The Power and the Glory.

Last night we had a very bad storm come through our area. I love sleeping to the sound of rain but this was rain, wind and lightening. The lightening was hitting so close that it shook the windows and I could see the flash even through my closed eyelids. It was very intense for about an hour. But the good news is we made it through the storm ok.

A storm like that makes you aware of the amazing power in the universe and how small we really are compared to the world around us. If you don’t feel humble after witnessing something like that then you need to wake up and smell the roses. With all that power around us we could be gone in a split second. That dividing line between life and death is just a thin hair so I am grateful for yet another day on earth. There is so much I still want to do.

Many changes are happening in my life now. The phrase “Letting Go” keeps popping up here and there and that is what I am doing. Not letting go of life but letting go of the reigns. I am still moving and at a good pace but I am no longer trying to control things. And in doing so, my life is becoming much simpler and less complicated. I no longer struggle and I no longer feel responsible when things around me don’t go my way. I am confident that God is in control of my life and He will lead me where I need to go.

I see new things ahead of me now and I no longer dwell in the past. The future is much brighter than it has ever been. I know that the world may be crashing down around me but I can stay on course and make it to my final destination if I continue to give glory to God.

 

Have a wonderful day,

Greg

Were you born in a barn?

I often hear that when God closes a door he opens another for us. I do believe that is partially true.  I think it goes more like this;

God opens doors for us and sometimes he closes them for us but not always. Sometimes we must be the one to close those doors.

Lots of times God has opened new doors for me. He has given me new opportunities and showed me new paths to take and for the most part I have taken those chances and gone where he has wanted me to go. However being the “you never know” type of person that I am, I don’t always close the door behind me. I usually leave those old doors open just in case. Just in case I want to go back to my old ways or maybe some day take that wrong path.

I can hear my father now saying; Where you born in a barn? Shut that door. And I know that my biological father meant it in a literal sense but maybe that was God, my eternal Father meaning it in another way. Maybe that was God saying; I will show you the way but don’t go back. Just some thoughts running through my mind today.

 

Have a great day,

Greg

Stop in the name of Love.

I found that my life was just going way too fast. So I decided not only to slow down but to stop from time to time. Several times during my day, I stop, close my eyes, pray and then go on with my life. I have found that it quickly recharges my batteries and keeps me in a good mood.

I take my first stop of the day right after my alarm clock goes off. I turn it off, put my feet on the floor by the bed and sit there and thank God for giving me another chance here on earth. I don't always use it the way He would like but I do try. And the stops do help keep me on track.

I have also found out that once I got used to stopping, those little delays in life are no longer a pain, they are a blessing. When you get stopped in the grocery line, say a little prayer for getting the chance to pray. Traffic stops the same thing. Use those delays to praise God and you will soon find out that driving makes you happy again. Well it works for me anyway.

Enjoy the ride,
Greg

Reach out and touch someone.

Reach out and touch someone.

No this isn’t a commercial for the phone company although one of them does use that slogan. I am talking about reaching out to your fellow man. And it can be via phone, email, txt or maybe even….get this now…..” in person”. Whoa that concept; reaching out to someone in person.  The nerve of me saying that. I mean is it still possible or acceptable to actually reach out to someone in person? I think it is. But if you aren’t able to do it face to face try one of the other avenues.

For many years I kept my feelings locked up inside. Telling someone else my true feelings was not only hard to do it was frowned upon. My parents taught me that real men don’t tell people how they feel. Real men put on a front to look tough and to prevent anyone from knowing the real you. Real men don’t welcome others with a hug or a smile or any kind of friendly greeting because that lets your guard down and leaves you open for someone to get inside your safe zone.

That may be true but what am I really protecting in that safe zone…..”nothing”. The truth is it also prevents people from being your friend or reaching out to you in need. I have discovered that there are a lot of people out there in need. More now than ever before. And I am not talking about being in need of cash although a lot are. I am talking about being in need of a friend or someone’s shoulder to cry on. There are a lot of people out there just one step from giving up on life or ending it all. There are a lot of people who just need to talk to someone and have someone listen to them. And just knowing that someone out there cares enough to listen may change their entire life.

So I have decided to be one of those people. I have always listened to the problems of others but I have never really reached out to other to ask them if they are ok or if they are in need. We all have our problems in life but I think I have a little caring that I can share with someone else. And just maybe I can make a difference in someone’s life. I do know that if I don’t reach out and take that first step, I may miss an opportunity to help someone. And I don’t like the sound of that.

 

Are you ok?

Greg

Anger issues.

I have anger issues!!!

Yes I do. I have issues with angry people. I can’t understand why people go through life always being angry. I have my moments from time to time but for the most part I am a happy person.  If someone cuts (or flips) me off in traffic I simply slow down and give them some room. I don’t get upset about it because in relation to the real problems in the world today, having someone pull out in front of me in traffic is no big deal. And it certainly isn’t worth getting my blood pressure up. 

