What a world we live in

This week we have rioting in Baltimore. This is becoming more frequent in America and we know where it is leading. 

What a World We Live In

What a world we live in
Who could not wait to see
God's kingdom to replace it
And bring us sanity

Everyone is searching
For something more in life
But no one wants to listen
When you tell them what is right

Governments are failing
Can't solve their nation's woes
The reason is rebellion
And not following God's laws

Families divided
Delinquents everywhere
Abuse requires “helplines”
Drugs are a panacea

So soon mankind will suffer
Because they wouldn't learn
Then the Lord will be here
Still some refuse to turn

What a world we live in
Yet no one turns to God
He has all the answers
He made us, after all!

A Passover Poem

Passover Reflections

He didn't have to take the pain

For all he knew it could have been in vain

Yet something we can't comprehend

Made him persist until the end

Misunderstood for 30 years

His closest friends knew not his fears

He had a fight to overcome

Yet in face of hunger this was done

Such love as this is hard to find

That one would suffer for another's crime

Not knowing if mankind would claim

This olive branch grown out of pain

So at this time we pause to reflect

And consider all, lest we forget

How Jesus Christ did sacrifice

In order that we might have life.

                                                     

                                                By Melonie Holmes

Lessons from Petra

Our recently deceased dog Petra was a Shiba Inu which is a Japanese breed known to be reserved and independent. He would come into our room at night and sometimes, I would wake up.   One night while I was getting back to sleep I began to think about dogs and how they are a unique animal that seems to be have been created to be "man's best friend". I wondered about the characteristics of dogs and what they could teach us maybe about our relationship to God. Here are a few of my thoughts. Bear in mind that our dog is an inside pet and I'm not a dog expert by any means and this is the first dog that I have ever had so these were just my thoughts and observations. 

Dogs rely completely on their owner - unlike cats which roam outside freely and can catch their own food, a dog seems to me to be totally dependent on their owner for everything. They eat when we say, go out when we say etc. This is how we need to be with our Father, relying completely on Him for everything. 

They love to be close to their owner - eventhough my Shiba Inu is independent he still likes to be around either me or my husband. He'll sit in the same room but just isn't the type to need to be petted, as long he is in the vicinity of either of us he's content. If we      move to another room he'll follow. I know other dogs are very much more affectionate and need a lot of petting. We need to love to be close to God.

They love to eat what we eat - this may be bad training on our part! but our dog knows when we have some juicy beef bone or possible left overs and he will wait until he's certain that he's not getting any before he'll eat his own food. When I come in from shopping he looks eagerly at the bags to see if  I'll pull out any goodies for him. We are given so much spiritual food straight from the mind of our Father and we need to be eager to eat it.


They can be stubborn - As I mentioned, Shiba Inu's are by nature independent. Sometimes he will be lying down and I will call him and he'll just ignore me. I might have to call him three times and make my voice sharp for him to even look up! We need to not have this characteristic and be receptive and quick to respond to God's direction.

Dogs quickly bounce back from correction - whenever Petra does something naughty and gets told off or spanked he'll slink off by himself for a while. It won't be long though until he comes shyly back looking for a rub. That's how we need to be when we are corrected and realize that it's for our good and God never stops loving us.                        

They fast and seclude themselves when they need to recuperate - A few months ago Petra was attacked by a couple of pit bulls and had some fairly severe lacerations to his back, neck and leg. He was in pain and shook up. When we brought him home from the vet he spent the next two weeks barely eating, not wanting to interact with us and hiding in the bathroom or other quiet areas of the house. Exactly 14 days later he emerged back to his normal self. Sometimes we need to take time out to fast and reflect to get ourselves back to spiritual health.

What are some of the lessons you've observed from "man's best friend"?

                                     

Remembering Mr Armstrong in my life

Today is the 29th anniversary (or should I say memorial) of Mr Herbert W Armstrong's death. I came into the WCG in June 1985 in England so I never did get to meet him or see him speak live. However, his impact on my life was monumental from the first time that I picked up the Plain Truth magazine as a teenager.

July-Aug 1983

First Issue in 1934

This is one of the first Plain Truths that I read in 198.  It had an article "Is all flesh good for food" which prompted me to take my first step by ceasing to eat unclean meats.

It's been a privilege to be here to see so many of his prophecies come to pass and continuing to unfold. This year is going to be very very interesting.

