Ever Wondered How to be Happy?

I know social media is the "in" thing nowadays and I do "partake" daily of some of its offerings, but occasionally it brings sad, maddening, disgusting things to light, besides all of my friends' events and pictures, likes, comments, etc. of course, and it's kind of a bummer.   Today though, I ran across a video that had a unique title, so I fell for it and was pleasantly surprised by the content.  You may wonder why I share it because it seemingly has nothing to do with God, as is my usual offering on this blog, but it seems to me that sometimes, things in the world just prove what He has been trying to say to us through His Word for centuries and He has to bring it out through a "scientific" venue, to make anyone listen.

Please take a few minutes to watch...I promise it'll have a positive impact in your life for a little while anyway, and maybe even longer!

Discover How to be Happy

Along the lines of gratefulness and thankfulness and the effects they have on us, I'd like to share a scripture with you that exemplifies why God wants us to be thankful.

"As He went on His way to Jerusalem, it occurred that [Jesus] was passing [along the border] between Samaria and Galilee.  and as He was going into one village, He was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance.  And they raised up their voices and called, "Jesus, Master, take pity and have mercy on us!"  And when He saw them, He said to them, Go [at once] and show yourselves to the priests.  And as they went, they were cured and made clean. [Leviticus 14:2-32 talks about lepers and cleansing]  Then one of them, upon seeing that he was cured, turned back, recognizing and thanking and praising God with a loud voice; And he fell prostrate at Jesus' feet, thanking Him [over and over].  And he was a Samaritan.  Then Jesus asked, "Were not [all] ten cleansed?  Where are the nine? Was there no one found to return and to recognize and give thanks and praise to God except this alien?"  And He said to him, "Get up and go on your way.  Your faith (your trust and confidence that spring from your belief in God) has restored you to health."  Luke 17:11-19  The Amplified Bible

Here we have 10 guys walking along the road when they spot Jesus.  They know He's been called a miracle worker so since they have a deadly serious illness that causes parts of their body to decay and fall from their bodies, it had to be worth a shot to see if Jesus would help them.  Fortunately for them, Jesus took pity on them and following God's direction healed them all.  But, they still had to use their faith by following His instructions to go to the priests to declare they had been healed in order to activate the healing.  Many of them had lost fingers, toes, ears, and other body parts, but now the disease was no longer ravaging their bodies to do further damage.

As they walked, I'm sure they talked amongst themselves about this miracle happening to them, but only one of them, a Samaritan--lowliest human on the social ladder in those days, scum of the earth, felt that he wanted to say a personal thank you to the One who gave him such incredible mercy.  When he returned to thank the Master, Jesus wanted to know where all the others were.  Were they not grateful as well?

As Jesus acknowledged the man's faith, confidence in God, and thankful heart, He said that his actions had put into motion a complete and total healing in his body.  All the parts that had been missing from his body because of the disease, had been recreated and he was made "every whit whole."

So, nine guys went away healed of the disease but were left for the rest of their lives with missing parts because they didn't consider it important enough to say thank you.  The one who was willing to show his gratefulness went away completely whole.

Happy?  Yeah, you bet he was happy!

What about you?  Are you happy?  Well, if you could use a little more happiness in your life, take a tip from the Samaritan.  Go to God and thank Him for everything...hot running water for your morning shower, food to eat, clothes to wear, a roof over your head, and so on and so on.  If you don't have everything you want in life, tell him you're thankful for that too.  There's a good reason we don't get everything we want sometimes.  He knows some things aren't good for us!  Or, we need to mature a little before we can handle some of the things He wants to entrust us with.

Check your Happy-O-Meter...if you need more happy...give appreciation, be thankful.  You'll be amazed at what God will do!

A View into the Heavens

Below is an inspired comment by my dear friend, Doris, who one day, hopefully, will offer some of her own insights on having confidence in God on this very blog, or one of her own making.  For now, I will share just this much because I could not have said it any better. 

