Old Haunts

[Sylvia]

My husband and I like to go to the coast in the off season. The prices are lower and less people. This past weekend we went and we usually go to the same places each time. This time was different. It did not revolve around alcohol. It was actually an eye opener as when we were looking for some place to go to eat we actually considered the food!!
And we were even more surprised at how many places we had not even been to even though we have been doing this for 26 years.
God has opened my eyes so much since I stopped drinking. I even walked by one of our old haunts and hated the thought of going in there.
My heart has changed.
This is what Rick Warren author of Purpose Driven Life had to say in a recent interview:
In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:

People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me.

I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.

We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.

The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort.

God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.

We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.

I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.

Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.

No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.

And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.

If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness,"which is my problem, my issues, my pain." But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her.

It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.

Luv all my Real Solutions Family
Sylvia

[Mackenaw]

Hello Sylvia,

Thank you so very much for sharing that with us -- Wow, what a wonderful visual.

God bless you, Sylvia,
Mack

[realtmg]

Sylvia, Post such as this is what makes me so joyful. As you know, I lived a life that consisted of years of drugs and alcohol. The bondage of "self".
You mentioned that he has changed your heart.
Ezekial 38:28 says, A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
When we draw unto Him for our strength to overcome, He makes a way for us. I am thankful.
Thanks for your praise report sis.
Luv ya. Real.