WHERE WILL I FIND HELP?

In the most part of life and living, one goes through the deep valleys of trials and strife. We each get that ... our share which comes to us in different shapes, forms, intensity, degree or measure. And we respond to it just as diverse as those experiences. But when everything we do or try to do to ease the weight of the burden bearing down on our frail human shoulders does not work or does not seem to solve it ..... we frantically search elsewhere for that much desired help.

Some of us, if not most of us, look to God for help. We look up to the heavens in our weakness, helplessness, or desperation ... surrendering our burdens to Him. Sadly we seem to have made Him a God-of-last-resort. (But that would take another post; next time).

Have found this wonderful version of PSALM 121 from the Illustrated Family Bible Stories (WS Pacific Publications, Inc.) brought home by my youngest daughter one evening. I am no strict bible reader but I do have my favorite stories or verses in it which I take to heart for comfort, peace, consolation and inspiration. Or simply to get acquainted with God more, better and best.

This is PSALM 121 .....

WHERE WILL I FIND HELP?

I look up at the hills,
and wonder where I will find help.
My help comes from you, Lord,
who made heaven and earth.

You will not let me stumble,
you will not doze off while you shelter me;
you watch over Israel
and never doze off or fall asleep.

The Lord watches over you,
he is right there at your side giving you shade
so that the sun won't burn you during the day,
nor the moon harm you at night.

The Lord will save you from all trouble,
he will guard your whole life;
the Lord will watch over you as you go about all your business,
now and always..
(Unquote)

God is our help in all times. But we sometimes forget that, we forget that we are in the able hands of a Magnificent God. And this is what I'm trying to say. Believe....  with much faith, or a bit of faith, or none at all ... but learn to believe and have faith though it be the size of a mustard seed. Fact is, that is all that God needs to work the miracles you want to see in your life. It's just a heartbeat of belief and faith away.

Blessings to you all ... in more ways than one from the hands of a loving GOD.

OUR RESPONSES TO THE DAY DEFINES IT

Everyday comes to us with a story of its own. That's what mom would always say. The day has enough to provide us with surprises, love, anger, fear, anxiety, stress, loneliness, and other things contained in the emotional spectrum of life and living. God was right when he said that the day is sufficient in its own. It's packed with its required share (as Divinely orchestrated -- you gotta believe that) or allotment of joys, sorrows, problems, or challenges.... sufficient to engage our minds, hearts, and bodies. It's made so that we get the right measure or burden to carry on our frail human shoulders. No less, no more. Just right for the right amount of learning we are expected to gain.

Now we are to rethink our own responses to that. What are we going to do with it? Yup those things are not put there while we simply coast casually down life's journey day by day. We should or must take our day by day seriously, attend to what's on our plate whatever it may be in big or small measure which was laid out for us (again by Someone up there) when we get up mornings. We must learn what is there to learn ('twas guaranteed that we would never run out of lessons)... cry when we should (there's always a soft side inside somewhere)... even be mad at things that deserve righteous anger (oh yes, there is such a thing)... love and care when such is the order of the day (just care for something - someone)... be silly and funny when the opportunity presents itself (make that a mainstay on the day's menu)... and other situations more that fill up a day.

Be true to ourselves... that's the whole point of each day's story. It gives us all the tools for a story... we decide how we honestly want it to unfold and how it's going to end. We define our day by how we respond to it.
 
Someone once said that 'Yesterday's gone... tomorrow's still a dream.' ..... That being the case then all that we have is today --- live it! Make God smile everyday.

Blessings to you and your loved ones!

'DON'T QUIT - KEEP ON PLAYING'

I got this in my mail today. Oh yes, from my usual email friend consistent as ever ..... to quote ---

"They tell the following story about the famous Polish pianist Paderewski. A mother had a little boy who was learning to play the piano. In order to encourage him she took him to a concert by the famous Paderewski. Both of them arrived at the music hall a bit early and soon the mother got into a conversation with one of her lady friends. Meanwhile, the little boy wandered off....When it was eight o'clock, the spotlights came on and the stage curtain opened. And there was that little boy seated at the piano innocently playing that children's song, "Twinkle, twinkle, little star."

Paderewski came on stage and quickly moved over to the piano. "Don't quit. Just keep on playing," he whispered to the little boy. Then he leaned over the boy and put his hands onto the keyboard right alongside the little boy's. The little boy kept repeating and repeating "Twinkle, twinkle, little star" and meanwhile the genius was weaving all kinds of new melodies around it, a different one each time. The crowd was thrilled by this unprepared concert.

As we play our little melody in our daily life, God whispers to us, "Don't quit, --Keep on playing..." And He makes a masterpiece out of our simple music!

Unquote.


That's what I've been trying to say all of this time...... 'Don't quit, keep on playing'. Keep playing the little melody of your life. It may be rough, flawed, imperfect, insignificantly small (that's what you've been saying to yourself), ordinary, simple, boring, mundane, spark-less, hopeless (?), out of step and out of tune to the beating of the universal drum. But it's still your music.... uniquely your own. Just keep on playing your music..... keep living your life as best as you can manage it..... and leave the rest to God. Because without any doubt he, as Paderewski did, will be playing alongside you and will turn the music of your life into a masterpiece.

You say that you believe in miracles. Well then, believe in yourself. You are the miracle. And God who is right there beside you continually works to guarantee that.

Here's today's dose of God's Divine Hug....... Blessings to you and yours.

