go!

Basically this book is about letting go of your comfort zone and challenge yourself in the way of LIVING -- not thinking! And not looking for answers and just simply accept the Mystery of God and live in Him. 

This is for people with "teachable spirit" - its a term that I learned at my stepmother/father in law's Church in Mobile. People with teachable spirit is open to new ways of thinking and living while the unteachable spirit is narrow-minded and think that they have all the answers so that they don't need to learn or grow anymore. No matter what, we are always and still need to grow in God's presence. It doesn't end in baptism. That's only the beginning.   

 I learned so much from this book it is going to be hard for be to summarize it!!!

"The only true perfection available to us is the honest acceptance of our imperfection"

"It takes uncommon humility to carry the dark side of things. It takes a kind of courage to carry the good side too"

 "To resist the instant fix and acknowledge oneself as a beginner is to be open to transformation."

"This generation is an evil generation. "It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah'" (Luke 11:29"

What's wrong with wanting hard evidence? (Quest Bible)

 

Nothing, but we must be willing to accept the evidence once it is presented. Jesus repeatedly offered miraculous evidence to substantiate his claims but refused to perform miracles just for the show. 

According to the book, many believe that once they have their "born again" experience, their baptism in the spirit or their first religious retreat, at least for a few days they become "obnoxious" which you can't blame them since they are so excited about seeing the truth      but    it's dangerous if they don't have the honesty and humility.  That's why Jesus repeats the admonition to conversion. We need to be converted again and again and....again!! It takes a lot of letting go. If we aren't willing to move out of our comfort zone, it won't happen. 

I know that Gil and I have experienced a lot of that when we got married. Gil moved to a place where he has never visited before!! He had no idea what to expect and was already preparing to hate it anyway. Which he did. We moved out to another place to help us adapt better. So we have been doing both - doing stuff that definitely didnt make us comfortable and we have been trying to find materialistic stuff to make us feel like we "belong" but in the end we both knew it was God who has to make us comfortable. 

Like I said before, there's so much form this book that is hard to summarize.  What I love about this book is that it talks about what I have been dealing with every day. I know that there is more to life than what I'm doing on daily basis. It is so easy to be blinded by our "social order" in our society and world that we don't fall in love with the Big Mystery that God has for us.  I'm just as guilty as other people, always looking for answers for everything that happened to me in my life and sometimes for other people in their lives !! I have the need to explain everything which is what I'm doing right now!! So then what am i doing here on this blog? I don't want to keep all this amazing discoveries to myself, I want others to know about this and experience it as well. It would be selfish of me to think that I should only enjoy God's grace but I know that God loves not only me- He loves you and everybody in this world - even our enemies. He wants us to love them too.

PS Thank you LG for this book!!! I will write more about it later but please feel free to share your comments like you did in your e-mail if you wish :)