The Littlest Giant Part 2

“The littlest giant” realized that all our faith and that all our strength stems from Him who showers us with gifts and blessings, not from our own effort. And so he prayed in the name of Jesus,  so that God would give him different graces or gifts.  And through the power of the Holy Spirit he received more faith, and he learned how to pray better and more often.  He got to know God better, he began to understand His word, he felt His presence. “The littlest giant” learned that Jesus always answers our prayers, but that we do have to do our part.  He read, studied His word, and reflected on it. “The littlest giant” realized that he needed to have a, strong and constant, close relationship with Jesus.  And this could only be possible through remaining in His word and through prayer. 

“If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” John 8(31, 32).

“Heaven and earth will pass away but my words 
will not pass away”  Mat 24(35)

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and 
it will be done for you” Jn 15(7)

He knew that if he didn’t pray and remain in His word then he would be  just  an occasional visitor to the Sunday mass and not a faithful friend of Jesus.  He did not want Jesus to be only someone he knew about, someone he read about. No! He wanted an intimate friend. Yes, more than anything in this whole world, he wanted to be a good friend to Jesus. A close friend seeks his friend constantly and makes an effort to love his dear friend more and more each day. A close friend seeks his friend constantly and makes an effort to love his dear friend more and more each day.  And in essence makes an effort to get to know his friend better.  There is never a limit for a true friend.

“You are my friends if you do what I command you” John 15(14)

 “Remain in me as I remain in you” John 15(4)

After all Jesus invites us not only to be His friends, but to imitate Him, follow Him, and love Him:  he who knows Him loves him and as He says “He who loves me follows my commandments."

“This I command you: love one another.” John 15(17)

“Whoever has my commandments and observes them 
is the one who loves me.” John 14 (21)

“The way that we may be sure that we know Him is to keep his commandments” 
Whoever says ‘I know Him’ but does not keep His commandments is a liar, 
and the truth is not in him.  But whoever keeps His word, 
the love of God is truly perfected in him….” 1 John2 (3,4,5)

 “The littlest giant” was determined to love Jesus more and more, committed to follow Him closer and better.  He understood that even though he was far from being perfect, this did not matter to Jesus,  Jesus knows us well: our defects, our sins, our fears, our deepest secrets.  But regardless of what is in our hearts,  He loves us and wants us to be by His side.  He loves us and calls each one of us  to follow Him.  And He always forgives us if we have a: Change of mind …. Change of heart….and Change of actions.  Yes,  if we repent truly and sincerely from the bottom of our heart.  

“Remain in my love.  John 15(9)

“The littlest giant” understood that what he needed was to have a great love for Jesus and a fervent and honest desire to improve. Yes, and he needed to follow Him with his maximum effort, following  Him the best that he could - according to his capacity.  After all we all have different capacities to follow our Lord and different gifts to share with others. Jesus was patient with him,  “the littlest giant” learned to patient with himself.  Jesus always forgave him; he had to learne to forgive himself, and most important he learned to persevere and never give up. He decided to fix to fix  his eyes on Jesus, and let his goal be : 

·      Getting to know Him better and more, allowing His love to dwell inside him

·      Following His commandments out of love and trust,  not fear or plain obligation

·      Repenting every time that, without being able to avoid it,   he was unable to faithfully follow       His commandments. 

·      Remembering always that when he falls down Jesus is there to pick him up.

                        “If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

                                                                      Mathew 19(17)

“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.  The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house.  But it dis not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.” 

Mathew 24(35)

 “The littlest giant” realized that it is hard to love the way Jesus call us to love, but this is no reason why to stop trying.  He decided to try more, try harder, pray more, love more, improve more, and always give more.  Give more in order to have more of Jesus in his life. He decided to seek Him with all his heart….all his strength ...loving Him with all his mind all his soul.  

     

  “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord’ but not do what I command” Luke 6(46)

“It is not that I have already taken hold of it or have already attained perfect maturity, but I continue my pursuit in hope that I may possess it, since I have indeed been taken possession of by Christ 

Jesus…” Paul to Philippians 3 (12)

Well not to wear you out you with the story of “The littlest giant”, I shall come to the end of my story.  After 10 years of listening to the soft but constant voice of our Lord Jesus calling him the Lord decided to call even louder, to a bigger commitment. Jesus was inviting him to be baptized by water, to become part of his church, of His community, and to share with others in faith and joy.