I feel the same way about other little things. Like people who get in the speed line in the store with too many items or that wait until their total is rung up before they start searching for their check book; No big deal. There are so many little things out there that I tend to ignore while others go off on a tangent.  To me there is nothing worse than being stuck in line with someone that is harping about having to wait. Give me a break, please.  Complaining and getting angry does absolutely no good and it may even take years off your life.  Get in another lane if it bothers you that much.

I usually try to surround myself with happy people whenever I can so don’t be offended if you start complaining and I simply walk away.  Sometimes I will be in a meeting and someone will start complaining. I usually just ignore them and my mind starts to drift away. Often someone will catch me drifting and when they ask me why I wasn’t paying attention I just say “I will when you stop complaining and say something constructive”. That usually gets a smart reply but my point is made. When my family starts complaining I just say “hey I can get this at work.”

So slow down, be happy and live a long life. That’s my advice for the day. And please respect the speed lane at Walmart. I am tired of hearing about it.

 

Greg

Prayer 101

When I was young, my prayers were simple; “God please help me”. That was enough. I felt that He was listening and that He knew what I needed and that He would give me what I needed and He did. When I became older however my life became more complicated. There were adult problems and as an adult I knew the solutions, but I still needed help from God to make my solutions work.

So my prayers became more specific. I actually prayed more often but for some reason I felt that he no longer answered me. I thought maybe I am not good enough, maybe God is angry with me and that is why He isn’t answering. I talked with others about my feelings and there was one answer that most of my friends gave me; God doesn’t always answer our prayers. Hmmm I though. What kind of God is He that He doesn’t answer my prayers?

So I went for many years feeling disconnected from God. Oh I tried to reconnect from time to time but I kind of felt like hey if He doesn’t take the time to talk to me, why should I talk to Him? Wow was I ever wrong and so were all those people that told me that God doesn’t always answer our prayers. He does. My God answers all my prayers. The problem for me was that His answers weren’t always what I wanted to hear so I just ignored them. The problem was that I asked God to help me with my plan instead of asking God what his plan for me was. So simple that it evaded me.

And I started thinking about all those times when I prayed for help with major problems in my life and about the outcomes in those situations. And in each and every case, something happened that lead me from the troubled spot that I was in at the time. And even thought it wasn’t the escape route that I had hoped for it was in fact an escape route and it brought me to a better place. So I truly believe that my prayers have always been answered but I was just too busy looking for MY answer to see God’s answer.

So I decided to get back to basics. I no longer pray for God to help me with my plan, I now pray for God’s will to be done. In this day and time of evil all around us I simply pray that God be in control in my life. And He is. I pray that God be in control in your life too.

Blessings,

Greg

In the beginning.

In the beginning…..

The book of Genesis starts out with those words. And since this is the beginning of this blog, I want to start out with the same words. This isn’t the first time I have blogged but this time I want to keep it moving forward. That being said, I want to briefly touch on the past. I have recently come to terms with the fact that the past is what it is. Nothing you do now can ever change what has happened. You can make amends for your mistakes, you can try to counter wrongs with rights but you can never go back and change what has been done.

You can however accept the past without embracing it. You can go forward with your head high and start a new life. Every second is a new beginning. And at each beginning we have the option of taking one path or another. Most of us know in our hearts which path is right and which is wrong. It is up to us to make the right choice. We must choose and we must choose correctly in order to free our minds and bodies from the burdens of life and the universe. What I write here will be my feelings and views on my life and life in general. It may not always be pleasant or liked by everyone but it will be the truth as I see it.

My beginning started in a little town in Florida back in the middle 50’s. I would like to say that I came from a good home but the truth is that it was only that way some of the time. We had some great times but we also had some really bad times. They say when faced with a bad situation we have three options; fright, fight or flight. I chose Flight. And that set my tone for my life up to my middle years. Whenever a situation arose that I didn’t like, I simply walked away.

During my childhood I needed a place free from arguing and fighting. I found that place in a little one square block garden in the middle of town called the Ormond War Memorial Gardens. It was a place dedicated to the men and women that served in the military that were from that town and there was an art gallery and also a lush garden filled with tropical plants and small ponds. I spent many hours there as a child hiding from the evil that lived outside. It was there that I first talked to God and felt that He truly was listening. It was my escape from the reality of life.

As I grew older I because caught in the speed lane of life and my trips to that little garden became less and less and eventually I moved away. But that garden still holds a special place in my heart and I return there to pray whenever I am in town. And God listens and answers my prayers. Maybe that is why I enjoy gardening so much today. When I am in my garden, I feel at home.

Peace,

Greg

Reflections of my life

"The changing from sunlight to moonlight,
Reflections of my life,
Oh how they fill my eyes."

One of my favorite songs by  The Marmalade