Inspiring Lives

I love stories about how ordinary people have endured through extraordinary trials. Last night we went to see the movie "Unbroken" which we were excited to see because we had read the book.
This morning I read an article in the latest Royal Vision (Jan/Feb 2015) by Mr Hilliker "Endure Hardness". They complemented each other well because the movie is about how Louis Zamperini endured a brutal time in WW2 including a 40+ day ship-wreck and a sadistic Japanese POW guard.

The RV article really brings out how much we need to push ourselves out of our comfort zones and appreciate our trials for the character it builds. It's such a hard concept for us as humans to embrace. I know I am "soft" in many areas.

If you want some inspiration and encouragement in enduring put "Unbroken" on your reading list (the book is 10x better than the movie). Another great read is "It's not what happens to you, It's what you do about it" by W Mitchell. He went through a horrific bike accident and was burned badly which left him disfigured, then 4 years later, he was paralyzed in a plane crash.

Some other inspiring books I have read are: The Hiding Place and The Helen Keller Story.

 What other endurance movies or books have you found inspiring?

Focus on the Good

At a feast a few years ago, one of the ministers mentioned that he kept a regular journal and would indicate whether the entry was a positive or negative . I had been keeping a journal but tended only to write when something negative happened or something was bothering me. Hearing this idea gave me the thought to be more balanced and use it to give a fair assessment of my days. So now I prefix my entries with "Good" or "Bad".

Examples of what I would prefix with "Good" are:  I meet someone that had some information I needed; an article is on pcog.org that provides help with an issue that I prayed about; I land a bargain at the store; I am able to help someone.  Here are some of the things I noticed from doing this:

• It's easy to focus on and remember the bad things that happen, it takes more effort to recall the good things.

• I try to write the good things as soon as possible (I keep a digital journal) as I have found that if I wait until the end of the day it's so easy to forget the many little good things that happened (how short the memory is).

• By doing this I have found that I can monitor my life and see trends. If a lot of "bads" are showing up it makes me take stock of my life to see why.

• It enhances my prayers because I am able to thank God in detail for more of the big and small blessings he gives.  

• Sometimes, something that I thought was negative actually turns out to be a positive and it's great to go back and edit that entry and note how things worked out. It makes me see truth in "all things work together for good". 

• It puts life in perspective to see it in black and white as I said before the negative gets exacerbated in our minds over the good. I have truly seen how there is much more positive things that happen in reality. 

Give this a try yourself even just for a week. You may be surprised by how much more aware and thankful you become of the good stuff that goes on in your life and also catch yourself when there are things you need to work on before they get out of hand.

Grow old with me!

Grow old along with me! 

The best is yet to be.

These famous lines come from the poem Rabbi Ben Ezra by Robert Browning. Today is our 15th wedding anniversary and as I was reflecting on it, these verses came to mind probably because we had dinner last night with a couple who have been married 43 years and a widow who was married 57 years. That put our 15 into perspective! In my work with seniors it has become commonplace to find marriages of multiple decades even longer than I've been alive. Such a wonderful contrast to what we see on the hollywood news where a marriage of longevity is an aberration.

There's something wonderful about building a life with another person who knows all about you and is committed to you. You've shared so many situations that no one else in the world knows about it, seen each other cry, shared in-jokes, the coded look and secret touch.

I believe that marriage is the greatest opportunity to see a reflection of your true self. It can be quite alarming (!), but there is so much comfort in the knowing that you have a safe environment to grown in. Kenny and I read an article Via La Difference which we could relate to so well as we have a built in difference just in nationality - he is American and I am British. You would think that these kindred nations are quite alike but we noticed some cultural things very early on in our dating and we still laugh today over a few incidents.  Here are a few of the things I enjoy about our marriage:

• We can just hang.  There's no awkwardness in silence, yet we can discuss almost anything openly. 
• We laugh alot. Kenny is hilarious in ways that other's don't see. 
• We help each other. I know that if I'm not feeling well Kenny will take up the slack.
• He is so positive. I have rarely seen him get down (and if he does it's very short-lived) even though he has dealt with constant pain for many years, he remains cheerful and upbeat.
• He loves God. 

I so appreciate being married to this man of steel and velvet, and look forward to continuing to grow together in this life and then live our eternity as the Holmes team!

Creation Reflections

On Friday nights I like to watch a video about nature or the universe.  It's a great way to enter the Sabbath and be reminded of how awesome God's creation is. Here are some of my favorites.

The Heavens Declare the Glory of God

Blood Design shows God's Creation

This one is fun too because it was made before all the fancy graphics we have today

DNA - God's amazing programming; evidence for his existence 

 

The Power of God E=MC2

 

Creation vs. Evolution: Amazing Bird Migration

God of Wonders (awesome full length documentary)