Saturday, May 24, 2014
Faith
Faith
"I believe in the sun even if it isn't shining. I believe in love even when I am alone. I believe in God even when He is silent." ~World War II refugee
"As your faith is strengthened you will find that there is no longer the need to have a sense of control, that things will flow as they will, and that you will flow with them, to your great delight and benefit." ~Emmanuel
"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." ~1 Corinthians 13:12-13
Judgement
Judgement
"You can't depend on your judgment when your imagination is out of focus." ~Mark Twain
How many times do you find yourself in a situation where you want to give advice to someone you care about because you do not agree with the choices they are making. Perhaps you think they are being foolish or maybe it is simply not understanding why a person is the way he or she is.
We have a tendency to judge people by their behaviors or the choices they do or do not make. But when was the last time you walked a mile in their shoes rather than making the call to judge?
Do you know that the kid that is acting a little "crazy" or has odd behaviors actually has a sleep disorder and cannot focus throughout the day so she acts out in ways that are not deemed socially acceptable. Maybe there is something going on that caused him or her to have a bad day. Maybe the child has been bullied so much that his own sense of self-preservation kicks in and his escape method is to act "odd" when around other people.
Do you realize that many children diagnosed with ADHD actually have undiagnosed sleep problems? No, they do not all have bad parents. Why do we rush to judge someone because of the way a family member acts? Why do we assume every parent that has a child having a meltdown in public is a terrible parent or every child having a public meltdown is a spoiled child? It may be as simple as a child on the Autism spectrum on sensory overload while mom or dad desperately tries to finish the day's errands. Or maybe the child has a special needs sibling and one of her coping mechanisms when feeling a little lost or left out is to act out to seek attention. Is it desirable? No. But but it is human.
Maybe you have a friend that is having a rough patch in their marriage. Maybe, instead of judging the spouse, you can simply be a shoulder to cry on and provide love and support to help them through a difficult time. It is far too easy to jump on the bandwagon, bashing a person rather than thinking that we all have our bad moments and maybe that person just needs a little extra love and attention.
On the flip side, why is it assumed that the spouse is a bad spouse or that there are problems in a marriage when one spouse is seen publicly and the other is not. It does not mean a marriage is on the rocks nor does it mean that the spouse out in public is "free game" because his or her spouse must be a terrible person to live with.
All I am trying to say is that we all have our moments and maybe we would get through them faster if we would stop rushing to judgment and encouraging more bad behavior. Offer words of encouragement, love, and support for our fellow family, friends, and acquaintances rather than fueling their fires and jumping to judge and hate. Acceptance has to be the key. Accept differences, accept the person and learn more about them because, if you do, you may discover an amazing person that you cannot imagine your life without!
"You can't depend on your judgment when your imagination is out of focus." ~Mark Twain
How many times do you find yourself in a situation where you want to give advice to someone you care about because you do not agree with the choices they are making. Perhaps you think they are being foolish or maybe it is simply not understanding why a person is the way he or she is.
We have a tendency to judge people by their behaviors or the choices they do or do not make. But when was the last time you walked a mile in their shoes rather than making the call to judge?
Do you know that the kid that is acting a little "crazy" or has odd behaviors actually has a sleep disorder and cannot focus throughout the day so she acts out in ways that are not deemed socially acceptable. Maybe there is something going on that caused him or her to have a bad day. Maybe the child has been bullied so much that his own sense of self-preservation kicks in and his escape method is to act "odd" when around other people.
Do you realize that many children diagnosed with ADHD actually have undiagnosed sleep problems? No, they do not all have bad parents. Why do we rush to judge someone because of the way a family member acts? Why do we assume every parent that has a child having a meltdown in public is a terrible parent or every child having a public meltdown is a spoiled child? It may be as simple as a child on the Autism spectrum on sensory overload while mom or dad desperately tries to finish the day's errands. Or maybe the child has a special needs sibling and one of her coping mechanisms when feeling a little lost or left out is to act out to seek attention. Is it desirable? No. But but it is human.
Maybe you have a friend that is having a rough patch in their marriage. Maybe, instead of judging the spouse, you can simply be a shoulder to cry on and provide love and support to help them through a difficult time. It is far too easy to jump on the bandwagon, bashing a person rather than thinking that we all have our bad moments and maybe that person just needs a little extra love and attention.
On the flip side, why is it assumed that the spouse is a bad spouse or that there are problems in a marriage when one spouse is seen publicly and the other is not. It does not mean a marriage is on the rocks nor does it mean that the spouse out in public is "free game" because his or her spouse must be a terrible person to live with.
All I am trying to say is that we all have our moments and maybe we would get through them faster if we would stop rushing to judgment and encouraging more bad behavior. Offer words of encouragement, love, and support for our fellow family, friends, and acquaintances rather than fueling their fires and jumping to judge and hate. Acceptance has to be the key. Accept differences, accept the person and learn more about them because, if you do, you may discover an amazing person that you cannot imagine your life without!
Time is cruel but God is there
Time is our enemy. It stands still for no one. It keeps marching on as we watch moments and memories march past as we cling to them. However, if we cling to our faith; whether your faith is in God or in something else, that faith reminds us we are not alone when time is unkind.
So much is going on right now. My oldest is being promoted to high school this week. I am trying to figure out where time has gone. This is the little boy I could not wait for to arrive. I held him, kissed his boo-boos, cried with him when he suffered from colic, stood by him and defended him fiercely when he was hurt by others. This promotion means a new and scary stage of our lives. Now we start talking about his future: does that mean college, jobs, more independence? Only time will tell us and I pray that time is kind to him because he deserves the world.
Time makes me look at my youngest and appreciate his "littleness" a lot more right now. I want to cling to every giggle and silly story that comes from him. I maintain that hug and the nighttime routine fiercely because, Lord knows, that has changed drastically with the oldest and I miss those times where I ended up with one or two boys in my bed needing snuggles or just to know I was there in the middle of the night when they needed comfort. Now I am the one asking for comfort. Reaching out just to make sure they know I am here for them when the time comes when they need something from me. I know God brought these two boys to my life for a reason and I am trying my best to raise them in His time and His plan.
Time is cruel. I have family members hurting. They need healing for their father, their daughter. I have a cousin who is dying from a horrible cancer and time has not been kind since he received his diagnosis. His second daughter is getting married in early June and it seems that he will not likely be here for the ceremony. Why? Why does this happen? I don't know why time is cruel but I do know that God is here, holding us up and getting us through the difficult times.
My niece is suffering from a horrible disease, she is 7. Her life expectancy is 9-13 years. Time is CRUEL. This little beauty with eyes full of love and infectious giggles is going to be taken from us too soon. She will be the flower girl in the wedding mentioned above and that will be another one of those memories we cling to because the family has made arrangements for my brother to walk her down the aisle that day. God has provided moments and memories to cherish even though time would rob us of these things.
Why is time so cruel and heartless, I have no idea. I do know that I have a God that is good and He will help me through the difficult times. I know that He will provide. He will be there for my oldest as he prepares for the next, major stage of his life, for the youngest as he also grows up too fast, for the family watching their loved one slip away, and for the family that has more time with their loved one but the time is still fleeting.
1To everything there is a season, A time for every
purpose under heaven:2 A time to be born, And a time to die; A
time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted; 3 A
time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up;
4 A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a
time to dance; 5 A time to cast away stones, And a time to
gather stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing; 6 A
time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away; 7 A
time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak; 8 A
time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.
~Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
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