Hear to Heart We Will Win
You will recognize your path when you come upon it because you will suddenly have all the energy and imagination you will ever need.
Sara Teasdale
This quote is a remarkable testimony of faith and understanding of one’s destiny. Imagine the feeling of renewed energy at the dawning of awareness, the uplifting surge of serotonin, endorphins, and other chemical youth reactions within the body. Enjoy the surge, and live a heart filled with joy.
Our Heavenly Father shows love for us in many ways. Jesus Christ is the first and most powerful sign of his love, and it makes sense that Jesus is the one to go through so we can reunite with our Heavenly Father. Heavenly Father blesses us with the strength to endure our trials. Do not look upon the less mastered lessons of life as failures, when you learn something of yourself, Jesus’ Atoning sacrifice, and understand it, you are a winner. When you consider that the world is not perfect, that humans are not always on solid ground, and there is compassion for them still, then the outcome is knowledge of Jesus Christ, insight into the world’s beliefs and the way different peoples handle them, and compassion rises like a boat of hope, you win again. God shows us love with this mercy. He never put onto us more than we can handle. Our lack of belief is what makes us weak so pray, take a deep breath and listen with your heart, He will tell you what to do. God shows more of his love by blessing us with wealth, no, not necessarily in the financial sense, but richness in forgiveness and a desire to want to know more of him. The subtle and gentle words of encouragement, which motivates us to action, that lives within our souls that assure us that we can and do, make a difference. Those random acts of kindness bring recognizable evidence of the truth that Jesus does live, as does our Heavenly Father. Do not ignore that small nagging voice from inside whispering in the night, “Fear not, for I am with the.”
This same inner voice will lead us in the right direction to the right choice for our spiritual growth. However, there are many times in which we come to a crossroad in our lives. What do we do? Pray. Ask for guidance and then listen. We must choose our path; Jesus will fulfill the greatest need in your heart as well as your life to proceed on this journey of life. Words of comfort and encouragement will come to you in a whisper, “Go, for you will be alright.”
This article was four days in the making. Quite honestly, I have been struggling with a bout of depression for the last four days and only parts of this article came out per day. I wanted to give up, go to bed and bury my head in the covers. My usual routine of scripture study in the Holy Bible and my beloved Book of Mormon wasn’t fulfilling me-this was devastating to me. In my heart, I find comfort during bible study time, but nothing reached out to me. Yesterday was a difficult day for me, everything hit me at one time; all the anger, confusion, and boredom almost drowned me in sorrow. All day long, in spurts of gleaming hope, a nagging voice-prompted and instructed me to get up. “There are things to be done, dogs to feed, a tree to decorate…” Lingering items on my task list that needed doing and that weighed on my mind. Giving in to the voice, I got up, worked the plan for the day. In a matter of a few moments into my accomplishments: feeding the dogs, unloading the dishwasher, cleaning the kitchen, my spirits now lifted and I succeeded. I am a Warrior! I turned on some holiday music, sang Christmas carols on Stingray Music, and worked on the tree. (It is decorated, but I could not find an extension cord. URG) when does this rollercoaster ride end?
A lack of motivation or depression is one of the rollercoaster rides that we will live from time to time. All is going well, and then there is a SNAFU-Situation Normal All Fouled Up. Don’t give in to the frustration. Look at what was accomplished. What can you control at this time? In my case, I got out of bed, cleaned up the living room and kitchen, and decorated the tree. When I could do nothing more on the plan, I mopped the floor and danced around like a crazy loon with my mop (I like to lead).
That reminds me of one of my favorite bible verses, Ecclesiastes Chapter 3:4
There are a time and a season for all things; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance
Work the plan has so many meanings. Is it a to-do list? Can we call it a commotion priority list? Maybe some people need this tangible list to see which tasks need immediate attention and the ones that can wait a while. Prioritizing is helpful when in a mental crisis.
So, what is your plan? Mine includes Jesus Christ, few moments of love and glory in his name to calm my inner storm. It brings me to a small window of time to listen to those voices in the night echo back into my heart.
Here is a plan template that you can use to focus your energy on your life choices. When necessary, please feel free to add item categories or subtract them; adjust to your needs.
1. What is God telling me? (What is that little voice inside telling you to do? Is the message, feeling, or aura is mean and cruel, deviant, or demented? If you answer yes, then it’s not God. It is the adversary talking to you; forcing his will on you. Keep in mind, messages, and actions of evil are his job. If it causes you to stress out, may I suggest you check-in with your soul? What forces (I use this term lightly.) are causing the stress? Write them down and pray. If you feel confused, sit down, and work out the confusing parts of the problem. Confusion, Sadness, and Pain are signs of inner turmoil. These causes of conflict are from the choices made in your journey or the action of others. Find the answer in the quiet of the storm inside you. Listen to the foghorn of God reaching out for you.
2. What act of kindness is more important to me? Talk with an elderly family member; this action choice can be educational and entertaining. If you are a history buff or are doing Genealogy research, you will love this task. Spend one day, sit with your grandmother or grandfather. These relatives have first-hand experiences and history of the specific event they witnessed. Learn how they lived and dealt with the changes that came along with this incident. Get their opinion, insight, and creative ideas.
