Painful situations can bring us together

Isn’t it ironic how in a blink of an eye our whole life can change? We often have a hard time realizing how lucky and blessed we are when everything in our lives is running smoothly. In one second our life can hang by a thread, in a moment our life can come to an end but we go about our lives refusing to think about it. It is a subject we do not want to address. We hardly ever stop to think about the frailty of our lives and about how much we need God. We end up wasting time in meaningless things and vain pursuits precious time that could have been spent deepening our relationship with God, mending broken relationships, improving ourselves, loving more, sharing more, finding more reasons to be happy and fewer reasons to be sad.

            We do not like to think about these things, but perhaps we should because then we could be somewhat more prepared when hard times come. Oftentimes, it is when we go through hardships that we find out what we are made of. It is then that we are given an opportunity to draw on the grace God has given us, an opportunity to exercise our strength, wisdom, love, patience, kindness and faith. It is in distressing times that we really come to experience the protection and mercy of God. If we can be ready for these tough times, through prayer, then a tragedy, a catastrophe or a great tribulation can be the source of spiritual growth and some of the biggest blessings in our lives.

            Sometimes, no matter how much we have prayed and how ready we think we are to face anything, when a terrible situation comes our way, we feel like St. Augustine when he wrote in his Confessions that he was “appalled at a world that could go on as though our catastrophe had not happened.” We feel drained, we feel frozen, and only hope remains.

            Many valuable lessons can be learned about hope, faith, endurance and strength. One of the greatest lessons is that the driving force behind all of these qualities is love. God has given us human beings an amazing capacity to survive the most heartbreaking moments. The great love of God that unites and that pours out from family members, friends and even strangers becomes the solid foundation that sustains us when we most need it, that great love that many times gets forgotten in the rush of everyday life.

            There are many amazing stories about people who have survived adversity and found it has not only changed their lives but touched the lives of many others as well. These are people who have survived by holding on to hope. Sometimes hope is all we need in order to make it through one more day. And one more day is all we need in order to make it through the rest of our lives¾because each new day brings renewed hope and a renewed understanding that God has given us the strength to endure difficult times and the courage to go on.

            Hope gives us strength when adversity pushes us to the limit. In adversity, hope gives us the ability to open our eyes and see what is really of value in life. Many people’s lives change forever because in hope they find meaning to their suffering. Great difficulties can pull people together, and many times great difficulties can produce forgiveness. Difficult times and problems are part of life, but it is how we choose to see these moments and how we choose to act in these times that will determine if they are in vain or not.

Wisdom to contemplate:

 “Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us.” (Romans 5:5)

“He rescued us from such great danger of death, and he will continue to rescue us; in him we have put our hope (that) he will also rescue us again.” (2 Corinthians 1:10)

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and God of all encouragement, who encourages us in our every affliction, so that we may be able to encourage those who are in any affliction with the encouragement with which we ourselves are encouraged by God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

Love of animals

            When it comes to animals and love of animals, in my opinion, people are divided into two classes those who are able to experience a profound love for animals and those who can’t and therefore don’t understand the first group. My comments about this last chapter will probably be understood by the people who at least once in their lives have loved an animal, be it a horse, a cat, a dog or any other pet. The other group, those people who have yet to have a special relationship with an animal, will probably just think I am crazy¾but hopefully they will begin to understand those of us who deeply love animals. And maybe they will be more patient and understanding when they see someone who has lost a dear furry friend.

            Some people think animals are animals and they are not meant to be loved, just enjoyed or used for work. Some people believe animals lack the capacity to love and to feel the same emotions humans do. I am not a scientist, and I have not done thousands of hours worth of research about this topic, but I have had many pets, and I have spent long hours with them. Here are my observations.

            Animals have an immense capacity to love us, to forgive us, to understand us and to remain next to us no matter what. My relationships have been with dogs, but I know that the type of animal does not matter; thousands of people are able to enjoy the love of intelligent animals of different species all around the world. The Bible says that animals were made for our companionship and enjoyment, and this is what I believe. And because they are creatures created by God, we must take good care of them.

            In my opinion, being able to love and be kind to an animal is the first step to being able to love a human being. After all, animals are vulnerable, they never answer back, they do not have a concept of revenge, and they always forgive and forget. If we are not able to love such a creature, one that is always ready to love us and to receive our love, then how do we expect to be able to love a human when humans are much more complicated beings?

            The pain that comes from the death of a furry friend is real and deep. When we lose a pet, we need people who are important to us to understand us and give us their support and their love. So, next time someone you love loses a pet,  please remember Ellie, and understand that even if you don’t feel the same way about animals, there are some people who do, and they are in desperate need of your love and understanding.

