WHAT DO YOU WANT THAT IS DIFFERENT?

                                                                                

My daughter got me an apron for Christmas after seeing my new-found love for cooking. We often go through seasons when we need something different. But different isn't better...unless it is what we are meant to have.

When I read something profound that I might use in a future post, I write it down. I have notebooks filled with future writing topics, good quotes and advice from anyone who speaks to my heart. If I hear something that should be remembered or shared, I write it down. Today I was flipping through one of my notebooks and came across two pages of entries that didn't seem to fit together because of the varied topics. But everything listed was something worth sharing. 

I don't always right down the source of my scribbled notes and quotes. So when I share it, I often have to change the words so I'm not guilty of copying someone else's thoughts from a book, magazine or wherever I saw it. The notes I came across recently could fit under the category of simple advice about life and the pursuit of happiness, so maybe they do fit together. 

The first thing on the list is sort of a recipe for well-being. It's actually a list of things that define our search for happiness. "Well-being (happiness) is a combination of love for what we do each day, the quality of our relationships, the security of our finances, our physical health and what we contribute to our community." The only thing I would add to that is knowing how much God loves you and pursuing that love through prayer and reading His word. That is the most important thing in my opinion. 

Love for what we do each day 

People who work more that 20 hours a week need a job that fills their strengths. It's difficult to enjoy a job if you are not doing something that you are naturally equipped to do. We all have strengths and weaknesses. One of my weaknesses is technology. Computer work frustrates me. My most stressful jobs have been those that involved learning work on a computer. 

I sometimes think I should have gone to culinary school or learned to be a pastry chef. I enjoy creating things. Writing is a creative outlet and the computer requirement is not difficult. What's difficult is making money as a writer. I have been paid for many writing assignments, but it was never enough to live on. Many artistic people have a hard time paying bills with the finished work of their creativity. That is where the phrase, "starving artist" comes from. It's just the way life is. 

Many people are stuck in jobs they hate because that job pays the bills. But their hearts are longing to do something else, something they love. People do manage to find work that they love while making enough money to live comfortably, but that seems to be a rarity from what I've seen. 

If you are looking to make a job change, I would advise you to ask God to reveal where you should be. Most people look for jobs based on their qualifications and they let God out of it. Perhaps that is where they go wrong time and time again. God can bring opportunities that are perfectly suited to your gifts, talents, strengths and abilities. He knows what gets you excited. He knows the things you love to talk about and what gifts he has equipped you with that could be used in the workplace. 

Pray to the purpose maker, and then be attentive for His answer. Look for signs of Him directing you toward a certain type of job or a particular place of employment. Letting God out of your job search means settling for less than His best for you. 

The quality of our relationships

Life is lonely without relationships. The world is filled with a lot of lonely people. How many songs have been written about the age-old problem of loneliness? But even if you talk to hundreds of people each day, you can still end up feeling lonely. Getting married doesn't always solve loneliness. Because it is the quality of our relationships that make us happy and less lonely. 

How do we improve our relationships with people or even find good people to have relationships with? That takes effort, it doesn't just happen. Two people in my family are married to someone they met on a dating app. I would not rule that out. God brings people together in many different ways. If I were looking, I would take advantage of all those ways. Meeting someone by a chance encounter is difficult because too many people walk right past you without saying a word. You have to talk to someone before you can start a relationship with that person. 

I know someone who prayed very emotionally for her husband when she reached a point of knowing her present relationship had no future. That prayer was answered very quickly and she is quite happy today.  If I were lonely, I would use every available possibility for meeting the right person. If that meant getting out of the house, I would go. If it meant putting up an online dating profile, I would do it. One thing I would not leave out is praying about it. I have seen so many examples of God bringing people together that can't be denied. But only praying people can see evidence of their prayers being answered. If you don't pray, you haven't earned the right to comment on its power. 

As far as improving already-established relationships, I think an important factor in that is forgiveness. Too many people have an unforgiving spirit and it makes their lives miserable. The thing about holding grudges is the way it affects the person who is hanging on to that hurt. The Bible contains many warnings about having an angry, unforgiving heart and all the problems that will invade your life when you do that. 

I know from experience how unforgiveness can make your life unbearably miserable. It can completely destroy everything good in your life. It can turn you into someone you don't even recognize. It can lead you down a path you never expected to go and burn bridges you can never cross again. It might be the greatest destroyer of relationships that there is. Forgiveness is often the first step toward improving a relationship. And one thing that makes forgiveness easier is a heart-felt apology. It is our own pride that is the greatest destroyer of relationships. We can't admit when we hurt someone and we can't forgive when we've been hurt.

