I Can Do All Things

It seems like no matter what we women say, one way or another, we are always concerned about getting in shape, and I'm realizing I'm no exception.

Caring gives life

Good afternoon! And it's a very special afternoon for me because I have reached my goals here at the hospital, and they are sending me home. I may have mentioned in a previous blog that I struggle with breathing problems. Well, my problems became very serious. My breathing became so poor that they could no longer keep me in the nursing home I reside at unless there was some intervention.

And so, I was sent to a place called Kindred Hospital in Havertown, Pennsylvania, where they worked a miracle with me. This is a place where respiratory therapists take their work very very seriously. I would say all the employees: the nurses, the nurse's aides, and the respiratory therapists are very focused on accuracy, both in collecting patient data, and responding to it. This being the case, Kindred Hospital did what many people, including myself assumed was impossible. They got my breathing back on track, and made it possible for me to return to a place I've called home for 14 years.

Many of my friends too, both online and off, consistently prayed for me and encouraged me. God used Kindred Hospital to respond to my need. May He bless the work that Kindred Hospital is doing.

♬    Dallas Holm: I've Never Seen The Righteous Forsaken

Supporting the direction our friends are going in, even if we do not personally agree with

I think of my brother growing up. I'm 16 years older than he, and it was tempting to share with him all kinds of pearls of wisdom I had learned. But then I thought, you know what? Life is an adventure. If I tell him step by step how to achieve certain things, and what to avoid, I will be robbing him of the excitement of discovering what his life is all about, which could be very very different from my perception of life.

Each person's life is very different. Each person sees Truth in their own way. Each person's attitude toward Truth is different, and we must allow our friends to learn about life in their own way, and accept the uniqueness of how they live and what they value.

Let me share with you the wisdom my parents exercised when I was a teenager. I was a hippie, and my parents were worried about my future. It was important to them that I decide on a profession and go to college to get training to prepare for it. Well, they got more and more tense about the issue, and the more they pressured me, the less interested I became in doing as they suggested.

Finally, the arguing in the house got so intense that I ran away from home. Well, they found me, and when I was back home, I told them, "I don't want to work, I don't want to go to college. I just want to quit school and find a cheap apartment." It was my way of telling them to back off. And back off they did. They completely stopped complaining about anything I did. They allowed me to go out with my boyfriend every night, and what was nice was they knew when I came home I was usually hungry, so they kept the refrigerator stocked with the things I liked to eat.

Well, as fate would have it, after
short while my boyfriend and I broke up. To get some consolation, and a change of atmosphere, I went to spend the weekend with a girlfriend. Well, this friend of mine, Ellen, was in college, and that weekend she told me all about what a great experience it was.

Therefore, when I returned home, I said "Mom and Dad, I want to go to college". It was when they showed me acceptance, and loved me for the person I was, that I ended up agreeing with them about my future.

My feeling is, we need to give our friends the freedom to be exactly who they are. Let them do what works for them. This way we will be supporting them as they fulfill their destiny.

♬   Billy Joel: My Life

The Joy Of The Lord

The Joy Of The Lord (music by Twila Paris) from A Friendly Human Being on Vimeo.

So, my dear friends, I've been a little sick. Matter of fact I'm in the hospital. Breathing problems. It's so scary. But I have now an idea for a blog, and hopefully soon I'll do a little writing, because I know that's what you enjoy. Know that in my heart I'm with you, longing to share thoughts about friendship.

Finding the strength to be kind

♬    DEFINING MOMENT
        by NewSong

There comes a time in every heart
A time of real decision
When we reach the point of choosing
How we will live our lives

All our hopes, all our dreams
Will rise up from that moment
The moment we surrender
And choose to fallow Christ

He's been waiting all our lives to hear us say
"I am Yours, Lord, take my hand and lead the way"

When you believe He's all you need
That will be your defining moment
As you live your life walking in His light
Trusting Him completely
That will be, that will be your defining moment

All I have, all I am is resting in His promise
The promise that He'll make me everything that I should be
I will live, I will die, for the cause He set before me
To take this love in side my heart for all the world to see