MAKE THE DIFFERENCE WHERE YOU ARE

"I think the purpose of life is

to be useful, to be responsible, to be honorable, to be compassionate.
It is, after all, to matter:
--- to count, to stand for something,
to have made some difference that you lived at all."
(Leo C. Rosten, American Writer)

This is how life should be, how we should conduct ourselves in the business of living as best as we can. Because we can't simply coast along enjoying the view or enjoying our privileges (God-given lest we forget) which we actually do. But I think there should be something more added to that. You see, He gave us our free will and I think with it we can work our proper response to the gift of life.

It may or may not be something of a grand or grander scale although some of us could with whatever resources available to them. What I'm looking at is just where we are at. Right there where God has planted us. In the small measure we can manage or afford to do. There's much that can be done there, significant much. These things cropping up i.e. --- environment protection, global warming, planting trees, protecting endangered species, recycling, intelligent disposal of garbage, anti-bullying online and offline, anti-graft and corruption in government, anti-poverty, anti-crime, energy and water saving, etc. --- they matter. But by itself or by a small number of people alone this do not stand a chance of moving forward. This is where we come in and do our part. It's the greater and collective number that pushes -- projects.... programs.... issues.... concerns.... beliefs.... campaigns.... and drives the bad eggs off the charts. This greater and collective number is composed of unique individuals each in his or her own turf who care.

Nobody is insignificant; no effort least important. Neither do we need a stage or applause or eyes to see it ..... because just knowing that what we do is true, good, and right is its own reward. The test of character is when nobody is watching.

As it has been said for the ____th time -- "Let's be the change we want to see in the world". Let's do this for ourselves..... and for our children.... and for the generations coming after us.... and take it even further for Mother Earth, the country, and the world. For what we do today will define the kind of future that will come.

Give it a thought.
Blessings to you and your loved ones.

YOU DEFINE YOUR WORK AND LIFE BY YOUR ATTITUDE

Oh but my friend never misses a day in sending me nuggets of wisdom in my email. Well, he does me a great service because I love quotes. And if some of you would wonder just why he does painstakingly send me quotes? I'll tell you why.... it's his way of nudging me to write! Makulit! :-)

Here's what he sent me this morning.......

"If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper,
sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures,
like Shakespeare wrote poetry,
like Beethoven composed music;
sweep streets so well
that all the hosts of heaven and earth
will have to pause and say,
'Here lived a great street sweeper, who swept his job well'."

Martin Luther King ---

The attitude to work is more important than the work itself!

Unquote.

I like that. Makes sense, doesn't it? Giving our best in whatever job we have or do is just what is expected of us. Anything less than that is mediocrity and mediocrity has no place in the language of successful people. A job done with divided attention, unfocused, sloppy, slipshod, irresponsible, unprepared, poorly thought out, skin-deep, or uncaring attitude won't make the mark I can assure you. Whether we be a -- clerk, mailman, busboy, saleslady, taxi driver, carpenter, telephone man, or a street sweeper ... but also includes positions of high rank -- it's not the job but the person who works it that matters.

What is our attitude towards work and moving that to the bigger realm of life itself? I have learned that --- Your attitude is you.... and you define life for yourself. Nobody can or will do that for you. You either fail or succeed, make it or break it. Enjoy or feel miserable. That's all up to you.

Why settle for less? Success, whether in huge or small measure, is within our control. All it takes is in having the right attitude ---- the attitude of being the best with what or who we are. Besides remember our moms telling us that 'work is prayer' too? :-)

Hope everyone's having a grand time with summer. Hot maybe but good old Sol is simply most welcome when thoughts are bent on vacations, right? :-) Blessings!

EASTER GREETINGS TO EVERYONE

TO ALL MY FRIENDS AND VISITORS IN THE BLOG

(VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE).....


A HAPPY AND BLESSED EASTER
TO YOU AND YOUR LOVED ONES.



THREE WORDS TO REMEMBER.....
GOD LOVES YOU!

Also this is a good time to thank you for visiting my blog whenever you can. It's appreciated and thank you for leaving me your wonderful comments, messages and for sharing your wisdom and insights too. And those who simply are passing through, blessings to you all.

WE GROW OLD BY DESERTING OUR IDEALS

Two women were walking past my window and obviously engaged in lively loud chatter. Am amazed really with these ladies how they can talk so loud that you can hear them a mile away. Gosh, you can't keep secrets with that voice! Anyway the lady (let's call her lady#1) suddenly broke the chatter which apparently seemed not to go anywhere and slowing down her steps enough that I was able to catch what she said in Tagalog: .... 'ang bilis ng panahon noh?!'/'how fast time flies'. To which lady#2 replied: .... 'oo nga. eto tumatanda na tayo'/'yes and here we are growing older'.

Growing older. I have heard that said a hundred times by friends and strangers alike. Don't we say that too in our own circles. It has become a cliche -- a convenient local expression of resignation to the passing of time and of life.

Well, some years back I thought I was smart using that cliche to my friends. It sounded smart, like I knew much about 'growing older' or its mysteries and that when you get to be called 'old', it also means that you are wise or wiser. Now I know that's not necessarily so. Oh yes. It's like what Mom would say ... 'not everybody who goes to universities are truly educated in that sense where it matters most.'

Life, my biggest teacher, showed me that -- and to quote Samuel Ulman............

"Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years.
We grow old by deserting our ideals.
Years may wrinkle the skin,
but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul."

Yup that quote packs in such wisdom for both young and old.
May God bless your years with the greatest joys of discovery and wonder.

May your Monday be so blessed to start the week with.