Today Is The Last Day Of 2013. Before I Go Any Further Into This How Many Of You Say Twenty Thirteen? I Have Noticed The News Media Recently Been Saying This. I Suppose I Am Old Fashioned Because I Continue To Refer It By Two Thousand Thirteen. I'm Sure I Will Come Around Eventually In Saying What Is Politically Correct.
I Don't Believe Anything Earth Shattering Has Taken Place In My Personal Life In The Year 2013. No New Years Resolution From Me. There Are Some Things I Would Like To Accomplish In The Coming Year. However, If I Say It In A Form Of A Resolution It May Make Me Feel I Failed In My Attempts. So Yes I Have Hopes And Dreams In The New Year But I Think I Will Keep It To Myself.
Changing From One Year To Another Is Simply A Measurement Of Time. Tomorrow Will Be Pretty Much The Same As Today. Weather Wise Or Otherwise. Of Course There Will Be Those Moments We Can Mark On Our Calendars As A Day To Remember For One Reason Or The Other. One Year From Today I Will Be Looking Back At The Happenings Of The Year 2014. Hopefully All My Close Friends And Family Will Still Be Around. As We All Know Nothing Has Ever Been Guaranteed To Us.
If There Is Only One Thing I Have Learned Throughout My Years Is That Life Is Short. Yes I Have Heard This Phrase Numerous Times Over The Years But It Really Never Sunk In. My Defining Moment Was When I Lost My Son Bobby To Suicide. The News Of His Death Hit Us Like A Ton Of Bricks. We Didn't See It Coming. As In Most Unexpected Deaths There Comes A Lot Of Woulda's, Shoulda's & Coulda's. Looking Back Just Three Short Years Ago The Memory Of It Feels Like Yesterday. So I Suppose What I Am Saying Is If You Are Harboring A Grudge Against A Loved One, Let It Go. Only You Can Make That Decision. There Are People In This World I Really Don't Care For. If Something Were To Happen To Them Most Likely It Would Not Have Any Effect On Me One Way Or Another. In A Previous Blog I Mentioned I Have Forgiven Anyone Who Has Wronged Me. That Doesn't Mean I Am Going To Lunch With Them Anytime Soon. It Means My Heart Has Forgiven Them. However My Brain Tells Me To Be Cautious Of Them In The Future.
I Have No Idea How Many People Read My Blogs. I Want To Thank You For Your Readership. As I Stated In A Recent Blog You Never Know What Will Be Written Here. At One Point In Time I Stated I Would Never Write A Negative Blog. I Can No Longer Promise This. There Comes A Time When It Becomes Necessary To Declare Your Opinions On A Topic. At Times You Must Take A Stand Whether It's Popular Or Not. To Go With The Flow Is So Ever So Easy.
Of Course I Could Tell You I Will Write More Blogs In The Coming Year. I Could Also Say I Will Ride Naked On Horseback. One Or Both Would Most Likely Not Happen. I Think We Know What It Would Be.
In Our New Year I Think I Will Yawn More Just To Aggravate Those Who Can't Resist Following. Don't You Just Hate That? How About Asking Someone To Pick A Number Between One And One Hundred. When They Give Their Response Let It Be The Correct One. It Would Really Make Their Day. You Would Gasp At Their Response And Ask Them How They Knew.
Remember The Old Expression Take A Step Back And Count To Ten? It Doesn't Have To be An Old Expression. Keep It Real. God Bless.

The Power Of Forgiveness.

