Daily Flare

The Pippi Longstocking Angel

God never ceases to amaze me with who He uses to get a message across to you when you absolutely need it the most.  Some of you who know me, also know of the social anxiety I have and being able to go out in public. 

Well, for those who don’t, I am terrified of going to places where there are a lot of people, and just cannot talk to people in general, unless I know you.  I get panic attacks, but as a therapeutic action, my therapist wants me to try and wander out a couple times per week and go into stores even for just 10-20 minutes so I can learn to over come my fears.

Today was one of those days.  Those of you who also know me, know that I am a writer and am trying to get published.  Anxiety is a very powerful thing and can play many tricks with your mind and you always worry if you are good enough, do people like you.  This is something that I have been praying about and dealing with for a while now.  (Thank you all for your prayers, I can surely feel them.)

Along with this anxiety comes doubt of my writing and if I will ever get published.  I know I have the talent, and I have been told this by many people who I respect, some of them published authors.  Yet, I still am overwhelmed with doubts and fears and wonder if I should just give up.

Today I went to Barnes & Noble to get a couple of things and just happened to be standing in line when this gentlemen cut in front of me.  I wasn’t upset, I knew that he didn’t see me, and he looked back at me and asked if he had cut.  I told him not to worry about it and go ahead of me.

Then as we were standing there waiting a little old lady walked up behind him and informed me that she was with him.  I smiled and said that was fine.  The only way I can describe this lady was an older version of Pippi Longstocking.  Her clothes were filled with colors and didn’t match, her hair was frizzy, and she was carrying a pink umbrella and also had on a dark purple eye liner.  All I could think about as I was talking to her was Pippi Longstocking.

 

She asked me what I had to buy, and I shared with her the items, and she asked if I was a writer, I told her I was and she smiled. 

The man who she was with was leaving and she noticed and scurried ahead and I followed behind to go to the cashier.   The one thing that impacted me the most was before she left, she stopped and turned around to look at me. 

She looked at me and said, “I know you will be published, the time is coming.”  I just about dropped everything I had in my hands.

Of all the people I run into when I am out, which is not very often, and most people don’t even care about you enough to say hello.  This little old lady who was a Pippi Longstocking look-a-like was my messanger angel whom God used to encourage me and to let me know not to stop and to use the gift he has given me.

The moral of this long winded post.  When you are out, don’t be so caught up in what you are doing to stop and talk to the people you are in line with, or passing someone in the shopping aisles.  You never know what you are missing and the words of wisdom you may get.  God can use anyone to speak to you.

say hello to your best friend

I don’t know about you but all year long I am distracted by the chaos of life and the selfish thoughts that are swimming in my head.  I am always so busy, or can never get enough done in a day.  There are so many things that I want to do but never let myself or give myself time to do them.

One of those things is just to sit down and read the Word and day hello to Jesus for the day.  What would it be like if got up in the morning and went through your day without even saying hello to someone in your family, or people you work with.  They would either think something is wrong with you, or feel bad that you don’t have enough time just to say hello.

That is how I am sometimes, and I know there are others just like me.  Now that we come to the season of Jesus birth we seem to have traditionally think about the fact that he was born, tell our kids the true meaning of Christmas and go to church just because it is Christmas.

The question is, do we really know Jesus, is He our true and best friend like He should be.  He is someone who will never judge you or condemn you for no reason.  He accepts you for who you are flaws and all.  There is nothing we can do that will diminish His love for us.  So how do we repay him?  By being so busy in our lives that we forget to say, “Hey Jesus, I just wanted to say I was thinking about you today, and that I love you.”

Don’t let life get in the way, the stuff we think is important, IS NOT!  I cannot stress that enough, this life is but a mist or vapor that will just float away.  What matters is where will you be in eternity?  Will what you have done now, reflect into eternity as positive or negative when you stand before God.

I challenge you and encourage you to not be just be a Fare Weather Friend just when you need Jesus or help.  Talk to Him every day and remember that even though we are celebrating his life as a baby, he grew up to be the man who died for us for the pure reason of LOVE.  So LOVE Him back.

Have a Merry Christmas and enjoy your family.

Self Discovery

I was watching a show on Discovery Channel the other night about a cave in Mexico which has giant formed crystals in coming out of the walls and floors.  It was only discovered a year ago because it was hidden under water all of this time.  It was a rare opportunity for them to explore this mysterious cave and study how the crystals were formed.

While inside the cave the scientists and researchers could only be in the cave for 5 minutes at a time because the heat which was over 130 degrees could kill them if they stayed in it any longer.  They were so excited about this discovery and were willing to undergo extreme conditions even to the point of death to discover something new and try to figure out “HOW”.

In my life sometimes I am always looking for a new discovery.  That one which will bring excitement and enrichment in my life.  I am never satisfied with what I know, I want to know more, and I want to be proven wrong what I know is not the truth.

Self discovery is very powerful, because you are not just listening to what one person says and then say ok, you are right, I believe that.  You need to find out answers for yourself and discover for yourself what the truth is.  Never take at face value what man says, because he could always be wrong.

I have changed my way of thinking many times over the years because of discovering a bit of truth I never realized before or because something clicked in my thought process.  Life is an adventure and we should always be striving to learn more and branch out never being narrow minded and refusing to listen to what others have to say.

Be open to others philosophies and beliefs.  I am now saying accept them, but be open to them, because all truth has come from one source, but sometimes it gets distorted over time and loses the true message as it is passed down from generation to generation.  Somewhere in the beliefs and philosophies of others is truth and it just needs to be sifted like a miner panning for gold.  As you get the little nuggets here and there, they will eventually become enough to be a giant breakthrough and mind blower.

Always search for truth, keep your mind open, and strive to make new discoveries every day.