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Posts tagged ‘trust’

Do You Trust the Future?

If someone asked you this question,
“Do you trust the future?”
what would you say?
multi colored roofs

Have you thought of YOUR answer?

long exposure photography white dome building interior

Photo by gdtography on Pexels.com

How would I answer that question?

I would say something I have heard others say…
It’s not original… I don’t know who first said it,
but I would answer,
“I don’t know what the future holds, but I know WHO holds the future.”

Since I trust our Creator,
I have to trust the future.
Our future is in the hand of God…
and God don’t make no mistakes!

ball shaped blur close up focus

Photo by Porapak Apichodilok on Pexels.com

Our 41st president, George H.W. Bush (1924-2018), died yesterday,
He served in office from 1989-1993.
He was asked the question, “Do you trust the future?”

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Here is his answer:

“… I do not mistrust the future. I do not fear what is ahead. For our problems are large, but our heart is larger. Our challenges are great, but our will is greater. And if our flaws are endless, God’s love is truly boundless.”

Tell me what you would answer if someone asked you,
“Do you trust the future?”

Category:

Faith, God, life, Life's Challenges, Love

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T = Trust

Day #20 – T = Trust

It’s been quite a ride! My A-Z series on “What Makes Me Happy?” Is drawing near an end, but today I TRUST you’ll continue reading, and I’ll continue to be inspired with new, pertinent topics. Thank you for being here. The ability to TRUST makes me happy šŸ˜ƒ

T rusting brings

R espect and

U nderstanding and

S afety to vulnerability

T rusting is essential

In a world where parents feel a need to teach their children NOT to trust, we must be the models of trustworthiness. We must exude the love šŸ’• and safety we wish covered the earth.

The opposite of trusting is mistrusting, of course, and that creates worry and anxiety. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could feel free as a people to just trust? To just teach trust?

It’s probably Pollyanna thinking… unrealistic, you say. But, can’t we teach caution without teaching fear? Without causing worry and anxiety?

My go-to guide is Scripture. Jesus shows us the way. He talks about the birds being clothed so splendidly, so why worry about what we’ll wear. He showed us how He fed the multitudes, and told us not to worry about where our next meal is coming from. “Do not fear,” He taught us.

Philippians 4:6-7 is Paul’s message to the people of Philippi in which he cautioned them about worry. “Don’t worry about anything;” he wrote, “instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

So, the way to live in TRUST is to read, study, and apply the TRUTH of Scripture. Trust in God. Trust in what Jesus taught us. Sounds simple, huh? No, it’s not.

In today’s world we worry about safety. We hear of innocent people being murdered all the time.

In today’s world we worry about international affairs, divisiveness, wars, prejudice, and how it’s tearing us apart. We feel helpless to create that peace Paul wrote about. God’s Peace. Where is it? How can we exude it? How can we be the change we want to see in this world? How can we trust those people and situations that seem so untrustworthy?

My only solution is to remember the words of Paul, “Pray about everything.”

And remember/think about the words that remind us of how our simplest acts can make a difference to those we touch… and to those whose lives are affected by what we do.

R. Buckminster Fuller wrote, “Never forget that you are one of a kind. Never forget that if there weren’t any need for you in all your uniqueness to be on this earth, you wouldn’t be here in the first place. And never forget, no matter how overwhelming life’s challenges and problems seem to be, that one person can make a difference in the world. In fact, it is always because of one person that all the changes that matter in the world come about. So be that one person.”

Like tomorrow, if you’re in the USA, we can each make a difference. Go vote (if you haven’t cast an absentee ballot already). Every vote DOES matter!

Reach out to your neighbor in love. Reach out with help to a friend in need. Reach out to a fellow blogger with affirmation. Tell them that the words you just read made a difference for you. They resonated. Trust that your small acts add up to big differences.

Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable. In your shared weakness, you exhibit trust and you strengthen others.

Just TRUST!

He’s gotcha in the palm of His hand. Hereā€™s my mantle in this season of Thanksgiving. Ā Remember to thank God for all the ways He loves and protects you. Trust Him!

May the peace of Christ that surpasses all human understanding be yours today.

Category:

Bible Lessons, blessings, blogging, Faith, happiness, Jesus, Life's Challenges, Love, peace, prayer

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Heartache

The Hearings

The heartache

Of yesterdayā€™s

Dying day

Will live on

In our memories

As cinders

In the heap

Of societyā€™s sorrows.

Category:

Heartache, Life's Challenges, truth

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Teaching Children to Trust

Teaching Children to Trust

Intermountain began in 1909

And 900 children nowadays

Are daily helped by them

In a wide variety of ways.

Healthy relationships

Are the focus of the school.