 “The littlest giant” decided that he wanted to fill up his life with He who had showered him with blessings.  He who had rescued him from the darkness into the light, because he was lost but now was found, blind but now could see!  He wanted to get baptized into our beloved Catholic Church.  Because Jesus calls, Jesus invites, but it is we who decide if we answer His call.  We must want to answer “Yes!” when He calls. “The littlest giant” decided to say “Yes ….yes!  Jesus ….yes!”

Well by now I imagine many of you have guessed that “The littlest giant” is a giant 2 meter, 200 lb Turkish guy whose name is John. Well, being that this is his appearance to the naked eye. But then when you look with attention and when you get to know him, you realize that he is one of Jesus’ “Little ones”.  Yes, he is a man with a sweet smile and eyes like those of a little kid, and soft of heart.  Like a child he was able to find his beloved Jesus and like a child he loves him with all his heart.  He   has put his faith in Him, and will never look back.  Like a child he now is feeling safe and has joy and peace, because he knows that he is in the shadow of the almighty and takes refuge under His wings. 

“You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, 

Say to the Lord, “My refugee and my fortress, my God in whom I trust” 

God will rescue you from the fowler’s snare, from the destroying plague,  

will shelter you with pinions, spread wings that you may take refuge; 

God faithfulness is a protecting shield..” Psalm 91(1-4)

John wanted to get baptized for Christmas 2003, in Ephesus, were Mother Mary is said to have spent most of the last years of her life and where Paul and John lived and preached.  That holy place were John prayed many times to our beloved Virgin Mary.

But Jesus had other plans for him and so our long time priest friend, Father Tarcy, encouraged him to get baptized in Vancouver, since it was the eve of our departure from Turkey. The time to move was near and so our priest suggested finding a course in our new city. John was a bit disappointed at first, but just temporarily, because he is convinced that Jesus gently directs his life and that surely He had better plans for him!

“So whoever is in Christ is a new creation:  the old things have passed away; 

behold new things have come.” 2 Cor 5(17)

So well we arrived to Vancouver and John got excited again, after all soon there would be Easter and maybe he would be able to get baptized in this most meaningful and solemn time.  We talked first in a church downtown but the priest was not to sure if John would be able to be accepted in any Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) course in time for Easter baptism. After all it was a bit late, and many courses had started much earlier.  Thingsdid not look too promising but nothing is impossible with God.   He promised that if we prayed with faith, two or more people in His name (Mat 18 verse 19-20), God would grant whatever we asked for.    

        

“Everything is possible to one who has faith.” Mark9(23)

Well so we prayed and then we headed to St. Augustine’s to talk to the person in charge of the RCIA. She said she was not so sure if it would be ok or not,  she would have to talk to the Father in charge of the parish, and we had to wait until the next day. We knew that if it was God’s will He would gently speak to their hearts.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled.  You have faith in God; have faith also in me” John 14(1)

         And so we went to see her again on the next day.   She said Father had left it up to her and that, well, after talking to us in her office the other day….she had a feeling that John was ok and could join the course! He could take the course with the RCIA group until Easter and then he would get baptized, and get confirmed all in one!  We were thrilled, Easter, what a wonderful gift from the Lord.

I am happy to share with all that “the littlest giant” that all of you know as John, got baptized on Easter Vigil Saturday April 10^th , 2004! And he never looked back, he has been the most faithful holy Catholic I know ever since.

 I give thanks to God for all He has given us, for blessing us and for overflowing our lives with His great love.  In blessing and calling John I too was blessed.  I too, found Him in a deeper way that I never imagined possible. In a way that I had never experienced before.  Today thanks to John’s encounter with our Lord Jesus Christ, I am more in love with Jesus.   And I  love God in a way like I never knew was possible. In walking the way towards Jesus next to John, I found Jesus all over again. I found Him in a way and with strength I never imagined possible.  My heart and my spirit sing with joy and I give thanks God for this most beautiful gift! 

“And behold,    until the end of age.”  Mat.28(20)

Source for Bible verses:  The New American Bible (Catholic version)

Dating and Hygiene - Please come clean !

