It is so easy as a child because our parents saw to it that we had what we needed. In the beginning we couldn’t do for ourselves if we had to. So our parents had seen about our needs. But as we got older more was required from us. We were required to pick our clothes or toys. But in each stage of our lives responsibility for our wellbeing was transferred to us. Until the day we were required to take care of ourselves. When I was walking out of my high school graduation ceremony, I had a frown on my face. My mother tried to get me to smile, but I realized everything had changed in my world. Nothing was ever going to be the same again. I was going to be responsible for myself and had to make decisions for my life. I had been on the receiving end of everything for a long time. Now I had to move into the giving end and I didn’t know how I would fare. Now I had to give of my time, energy and effort to make my way in life. No longer was life going to be easily given to me. So I charged right ahead. Lowered my head and press in to acquire what I needed in life. I didn’t make all the right decisions at first. I made some bad ones and paid for it too. I wanted to be different from my parents. The university I attended was 5 blocks from my home. I lived 2 blocks from my parent’s house. A mistake I still regret. I began to learn what giving and receiving is all about. If you want to receive you have to give first. I didn’t always want to do that. I wanted what I wanted. But I had to learn. I was responsible for myself. I became selfish to a fault. But I had my eyes and my heart opened the day I met God. He showed me that the only way to really receive was to give first. When we see about other people first, then needs are met. This is how God setup the world to be able to work. My life and this world was always about giving and receiving.

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Today more people talk about love than ever before. There are commercials and any kind of advertisement that proclaims love. I saw stories on national news about love. And the local newspapers spotlight the oldest married couples they can find. It is very prevalent in our society. I am afraid most people are not talking about the real love, but what they mean is sex. Several years ago I was the night manager in a big box store. I was talking to one employee about marriage, when I realized that the all the overnight workers had gather to me. I told them that having sex with a person and then leaving to go to another is a divorce. You see the marriage contract is not the ceremony or signing the paperwork. The marriage contract is the act of sex. Once a couple has participated they are married. And when they go on to someone else, they are divorced. There are consequences because of this. Most people don’t even want to hear about this. But this isn’t what I am talking about. I am talking about the commitment to another person with you heart and feelings. That bond is as strong as anything in this world. And even if the people have separated the bond is still there. It is a strange thing how our hearts never let go. They will hold on forever. But still that isn’t what I am talking about. The bond of love we have for one another can be so strong that we would be willing to do anything to protect the person. Even die for them. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that we should have eternal life. For no greater love has any man than that he would lay down his life for another. So the true test of love is if we are willing to sacrifice for another. So sacrifice is the sign of true love.

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I was at a wedding reception where the couple were renewing their vows after about 40 years of marriage. Their children all had children and many of them were babies. In turn each baby was finding their voice. They would screech or yelling to listen to the sound of it. As the child heard their voice, they would listen and then call again. They were acquiring their voice. And it fascinated them to hear the sounds that came out of their mouths. So much so that they made more sounds just to hear themselves. As in life they will continue to make sounds until they hear sounds that mimic their parents. And once they find their voice, they will not stop. They become a chatterbox. As they get older their voice is use to reach other children. And in turn the other children respond to those voices. Soon a lot of children playing together become a loud noise in which they understand each other. This is communication on its most basic level, but it is understood. When children first go to school, they have to reacquire their voice to be understood by others. So it is as that child moves through life into each stage of it, reacquiring their voice so that they can be understood by others. When I arrive at college, I took a speech class to be able to communicate with the other students. I felt that no one heard my voice or understood what I was saying. Out of 12,000 students I found one person who actually heard me and understood. Come to find out that everyone was in the same predicament. They were trying to get people to understand what they were saying. They did it by doing outrageous things. And it still continues today. People want to be heard and understood. It is a normal response to everyday events. God is the one who put this in us to be able to express ourselves, not only to people but to God Himself. Express yourself to God and watch what happens. You will be surprised as He responds to you.

