2014. Can you believe it's almost here?!! It IS!
This new year feels even more like a gift waiting to be unwrapped, to me. I've heard others feeling this way, in years past, but I can't remember feeling it to this extent, myself. How about you? Do you feel the coming of this new year to be full of promise and exciting things?
I'm excited to, hopefully,
get to know you better. I hope to learn more what you would like to hear from me and what you would like to see happening here. I sure hope
you will tell me!
One of the things, pertaining to my blog, that I'm pretty excited about is GUEST POSTING. Won't you come read me in other blogs when I share with you where I'm writing?!? I sure do looking forward to this new experience and I hope you'll tell me what you think about my efforts along the way!
I'm excited about building my businesseses. I feel a huge impetus. Have I told you about the dream that drives me? It's probably not what you'd expect. I hope to share it with you sometime. Lilla Rose, among my business building efforts, is doing best, currently. I love selling beautiful hair jewelry at the Farmer's Market on Wednesdays. It's really enjoyable to meet so many new people. If you'd like to earn some FREE Lilla Rose Hair Jewelry, I can do Facebook and Catalog parties. In fact, if you are a hostess with me during January or February 2014 and your party reaches $200 in sales, you'll be entered into an opportunity to receive a pretty hefty cash prize (around $500 or MORE!). I would love to help you qualify for that incentive! :)
Although I'm not doing as well at selling/earning with Juice Plus and Young Living, I am very glad to be part of both companies. I'm pleased and impressed with their products and very glad I am able to use them at a discounted price! I love my Tower Garden (through Juice Plus) and am REALLY impressed with Young Living's essential oils.
I'm happy that my crocheting business has already made a little money and hope to experience exponential growth in that endeavor. Crochet has been my longest standing friend (next to food, but I'm getting over that dependent relationship. haha!). I've had crochet as a time of peace and enjoyment since I was ten years old!!!
Another exciting thing in the coming year is the new experience/effort of working my blog as a business. I hope very much to reap some monetary rewards from
this part of my life. I really believe multiple streams of income is really the way to go in this day and age. And since I already do it and love, I figured: why not try to make a little money from what I do already! Can you believe I've been blogging since 2008!??
I'm happily surprised, myself.
I've joined a writing team for a fitness blog. NOT because I'm actually fit and healthy, but because I'm striving to be. I'm REALLY real and full of flaws... I sure am hoping to reduce some of they physical flaws (mostly the ones in the form of rolls of fat on my figure) in the coming year.
If you are planning and hoping to become fit and healthy in 2014, you may find my next venture helpful. It'll go live for purchases on January 3rd. Right now you can read a bit about the products offered. I've become an affiliate, which is one of the ways bloggers are able to make an income via what we do out of love (write our blogs, of course!).
Showing posts with label hope. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hope. Show all posts
Friday, December 27, 2013
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Hope, Faith, Charity and... Let's Add Compassion
It's not that I'm trying to reorder the order or anything, but I've been thinking so much about standards both of the world and God's and the difference between what He would have and what is commonly accepted. Now, these thoughts pertain to lots of things, but I'm going to focus on what is most dear to my heart. That is, of course, God and Godly things.
So, one thing I feel like I've realized as a truth (right from the Bible) is that the Holy Trinity is really incomplete. You see, I believe God would still be who He and She are, but without man... well, God is not exactly a God. Do you see it? I mean, without man, who would worship God? Isn't being a God about accepting the glory that is your due of those who you have created? I think this is inherently necessary and part and parcel of the whole gig. Now, I'm not saying that God was less than He is without man... He simply wasn't quite what He is WITH man. Anyway...
Thus, my conviction has become that God, the Father, His son, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost and man constitute the geometry of completion... true unity and wholeness. So, instead of a triangle representing that which is complete and holy, a square, or, more appropriately, a basic diamond, is the more perfect representation of God. This seems more accurate, really, to me. For we rarely ever have any direct interaction with God, the Father. However, Christ and the Holy Ghost are more interactive with man. So, if we consider the most sacred geometric shape to be more of a diamond, man would be at one tip with God the Father at the opposite and Christ and the Holy Ghost on opposite points.
Changing this geometry really doesn't change much that IS. However, it does create room for more. For instance, there exists a triumverate of virtues that are commonly accepted as the most desireable and necessary. A trio, like the Godhead. But if we add man to the first, perhaps a fourth should be added to the most holy virtues, too. At least, this is what I've been thinking. And in my thinking, I've come to a decision. Compassion is the virtue that will join the exiting three. Now we have a quartet of the most necessary virtues.
And it makes perfect sense, really. If you have love, you must have hope. If you have love, you must have faith. If you have any one, you must have one of the others. So, too, I would argue, if any of the three are exstant, compassion will be also. Whether it be full-blown 'Mother Theresa' type compassion... or merely a spark that can burst into flame... it is there.
Just somethings I've been thinking about. What do you think about them?