             A pet can be a confidant to us, a best friend, a companion, our playmate, our pal. When I think of my dog and I try to describe him, I find it impossible. He is a very special creature that God put on this earth for me to take care of and enjoy and love. He is precious to me. When I am sad, he cheers me up; when I am scared, he makes me feel safe; and when I am lonely, he is my great companion. He has been by my side for a very long time, and he holds a very special place in my heart. It will be very hard for me on the day I have to let go of him, the day I am asked to say goodbye.

            Animals never judge us, not by our actions, by our looks, by our personality or by our economic situation. All animals want and care about is for us to love them. If you have not yet had the wonderful experience of owning and loving an animal, I advise you to give it a try. An animal will unlock feelings you never knew you had.  Watch  programs on animals and/or wild life, or read some books on this topic and learn about animal behaviour it will surprise you. Go ahead, because loving animals is a way to start loving our world, and caring for animals is a way to start caring for our environment. Take the first step, and don’t be afraid. The experience you go through  when you love an animal is worth the pain you will feel when you lose the animal.

            We are often too fast to see the dark side of the world. There is so much to love, so much to enjoy, so much to share. Embark upon the adventure that it is to love an animal, and you will see that there are many more sweet moments in life in store for you if you just open your heart to them.

Wisdom to contemplate:

“The LORD God said: ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him.’ So the LORD God formed out of the ground various wild animals and various birds of the air, and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them; whatever the man called each of them would be its name.” (Genesis 2:18-19)

“Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made.” (Romans 1:20)

Be a princess !

Looking at the stats of Blogger always encourages me and gives me joy!  I wanted to thank all of you who read my blog because you have made it all worth it.  I see that people are reading this blog from countries far and near and I feel blessed.  I have tried to make the blog user friendly, but I understand that it is far from ideal.  Part of the reason is that I am still not home.  It has been very challenging for me to start this blog as my Ipad is broken, and the only computer I have available has a spell check that is in Spanish.  Oh well we do what we can, we get lemons and make lemonade.  Regardless of all the challenges I have had in order to start this blog, it has been a privilege.  I see all the people that are reading it and it gives me joy and a sense of connection to all of you. 

I want to thank you for following my blog,  and most of all I wanted to thank you for buying the book.  To all of you who have bought "Princess in Overalls"  I wanted you to know that my plan is to recover the costs of having published this book and then after that I will donate the rest to charity. I already have a "Princess in Overalls" in mind.  Her name is Raquel and she is a mom of two.  She lives in poverty and her kids eat on the floor, they do their homeworks on the floor and they wonder were the money will come for their next meal.  Regardless of this Raquel is a true Princess in Overalls, she is full of joy and with a heart full of love and full of hope.  Her little girls are Princesses in Overalls too.  They are fun loving and full of dreams.  My dream is to adopt them, want to adopt them with me?  Buy the book and recommend it, in this way we can change the world of these beautiful family.  Yes we will change the world one Princess in Overalls at a time.

If you have not gotten the book yet, I want to encourage you to buy the book.  The blog has summaries of chapters that are not in order. At the moment I try to select the shortest chapters.  Why? Well because I am typing from scratch every chapter I summarize, and because I have a million things to do.  This means the chapters are not following a chronological order.  If you want the story to flow and to truly make sense you would want to buy the book. Also if you are like me, you love sitting under a tree, or next to a window sill with your coffee.  And you love the fact that you can highlight it, make notes and lend it to others, yes if you are like me then hurry and get yourself a copy.  I have a link to Amazon.com here in the blog (right margin) that you can follow if you want to buy this beautiful book.  If you do not see the link just go to Amazon.com and type "Princess in Overalls"  and you will see it there. 

If "Princess in Overalls" is touching your heart, help others get inspired by getting them familiar with the blog.    I wanted to encourage you to be a princess in overalls and share your favorite post with others using the Facebook, Pinterest etc. buttons.  

Last but not least feel free to contact me either by leaving me a comment or sending me an email, that would make me very happy.  When I see there are people from Ukraine, China, Luxemburg, and so many other countries following the blog I feel like meeting you!    So I promise I do my best to answer every email I get, and any questions you may have!  If you want some advise, some encouragement or simply someone to talk to just get in touch!  Just give me some time, sometimes life can get hectic for me.  But you can pour your heart to me ....I am here for you.  

Don't be afraid to be a "Princess in Overalls",

Blessings Carolina