3. Keep home life basic. Food, clothing, shelter are the top priorities of human life. Yes, if you add water and wind, and you have five elements of life. (I love that show).
4. Always keep God first. Pray day and night for guidance. Pray at the end of the day for forgiveness for not following through those missed opportunities.
Show compassion to others’ plight and worry. Do not assume that homeless men or women are on the street due to addiction, laziness, or stupidity. These social thoughts or theories are not always facts. In some cases, their situation is due to the choices of others. These actions’ could be anything from a job loss for the breadwinner, to drug addiction. The cause of this unfortunate life change does not matter; the facts are that they do try to make the best out of a terrible situation. This is a tie for listening to your heart and help when possible. Sadly, jobs are not on the horizon for many at this time. A faltering economy and a partial hiring freeze leave many industries at a standstill or out of reach for the unemployed.
This pandemic has changed many things in our society adaptations from the home front to the world impact. One day the future youth will come to us, the elderly relative to share our experiences. What will we say? On the home front, people in the hundreds of thousands had to go to a local food bank to get groceries. Doctor’s appointments were no longer face-to-face visits. Instead, they were virtual visits, which meant there was no physical examination. Townspeople had to wear masks to shop, eat at restaurants when they were not closed down for a positive contact of the Corona Virus.
How did we get through it? We showed more compassion and respect for our brothers and sisters in not only our lives but in the community. We supported the nation’s advice to do what was necessary to survive. I hope that some if not all of us learned something from this hardship. One thing I will expand on, we did not have to go it alone. Back in the day, we wore creative masks during the seasons: mix-matched, color-coordinated, cloth masks-a proper lady does not go out without her mask. High school principals and administrations all around the nation supported virtual proms and class graduations. We did not lie down and die. We turned to God, prayed, and lived on the best we could. However, one of the downsides to our fight to survive was the selfish egomaniac who chose to bitch and grope about wearing masks. Their tantrum turned into a compromise of the health environment when they stopped wearing masks. One person, Bless his heart, insisted that he was an American citizen and did not have to wear a mask. Well, find Nathan Hale, do not wear one, stay at home, and shut your mouth. I prefer that keep your gems to yourselves.
You see, good and bad collide.
There are pitfalls in the world that affect a family; their beliefs in God are tested. Keep the faith; he is keeping him in you. Human beings within the community refuse to follow instructions or lend help. This is a degree of evil working against the good. Take what is given and do the best that is possible with it. A person’s respect may be tested, this is okay, and this is a test of your strength, build upon it.
Benefits are abundant to showing compassion and respect to our fellow man and woman, but as with that straight and narrow road, it will have testing points, and resting points, keep the faith, listen to your heart, and press on. The righteous choices will come back to us many times over. How? Keep the faith and believe in Jesus Christ for a stronger knowledge. Hold on to it as you endure the lessons and grow in their meaning. Suffering the bigger consequences of our actions is hard; hang in there because God will send help your way. Many resources are here for you, people who can assist you, guide you, teach you. Work and live out the incidents until the end.
I want to add to the subject of helping the homeless. There is a crucial need for tents, bedding, air mattress, and air pumps. Old camping gear can help give them a sense of security on the streets — a tool for their survival. Oh, I want to mention that swimming pool floats can have a second purpose in the homeless community. It can substitute as a sleeping matt for babies and young children, and sometimes a stray dog adopted by the family. Consider adding socks, toiletries, and used clothes in a box to give out. If there are enough of you in a group, this can make up several totes. Your old tents and camping gear give them a sense of normalcy in a world gone nuts. Cooking for the family is a feeling a tangible task of normalcy. Having a sheltering place to sleep for the night gives comfort and a potential place to rest and heal. Having a sense of normalcy or a healthy daily routine is one of the keys to survival. These families are trying to find their way home a hand up and out of the pit is more useful and needed than a hand-out.
The devil will intrude as much as possible to make SNAFU in our lives. In a demented way, this is his mission, his job. He places temptations in our path so we can make the wrong choices that take us away from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. View this temptation as an obstacle to overcome, to make us successful in finding our way to Jesus Christ, not away. One of my favorite older sayings,
“That that doesn’t kill us will make us stronger.” is so true.
I choose to stand strong and give help when needed, not roll over and die, nor give in to my depressive episodes. I am tougher than that and I will win. In my winning, I will see you in Heaven.
At the end of the day, when all is said and all is done, the choice to go the long and curvy road, or the Scenic Route, will get you to God and Heaven, but you may not like the adventure. Ask yourself, why take the hard road? A detour in life will give your insight — maybe a quick trip through hell and the dangers can be overwhelming. Listen to your heart. Why follow the temptations of the adversary? The devil will screw up your plans. He is like a fly in the ointment. Although the straight and narrow may sound boring to some, it is not so easy.
When one chooses his direction, we all pray for him or her to have a safe journey. When the opportunity arises, we will give advice, words of wisdom, and the comfort of knowing they are loved. Actions are done in love and the name of Jesus will help us out of the darkness of temptations and into the light of knowledge. This road allows us to be heroes and compassionate. No matter the crossway, you take, for it is of your own free will, and choosing you will not be lost. God is watching you, Jesus will stand beside you, and the Holy Spirit is talking to you. Listen and step loudly and be proud you are a warrior.
