How To Believe

Hello Everyone,

Life is something that we can not predict it's every twist and turn, we hope, pray and anticipate.  This is where believing and faith comes into play.  We are not made to know everything, nor could we handle it if we did.  God knows how much we can bare and when we can bare it.  Thus, life happens.

So, how does one believe?  First, you must believe that God is almighty and that He keeps His word, no mater what.  We, however, must trust Him and look to Him for help.  One believes by accepting the fact that God may not come when we want Him, but, He is always on time.  One believes by surrendering worries upon Him and trusting that He will come through.  One believes by letting God be there through it all and yield not to how one perceives things should be, but, look forward to God's results, which will far exceed anything one could ever imagine.

I have learned that God is a true friend and wonderful heavenly Father.  He makes His presence known, when we need His shoulder to lean upon, He will let us lean as long as we need.  Someone very near and dear to me once recited the Serenity Prayer to me, I am so thankful.  It helped me so much.  I would always reflect on the first part.  I would like to share the entire prayer with you.

Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference. 
 Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

Believe that God will come through.

With inspiration, 
Oreadea 

If You Never Get An Apology

We so desire to hear those 3 little words, "I am sorry."  If they are not sincere, what are they really worth to you?   Throughout life people are going to do and say things that are hurtful and we feel that an apology is in order.  Yes, it is, but, don't force anyone to give it and do not feel that there is no closure if you do not get one.  Here is the key, if you can forgive and move passed it, it is better than an empty, "I am sorry."  If something is on your chest let the person know, do not let them walk around oblivious to your feelings.  It is not fair to consider it common sense for them to know that you were wounded by their words.  It is best to have a moment with him/her to express how you feel, but, be prepared to put it behind you after that.  If you do not get an apology,  just use it as a measuring stick to govern your interaction with him/her in the future.

Too often, we feel that an apology equals closure.  However,  your feeling of closure is not predicated on those 3 little words.  Closure really comes from knowing that you are whole without it.  Have I had first-hand experience with feeling the need for an apology and did not get one?  Absolutely, it took me a minute to realize that an apology is not going to provide closure for me, because, I knew that it would not be sincere.  So, what did I do?  I began to examine the character of the person as I came to see it.  You may not come to anything in particular, however, take heed to how a person reacts to you from that point on.  My Dad would always says, "You are what you are when you act."  I found this to be so true and I measure accordingly.  My point is, an apology is not needed to bring wholeness to you.  You are already whole and if it never comes, it will not change the fact that you are whole already.  It is not a good feeling to feel dismissed by anyone, however, keep your power.  Do not give an inch of it away by persistently wanting someone to acknowledge your feelings.  Sometimes, it just may not happen.

If you never get an apology,  it is ok.  You can now see a little clearer into the character of a person and can choose to be cautious. You want to have genuine people in your corner, who will acknowledge you when you are hurt and who will truly care about your heart.  Do not be dismayed, instead, feel relieved about the revelation that you now see what you did not see previously.  Would you rather an empty apology or sincere one?  With that asked, assess, measure and govern things accordingly.

Last, but not least, pray for comfort of your hurt, counsel in dealing with it and look forward to an emotional growth spurt.  Don't be arrested in this, wake up and see you as whole no matter an apology or not.
Jill Scott - When I Wake Up      Posted By: Shonta Evans

https://youtu.be/bRD-UrveqBQ With inspiration,
Oreadea

You Thought You Could But, Found Out That You Could Not....

My Strong Sisters & Brothers,

We must not leave God out of any equation.  Many times, we feel that solving a problem is doable, not necessarily easy, but can be done our way.  Well, allow me not to be the messenger of bad news, but, of good news.  God is the answer,  for He never leaves us alone.  In life, we feel that we do so much on our own, but we really do not.  How about wake up each day, have the function of limbs, have a stable mind, care and have a true concern for others or  go through even (1) day free from hurt, harm or danger.  We can easily feel that if we inhale and exhale that it is all us, but no, it is God giving us life, when we awaken, we think, it is "because our bodies have an alarm clock."  However, it is God blessing us with another day, when we think things over and reconcile our problems or even decide to brush our teeth and eat, it is God that is keeping our minds, when our hearts have love for others, it is God that we are sharing with others.  God is there for us through everything and we must keep Him in everything.

Many, Many times we think that we are a bother to God, because, we cry to Him so often about the same problem, can you believe that He is there every time.  He will wait on us to put our entire trust in Him.  He already knows what to do with our problems and how to fix them.  Unfortunately, we are so easy to just pass our control, our happiness and our securities over to others. Yet, we hold on to the very thing that God asks us to give Him, our troubles, our cares, our burdens.  He wants to make us whole, not leave us in a broken state.  We must allow Him to help us put the pieces back together.  He can make us brand new and free from torment, worry, stress, doubt and depression.  I added doubt, because, we are so held down from climbing up due to doubting that we can do anything right.  Well, God does not agree with that, He wants to raise us up, lift our heads and give us confidence in His name.