Oh, all of heaven celebrates when they hear someone say
"I am Yours, Lord, take my hand and lead the way"

When you believe He's all you need
That will be your defining moment
As you live your life walking in His light
Trusting Him completely
That will be, that will be your defining moment, yeah

His amazing grace is such a mystery, yeah
How in an instant it can make your life complete

When you believe He's all you need
That will be your defining moment
As you live your life walking in His light
Trusting Him completely

When you believe He's all you need
That will be your defining moment
As you live your life walking in His light
Trusting Him completely
That will be, that will be your defining moment, oh, oh

Your defining moment, oh
Your defining moment

Expectations

When there is friction within a friendship, what is at the root of it? Doesn't a problem getting along with a friend almost always narrow down to a difference of opinion about what should be expected from one or the other friend? I think of my friend Linda, from Jr. High School. Linda used to get invited to more occasions than I did, such as parties and dances. Well, she knew it would make me feel inferior if she told me, so she would cover it up somehow, and try to hide from me that she was going somewhere. NOW, this is ugly: I would get on her case for being dishonest. I mean, I would ram the subject to the ground, that a friend is supposed to be perfectly honest. And the ugly thing is that I knew the whole time, that she only concealed it to spare my feelings. So here, I had Linda in a back lock, when she had actually tried to do the right things, and I knew it.

When there is so much negativity within a friendship,  what is to be done? All I can think is to just make a general rule for friendship. Let go of expectations. Personal expectations such as I held my friend Linda to, are likely to cause damage. When we are unpleasant to a friend, we are often refusing to look at the issue from his or her point of view.

Suppose the opposite happened. Suppose I had made a rule for my friendship with Linda, that I was going to love and accept her words and actions no matter what my own personal opinion of her conduct was. When, she was invited out, and she didn't want me to know, I would not make her accountable for it. Our friendship would continue to flow. I would actually feel better about myself because I applied mercy to the situation, than I would have felt had I satisfied my unattractive feelings of envy.

There is a little verse in what is called The Ethics of the Fathers in the Talmud, which is a book of Jewish interpretation of all that is written in the Old Testament. Anyways, what comes to mind is:

There are four types of people

one who says what's mine is mine and what's yours is yours - that is the mark of an average person.

One who says what's mine is yours and what's yours is mine - that is the mark of an ignorant person

One who says what's mine is yours and what's yours is yours  - that is the mark of a Godly man.

One who says what's yours is mine and what's mine is mine - that is the mark of an evil man.

If we seek the happiness of our friends, above our own happiness, we will end up making both ourselves and our friends feel more satisfied within our friendships.

♬    The Who: Behind Blue Eyes

Do Right

Seek and you shall find

♬    FIND A WAY
by Amy Grant

You tell me your friends are distant
You tell me your man's untrue
You tell me that you've been walked on
And how you feel abused

So you stand here an angry young woman
Taking all the pain to heart
I hear you saying you want to see changes
But you don't know how to start

[Chorus:]
Love will find a way (How do you know)
Love will find a way (How can you see)
I know it's hard to see the past and still believe
Love is gonna find a way
I know that
Love will find a way (A way to go)
Love can make a way (Only love can know)
Leave behind the doubt
Love's the only out
Love will surely find a way

I know this life is a strange thing
I can't answer all the why's
Tragedy always finds me
And I'm taken again by surprise

I could stand here an angry young woman
Taking all the pain to heart
But I know that love can bring changes
And so we've got to move on

[Chorus]
Love will find a way (How do you know)
Love will find a way (How can you see)
I know it's hard to see the past and still believe
Love is gonna find a way
I know that
Love will find a way (A way to go)
Love can make a way (Only love can know)
Leave behind the doubt
Love's the only out
Love will surely find a way

If our God His Son not sparing
Came to rescue you
Is there any circumstance
That He can't see you through

[Chorus]
Love will find a way (How do you know)
Love will find a way (How can you see)
I know it's hard to see the past and still believe
Love is gonna find a way
I know that
Love will find a way (A way to go)
Love can make a way (Only love can know)
Leave behind the doubt
Love's the only out
Love will surely find a way