LINKED
So, one thing I feel like I've realized as a truth (right from the Bible) is that the Holy Trinity is really incomplete. You see, I believe God would still be who He and She are, but without man... well, God is not exactly a God. Do you see it? I mean, without man, who would worship God? Isn't being a God about accepting the glory that is your due of those who you have created? I think this is inherently necessary and part and parcel of the whole gig. Now, I'm not saying that God was less than He is without man... He simply wasn't quite what He is WITH man. Anyway...
Thus, my conviction has become that God, the Father, His son, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost and man constitute the geometry of completion... true unity and wholeness. So, instead of a triangle representing that which is complete and holy, a square, or, more appropriately, a basic diamond, is the more perfect representation of God. This seems more accurate, really, to me. For we rarely ever have any direct interaction with God, the Father. However, Christ and the Holy Ghost are more interactive with man. So, if we consider the most sacred geometric shape to be more of a diamond, man would be at one tip with God the Father at the opposite and Christ and the Holy Ghost on opposite points.
Changing this geometry really doesn't change much that IS. However, it does create room for more. For instance, there exists a triumverate of virtues that are commonly accepted as the most desireable and necessary. A trio, like the Godhead. But if we add man to the first, perhaps a fourth should be added to the most holy virtues, too. At least, this is what I've been thinking. And in my thinking, I've come to a decision. Compassion is the virtue that will join the exiting three. Now we have a quartet of the most necessary virtues.
And it makes perfect sense, really. If you have love, you must have hope. If you have love, you must have faith. If you have any one, you must have one of the others. So, too, I would argue, if any of the three are exstant, compassion will be also. Whether it be full-blown 'Mother Theresa' type compassion... or merely a spark that can burst into flame... it is there.
Just somethings I've been thinking about. What do you think about them?
LINKED
Thursday, July 5, 2012
On Trust, Love and Marriage
Something I've Seen on Facebook:Trust doesn't come with a refill. Once it's gone, you probably won't get it back, and if you do; it will never be the same! And that's a fact!
Very Close to My Actual Response to the Above:
true. yet we must all be courageous and mature enough to realize, understand and truly learn (thus live) the additional truth that love and trust are not mutually exclusive. They exist as seperate, though intrinsically connected, entities. However, one can continue when the other is destroyed. And marriages can be maintained on love or trust alone. It is best and easiest when both are possible, but not necessary.
Additional Thoughts I Desire to Share Here:
So, who said you have to trust your man (or woman) to be able to have a positive and beneficial union? I have completely rejected this fallacious premise. You see, although I know trust is AWESOME to have and would love to feel it, I have been through too much to give it right now. It can be earned. But once broken too many times, it can truly become un-put-back-together-able... or take so much time to re-exist that it seems like it's not possible to have it again. At least, this is my current experience.
Does having reason to distrust my man mean that I cannot love him and build a good marriage with him? Well, most people would say that this is absolutely true. I disagree. Does it make life more difficult, to not trust your spouse? Certainly. It just does. That's part of the package when mistrust enters (for good reason or imagined). Just for the record, my reasons for distrust would overfill a VERY large... hmmmm... a very large something-or-other. VERY large. And they are not created or enlarged... these are actual reasons.
Does this mean that Chef Jessie is a bad person? Absolutely not! He's actually a model of honesty and integrity with everyone other than me. Does that hurt, yepper-y-sir-it-sure-do! But do I focus on that stuff? Nope. Sure don't. The mistrust IS always there. But I do not focus on it, you see. It's like anything negative... any problem any of us have... it's always there... that addiction to chocolate, or cigarettes... or that short fuse that, when burned results in overmuch anger... or that problem with mean thoughts... or that desire to spend, spend, spend... or the need to exercise so much that one becomes obsessed to the exclusion of all else that is important. You see, anything can become a problem if we focus overmuch on it. Even good stuff!
Anyway... back to my point.
Things are not perfect. They never will be because Jess and I are both... MORTAL. We're human. Problems are part and parcel of this experience called Life. Like I keep finding myself saying to my girls, "It's easy to be a problem maker. It's easy to see something that needs to be or could be done and come up with all the problems to prevent you from getting anywhere with it. But we don't need to do what's easy. We need to be problem solvers. Not problem makers!"
How does that pertain? Well, it does because I don't trust my man. Do I allow this problem to get in the way of positive interactions with my man? Nope. Do I allow this problem I have with him prevernt me from strengthening bonds through physical means, including affection, hand-holding, and otherwise? No-siree-bob. Sure don't. Do I allow the lack of trust I feel toward my husband to turn into a belief that I don't love my husband? Okay... well, on this one I feel Led to disclose a bit. When I first learned about a long period of lies... well, I did confuse love with trust. I did think that if he was untrustworthy, then I couldn't love him. Honestly, I did. But I learned, from something I read somewhere (sorry I cannot recall where or even specifically what brought about the epiphany), that trust and love are not the same. One can exist without the other. Is it optimal? Is it a preference to have either without the other. No. And no. But that doesn't mean it is BAD to continue on with only one of those virtues existant in a marriage.