There is no shame what so ever in admitting that we can not do things alone.  We should request the presence and intervention of God to come to our rescue, to make a wonderful difference in our lives, to counsel us and give us pure joy in our hearts, bless our feet that we may walk in the strength that He commands.  All of this, He promises to do for us right here on earth.  All we have to do is to stop thinking that we can do it alone and give God the controls.  No one or nothing is greater than He.


Kirk Franklin - Hold Me Now                    Posted by PuertoRRRican


With inspiration,
Oreadea

What Is Your Monday Song?

Hello Family & Friends,

Another Monday song.
                                                                 Le'Andria Johnson "Sooner or Later"  Posted by +Terrance Rolling

With inspiration,
Oreadea

When You Get Tired of Being Tired

Hello Friends & Family,

Keep holding and praying, ask God to hold on to you.  Sometimes, there is no more words to say, there are no more tears to cry, but in your heart and mind go to God in the quiet and lean as hard as you can. God is not going to abandon you, He will offer peace and comfort and will be a tried and true friend.  He will sit with you for as long as you want to sit, He will lend you His shoulder for as long as you need it and will give His hand to hold for as long as you need it to hold.

So, you wonder, how do I go to Him with things being so noisy and chaotic?  What better time to find peace than in the most noise.  You will never be a number to God, you will always be His child, so tell what hurts and everything else you want Him to know and you will begin to feel a calmness that will give you the ability to sit down and rest if you like or just grab a good nap or just take a walk with peace of mind, enjoying the beauty of the birds flying, the trees changing, the freshness of the air, finally, being able to take a good deep breathe.    I am not telling you anything that I have not experienced for myself.  So, if you are tired of being tired, tell God and ask Him to turn it around for you.  It is o.k. to be tired, but keep some sort of pace, do not allow yourself to become stagnant, have you ever watched a runners marathon where the runners get tired and can hardly keep running, at times, they resort to crawling, but they keep trying and keep trying?  They barely have a pace, but they don't stop, that has to be you, don't stop, read scriptures, pray, sing, build an imagination to see yourself stronger, more courageous, whatever it is, you need see it, meditate, write, do something that will keep you moving away from doubt or hopelessness, take a chance on you and God working on things together.

Please excuse the word chosen by the commentator 
                              Posted by Ironman Triathlon 
 
Tamela Mann "Take Me To The King"  Posted by songbirdvixen

With inspiraton,
Oreadea

You Will Be O.k.

Hello Everyone,

Have you tried to tell someone something or ask for help and the person/persons did not want  to hear what you had to say?  Listen, God hears.  Lean and depend on him when you can not get anyone else to hear you.  God will help you to cope and get through your troubles.  God will be your counsel and tell you exactly what to do, and you will be o.k.   I am a witness, He will talk to your heart and go with you when you go through.  He is our Mighty God, Our Strong Tower.
Pastor Marvin Winans "You Just Don't Wanna Know"  Video posted by +Richard Arsenault

With inspiration,
Oreadea


 

Something You Should Know

Hello Everyone,

I have posted the following video previously.  I just need to go back to it.  There are so many people that are hurt by words of others and their own thoughts, but please know that God loves you.  Do not believe the hype of words and thoughts, because they are not truth, God is truth.  It is easy to get wrapped up in believing that you are less than, that you are not enough, that you are invisible, that you have no power.  Faaaallllllsssseee, absolutely false.  You have power, because God placed it in you, not only that, He is all power and will be your fortress and confidence.  Take hold of believing in yourself and do not look in the mirror and see what you saw the last time.  Look and see that God loves you and has made someone beautiful.  We are His children and He has made a great sacrifice, His only son, to show us His love.  Therefore, we must reciprocate by not allowing negativity to manipulate us to give time to people, things and thoughts that work against us.  Additionally, do not let your self-esteem plummet because of what others say.  Who know their motivation and who should care? Anyone who did not create you can not break you.  If your self-esteem has been damaged pray and work on it day by day.  Pray for the eyes to see your own beauty, kindness and value.
"God Loves You" The Canton Spirituals  Video posted by Bigbofy

With inspiration,
Oreadea

What Is Your Monday Song?

Hello Everyone,

Here is my Monday song by Juanita Bynum "You Are Great"

I hope that it uplifts someone.

With inspiration,
Oreadea

Stress Management

Hello Everyone,

How do you deal with stress?  Stress is something that can be one of your biggest enemies, attacking your body in so many ways.  It can send you into bad health.  I thought that I would provide a link that would provide good information on stress management.  The source was found on http://www.helpguide.org/index.htm written by +Melinda Smith, M.A. and +Robert Segal, M.A. Click on the link to read the article http://www.helpguide.org/mental/stress_management_relief_coping.htm 

I have taken to twitter follow me https://twitter.com/trueyouness

Don't forget to watch the video:) 

                                                                                                                                                            Video Strong Enough by Matthew West

                                   
With inspiration,
Oreadea

The Eye Sees Better

Hello Everyone,

Before I begin, I have an announcement, Dr. Kris Marsh, an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of

Maryland will be a contributing blogger.  She is also a demographer  with a concentration on the African American experience.  Here in America, we are required to identify ourselves on all applications job, school etc. as Caucasian/white, African American/black, Native Indian, Asian and so on.  So, I categorize myself as black.  Dr. Marsh, will share the experience and bring to light views and conditions of the "black experience."  She will be coming soon.  Click the link below to see Dr. Kris Marsh on CNN.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfEC1_SjCxA&feature=youtu.be

Now, on to my entry for the night.......

