It's a Wonderful Life

Life happens to everyone. God is no respecter of persons and we all understand that He allows the rain to fall on the just and unjust. There is not one of us whose life is free from cares, worries and struggles.

How many times have we looked at the lives of others and wanted to trade places. I wish I was as happy as Linda or as affluent as Bob. Linda and Bob have their own cares and worries, we just don't see them on the surface. It was Henry David Thoreau who said, "the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation."

I grew up in a house with a lot of boys and a lot turmoil. If there are special rewards in heaven, my mother will be at the top of the list. She not only provided support, encouragement and a loving environment, she left me with memories to last my lifetime as well. As the holidays approach, those are the memories I cling to and those are the memories I want to create for my own children. My memories include watching the Thanksgiving Day Parades, laughing together at Christmas movies and fighting over the chocolate spritz cookies.

Yes, sometimes life deals to us from the bottom of the deck and the sun doesn't come out and shine, but it truly is a wonderful life - if you choose to make it so!!!

A Thorny Situation

Conditions and circumstances in life are never quite what you want them to be. Many people add to thier own unhappiness because they believe the grass is greener in another pasture. They walk through life always thinking life would be better if only... If only I had more money; If only my husband treated me better; If only I could fit into the clothes I wore ten years ago.

I believe this is a universal condition. Even the apostle Paul struggled with this his infirmities. Three times he prayed that God would remove the thorn in his flesh (II Corinthians 12:7-8). Paul believed that life would be better, that his circumstances would be more productive if only he could get rid of that stubborn problem in his life.

We don't always enjoy the way God works. Many of the lessons we learn come through hardships and adversity. I don't know how many times I have prayed that some challenge or difficulty will be removed, only to have God say, "my grace is sufficient for you" (II Corinthians 12:9).

God perfects us the same way that gold is refined in the fire. We must walk through the furnace of affliction if we are to come out pure, brilliant and ready for use in God's service. Paul put it best when he said, "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (II Corinthians 12:18-19).