** WOULD God EXPECT Us to be DEPRESSED ? **

... concern should drive us into action and not into depression - Karen Horney.

Depression may be on the fringes of our consciousness today.  But it need not become our state of mind.  (The antidote/anecdote is and always will be action, responsible action.)  Every concern, every experience wants our attention, our active attention !

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(Today stretches before me. Concerns will crowd upon me, but guidance regarding the best action to take is always available to me.)

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** I will feel/listen to His Sponsored Thought in my heart (God's love and protection). **

(excerpt from Daily Meditations)

IF and VALUE ??

IF I should take your pain away, where would the value be ??

Tears ! . . .

LET your tears come.  Let them water your soul - Eileen Mayhew.

LETting down our guard, releasing the tension that keeps us taut, often invites our tears that soften us, melt our resistance, reveal our vulnerability, which reminds us that we are human.  So often we need reminding that we are human.

Perfectionism may be our bane, as it is for so many of us.  We've learned to push, push harder, and even harder, yet, not only ourselves but those around us.  We must be better, we think, and we tighten our hold on life.  We need to loosen our grip, if we will.  WHEN we loosen our grip, even on this day, this activity, this person, we get carried gently along and find that which we struggled to control, happening smoothly and naturally.  Life is a series of ironies.

We should not hide from our tears.  We can trust their need to be present.  Perhaps, they need to be present for someone else, as well as ourselves.  Tears encourage compassion; maybe our assignment in life, today, is to help someone else experience compassion.

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My tears will heal.  
And the wounded are everywhere.

K. Casey

~ It's LIFE !! ~

'Life is filled with difficult moments, and few hit us more personally and intimately than when we struggle with a severe illness or traumatic injury. Fear, doubt, anxiety, and despair strike at our heart. Coupled with the physical pain, the times when life hurts can be overwhelming. Comfort seems unattainable, and hope's beyond reach.

We long for relief from our pain and answers for our questions.' "Without question, many people turn away from God because of the problem of pain. They find it hard to believe that a loving and all-powerful God would permit good people to suffer the way they do. On the other hand, thousands have testified that it was during a time of deep sorrow or intense anguish that they found God more real and precious than ever before." - HVL

God can use sickness in the lives of His children to make them more wise and better people.

* READ:
2 Corinthians 1:3-11

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort."
- 2 Corinthians 1:3

'On the last day of her junior year of high school, our
17-year-old daughter passed away in a car accident.

In one horrible instant, everything we knew about God and the Bible and heaven was put to the test. We needed the Christian community to guide us toward hope as we stood at the funeral of a beloved young woman who had touched so many lives with her smile, her godliness, her love of life, and her care for others.

For many weeks, I couldn't do anything. What could I say? How could I find words to help others when my family - when I - needed so much?

Now, months later as I begin to resume living again, I can say that God has not changed. He is still our loving heavenly Father, the "God of all comfort" (2 Corinthians 1:3). He is still the source of hope in the face of unexpected grief. I write of Him with a renewed sense of my need for His touch, His love, His strength. Broken, I write of the only One who can make us whole.' - DB

* READ:
Psalm 147:1-11

"He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name." - Psalm 147:4

How amazing to read, "He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name. Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite" (Psalm 147:4-5).

Even more amazing though, is the psalmist affirming that God, who is far greater than the universe He created yet cares about our sorrows. Instead of being distant and remote, He is close at hand with love and mercy for His own. "He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds," wrote the psalmist.

Jesus, the creator of all things including the galaxies, visited our planet to pay the penalty for our own sin and to open a way; the ONLY way, to fellowship and have existing friendship with Him!

'Today He stands ready to bring healing and wholeness to our deeply wounded spirits. From naming stars to mending hearts, nothing is too hard for God.' - DM

The Maker of the universe
Knows every need of man,
And made provision for that need
According to His plan. - Crane

* When God permits trials, He also provides comfort.

~ AUSTRALIAN FLOODS - 2011 ! ~

I didn't know whether to write about the floods but I am! I haven't been directly involved in the floodwaters but I've visited most of the places in the past that have been afflicted. Thank God that He has provided fellow-feeling; compassion! Feeling for another in pain which in turn can and has stirred up the sharing of emotion resulting in practical ways of help. The desire and interest in sorrow for others' suffering is deserving of applause. It has caused people to become a united state in the community of interests. They are the instruments that show to many the north, south, east and west. The compasses that reveal scope just by surrounding those who are directly suffering in reaching out by showing through their actions that just one person can still gain by effort and therefore personal accomplishment. It will take time. God bless. That's all I can say.k.

** Everyday !! **

HAVE had quite an uncomfortable day today just struggling (with myself). *Am convinced, as I've been often before, THAT I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for the Lord Jesus who is obviously caring for me in my life through His kindness, goodness, holiness, grace, creation, mercy, justice, compassion, salvation, work in redemption AND for renewing His patience and tolerance with me EVERYDAY. I very much "thank" Jesus (God) for all THAT !!!

* "THAT fiery FURNACE" .. JOY in HIS presence ...

"BECAUSE of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning" (LAMENTATIONS 3:22-23).

"WHILE visiting a glass factory in Monterrey, Mexico, I watched with great interest as the skillful artist worked. WITH long tongs he first held a piece of glass in a furnace until it began to melt. REMOVING it, he went quickly to work. WITH simple tools and with lightning speed, he created a beautiful blown-glass ornament. THE finished product became a reality only after the glass was subjected to the intense heat of the furnace.

EVEN though we experience the heat of many trials, God is there to shape us in His beauty that we may be useful objects for His glory. THAT fiery furnace may be the loss of a loved one, a disaster resulting in loss of possessions, a financial crisis or the deep sadness of knowing a family member is unsaved. OUR journey here may sometimes be lonely; there may be bitter tears of disappointment and pain, yet it is in the crucible of lfe's testings that we are reminded of the love of our Heavenly Father.

WHAT a comfort it is to know that His mercies are new every morning and that there is real joy in His presence". KATE ESPARZA

**** A LIFE FULLY Lived .. !!!! ****

* TRUTH *
Telling it and living it.

* JOY *
Finding it in the darkest places.

* COMPASSION *
From specialness to belonging.

* WONDER *
From needing to know to letting go.

(MARIA HOUSDEN)

* NICE ..

Dear Diary,

It's nice to be kind (and compassionate) to ourselves and sometimes include a treat (or two?).

All the best.k.