Places of Hope or Loca Spe

The holes in our lives can become places of hope~Lana Bateman

God is trying to get me to work out my bitterness-to allow grace to propel me; to ease my pain by confronting my grief and disappointment. God wants to deflate my sense of self righteousness; remind me He is God not I. Only then can I know serenity. I need to quit that which is damaging to my soul and instead choose truth, responsibility, reality, so that I can enjoy freedom.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NKJV)  He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

With regards to my health please be patient with me as my body is less and less in my control. I have less patience, less ability to stop by body and mind from doing whatever they choose and not necessarily what I would want to do. I tire easily, I get what I call "fuzzy brained" and my blood sugars continue to go up and down at random. My desire is always for fellowship and God's Glory but more often then not it is from the comfort of my home and less at the church building or meeting in larger groups. I love to have others visit or dialogue with me on Face Book, Twitter or email; come for coffee or a meal and Kevin and I love movie nights so call and we will make some time within the week to fellowship with you and yours :) 

Thanks and May God's Blessings follow you all throughout your days ahead...Lori L 

quod consolamini invicem (or in English) encourage one another

So you may or may not have noticed (especially for those I only know on Face Book or some other social media site but I have been struggling...this latest stage of the chronic liver disease is beating me up pretty good...I am lost as to when to hold onto my emotions, when to speak, I have come across much harsher to those I am close to and I do not like it at all...so please forgive me and know that I am working on it.

I came across this meme on search quotes.com and it reminded me that my smile is not only for myself but for all those around me as well..."Sometimes the hardest thing to do is smile. We all have rough days, and we all go through experiences in life that we honestly wish we didn't have to. But it is only when we are able to take a second, and smile about the blessings we have in life that we realize how important it is to just smile. 

We have all heard many times how fortunate we are as people compared to others. Think about it. Right now you have access to the Internet that millions of unfortunate souls don't have. Think of how much of a blessing that being able to acquire information from such a rich resource is, and how much just this one thing helps to impact your life. 

Never get so caught up in life's stresses that you forget about what is really important. Smile, laugh, love, cry, be you, give to others, and promote peace!" 

I leave you with one of my fav scriptures- 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

This scripture assumes we are already in the daily act of encouraging one another so let's recommit to doing this daily for one another rather than giving in to the stresses, obstacles, griefs and loss which we will also encounter in our daily journey. Let's live up to a higher moral calling and in so doing enrich all life.

Love in Christ
Always & Forever
Lori L