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ThirstQuenchers: Encouragement for the Parched


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  • 1 year later...
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ENRICHMENT


Looking back, it seems to me
All the griefs which had to be
Left me, when the pain was o'er,
Richer than I'd been before;
And by every hurt and blow
Suffered in the Long-ago
I can face the world today
In a bigger, kinder way.

Pleasure doesn't make the man
Life requires a sterner plan.
He who never knows a care
Never learns what he can bear.
He who never sheds a tear
Never lives through days of fear,
has no courage he can show
when the winds of winter blow.

When the nights were dark and bleak
And in vain, I'd strive to seek
Reasons for my bitter grief,
when I faltered in belief,
Little did I think or know
I should find it better so;
But today I've come to see
What those sorrows meant to me.

I am richer by the tears
I have shed in earlier years;
I am happier each morn
For the burdens I have borne.
And for what awaits me yet,
By the trials I have met,
I am stronger, for I know
What it means to bear life's blow.

--Edgar A. Guest, 1928

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  • 1 month later...

I just had to share a story that helped renew my faith in people and timing and situations...

Last week, I was hurriedly cold-calling on MD offices and I had my digital camera in my purse. I was in an MD office, speaking with the receptionist when I felt my phone on vibrate - I glanced at it and saw "ID Unavailable" - which always means ABRAZO - so I quickly apologized to the nurse, left the office and plopped down in the building lobby to take the call. Wow - it was about a birthmom call, and I was intently listening to all the details, digging in my purse for a pen and writing down all the info. I was so excited that I unintentionally left my camera sitting on the lobby chair before I zoomed away in my car to get back to the office.

30 minutes later I realized my camera was gone. I was frantic b/c it had about 200 pics on it from Christmas to family vacations :( and I was sure that someone would steal it! Yes, that is embarrasing that I immediately thought that way... I rushed back to the building, jumped out of the car and ran into the lobby. The building seemed empty except for 2 of the sweetest people sitting in the lobby, a man and a woman, waiting for their rides. I asked if they had seen a camera in the sitting area, and the woman exclaimed, "Oh, is that what that was? Yes, yes - I found it and turned it into the Dr.'s office right there." I jumped up and down, ran into the MD office and sure enough, the camera was waiting for me.

I went back into the lobby, and with tears of gratitude, thanked them for their sweet hearts and courtesy and honesty. The lady said, "oh no, no! That's just what I do. You were the blessed one, weren't you? What a blessing - what a blessing! That is so wonderful and I was happy to do it. I never take anything that doesn't belong to me, that's just not right! You have a blessed, blessed day and New Year!" All the while, the man was just grinning and nodding his head with "Ummm-hmmm - Yep - uh-huh" to all the woman's words. :)

I left with a full heart and a huge portion of gratitude :):):) What an awesome thing to have such angels in my path --- at the very time when I needed a shot of faith!! :wub:

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Laura, Great story and I hope the birthmom call is the right one.

Heather :)

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I just LOVE moments like that where you come into contact with such special people and what may seem like such a small little nothing to them just is a mountain of goodness for us. What angels they were indeed - and like you said, on a day when you needed them most!

The world is just full of awesome and beautiful people - but also, it's people like YOU Laura who recognize and appreciate that sort of beauty and special-ness - and that makes you one of them, for others may have not stopped long enough to soak in that moment and because you did, you gained from that experience as well, and then - you went even further and shared that with all of us so we could be a part of it too....how kind and thoughtful of you.

Thanks for taking the time to post sweet friend! I'm hoping that Baby Taylor arrives in your arms very soon - I know he/she will just make your heart explode with gratitude and happiness because that's just the kind of person you are :) Not long now, not long at all. ;)

Lisa

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  • 2 weeks later...

I BELIEVE...

I believe that even amid today's mortar bursts and whining bullets,
there is still hope for a brighter tomorrow.

I believe that wounded justice, lying prostrate on the blood-flowing streets of our nations,
can be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men.

I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have
three meals a day for their bodies,
education and culture for their minds,
and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits.

I believe that what self-centered men have torn down,
men other-centered can build up.

I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God
and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed,
and nonviolent redemptive goodwill will proclaim the rule of the land.

"And the lion and the lamb shall lie down together
and every man shall sit under his own vine and fig tree
and none shall be afraid."

I still believe that we shall overcome.


-- Martin Luther King, Jr.
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I have been attending a new church. They have an awesome praise and worship team. They have sang this song many times...and each time ....I am moved to tears.

If you have an opportunity to listen to it somewhere...do!