I believe that marriage is worth more than a "need" for complete trust AND/OR love. If I could trust Jessie, but felt like I didn't love him, I would stay married to him. Because I know that I can choose to love him again. The same is true about trust. I could choose to trust him right now. I will not because I just will not. Not right now. I'm just not strong enough to go down that road again right now. But I also accept that I can love him, build a stronger marriage with him and have good experiences with him without trust. Now... if communication went down the drain along with the trust... I'm not so sure I could hang on terribly long (been there, don't work so hot!). But love and communication truly can provide a reasonably good foundation for a marriage... or a good crack-fixer-upper if the foundation has been cracked or messed up in some bigger way by the realization of untrustworthiness.
At least, I believe this is true as a result of experiences in my own life.
my Man: Chef Jessie
P.S.
I do agree that if trust is rebuilt, it simply never ever is the same. How could it be?!!?
LINKED
LINKED this post to a BLOG Party
and this one:
Very Close to My Actual Response to the Above:
true. yet we must all be courageous and mature enough to realize, understand and truly learn (thus live) the additional truth that love and trust are not mutually exclusive. They exist as seperate, though intrinsically connected, entities. However, one can continue when the other is destroyed. And marriages can be maintained on love or trust alone. It is best and easiest when both are possible, but not necessary.
Additional Thoughts I Desire to Share Here:
So, who said you have to trust your man (or woman) to be able to have a positive and beneficial union? I have completely rejected this fallacious premise. You see, although I know trust is AWESOME to have and would love to feel it, I have been through too much to give it right now. It can be earned. But once broken too many times, it can truly become un-put-back-together-able... or take so much time to re-exist that it seems like it's not possible to have it again. At least, this is my current experience.
Does having reason to distrust my man mean that I cannot love him and build a good marriage with him? Well, most people would say that this is absolutely true. I disagree. Does it make life more difficult, to not trust your spouse? Certainly. It just does. That's part of the package when mistrust enters (for good reason or imagined). Just for the record, my reasons for distrust would overfill a VERY large... hmmmm... a very large something-or-other. VERY large. And they are not created or enlarged... these are actual reasons.
Does this mean that Chef Jessie is a bad person? Absolutely not! He's actually a model of honesty and integrity with everyone other than me. Does that hurt, yepper-y-sir-it-sure-do! But do I focus on that stuff? Nope. Sure don't. The mistrust IS always there. But I do not focus on it, you see. It's like anything negative... any problem any of us have... it's always there... that addiction to chocolate, or cigarettes... or that short fuse that, when burned results in overmuch anger... or that problem with mean thoughts... or that desire to spend, spend, spend... or the need to exercise so much that one becomes obsessed to the exclusion of all else that is important. You see, anything can become a problem if we focus overmuch on it. Even good stuff!
Anyway... back to my point.
Things are not perfect. They never will be because Jess and I are both... MORTAL. We're human. Problems are part and parcel of this experience called Life. Like I keep finding myself saying to my girls, "It's easy to be a problem maker. It's easy to see something that needs to be or could be done and come up with all the problems to prevent you from getting anywhere with it. But we don't need to do what's easy. We need to be problem solvers. Not problem makers!"
How does that pertain? Well, it does because I don't trust my man. Do I allow this problem to get in the way of positive interactions with my man? Nope. Do I allow this problem I have with him prevernt me from strengthening bonds through physical means, including affection, hand-holding, and otherwise? No-siree-bob. Sure don't. Do I allow the lack of trust I feel toward my husband to turn into a belief that I don't love my husband? Okay... well, on this one I feel Led to disclose a bit. When I first learned about a long period of lies... well, I did confuse love with trust. I did think that if he was untrustworthy, then I couldn't love him. Honestly, I did. But I learned, from something I read somewhere (sorry I cannot recall where or even specifically what brought about the epiphany), that trust and love are not the same. One can exist without the other. Is it optimal? Is it a preference to have either without the other. No. And no. But that doesn't mean it is BAD to continue on with only one of those virtues existant in a marriage.
I believe that marriage is worth more than a "need" for complete trust AND/OR love. If I could trust Jessie, but felt like I didn't love him, I would stay married to him. Because I know that I can choose to love him again. The same is true about trust. I could choose to trust him right now. I will not because I just will not. Not right now. I'm just not strong enough to go down that road again right now. But I also accept that I can love him, build a stronger marriage with him and have good experiences with him without trust. Now... if communication went down the drain along with the trust... I'm not so sure I could hang on terribly long (been there, don't work so hot!). But love and communication truly can provide a reasonably good foundation for a marriage... or a good crack-fixer-upper if the foundation has been cracked or messed up in some bigger way by the realization of untrustworthiness.
At least, I believe this is true as a result of experiences in my own life.
P.S.
I do agree that if trust is rebuilt, it simply never ever is the same. How could it be?!!?
LINKED
LINKED this post to a BLOG Party
and this one:
Labels:
Choose the Right,
communication,
eternity,
eye on the prize,
forgiveness,
foundation,
God's Way,
healing,
hope,
love,
man's way,
marriage,
trust,
wounds
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