Easier Said Than Done?

Gregg, Kathleen, Rich, Jody, Hugh, Elizabeth, Dana, Kay, and Armando,

I want to take a moment to thank each and everyone of you for taking the time to respond yesterday.  It will take me a bit to respond to each individually, but I will.  Collectively, your responses made me stop and think, they made me smile, they made me praise the Lord, and they made me feel so blessed/happy to be a part of AR. 

Grace and peace to each and everyone of you,

Sondra

Greg,

I am glad you took the time to respond to my post.  I'll admit, you made me stop and think.  I even looked up the word "rejoice" in the dictionary.  You've also given me an idea for another post.  Before I responded, I checked out your profile and blogs.  I see that you are an appraiser and that you appear to be very analytical.  I can appreciate those traits. 

I am certain that there are lots of people out there that have the same questions and concerns you do.  When you are on the outside of some tradition or group looking in, there actions and attitdues don't always make sense.  Using a non-religious example:  The Texas A&M students, Aggies, loved their Bonfire.  (12 students ended up getting killed a few years back when it fell during construction, so the school doesn't get to have an on campus bonfire anymore.)  Non-Aggies view bonfire as not only dangerous but a huge waste of trees.  Aggies viewed Bonfire as one of our most beloved traditions.  The outsiders will never understand the insiders view point.  Insiders have a hard time understanding the outsiders.  As an outsider, your comments about Christians make perfect sense to me.  However, as you might have noticed, they offended some people.  That is understandable also. 

To answer your question as to whether I was brainwashed.  I can laugh and easily say the answer is no, I was not brainwashed.  I grew up going to a Catholic church.  For years, religion meant following the golden rule.   

I've always tried to be positive and hoped that the future has good things in store.  There were many things I could control to make my future better....such as going to college, showing up to work on time, etc. etc.  But, I also got to a point  where I had to acknowledge, there are things I can not control.  The combination of accepting that I am not in control combined with hope of a better tomorrow, put me in the correct frame of mind.   One day back when I was doing fraud audits, I had two different people that did not know each other, at two different time of the day, suggest I read a book called "Experiencing God" by Henry Blackaby. 

While reading that book, I came to recognize that God had been working in my life for years, even when I didn't know it.  I came to recognize that He sent His son, Jesus, to reach out to the sinners (the prostitutes, the unethical tax collectors, to the outcasts, etc, etc.) As Jesus himself said, it is not the healthy who need a doctor.   I came to realize that the Bible is full of good information that can be applied to my daily life.

I pray that you will get to a point in your life, where you accept that no matter how hard you work, you are not in control.  That you can get to a point that you can look for positive things to rejoice about, even in the midst of challenges and difficulty.  I pray that you can open up your mind and heart to the possibility that God is real and that He actually loves you.  (I can tell you that He is real, but you won't believe me.  You will have to discover that for yourself.)  If you can get to that point, I think you will find that you will be happier and more content than you've ever been before -even when life itself is difficult. 

Sondra