Children learn to love –

Not just to obey each rule.

Children are taught to trust.

Often they’ve been mistreated.

They’ve missed stability;

Nurturing wasn’t meted.

Toxic stress causes many problems

As the child grows and learns.

Often root causes are not addressed.

Stability is what the child yearns.

Substance abuse is a symptom

Of an underlying cause.

Look behind the behavior.

Stop, think, pray, pause.

These are the notes I took as I listened to a message this morning in church from an Intermountain of Helena representative, Kathy Ramirez. She shared some information with us that I found surprising. Among the facts: the brain of a healthy, nurtured, loved three-year-old is 3x larger than the brain of a 3 yr. old who has not had a nurturing, loving environment.

A study recently conducted asked a group of prisoners to acknowledge whether any of these ten items had been a part of their early life:

1. Emotional abuse

2. Physical abuse

3. Sexual abuse

4. Observing abuse of a loved one

5. Substance abuse

6. Mental illness

7. Parental separation

8. Household member in prison

9. Physical neglect

10. Emotional neglect

Kathy revealed that 58% had one to three of them occur in their early life. There were 16% who had experienced four or more of them.

What does this tell us about the effects of trauma and toxic stress in children’s lives? And what can we do about it?

Places like Intermountain in Helena, MT provide safe havens for children. Education, counseling, unconditional love, and safety give children from abusive or neglectful homes a chance to learn to trust again.

Intermountain also provides in-home counseling. It works to help parents learn to live their lives in a way that makes them and their children safe and healthy.

What can we do? Find a place like Intermountain in your community and support their efforts. Every child deserves a safe, loving, healthy start in life.

If you were blessed with such a start, don’t forget to thank your parents. And pass it on!

Category:

children, learning, Life's Challenges, Love, Montana, Poetry

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Steps to a Lovely Life

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Be aware – Be sensitive –

Be quick to admit – Ask forgiveness –

Embrace the right – Reject the wrong –

Obey God – Trust – Endure – Mature.

Eph. 4:14-16

Category:

Bible Lessons, Faith, Living in Harmony, Love

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Throw it Away

Got a nasty worry?
Throw it away.
Got somethin’ troublin’ you?
Throw it away!

Throw it in God’s direction;
He’ll take your cares away
To Never Never Land.
Just leave them there today.

Don’t take the worries back.
Don’t let your troubles getcha.
Give all your cares to God.
He cares for you – I’ll betcha!

I worried about Hope –
My granddaughter who went away.
I hadn’t heard in over a month.
God heard; Hope texted the next day.

I worried about Mike –
My grandson needed a job.
I asked the Lord to help him.
He was chosen from out of a mob!

I heard my sis was sick;
She was taken to the E.R.
I asked God to heal her –
His mercies are never far.

Just take your cares and worries
And throw them out in prayer.
Then try not to dig ’em out again.
Leave ’em with God. Trust them there!

Category:

Love

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Help for Troubled Children

Sermon Notes
Guest Speaker – Michael Kalous

“Intermountain Thoughts”

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Ā 

He lived in one hundred one places –
Cars, tents, parking lots, too,
Foster homes and back roads.
A hard life for years – quite a few.

The boy had a loving mother,
But his dad was a troubled guy.
God sent the boy Christ-like people
Who helped dry the tears he’d cry.

Then God sent him to InterMountain
Where his dorm parents were saints.
They gave him unconditional love –
Listened compassionately to his complaints.

With people behind him like his Grandma Grace,
And people with him who showed Christ’s love,
He found our Lord and Savior
And got to know our God above.

With God’s help and these beautiful people,
The damage of his young life faded.
God is able to use him now
And bless others whose bodies and souls were invaded.

With the common bond of a wounded soul,
He can tell his story and feel others’ pain.
He can reach out to a hurting world.
His road of suffering leads to God’s gain.

About seven years ago, when I first learned about Intermountain in Helena, Montana, I was a new member of Madison Valley Presbyterian Church in Ennis, MT. A boy named Chip came to speak to us that summer about how he and his four siblings had been saved by an adoptive parent and a program at Intermountain that provided Christian counseling to struggling children and families. Kids like Michael who were physically, mentally, and/or sexually abused and young boys like Chip who were abandoned and/or neglected found the loving, professional help they needed. In addition to a school for pre-school through 8th grade children, there are four cottages on the site. Each one is “home” for up to eight children – and a set of highly trained, loving “dorm parents” live with them. The professional staff at Intermountain also goes into homes and public schools to provide support for parents and teachers. Most of the children aided by Intermountain have what is known as “attachment disorder” because of the way the adults who should have loved and protected them the most let them down in one miserable way or another. It is hard for them to trust any adult.

