Forgiveness Patch ~ 4

Forgiveness: the renunciation or cessation of resentment, indignation or anger as the result of a perceived offense, disagreement or mistake, or ceasing to demand punishment or restitution. (taken from Wikipedia which also cited the following) The Oxford English Dictionary defines forgiveness as 'to grant free pardon and to give up all claim on account of an offense or debt'.


To ask if you had ever been hurt would be a silly question. Everyone in the human race has experienced hurt in one form or another from people they know or even people they don't know. Often it is the ones that we hold dearest that hurt us the most. 


I know it hasn't always been easy for me to forgive. I have been hurt by those I know and by strangers throughout my life and have sometimes held onto that pain for years. When I was about 10 years old, I had a dog that I loved dearly. His name was Nikki. He was a brown and white  St. Bernard mix. I had grown up with him, in fact I couldn't remember a time when he wasn't there. We lived on a country road in Missouri and people loved to fly down the hill in front of our house. Well one night a young man was out joy riding on our road when my dog Nikki was out. I don't know if he didn't hear the car coming because he was getting older or if the man in the car was just going to fast, but Nikki wasn't able to get out of the way in time. 


I was absolutely crushed when my parents told me in the morning. And I HATED that man. I have to say that 28 years later I still have to tell myself to think kind thoughts about that man. But it doesn't matter if that man was going to fast and being careless or if it was an accident, because I "hated" him I need to ask for forgiveness, but in order to do so I need to forgive that man even if he has never and will never ask my forgiveness. 


It doesn't matter who has caused us pain or how they have caused us pain, we must be willing to forgive them even if they aren't willing to ask for forgiveness or have unknowingly hurt us. 


There are two examples I think of in the Bible of forgiveness being given before it is asked, the first one is when Stephen was being stoned to death. The Bible says:
 "While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep." Acts 7:59


The second example is when Jesus was hanging on the cross and He said:
"“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”" Mark 11:25


Peter and Jesus discussed forgiveness one day:
"Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times." Matthew 18:21-22


I know it is hard to let go of the pain that people cause us sometimes, but Christ has forgiven us and expects the same of us in fact He said it very plainly in Matthew 6:15:
"But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."


Jesus loves everyone of us and wants us to be with Him forever. He can forgive you if you but ask. 

Give Them All To Jesus Patch ~ 3

This was one of my favorite songs growing up and I still love it. I wish I could sing it for you but you will just have to read the words for now. This is what I have to learn to do everyday. My Jesus has big shoulders and He will carry all my worries and I can just walk beside Him and hold His hand.

Are you tired of chasing pretty rainbows?

Are you tired of spinning round and round?

Wrap up all those shattered dreams of your life

And at the feet of Jesus, lay them down.

Give them all, give them all, give them all to Jesus

Shattered dreams, wounded hearts, and broken toys.

Give them all, give them all, give them all to Jesus

And He will turn your sorrows into joy.

He never said you would only see sunshine,

He never said there would be no rain.

He only promised a heart full of singing

About the very things that once brought pain.

Give them all, give them all, give them all to Jesus

Shattered dreams, wounded hearts, and broken toys.

Give them all, give them all, give them all to Jesus

And He will turn your sorrows into joy.

Give them all, give them all, give them all to Jesus

Shattered dreams, wounded hearts, and broken toys.

Give them all, give them all, give them all to Jesus

And He will turn your sorrow into joy

And He will turn your sorrow into joy.

My Jesus please take all my worries and cares and walk with me today. Please fill me so that people only see you.

Friend Patch ~ 2

 So I have been thinking a lot about friends lately. I have had a lot of "friends" in my life. They have come and gone and some I dared to call my best friends. The amazing thing is they were the ones who hurt me the most. Why do women hurt each other so much?

Women have many, many acquaintances and friends in their lifetimes, but few have very dear, close friends that they can truly trust.  Growing up girls cycle through relationships almost as fast or sometimes faster than the fashion trends.  Sometimes women develop relationships that last from childhood to adulthood. (What a blessing that would be.) Other times a relationship will develop and suddenly one will turn on the other and the friendship is destroyed. 

Christ had a group of 12 friends that He traveled and shared things with. Of that group, 3 men (Peter, James and John),  were His closest friends. They were the ones that when He was in His darkest hour, He turned to and longed for their prayers and support. 

Throughout the Bible there are at least 2 examples of men and women who had very dear, you might say best friends, Jonathan and David, Naomi and Ruth. They had friendships that lasted through the most difficult  of times and trials. 

It would be wonderful if every person could experience this in their lifetime. A loyal, deep and undying friendship something to truly treasure. A friendship that never ended, no matter how many miles separated you, no matter your differences.  I think it would be great to have 3 best friends, God, my husband and a female best friend. For now I have God, and my husband is the dearest earthly friend I have ever known! So 2 out of 3 is pretty good! :) 

A New Patch ~ 1

So here it is 4 months later. I keep promising myself that I will get better at blogging. I really want to do it, but something always comes up and I don't get to it or I just plain forget.

 I have once again changed the look of my blog, if you visited before you saw the wonderful spring flowers and the windmill gracing the background. Now my blog has a much darker look, not because I am depressed (although I have had some very strong bouts in the last couple months) but because the design is now comprised of 3 of my favorite elements, purple (my very favorite color), green (purple's best companion color) and elephants (just love them!)! I am going to do my best to keep up with this for the next 30 days and see if I can make it that far.

 Now on to some more serious "stuff". Have you ever felt alone? You have everything you need, food, water, clothing, comfortable home and bed, cars that get you from place to place, spouse, children and pets...and yet there is this gaping hole in your life and you long to be whole!

 This is the way I have been feeling for about 4 years. Oh I have put a band-aid over my hole but it never stays long and you have to keep replacing it with a newer more updated one. I know there is only one thing that can fill that hole in completely but how can I reach it a universe away? In reality it isn't a universe away I need only drop to my knees and cry out and He will be there.

Why am I so stubborn, why can't I just do it? CONTROL...I have to have control and dropping to my knees requires humility, it requires surrender and oh how difficult that is to do! This causes so much inner turmoil when you REALLY crave something. You can see it, you know it is within your grasp but you have to let go of that "other thing", that "something", that "anything", that "nothing" to reach out and take hold of it. From this time forward this is my journey to see if I can reach it. Can I let go and let God? He has promised me He will never leave me. Can I accept that promise, let go of what I struggle so ardently to hang on to, stretch out my hand and take the hand that has always been reaching out to me?