Huuummmmm

I slacked. Well I got sick, but that's no excuse.
It's Christmas. It's Christmas... Maybe if I say it a lot it will feel real.... it all goes so fast!
Kids asleep, Santa has come and we may get snow in the morning. Never had a white Christmas, that would be neat!

I need to catch up on the atributes of Christ.
Giving
Trustworthy
Faithful
Fearless
Courageous
Grateful
Wise
Loving
Considerate of others
Humble
Powerful
Altruistic

So many more qualities. I do hope and pray that this Christmas we will all recognize Him as our Savior, The Only Way to Eternal Life with our Heavenly Father.

May we all do a little more.

Try a bit harder.

Be a little better.



Merry Christmas to all....

Healing

To all of those who had faith in Him, Jesus blessed with the gift of healing. They would come from all places, near and far, to go to Him and be healed from their sickness or long life condition. Blind men, deaf, leppers, and so many others that came to Him, and with His touch or even just His voice, Christ healed them. I can even recall reading about the roman that plead for the life of his servant, too sick to come to Jesus, but this roman's faith was big enough to believe that Jesus didn't even have to come to the sick man, a word from the Master would be enough to heal his servant. Indeed.

"Thou Faith has made thee whole".

I am grateful for the gift of healing and for the miracles that still happen today, in the name of Christ.

I am also grateful for the wisdom God gave to men to learn and discover all that's out there that can be used for the healing of the sick. I am grateful for doctors and prescription drugs that can get us on our feet again.

In case you haven't guessed by now, yes, I am sick today and am praying the medecine they gave me will help me feel better soon.

So much for inspiration today... but didn't want to skip a day to think of an atribute of Christ.

Hoping for a better tomorrow....

Friendship

I love the scripture where Christ refers to us as His friends. Somehow it touches my heart to know that He, the Savior of Mankind, considers me His friend.

A real friend in this life is hard to find. So, if you have some, hold on to them. Don't give up on them. Inspire them. Show them that you care. Be there. Never let your friend feel alone. Friendship is a gift, a big gift that fits only in a big heart.

Jesus was left alone when He needed His friends the most. I guess He had to go through His agony on His own. He, more than anyone, knows what it feels like to be left alone; and because of that, we take comfort in knowing that He will never leave us.

Frienship. What a glorious blessing it is, to have a friend. The only thing betther than that, is to BE a friend.


May we all be that friend we wish we had. What a wonderful world this would be if we could follow just this one simple suggestion.

Just imagine...

Charity

As I think of Christ this Season, and as the day goes by and I try to think what character trait that Jesus possessed will help me this specific moment, it always becomes clear to me what I want to talk about. Today was no exception.

Charity, the true love of  Christ. Can we really feel that same love? Well, we are commanded to. Faith, hope and charity... "above all of these, charity is the greatest".
I don't talk about donating a dollar to the salvation army volunteer that rings the bell at the mall entrance. If I think I'm being charitable when I donate my spare change, I'm wrong. That volunteer, on the other hand, is giving his time to be there in the cold, he his giving of himself. That, yes, that is charity.

I am amazed at people that, when crisis comes to someone's life, leave all they are doing to make a phone call and see what can be done for that person. Some leave the half washed dishes in the sink and run to that person's home, just to provide some comfort... some start cooking meals to be delivered, while others offer services, like watching the kids, cleaning the house, filling the pantry, and so on. And others, when there's nothing else that can be done, simply drop on their knees and pray, the most heartfelt prayer they've said in a long time.

To give of self, to walk the extra mile, to truly love someone, to reach out to a drowning soul... those are the things that will be writen in the Big Book and will help us to get to Him some day.... and let Him come to our hearts now.

Character traits of Christ

I realize I should be doing this already, since it's December 10th and it would've been nice to have started in the beginning of the month. But since it's always better late than never, I will start today. My goal is to ponder about one character trait of Christ a day, and then try to apply it to my life.
The first one I want to talk about is


FORGIVENESS


They say it's hard to ask for forgiveness; hard to apologize; hard to say " I'm sorry dude, I was a total jerk". They say it takes courage, and willingness to admit a wrong, having to, at times, swallow some frogs and leave pride aside. Maybe. I guess that if I think about it, I see why people say it's hard. But not as hard as being on the other side; being the one that was hurt, being the one that was offended, being the one that was victim or cruelty and harm.
When we are on that side of the fence, having someone come and say "I'm sorry" may even provoke more feelings of distress.
You're sorry? Really? Don't say... Whay my life is completly turned upside down because of you, and you think that walking here and simply saying I'm sorry will just fix everything... and I guess I'm supposed to just say, oh it's ok, run along now, all is well, thanks for apologizing... NOT!

The truth is, forgiving IS the hardest thing to do. To be able to let go, to be able to look at the person who hurt us in a nice way again, and to be able to not think about whatever it was that was done when you see that person, and to not roll our eyes just as someone mentions her or his name. That is the true hard thing to do.
As graceful as we want to be at times, we do say we forgive, and in an attempt to be Christlike, we do accept apologies, and let that person sigh in relief. But as we find ourselves alone, we think back and are not at peace. We need more. We need to really let it all out, and be able to move on, with a heart full of love and gratitude. Yes, gratitude. Because forgiving is a gift, and when received, we grow inside, we grow in joy, peace and faith.
It's not easy.

There's a Michael Mclean favorite that sings: "only love nourishes the soul. If it's not love, simply let it go."