"This image just takes my breath away and Helen Keller's words here take on an other-worldly significance. In the words of my youth..."it blows my mind" and I think that's a good thing. My God is so much greater than the image of "a kindly old man" sitting on a throne in Heaven. My God, through His ineffable love and omnipotent (((and yes, I said omnipotent...I would not worship a being without the power of creation in His very hand))) and majestic power, has given me all I need to live the life He has planned for me. I only limit that fact by my own hesitation and earthbound fears. I'm learning that there are far more open doors than obstacles in life...but I must step out of the confines of my own making...and I must step out in faith."  Doris H.

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us." Helen Keller

God is an awesome God and to think, He cares about you and me, and even things as insignificant as a tiny sparrow. That, too, "blows my mind".

Think Like A Donkey!

Ran across this story on Facebook and thought it held some good advice..thought you would like it too!

How did this happen?

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the anim...al was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.
He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down.
A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.
As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!
MORAL : Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.
Remember the five simple rules to be happy:
1. Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.
2. Free your mind from worries - Most never happens.
3. Live simply and appreciate what you have.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less from people but more from yourself.
You have two choices... smile and close this page, or pass this along to someone else to share the lesson

I Wanna Fly!

There comes a time when each of us will have the opportunity to meet our Maker, I suppose, but some seem to have that chance far sooner than we would like, at least too soon for those of us who are left behind to live out our lives a little longer without them.  For Tami, whose story we shared some time back (see http://ivegotconfidence.com/ or http://ivegotconfidence.wordpress.com/), that time came almost two weeks ago.  Her mother, my friend Doris, wrote this on her Facebook page on that day:

Tami: "Mama, will we be able to roller skate in Heaven?"'

Me: "I don't know honey...Why do you ask"

Tami: "Well, when I'm on my skates, I feel like I'm flying, and when I go to Heaven, just in case I don't get my wings right away, I'll have... my skates...so...I'll still get to fly...right?"
Tami: "Mommy, can I swing in Heaven?"

Me: "I guess so...Why"

Tami: "Cause I wanna fly."

 

I guess you've got your answers now sweetheart.  It occurs to me that you have always wanted to fly, Tami, and tonight you're flying free and unfettered by Cancer, pain or sorrow.  You've seen His face, you've sat at His knee and you've basked in His healing touch.  Go fly, baby girl...you just go fly all you want!!

 

Tamara Anne (Last name withheld by author) : June 3, 1971---August 19, 2013

 

Although it's been many years ago that I met Tami as a little girl, I'll never be able to forget her.  I was not privileged to meet her as an adult, and don't know if we'd have been good friends or not, but she'll always be a treasure in my heart, one of God's little jewels.  She touched my heart then as she still does today.

I'm sure her meeting with her Lord and Savior, Jesus, was a glorious one...filled with lots of hugs and joy, laughter and giggles, and maybe even some roller skates and a swing with her name engraved on them.  I'm also thinking, based on her free spirited behavior as a child, that her guardian angel will have heaved a great sigh of relief knowing that he finally got her to her final resting place in one piece!

While she waits for the rest of us to finish our course here on Earth, she will have the joy of learning all about everything she's ever wondered about.  Questions will be answered, sorrow and pain will disappear and her body will be whole, as God intended from the beginning when things were clean, new and sinless.


Although I missed watching you become the beautiful young woman you were and are in Heaven, I want you to know you were a blessing to me and I'll see you on the other side!  Rest in God's wonderful Peace sweet Tami Anne.
For those of you who would be interested in helping Tami's family bear the mountain of financial obligations they face, please feel free to find out more by accessing the following link:  http://www.gofundme.com/3va7xs   Any amount you wish to donate will be gratefully appreciated, I can assure you.
 
God bless you!

Tami's Story

Forty some years ago we lived in a 4-plex, a condo of sorts with a front apartment, two two-story apartments, one on either side of the front, and an upstairs apartment in the back by the alley, under which were the parking spots for all the tenants cars as well as the small laundry room which sufficed for all four apartments.

Living in one of the side apartments was a family with two very small girls, later to be two girls and one boy, but their mom and dad were great friends to us as very young newly weds with a baby on the way.  I honestly don't know what we would have done without them and hopefully we were of some benefit in the friend department to them as well.

