Daily Signs of Hope

A place to find Hope

Author: Butch (Page 18 of 40)

Signs of Hope is Needed for Life, Military, and Seniors.

February 18, 2022 / / 0 Comments

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I am very tired today so my spellcheck better work. 🙂

I am getting to the age where every new day is a blessing. I am almost through with my second book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.

It is a book for the veterans who are struggling with life. It covers PTSD, TBI, Depression, anxiety, etc. It also shares live for me while I was in the military. Some funny and not so funny stories there.

Go to…www.dougbolton.com to find out more about the book.

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My next book will be called, Signs of Hope for Seniors: The Alligators that Chase us. I am an expert on that since I am 82 years old and counting.

It will talk about aging, of course, but also about loneliness, health issues, depression, lack of memory, being sent to assisted living, and many more of the usual suspects for seniors.

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Also…stay tuned here for excerpts from my first book, which won and national award, Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World.

It is perfect timing for the way that our world is today. It speaks about being strong when the storms of life try to overcome us. It shares ways to stand up to the rush of daily problems.

I will share my first excerpt in my next post on Monday. So keep coming back to check them out. Better yet…go to the top of this page and click on “Subscribe.” When you do all future posts will come directly to your inbox.

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How is it going for you today? Too overwhelming? Too much sorrow and not much joy?

FEAR NOT!!

God is in charge !!! He knows what your hurts are. He know what causes you pain. He knows every single hair on your head. Turn to Him during your storms of life. Pray for His protection. Ask Him to hold your hand and 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!

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

February 16, 2022 / / 0 Comments

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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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February is the love Month and Today is the Love Day

February 14, 2022 / / 0 Comments

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Do you seem to walk around lost? Are there many days you would rather stay in bed?

There are many others just like that. They stumble through life without any purpose.

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Let me share this with you. The life being offered to you is better than the one you have now.

God loves each of us as if there there was only one of us to love.

St Augustine

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John 3:16 says that God so loved the world that He sent His only Son to provide us with internal life.

He allow His son to be put to die out of love for us.

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February is the love month, and today is the love day. Love conquers all, and we should use it all the time.

Today, reach out to your loved ones, and tell them you love them. Call your neighbors and tell them Happy Valentines 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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We Have Nothing At All to Fear, But Fear Itself

February 11, 2022 / / 0 Comments

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You have heard of lions, tigers, and bears, oh my! Well, what about threat of war, pandemic, and gouging prices increases, Oh My! I may want to choose the first choice.

This may not be a fun time to be alive in this world. So many things to cause fear. Fear is our worst enemy right now.

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So what in the world can we do?

  1. Do not worry about tomorrow. Today has enough worries to handle.
  2. Worry is the darkroom where negatives are developed.
  3. Know that God is always there by your side to help you through the storms of life.
  4. Be strong for others and it will rub off on you.
  5. God will never you put you into anything you can not handle. That is Satan’s job.

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Are you overwhelmed with the fear of the unknown? Does each day seem to be too much for you?

FEAR NOT!

That is the shortest verse in the Bible. It also is the strongest in my opinion. Never give in the the dark side of Satan. He would love you put you up on his wall as a trophy.

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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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Who is Your One For You to Reach Out to?

February 7, 2022 / / 0 Comments

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In the Bible it tells us about the importance of one. Jesus had two parables to describe this:

  1. There was a shepherd tending his flock. He counted them and there was suppose to be 100. He found one was missing. He left the 99 to search for that one lost sheep. When he found the sheep, he rejoiced because he saved that one sheep from the wolves, and other animals.
  2. There was a woman who lost one of her coins. She left to rest of the money to search for that one coin. When she found it she rejoiced and let everyone know she had found it.

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What I have learned from this is that I need to seek the ones who are lost and tell them at the good word of God. While we are doing this we are to seek the one-Jesus Christ.

