faithMile

When I was younger, my cousin and I were walking to the store. On the way there, we saw some teenage girls. My cousin walked up to one of them and introduced herself and then said “You’re nice. Will you be my friend?” Being a pre-teen girl myself, with her only a few years younger, I was mortified. That was the most “uncool” thing one could possibly do. However, the girl didn’t ridicule my cousin. She said “Yes, I’ll be your friend” and they talked for a few minutes. Then we went on our way.

Looking back, I think of that moment and I have a different view. Instead of thinking of how uncool it was, I feel a longing for how simple things used to be. Somehow, in adulthood, the need to connect is still there, but the means is vastly different. We can’t just walk up to people and say “Hi. Will you be my friend?” It’s seen as strange. But why is that? Did we grow out of the need for friends? Should we have to jump through hoops in order to qualify for a “Hello” from another person?

One of my new year’s resolutions is to be more open. I want to start with my FaceBook friends. Most of my friends are just people who sit on the page and I rarely see or talk to them, but I can make an effort to reach out. Post some messages on a few walls every day. Leave some private messages asking how people are doing. Of course, my FaceBook friends are people I know and therefore should be interacting with. However, hopefully this will lead to me being able to be more open with people I don’t know, making an effort to say hi or start some small talk. And, just once, I want to get up the nerve to say to someone I’ve just met, “You’re nice. Will you be my friend?”

I love New Year’s. It’s a time to start over, refresh and renew. Most people make resolutions about what they will change for the new year and those resolutions usually have to do with making ourselves more “acceptable”. We want to lose weight. We want to get makeovers, get a new job with better pay. There isn’t anything wrong with having goals for the new year, but it’s also a great time to remember that God loves us just as we are. He doesn’t care whether we’re apple or pear shaped, whether our clothes are in the latest styles. He loves models and metrosexuals, but he loves us ordinary folks, too. In that light, I think an interesting resolution would be to spend the next year trying to see yourself and others through God’s eyes. Ask him to show you how he sees you – and how he sees others. It may change the way you view yourself. If, after seeing yourself as God sees you, you still want to lose weight and change your hairstyle, go for it! But you can do it with the spirit of adventure that goes with trying something new rather than with the anxiety of wanting to be accepted or loved.

You are loved.

by Paula R. Baines

Are you going to church, yet not really there mentally? Oh that has happened to me recently. I hate to admit it though. I am not sure when this start happening but I have noticed it occurring more often.

My husband stated that he goes to church to be thankful for what he has been given in life. He stated that he is concerned that I spend more time worrying about other things and not really there mentally. Strangely I feel I’m only reminded of things that I have not done. Guilt? Perhaps.

I think my spirit has been buried under all the calendar commitments and “to-dos” that I have yet to do. Unfortunately, church has become another thing to do. Not only has my head not been there but my heart has not either.

I was just reading an article on the Internet that included the following biblical quote:

“throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

I lack the spiritual energy to keep up with life and realize that maybe if I let go and let God, my burdens will be lifted. I desperately need to be restored. Help.

You know what is even more frustrating I am writing an inspirational motivational book about growing in the spirit and attitude. Ironically, I could use a major attitude adjustment myself.

I work on my book each day to complete a chapter by week’s end, plus the other things on my “to-do” list. I have been bogged down by goal of achievement, i.e. self publishing my book and signing those autographs that I have forgotten who gave me the talent to write in the first place.

Have you ever been bogged down by goals that you forgotten your original purpose for achieving them in the first place? Do you spend more time counting the “to-dos” then counting your blessings? I have to raise my hand on those two accounts as well.

I have resolved to be more grateful for what I have in life than what I have left undone. I have resolved to restore my spirit so I can achieve what I need to do to live with purpose. I resolve to concentrate when I am church so I can filled again with the spirit so I can meet the daily challenges of life during the week.

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me” (Psalm 51:12).

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Paula R. Baines is writer and publisher who resides in Hampden, Maine with her husband of nine years and two young sons. She publishes a bimonthly newsletter called Vantage Point E-News and a website, PowertoGrow.homestead.com. She can be reached via e-mail at AdvantagedImage@aol.com.