1047. Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all. ~Dale Carnegie

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Living with chronic pain is not a choice. No one in their right mind would choose to live with pain day after day as well as have to give up things they love to do because of it. And just because others can’t see it or feel it, doesn’t make it any less real or painful for its victims. Pain changes people; nevertheless these people get up everyday and push themselves to do their best, and all they ask for and need is understanding and compassion and not to be treated as if the pain in not real. The only lie they tell is when someone asks how they are and they say, “I’m fine.” Chronic pain sufferers are not striving to get sympathy and/or attention; they are just trying to get by the best way they can. Everyone fights some kind of battle in this life, but because chronic pain is not visible, chronic sufferers can only pretend to be happy and well which is an example of how truly strong they are and how extremely good God is to give them the strength and fortitude they need to carry on.

“Yet if I speak, my pain is not relieved; and if I refrain, it does not go away.” ~Job 16:6  ✝

It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure. ~2 Samuel 22:33  ✝

Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always. ~1 Chronicles 16:11  ✝

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts Him, and He helps me. ~Excerpt from Psalm 28:7  ✝

**Image found on Facebook

987. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold. ~Helen Keller

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Another mass murder. Another attack against innocence. Another attack against personal freedoms. Another attack against human rights. Another regrettable tragedy. Another senseless loss for friends and family to bear. Another reason to fear for our safety. Another threat to what people hold dear. Another excuse to doubt God for the unbeliever. Thus what happened today breaks my heart again, and I pray for the victims, their families, and the responders. But what today’s horrific events can never do is steal my hope. While not yet ready to die, I will not live afraid, I will not let madmen rob me of my faith and happiness, I will not let madmen steal what time I have left on earth to worship God and enjoy the life I’ve been given. I am Yahweh’s child, I am of His image and the light of His love, and I will continue to shine His light whenever and wherever I can.

The particular mind of the ocean
Filling the coastline’s longing
With such brief harvest
Of elegant, vanishing waves
Is like the mind of time
Opening up shapes of days.

As this year draws to its end,
We give thanks for the gifts it brought
And how they became inlaid within
Where neither time nor tide can touch them
The days when the veil lifted
And the soul could see delight;
When a quiver caressed the heart
In the sheer exuberance of being here.
Surprises that came awake
In forgotten corners of old fields
Where expectation seemed to have been quenched.

The slow, brooding times
When all was awkward
And the wave in the mind
Pierced every sore with salt.
The darkened days that stopped
The confidence of the dawn.
Days when beloved faces shone brighter
With light from beyond themselves;
And from the granite of some secret sorrow
A stream of buried tears loosened.

We bless this year for all we learned,
For all we loved and lost
And for the quiet way it brought us
Nearer to our invisible destination.
~John O’Donohue

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. ~Isaiah 41:10   ✝