Moments Of Pain

(I found this one in the Internet, and I loved the message, that’s why I’m sharing it with you guys… hope you get something out of it.)
Pain was not part of God’s original design. Love, on the other hand, was, and God knew that in order for love to exist, free will would also have to exist. In a world where He gave humans the choice to love or hate, He knew some would choose the latter and PAIN would inevitably be the price.
Yet pain breaks God’s heart, and so God has taken man’s misuse and abuse of free will and redeemed it. God isn’t about righting all the wrongs on Earth. But, He is big on taking the wrongs and making something beautiful of them. And so He constantly offers opportunities for His children to exercise that free will in love towards one another, so that some of what has been broken can be remade. Pain offers opportunity for growth in love.
Also, pain is a unique opportunity for humanity to choose whether it will love God for who He is, rather than for the gifts that He bestows upon His creation. Granted, God loves to give to His children. But in a life void of suffering, there would also be little need to love God for any reason beyond his role as Santa Claus. God wants to be loved for who He is — for His mercy, grace, kindness, compassion, and other attributes — and not because He makes life easy for us.
Finally, God allows pain to remind us that our home is not in this world, that our real life begins in the afterlife, in Heaven. He wishes for us to long for that place. And pain has a way of keeping our hope there, rather than on Earth. This is a good thing, for Heaven promises more wonderful, beautiful things than those which are found here. Earth is for deciding whether we will love one another as well as our Creator; Heaven is where our experience of life will find its fruition.
(excerpt from article by Connie Strasheim -700Club)










To my Father, Brother, Best Friend, and Savior…
When I look at myself in the mirror, I see an imperfect person. Just trying to fit in… trying to do my best in this crazy world. Sometimes it’s hard when I see people around me and I get discouraged, but one thing I constantly remind myself, is never to let them destroy my faith and beliefs. Because these are the things that make me the person that I am. I refuse to let other people get me down. The world may have so much evil in it, but it’s also full of good… of love and hope. And that’s what I want to incorporate into my own world. Someday, I’d like to look at myself in the mirror, and what I’d want to feel is contentment. More than anything else, I’d like to look at myself and be satisfied about how I lived my life. When all else is said and done, I’d like to be able to smile and say to myself, I did my best.
My brother gave me a YouTube link this morning, saying I have to watch it because it’s the best video he’s ever seen. I was intrigued by his intro, so I watched the clip. Guess what, it sent goosebumps all over my body! This story has become so popular and is all over the Internet so I’m sure most of you might have come across this months ago, but it only just reached me now, and I felt compelled to post it here to share it with those who haven’t seen it yet.
I read a chapter about The Cross today. It was such a heartfelt passage that I cried.




I just found out today that a schoolmate of mine back in high school was diagnosed with a tumor and is to undergo a very delicate operation. The tumor is located in the middle of his brain stem and his spinal chord. His neurosurgeon said that it can be removed with 90% assurance and 10% risk. The risk being that if one of his brain stem or spinal chord is touched or damaged, he might end up paralyzed or placed in a respirator. He’s asking for help in the form of prayers, that the operation will be successful and he will have a full recovery.