Want To Belive.....

[Guest]

Want To Belive.....

Going to get battered for this but....

Hiya Fan and everyone else on this thread - going to get a belting for this, but couldn't resist in response to your last post, Fan....

Sunday School class is asked - Where is God? Little boy sticks up hand and says "God lives in our bathroom, miss"!! Teacher asks what he means - little boy says "Well, miss, every morning my Dad bangs on the bathroom door and shouts "God, are you still in there??!!!"

Sorry, but had to live up to my name somehow!!!:H

The Terror

[Guest]

Want To Belive.....

Will play nice now!

Hope no-one offended by very old joke!!! Neale Donald Walsch has a quite interesting website and weblog and although (again, please don't take offence!) I am not a religous person at all - he seems quite an interesting bloke, so might read a bit just for the general interest in something different.

The Terror (out of her depth over here!!)

[southernbelle47]

Want To Belive.....

Good morning friends,

I'm so happy to see you all here!
Have noted all your comments and have only one thing to say......well...maybe two or three things...

Isn't it great that we all have the freedom to choose our own path? And we are ALL different and our needs are different also.
The one thing we all have in common is our search for Freedom and Joy in our lives.
There are many programs out there.
All work for some but some do not work for all.......
I like to embrace our sameness at the same time I embrace our differences..

Just a thought!
:h Nancy

[southernbelle47]

Want To Belive.....

OH..........BTW...............I loved that old joke!

[Accountable for Me]

Want To Belive.....

aa1998,

I agree with what Fan said in his post. I, too, have great friends who attend AA and they truly have found their way being a part of it. For me, I have attended AA and it really wasn't for me.

Spirituality comes in so many forms.

I truly believe God is in all of our hearts, and no matter what he will always be there for you.

I am happy AA has brought you peace and sobriety! Keep up the good work!

[lushy]

Want To Belive.....

Rocky, I finally watched the story. Definitely does make you think. What a gift that little girl has. And for her mother to have been an atheist is an even big thought provoker for me. Thanks so much for sharing it.

[Allie]

Want To Belive.....

She is my favorite artist... I got to meet her at an art gallery at Southpark Mall in Charlotte two years ago. I can go on her website and look at her paintings and read what is obviously God-inspired for hours. There is just no other explanation. I love her story.

Allie
(pardon my new avatar... its temporary... LOL)

[southernbelle47]

Want To Belive.....

Hi Allie.....
Good to see you here.
Tell us the meaning of your new avatar.....
I know you had a hard week....hope things are better.
We all feel like we went to Vegas with you! At least I did...I even felt sick when you did! Is this normal?
Anywho........
:h Nancy

[Diana]

Want To Belive.....

Hi everyone,
Have just come home from church and somehow it seems more special then I have felt it for a long time. 21 days AF today.

Found this little prayer and hope it helps you through the day as well.

O God, you have called us to live in fellowship with one another. Throughout today, keep me from anything that would make me hard to live with. Help me to aviod thoughtlessly speaking in such a way that I hurt another's feelings. Help me to aviod deliberately acting in such a way that I break another's heart. [B]Amen

Thinking of you all and thanking God for finding this site.
Diana

[Java]

Want To Belive.....

Thank you for that Dianna i really like that.

[Allie]

Want To Belive.....

Hi Nancy and everyone,
The meaning of my new avatar lies in jokes tossed around on the mods board. Beth (Bak310) and I got to meet over New Years in Orlando and we went shopping together on New Years Day. Anyway, we took some funny pictures of each other trying on ridiculous shoes that of course we would never buy or wear. Anyway, Beth made HER avatar a picture she took of my in some red high heels. So I made a joke that I needed to borrow them back for my Vegas trip. She and I even talked on the phone some and it is ongoing joke. So anyway, my new avatar is "me" having to go barefoot while still waiting for my shoes to be returned...

So anyway. My bubble blowing avatar that I have always had is "officially retired" now as it is no longer a choice on this website. I didnt save her on my computer, so I'm afraid I have to find a new permanent one. Still looking for the right one.

