Someone Degrading you? Time for Selective Hearing

                 There is Hope for Those Who Seek

 I would like tro share with you an actual excerpt from my book: “Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World.” It will be coming out in about sixty days. You can pre-order it at: www.winepresspub.com. If you do, you will save 27% of what the retail price will be when it comes out at Barnes & Noble, Borders, or Amazon.com.

It is for those of us who suffer the many afflictions that are going around now because of the economy.  

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Don’t Despair—Mighty Mouse Will Save the Day

 

I used to love the cartoon “Mighty Mouse.” The song always got me pumped: “Mighty Mouse is on the way. Mighty Mouse will save the day!”

Are you feeling like you are alone, and unwanted? I have been there.

I have some mighty answers for you. It is the Doug Bolton “Top 20 Countdown” that will help you save the day and love God. With apologies to David Letterman.

20. Do you have trouble getting to know someone? Is it hard for you to make friends? Remember: Strangers are family once you get to know them.

19. The world is divided into two categories: the ones who will accomplish a great deal, and those who won’t accomplish anything. You will be the one who will accomplish much, if you allow God to help you.

18. No one is going to love you more if you are fat or skinny. They will love you because of the person you are.

17. When you hate someone and want them to hurt, you hurt yourself. Spend more time trying to help others feel good about themselves, and you will feel good about yourself too.

16. You do not need to let stress control you. You do not need to be a workaholic. It is OK to rest. Jesus takes over when you can’t cope. 

15. When you feel depressed because of losing a loved one, remember God knows your pain. He saw His only Son buried.

16. When someone is trying to degrade you, it is time for selective hearing.

13. You just took another breath while you read this. Thank God for it.

12. When you marry, you need to stay together even when the skin starts to wrinkle and the excitement fades.

11. God’s goal is not to make us happy; it is to make us His. It is not to give us what we want; it is to give us what we need.

10. If God doesn’t come to your rescue right away, maybe He is waiting until you give away your pride.

9. Don’t apply labels to people until you have examined the contents.

8. Everyone is unique even down to the fingerprints and DNA. God has a plan just for you and wants you to use the talent He gave you. Yes, you!

7. The greater the future you have, the greater the attack will be from the prince of darkness. Pray for God’s protection, and Satan will be fish bait!

6. While you can’t control someone else’s heart, you can control yours.

5. Don’t say, “Thanks, God, I can take it from here,” and then not check in with God until the next crisis. Pray without ceasing.

4. All the great hitters in baseball fail two out of three times.

3. The most common command in the Bible? “Fear not.”

2. Practice makes perfect. Study God’s Word each day and learn more of His love for you.

AND the number one reason you will conquer depression is … (Drum roll please)

1. God made you in His own image. Shouldn’t that make you think He wants everything to go well for you? Trust Him to provide all your needs—emotionally, physically and spiritually.

The teacher blood left in me now has an assignment. Start your own positive list of thoughts to help you fight off depression.

Read it every day and add to it.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

You can make it through a life that is a swamp full of alligators and horrible storms!  Move on to more sunny days.  Move on to where there is hope. Move on to the light at the end of the tunnel. Move away from those alligators that will be made into shoes if they don’t leave you alone.

Depression and the many other mental afflictions do not go away in a flash. I still have bouts with them from time to time, but I quickly concentrate on the positive. I concentrate on God and all His love He has to share with me. I concentrate on my family, my children, my grandchildren. I concentrate on the good things that have happened in my life.

Because I do all that, I see that the pluses far outweigh the negatives every time. It is like the song says: “Count your blessings; name them one by one. Count your many blessings; see what God has done.”

If you can’t think of enough blessings, know that I love you with all my heart, and so do millions of other people who suffer with the many afflictions in their lives. We know your pain, and we are praying for you daily.

We are many, and Satan is only one stupid misguided angel. We can defeat him if we all work together. We are an unbeatable team when we have one goal. That goal is to live productive Christian lives in which we stand on solid ground, not on the shifting sands of our emotions.

Hope for Those Who Suffer in this Economy

                Don’t Close the Door on Life. Stay Strong and Survive

 

It seems like things will be getting worse before they get better. The economy showed signs of recovering in the market today, but the jobless rate hasn’t  budged. People are still struggling.

I got an email from an 84 year old man this evening and he said that the last three months have been the toughest in his whole life time. He is 84 years  old and struggling financially.

This type of situation has led many people to battle self doubt, anxiety, fear, depression, hopelessness, and all the other usual suspects.

What re we to do? What will happen to all of us if this keeps up? These are questions that many people are asking right now.

Let me give you some thoughts to try to help you through these troubling times:

  • Don’t ever give up. Remain strong. You will persevere by just decided that nothing can force you to collapse.
  • Try to enjoy the little things while the economy is faltering. Go to the park. Rent DVDs instead of going to the movies. Buy the store brands instead of the expensive brands.
  • Make some great home cooked meals that you found in the old recipe book you found on the shelf. If it was good for our elders it still must be good. By cooking your own meals you will save money from not eating out. Have  a “family,” meal. That means everyone sitting down at the table at the same time. Actually do some talking. Won’t that be different?
  • Go one a vacation with in driving distance. You can just as much fun somewhere closer as you can hundreds of miles away.

I realize that these aren’t exciting solutions. What we probably really need to talk about is how to cope in this troubled world.

My book, Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World, talks directly to you as readers about how to do that very thing. It shares ways to fight anxiety, fear, depression, self doubt, hopelessness, etc.

You can read some excerpts from, Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World, when you sign up for my free newsletter. You can do that by going over to the right side bar and clciking on the icon that talks about subscribing.

Notice that you will also receive a free eBook that I have written called, The Top 25 Ways to Survive in a Troubled World. There are 25 ideas on how to stay tough during these hard times. It is yours for free just by subscribing.

When you subscribe you also have a chance to win free books. Many will have the authors autograph in them.

The book being featured right now is called, Moments this Good: The Softer Side of Alzheimer’s. It is written by Bonnie Nester. It is the story of Bonnie’s mother Ruth. It is kind of like a dairy with many heart breaking stories, but also some that make you chuckle. Bonnie has autographed the book for you.

So if you sign-up right now, you get:

  1. A free newsletter full of excerpts from: Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World. Three other pages with interesting articles on them. A brand new page that will come out in the next issue is for writers. It will be called: Becoming Famous Before you are Famous. This alone is worth signing up for if you are a writer or even have thoughts of being a writer. It teaches you how to get known before you go to the publisher.
  2. A free Ebook called, The Top 25 Ways to Survive in a Troubled World. It shares many ways to cope.
  3. Free books with autographs in them through a drawing that is held every two weeks.

It hard to understand why someone would pass this up, but I am tooting my own horn. I happen to think that you would love any part of the three free bees above.

I hope you take advantage of this and sign-up.

OUT!