Have You Ever Been So Mad At Someone You Promised To Never Forgive Them? There Have Been Many Times I Have Been Angry. Being Angry Can Take A Lot Of Energy Out Of A Person.
I'm Going To Share A True Story With My Faithful Followers. Of Course I Must Change The Names To Protect The Innocent. Actually It Has Nothing To Do With Innocence. It Has Everything To Do With True Forgiveness.
The Story Begins A Handful Of Years Ago. Someone Had Lied On Me And Made Me Appear Untrustworthy. This Person Who I Had The Highest Respect For Betrayed Me. I Had Known This Person My Entire Life. What I Admired Most About This Person Was Honesty, But Most Of All, Godliness. For As Long As I Can Remember This Person Had A Deep Faith In God.
Yes I Know We Are All Sinners And God Will Forgive Us. All We Have To Do Is Ask. Sometimes As Humans, Forgiving Another Person Is Difficult. There Are Some Who Refuse To Forgive And Die With Hatred In Their Heart. I Am Not The Greatest When It Comes To Scriptures In The Bible, So Please Bear With Me. Colossians 3:13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Ephesians 4:32tells us, "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."
One Night I Was Searching For Something In My Desk Drawer. Whatever It Was I Was Searching For I Quit After I Found A Photo Of This Person. My Heart Sank And Tears Began Streaming Down My Cheeks. I Knew The Truth. God Knew The Truth. This Person Knew The Truth. I Had Realized It Was Serving No Justice Carrying Around All This Anger Of Betrayal. As I Held This Photo, I Put It To My Heart. I Said I Forgive You. I'm Sorry It Had Taken Me This Long. I Had An Overwhelming Feeling Come Over Me. It's Difficult To Describe. I Don't Remember Feeling Like This Ever Before. The Closest To Describing It Is When You Are Under Water And Holding Your Breath. You Reach The Surface And Begin To Breathe Again. Does That Make Sense To You?
The Following Day I Received A Telephone Call Telling Me This Special Person Had Died. Do You Suppose This Is All Coincidental? I Don't. I Have Been Shocked Numerous Times When Told Someone Had Passed. This News To Me That Day Was A Joyous One. I Knew This Person Was In Heaven. How Can You Not Smile Knowing Their Eternity Will Be With Our Lord? God Knows The Exact Date We Die. When Our Life On Earth Is Finished He Calls Us Home. I Believe That. It Also Gives Me Comfort In Knowing I Had A Part In This person's Final Day. It Drew Me Closer To God That Day.
It Also Taught Me A Lesson. Since That Day, There Has Not Been A Person On This Earth I Haven't Forgiven. I Know If I Cannot Forgive You, God Will Not Forgive Me. There Comes A Time When The Light Bulb Comes On And I Finally "Get It". The Power Of Forgiveness Is A Key To Heavens Gate.

Secret Santa

It Began As Early As The First Week Of November. Christmas Movies On Hallmark, Lifetime Network As Well As Other Stations. Some Movies Are All Of The Classics We Remember While Growing Up. Others Are New To Us. However Each One Tells A Different Story.
Tonight A Christmas Movie Called Secret Santa. A Young Lady Named Jennifer Began Receiving A Christmas Card With No Post Mark. The Postman Knew Nothing Of It. Through Her Investigations Of Who Was Sending These Cards In Her Mailbox, It Turns Out To Be From A Special Childhood Friend Who Passed Away Three Years Prior. His Name Was Jack. How Could This Be? Travel Through Time As In A Quantum Leap. They Began Exchanging Cards With Touching Words Of Fondness And Love. She Knew This Would Soon End When Christmas Arrived, For This Was The Anniversary Of His Death. As Children They Would Stand At The Well And Drop A Coin And Make A Special Wish Before It Hit The Water.
When She Realized What Date It Was She Warned Him Not To Leave That Day For Anything. If He Honored Her Request He Would Stay Alive And Life Would Be Changed Forever. When Her Card Was Not Picked Up She Feared She Was Too Late. She Ran To The Well And Wished To Save Him From Death. She Jumped In The Car, Destination Unknown. A Car Accident Sends Jennifer To The Hospital. She Wakes Up On Christmas Day With Jack At Her Bedside. At That Moment Tears Began Rolling Down My Cheeks. It's December, A Month I Dread Each Year. It Had Always Been The Month Filled With Happiness And Joy. If I Was Fortunate Enough To Have Bobby Sit Beside Me Tonight, He Would Tell Me Not To Be Sad. For Almost Three Years I Have Considered December The Month Of Mourning. Instead Of Being Sad Like Bobby Would Not Want For Me, My Heart Breaks. I Have This Over Whelming Feeling Of Emptiness. I Feel Lost. I Feel Like My Heart Has Been Broken. I'm Afraid My Life Cannot Move Forward. Even Though Weeks Have Turned Into Months And Months Into Years, It Still Feels Like Yesterday. Oh Yes I Can Put On That Happy Face And Go Through All The Motions Of Life. However I Feel I Am Only Existing In Time. I Have Had My Share Of Sadness But I Feel There Is More.
I Am A Believer Of The "Bigger Picture". We All Have A Mission In Life. Our Lives With All It's Twist And Turns Sends Us To Set Out And Accomplish. I Believe There Are Many Who Do Not Fulfill Their Mission Of Life. Many Do Fulfill Without Ever Knowing They Did. It May Have Never Been About You In The First Place. We All Are In Existence For A Reason. It May Be To Influence Someone Else. It Could Be A Family Member, A Friend, Neighbor Or A Complete Stranger. Remember Hearing About Angels On Earth? Maybe Your Only Mission Of Your Being Was To Save Someone From Harm.
This Is Why I Must Continue To Look For That Bigger Picture Of Life. I Am Quite Certain God Didn't Intend To Continue Bringing Me A Lifetime Of Sadness, Or Die With A Broken Heart. There Is More To Come. I Haven't A Clue What It Is. So Through My Footsteps Of Life Maybe Joy Will Once Again Appear. I Have Been Spending A Lot Of My Time At The Bowling Alley. Will I Touch Someone There? Will I Be Touched? Maybe Through Giving To Those Living In Poverty. Not So Sure That Can Be Because It's A Never Ending Feeling To Help Someone Who Needs You. I Have Been Deeply Touched By So Many People From All Walks Of Life. So What Can It Be? Have You Ever Wondered What Your Purpose Is? You Do Believe You Have One Don't You? As The Movie Ended The Tears Continued. My Dog Cassie Came Over To Me And Put Her Head On My Leg. She Comforted Me When I Needed A Friend. It Made Me Smile. You Wanna Know Why It Made Me Smile? Because Cassie Is Here For Me. She Came To Me Shortly After Bobby Passed Away. My Sister In Law Called Me One Day And Told Me She Saw An Ad Looking For A Home For A Pug. She Thought Of Me. Ok, Now Evelyn Played A Part Of Her Mission In Life By Placing This Wonderful Dog Into My Life. Cassie Had Been In A Crate For 12 Hours A Day. Her Owner Could Not Give Her The Life She Deserved. She Just Worked Too Many Hours A Day. It Gave New Hope For Cassie And A Loving Companion For Me In My Darkest Moments. I Believe We All Need To Evaluate Our Lives And Try To Determine What Our Bigger Picture May Be. I Continue To Wait For Further Instructions For The Direction I Am Suppose To Make. I Believe The Average Person Has Many Missions In Life. Some Missions May Serve No Meaning Or Purpose. Yet Everything Happens For A Reason. We May Not Understand It At The Moment, But Sometime Along The Way It Will Become Clear.
I Suppose In Between My Missions I Have A Special Buddy Sent From Heaven, From Bobby To Comfort Me When I'm Lonely And Feeling Empty.
I Remember My Grandmother Telling Me One Day When She Was Past 90 Years Old. She Said Greg I'm Not Sure Why I'm Still Hanging Around. I'm Old And I Ache At Times. I Asked Her If Life Was Good. She Said It Was. I Told Her There Must Be More Work For Her. Why Would God Leave You Just Hanging Around If There Was No Purpose? I Believe The Lord Brings Us Home When Our Mission Is Complete.