So, when people like Michael “make it good,” survive in spite of the odds, and go on to finish high school and college, become counselors, and return to the facility to “give back,” they have a greater opportunity for success. They create a “common bond with a wounded soul.” Their background makes them believable. It serves as a springboard to convince the troubled, mistrusting youngster that someone else CAN understand their plight. God uses their sad history to save another soul from a lifetime of continued abuse, neglect or abandonment. The cycle can be broken.

My gratitude goes out to Michael and to all the counselors at Intermountain and at children’s shelters across the world. May your rocky path serve as a lighthouse – a beacon to help others find their way toward a healthy and secure future. With God’s help, you can help heal the wounds and allow God’s children to love and trust again.

With gratitude for what you do and an understanding of the financial needs to carry on your programs, my husband and I donate a small amount monthly to Intermountain. I invite my readers to consider doing likewise. If each of us helped a little, it would add up to a lot – and more needs could be met. God bless you! And God bless the givers who help to make your work possible.

To learn more about Intermountain, log on to: http://www.intermountain.org/Ā Ā  Help meet the needs of a troubled child who is learning to trust again!

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Category:

Family, Living in Harmony, Love, Serving One Another

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Stimulating Touch

I belong to the Madison Valley Writers’ Group. We meet every first and third Friday at our local bank’s “Fireside Room” and share our creative efforts with one another. The hour and a half together begins with a writing prompt. It’s a topic we draw from a hat. Any member can anonymously add topics to the hat anytime. The topics are varied – some serious, some silly. Most lend themselves to whatever genre the writer wishes to engage.

For the first fifteen minutes or so, as members gather, we write using a new prompt each meeting. Then we share with one another what we wrote (with the option to “pass” if we wish). My last post titled, “Touch,” was one of the creations from last week’s prompt, “Things That Stimulate Your Sense of Touch.” Another of our members wrote about the itchy feeling of a wool hat – and how much better it feels if it is fur-lined. One member took the topic a step farther and wrote about the effects of touch – i.e. what happens when you touch someone else’s wallet (a fat lip), or what happens if you touch a rattle snake’s tongue (venom). My first poem was short and quick and left me with time to contemplate another kind of touch – not someone touching my cheek or my lips, my heartstrings or my spirit – but the sensation of the soft skin of a baby touching me. Here’s what I wrote:

A Baby’s Touch

There’s nothing in the world
That compares with a baby’s touch –
The soft and cuddly snuggle
On your shoulder, chin and such –
The little hand in yours
As it plucks your heartstrings firmly –
There’s nothing in the world
Like it, stimulating maternal yearning.

The sense of touch is vital
For a baby to thrive and grow.
Babies soon would wither
If love’s touch they never know.
So, as much as I need them,
I know they need me just as much.
There’s nothing in the world
That compares with a baby’s touch.

Think about the prompt that stimulated that poem. Give thought to what kinds of touch are important or stimulating to you. When is the last time you touched another person tenderly? When is the last time someone tenderly touched you? What touches your heartstrings?

I have a friend who had a stroke a couple of years ago. One of the residual effects of her stroke is an “Invisible bubble” around her that defines her “space.” She doesn’t allow others to invade that territory. She doesn’t shake hands – let alone greet her friends with a warm hug the way she used to. She sends off very clear vibes that say, “Stand clear. Don’t come too near.” Do you have an invisible bubble around your personal space? Know anyone like that? How does it feel? Do you think a baby’s touch could permeate that bubble? There’s something so vulnerable, soft, defenseless, and harmless about an infant’s touch.

If only every human touch could be as soft and harmless! Let’s work on that together. There’s nothing in the world like the touch of someone who genuinely loves and trusts you. Let’s foster that kind of world. Touch my world – and I’ll touch yours…

Love one another!

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Category:

Love, Sharing

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The Path of Life

Seldom straight or smooth

The Path of Life

Sitting in my sanctuary
Preparing for my day,
I listen to the clock’s tick
And contemplate Your Way.

I open up my Bible,
Read words profound and wise,
Reflect on applications
That flash before my eyes.

You make the path of life
A rocky, twisted trail;
Not promising a smooth
Road where I can’t fail.

You tell me rocks that trip me
Are lessons to be learned:
The ruts and hills – inevitableĀ  –
The weeds, the fires, the burns.

I long for all the pleasures
You promise to bestow.
You tell me to be patient –
There’s so much I must know.

I stumble at the road’s forks.
I don’t know left from right.
I take wrong and U-turns
‘Til you come back in sight.

You will show me the path,
The joyful one that’s best –
But I must put my hand in Yours
And TRUST. You’ll do the rest.

Amen?

Category:

Living in Christ's Family, Love

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