believe – Page 24 – hugsnblessings

And it hurts.

Published on November 17, 2015 by Dawn Marie2 Comments

It is a sad time in the World.

The recent events in Paris give us cause to pause in our lives and consider the effects of evil and our response to it.

One of the dangers of going through periods of distress, hurt, and heartache is that we’ll begin to doubt God’s goodness, and to think that He doesn’t care. Nothing could be further from the truth. And this is one of the reasons why it’s essential for us to spend regular time in God’s Word. Scripture says: “In all their suffering He also suffered, and He personally rescued them. In His love and mercy, He redeemed them. He lifted them up and carried them through all the years.” (Isaiah 63:9)

God hurts when we hurt. Remember Jesus weeping when He saw Lazarus’ family grieving? (John 11:35) The Bible clearly states that the Lord sympathizes with us. (Hebrews 4:15) But He doesn’t stop there. As Isaiah says, He personally rescues us, lifts us up, and even carries us in times of hardship and pain.

God allows believers to experience adversity…but…Contrary to what the enemy would have us believe, God does not enjoy the hurting of His children. Jeremiah wrote: “For the Lord does not abandon anyone forever. Though He brings grief, He also shows compassion according to the greatness of His unfailing love. For He does not willingly afflict or cause them sorrow.” (Lamentations 3:31-33) Just as God allows pain to enter our lives, He sends healing and restoration. Is there anything you and I can do to help this process along? Yes, there is. We can cooperate with God by earnestly seeking Him in prayer, praise, and the study of His Word. And we can ask Him to speak to our hearts, and to help us learn whatever lessons He has for us in our struggles. As we faithfully follow His lead, we will minimize the intensity and duration of our trials.

If you love God with all your heart, you have His promise that He will cause your hard times to profit you. (Romans 8:28) Claim that promise in faith today, and watch for His hand of favor and blessing right in the midst of your trials! J.M Farro

Our parish priest, Fr. Larry Richards, reminded us during Sunday liturgy this past Weekend something very important.

“Hatred never has the last word.

God will always win!

We know the end of the story.”

(Click here to listent to Fr. Richard’s Homily in its entirety regarding our Christian response to the evil events in Paris.)

May you forever

keep your eyes always on Jesus.

And remember…

Love always wins!

hugs n’ peaceful blessings!

What Kind of Tree Are You?

Published on November 15, 2015November 15, 2015 by Dawn MarieLeave a comment

My Sunday Reblog (as part of the NaBloPoMo challenge,) comes from one of my blogging HEROs!! I discovered Bill during my first Blogging101 course through WordPress. Bill was kind enough to “Like” one of my posts and moved by this stranger’s extreme kindness & encouraging words to me, I looked into his site as well. It has been a blog-loving-affair ever since!!! I cannot get to his site fast enough once I’ve received a notification of a recent post and I know when you go there you too will immediately understand why!

In late October of 1996, just weeks after his 36th birthday, Bill was diagnosed with a terminal disease called Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. (ALS or “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” after the famous New York Yankee’s player who brought this Disease to the public light in a very poignant way.)

Bill’s motive for starting his blog is to pass along some of the lessons he has learned through the course of this trial and hopefully help others avoid some of the detrimental (hope-stealing) mistakes he has made. These are important lessons for all of us to learn because, as Bill points out, “If you’re not going through a trial now, a trial is coming. I know that’s not good news, but it’s the truth. But, as I hope to show, we don’t have to fear trials because God can handle anything that this life throws our way and we can handle them too if we see the trials through the eyes of Christ!”

I am rebloging today one of my favorite posts from Bill and I just know if you take time to read it too you will be just like me & the other 2,700+ believers…in Bill’s Unshakable Hope!

Unshakable Hope

Some might be disappointed, but this is not one of those quizzes like I see posted on Facebook. (There actually is one of those quizzes with this same title, but I didn’t take it because I was afraid that the results would show that I was Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tree).
Ten or twelve years ago, let’s just say eleven, Mary and I were shopping at Home Depot. After finishing our shopping in the store, we wandered out to the garden department to look for some small trees. It was November, and most of the plants were marked down because they were making room for Christmas trees.

Mary got hung up looking at wreathes and other boring items, so I cruised my wheelchair over to go look at trees. As it turned out, there were not many trees left, and I didn’t see anything I was interested in. Just when I was…

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Which will it be?

Published on November 13, 2015November 17, 2015 by Dawn Marie4 Comments

funny-pics-remember-when-hashtag-meant-nymber — Photo courtesy of Funnypics.

I enjoy Instagram. I enjoy the quick little reminders and updates from those who I am following. I especially love the many #hashtag combinations created!

e0e100a5f23c70b0b77b193db91d7b5d — Photo Courtesy of Pinterest.

Mostly because the hashtags remind me of the many road trips our family would take to visit family in New Jersey and the ‘license plate’ games my sister and I would play in the back-seat of the car. (How many States can you find? Double numbers? Double letters?) But I especially found it to be so much fun deciphering the unique number/letter combinations that drivers would inscribe on their license-plates to create a message! Some seemed so perfect in description that you felt as if you were finding out a piece of information (from the inscription,) regarding who was contained within the vehicle! While others simply left you giggling and wondering about the mystery behind the message.

I suppose both a #hash&license ‘tag’ could be compared to the tag-lines on our blog sites too! Just a few little words to describe what you can expect to find at our sites.

Here at Hugs n’ Blessings (both) are Given Freely!

These tags, hashes, and license messages, in a way, leave you with clues to what is contained behind the photo, driver, message, & blog-writer. And the added fun is sometimes the discovery of what these tags inspire in each of us!

Laughter? Motivation? Contemplation? Introspection? Discovery?

Today I saw an insightful Instagram post from Proverbs Daily that has left me pondering myself and categorizing others. (Not in a judgmental way but rather in Awe, Wonder, and Recognition!)

And that’s when it hit me!!! What a great Weekend Thought to ponder:

Which of the following below would be TAG(s) for you??

Successful People:

Read Every Day, Talk About Ideas, Compliment, Embrace Change, Forgive Others, Learn Constantly, Accept Responsibility for their Failures,They want Others to Succeed, They have a Sense of Gratitude.

Unsuccessful People:

Watch TV Every Day, Talk About People, Complain & Criticize, Fear Change, Hold Grudges, Are Know-It-Alls, Blame Others For Their Failures, Secretly Want Others to Fail, Have a Sense of Entitlement.

(Are you pink or blue?)

Just like the #hashtags, tag lines, and license plate doodles,

I pray your noodle

has lots of fun

discovering (any) message behind the Weekend Thoughts

I leave you with today!