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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Beauty is as individual as we are. It has always been up to our perception of things. Yet there are things that are universally beautiful. For instances, a rose is a rose, is a rose, by any other name. The shape, the fragrance is unmistakable, a perfect symbol of love and beauty. And then who would call an aardvark beautiful, except for a few naturalists. Yet it is beautiful. Or what would you say to a jackass or a hairless Chihuahua? They are perfect in their own way. When God made people and things on the earth, He made them individual and beautiful. Even a wild rose in the middle of a trash pile is beautiful. So why can’t we see the beauty in people who are different? People or things that are different are usually shunned. If it is terribly different, we turn our backs to it and don’t even recognize it exists. I have said before that I like to open doors or smile at people. I look for the heart of a person, not the outward exterior. You would be surprised at the tenderness of people’s heart when you express yourself. I have had very few people not respond to my acts of kindness. God said we are like a fountain of water. As it pours out of us, how can sweet and sour water flow out of our hearts? Bitter water spoils the sweet water. Yet if you listen to people you can hear the bitter. That is why an act of kindness is always appreciated by most people. And even the hardest of hearts will crack with a kind word. So look for the beauty in this world and you will be surprised at what you will find. I wish for all of you a good day, especially if it is storming outside. For this is the day the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it.

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What is the most ideal person, place or thing? Everybody has one. The most perfect person, place or thing they could acquire in their lifetime. I guess it all depends on what you dreamed of as a child. Child wants to be so many things. They dream of being a hero as an adult. They hope that everything will turn out all right. Children play at being a fireman, policeman or doctor to act out their dreams. This is a process of chosen a goal in life. The field narrows down as the child get older. By the time they reach college age, the choice is 1 or 2 professions. If their life has been successful, there is a real possibility of becoming that ideal person. Not everyone reaches that goal in life, but they hope they can eventually. People will work for years until they can finally do what they wanted in first place. This ideal drives people on wanting and wishing that the dream of an ideal life will come true. Some people never make it. They die before reaching that goal. Some people make that goal early in life. Not knowing how blessed they really are. I have had an ideal life. A dream that I have always wanted. I have pulled and pushed my life in so many directions just to get to the spot where I can have my ideal. I have reevaluated my ideal so many times just to be able to at least get some of it in this life. My life has turned out different than I expected. But I have attained my dream so many years ago because of one reason. That reason is God Himself. He is the only one who have brought me to that place. I am thankful that God has blessed me so. Now I will tell you my ideal or dream life. All my life I dreamed of being a teacher. It was the only thing I have ever wanted in life. And I thank God that He loves me and brought me here.

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Hindsight is always 20/20. We can see perfectly in the past. But it doesn’t always help us in the future. Well what about the future? If we could see into the future we would never make a mistake with our lives. Then we would be perfect, almost. Even if we were perfect we would find a way to screw it up. I’d bet on man any day to mess up anything that was given to them. The reason being is man isn’t perfect. He is flawed in almost everything. Why do you think there is so much disease and misfortune in this world? It is because man still controls it. Nobody seems to remember 50 years ago or 100 years ago. How many wars have been fought in the last 100 years? How many times has one race of people tried to destroy another in the past 100 years? Yet can you tell me, did they solve any problems of mankind except stopping the war. I am not trying to be pessimistic, but man is just a poor example of anything. It is political season and we have elected a president who is the least objectionable. We aren’t going to elect the right person for the right job. Even God flooded the earth to destroy man and started over with Noah and his family. Man is a pain, and will continue to be until Jesus returns. Don’t get your hopes up yet. After a 1000 years of Jesus reigning and ruling in Jerusalem where it will be perfect, there is going to be a rebellion at the end of time. That is why God said when your brother sins against you, forgive. Forgiveness is the only thing that will keep the peace in your heart and mind and the world. God says if you can’t forgive, how can God forgive you. God’s way is perfect and far above man in every way. And this is why we follow after God and not look to the past or hindsight.

