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Category: arson

Stress is a Huge Part of Life These Days

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It has been very stressful the last six months. Where I live we add the wild fires to our stress. Hundreds of homes are gone. Millions of acres burnt. People have died.

We just got some news that arsonists started two of the deadly fires. Two people have been arrtested, and will face a long time in prison if anyone is killed.

The question is how will we be able to handle all of this. Besides the wild fires, there is the Pademic, rioting, looting, shootings, beatings, etc. Pretty overwhelming for a every day Joe like me.

I was watching my church online yesterday, and our Pastor spoke to this very concern.

When a virus hits that attacks the vulnerable, isolates individuals, and shuts down the economy and schools. We can say, the harder it gets the better I live. 

When protests stop being peaceful, when elections become polarizing, when families, friends, communities, and churches become divided. We say the harder it gets the better I live. 

When everything you own is burned to ash, when families flee for their lives, when the smoke makes the day night. We can say “the harder it gets the better I live. 

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Let me explain what he means.

His theme was God knows what to give us.

He is saying that God knows what is going on. He knows the dangers we are all facing. He knows what to give each of us ACCORDING TO OUR NEEDS.

Every person has different fears. Each person faces storms every day.

God doesn’t want us to compromise so He knows what to give us to help us face those who try to sway us.

What the thoughts are from the pastor is, we should know that the harder it gets the better we live. We are sons and daughters of God. He will not gives us more than we can handle.

He may give some peace. He may give others courage. He may give some knowedge to help others.

When it comes to your daily life; choose your battles carefully. Choose your friends wisely. Choose your solutions intentionally. Do not waver God has given you a path to take. Stay the course.

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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 Many Times Should We Forgive Someone?

I have been watching the movement of Representative John Lewis from his hometown to the Capitol Rotunda, to be put on display.

This man was a furious warrior fighting for the black community. He marched with Martin Luther King. He was beaten many times, and was arrested 40 times for his support for the black community.

No man, since Martin Luther King, has done more for civil rights in our country.

He spent over 16 years in Congress.

Was he a Democrat or a Republican? DOESN’T MATTER!

He fought for what was right.

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We need to find more leaders like him. Dedicated to helping others and fighting for what is right.

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I am switching to some negative things to bring up another point.

Portland, Oregon has had 60 straight days of rioting. There are many fires, many beatings, many arrests, and many people hurt badly. Many of those hurt are police officers, trying to keep the peace.

The Federal Government has come to help. We will see how that works out.

There is widespread rioting in many other big cities. Interesting in that all of those cities are run by Democrats.

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So, should we forgive those who are rioting? If so, how many times should we forgive?

Jesus told a parable about forgiving. It started when Peter asked him how many times should he forgive? Seven times? (That was four more times than the Jewish acceptable number.)

Jesus rebuked him and said, “No! 70×7!” That is 490 times. (Matthew 18: 21-34.)

Some things to remember:

  1. As longs as there are issues, there is an opportunity for forgiveness.
  2. Our God is a forgiving God. (How many times have you asked Him to forgive you?)
  3. Forgiving others is a must to be a part of God’s Kingdom.
  4. We must mirror God’s love and forgiveness.

Some other thoughts:

  1. God has help mend any hearts that are broken.
  2. My sin was great, but God’s love was greater.
  3. For God so loved the world that He sent his only son, so that we may have eternal life.
  4. Pray for our leaders in the nation, and in your home state, to make decisions that are for the good of the people, and not themselves.

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Think on these things, and be at peace knowing that God is watching over you and protects you.

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forskaen.

You are never unloved.

And above all, never, ever, give up!

Garbage in Garbage out, or God in God Out

It seems like our country is on a pace of complete disarray. Rioting, shootings, burning buildings, people getting beat up.

How did we get to this point?

As retired teacher I can say that as each year went by, the students became more aggressive. I would talk to their parents about it and they would say, “They are just being kids,” and shrug it off.

If children aren’t disciplined properly at home. They grow up to be those who are on the streets causing havoc.

They have lived their lives with garbage in and garbage out. All they hear is garbage, and it is planted in their brains. Therefore garbage out, is what comes from them.

How do we turn this kind of problem around? We need to start in the homes. We need to teach what is right and wrong.

