The fire that burns... by Maribeth Jordan

It is a shame to see some people wrapped up in bitterness and resentment. You can typically see these emotions on ones face and if not, it will soon appear. These emotions are like acid... slowly eating away at your body, mind and soul. Many emotions and illnesses stem from bitterness and resentment. Depression, anxiety, anger/hostility, drug/alcohol addiction, etc... IBS, high blood pressure, migraine headaches, flare ups of many viruses and several cancers.

Why do people create this living hell for themselves? I believe it is an inability to let go and accept. I also believe it is a form of control (or lack of control in the mind). You cannot be bitter and grow spiritually, emotionally or mentally. If you are one suffering from these feelings I would ask you what exactly are you wanting? Can you change that? Many situations cannot be changed because either the offender has passed away or hurt another person so badly they suffer scars either physically or emotionally. If a situation cannot be changed you still can be cut free from these entangling feelings by accepting your situation.

If a person has passed that you are bitter with I recommend you visiting the grave site.... simply have your time to talk without interruption. If the person is alive and you simply cannot face that person then ask yourself if it is worth stewing over if he/she is not in your life... if they are a part of your life/family and he/she is unavoidable and you are the one who holds the bitterness and resentment then you my friend have to pick yourself up by your boot straps and face the giant... whether it's your fault or not. The only way to put a fire out is to address it or it will burn until it' finished and die out - a slow death.

To address a situation that you feel is not your fault is not weak as many may think - it is in fact the strong one who approaches. To be bitter and full of resentment is allowing another person and or a situation to control your mind... you are simply giving your power and strength away.

There is NO situation worth these emotions - NONE, whether it be murder, rape, divorce, etc... Yield to the attitudes we are commanded to have. Love, kindness, patience towards one another. We are to forgive 70x7 and that simply means there is no limit. Think of it this way, if someone has hurt you so badly how sad for that person that they had to be this way... you can NOT be a happy person and hurt another no matter what. To hurt another person is selfish and selfishness is simply fear. Remember hurt people hurt people... it is as simple as that. Stop hurting yourself and forgive that person who hurt you simply because we are commanded to do so and because we are forgiven of all of our sins - great and small. Letting go is not forgetting, it is freeing yourself to blossom into the beautiful flower.. and beautiful flowers bring joy to others!

Just when you think your problems are big.... by Maribeth Jordan

I had a customer come into my store last Sunday looking for a supplement to help his wife's hot flashes. As I walked him to the location of where they were he proceeded to tell me his wife has stage 4 breast cancer so he didn't want the supplement to aggravate that any further. I noticed he was very distraught (understandably so) and found him something that would work naturally for her without aggravating the estrogen levels and the cancer. He got a phone call while looking at the item so I left him alone and continued on with my work. After a few minutes past I heard his voice thanking me from down the aisle and heading towards the door. I asked him if the supplement I choose for him would work and he said his wife wanted to check with her doctor because she was afraid to take anything at this point. I asked how she was doing and my customer said "Vicki is not doing so well, after removing 18 lymph nodes and chemotherapy the cancer has come back and at this point there is nothing left anyone can do". He started to cry....

He then proceeded to tell me right before her diagnoses he lost his job and they did not have health insurance so this cancer has done more damage financially, emotionally and mentally then he could ever imagine.... the bank wants their house back. I asked for his name since he told me his wife's name... Robert, he said. Robert told me he has been married to Vicki for 30 years and that she was his best friend. He told me in 30 years he had never lied to her and when the sheriffs dept came to his house to serve him his eviction papers from the bank he didn't have the heart to tell her why. Vicki asked why the sheriffs dept was at their house and he told her it was for a neighborhood watch.... he told me that lie is eating him up inside and he just couldn't tell her they are losing their home while she is dying.

Robert said he could care less about the house, it was Vicki he was concerned with... he said, "I don't know what I'm going to do without her". As tears continued to fall from his eyes I felt his pain, fear, and isolation... he continues to tell me his mother died two months earlier and his father nine months earlier from that. This man has lost two parents and is in the process of losing his wife and home all in one year - ugghhhh.

After talking for a while longer I asked Robert to come back soon and let me know how things are. I told him I would (and am still doing) pray for both of them. After he left I was so overwhelmed with emotion I stepped off the floor to "breath".

I have heard all sorts of "problems" from my customers about this holiday season...I myself have complained about some things, but after listening to Robert it makes all of life's trivial matters worthless. There is always someone else with much worse circumstances. We must be thankful for what we have and give to those who don't have... that being time or resources. Let's face it, we will all cross the bridge of "circumstances". Many of us are on that bridge and many will never make it across. Start building a solid bridge now so that when your time comes the foundation on which you stand will be firm.

All the money in the world couldn't save Steve Jobs and it won't save Vicki... The trials we face may differ but because they are personal to each one of us they are painful and you cannot buy strength or peace... just remember they are a gift from the Lord - but only for those who know Him. The verse I gave Robert was Romans 8:28. You may think your strong now but just want until the storm hits - will you be ready?

Please pray for this couple - Robert and Vicki

Stone Soup

Many years ago three soldiers, hungry and weary of battle, came upon a small village. The villagers, suffering a meager harvest and the many years of war, quickly hid what little they had to eat and met the three at the village square, wringing their hands and bemoaning the lack of anything to eat.

The soldiers spoke quietly among themselves and the first soldier then turned to the village elders. "Your tired fields have left you nothing to share, so we will share what little we have: the secret of how to make soup from stones."

Naturally the villagers were intrigued and soon a fire was put to the town's greatest kettle as the soldiers dropped in three smooth stones. "Now this will be a fine soup", said the second soldier; "but a pinch of salt and some parsley would make it wonderful!" Up jumped a villager, crying "What luck! I've just remembered where some's been left!" And off she ran, returning with an apronful of parsley and a turnip. As the kettle boiled on, the memory of the village improved: soon barley, carrots, beef and cream had found their way into the great pot, and a cask of wine was rolled into the square as all sat down to feast.

They ate and danced and sang well into the night, refreshed by the feast and their new-found friends. In the morning the three soldiers awoke to find the entire village standing before them. At their feet lay a satchel of the village's best breads and cheese. "You have given us the greatest of gifts: the secret of how to make soup from stones", said an elder, "and we shall never forget." The third soldier turned to the crowd, and said: "There is no secret, but this is certain: it is only by sharing that we may make a feast". And off the soldiers wandered, down the road.