Life's Tug Of War

We Have Known It As Kid's Game. It's A Show Of Strength And Endurance. In Most Cases There Is Always A Winner. The Ultimate Prize Is Bragging Rights. You Can Mix And Match The Players On Both Sides That Can Change The End Result. A Different Group, A Different Day Can Bring Different Results Depending On The Makeup Of Both Sides. But What If It Is No Longer A Kid's Game. I Will Be The First One To Say I Have Seen Many Grown Up People Acting Like Children. I View Myself As Quiet And Reserved. I'm Not Quick To Pass Judgement On Others Based On A Persons Opinion. To Be Quite Honest I Must Admit I Am A Bad Judge Of Character. I Always Assume Whoever It Is That I Am Speaking With Is Honest. If You Lie To Me Give Yourself A Good Pat On The Back. You Actually Accomplished Nothing. Don't Get Me Wrong I Am Not Declaring I Have Never Lied. I Cannot However Remember A Time I Lied In An Aggravated Manner That Would Or Could Cause Harm In Any Way To Another Individual. I Am Far From Perfect. I Have Made My Share Of Mistakes In Life. Probably More Than Others.

I Lost Count In The Years I Have Been Blogging. I Suppose I Can Take The Time To View Previous Blogs And Come Up With A Number. The Bottom Line Doesn't Matter To Me. Since Day 1 I Have Stated My Blogs Would Always Be Uplifting Or In A Positive Sense. There Will Be Times However When You Must Climb The Platform Of Your Soap Box And Wave Your Arms And Make Sure You Have Everybody's Attention. I Use To Be Very Vocal Of My Opinions On Various Issues. It's Been Awhile Since I Sounded Off.

If There Is Only One Thing I Have Learned About Life It Must Be That It Is Too Short. The Eyes That Are Reading This Blog Is Only A Speckle In Time. So Much Time Has Been Recorded Before Us. Time Will March On After We Depart. I Have Been Fortunate In Peeking In The Past lives Of Those Who Lived Before Me. I Have Read Days, Months & Years Of Happenings In The Life Of Those Who Take The Time To Jot It Down. Notable Entry's Of A Diary Can Not Only Be Personal It Can Be Informative. 