Their middle daughter was the cutest little thing -- about 3 or 4 at the time we moved in.  Tami.  Never could sit still, always on the go.  Smiled and giggled all the time...a free spirit if ever there were one.  She could be annoying as the dickens at times, but always cute and you couldn't stay upset with her for very long! 

Now, all grown up with a family of her own, she faces the most challenging time of her life and is waging a war on something that she may be about to lose.  I'm sharing this because her family meant so much to me all those years ago and her story needs to be shared for others to enjoy the life they have, take stock of their priorities and perhaps help someone else in need, as is our privilege and duty as citizens of this world of humanity.  Prayer for the entire family sure wouldn't hurt either

Although I had not seen or heard from my friends for about thirty some years until I found Tami's Mama on Facebook about a few years ago, I had often thought about them and wondered how they were all doing.  As with all of us, we went our separate ways, worked, played, we grow up, life went on.  Stuff happens, we get over it and life continues to go on.  Now that we've been reconnected after a fashion, my heart breaks for their family and the pain they are going through.  I guess Tami made an eternal impression on me and I feel somehow she needs to be honored. 

I hope you'll join with me to share in Tami's story and share financially and in prayer what you are able to.

Click here to read the full story and donate

Thank you so much for caring for others!

Cold Milk and Tar

When I was a kid, about seven or eight years old, I remember living in Pocatello, Idaho near a fraternity house that was on the other side of the alley.  As it happened, we lived very close to the college so to have a frat house close by was not unusual. 

One particularly warm summer day, I smelled the most awful smell and when I went to investigate I can remember seeing a big machine with this steaming hot, black gooey substance overflowing and dripping down its side and some men standing nearby, their clothes stained in black as well.  I couldn't imagine what was going on at first, but those guys sure looked thirsty!  In my little girlish mind I thought I knew just the thing that would cheer them up -- a cold glass of milk!  So, I proceeded to pour two or three glasses of ice cold milk and took them out to the unsuspecting recipients of what I thought was a real treat from my generous child's heart.

I don't know how grateful they really were, but they acted like it was the best thing in the world and made me feel spectacular for having thought to bring them something to drink on such a hot, Pocatello day.   Beer probably would have been more to their liking, or at the very least soda pop, but we didn't have those things in my house, never did.  So, milk it was!  They received it with a smile and a big thank you, as I'd hoped, and they continued on doing...whatever it was they were doing before I came out of the house with my big surprise.

As it turned out, that nasty, awful smell, as you've probably already guessed, was hot tar.  They were tarring the alley way to make it more like a road than a dirt trail, which is pretty much what it seemed like before they fixed it.  I'd never seen tar before but I had heard and read the story about Bre'r Rabbit and the Tar Baby, one of the many stories from the old South told by one of my favorite story tellers from Walt Disney's Song of the South, Uncle Remus.  I figured it must be similar stuff.

You may be unfamiliar with the story but I'll summarize it for you as it does have some applications for today.  You may see different relevancies than I do, but I hope you'll enjoy this tale as much as I did as a kid.

Basically, the story revolved around Bre'r Fox who wanted revenge on a happy-go-lucky Bre'r Rabbit because he felt that Bre'r Rabbit had been making a fool out of him for a very long time and he was determined to get even. 

He devised a plot whereby he made a "baby" out of tar that he thought looked real enough to fool Bre'r Rabbit.  Bre'r Fox set the "baby", now fully clothed, on a log and laid in wait for Bre'r Rabbit to come by.

He didn't have long to wait because soon Bre'r Rabbit hopped along down the trail and spotted the unusual figure sitting on the log and began to try to engage the "Tar Baby" in conversation.  He obviously couldn't speak, so after several tries at pleasantries with no response, Bre'r Rabbit became frustrated and hit him -- the response Bre'r Fox had desperately hoped for and, frankly, expected from Bre'r Rabbit.  Because Tar Baby was made of sticky tar, Bre'r Rabbit's fist got stuck.  If that wasn't bad enough, it didn't take long for Bre'r Rabbit's anger to get the best of him and not just one foot, but eventually all four got stuck to the Tar Baby!  By this time the fox was laughing hysterically at the rabbit who finally realized he'd been duped and if he didn't come up with some sort of plan, quickly, he'd likely be dinner for Bre'r Fox that evening!