If there is a Godly home, the family will have a God in and God out. They will teach their children about God. Make sure they grow spiritually, and get them involved in a church.

As they grow, they will see that their lives are much more acceptable to others, and keep growing.

How about you? Do you talk garbage in, garbage out, do you have God in and God out at your home.?

I look at it this way. It is the monkey see, monkey do theory. If you guide you children and the proper path and be a good example. Your example will have then saying, “I want to be like them.”

But if you do drugs, drink heavily, and use bad language in your home Your example will have your children also wanting to be like you. Garbage in garbage out.

Take inventory of your life. See if your path is the right path for your children to follow.

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

We Need to Spread Love, Not Hate

How can we exist will all the turmoil going on around us? The Pandemic is growing fast again, with even other strands coming with it that are much more contagious.

We still have huge unrest in our country. Rioting, arson, tearing down statues, killings, Looting, and terror.

Where do we go for help? What can we do to overcome this?

We have a ugly new problem raising in our country. It is the “Karen’s,” that are causing it. They verbally attack black people with hateful words and even have pointed guns at them.

They have no concept of love. They only know hate.

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What the world needs now is love, sweet love! Where do they get it?

Well… it is simple to figure out of you are a Christian. We are suppose to be the poster child’s for love, right? Unfortunately that is not completely true. There are people right in my home church who seem to love to degrade others.

I am very saddened by this. I can not understand how someone can hate so much. They must hate themselves.

What we need to do is put God first in our lives. We need to try to live a life like Jesus. He never sinned. He never was mean to anyone. He loved everyone.

Speaking of posters child’s. We should be a poster child that shows love to everyone. What a difference that would make in our world today.

If you are struggling with thinking about wrong things, take an inventory of your life, and see where it is coming from. Push the negatives out of your mind and feel it with love and understanding.

Love is not just a four letter word. It is the word that changes the world.

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

How can we face the Rioting, Looting and the Pandemic?

The days along and tedious. The pandemic seems to be spreading again. There is rioting, looting and arson. How do we face this dilemma?

I have a lot of time, of course, to think about this. Let me share some thoughts:

Use Your Hardships to Shine

  1. There is always someone or something that is worse off than what we are facing. When I was teaching I had a young lady in one of my classes that was severely handicapped. She was strapped to a electric wheelchair. She couldn’t move and had no control of her hands. There was one thing I noticed with her. She was always smiling. She never got upset. She never got too hurt when the other students picked on her. When I came in the classroom she was the first one I would look for. Why would I do that? It was because of her attitude about life and her circumstances. She knew she was handicapped. She knew she couldn’t play on the swings and slides with the other kids, but she was out there laughing and cheering on the other kids. Believe it or not, I realized I wanted to be like her. She was a wonderful example of someone who seemed to have the whole world against her, and yet she faced the storm head on. BTW… She was a bright student. she had an aide with her at all times, and she took all the tests, by having the aide write the answers down. She was very good at math. I still think of her often.

Let People know When You Are Hurting

I had another student with Tourette’s Syndrome. That is a disease where the child blurts out nonsensical words for no reason. He also had a tic in his face. His face would twitch a lot. He had a hard time getting along with the other kids. Mostly because of his handicap. I decided to let him move his desk up close to my desk. I could look over his shoulder and see his work all day. I could see that he was very hurt by other kids picking on him. So I had a little class “counseling,” session. We sat in a big circle and I asked each kid what was bothering him/her. Most of the kids couldn’t really think of what was bothering them, but it came to my student I had my desk, he unloaded. He said he can’t help what he is doing. He said he wasn’t trying to offend anyone. He had tears flowing. I saw that several other students began to cry. I ended the session and a little miracle happened. One of the students came up and asked if my student could move his desk next to him. I agreed and the class applauded when he moved. From then on he was in the good crowd and not an outcast. What did I learn from this…Everyone needs to be heard. Being silent doesn’t help anything. Let others know of your pain and hurts.

How does this fit into you and I facing a pandemic, rioting, looting, arson?

To me it shows that we can make it through anything. We can conquer our fear and worries.

I had many other student examples of perseverance, and courage. We need to think like these children. Take on our fears. Take on the worries, and with God’s help we can conquer anything.

Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all….never, ever, give up!

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