Knowing how much God loves us and pursuing that love

My worth is defined by God. It is not defined by what I do, how much money I make, the car I drive, the house I live in, the way I look or the clothes I wear. My appearance and achievements are not what make me a valuable, worthy person. I shouldn't need applause from others to feel like someone special. But I didn't always know that. 

I didn't always know that my greatest purpose on earth is to glorify Him, even when I fail. The reason why I'm so open about my failures is because I don't care how people see me and I don't need their applause. Right now I am unemployed and I have been unemployed for more than a year. Covid pretty much stole my job from me when I stood up for my rights. But I have no regrets. I know that God is preparing me for something amazing, and the tough season I'm in right now is only temporary. 

People who know "why" they are living can tolerate almost any "how" they are living. In other words, every difficulty in life can be overcome when we stop relying on our own strength. When I see someone who seems broken and lost, there is always one thing lacking in that person's life. It is the same one problem, time and time again. Until you realize how much God loves you and you seriously begin to pursue that love, you will continue to feel broken and lost. You will repeat the same patterns and experience the same disappointments over and over. 

What do you want that is different? Perhaps you need to do something different to get it. 

 

DON'T ABANDON HOPE: NO STORM LASTS FOREVER

                                                                                

                                                 

By Danelle Carvell

As we approach the two-year mark of Covid, an ongoing and very destructive storm, I feel the need to offer hope. Many of us are just plain tired and we are losing hope in seeing any kind of change. I feel it myself, especially after spending an entire day on Friday watching the chaos unfold in Canada. 

Watching that line of bullies who call themselves police push peaceful protesters around made me angry. I was furious and tired of watching evil win once again. I wanted so much to escape the stress of everything I have seen since March of 2019. It's been an emotional roller coaster. A bottle of wine and a taco truck was waiting for me at Springate Winery on Friday night and I couldn't wait. 

Canada is our northern neighbor. Knowing that this tyranny can happen to Canadians makes the possibility of it happening in America very real. The threat is getting too close for comfort, and it's causing a great deal of fear, anxiety and uncertainty. Even those who are grounded in the promises of God are being affected by what they are seeing. 

For almost two years, the enemy has used fear to both divide us and control us. Fear is so powerful that it shut down businesses and destroyed many of those businesses. It drove people to put faith in a face covering instead of putting faith in God. Even Christians ignored Psalm 91:10-11 and chose to fight with people over masks. None of them could prove that they worked, they only wanted something to protect them. Instead of prayer and faith, they chose to deprive their brain cells of oxygen and pushed others to do the same. 

I wonder how God felt as he watched his children put more faith in hand sanitizer, masks, and 6-foot distance than the faith they put in Him. I'm sure He was disappointed and saddened. But God has allowed this to play out for a purpose. The fear that the enemy stoked did cause people to turn back to God and evaluate their priorities. People are praying like never before. We are realizing that we need His help, not just for protection from a virus, but also for deliverance from the evil tyrants that are pushing us around and stripping away our freedoms. They want to control us and force us to live as slaves to their ways and their selfish ideas and beliefs. 

Two years ago my words would have sounded like a conspiracy theory. But on Friday, you saw for yourself that the threat is real and it's getting closer to your back yard. Justin Trudeau took orders from China and sent UN troops and the Ottawa police to bully a group of peaceful protesters, people who are only asking for freedom. When a government turns on its own citizens, it becomes tyrannical and can no longer be trusted. Adolph Trudeau declared himself a dictator on Friday. One of the protesters said that this is how it began when Hitler rose to power in Germany. She was in a wheelchair witnessing history repeat itself. 

My greatest source of hope right now is Elijah Streams on You Tube and Julie Green Ministries on Rumble. Steve Shultz was obviously placed on that platform for such a time as this to bring the world hope by interviewing prophets who speak God's word. And Julie Green has become my favorite prophet because she is naming names and being very specific with her prophecies.

 If you don't believe in prophets, then you also don't believe what's written in the Bible, a book that clearly tells us that God does not move without first telling His prophets what He is about to do.Get out your Bible and read Amos 3:7 and 1 Thessalonians 5:20.

Today I watched a very encouraging show on Elijah Streams featuring author and prophet, Donna Rigney. Her words were a comforting message of hope. She compared the glorious change that is coming to that of a caterpillar as it transforms into a butterfly. "This is taking longer than any of us thought, but we are on the winning side," she said. 

Listening to prophets like Donna Rigney will make you a believer very quickly because of the peace it brings to your mind. God speaks through prophets because He knows that life is difficult down here and He knows that we need encouragement, especially at this moment in history. Some of the prophets will recap their past predictions and then show recent news headlines that confirm those predictions. As you see their predictions actually happen again and again, you simply cannot deny that they are hearing from God.  

