Blessings

God's blessings can come in very unusual ways sometimes. They seem so far from being a blessing that we miss what God is trying to do. Obviously, when good things happen it's really easy to say, "Wow! That was such a blessing!" God's blessings can come in other forms too. God might take something or someone away from us and at the time it seems like He is punishing us or has just forgotten about us. God can see what we can't. He knows what is waiting for us down the road, and He knows what is best. God wants only the very best for us. His plan is full of blessings if we will only trust His perfect will.

I went for a very long time ignoring God's still small voice and put off when I would start listening and obeying. I knew some of the choices I had made were wrong, but sometimes love for a person can make you forget how much greater God's love is. I cared more about having this person in my life than I cared about doing what the Lord wanted me to do. God's plan is ALWAYS best, but I couldn't accept that at the time. I let someone else control all my thoughts, feelings, and emotions. I thought I knew exactly how my life was going to turn out. I liked it that way, but God knew that I would be missing so many wonderful things if I continued down that road. So God allowed that person to be taken out of my life. At the time, I literally thought that I would not be able to go on living. The sadness and loneliness I felt at that time in my life was the worst feeling I have ever felt. Before, I was able to look 4 or 5 years down the road and imagine what my life would be like. Then, all of the sudden, I couldn't even imagine my future. It was like my dreams and hopes for the future were just erased and a blank slate was all that was left. I was devastated. I kept wondering, "Why would a loving God bring someone into my life for such a long time just to take them away?" But God doesn't control who our friends and companions are. I didn't have to be with this person for all those years. In fact, if I had listened to God more and my heart less, then I would have saved myself a lot of heartache and pain. Even though I was hurting, I knew that God allowing this person to be taken out of my life was a blessing. I knew that God had just saved me from continuing to go down the wrong road--a road full of struggles and conflict. I am so excited to see what is on this new road I'm on now! Of course I will have my share of struggles and conflict, but going through them with God while I'm following His will is so much easier than facing them alone. I'm not worried about the past, the bad choices and mistakes I've made. God has great things in store for me down this road. I know this because He says in His word, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland."(Isaiah 43:18-19) What a comfort and a blessing from God! I know God has a plan for my life and He can even use my mistakes for His glory. No one is too far gone for God to use. I went down the wrong road for a while, but I can get right back on the straight and narrow path and take the Lord's hand and start following after Him once again.

The world could use some more men like John Wayne

My dad’s all-time favorite actor has always been the famous rugged, western actor John Wayne. Growing up watching his films and many other westerns, I have grown to love these big, tough, strong cowboys. John Wayne doesn’t put up with any nonsense. He’s blunt, forward and, at times, tactless but you know where he stands and can’t help but respect his honesty and love the 6 foot 4 inch man of a man. These fearless cowboys were known for fighting for what was theirs, standing up for what was right and protecting their women and their land. They respected women and were willing to fight for them. If there was a lady that they wanted, there wasn’t any messing around. They simple went up to the woman and asked her to be his wife. They might not have been the most sensitive men or the smartest scholars, but they were not afraid of hard work. So my question is where are all the men like this today? It seems like today men wait on the woman to make the move. Men have gotten accustomed to the women coming after them and most of them don’t seem to have a problem with it. What happened to the man being the leader and going after what he wanted? Are guys intimidated to go up to a girl and ask her out now? Is rejection such a scary thing that it’s worth risking your chance to take a pretty girl out? Maybe it’s the way children have been raised the past twenty years or so. Parents should raise their boys to treat women like a treasure and with the utmost respect but also learn to take the lead and not be afraid to talk to a girl. Parents should raise their girls to act like little ladies that deserve respect and not to call boys or ask them out but to wait and let the boy be the one to make his move.

I wish I lived in the days when cowboys would tip their hat to a woman and stand up when a woman entered the room; the days when it was “unfit” for a woman to drive her own carriage or to go somewhere unaccompanied by a man. I wish all women still acted like ladies and men still acted gentlemen. I would have loved for a man wearing cowboy boots and a cowboy hat to pull me up onto his horse and ride me off into the sunset. John Wayne once said, “I’m the stuff men are made of!” and I couldn’t agree more. I only wish there were more men like him living today. It’s sad but I am starting to believe the introductory lines to Gone with the Wind which say, “There was a land of Cavaliers and Cotton Fields called the Old South. Here in this pretty world, Gallantry took its last bow. Here was the last ever to be seen of Knights and their Ladies Fair, of Master and of Slave. Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered, a Civilization gone with the wind…”