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I heard the lyrics from a song that said, “I’ll never know how much it cost to see my sin on that cross.” Very profound and direct.

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So, who can you reach out to? Who is that one? It could be that neighbor who feels lost and depressed. It could be the man seeking money at the corner. It could be a member of your own family.

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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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Man’s Way Leads to a Hopeless End-God’s Way Leads to Endless Hope

February 2, 2022 / / 0 Comments

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We are in the middle of putting together a Living Will and Trust. It is extremely complicated, and has many things you have to do to make it valid. We are charging ahead however, because we know how important it is to our family.

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Here is another excerpt from my first book, Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in the Unfriendly World, that won a national award.

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Man’s Way Leads to a Hopeless
End—God’s Way Leads to
Endless Hope


Chapter 5
A greedy man stirs up dissension, but he who trusts in the LORD
will prosper. He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in
wisdom is safe.
—Proverbs 28:25–26


THERE ARE TIMES when I think I am doing fine and do not
need to worry about tomorrow. I will be strong against the
sin that I may face. Every time I feel that way, I fall flat on
my face, and I let Satan creep in inch by inch. You give Satan an
inch, and he will become the ruler. (Another great bumper sticker!)
God has a plan for me, and I need to understand that He already
had my life planned before I was even born. A plan was begun for
mankind before God put the first breath into Adam. God knows
my every move. Wherever I go, He will be there with me.
I sent a saying to my son when he was stationed in Iraq. It said,
“I know your name, and I will be with you wherever you go.” That
is true for everyone. He knows your name. He is wherever you go.
God cares for you.
And God even cares for “little people.” What I mean by little
people are the people who come into your church—the ones youcharity store,
don’t want to sit next to because they need a bath. They need help
because they don’t know where their next meal is coming from.
They are the hungry. Their clothes look like they came from a
charity store.
Let me make sure you understand! God always hears and loves
those who seek Him—little people or not. He doesn’t care what
they wear. He doesn’t care if they smell. He does care that they are
hungry. He does care that they need love—just like you do.
I realize that to love these people you are going out on a limb,
taking a risk. They could take advantage of you. They may want to
steal the church offering. But you should embrace them as people
of worth and welcome them into your church. God cares about
them—and you need to as well.
Speaking of taking a risk: Don’t you take a risk when you let
your daughter go to her first dance alone? Don’t you take a risk
when you give the car keys to your son for the first time? You worry
about them, but you love them enough to let them stretch their
wings a little. They are a little person in your eyes yet. They are
still your little girl or boy, but you trust them enough to let them
enjoy increasing independence.
Our heavenly Father takes a risk with His children every day.
He lets us stretch our wings. He trusts us to do the right things.
We don’t always do the right things, but God loves us just the same
as you would still love your children if they didn’t make the right
decisions.
We often try to make decisions without God’s help. But as the
bumper sticker says, “Man’s way leads to a hopeless end.”
Try to remember the risk takers from the Bible. Think of David
and his slingshot, Mary washing Jesus’ feet, Abraham raising his
knife to kill his son. They took the risk, but they relied on God to
help them. They had a heavenly Parent to trust them and protect
them. He let them stretch their wings because, “God’s way leads
to endless hope.”

Stay with God’s way, and the narrow path you walk will lead to
endless hope. The wider path leads to destruction, disappointment,
shame and despair. You may stretch your wings if you wish, but
stay the course that God has in mind for you, and you will receive
the fi nal reward—the eternal love of your heavenly Parent.
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love.
Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.

—1 John 4:16
Further Adventures
Man’s way does lead to a hopeless end. We have all been there.
You think everything is going great and that you don’t need God
to help you during that time. Like clockwork, something knocks
you to your knees, and you are praying (crying) to God to help
you through it.
Let me suggest an alternative: Pray without ceasing! Let God
know every day about your day. If it was a good day, thank Him for
it. If it was a bad day, ask for His loving care. It is so easy to get in
touch with God. It is a much better way to communicate than any
electronic invention man has come up with. It is similar to e-mail,
except you would call it knee mail.


