9/20/2021 0 Comments Seize the MomentMost of us have that one friend who lives by the philosophy: Seize the moment. Just possibly that friend may be the wisest friend you have. Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they refuse to take the time to seize the moment—it's not on their schedule, didn't know it was coming, or are too rigid to depart from their routine. I was thinking one day about all those women on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible. How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word "refrigeration" mean nothing to you? How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched Jeopardy on television? Take advantage of the opportunity, seize the moment. How many times has someone asked you out to lunch, invited you to hang out, or to just drop by for a few minutes? How many times have you gave them an excuse? If you are like me, probably most of the time. What if that person asking you was suddenly taken by death? You would probably be left with a lot of regrets for always giving an excuse instead of making time for them. Because we cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule time for the things that bring us despair and heartache. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect and fail to seize the moment: We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Tommy toilet-trained. We'll entertain-when we replace the living-room carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon-when we get one more kid out of college. Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of "I'm going to," "I plan on" and "Someday, when things are settled down a bit." I want to share what a friend told me the other day that really got me to noticing how often I cheat myself when I don't seize the moment: She said: My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my hips with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy. Lately, I have lost several family members that I have not visited in a while. Why? I was waiting until I could fit them into my busy schedule, Now it's too late and I'll never have that chance again. But, it has opened my eyes to just how much I have been putting things in the wrong order, and that I have not been taking time to seize the moment with the people in my life. That is changing here and now—I will be seizing the moment more often; and I pray you do too. Now...go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to ....not something on your SHOULD DO list. Seize the Moment!
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2/18/2019 0 Comments Misunderstood This meme sums up how I feel about this subject. The fact is I never realized how much I was misunderstood until about a year ago. And this has haunted me. I am a very compassionate, kind, bighearted, loving person. I was shocked to find out that this is not how a lot people perceive me. Most of my life I have been a very timid person. I still am to a point. I never realized that people were viewing my shyness as me being a stuck-up, snobby person! But, from what I've heard from some, that is what they viewed me as. I was shocked to hear this. This is not how I want people to think about me. This is not how I want to be remembered by anyone. Now that I am older I am not as shy as I use to be. I'm still quiet and don't say a lot. I only speak when I have something to say. Useless chatter is not my forte. Especially if people are talking negative...I really don't like negative talk. I'm a listener, I REALLY listen to what people are saying (and I analyze what they don't say...how they say it...etc.) But I am in no way a stuck-up or snob! Now on to another misunderstanding... My life has not been easy. Somehow I seem to have always attracted people who only wanted to use me and abuse me. Being so shy when I was younger, the people that were in my life took advantage of that trait and (if you read my book you'll see) they abused me in every way they could. This caused me to adapt the personality of 'I don't need anyone in my life' and 'I am tough, nothing you say or do can hurt me'. Which isn't true. I just have a lot of trust issues that have caused me to keep people at arms length. This is something I pray about daily. I don't want to be like this. The reason for me doing this blog is to say the one thing I haven't been able to say to the people who judge me (and others) wrongly...What people show to the world is not always reality. There is usually a reason for their silence. There is usually a lot of hurt and pain they are trying to hide behind their 'I'm tough' act. Don't judge so swiftly. Take time to see people from the inside. not just what they are showing on the outside. Believe me when I say...People who act like they don't need anyone, people who seem tough as nails...they are the ones who need you the most. Love them more. but don't be fake, because they know how to spot a fake real fast. Pray for the hurting, wounded, the hardened...don't judge. It's not out place to judge others. It's our place to show the love of Christ, to lift them up in prayer. to encourage them to love and trust again. May God Bless you all, have a blessed day. 10/31/2018 0 Comments FallGlaring out the classroom window in dismay, Alyssa watches the slow descent of a golden leaf as it breaks from a high branch on the tall oak tree just outside her window. Slowly it floats on the autumn breeze, until it comes to rest, on top of the carpet o others that fell before it, under the tree. “This fall season is a good resemblance of my life right now,” She whisper’s, “everything around me seems to be falling apart. Just like that leaf floating in the cool breeze, rejected by the tree; and, no where left to go but down… to be stepped on and crushed into the ground.” She turns to face her friend and co-worker Leena, who sat nearby in a rocking chair, trying to calm one of the toddlers in their class; “I don’t know how much more I can take right now. Just when I think I have made it over one hurdle, life throws me another one; and I’m… tired… I’m just tired.” She leans against the wall, slid down to the floor and hugged her knees; “I feel so defeated.” she laid her head on her knees to hide the tears she could no longer hold in. “Alyssa” Leena whispered softly, interrupting her thoughts; “you are looking at this all wrong; you say your life resembles fall, because, you view fall as an ending…as death, all dried up and lifeless” leaning closer, she takes Alyssa’s hands in hers; “fall isn’t about that at all. Sure, the leaves dry up and fall to the ground and die; but, that’s because the bad is falling away so the good can come in the spring”. Leena let go of her hand as she pushed up off the floor to stand. “So, look at all the bad that’s happening to you…Sidero leaving, job ending…all the bad is falling away so that God can bring the good in.” 8/21/2018 0 Comments Sorry for the delayI know I said that my new book was coming soon. It is; It's just taking a little longer than I had first anticipated. but I promise it will be ready by the end of the year.
