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DO YOU EVER FEEL YOU’RE RIGHT...

9/29/2014

...only to find out you are dead wrong?

You know those moments when you are so sure of yourself that you would argue your point into the ground! Then later you come to learn that you were wrong…wow, those are embarrassing moments!

I have caught myself arguing with someone thinking there was no way I was wrong. I was absolutely, positively sure I was right to only later find out I was dead wrong. How do you come back to that person and ask for forgiveness for your bad behavior. I tried to explain how hard life had been at that with all the crazy things going on around me. However; I know we are all responsible for our emotions and attitudes. As a tender-hearted woman, I could not comprehend this. I argued with one of my dearest friends and I was upset with all that had happened. I was wrong.

I wish so much that I had not been so hard-headed and simply conceded to what my friend had been trying to tell me.
We all have these moments though. The moment when you think…how could I have been so sure back then and yet so wrong?

God is teaching me that we are in control of our attitudes and our emotions. In fact, we are in control of how we accept the wisdom of others. I owed my friend an apology. Also, I am going to think twice next time I think I am absolutely right because there is a chance that I’m dead wrong.

Carol Bridges

What do you want most?

9/23/2014

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We all want a lot of things . . . well . . . we say we want a lot of things. Financial security . . . and . . . new car, vacation, new clothes, latest tech item

Healthy body . . . and . . . brownies, French fries, super-sized anything

Loving marriage . . . and . . . to be right, have my way, control the universe,

Well-mannered children . . . and . . . be their friend, slack on discipline, give them what they beg for

Family meals . . . and . . . gymnastics, soccer, martial arts

You get the picture.

It seems that everything we say we want will cost us something. It all boils down to what we want most. We would never say that we want brownies more than a healthy body or that we want to be right more that to have a loving marriage. That would sound awful. So we tell ourselves that we want the right things, while voting with our choices for the wrong things. The truth is we have a really hard time denying ourselves and as a result we fail to reach our highest goals. The very same is true in our spiritual life.

Jesus said “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?” Luke 9:23-25

Self-denial, of the lesser things in life, is the only path to what we most desire. Don’t let the things you want rob you of what you want most.

Beverly Chesnut

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I Love the Beach

9/2/2014

I love the beach. We are spending the weekend here. Labor Day is like the closing ceremony of summer. For as long as I can remember, summers were spent at the beach. My grandparents had cottages and then my parents followed into the resort business as well. We were blessed with free lodging for the summer. My children learned to swim almost before they could walk.

I have always felt refreshed by the rhythmic sound of the waves and the beautiful sunsets that paint the sky each evening. I spend a lot of time in contemplation and I find that communion with the Lord comes very easy at the water’s edge. The sea is sometimes calm and tranquil, and at other times the waves come crashing loudly to the shore. It’s exciting to see what each new day will bring. I love it all, stormy days with lightning shows and sunny days with the sound of seagulls and children playing.

I find that life is kind of like that to. Some days are easy and gratitude comes easily. Other days are turbulent and feel a bit out of control. Even when things are not going as planned, I know that the Lord is at work teaching me to rely on Him and not my circumstances as my source of peace. No matter how turbulent the waves of my life, I know the one who can calm the sea. Life would be pretty dull if every day was sunny.

They cried to the Lord in their trouble,

And he delivered them from their distress.

He made the storm to be still,

And the waves of the sea were hushed.

Then they were glad that the waters were quiet,

And he brought them to their desired haven.

Psalm 107: 28-30

Chair, umbrella, good book, iced tea . . . yep I’m ready to hit the beach. Wish you could all be here.

Bev Chesnut

DO YOU EVER FEEL YOU’RE RIGHT...

What do you want most?

I Love the Beach

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