Category Archives: Hope

Sometimes, We Just Need a Real Perspective

My friend Vern Westgate sent this email out just before Christmas.  I found the pictures to be a fabulous glimpse of America’s not too distant past during the hardship of The Depression Era.  Really worth seeing.  It will open your eyes to how blessed we really are.

I thought Vern had a great idea in sharing this, and with his permission (thanks Vern), I am passing it on hoping you will get as much out of Vern’s perspective and the amazing pictures as I did.

America really does have an immense amount to be greatful for.

Thank You God!

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Hi, Here’s my perspective for you having a Merry Christmas in spite of the current state of our country…and the attacks against my Christian faith…(and your Christian faith too, I hope…)

These stark pictures are from the Depression. They were taken 72 years ago, when I was a 7 year old kid in a great Christian family…We moved from Minnesota to California a few months ahead of Pearl Harbor. So we went from the tough Depression life to rationing…(5 gallons of gas per week, sugar and meat were rationed as were other things), no new cars were built for 4, 5 years…millions of men went to war and most stayed until it was over. My dad built B-25s and P-51s… Continue reading

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Filed under Christmas, Following Christ Has Changed My Life, Hope, Inner Sruggles and Heartache, Life and Relationships, Life Lessons

Trust God No-matter What

God loves you and has your best interest at heart.

Often, the world makes no sense at all,

that is why it is so important to trust God completely, especially then.

imageBelieve it.

We don’t always see it at the time,

but as time passes and we look back, we can usually say,

“Oh yeah, now I see why that happened!

Thank you God for looking out for me!” Continue reading

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Filed under Awed by His Love and Grace, Hope, Inner Sruggles and Heartache, Life and Relationships, Life Lessons

Rejoicing in Jesus’ Birth

imageHow Much Does God Love the World?

God So Loved The World That He Gave…

HIMSELF

in the body of a frail newborn named Jesus.

But…why would He do that?

He came in our form so that we could better relate to Him.

So that He could teach us about Himself.

So that He could show us what real love looks like. Continue reading

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Filed under Awed by His Love and Grace, Christmas, Following Christ Has Changed My Life, Hope, Seeds of Inspirations, The Impossible, The Miraculous

Does God Celebrate Christmas?

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Well, seeing how Christmas is a mixture of pagan and Christian traditions, I don’t believe God has a Christmas tree decorated with lights and cherubs.

I don’t believe He adorns the halls of Heaven with twinkling lights and bows of greenery.

I don’t believe the heavenly host rush around their kitchens making millions of divine delights for their annual cookie exchange.

I don’t believe God has shopping requests, or naughty or nice lists. (Though He does say all the names of those who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb have been written in His Book of Life)

I don’t believe December 25th is highlighted on God’s calendar.

God certainly is not a Santa, swooping down as earth sleeps, dropping gifts into chimneys. Continue reading

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Filed under Awed by His Love and Grace, Christmas, Hope, Humor, Life and Relationships, The Miraculous

No Money for Christmas

It was just before Thanksgiving, mid-1980s, when my then-husband’s work went on strike.  Thankfully, we already had our turkey and other food for Thanksgiving, but rumor had it the strike would last past Christmas, and possibly into the new year.

Of course, neither the utility companies, nor the mortgage company would put our billing on hold because of the strike.  And as usual, we had no savings account.

Our holidays were going to be very strained. I was used to living on a meager, shoestring budget and usually prepared ahead of time with gifts, especially because my son’s birthday was November 30th and one of my daughter’s birthday was just eight days later.

I always did everything I could to make my kids’ birthdays and holidays a pleasant experience. I babysat, sold Avon, or Christmas Around the World gifts and toys, or had an educational toy party, or something similar to earn gifts for my kids. Continue reading

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Filed under Awed by His Love and Grace, Christmas, Hope, The Miraculous

Jesus Came to Earth to Bring Life

imageI find the amaryllis to be an enchanting flower of Christmas, though it is technically not a Christmas flower.  Surely you have seen the six-by-eight inch boxes at your local stores that come out around Thanksgiving.  The pictures on the boxes display a flower that looks much like the one above.  These unique and beautiful flowers have the ability to bloom indoors.  They come in white, pink, pinkish-yellow, red, orange, and variegated colors.

The box is quite inexpensive, about seven dollars, and it includes a five inch plastic pot, plenty of dehydrated soil, and of course the bulb.  It also includes weeks of joy as you watch the dead bulb give birth to beautiful flowers. Continue reading

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Filed under Awed by His Love and Grace, Hope, In a Kids World, Life Lessons

Celebrate Jesus This Christmas

imageDon’t let the world dictate your Christmas with its pressure to buy this and that at every turn.  Of all the toys and the gifts given this year, most will be forgotten or broken by next Christmas.  But, what is really going to matter in fifty or one hundred years? Or a thousand years!   Continue reading

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He Lives Because Jesus Lives!

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Thinking of you, son. You live in my memories.

I hang on to mementos and childhood memories of jokes, smiles and laughter.

I am grateful for silly boy tactics, bouquets of wilted weeds, and a boy’s imagination.

I am grateful for the precious boy’s face I looked into and the hands I held.

I am grateful for the many “I lub you, Mommy!” and “I’m hungry!” I heard throughout his childhood. Continue reading

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Filed under Everythingelse, Hope, Loss of a Child, Poetry, Seeds of Inspirations, The Miraculous

It Hurts Us More Than it Hurts Them

imageThere once was a man named Joe who was filled with a great deal of bitterness.

Whenever Joe thought of Dan, he became enraged.  Dan greatly cost Joe when he robbed him in a business partnership.

Whenever Joe thought of his neighbor Lucy, he resented the way she raked most of her fall leaves into his yard, year after year.  He had seen her do that himself, yet when he pointed it out she denied it.   Heat rose up his shirt collar when she worked in her yard.

He wanted to beat the daylights out of his neighbor Sam, across the street.  Sam borrowed a perfectly working snow blower and returned it broken, after he cleared his rocky driveway more than once.  Sam then told Joe the blower never worked. Continue reading

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Filed under A Broken Childhood, Awed by His Love and Grace, Child Abuse and Neglect, Following Christ Has Changed My Life, Hope, Inner Sruggles and Heartache, Life and Relationships, The Miraculous

How Precious Are You to God?

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For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

The worth of something is based on what someone is willing to pay for it.

Jesus thought you and I were worth the very living blood in His body.  He paid a great price for us because of His love for us.  Just as most parents would go to any length to pay a great ransom price if their child is kidnapped.

EXCEPT that we willingly walk away from God.  BUT—He still is willing to redeem us. Continue reading

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Filed under A Broken Childhood, Awed by His Love and Grace, Following Christ Has Changed My Life, Hope, Inner Sruggles and Heartache, Life and Relationships, Life Lessons, Seeds of Inspirations, The Impossible