Have you ever heard, "there is peace in the eye of the storm?"  Literally, within the middle of a storm there is a middle space/zone area of the storm that is still, a plane can fly into it and fly out without incident.  So is life a storm sometimes.  We go through these very turbulent storms and get tossed around, because we do not find the center, the eye, where we can think clearly and have peace.  It does not have to be so loud all the time just because, there is chaos in our lives, we can go to that hiding place in our heart and find refuge to think our way through certain things, we can decide not to conclude gloom and doom, but to embrace strength and endurance.

When in the storm we can go back to the middle/the eye and see our circumstance from a more positive viewpoint transforming the problem into an opportunity to flow with calm, to get a good night sleep, to pray and believe, to hold our head high, to not be a worrier and to have joy in the struggle.  If we can come back to the center, the center will ground us and keep us from over reacting and going over board about things that are not in our control.

My Dad told me one day, "Oreadea, even if you are on your back, if you can look up then you can get up."  Well, all I could do was smile that was my eye, it brought me to the center.  I could look up, I could see the break of day, my perspective changed and in faith, I walk today.

That eye is the compass that leads us to important quiet times to hear God speak to our hearts and tell us what to do about our situation.  It could be for us to wait a little longer about something or to move on something.  Whatever it is, in the middle, we can hear.   Is it not better to be still and know, than to move in haste and regret?

With inspiration,
Oreadea

You Can Get Through It

Hello Everyone,

Last evening I was watching a gospel choir competition and their was a judge named Fred Hammond and he said something that was so profound, he said, "If you fall, praise Him from the floor."  That is such a wonderful thing about the Lord, we can praise Him from where we are, and He will meet us there.  So, if we fall, He will be right there to help us and comfort us, but we have got to praise Him.  We are never so unworthy that we can not talk to Him and share what we are going through.  However, the key is to just say something to Him, even if it is just His name.

You can get through your trials and tribulations.  They may seem so final and the damage may seem permanent, but not so, when it comes to faith in what God can do.  There is no problem so big, but, we have to believe that He will do all that He said.  Here is what I have found, there is a way that we process and assess our circumstance, then, we decide that it needs to be handled a certain way, by a certain time.  So, we zoom in on the outcome that we want.  What about the outcome that God wants for us.  We just have to learn to pray and praise through the fire, pray and praise through the storm, pray and praise through the tears, pray and praise from the floor. Sometimes, we can stand right in the way and cause a real mess, when all that has to be done is to step aside and let God abide.  He will not fail us, but patience is what we must have.  Our time has nothing to do with Him, because His time is right and far exceeds any plan we have.  If we just resign ourselves to trust and let Him work and stop running interference, I will get through and you will get through every trial.  It is not easy to get through trials, they are painful and worrisome, but God will show us just how wonderful and great He is.

You can get through it, whatever it is, just find a way to pray and praise from right where you are. He hears what you don't say.

With inspiration,
Oreadea

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When Tears Begin To Fall

Hello Everyone,

Sometimes we get very into our feelings and not into our faith.  We must always remember.........

                                          Kirk Franklin, Don't Cry

With inspiration,
Oreadea

Your Sense of Self Is Not Their Call

Hello Everyone,

Being called names and being bullied can hurt anyone.  That which comes out of the mouth of others can be as a sword and pierce your very core, but always know that no matter what God loves you.  We may not always look exactly the way that we want, but that does not give one person the right to be cruel.

People that are mean to others have issues that they project onto others whom they feel they can hurt.  Do not let anyone bully you.  It is easier said than done, I know, but start with you and self acceptance.  As others see your self-esteem rise, they will begin to back off.  Well, you say, "I am so emotionally bruised by how I am treated that I just do not like me and I deserve it. " No, you do not deserve to be dehumanized and belittled.  You must take a look at the situation, that bully did not create you and does not wake you up in the morning.  Since, this is the case, why give them power.  The only power that they have is what you hand to them.  Even if you do not feel like being confident tell yourself everyday that you love you and that you will no longer give away your power.

A bully is someone who comes in many forms and enjoys making others suffer and miserable.  Call on your inner strength and pray for strength to realize your greatness and be able to walk in it daily.  We do not know why people bully, it could be jealousy, it could be because they hurt, it could be because they were bullied in their past, but still I ask, what right do they have?   There is none.

I hope that you know that you are loved and cared about.  Do not let anyone make you feel small.
You are great.

                                       God Loves You by The Canton Spirituals

Until next time,
Oreadea