Today I would like to thank all my friends that, in present or past, have been able to accomplish this great challenge. Thank you to those that, just like Christ, chose to look at my qualities and overlook the faults. Thanks for loving me after you realized I'm not perfect, and have yet a long journey ahead to get even close to it. Thank you to my children that accept my apologies when I never get to make the promised cookies. Thank you to my sister for laughing at the times I yelled at her and hit her hard (yes, I was small, but feisty). Thank you to each and everyone of you that, after a sincere apology, just look at me, smile in spite of the situation, slap me gently in the head and say in a joking tone, "you do it again, I'll chase you down and beat you up".

Thank you for doing the true hard thing, letting go.

Getting along...

Think family. Then friends. Then society. Then the whole world.

There's too many of us. And too many means many ideas, many atitudes, many opinions, many points of view. But we need to get along; we've got to get a long. We need to accept that we are all different, do things different ways, and many a time, we'll bump into each other and step on each other's toes and get hurt. I need to accept different atitudes and get rid of my pride. We are all brothers and sisters.

I know, cheesy as cheese can be, but in the end, it's the truth.

Growing up with a brother and three older sisters was quite an adventure. If I think hard, I'll remember the time we argued; the times I'd yell and lock myself in the room, the times I cried because I tought I had no one that understood me. But I really have to think extra hard to remember those days, and I'm sure that there are more that I completly let out my heart and mind. When I think back into my childhood, I remember smiles; I remember giving; I remember playing. I remember covering up for my sister so mom wouldn't know that she broke the lamp; I remember laughing so hard that we cried, and laughing so hard that made my sis pee in her pants. I won't say which sister, so she won't hit me. But it was quite funny. I remember standind together in a secret present for mom, and standing together when the other was sad. I remember hugs. And kisses. And mushy poems as a sad attempt to describe my love for them. We were all so different, but we did get along. We had to. And to this day, we smile big and heartwarmed when we see each other, it makes us happy to be together, to laugh, to argue (yeah, still do that), to share, to cry, to love.

The secret of getting along?

Tolerance. 

And yet I need to be constantly reminded that we, as in a big world family, need to work on the same level as we work with our blood family.

This Christmas I want to learn to love again; I want a new perspective of things; I want to develop more tolerance, I want to love better, serve better, be better. Those things I'll put on my Christmas list... and I know that if I'm good, "Santa" will grant them to me. And I will be a better sister, a better mother, a better wife, a better daughter, a better neighbor, a better friend.

Wait and see.

I believe.

The last thing I do every night before coming to bed is kiss my children. I’ve been doing it for as long as they’re alive. It has to be the very last thing, even after bathroom and teeth brushing. I come by their beds, and with the very little light there is in the room, I look at each one of them in awe, contemplating their features, their smooth skin, their angelical face. I then bend over and gently kiss them, tuck them in, and sigh. It’s one of the best moments of the day, if not the best… and yet they don’t know I’m there; when they wake up in the morning they have no recollection of that episode, because, well, they were asleep! But to me it’s a magical moment.

Tonight, for the first time in twelve and a half years, something stroke me hard in my mind as I covered my little boy up with his blanket; I wondered if my mother had the same daily routine when I was a child… I wondered if she spent hours of looking at me while I quietly slept, of tucking me in, of wondering of what my future would be, of being amazed by my innocence and of thinking was fast I was growing. I’m not sure she did; she was always so busy and worked so hard to assure our safety and well being, that I can understand if she didn’t. You see, mom would go out to work in the morning and just come home late at night. We often had dinner with our neighbours down the street (we being my four older siblings and I) and would then come home, do our homework and go to bed. I remember listening to her footsteps as she tiptoed up the stairs. Just a few minutes later I could fell the smell of her cooking what would be our lunch for the next day. She would then wrap the pan of stew in two heavy blankets, so the food would still be warm when we were to eat it the following day. That way we didn’t have to mess with matches to heat it up. We hadn’t developed the concept of a microwave back then. And believe me, I’m not that old!

So yeah, I guess I should ask her if she still had the time to come and tuck us in, kiss us good night. My guess will be that yes, she did. How can a mother not want the comfort of looking at her offspring when they’re at their best… sleeping…

Mom had to work that hard to keep us together. Dad died in a car accident at 31 years of age, leaving her with five children to support, the oldest being twelve, and the youngest being me, one year old Bela. I remember missing her a lot. Now that I am a mother, I understand, or at least try to comprehend how suffocating her days away from us must have been back then.

Somehow, we managed to be happy.

When I left Portugal to marry and live in the United States fourteen years ago, she had a hard enough time. She would come to understand and accept and love my husband later on. We tried to visit once a year, which was just enough to cheer her up a couple of weeks. When we decided to move to Portugal after ten years of marriage, I can only imagine her joy… when we decided to move back to the United States just a few months ago, I didn’t have to imagine her pain. I saw it stamped in her eyes. I could see the sadness, the loneliness, the longing for the days back when she had to work so hard but at the end of the day, she had us all under her roof. I hugged my mother and told her I loved her. I saw the tears swell up in her eyes and she walked away to her room, now shared with another lady in a nursing home. All those years of hard work are giving it’s fruits now… illness has her captive in a world that’s not her own, and if I could only have this wish come true, I would take you out to lunch today mom, like I did the past four years… I would buy you your favourite colour roses, red; a dozen of them. We would then talk about memories and probably laugh a lot. I am sorry I can’t take you out for lunch this year… what I can, and will do everyday of my life, is love you and be grateful for the great sacrifices you have made in your life, so we could stay together as a family. You did well… we all turned out just fine. I’m so very sorry you are lonely today.

Happy Birthday mom.

Perspectives...

I guess it all depends on how you look at it!

I want to thank blogspot, facebook and photobucket...

.. for keeping some of my most precious memories safe. I just recently got robbed, and of all that was taken, the pics and videos in my camera and laptop were by far the greatest lost. I'm so grateful I can still keep what was published on these three sites...