Dates, Dating, Crushes and More...

Well, well, well so you like someone huh?  Great!  Liking someone is so much fun!  Now if you like someone and you think you would like to one day date them? Well, there is something we need to discuss.  I have met amazing people.  I have met great people in the church, great people at my daughter's University, great friends of my kids etc.  Now sometimes someone we know has a great personality, they are even quite cute, and they are interesting BUT they wonder why they are not getting that girl or guy they have a crush on.

I sit and I ponder.  Should I tell them why?

It is hard.  It is hard to be honest with someone.  But often times it is necessary to be honest with someone you care about.  I think, I ponder and then I decide to stay quiet.  But the person suffers, they are clueless, they don't understand why they are "so unlucky" when it comes to love.  Well, since I don't have the guts to tell them face to face, and since it has happened dozens and dozens of times - I decided to write about it.  I hope this post while short and to the point will help thousands of humans, here we go.

Simple concept:

No matter how cute you are, how nicely you dress, how rich you are, how smart you are, how funny, what great eyes you have...well no hygiene no luck in dating.

Here is the list:

Clean teeth is not optional.  No gunk, and no bad breath.  And no people that is not too much to ask!  If you ate a pizza and part of the crust stuck to your front teeth and you know it and can see it, TRUST me everybody can see it, and it's not good.  Here, let me put it bluntly: it is disgusting.  But, you say, I didn't have my toothbrush.  Well, I say, carry it with you.  You can excuse yourself and quickly go to the bathroom and have a little brushing.  But having said that, mouth hygiene is cumulative.  You can not expect to never take care of your teeth and then the day you want them clean, you think they magically will be sparkling.  Care for your mouth and oral hygiene.  I am not talking the colour of the teeth.  Different people have different colours, because of different reasons, that is fine.  I know people with yellowish teeth that do not have one cavity and whose teeth are the cleanest I know.  I know people with white teeth that have gunk on them constantly and that would make someone run.  Each day, after each meal:  brush your teeth.  It is that simple.  Once a day, maybe at night, floss your teeth - it's important.  

Baths/Showers are not optional.  Take a shower every day - period.  If you think you stink - you stink!  If you stink don't expect people to want to date you.  Stench is disgusting and it says a lot about who we are.  If we can not take care of ourselves well enough to take a simple shower and stay clean, then how can we take care of anything else?  Men are looking for women that can be good moms one day.  Women are looking for men that would make good partners and fathers one day.  If you can not take care of the most basic thing in your life, keeping yourself clean, then how do you think you come across?  And it is unpleasant, and keep in mind stench in the body comes from bacteria.  Either your arm pits, your butt, or your personal parts are sweaty or worse, and full of bacteria - SHOWER!  Shower and use soap.  Soap up the armpits, the butt, and all important parts.  Nothing stays without soap.  Rub and scrub and then rinse it off.  5 minutes that is all it takes for a new you.  

Ear wax yuk!:  Every few days you need to clean your ears.  Some people use cotton swabs, some people hate them.  If you hate cotton swabs, take a small towel and wash your ear with it.  Gently massage the nooks and crannies of it. Whatever you do, please do something because the ears collect wax and eventually the wax overflows.  There is nothing more gross than to look at someone and when they turn to the side, you see white/yellowy wax gunk on the ear.  It is an instant turn off, and instant: NO!  An instant: RUN!  

 Please wash your hair at least every three days.  The head can stink and there is nothing worse than a stinky head.  Also hair gets greasy and it looks disgusting.  If you have dandruff, buy "Head and Shoulders" or put coconut oil or find a solution.  Dandruff is an instant put off.  Cut your hair every so often and keep it tidy.  Nobody likes a slob!  There I said it, someone had to!

Clean clothes.  You can not expect to never wash your clothes and for them to smell good.  You need to understand if your clothes smell bad, YOU smell bad too.  Clothes absorb food smells and our bad smells AKA sweat.  Please use a T-Shirt no more than two days, one if you stink it up. Pants no more than four days. Here is a great concept:  change your underwear every day  General rule: If you think your clothes stink, everyone can smell them too!  Oh yes!  And do not let your clothes sit wet for long periods, that makes them stink terribly.  If you forget your clothes in the washer for more than six hours, or when you sniff them they smell, you have to wash them again.