Michael W. Smith \ Above All

Above all powers above all kings

Above all nature and all created things

Above all wisdom and all the ways of man

You were here before the world began

Above all kindgoms above all thrones

Above all wonders the world has ever known

Above all wealth and treasure of the earth

There's no way to measure what You're worth

Crucified laid behind a stone

You lived to die rejected and alone

Like a rose trampled on the ground

You took the fall and thought of me

Above all

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  • 2 weeks later...

When I was 15 years old, my father died suddenly. About 10 days later, I attended a retreat weekend sponsored by a group of local churches. The retreat was called SEARCH for Christian Maturity. During the course of that weekend, someone gave me the following poem. It is quite simplistic in it's message, and it has helped me keep my perspective through the ups and downs of the last 28 years...

What comes to pass throughout life

The Laughter and the tears

Is just a part of God's own plan

To fill the borrowed years

He gives and then He takes away again

His will is our command

Whatever comes to pass in life

Is done by God's own hand

Even the trials and tragedies

Have a reason and a why

Oh yes, the Lord works mysteriously

On that we can rely!

At times it is hard to comprehend

The things that come to be

Especially when they bring grief

To folks like you and me

But when your tries in failure end

And you yearn for peaceful rest

Win or lose, keep this in mind

Things happen - For the Best!

Hope these words help someone out there, as much as they have given comfort to me...

Edited by Daniel & Erika
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Thank you, Dan! What an inspiration and how true!!! I am going to print a copy of that poem to hang it where I can reflect on its words and true meaning.

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Hi Dan,

Thanks for those beautiful, comforting words. My father died when I was 16 (he being only 38). I lived with him, my parents were divorced, I was Daddy's girl. It was too much to comprehend at 16 his death and my life being forever changed by it.

In my circle of friends at the time (high school) no one understood the way I felt. I was suddenly different, I thought differently. We may be here today, but necessarily tomorrow. There are no guarantees in life. Terminal illnesses did not just happen to other people, it happened in my family. Everyone just wanted me to move on, stay busy. I tried, I did what everyone wanted.

Even though he was gone, he was in my mind, in my heart, I needed to talk about him. No one seemed to listen. Looking back, I needed counseling (and never got it). I have spent the rest of my life making sense of it all... and it's impact on who I am today.

How I love to see families together, many generations. My Dad would have been a wonderful grandfather and would have adored his granddaughters.

Today, as I write this post, I have outlived his age by almost 4 years. I know that everyday is a treasure to behold.

The poem you posted brought back so many memories, both happy and sad, and it's okay (now).

Thank you.

Karen

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Life is thickly sown with thorns, and I know no other remedy than to pass quickly through them. The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us.

-Voltaire

Edited by linlacor
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  • 1 month later...

I was inclined to post this under the "Waiting 9 Months" thread to lend encouragement, but then thought I'd drop it here instead, so as to not offend anyone who doesn't share my spiritual beliefs. This is by Frederick Buechener, a Presbyterian minister and novelist who is, in my opinion, enormously profound in a divinely human way...

"There is no event so commonplace

but that God is present within it,

always hiddenly,

always leaving you room to recognize Him

or not recognize Him...

Listen to your life.

See it for the fathomless mystery that it is.

In the boredom and the pain of it

no less than in the excitement and gladness;

touch, taste, smell your way

to the holy and hidden heart of it,

because in the final analysis,

all moments are key moments

and life itself is grace."

--Frederick Buechner

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From explorefaith.org:

May God give you the courage

to put one prayer in front of the other

both when faith is strong

and when faith seems absent.

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  • 3 months later...

Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, Diet Coke in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming:

"WOO-HOO! What a ride!"

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Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, Diet Coke in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming:

"WOO-HOO! What a ride!"

Wonderfuly said. I have heard that quote a few different ways, but it is always the same. When I get to the end I want to look worn out, with a look of "what a ride" on my face!

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  • 3 months later...

Just thought this was an encouraging message, for anyone out there who may be struggling to find the balance between human determination and divine will: God's Timing: Trusting It. And Keeping Pace With It. A brief excerpt appears below:

"It takes spiritual alertness to appreciate the timing of God. And to respond to it. God graciously allows us to experience the benefits of his timing in countless ways, even when we're not consciously trying to cooperate with him. He works behind the scenes in untold ways to protect us and provide for us. Yet within certain boundaries he also gives us freedom to make decisions which do or do not conform with his timing. Here, though, the challenge comes in understanding his timing. There is no easy formula for doing this, and we should not be too quick to think we grasp his plans. He has radically different clocks for each of us." --Blaine Smith

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I stumbled across it online. It's from a website called "Nehemiah Notes: Insight & Encouragement from Blaine Smith" (whoever he is!?) See NEHEMIAH NOTES for more inspiring messages, in their entirety.

P.S. Ok, you got me wondering who Blaine Smith was, so I read more, and he's a Presbyterian minister, just like my dad... no wonder I like his writing! ;)

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