Something to Ponder
Isn’t it funny that if God is for us, no one can be against

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I will share more excerpts in the future so keep coming back to check them out. Better yet…go to the top of this page and click on “Subscribe.” When you do all future post will come directly to your inbox.

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Are you struggling in this not so friendly world? You aren’t alone. Many people struggle with what is happening in our world today.

FEAR NOT!! God is with you. He knows all your troubles. He knows what is best for you. Let Him guide you for the rest of your 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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Worry is the Dark Room Where Negatives Develop

January 29, 2022 / / 0 Comments

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I had a stressful week. I was having chest pains, and went to see my cardiologist. There were some blood tests done, and she said they came out great. She said that often chest pains come from your heart having to work overtime. I wasn’t sure what that meant. However, she assured me I could keep exercising and live my life normally.

What a relief! I have congestive heart failure, and I struggle with palpitations all day long with A-fib.

I have decided not to worry about it and enjoy life.

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Have you had stress come into your life? Did you get a not so good doctor’s report. Did you lose your job? Did someone you loved passed away? You certainly are not alone. There are many people in the same boat with you.

So, what do we do to survive in this not so friendly world?

  1. Remember, 90% of what we worry about never happens.
  2. Be strong and keep on keeping on.
  3. Let God take care of your worries. He has big shoulders.
  4. Know that God knows even the hairs on your head. So He knows everything about you and what you need.
  5. Cling to God’s promises. He will never cause you to face more than you can handle.

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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

January 24, 2022 / / 0 Comments

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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

January 21, 2022 / / 0 Comments

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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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Life Seems to be Very Tough and Then You Die

January 17, 2022 / / 0 Comments

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I went to have a blood test today. My doctor wants to check how I am responding to a new prescription. (News at 11:00pm) ;-0

I just read an amazing book, God Comes Through the Soldier. It is the story of John Baker. He is the author and he has taken on an amazing task of sending out hundreds of care packages to our heroes in the Military. It is a huge success, and many soldiers got the lives brightened up. John is a member of my church and He loves to support our troops.

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Here is another excerpt from my first book, Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World.

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Life Is Tough and Then You Die

Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

Psalm 30:5

God didn’t promise us a rose garden—besides there are thorns in a rose garden. He allows us to go through the storms. He wants us to learn from them and grow.

We question if God is still there for us when we have a crisis. Things pile up and we wonder, Where are You, God? He allows things to happen that are very hard to understand. Why would He let bad things happen to us?

The psalmist wondered the same thing. In the psalms, crying and wailing come out with a vengeance. Psalms can be also joyful and uplifting, but some of them are not joyful, and they teach us that it is OK to question God. It is OK to voice your true feelings to Him. He knows how to handle your feelings—even your anger.

Despair and anger are combined in Psalm 89:46–47:

How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?

How long will your  wrath burn like fire? …

For what futility you have created all men!

In our world today there is much despair and anger. There are gang wars, school shootings, sex abuse, battered wives, seniors getting scammed, racists and terrorists.

All of these could cause even the strongest Christian to act on that anger. You have choices. You could seek justice like a vigilante. You could forget it and let it build up inside you, or you could turn it over to God, who is the only Supreme Court Justice in heaven. He will judge those who have wronged others.

We should never stop being angry or sad about what happens in the world, but we need to turn it over to God, and let Him bring peace in your life.

            Too many people have decided that acceptance of wrong is much easier than trying to fight it. Some live in their own little world and go on as if nothing were happening around them.

I saw this in action when I was in the military. Uncle Sam had me stationed in Korea, and we were traveling through Seoul, Korea. I saw an old woman sitting and leaning against a wall. She was begging for help because she was ill and starving. No one stopped. They just kept on walking by.

