The Thing About Believing

When someone believes something, they will at some point be called upon to exercise that belief. The stronger their believe, the lower their threshold to action. Love is the strongest belief. When we believe ourselves to be in love, we will act to protect our lover, family, Savior, whatever we are loving strongest. When we act out of fear, it is a different animal altogether, a weak stance, a forced action without the lifeforce will behind it, just a will to survive. When we believe in things and ideas that correlate with the Bible, good and upright things, our beliefs cause us to act in ways that help and stand out as lights in the dark world. We do things like cook for people, help clean, smile, visit shutins, care for orphans, defend others, care for widows, help so done with car trouble, share, etc. When our belief system is in line with the dark world around us, we do things like lie, be selfish, look out for ourselves, search for what is in it for us, only help if we get back more, hold grudges, fight, look for pleasure only, run from difficulty, escape. See, what we think about and put into our heads becomes our belief system which drives our actions. It is very important what messages go into our heads. This is why we can help guard our hearts by staying in prayer. God can help always and really loves to help us guard our beliefs and line them up with His. 

As I Walk Through Mud Alone, a Poem

As I walk through mud alone, I trip and Wade through its murky gloom

My Dad would carry me when asked, My love would offer me the moon.

And now I walk alone through mud, the rain beats down upon my head

And look before through crying eyes, I see beside the path a shed.

I enter, happy to be sheltered there, not knowing whose this shed may be

And Jesus was lovingly standing there, saying He built this shed for me.

He wanted to remind what I had misplaced, that He was the One I had forgotten 

And that no matter who was or was not there, I was never where He was not.

The rain, it stopped upon revelation, alone was I not ever or the future.

And sunny it was, and even if raining, I would have peace in any disaster.
We never walk alone. We may walk lonely sometimes without familiar faces, but we are never alone and God sends us who and what we need when we need it. Every time. Remember to spend time with the only truly faithful One. He loves us so much.

Fiercely Devoted Forever

My dad taught me loyalty and faithfulness. It is a lesson he lived and I learned his lesson through watching. Only a few lessons did he give up as words of wisdom. No, he taught me through his actions, through his day in and day out supporting his family and taking care of us and protecting us and being faithful to my mom, despite her condition. He also taught generosity this way, through experience, but I firmly believe generosity extends to loyalty and faithfulness. You have to give up something to stick with one person and not waver in that commitment. Often this is hard to find now. People don’t give up their whims and wants and immediate pleasures for anyone, regardless of the commitment level. It sucks really. But I learned it. I didn’t always follow all my life but I did once I realized by mistake and now do in my heart of hearts. To those I love and am committed to caring for, I have always been and am still right here for them and will remain so the entirety of my life. It is how I am made and what I was taught. And I firmly believe that every single person that decides to also be generously loyal and faithful is one more exception to the rule and one more light shining in this dark world. And maybe we can either start a trend or just be the lesson people need to see to want that joy of fulfillment loyalty and faithfulness brings, especially when it costs something. We need moments of sacrifice in our lives to do what is right. Love costs something, has to to prove its validity. Any moron can love someone when it is fun or convenience only. If you can’t ride through some storms together, there is no other way to prove you are loving them for real and through difficulties too. It is worth trying. Appreciation follows rather than doubt.Love reciprocates rather than mistrust. It is beautiful.

Why Board Games are Still Good

My kids and I play board or card games regu!arly still. There are many reasons we do. The first is that it is one big of time without tech where we look at each other (it is good to know what we look like in case we have to give descriptions) and talk out loud. Eye contact can never be underplayed. It is vital to good social connections. And bnoard games are fun. They are a nice break from everything else just to enter a mutually agreed upon world of competition and maybe a little make believe. I mean playing pieces are people, getting to a the finish carrot is important, etc. It is a shared time and place and experience. Thirdly, it teaches kids that someone always wins. In life nowadays where every kid gets a trophy and everyone is a winner is the stupidest thing on earth. I lived in the corporate world for a while and in medicine and in life and someone always is the winner and you lose a lot. And that is a good thing because there is nobility in being happy for someone else’s success and motivating you to maybe go for the gold next time. Also, you sincerely learn more from losing. Maybe you learn you don’t like it, maybe that there are things you could do differently, maybe humility, maybe that participation has its own rewards, whatever. Board games build relationships and fosters connections in a fun way. Worth stopping what you are doing for a bit and invest in each other.