Have you ever heard that we are affected by things, people and places? The results can be both negative and positive and sometimes without our conscious acknowledgement. We live our life day by day and our life gets transformed for good or bad and itās not until we make a pause that we realize how far weāve gone; either towards our purpose or away from it.
Thereās a particular thing that was a symbol in my life for a long time without my conscious knowledge, it was a hair clip. Apparently when I was very angry I would pulled my hair up, others will say that it was very high, and that I placed the hair clip on the top of my head. It was an unconscious thing.
I use to be a manager, and I heard some of my employees pass by my cubicle and announce, āoh oh hair clip is onā. I never paid attention, I thought it was a joke, 
until one day someone who I was in a relationship with and I were having a phone conversation. It was more an argument. He got quiet and said. āI bet your hair is upā and when I touched my hair, he was right. This same individual had a fist fight with his brother. I was called by a neighbor who couldnāt pulled them apart. I asked to be placed on the phone with my boyfriend and announced that I was on my way. When I made it to his place the guys were in separate rooms, I talked to āmy guyā and started asking questions about the fight, he kept staring at me in silence. Finally he said,ā Iām not talking to you until your hair comes downā I started laughing and pulled the clip off. This was over five years ago.
Why a hair clip story? During the last five to six years God has been working on me. Iām not sure if I had an anger issue, it was more a legalistic spirit. Everything needed to be in a way (usually my way) and I was miserable. If things were not inside the mold I would not only be upset but angry.Ā As things started changing in me I started enjoying my life. I laugh more, I have less concerns and Iām way less affected by sudden changes in life.
When I stopped managing my life and surrendering it to the one that could actually do something about it I had less reasons to worry and less need to control. That gave me more time to enjoy life and do more of what I like: writing! Iām not going to say that I never get upset or angry anymore, but the clip went away from my life as I am not nearly as uptight as I used to be.
I laugh when people say how funny or laid back I am. If they only knew me then. But what about the hair clip you may ask? I have not used it in years. I realized this week how long God has brought me when I found it buried in a box.
Would you like to share things that God has changed in your life? Have you identified things, people or places that affect you positively or negatively? I would love to hear them!
Be blessed!!
Iāll be honest and say she was not the first in my mind, but this is a mother that deserves a lot of credit. Everyone remembers Eve just for what she did wrong. Granted, she messed it up for all of us, but Jesus fixed it so time to forgive and forget. She had to experience it all alone. There was no girlfriends to call when Adam was giving her a hard time or someone to show her the secrets of childrearing.Ā To top it off she had to endure the murder of one of her children all by herself. She deserves some credit for the mother she was.
out of nowhere; and that when he makes a promise, he will come through no matter when it comes to fruition. I can only imagine this woman pregnant so late in her life and having to take care of a baby, running around with him. Not forgetting that after she gave her maid to Abraham to have a baby, the little brat had an attitude towards her. Too much drama for your later part of your life.
Hannah had begged for a child for years and promises God that if he gives her a son she will give him back to him. So God gives her a son and so she did. Can you imagine dealing with years of fertility problems and then giving your son up?Ā 
from God in a time where adultery was punished with death.Ā Mary didnāt belong to the ābut social clubā and she should have lead it. Yes, the club of us who every time God tells us that he wants us to do something we go but Godā¦ and Iām not saying she didnāt ask questions, but she did what she was asked. The ābut social clubā is for those who set up the excuse and donāt do. Then she had to give birth in a manger. No Pitocin, Lamaze; not even a clean room. For the first few years when a mother is enjoying her baby, she was running around like a fugitive trying to protect him from being killed.
Iām not talking about Maryās mother and this one is not in the bible. Iām talking about my own mother.Ā She did the best she could with what she had. She sacrificed her life as a single mother working really hard to give her children what she felt was the most important things: The fear and love for God and a good education. Although our worship has changed paths, she taught me that without God thereās nothing in life and that we are to be grateful for all our blessings. She taught me good work ethics and to pursue my dreams. She supported me through the rough patches and bragged about my accomplishments. She too deserves credit for all of them!
domestic abuse is letting go of the emotional grip and the psychological fear from their abusive situations. Physical wounds tend to heal, depending on the severity of them, but the invisible ones tend to run deep and last a long time.
the years of the locust. You’ll eat your fill of good food. You’ll be full of praises to your God, the God who has set you back on your heels in wonderā Joel 2:25. It may take days, months or years. Itās a journey and a process, and it will require support and healing. God has promised to heal us and take care of those who have hurt us in any way. Jeremiah 30:16Ā “‘Everyone who hurt you will be hurt; your enemies will end up as slaves. Your plunderers will be plundered; your looters will become loot. As for you, I’ll come with healing, curing the incurable, because they all gave up on youĀ and dismissed you as hopelessāā. I love this passage because when youāre in an abuse situation thatās exactly how you feel, hopeless and alone. God tells you that he sees your pain and its there through it. He promises to heal you from it.
It is terrible that as a people we have to be watchful even with those who we have been conditioned to trust, namely men and women who claim to come in the name of God. Sex scandals have not been exclusive to the Catholic Church, many preachers and pastors have fallen short of the grace and those things have become public. It is always disappointing. Ā I think part of the disappointment comes from forgetting these individuals are merely men and women. We have the tendency to elevate their position because of the part they play in our communities, social settings and the body of Christ. The reality is that yes, their responsibility is to lead and teach us about the Lord, but their humanity doesnāt leave with their calling.Ā Actually, as Christians we need to pray harder for our leaders because their attacks and strongholds are often as large as their calling.
know that this is a requirement of the commitment they have made. If sex was the driving force then priests having relations with Nuns or other secular adults would be just as, if not more, prevalent. The truth is pedophilia, rape, and sexual abuse is not sexually driven. They are driven by a deeper disturbance; itās about control and power more than the sex itself.
On the other hand, from my years in church and annual āGood Fridayā movies, I never saw rabbits, bunnies, hens or eggs related to the cross of Jesus Christ. Where did this come from? Iāve asked around and nobody seems to have an answer. After much searching, my good friend Google finally led me to my answer, several articles and web pages about the traditions of Easter.
blooming of flowers in the spring time. There was an abundance of eggs during this time as eggs were not part of their diets during the Lenten season. The eggs were boiled for preservation purposes.
Naty Matos 