Daily Signs of Hope

A place to find Hope

Tag: storms (Page 1 of 5)

4 Ways to Face the Day During Your Storms.

January 26, 2023 / / 0 Comments

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I had a wonderful time at my weekly coffee gathering today. There was a WWII Veteran there who is 98 years old. I had already interviewed him for my upcoming book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.

The interview is full of near death experiences, and the freeing of two concentration camps. One was full of Jews, and the other English soldiers.

It is a fantastic interview that is a must read when the book comes out.

I will keep you posted here as to the progress of the book. You can also go to www.dougbolton.com. That is now just a military site that has up to date military news, and side stories.

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I have been having pity parties lately. My health is not all that good. I am struggling with weak legs, arthritis in my hip, and total lack of energy.

How do I face each day?

  1. I thank God for the day. He is the one that gives me my air in my lungs every day.
  2. I realize that getting old isn’t for sissies, and face my storms head on.
  3. I read the Bible. All the comfort I need is found there.
  4. I do not worry about tomorrow. Jesus says, tomorrow has enough worries on its own.

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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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Aging Ain’t For Sissies, But There are many Blessings.

November 28, 2022 / / 0 Comments

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This old warrior,(Ex military)is feeling his age. It is getting harder to walk. Need a cane now, and considering a walker. Don’t feel sorry for me. I love life, and cherish every minute of it.

I always think of my family when I feel sorry for myself. They are my fortress and my tower of strength. They are the most caring, loving, people I know.

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I mentioned that I was in the military above. I served from 1959-1962. That was many years ago, but I still have memories of the good, and the bad days.

I am telling you today about my second book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life. It reaches out to those veterans who may be suffering from PTSD, war wounds, or depression. I share stories about my life while in, and share thoughts on how to survive in this not so friendly world.

I hope you will check it out. Especially if you are a veteran, or know somebody that is.

Go to www.dougbolton.com to check it out.

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How are you doing today? Getting ready for a cane or walker? I hear you. We need to know that it isn’t the end of the world when that happens. Here are some thoughts on that:

  1. Storms come, but they end.
  2. Be thankful for each day.
  3. Love your family every minute.
  4. Lean on some body close, when you need help.
  5. Getting older isn’t for sissies.

That last one was to make you smile. Aging has its bad moments, but in general it is a blessing. I feel that my children respect me for all the years I have been in this hotel called earth.

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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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Murphy’s Law is, Bad Things Will Probably Happen

September 16, 2022 / / 0 Comments

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Has been busy the last few days. We had to move everything out of our kitchen, and den. I mean everything. Refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, TV and console, Had my family come over to move it all, and I am looking at a living room stacked high with extra furniture.

We are having hard wood floors being put in the kitchen area, and a new carpet in the den. It will look beautiful when it is all done, but then you have to put everything back!

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Pretty hectic, but worth it. Have you had disruption come into your life. Did things happen you didn’t expect?

It happens to all of us. One day peace, the next day, chaos. We need to adjust and hang on for dear life. Thoughts on this:

  1. Storms come, but they leave eventually.
  2. Always be prepared for things to happen, because they will.
  3. Always know that God is there for you. He knows you problems. Pray for His protection and love.

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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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What is Freedom, and How do we Find it?

July 25, 2022 / / 0 Comments

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I have been missing for almost two weeks. On July 3rd, I came with the COVID virus. It was tough for three days and then I started doing better. Then on July 12th my family left for Hawaii. It was very hard for me, because I had to use a walker, and some of the walks were pretty hard on me.

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Freedom is something we all want to have, but what is freedom?

Dictionary.com says:

  1. The state of being free, or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint.
  2. Exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.

It is clear that we want all of that.

Do you feel like you have full freedom? We won’t have true freedom until we let God guide us on our paths.

We all have the power to do what we ought to through God.

Something that is difficult to understand for some is that the Holy Spirit is inside you once you accept the Lord. With the Holy Spirit in us, we can fight off the darkside. God’s love shines when all else fails.

We need to know that sometimes God allows pain and suffering in us. He doesn’t cause it, He allows it and Helps us through it.

Think of each of us as wine. In the crushing and pressing we are made into new wine.

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Never let Satan overcome you. Let the Holy Spirit guide you through the storms.

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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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There Are Times When a Path May be Rough for You.