Each Day I Would Find A Date I Thought To Be Interesting In Some Way. I Would Post It Every Day On My Facebook Page. I Did This So I Could Share What I Felt Was Very Interesting. Taking A Trip Back In Time. Words That Were Written Long Before I Was Born. Even Though I Find Each And Every Day To Be Different Than The Other, I Chose To No Longer Share These Daily Post On My Facebook Page. I Did This Out Of Respect. Getting Into These Diaries Each Day, Turning The Pages, Contributes To More Than Just Your Normal Wear And Tear. I Learned This Early On When I Began Collecting Danville High School Yearbooks. The Oldest Book Dates Back To 1904. You Must Be Respectful Of Age. I Concluded Posting My Great Grandmother's Diaries On The Anniversary Of Her Death.

I Continue To Post Daily Writings From My Grandmother'd Diary. My Mother's Mother. I Recently Began Posting From Entries Of My Mother's Diaries. I Had Hoped I Would One Day Be Given Her Diary. I Call It The Book Of Life. An Open Book Of Names, Dates, Births, Weddings, Deaths, Etc. I Can Wander Back In The Years I Was Much Younger. Remembering The Good Times And The Bad.
Recently Someone Had Made The Comment To Me Posting From My Mother's Dairies Was Creepy. Since She Is Still Alive I Suppose This Person Didn't Think It Was Appropriate. What I Failed To Mention Was This Person Is Not My Mother's Biggest Fan. I Have Been Able To Steer Clear Of The Fallout Of This Dispute. I Try Not To Get Involved In Other People's Squabbles. I Am On Facebook Rather Often. Even Though This Person Does Not Like My Mother We Had Been Able To Be Civil To One Another In Spite Of Their Differences. When This Person Said It Was Creepy And "Others" Felt The Same. She Sent Me A Private Message Telling Me She Is Putting Me On Hide Because She Didn't Want To See These Diaries Everyday. Instead Of Just Scrolling Past Them She Decided To Eliminate My Post So She Won't Be Subjected To These Diaries. Of Course She Enjoyed My Great Grandmothers Diaries Because It Was Her Grandmother And It Brought Back Some Wonderful Memories From Her Childhood. Since She Did Not Elaborate Who These "Other's" Were I Made The Decision To Delete Her Entire Family. I Don't Need Negative People In My Life.
Even Though She Did Not Like My Mother I Kept Her As A Friend On Facebook. A Lot Of People Would Not Do This. We Never Discussed Between Us Her Reason Behind Her Dislike Of My Mother. Once Again I Try To Stay Positive In My Life. Once A Person Become Negative With Me They Are No Longer Considered A Friend Of Mine On Facebook. Unfortunately, When I Made The Decision To Block All Of Her Family I Knew There Were Some Innocent Bystanders That Are Not A Part In This "Situation". I No Longer Want To Have Any Contact With This Person Because In My Opinion She Drew First Blood With Me. We Have Managed To Remain Friends For Almost Three Years Without Incident. Just Because Of My Decision To Post My Mother's Diaries She Has Placed Me On Hide So She Won't Have To  See It Everyday. That's Fine, It's Her Facebook. If I'm On Hide She Would Not Miss Me Anyway And Life Goes On. So I Suppose I Will Be Put In The Same Group As The Crazy Family. Guess What? I Could Care Less. You Try To Be A Nice Person And You Get Criticized For Doing Something You Want To Do. I Don't Go Around And Tell People I Am Hiding Them Because I Don't Want To Read What They Post. It Is What It Is And Life Goes On. I Will Continue To Keep Positive People In My Life.
In Addition I Have Decided In The Future To Use This Blog Site As A Sounding Board. Please Don't Misunderstand Me, There Will Also Be Uplifting Blogs That You Are Use To Reading. I Have Always Been An Opinionated Person Who Enjoys Expressing My Views On Various Topics. You May See More Of That In The Future. You Will Also Notice I Eliminated The Comment Section. I Did This To Keep Some "Special" People From Throwing In Their Comments. My Words Don't Need Complimented Nor Criticized. They Are My Words. You Can Agree With Them Or Disagree. It Really Doesn't Matter To Me Either Way. What I Am Saying Is We All Have Our Minds To Think. We All Cannot Think Alike.
So In A Nutshell, You Never Know What You Are Going To Read Here. I Suggest If You Are Of Thinned Skin Maybe This Blog Spot Is Not The Place For You. It's Your Call. Have A Wonderful Day. I Know I Will.