Also, back to the subject you were all sharing on, I wanted to share a story although its a bit long. I think it will be meaningful. Some of you had mentioned in some of the firsts posts here about God sending bad things our way. I've kind of come full circle on my thinking in this, and that I ultimately have chosen to believe Gods word to be the truth, although I may not understand so many things. God even says in the Bible, (Isa. 55:9) "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." To me this clearly says that we only understand a very limited amount of the whole picture, but God also assures us in (1 Cor. 13:10) "That now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: Now I know in part; but then shall I know even as I also am known."

My brother's little girl drowned about seven years ago. It was a tragic accident. They had five children, all boys except for little Emma. One of my brother's elderly patient's (he is hospice physician) had their family to come out to his home and use his boat as one of his last wishes because my brother had done so much for him. My brother had put it off for a while, but knew this man's time was short. So he took his wife and kids out to spend a Saturday in May out on the boat. After an entire day of wonderful fun, they docked the boat and my brother went inside the house to check on his patient who was bedridden with oxygen/ feeding tubes in the living room. Apparently one of his tubes was clogged, so he yelled to my sister-in-law to come in and help him move him to a different bed and rehook his tubes. (the man was choking). So she dashed in to help, leaving her five children outside loading up the car from the day. Their 2nd to youngest, Emma was four. She and the six-year-old took a raft from the dock, and put it in the water. It floated off, and Emma fell off. Jacob screamed for help, but only after she had gone under for the last time. My brother and his wife flew out to the end of the dock and Jacob pointed to where she had gone under. After holding his breath as long as he could, he had to come back up. The water was so black he could not see his hand in front of his face. This happened in a lake. Anyhow, 45 minutes later, a dive team found her little body on the bottom.

Heartbroken is remotely fitting for what their, and our whole family went through. I had been at her birth when she was born. So the day after the funeral, my brother went back over to this man's house. Of course the man knew what had happened, and could not even look my brother in the eyes because of his guilt. He said, "It is all my fault... I should have never invited you to come." My brother's response to him could only have been said by the love of God in his heart, and a true relationship with him. He told this dying man, "I know where Emma is.... it is YOU that I am worried about. Emma knew and loved Jesus as her savior from a very young age. She always talked of heaven. What about you? " So this man broke down and cried and said to my brother that he could not believe that he even came back to check on him after what happened, and that how could he be worried about him when his little girl had just drowned three days ago. My brother replied that because "this is not our true home. Emma is at home, and we will join her later although we will miss her terribly until then." This man asked my brother to lead him in prayer, because he did not have that confidence of salvation. So my brother prayed with him, and this man surrended his life to Christ. He died the next day. My brother says (and this is true) that anyone who ever knew Emma, knows that she would have gladly gone to heaven to save an old man.

A year to the very day that Emma died, God gave my brother and his wife another baby girl. When the man came to deliver flowers to their house from the local florist, he began to cry. He said, "This time last year I was deliving flowers because of death. Today you are all smiling and there is a new life!" Again, my brother talked with him and he too became a Christian right there in their living room. So I have seen first hand, that God has a reason for everything, even our pain.

Allie

[Diana]

Want To Belive.....

Hi everyone,
Day 22 AF and feel like a million dollars. I couldn't do this without all of you and your words of wisdom and support. I just want to share another morning prayer which I think was written with all of us in mind.

O God, throughout this day may I be courteous and respectful in all my dealings with others. When dealing with issues related to myself, may I always be honest to face the truth, even when it causes personal hurt. Throughout this day help me to remember that you know about everything I do, and that in you I live and move have my being. Grant that I may not do anything shameful; nothing that would bring grief to those who love me; and to avoid any thoughts, word and deeds that would bring sorrow to you. Amen

[southernbelle47]

Want To Belive.....

Thank you for sharing that Allie.

We really can't understand but have to hold on to the only Hope we have.

You explained it nicely.
Lots of other good thought here also.

:h Nancy

[Java]

Want To Belive.....

Thank you so much for sharing that with us Allie...

Victoria

[Diana]

Want To Belive.....

Allie,
Thank you so much, I too through my life as a nurse and also as a Christian have experienced the many wonderful ways in which God works. I know that He is with us all right now, if he is not then we are the ones who have turned away. That was truly inspirational.

God Bless