All military personnel had been instructed that under no circumstances were we to get out of our vehicles—just keep going. This was because if you tried to help someone they could claim you were the one that caused the problem and then get a big settlement from the government. There were rumors of Korean parents throwing their children in front of army trucks to collect a settlement. We retraced our route on the way back to camp. By then, the woman had fallen over and was dead.

I was very angry. I felt helpless. I wasn’t allowed to help the woman, and she died because of that.

I didn’t know if I could make any difference in life. Could one person out of the billions of people on this earth make a difference?

My mother once remarked that she didn’t know why she should get out of bed anymore. She has macular degeneration (partial blindness) and has to use a walker. Her two main loves (besides my brother and me, of course!) were reading and working in the garden. Now she cannot do either of them. I could understand completely what she meant, but it hurt me deeply that she felt that way. I again felt that same helplessness because I wasn’t able to help her.

Why keep going on? The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The weak fall by the wayside. You spend your whole life trying to have a good retirement, and the cost of living eats up all of your income. Evil seems to win—and good seems far away.

The prisoners in the holocaust had all the reasons to be depressed and to commit suicide. They didn’t do that because they kept clinging to their faith in God.

Is that the secret? By just turning our hurts, frustrations and failures over to God, we can have peace? Of course we can. God is the key. If there is no God, anything goes, but everything is meaningless.

If you stay the course, and always let God hold your hand, everything will have meaning, things will come into focus, and everything will fall into place.

As of this writing, my mother is still alive. She is 93 and lives in an assisted living home. She has trouble understanding why she has to be the way she is as far as her health. The world is coming to the stage where 100-year-old people are more common than ever. But many of them are clinging to life assisted by a machine, or they do not have a quality of life that they prefer.

We have developed many new drugs to help people live longer, but we haven’t invented ways to make them happy. We spend millions to help the poor in our country and other countries, but the number of starving children in Oregon alone is growing at an alarming rate.

We allow sexual freedom in our country go to the point that there is an AIDS epidemic. School drop-out rates are at an all-time high. Pornography can be found for free on the internet. We thought that we sent racism away in the 70s, but it is still staining our society today.

It is no wonder that we feel depression, despair and apathy. This world is not a rose garden anymore. The thorns are tearing at our skin, and leaving scars that won’t go away.

Let me make something very clear: God will take the world as you see it today and make it into the world He wants. I’ve read the end of the book—and we win. The end is all set, and it is up to us to believe it.

So—can you make an impact on the world? You are just one grain of sand on the beach. Can you make a difference? God thinks you can. He made you with a purpose in mind. Yes, I said you. As you read this book, God has a plan for you. God just needs you to ask Him what it is. You can make a difference for others in this tough world.

I used the Psalms as an example of despair and anger. Now let the psalmist soothe you and let you know God is there for you and will carry your burdens for you.

Trouble and distress have come upon me,

but your commands are my delight.

Psalm 119:143

Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you.

He will never let the righteous fall.

Psalm 55:22

Look to my right and see; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge;

no one cares for my life. I cry to you, O Lord; I say,

“You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.

Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need: rescue me

from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me.”

Psalm 142:4–6

(Think of the Korean woman dying on the street.)

When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your love, O Lord, supported me.

When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.

Psalm 94:18–19

(This should be our prayer any time we are depressed or sad.

We can read it to God and let Him comfort us.)

Further Adventures

There are times when you feel so low that you are not sure you can make it through the day. Use this time to pray. Sit quietly with God and share your deepest feelings. Do not hide anything. (God knows even your inner thoughts.) Let Him know that you need to lean on Him completely right now, and He will pick you up and carry you the rest of the way.

Something to Ponder

Isn’t it funny that God knows our every move, but we go on like He is not watching us?

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Have you lost a loved one? Does it seem like everything is happening to you at once?

FEAR NOT!

God is just a prayer away. He loves to listen to your pleas. Tell Him about your sorrows and ask Him to find you comfort.

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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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+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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