A place to find Hope

Category: daily struggles (Page 1 of 7)

Never Stop Trying. Never Stop Believing. Never Give Up

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Do you ever get tired of the daily frustrations? I sure do. Wouldn’t life be great if we could wear rose colored glasses?

It seems like we face more walls than clear paths. Everything seems to be a struggle.

Now that I have torn you down terribly, let me share how I make it through each day to fight all of the above:

  1. Never let day get to you. Each day has it ups and down. Go with the flow.
  2. Go for walks every day. That seems to clear my mind, and gives me fresh air.
  3. Sit down and read a book. The Bible is a good one to read.
  4. Remember, God is with you always. He walks with you on your walks. He speaks to you through the Bible. He guides you on your paths.

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I try to be upbeat all the time. Yes, it is hard sometimes, but when you are always upbeat it rubs off on others.

It is much easier to smile than to try to have a frown all day.

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Face your storms head on. Never back down.

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The thought for the day.

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

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I Won the War With COVID, and Hoping Everyone Else is Doing Well

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I have had quiet a ride the last week. I was hit hard with COVID. I seem to have won the battle. I see my doctor today to verify that. I am very sure that if I hadn’t taken my shots I would be gone now.

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Have you had similar things happen to you? Have you been hit with a sudden illness? You certainly are not alone. Over a million people have died from COVID. Doesn’t seem to be any let up insight.

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We need to rely on God. We need to cling to His promises. He is in charge and He will take care of us if we ask.

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Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.

C.S. Lewis

Pretty much shows us the right path to walk.

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Many people feel the world owes them something. What follows is a list of what many people strive for when they have pride.

Manifestations of Pride (appear one at a time)

  • A lack of gratitude in general (2 Chronicles 32:25).
  • Being irritated when people don’t see your gifts, your abilities, or your importance. (1 Corinthians 4:7)
  • Being consumed with what others think (Galatians 1:10)
  • A lack of service (Galatians 5:13, Ephesians 2:10)
  • Being disrespectful to authorities (1 Peter 2:13-17)
  • Not having close relationships (Proverbs 18:1-2, Hebrews 10:24-25). Self-sufficient, don’t need other people.

Do you relate to anything on this lists? If so, do a check on what you need to do to escape this trap.

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Remember:

You are not alone.

You are not forsaken.

You are not unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

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Reach Out to your Neighbors, They Can be good Support

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Had a nice lunch with my neighbor across the street yesterday. He is new to the neighborhood, and I wanted to get to know him. I found out he was a Christian, and an author like me. We shared stories about our families, and I felt like I had found a new close friend.

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Do you know all your neighbors? Have to tried to get to know them? Yes, you have your own families to seek to see a lot, but what about your neighbors?

Here is what I have found that works in reaching out to neighbors:

  1. Take a real effort to get to know all your neighbors.
  2. Call them just to say hello.
  3. Email them often.
  4. And my favorite…meet them at the community mail box.

I can see the mail box out my window, and when I see someone getting their mail I haven’t talked to in a while I go out to talk to them. Easy Peasy. I hear back from some of them stating it is good to talk to me, and they look forward to getting their mail, because of it.

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Start your own crusade to reach out to your neighbors. You will put a smile on their face, and you will feel good about it as well.

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Are you struggling through your days? Do you feel you would want to stay in bed all day instead of getting up? Well, I have been there with you.

I look forward each day to be talking to God, and thanking Him for the new day He has given me. It gives me strength, and calmness.

Don’t let this unfriendly world pull you down like a huge magnet. Look to the light of Jesus, and walk away from the darkness.

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

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I’m Tired of Going Round and Round on Earth

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It’s Friday and it is my rant day:

  1. I am very tired of the pandemic.
  2. I am very tired of how this country is divided.
  3. I am very upset with what is going on in Ukraine.
  4. I am very shocked how fast inflation and gas prices are rising.
  5. This is just my short list, but I don’t want to sound like I am inviting you to my pity party.

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It is hard, at best, to face the world we live in today. We need to find ways to block out all the negative things that are happening:

  1. Don’t believe half of the news you are hearing.
  2. Seek the truth.
  3. Speak your frustrations to your congressmen.
  4. Put on those horse blinders to only see straight ahead.
  5. Read the bible for comfort. It is full of it.
  6. Go on walks without any negative thoughts in your head.
  7. Call someone to cheer them up. It goes both ways.