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All the victories, defeats and heartaches are in the past. We only like to talk about our victories. This is to prove to yourself and others that we are special. That we are worth paying attention too. And we hid all the mistakes and tragedies with as much deceptiveness as we can muster. We fool ourselves to the point that we forget all the bad things of the past. There are good things that have happened in the past and we can make them part of our lives. But the rest is just dead weight. Baggage that we can’t carry if we want to live a productive life. I have seen people destroyed by that dead weight. In some cultures of the past, if a man killed another, they would tie the dead person to their backs. They would carry the dead person until they died. If a person is a human being, then they carry baggage. It scars your heart and mind and sometimes your body. If only we could just dump this baggage and go on with our life. I have struggled with this for a long time and wanted a better way. I didn’t have the power to change my life. But one day I met the person who had the power to change my life. He showed me how I could dump the baggage and live a good life. He began to change my heart, my thinking, and all the bad habits. He showed me I had hope for a future. Even though I had screwed up a lot. I could become a different person. But it was not by my power that I could this. It was only by the power of God could this happen. God said, when I forgive your sins, and not remember them anymore. They are cast into the sea of forgetfulness. And it is as far as East is from West. God will forgive us and cleanse our hearts and minds to the point that we don’t even remember our past.

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The weather is terrible. Nature can’t decide whether it is spring or summer. There has been a series of big weather fronts for months now. Sometimes I wish that it would make up its mind and quit. But the weather isn’t up to us to decide. Today again there is lightning, thunderstorms and rain. I work outside so I will be dodging rain drops all day. It is interesting how the earth corrects itself. If there is anything wrong it will adjust the weather accordingly. Although it seems that the weather has gone wild, it is only responding to what is happening on this earth. I don’t know if you remember acid rain. In the Northeastern states, smoke pollution from different industries sent sulfuric acid into the sky. The earth responded with rain to clear the skies and acid rain fell on the Northeastern states. That is until the government made that industry clean up its act. There is a climate change occurring now. How far it will go isn’t certain? Everybody has their opinion on what will happen, but nobody really knows for sure. There is only one person who knows what will happen. And He isn’t talking to us about the weather. The world was design to run smoothly and automatically. Besides natural phenomenon, like an asteroid, the earth works on it own. But you know that even if an asteroid hits this earth, it will adjust for it. People won’t survive but the earth will. It’s too bad man doesn’t work that way. But God design this earth to be self-sufficient. It runs on God’s command. You know what God says in Matthew 5:45 “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” (KJV).

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Who are you? What kind of person are you? Do you think that you are worth anything? How does that express itself in you? What happens when your heart reveals itself to the world? These are important questions that actually change the face of the world. It will start with your world, then goes out from there. Did you know that what you think of yourself resounds throughout eternity? God says that we were wonderfully made by His hands. Yes, we were made out of the dust and water of the earth. And we will return to dust in the end. But that is just our physical body. Our heart is immortal. And it will return to God. God says that we shouldn’t think more of ourselves than we ought. I have known people with the big head, thinking that they were more important than anyone else. They found out the hard way, that they weren’t. Everyone is equal in the eyes of God. As compared to God, man has nothing. We have to go to Him to receive anything on this earth. The bible says, if you gain the whole world and lose your soul, what have you gained? God thought we were important enough to Him to make us and give us a home. So, what do you think of yourself as in God’s universe? What you decide echoes into eternity.

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Spring is the hope of renewal. Of all the seasons, it is the one that shows us great promise. Every tree, bush and flower is in bloom. My mom had her favorite flowers. They were planted in the backyard. They were red and white amaryllis. The flower looked like a trumpet announcing spring. I have those amaryllis plus orange, white and solid red ones. These flowers only bloom in the springtime. Spring is the hope of a new future. Hence we have New Year resolutions and the Lenten season before Easter. All this is preparation for the renewal of spring. Thus the saying that hope springs eternal. It is also the time of festivals such as Mardi Gras, the flower festival, the wine festival and if you can believe it, the poorboy festival. This one is dedicated to a sandwich. The biggest festival is Festival International. It is the largest francophone festival in the world. Every French speaking country in the world descend upon our state to celebrate the French culture we share. Hope is so important to us. Without it we wouldn’t believe that things could change and get better in our lives. Our children are a source of hope and renewal in our lives. We want better for our children than what we had. That our children will turn out to be better than we were at everything. And where do you think that this hope came from in the first place? As human beings our capacity for destroying is unrivaled by any other species. So where did hope come from? We have to look at who started all of this world. Go back to the beginning and see what God did. How He put into motion the planets, the stars and especially our world. Then He put man on it to live a life of hope and renewal. That renewal that we all search for is there for us, right in front of our faces. And all we have to do is ask for it. And God’s hope does spring eternal.

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