1/21/2018 0 Comments COMING SOON!12/11/2017 1 Comment The Little GirlThere's a little girl I'd like you all to meet, she was raised in poor home, and it showed in her attire which was faded and worn. She never had many friends because she had very low self-esteem. She grew up being told she wasn't good enough. She was the kid that no one ever chose to be on their sports team or class project. She was picked on a lot and made fun of because of how she dressed; and after a while she began to believe that all those negative things were true. Even though her parents tried to tell her that kids can be mean and not to listen to them, she took everything to heart and thought that all those kids must be right, after-all, there were a lot of them saying it, so it must be true. That little girl turned into a woman, and she married young, wanting only to feel loved and accepted, and thought that marriage was the answer, but she was never truly happy with herself and that marriage failed. That only led to other bad relationships and broken dreams over the years that followed. Her every attempt to prove herself was shot down by all the negative forces in her life, until even as an adult she let people convince her that she would never be anyone or anything important, and that no one loved or wanted her in their life.... why would they want someone so worthless around? Where is that little girl today? She lives inside of me; and the woman I have grown into is working hard to show her that she is and always has been a beautiful, strong person inside and out, dreams do come true and she's not that hurt little girl anymore, she has lots of people who love and support her. Of course, I have to shut her up from time to time, when she starts trying to convince me that all those people through the years could be right and that we will never be more than we are right now. I just say to her, "Shut up! We can be anything we want to be, and we deserve the very best of all life has to offer!" I look her right in the eyes and say, “You are a strong, beautiful woman and everyone wants to be on your team, everyone wants to be just like you," "so stop your whining, go out there and make it happen!!!! However, she doesn’t always want to listen to me. Why? Because when you hear something over and over, you start to believe it. You start thinking…maybe they are right, maybe all these people see something I don’t and maybe I will always be no more than I am right now. Well, God tells us in His word that we are royalty. I have come a long way since that broken little girl. I am learning every day to quite her. I have to daily remind her that she is a beautiful child of God. And with God there is nothing she cannot do. So, always remember, it's not what others think about you that counts...silence that broken little girl within you and show her that you can conquer the world. What you believe about you is what is going to make or break you... Look in the mirror and say, "I am a strong, beautiful woman and nothing short of God above can keep me from success!" 12/5/2017 0 Comments I Didn't Have a Clue!!As I sit here I'm lost in thought about a tragic event that happened this week. My son's friend from school passed away this past weekend, that had to be one of the hardest things I ever had to tell my child. But, something he told me keeps echoing in my ears.."I didn't have a clue on Friday that I'd never see him again mom". I had that same thought last year when my brother passed away, I had just saw him the night before and he was fine...I didn't have a clue that would be the last time I would see him alive. Life is not promised beyond today for any of us. Tomorrow any of us could be gone; but, yet we rush through our day and, too often, we don't take time to really appreciate the people in our life. Don't you think it's time to slow down and really treat each moment with everyone like it was our last...because it very well could be. Then we'll be once again saying "I didn't have a clue that the last time would be the last time." Love the people God has given you, because, sooner or later He's going to need them back. And most often, that's sooner than we think. 11/26/2017 0 Comments Are you being a light? As I was reading tonight this verse really stuck out.. and it made me stop and think about how I portray myself in front of others. Am I being the light that I should be? That is a the question all Christians should be asking. No matter what your calling in life may be, we are all called to be a light to a lost and dying world. We are all called to tell others about Jesus Christ, and how He died so that we could all have life. So, take a moment today and check yourself. Think of all the people you come in contact with everyday...are you being the light that you should be? Take the time to be a light to someone today, and everyday. Their life depends on it. 9/15/2017 0 Comments Praise the Lord All the TimeSometimes in life we have to face things we don't understand. Finances run low, husbands and wives walk away or let us down, the kids are being unruly, We lose loved ones too soon, sickness and many other things fall on us. but we have to always keep Christ the center of our sight. Never take your eyes off Him. Don't just praise Him when things are going good. You have to and you must praise Him in the hard times too! It is in the middle of life's most difficult times that we find how wonderful and satisfying our Lord really is. No matter how alone you feel, He hasn't left you; He's right there with you, and when all is said and done, and you look back over the trial you are in right now, you will see that it was He who brought you through it all. So stay strong in the Faith and faint not. Praise Him, sing unto Him in praise and worship, because He's bringing you out of these ashes better than you were before!
9/11/2017 0 Comments Just a Thought for TodayPsalm 121 1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. 2 My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. 3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. 4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. 6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. 8 The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. ________________________________________________________________________________ No matter what circumstances look like; no matter what people say... God is in control. My present situation is not my final destination! God is once again going to turn all this around for His Glory! He is an ever-present God and I know He is with me with, protecting me; and soon He will bring me out of this better than I was better! No matter what you are going through right now, join with me and declare today that our God can not and will not fail, and we are going to rise victorious over everything that is meant to destroy us! To God be the glory for ever and ever! Amen! |
AuthorKaren Pless Gaines Archives
September 2021
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