I try to abide with the above list for my own sanity. Try it yourself.

Let me know some of your own ways to face the day, in the comment section below.

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If your world is spinning too fast for you, pray for protection from God.

Don’t let the darkside overcome you. Satan would love to put you on his trophy wall.

God is in charge and He cares for each of us. Be strong through Him.

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

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It’s Hard to Have Pain and No Way to Stop It.

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I have been battling sadness the last few weeks. I have gotten a report that I have a hernia, and the surgeon I met said he won’t do it because of my age and medical condition.

I am seeking a second opinion to see if I can still have the surgery. However, I am feeling very bad that I have to live with the pain, and stop some exercising I was doing.

The doctor prescribed a device for me to wear the rest of my life, that is suppose to “push,” the hernia back into it place. I do not want to wear a device the rest of my life.

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Have you struggled with you health like I am doing now? I completely understand the boat you are in. I am on it with you.

I am working hard to be positive throughout all of this. Here are some things I have been leaning on to help me with that:

  1. I need to be thankful that it is only hernia, and try to stop the pity parties. That doesn’t go well with my children.
  2. I need to know that God will provide the answer to all of this.
  3. I need to pray often, and without ceasing for strength.
  4. I need to still go on walks to keep some semblance of strength.

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Why don’t you make your own list of ways to plow through your walls you are facing? It made me feel good by doing these for you.

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

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Remember Days of Gas for 25 Cents? Inflation Took Care of That

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Another day, another dollar. That is a phrase I heard lot as a kid. In the 1940’s things were scarce including money. One dollar was a lot back then.

Now days, if you don’t thousands of dollars a month, you are in poverty. It is called inflation.

I remember gas being 25 cents a gallon. .05 cents for a package of gum, and $2.99 for a carton of cigarettes.

We survived by having uncles that had farms and they shared the crops with us. I ate every kind of dish that you can make potatoes out of. Tomatoes were plentiful, so we canned them. Peaches the same way. We all went together to have Beef packaged for all of us.

I made money for school clothes by working on my uncle’s farm every summer.

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Of course it isn’t close to being that hard these days.

I want you to know I had a very happy childhood. I knew what family was. We would all gather together often. That meant a lot to me. The lov overflowed during those times.

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Did you have a good or bad childhood? Was it hard for you? I hope way back then you realized you were loved deeply by God. He was with you during all of your storms. He was just a prayer away.

That is what got me through some tough years in my early life. I accepted to Lord when I was fifteen years old through the Young Life meetings.

I faced the world in a whole different way after that time. I was at peace with my living conditions.

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Today is the first day of the rest of your life. If you have felt abandoned, and are struggling. Struggle no more. Pray to God, and also ask Jesus into you heart. Those two things will see you through many storms of life.

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

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Depression Can Lead to a Very Dreadful Life

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Some people seem to take God for granted. They go through life blindly thinking they can take on the world alone. Dr. Phil would say, “How is that working for you?”

I was like that once. I didn’t even go to church. There were sports on Sundays I didn’t want to miss.

I got a wake up call from God in 2001. It was March 31st to be exact. I was sitting in my Ford Explorer in a high school parking lot, ready to end my life. I had been struggling with depression, and it was overcoming me.

I finally cried out, God! I can’t take this anymore! There was a sudden calmness around me. I relaxed and ponder what had just happened.

It was like God was saying, “It’s about time you came back to me. Now let me lead you the rest of the way.”

My life changed that day. That day was the first day of the rest of my life.

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I have learned a lot since then.

  1. God is the Father of the fatherless. I was without a father because of divorce. I felt alone and my self image was shot.
  2. God is the defender of widows. There is nothing worse than to lose a loved one. God is there to comfort you during those times.
  3. God senses the loneliness in families. Seems odd to think you are lonely in your own home, but it can happen and is devastating.

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Another thing I learned is that a is my job is to be a leader in my home. Not a dictator that rules the nest with anger. Satan would love for men to claim authority over their family. This only leads to turmoil and sadness.