Clothes General.  You can't look like a slob.  If you want to be attractive try at least a little bit.  There is a fairly good looking guy at my daughter's University but he uses thin sweat pants that look like Pyjamas and you can almost see his private parts, no good.  Look a clean pair of jeans and a nice T Shirt goes a long way.  You don't have to spend millions in clothes just don't be a slob.Your shoes/feet should not stink, here is a general rule if you can smell them - everyone can smell them too.  

Try to avid stinky food.  I don't care how much you like it !  Stinky food gives you bad breath and it stinks up your clothes including your jacket in the winter.  Avoid stinky food.

Check yourself.  Not everyone has time to shower every day.  But you need to wake up early enough to have time to check yourself.  Smell yourself, if you think you stink, you stink!  Use baby wet wipes and deodorant or wet a towel and rub.  Whatever you need to do, but take care of it.  Also look in the mirror. Look carefully at your eyes, make sure there are no eye gunk, or any crust.  Even better, maybe you do not shower every morning, BUT you should wash your face every morning and every night before bed.  If you do that you should be pretty ok with your face issues.  Check your teeth after you eat out, simply excuse yourself and go to the bath room and swish with water and take a look.  If they look clean you are good to go.

Face full of pimples.  Look pimples are a pain in the neck, I get it.  And some pimples we can not avoid.  But I am here to tell you that there are many pimples that we can avoid.  If I have ten pimples but could have only three - why then chose to have ten!  It makes no sense.  So here are some tips, wisdom the ages.  Do theses things and your life will improve when it comes to pimples.  Wash your face every morning after waking up, and every night before going to bed.  JUST DO IT!  I am trying to help you here, so no discussions, say I am your borrowed advisor/friend.  Also pay attention when you got that nasty pimple, what did you eat that was out of the usual?  I am gonna tell you some things that 100% give nasty pimples from my experience:  Costco pastries, including muffins and chocolate chip cookies.  Cheap pastries in general.  Cheap Chocolate specially Cadburys, I only eat Lyndt and I am very careful.  Certain cheeses, you have to be like a hawk and notice and immediately stop eating the cheese that you guess is the problem.  Cheap greasy products, use Olive Oil and butter and Coconut Oil only.

Remedies:  If you get pimples.  Wash your face.  Use a good quality coconut oil at night.  Yes you apply it to your face, yes it heals and does not give pimples.  Also you can use a dash of Tea Tree Oil mixed with the coconut oil in stubborn pimples.  And do not mess with your pimples, not unless they are white and ready to pop, then you gently press them, hopefully not with your nails.

If you want to go an extra mile, pick a nice perfume or cologne, don't use too much of it, just a tad, and go out smelling like heaven.  If you don't have money for cologne , no problem.  Clean is always the best smell in the world! 

Well, these are some tips for you.  Change these things and I am pretty sure: your dating life will improve. 

 Remember we can not always blame the world, change needs to start with us!

OBVIOUSLY:  This is to let you know that I am not a doctor or a psychologist etc and my advise is only based on my life experience.  My advise is given as a friend would give it to a friend.  Simply my opinion.

Advent - Time of Hope

Almost Christmas...but not yet!  Oh yeah it's called Advent.  

This year has been tough, and is actually an understatement.  Not that the ones before were easy - Covid, the beginning of the conflict in the Middle East, Israel, Gaza, Ukraine, Russia.   Remember? Who can forget, my head is spinning.  But we are not here to talk about Covid, or the beginning of those horrible conflicts that are going on around the world.  We are here to talk about 2024, and how to feel joy regardless of what is going on in your city, your country, the world.  

There is uncertainty and fear for many.  There are horrible situations that you might be going through.  How in the world can we be expected to feel joy?

Well God tells us, in Phillipians 4:8,  that: "in every situation...whatever is:

• True
• Good
• Holy
• Honorable
• Just
• Lovely
• Commendable
• If there is any excellence
• Anything worthy of praise

Think about these things !"

So yes there are terrible things some people are going through - that is a fact.  But if we have to go through something, and there is nothing we can do about it, at least we can mitigate the hardships and the evil we encounter, and we can draw some good and get enough strength and healing to go through it.  

