I've discovered in the last week that hardship is a relative thing - our air conditioning has been out since last Tuesday (over a week) and you'd think we were dying! We get crabby with each other, complaining (me mostly) and don't want to touch each other - we do "virtual" hugs! LOL! The funny part is - we were only here 2 1/2 days without the ac, then we left town. Got back yesterday, spent the night at a friends (with working AC) and spent the day in the heat here. The AC guy is now here - at 9:30PM, fixing it. Thank you Jesus! What an awesome AC repair guy! :)
I seriously cannot even imagine how people can live in this weather down here in SE Texas, without air conditioning. But you know - many many people do. They don't have $300-$500 a month to pay for electricity to run their air. Many elderly people actually die in the heat down here because they cannot afford to pay the electirc bill.
While we feel we have been living with a hardship for the last week - we also know we are TRULY blessed - blessed to have the abilty to pay for electricity period, blessed to be able to pay to get the AC fixed when it needs to be, and blessed to have friends and neighbors that will take us in when we are uncomfortable!
I have been made keenly aware of these blessings, and am asking God to share with me opportunities to help those who need it. Whether it is financially, or with time, or whatever way it may be, my prayer is that I will be aware of the need when I see it, and that God would provide a way for me to fill that need. :)
Thank you Father God, for the outpouring of your blessings, so that we can turn around and bless others. Thank you Lord Jesus for the example of how to be a blessing to others. :) Amen!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Dreams
Dreams are peculiar things. I'm talking night dreams - especially the ones that happen in the hours right before I wake up. I seem to be powerless over the content of these dreams, or even if I will have them, but they can profoundly effect my state of mind when I wake and for hours after. My emotions can be stirred so much by a dream, that just thinking about it even days later can bring back those feelings. How can something that never even happened in reality, create such havoc in my emotions?
I am fortunate that rarely do I need to wake to an alarm, so my dreams are allowed to play out until my body wakes up. Usually my dreams end with some sort of conflict that wakes me up. This morning it was the act of opening my wallet to pay for my groceries, and realizing that ALL of the cards were gone except my identification card that I wrote my name/phone number on. All debit/credit cards. My insurance cards. Even the loyalty cards from Office Depot, etc. I was startled, then tried to think when this could have happened and when I was in my wallet last. Then I woke up.
My friend asked me this morning, "did you check your wallet when you got up?" Nope. I've learned that, while dreams make perfect sense while you are dreaming them, they make very little sense when you try to reconstruct them in the light of consciousness. Things that happen in dreams, should stay in dreams!
I was also taught many years ago to NEVER trust your emotions/feelings. I'm not talking about your "gut" feeling - which I believe is actually intuition, or spirit guiding. I'm talking about trusting your feelings. Emotions are fickle - they change frequently and often for no reason. Dreams are a perfect example of this. Ever woke up mad as heck with your spouse/significant other/friend, for something they did in your dream? I know I have! And you know what - it takes hours to get over it sometimes. My poor sweety - he tells me he gets in enough trouble on his own, he doesn't need my dreams helping him out! LOL! But there you go - emotions, strong emotions, founded on absolutely nothing concrete. How crazy is that?
I dream often and love it. Sometimes I come up with great ideas in my dreams - although usually they don't hold up to the scrutiny of reality. But they can be fun, funny, strange, crazy, and even sad. Enjoy them for the "movies" they are, don't put too much stock in them, and please, don't hold a grudge based on something that never happened! :)
I am fortunate that rarely do I need to wake to an alarm, so my dreams are allowed to play out until my body wakes up. Usually my dreams end with some sort of conflict that wakes me up. This morning it was the act of opening my wallet to pay for my groceries, and realizing that ALL of the cards were gone except my identification card that I wrote my name/phone number on. All debit/credit cards. My insurance cards. Even the loyalty cards from Office Depot, etc. I was startled, then tried to think when this could have happened and when I was in my wallet last. Then I woke up.
My friend asked me this morning, "did you check your wallet when you got up?" Nope. I've learned that, while dreams make perfect sense while you are dreaming them, they make very little sense when you try to reconstruct them in the light of consciousness. Things that happen in dreams, should stay in dreams!
I was also taught many years ago to NEVER trust your emotions/feelings. I'm not talking about your "gut" feeling - which I believe is actually intuition, or spirit guiding. I'm talking about trusting your feelings. Emotions are fickle - they change frequently and often for no reason. Dreams are a perfect example of this. Ever woke up mad as heck with your spouse/significant other/friend, for something they did in your dream? I know I have! And you know what - it takes hours to get over it sometimes. My poor sweety - he tells me he gets in enough trouble on his own, he doesn't need my dreams helping him out! LOL! But there you go - emotions, strong emotions, founded on absolutely nothing concrete. How crazy is that?
I dream often and love it. Sometimes I come up with great ideas in my dreams - although usually they don't hold up to the scrutiny of reality. But they can be fun, funny, strange, crazy, and even sad. Enjoy them for the "movies" they are, don't put too much stock in them, and please, don't hold a grudge based on something that never happened! :)
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