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Take an inventory of your choices in life. Do you need an overhaul? Is happiness a word you do not understand?

Turn to God. He loves you. He made you in His own image. That means you are His child.

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

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People Think They Are on a Treadmill Going Nowhere

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I am sure most of you have been on a treadmill. Isn’t it interesting that you never get anywhere? You are just at one spot walking as fast as you can. Seems senseless right. Wrong. You are achieving better health and stamina.

It seems like we are in one spot treading to nowhere in our lives. Can’t seem to move forward and achieve what we want out of life.

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If you have been there do not get discouraged. Remember, GOD IS CHARGE!

He knows what you need and don’t need. He knows what is best for you even though you would like something else. God will guide you and show you to the right choices.

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I learned to delight in God’s Word. What He says has been recorded. What He says has been preserved. We need to live by his word. God’s word is food for our soul.

I have prayed and asked God to speak to me. Let it pour down like rain, God.

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

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How can We Survive in This Not So Friendly World?

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This is a busy day for me. Just got home from have a blood test done, and later today I am off to PT.

I thought the busyness of the holidays would go away, but I guess there is no rest for the wicked

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I promised you that I would be starting a new formatt today. What I will be doing, is sharing excerpts from my first book, Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World.

Each post I will share another excerpt. Keep coming back to read the excerpts. Better yet….

Go to the top of this page and click on “Subscribe.” When you do all future post will go directly to your inbox.

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Preface

I waited patiently for the Lord;

he turned to me and heard my cry.

He lifted me out of the slimy pit,

out of the mud and mire;

he set my feet on a rock

and gave me a firm place to stand.

Psalm 40:1–2

One of the most exciting things that can happen in your life is to have a close encounter with God. Moses had several. A burning bush started talking to him; he went to Mt. Sinai where God gave him the Ten Commandments. He raised his staff during a fierce battle to help fight off the enemy. Moses and the Israelites received manna directly from God.

Elijah had a close encounter with God when ravens brought him food while he was in the wilderness at God’s direction. Daniel met some lions that the bad guys thought would eat him. Instead God calmed the lions—and they became pets for Daniel. Everyone that met Jesus had a close encounter.

God showed His love through many close encounters in the Bible, and He can do it for you today. You may have already had a close encounter without realizing it ever happened. Did you ever turn a corner you hadn’t planned to turn and seen an old friend who would have missed otherwise? Have you ever happened on the scene of a horrible accident you would have been involved in had you been there just a second sooner? During a lightning storm, were you ever close to a strike that hit the ground? Have you ever felt alone and abandoned and cried out to God for help and then felt a real peace that you have never felt before?

You may have encountered some of these situations, or others. God is watching over you every day. He wants to protect you. He has a plan for you and me. If danger is near, He may choose to spare your life because He has a path He wants you to take to help others to know Him better.

I went through some tough times because I felt lost after I retired from teaching. I had no purpose. I tried being a salesman at several places, and even tried to run my own business as a salesman. I failed at all of them. I went into the lowest spot in my life and was ready to end my life. God saved me on March 31, 2001, after I cried out, “God I can’t take anymore of this!” I felt calmness in my heart and even the air around me seemed to cool. It was as if God were saying, “It is about time you came back to Me. I have been waiting for you to return. Let Me carry you the rest of the way.”

From that day on I kept praying to God to tell me why He had saved my life. It didn’t take Him long to point to a technical book I had been tinkering with for a few months. It was a book written for people who worked in the cash flow business that gave ideas on how to be a better salesman. Can you believe I was trying to write a book on that? Sure failure was lurking at my door—again!

I had failed at being a salesman, but God kept prompting me to look at the cash flow book very hard again. What was He trying to tell me?

Why did I keep getting the book-in-progress out? Then God finally woke me up. He wanted me to write about my own experiences with depression and share the love of God with others. As I looked at the manuscript I was working on, the titles fit perfectly into a book of encouraging others. I had been using phrases I had seen on bumper stickers to start each chapter.

            One sticker said, “Need Directions?” Another said, “My way is the highway.” Still another said, “Don’t believe everything you think.”