We can always receive grace, we can always receive healing, God always wants to comfort us and draw us close to His Heart.  All we need to do is our part.  So go ahead and think about that list, don't let anyone or anything steal your free will.  There must be something you can think of, something you can hold on to, something you can chose to think about - other than whatever evil is surrounding you. 

 God is ready!  Ready to hold us in His arms, we just have to let Him!  

All we need to do is to use the power of our will.  Control our minds and  not let ourselves sink into the depths of depression. self pity and despair - that will not help.  That will make things worse, it will change us, consume us, finish us!  

Do not let your circumstances take the best of you! 

Rise above, by asking Jesus Christ to come to your aid.  

Even if all you have is a tiny bit of strength use it for the prayer :  Jesus Help me!

He will come right away. 

God promises that when we do our part "and the God of peace will guard our hearts and minds"  He will come to our aid.  He alone knows what we need most.  He will surround us with protection, strength and peace.  

This Advent there is a lot we can do, no matter what our circumstances.  Why?  Because we have the power to pray and God is on our side.  We have the power to offer up our hardships for a greater good to come out of them.  And we have the power to hope in Him who is our Saviour.  He will come, He will help, He will heal.  This Advent chose Hope!

All we have to do is ask, and trust.  

May the God of peace that surpasses all understanding be with you!

Love from miles away

I love every single one of my readers.  Not only I love and appreciate you, but I pray for you often.  I know that"Blogger" has not made it easy for some of you to get in touch with me.  I am writing a quick note to give you an email address, and my Instagram etc, where you can send suggestions, questions, comments or prayer requests.  

My email:  light_in_u@yahoo.com  (Subject: Princess in Overalls)

My Instagram:  Sacred Heart Rosaries (Please Follow Me)

I hope that this is enough for you to be able to contact me in an easier way!  I can't wait to hear from you.  Please check out my book:  "Princess in Overalls"  in AMAZON.COM, and AMAZON.CA.  You can find it by writing the name of the book plus my name next to it in the search bar like this:

Princess in Overalls by Carolina Prada

"Princess in Overalls" is in Kindle as well.

I am also in the process of putting it in Audible so keep your eyes open!

I love this community and can't wait to be more helpful to you and be much more active!

Many blessings from Canada,

Carolina Prada

To Taylor Swift or not to Taylor Swift - That is the question!

I recently returned from a trip to Paris - France.  I went to Paris with one of my daughters to celebrate her 15th birthday.  In my country when you turn 15 you call it "Quinsianera" and you either have a trip to Europe, or have a giant party or do something truly memorable.  My oldest daughter's 15th was during "Covid" and we were blessed enough to have been able to have a beautiful party, when things were loosening up a bit in our city.  My other daughter's Quinsianera is this year.  She is a huge Taylor Swift Fan.  So my daughter decided, she did not want to have a party, or anything other than to go to the Eras Tour to see her beloved Taylor Swift.  

I was a bit divided in making a final decision, because although I love many of Taylor Swift's songs and I consider myself a fan, there were a few things worrying me.  First of all, well the Eras tour is so expensive!  When the "cheap tickets" go out for sale in "Ticket Master", you have not even blinked when they are all sold out.  Then our only chance is to buy from someone who is trying to get rich out of us, in a place like Stubhub.  

Second there are at least a couple of songs that I do not like from Taylor Swift, specifically "Willow" and one from "Vigilante ***"- the choreography for them in the concert is not conducive to holiness if you know what I mean!  And in a way also some of the lyrics are not exactly the best if someone is trying to be holy, remain pure or and be modest.  

I am not going to lie, it took me a while to decide what to do. We all prayed about it and discussed it, in the end we figured we could have a good time and pray for the conversion of Taylor Swift, while at the Eras Tour.  

We purchased excessively overpriced tickets and decided to go to the Eras Tour in Nanterre France.  For a bit we had a huge scare because the Stadium's web site said that they would only accept tickets purchased in "Ticket Master" or directly from the stadium, and that any others would be denied entry. 

When I read this my heart sank.  I though we had made a huge mistake and wasted a lot of money.  

I talked to my daughter and told her what I truly believe:  that God's will is always for our good and that if it was His will we would go into the stadium, and that if He was protecting us from something - well He would make sure to keep us out of the Eras tour.  