June 29, 2022 / / 0 Comments

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I had a great weekend. That is why I missed my Monday post. My family drove up to Seattle to see the Seattle Mariners play the Baltimore Orioles.

This was a special trip because the catcher for the Orioles was an Oregon State Grad. My nephew started loving the Orioles when he started with them. The catcher is only a rookie.

We got settled in and went for dinner the first night. It was a walk type trip. I asked the receptionist how far it was to the restaurant, and she said three or four bocks.

She as sooooo wrong. It was more like 8 to 10 blocks. I walk with a cane, and hadn’t walked that far in a long time. I struggled big time. I was pretty slow, and slowed everyone down. I felt very bad about that.

I had to stop once because my shoe lace had come undone. My nephew quickly got down on his knees at tied both shoes in a double knot.

From there, he held my hand and made sure I wasn’t going to fall.

Very embarrassing, but special that he would do that for me.

The game was really great. My nephew got two homerun balls during batting practice.

During the game my nephew’s favorite player got two hits. One of them a homerun.

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Have you ever had moments when you struggled, and needed someone’s help? Did you accept it, or did you refuse because it made you look bad? I know it is difficult to think you need help, but please allow those who love you to help you.

They are not doing it out of pity. They are doing it because they love you.

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Try to enjoy life no matter what is tossed at you. There will be storms. There will be disappointments. Be strong and face the adversity.

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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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I Thought I was a Dead Man Walking.

June 20, 2022 / / 0 Comments

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Sorry I missed a couple of posts. I was in the hospital.

Here is the whole story…

I started having dark stools. I mean pitch black. I called the gastro clinic, and tried to make an appointment. The lady that answered looked for some openings and told me it would be a least a month out to get an appointment. She then told me that she would put me on long a waiting list, and hope for an opening would come from a cancelation.

I thought it would be dangerous to wait that long and was checking other cities for their gastro people.

Before I could make an appointment, the same lady called me back and said there was a cancelation. THAT HAD TO BE GOD!!

I got in to a PA lady, and she told me that I needed to go to the ER. I asked why. She said it would take to long to treat me there.

So, my wife and I went to the ER. When we got there the waiting was pretty light. It still took us three hours to get in.

I got in and a lady doctor came in and asked me questions, and said turn over. She whipped my rear and walked out. (Embarrassing moment.)

They decided I needed to have the resident gastro doctor come in to see me. He did come in and asked a bunch of questions. He decided I needed to have him look inside me, and that would happen within the next hour.

The time came and they sent me to la-la land. When I woke up they told me that I had four polyps in my stomach that was causing the bleeding. They took them all out and said I should be OK.

They kept me over night to make sure that it was success. My next “sit down,” showed a beautiful brown stool.

I was able to go home later that day.

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This was pretty traumatic for me. This is because they told me what it could be before they did the procedure. I didn’t like any of the choices.

Colon cancer

Stomach cancer

Ulcer

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It was none of the above..

It was that the polyps were bleeding.

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Have you had something similar to this? Have you wondered if you were going to be OK?

FEAR NOT!! I have no question in my mind that God was in charge in my situation.

  1. a canceled appointment the same day I called? Impossible!
  2. They found nothing from their scary list? Amazing!
  3. The quick recovery? Thank you Lord!

God made everything work for me, and He will for you too. You just have to believe He will.

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Never think everything is lost. God is right there with you. He will guide you through the storms.

I always say, 99% of what we worry about never happens. Give the rest to God.

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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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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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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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There’re Times When You Need to Breathe Through Nose; Not Mouth.

November 17, 2021 / / 0 Comments

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I have found through the years that closing my mouth and just listen to someone works out tremendousely. They get out everything they want to say, and you learn a lot about them.

It didn’t hurt me to “shut up.” It helped the other person a lot.

What a difference that would make in our world if everyone did that. There just may be there wouldn’t be anymore wars, murders, riots, etc.

This would be a huge step towards freedom as well. We woudn’t need to rationalize everything we say. There may not be an actual agreement, but both sides will be heard.

Sounds like a plan, but man can’t seem to survive with that idea. They need to control or else.

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How is your world going? Do people scream at you, and do not allow you to try to explain your thoughts.

Be as calm as you can. Roll with the punches, and know that God is there with you.

God never allows anything to happen that you can not handle. He will protect you through your storms.

Be strong! Stand up for what you believe to be right. Never give in to the enemy.

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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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