Asking Patience

Many times people get on our nerves that we need to learn to have patience with them. We allow people to bring us so much stress and allows us to get frustrated. People and other situations can try our paitence. For example, at my job there is one person who doesnt really do what the job asks. He sleeps on shift, refuses to do something we should do, smokes a lot, and other things. When complained about to the boss, it get ignored and not dealt with properly. Many of my co-workers, myself included have gotten so frustrated with this co-worker that our patiences ith him is too thin. I asked God to give me patience with the situation, and i have to say that was a mistake.

I say that it was a mistake because if anything I was shown that patience is something you do not learn. But rather develop with time. You can't automatically be able to be patient with people who get on your nerves, or patient waiting for a car or that guy you like to ask you out. You need to develop your patience through the experience. You develop patience by being forced to be patient. My co-workers and I are forced to be patient with our boss because maybe she is waiting to gather enough of the lazy co-worker before she fires him...more proof. We need to be patient while she works out the kinks in the schedule sure we need it before the first of the month, but we still need to be patient.

They say patience is a virtue, but really it is. if you can be patient with the various stresses in life I think you are doing good. I admit I am not the most patient person in the world and I would love to be more patient. Ineed to develop more of my patience and I guess that if it takes haveing more frustration in life so be it, but I will develop my patience, and I thank God for making me be more patient.

Being Too Involved

I have been reading another book by Paulo Coelho, The Valkyries. So far he talks of trying to talk to/seeing your angel, and that the angels are love in motion. Before Paulo and his wife Chris even start talking to their angels and are walking through the Mojave desert, Chris says something that made me really think. She says "We are always looking at the things that are closer to us. Looking down nd inward. So our power diminishes, and our soul shrinks. Because our soul includes nothing but ourselves." Alot of people throughout life complain about things that involve only themselves. Do you have a friend who whenever you talk to them, are only concerned with what is going on in their life and won't even give you the chance to talk about your issues good or bad?

I think too often we are too concerned with the things that only involve us. We don't look at things that include anyone else let alone God. The book talks about looking at the horizon and taking in everything in the world just not what is in our immediate surroundings. We dont look at things that could involve God or see that God is involved in everything. We wnt everything to fit into our little box, our little circle, but really God doesnt fit into anything we try to stuff him into. We need to realize the world does not revolve around ourselves. Sure our issues can be big and overwhelming but we cannot let that become the only thing we concern ourselves with. Friends and family need us...God needs us and we need him

Dealing With Stress

Lately things at my job have become incredibly stressful, not so much with my client but with more so with my boss and the different things that she has put into place. It makes the work place more stressful, which we all end up taking home because really how easy is it to leave the stress of work there? It is hard to leave the stress of work at work. Then the stress of bills and other daily life things add to the work stress. Right now the muscles in my shoulders and neck hurt to no end because of all the stress. We all deal with stress in different ways like going out with friends, taking a nice hot bubble bath, getting a massage and other things. Many of us find the ability to turn to Christ in times of stress. I will be the first to admit, I do not always turn to God when I am stressed out.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus (Phillipians 4:6-7) In an article on Crosswalk entitled God's Plan For Your Stress Relief it says that God designed prayer to be a stress reliever. But I know what some of you are thinking, sometimes prayer can cause more stress, what do you pray for, how do you pray, is it enough, does God hear your prayers and so many other things that could be running through your head.

That verse tells us that God gives us peace during our trials and tribulations and that includes the stress that we go through during life. God is there to help us through but how do we get that peace. Obviously through prayer, but like I said sometimes that can be so hard, yet so easy. I admit that there are times when I have such a hard time simply asking God to give me peace through my times of stressfulness and hardship with daily life. Sometimes I wonder if he really cares. I have talked with my pastor who has prayed for me which makes a small difference, but tht stress is still there. Maybe just maybe simply saying God give me peace through this, or give me strength will help. You never know...

Child Innocence

This past weekend was my family reunion, and I spend most of the day playing with my cousin's 3 year old daughter. Her imagination is wonderful, and she is incredibly smart. All she wanted was someone to play with her and she was happy. We played with playdough on a table, I made hamburger and she made a hotdog. We had fun together, she couldn't remember my name so she called me "Chloe." She giggled when I sat at the bottom of the slide to catch her. I was pushing her on the swings and all it took to make her giggle like crazy was for me to lean around and say "BOO!"

She made me really think about the innocence of children. Lately I have been noticing that a lot more and thinking more about it and what God felt about it. When it comes to making us happy we all want more more more. We want things to be bigger and better, the newest of electronics, the better cell phone. We cannot be happy with the things that we have. We cannot be happy with the simple thing in life like playing on a park playground, or watching the sunset with someone we love. God has given us so much in life to appreciate yet we want none of it and don't appreciate any of it. It's like we don't know how the way we did as kids. I mean how many of us will spend hours watching the clouds the way a child would? How many of us stopped whatever we did and colored a picture?

Kids have this innocence about them, that goes away somehow, sometime. They have the simplest of answers even if they don't know the answers. There have been times when I asked kids a question and their answer made me giggle because it was so innocent. As adults we want concrete answers and simple "because thats the way God wanted it" doesn't help anymore. We want to know WHY God wanted it a certain way, WHY God created us. We can't be happy with the fact that God created us. You ask Sydeny why she created a hotdog from playdough and she will tell you either "cause i anted to" or "i don't know." She didn't need a reason for why she did what she wanted to do.

We don't have that same thinking when it comes to God. My cousin's daughter thanked me for holding her hand when we crossed the road, do we thank God for holding our hand through a trial? No, if anything we BLAME him for the trial. We barely ever thank God for the small things let alone the big things in life. Children find it easier to thank not just the people around them, but also God for the simpler things. Children appreciate it all more than we do, which makes me wonder, do they appreciate God more than adults do? I think children have the innocence to understand things more than we give them credit for, meaning they have the ability to understand things that we have a hard time grasping. They don't complicate things by wondering Why something like cancer happens. They may ask questions, like how does one get better, but they don't want to know why it happens.

I think a lot of the time when children are taught about Jesus and something bad happens they believe it was His will and that He wanted it to happen and that is enough for them. Could it be that simple? Yet adults make it complicated because we are never as satisfied with things the way children are?

Elisha's Bones

I just finished reading this book i picked up the other day called Elisha's Bones. It wasn't what I expected, but it was an interesting concept and got me to thinking. There is a story in the Bible about Elisha's bones having the power to resurrect a dead man...Elisha died and was buried.
Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring. ²¹ Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. When the body touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet. The story of this novel revolves around the idea that Elisha's bones still exist and still after all these centuries still hold the power to resurrect the dead.

I got to thinking, if Elisha's bones do still exist were would they be? If people got a hold of them would some use them for evil? Like to resurrect Hitler or good? Is it right to resurrect anyone, I would think that would be playing God, but then why would there be a power like that within the prophet's bones? I know it says a lot about the power of God. The fact that there were something so simple as a prophet's bones that have such power gives the implication that what else is God capable of. What could those of us who aren't prophets be capable of?