So in the end we took our plane to Paris and we tried to enjoy the week as we waited for Friday (the day of our concert), without knowing if we would be able to enter the concert or if we would be turned away and lose the money.  The day came and we realized that at 9:00 am, there were already long lines for the concert which was starting at 6:30 pm!  We decided to get in line at 1:00 pm, because I figured that is all I could survive lol.  We stood in line in the sun, sitting on the hard cement side walk from 1:00 pm to 6:30 pm when the doors opened.  

I know it must sound crazy to be in line for so long, but the truth is that time passes fast when you are with great people!

 And Swifties are sweethearts!  

Swifites are fun and friendly and full of joy!  

We made friends, we chatted exchanged bracelets and before we knew it we were ready to go in.  While in line, some of our new found friends took a look at our tickets - which were floor tickets but the first come first serve type, at least that is what we thought.  But, when they looked at our tickets they gasped and told us that  we had what they call"Golden Tickets" - and they guaranteed us that with these tickets we would be in a special area, where we would be so close to Taylor, that we would almost be able to touch her !

Any normal person would have been ecstatic to hear this, but we still were not sure if we were going to be allowed in, so it was bitter sweet.  As we approached the gate, our hearts were pounding, we truly did not know what would happen.  They had already re-directed us to a different line, because of our "Golden Tickets", everyone was singing, the mood was raising, the anticipation was killing us..

I again reminded my daughter we might be turned around.  

She looked at me and smiled and told me not to worry, and she said with her beautiful sweet eyes shining. that it had already been worth it!  That, being part of such an amazing experience, had already made her so absolutely happy, and that she would offer it up for Tylor Swift's holiness.  I was amazed at her willingness to accept God's will in a situation that honestly she could have chosen to be having a tantrum.  She was full of faith and joy and she did not let anything ruin that precious moment!

We arrived to the gate and the time came to scan our tickets!  We looked at each other with hearts pounding, I put my ticket under the scanner and bam!  Green light, I felt my knees get weak, I scanned my daughter's ticket and bam!  Green light again, we were in.  Our eyes got full of tears ,only a Swiftie would fully understand.  We literally ran inside after being handed a golden wrist band and given another wrist band that light up.

We were amazed to see that our area allowed us to stand literally next to the security fence.  We had absolutely no one in front of us!  We looked around and it was like a dream.  Both of us stunned and shocked at God's grace and love for us.  Let me tell you, I can honestly say I am pretty sure Taylor Swift has never gotten so much prayer in her life.  Both my daughter and I enjoyed the concert, but as we enjoyed the concert we prayed and prayed.  For the protection and conversion and holiness of both Taylor Swift, her team and her beloved Swifties!

PS :  Make sure you keep your eyes open to more stories from the Eras Tour Paris Trip, and many many  lovely pictures!

Letting go of Bad Friends - Sometimes for a season

Is being alone that bad?  How can we chose to put up with so much?  Why do we insist in putting our soul at risk?  Do we not see just how precious we are?  Do we not understand, that valuable things need to be protected and cherished? We are  much more valuable than we think! We are so much more valuable than anything out there, we must not let people treat us like we are not. 

We shouldn't put up with people who do not give us the value we deserve.  We have the strength and the grace in us, to live a happy life without people who harm us and bring us down.  We need to be picky, and to select only great people around us.  

Maybe that means we will only have one good friend, so be it !  Maybe that means we will have none for a time.  Be strong, focus on the things you enjoy.  Work on your dreams.  Learn.  This life is so much more than just settling for mediocre people. Do you not see the beauty around you? 

The wrong "friend"  can change your life, and for the worse.  Do you not see, how much the wrong person can hurt you?  Your mental health?  Your feelings?  Your confidence? There are many broken people out there, that would love nothing more than to break you too!  There are a lot of jealous, envious, bitter, narcissistic, plain old evil people out there.  It is up to you to protect yourself.  You owe it to yourself to be selective, and to perhaps opt for a time of journeying on your own if necessary.

I am praying for you, please pray for me too.  Do not lose heart.  There are many of us out there still.  Even when all seems lost - it is not.  Hold on to our Lord Jesus.  Everything passes everything is perfect.  

You can do this!