I had intended them to be chapter titles for teaching selling. As I looked at them, I saw what God wanted.

“Need directions?” was actually God telling us to read the Bible.

“My way is the highway” was God saying that we need to choose the right path that leads us to heaven.

“Don’t believe everything you think” was telling me that Satan can plant garbage in our minds to cause us to drift away from God.

The rest is history. I immediately dove into to writing this book. I was excited the day I started back in 2001, and I am still excited today. I started out writing a book about selling and ended up writing about getting eternal life for free. I had finally found something I could help give away free. No down payment. No monthly installments. No interest rates. Just accept the Lord into your heart and you have a free trip to heaven with its entire splendor.

As I worked on this preface, I searched my computer for the chapter titles I had used for the cash flow book to show how they had been transformed. I came across a statement on the very page I was looking at and saw something I had never seen before. I know I hadn’t typed it because it was in a different color ink. I never use any color but black in my work.

As I read it, I was sure God wanted me to read it. It said: “I love this! Let’s keep going! No catches. Just the peace in knowing that you are able to share God’s love and works to all those you have contact with, and even bless someone you don’t.”

That is exactly how it was typed. I didn’t correct any wording, or add any words to make it look more dramatic for you. It wasn’t sent to anyone but me. It was at the top of the page I was searching for. God may have placed it there way back when I first changed my direction, but I missed it then. But I found it, and it only confirms why I spent the last seven years toiling to get to the final outcome.

            God’s timing is amazing.

I had my own special close encounter with God, and He has been my refuge ever since.

This book hopefully leads you to have a close encounter with God. You may have chosen this book because it deals with the hurts in your life as well as other “afflictions” we all face. They can be crippling, and even deadly. I lived with depression, self-doubt, anxiety, hopelessness and fear of failure for many years until I turned back to God and found help through a doctor who determined I also had a chemical imbalance. Now through a close encounter with God and the right medication I am able to cope and have a productive life.

My original working title, Close Encounters of the Heavenly Kind, comes from a favorite movie of mine, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It is about a man who has visions in his head and can’t understand what is happening. So he goes on a search to find out. That is what people with the many closed walls around them are going through. They are sad, and they can’t cope. They do not know why they are that way. They, too, are searching for answers.

As the book progressed, I wanted a more “hopeful” title for it. And since it is based on sayings and signs I’ve seen and the fact I wanted the book to provide the same hope for others as I have found, I was easily persuaded that the title Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World might be a better fit. You will still find several allusions to “close encounters” throughout the book and I wanted you to know the how and why I use that term so often.

The bumper sticker idea came from my hobby of collecting them for many years. I looked at them again years later, and realized they had some meaning, and I started writing about everyday connections to them.

That is my story (so far) and I am stickin’ to it! I hope that through this book, you will also begin searching for some meaning to become stronger, and choose a path that leads you to a closer relationship with God.

Let the adventure begin.

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I shared the preface to start with to give you a feel of what is ahead from you as you travel with me through the book.

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Have you had those kind of days when you are not sure what is coming at you? You certainly are not alone.

Lean on God for help like I did. He brought me out of the muck and more, and today I am very excited for what life might have in store for me.

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

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How Do We Handle the Stress of the Holidays?

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It is the stressful time of the year. Rushing to buy presents. Getting that tree up. Planning the dinner for a gathering of family. The list goes on. How do we handle all of this stress?

I have come up with some thoughts on that:

  1. Stop and take a deep breath. I find that when I do that I feel much more relaxed.
  2. Sit and think quietly. Do not think of anything that needs to get done. Veggitate! : )
  3. Read a soothing book. (Yes you have time.) The Bible would be a good choice.
  4. Call a friend and just talk. Not about any rush, just talk.
  5. Go for a walk. This one helps me a great deal.

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I am sure you have your own list, but use it if you need it.

My greatest suggestion is to seek God’s comfort. He is always right there for you. Never let stress overcome you. Give it all to Him.

God loves you and even made you in His own image. Trust Him to guide you down the right paths.

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

__________________________________________________________________

+If you like what you see, please subscribe at the top of this page where it says, “subscribe.” When you do, all future posts will come directly to your inbox. Also, if you know some else who could benefit from this site, please let them know.

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