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“I am only one, but I am one. I can’t do everything, but I can do something. The something I ought to do, I can do. And by the grace of God, I will.”

Edward Everett Hale

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”
– Plato –

“Man does not simply exist but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become the next moment. By the same token, every human being has the freedom to change at any instant.”

― Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

“Two natures beat within my breast
The one is foul, the one is blessed
The one I love, the one I hate.
The one I feed will dominate.”

-Anonymous-

“Life is not meaningful to us unless serving an end beyond itself, unless it is of value to someone else.”

— Abraham J. Herschel –

There were two little boys playing on a frozen lake and despite the warning signs of thin ice, one boy fell through and was trapped and couldn’t get out.

His friend was trying to save him, but he couldn’t. He could see him through the thin ice, but he couldn’t help him… So he ran to the nearest tree, climbed it, and broke off an enormous branch. Then, he ran back to his friend and started breaking the ice with the branch and finally managed to pull him out of the water.

When the paramedics came, they were baffled as to how this young little boy could rip off such an enormous branch, and THEN break the ice with it to help his friend. They just couldn’t see how it was possible.

Then an elderly man who was there said: I know how he did it. They asked him how.

The man said: “There was nobody around to tell him he couldn’t.”

~ Les Brown

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11
It has taken me over 40 years to discover God’s plan and purpose for my life. Partially due to fear, but primarily due to living a selfish life. Along the path there have been clues and indications of what God has called me to do, but honestly I was too consumed with my own plans and desires.
It has been said, “This life is a gift from God and what we do with it is our gift back to Him.” I believe this to be true, but I would venture to add, that if what we make of this life is according to His designed plan for us, then we have in truly pleased Him.
Is it possible to go your whole life and not fulfill God’s plan and purpose for your life? Absolutely, we can get so busy and jaded into promoting our own agenda that we completely miss that special thing which God created us to do. That thing that no one else in the world can do quite like us.
He has placed special gifts and talents inside each one of us and we are the only ones that can give them life. If we failed to do so, these things (books, poems, songs, movies, etc.) will die with us. Miles Munroe once quoted, “The richest place in the world is not the oil fields or the diamond mines, it’s the graveyard, because only there will you find books never written, songs never sung, etc.”
We were created to please God, not ourselves. If we operate in His will and according to His plan; that is what pleases Him the most. What He has called us to do may not make sense or go against our grain, but trust and believe that if He has called you to it, He has equipped you with everything you need to fulfill His purpose for your life.
Ask God to reveal His plan and purpose for your life. Spend quiet time with Him for guidance and direction. Look for hints and clues. Overcome your fear. Step out on faith and experience the fullness of life like He intended.
“The two most important days of your life, is the day we are born and the day you discover why.”
-Mark Twain-

I asked for strength and God gave me difficulties to make me strong.
I asked for wisdom and God gave me problems to solve.
I asked for prosperity and God gave me brawn and brains to work.
I asked for courage and God gave me dangers to overcome.
I asked for patience and God placed me in situations where I was forced to wait.
I asked for love and God gave me troubled people to help.
I asked for favors and God gave me opportunities.
I asked for everything so I could enjoy life.
Instead, He gave me life so I could enjoy everything.
I received nothing I wanted, I received everything I needed.

-Unknown-

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
– Matthew 6:33 –
In today’s world there are so many things that compete for our attention (career, school, social media, etc.). It’s very easy to become distracted or enticed to indulge in these things that while not bad, add little or no value to our spiritual growth. The things of this world are temporary and no matter how enticing or satisfying, they will soon pass away. In the end God and His Word are all that will remain.
We often seek refuge and the answer to life’s most perplexing questions all the places, but the one place we should turn. Pastor Steven Furtick said, “The answers to the problems we you face are in a book you have not yet read.”
God knows every situation and circumstance that we will ever face. What we experience on a daily basis is no surprise to Him. He has given us an instruction manual on how to overcome the trials and challenges of life.
Life is a series of tests and when all is said and done we will have to give an account to or Heavenly Father on how we did or did not pass each of them. The good news is that the tests are open book tests.
I once saw a bumper sticker that summed life up in a very simple but profound way. It said,
Study for your finals, read the Bible daily.

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.
It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain! I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.
It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty even when it’s not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, “Yes!”
It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.
It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.
It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.
By
Oriah Mountain Dreamer