Being a pretty smart Rabbit, he used reverse psychology on Bre'r Fox by telling him he could do anything he wanted to with him but please, please don't throw him into the briar patch nearby.   That would be the worst thing in the world...to be thrown into the briar patch!  Well, don't ya know, that's exactly what the fox decided to do!  Throw the rabbit into the briar patch..all nettles and thorns, scratchy and foreboding.  Bre'r Fox expected to hear screams and yelling, but all he heard was laughing.  You see, it seems that Bre'r Rabbit was born and raised in the briar patch and was all too familiar with the surroundings.  It was a safe place for him.   Once again, Bre'r Rabbit got away and Bre'r Fox lost his attempt to get even.

I don't know exactly what the moral of the story was intended to be, but it sure seems like we could learn to be a lot wiser as we're walking down the "trail of life".  Perhaps we'd be less likely to be duped by the enemy and get all of our body parts, and our souls, stuck in his "tar".  It's a lot easier to keep from getting stuck in the first place by being cautious and aware of the enemies tricks than it is to have to do some fast thinking to keep from getting eaten!

What if we stay in God's Word, apply what He has to tell us to our hearts and lives and live above the plots and deception of this world?  Sounds like a good idea to me!  What do you think?

Whoooo Are You Hiding From?

  

As a kid, I'm sure you played hide and seek.  At least I did occasionally.  And, as parents, I'll bet you played peekaboo with your children, to their utter delight!  I can just hear their squeals of joy and laughter as you came out from behind the chair, or the blanket you'd raised over your face to hide from them, and then quickly pulled it down to say, "Peekaboo, I see you!"

 As they grew old enough to figure out how to play the game for themselves, I'll bet they enjoyed scaring the liver out of you when they jumped out from an unexpected hiding place to say... "Boo!  Scared ya, didn't I Mom, Dad? "

We do a lot of hiding in our lives, but most of it isn't a game played with our kids.  We hide from people we don't want to be around at that moment, such as in-laws, that rascally neighbor who's always borrowing stuff from us, our parents who are likely to find out that we're not living up to their expectations, our siblings who really know us better than we'd like but if we stay away maybe they won't guess what we're up to.  We hide from our boss, we hide from our kids--or at least we think we're hiding from them. 

But worst of all, we try to hide from God, our Creator.  You know, you're not the first to try to hide from Him.  Adam and Eve did it too, back in the Garden of Eden.  He had just created them, given them everything you could possibly imagine.  Peace, Security, Love, Health, Wholeness in every area of their lives.  He only asked one thing of Adam, that they stay away from the tree.  But then, the enemy of their souls came up to Eve and said, "Hath God said?"  And, being deceived, she took from the forbidden tree, gave to Adam, and he sinned, knowing that God had said no to the fruit of THAT tree only.  From that point on, they knew they'd done something wrong and hid from God.


So, why do we hide from Him?  Why do we try to escape going anywhere near where He might show up.... like church, Bible studies, fellowship with His people?  We know we're not where we should be or doing what we should be doing and don't want anyone to know ..that's the most common reason, I think. Or at least that's always been my reason.

But the funny thing is He already knows what we've done, what we're about to do, where we're going, and who we're going with.  He knows what we're thinking, what our motives are--good and bad--and He loves us anyway.  Not only that, He's provided a way for us to be forgiven and set right with Him.  Through the sacrifice of His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ.  How cool is that??!

 We don't have to hide anymore.  We don't have to wear masks.  He loves us, He forgives us, He cleanses us and makes us clean when we accept the sacrifice that Jesus made on the Cross for us.  His Blood makes us clean and right with God again.

So, whoooo are you hiding from?  You don't have to hide from the Lord anymore.  Have confidence in God to take care of all the rest and be free to be who He created you to be!