"We are living in exciting times, and we are blessed to be alive right now," Rigney said. She mentioned the freedom convoy that is starting on Wednesday in America. All over the world right now, people are participating in freedom walks. God is moving to wake people up to the deep-rooted wickedness that has overtaken the entire world. 

Rigney predicts that every tyrant across the world will be brought down as a great rescue event unfolds before our eyes. Corrupt leaders both in government and in the church will be exposed and their powers will dissolve as they face a variety of consequences including death. No one will be able to deny the glory of God when this storm finally ends. People will be shocked by what they see and what is revealed about well-known leaders and even celebrities.

My husband and I say all the time that it's hard not to hate these people who are destroying our country and stealing our freedoms. I do want to hate them, but they are also God's children and we should pray for their souls and refrain from rejoicing when we see them fall. "Keep your hearts pure toward the enemy," Rigney warned.  It is okay to rejoice when our freedoms are restored, but don't take pleasure in seeing your enemies suffer. 

Rigney said that 45 will be restored back to the presidency very soon, and his work to restore this land to greatness will be completed. God needs the United States to be great again so it can be used by His hand to bless all other nations in the world. All the prophets are saying this same thing. Trump will be back.

She ended her prophecy with an encouraging word for people like me who have been holding the line of faith and believing that God is working behind the scenes for the past two years. For those who did not fear Covid and for those who spoke truth and tried to encourage and educate others, a great blessing is coming.

This is what the Lord spoke: "A holy jealousy will arise in this world as those who are far from us (nonbelievers) see our blessings and they will know that in order to receive My best, they must surrender all and become mine. I am going to display my children for all to see. Their blessed lives will mark a difference so dramatic that it cannot be denied that they truly are sons and daughters of the most high God." 

Yes, it has been a long storm, but no storm lasts forever, so don't abandon hope. Hold your peace and remain at rest. God is fighting for his children and things are about to shift. Which side will you be on when it happens?

    

  

 

THE HARDEST TWO WORDS

                                                                                

Living with siblings is good training for learning to apologize. I wasn't great at it back then (about 1977)

By Danelle Carvell

When was the last time you said, "I'm sorry"? Most of us know instantly when we say or do something hurtful. The negative reaction we get is usually the best indicator. But knowing that we hurt someone doesn't always prompt us to make things right. 

I have been on both the receiving end of an apology and on the giving end. And I know without a doubt that there is no better way to make yourself feel better than to offer an apology, and there is no better way to make others feel better than to offer an apology. It is a powerful act of love that takes a great deal of strength, courage and humility. 

Only someone with a strong self-esteem and a conscientious, caring heart is capable of admitting a wrong. It is so much easier to deny a hurtful comment or make excuses. It's more comfortable to laugh it off or say, "I was just joking." Sometimes the offender will blame the person who is feeling hurt. "You're too sensitive," is a common come back. Anything we can do to take the blame off of ourselves after behaving badly is the easy way out and most people go that route. 

And that refusal to apologize can cause a hurt to fester, sometimes to the point of destroying a relationship or changing it forever. Things may never be the same because one person can't admit messing up. 

Why is it so difficult to apologize? I googled that question and after reading several articles on the subject I learned something interesting. I wanted to put it into my own words instead of quoting a bunch of articles. 

The one thing that was mentioned over and over again about why people find it so hard to apologize is the emotional and mental strength of the offender. Someone who is mentally and emotionally healthy knows that apologizing will not destroy them. But for the person who is unstable in those areas, admitting a wrong is devastating to their self-esteem. Saying I'm sorry is not something they are capable of because they already have such a low opinion of themselves. They simply can't fess up to their mistakes because it would totally destroy their already fragile sense-of-self. 

Wow! What a revelation it was to learn that. While we may be upset with someone who refuses to apologize, understanding why they find it so difficult is an eye-opener. And it can be helpful toward our ability to move on and move past the hurt. 

I think the world is filled with billions of apologies that are owed to people. But most of those apologies will never reach the ears of those who need to hear them. And the healing that those apologies would bring will never be felt.

I know one thing...I want to be strong enough to apologize right here and right now so I never have to feel nagging regrets about hurting people in this life or the next. To me, an apology is one of the most freeing and loving things I could possibly do. It feels just as good to me as it does to the person I hurt, and I'm grateful that I have the strength for it. I wish everyone had that strength. Apologies are beautiful to watch and the healing they induce are even more beautiful. God loves a cheerful apologizer.