Naty Matos's Blog, page 50

Don't ever give up on love!

About four years ago I decided that I wanted to adopt a dog. I visited several rescue places but I couldn't find one that would just be the one I wanted to take home. One afternoon a rescue place had their dogs at a pet store and I went to check it out and there she was. I stood about five feet away and looked at her for like thirty minutes. River was her name. She was a black lab. She looked friendly and quiet. One of the rescue volunteers placed her on a leash for me to walk her around. It was obvious she had no leash training and that she was way stronger than me as it was her dragging me instead of me leading her. I immediately fell in love with her and took her home.

Before we left the rescue volunteer told me some of her history. River was two years old, had been severely abused physically and emotionally. She still had scabs on her body from the abuse, which meant they were still kind of recent. She had been poisoned at some point, so unless she trusted the person feeding her, she would not eat. She was very introverted.

Well, just as expected, when we made it home she just went into a corner. Instead of fighting her into her crate she would stay there day and night even when the door remained open. If any men would approach her she would hide behind me. The first five days she didn't eat. I was going crazy worried that she would get sick. I called the vet and she said that it was going to be ok, but my heart was breaking. The only time she was a little lively was when I would walk her and it was because she wanted to run away. It was a funny sight to see me being dragged by her through the neighborhood.

I bought every toy and treat I could find. I read about abused dogs. I took her to the park to socialize with other dogs; she would stay in a corner and do nothing. She didn't eat the treats, she didn't play with the toys, and she ignored the other dogs.

After a few days I sat with her in the floor of the kitchen and she came to me. I grabbed a few bits of her food and offered them with my hand and she finally ate. I cried; my baby was finally eating. For the next few days she ate only out of my hand, and then slowly we transitioned to the floor until she finally made it to her bowl. At the park, it had been a "family" effort amongst the regulars to get her socialized, so she was petted and given more attention than any other dog. Slowly she started playing alone with the toys I would bring to the park and even approaching people.

Unfortunately River is no longer with me, but what made me think of her today was the fact that sometimes people have been severely hurt by life and when someone comes into their life to pour love into them, they don't know how to receive it. We do that to God all the time who loved us to the point of giving us his only son to die for us. Sometimes those hurting people can't believe something good has happened to them and are always waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Be patient! Continue to pour your unconditional love into them, just like my River; they will slowly see that you really love them, than they are finally safe…that they are finally home!

Be blessed!

WF: City on our knees

This song means so much to me probably because worship is such important in my life. It's the best and strongest way to feel connected with God and it would be a total dream to see the world united in worship to the one and only Lord!

Happy Friday!

WF: Worship Friday

A writing thought…

You need not expect to get your book right the first time. Go to work and revamp or rewrite it. God only exhibits his thunder and lightning at intervals, and so they always command attention. These are God's adjectives. You thunder and lightning too much; the reader ceases to get under the bed, by and by. Mark Twain

No Small Job

[image error]I observed a man this morning in a suit trying to push a wagon of boxes. He was truly struggling to balance the load and pushing the cart. The boxes were empty by the way. It reminded me that the things we do, do not define who we are.

People have the tendency to place certain professions, jobs, tasks or qualities in a pedestal. The body has many members, and all of them have different functions, but none of them are less than the other.  Look at your hand for a minute, if you lost one finger, any of them, you would miss it terribly and you would have to make major adjustments to go back to "normal function". The same is with the way we are as a collective, everyone has a function to do and nobody is better or worse for the position they have been placed.

I used to work with a brilliant doctor. It was a delight to hear this man speak, full of knowledge and wisdom, but totally technologically challenged. He couldn't operate his computer or his cell phone. If some of us in the office didn't pull out his e-mails and voicemails, he would not be in the loop of the things that needed to be done. That didn't make him less or didn't make us more. We had different skills and functions to complete.

I also remember being a manager. I'm a pretty gadget and technically savvy person, but for some reason the fax machine at that office [image error]and I did not get along (anyone remembers the movie Office Space, yes that was my relationship with the fax machine). I tried to not bother others and do my own thing. When I would disappear for a while and my assistant knew that I was not in a meeting, she usually checked the copy room and there I was fighting the fax machine. She would take the papers from my hands and get the job done in fifteen seconds.

My dad used to say, someone needs to sell hot dogs on the corner of the street otherwise I wouldn't have a place to buy it, and someone needs to pick up the garbage, otherwise it would pile up in our house.

So no matter what you're doing today, don't look at it with the eyes of the world that classifies tasks as better or worse. Look at your job as a gift from God to render a service that in the large scheme of things it's just as important as the next one to keep things working the way they should.

Luke 13:30

indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last."

Blessings.

Carrots, Eggs and Coffee

I received this story in one of those chain e-mails that we all get. I rarely read

those, but this one really caught my attention and decided to share it with all of you. The author is unknown and may we all be coffee…

You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire.

Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what you see."

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma the daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity…. boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its insides became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Now think of this: Which am I?

Am I the carrot

that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg

that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or……

Am I like the coffee bean?

The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything… they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past . You can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying. 

May we all be COFFEE!!!!!!

 

 

Beautiful and Handsome

As God's children we should aspire for the best as we are the children of The King. With this I'm not talking about our expectations for others, but for our own selves. The media is filled with images that define beauty for us, and in my quest for meaning I decided to research the world view and God's view on beauty.

When talking about the beauty in terms of human attraction these tend to be defined by gender. Women are beautiful; men are handsome. What does that really mean?

  Beautiful

I usually start with my friend Webster who says that beauty is the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory manifestations (as shape, color, sound, etc.), a meaningful design or pattern, or something else (as a personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest).  It's an individually pleasing or has beautiful quality; grace; charm.

Reading this also entails that beauty is very subjective. Something pleasing to my eyes is totally disgusting to the person next to me. Therefore beauty will depend on our personal experiences, our culture and our personal taste. Not much for an objective definition.

Of course I went to the Word of God and this is what I found:

  Proverbs 31:30(NIV) "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised" This one I found particularly interesting because Webster said that charm was part of beauty, but the word of God tells us that charm is fleeting.
 1 Peter 3:3-5 (NIV) "such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves."

So according to the Word, in reality being beautiful has nothing to do with how we look, but who we are. I think this definition can transcend cultures, tastes and personal experiences. I could even dare to say that it doesn't divide even by gender as a man can have a gentle and quiet spirit as well.

Handsome

Now for the gentlemen, this was Webster's definition of handsome: having an attractive, well-proportioned, and imposing appearance suggestive of health and strength; good-looking; having pleasing proportions, relationships, exhibiting skill, taste, and refinement.

Once again it focuses on the outer appearance and the subjectivity of what is perceived by it, but in this case it goes further talking about skills, which is something that I think I never thought was included in this definition.

I found in Daniel 1:4 the following message, "young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king's palace"  The bible doesn't deter much from Webster in this definition, it talks about no physical defect, which I'm sure is not talking about lack of flaws, but about a healthy body; but adds something to it, which is knowledge and the ability to learn. So for a man to be attractive, the six packs may be as equally important as the knowledge he presents, if not more.

The irony for me was that doing this research I found pictures that do not conform to our Hollywood mentality of beauty, which reinforces the notion that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  Yes, I did find pictures of Brad Pitt in the midst of it and of  Julia Roberts, but I found pictures that defined beauty that are unusual for our traditional mindset. Here I share some:

Beautiful:

Handsome:

    

So here's the bottom line:

 Are you woman, being defined by the world's definition of beauty or are you beautifying your spirit with the Word of God?  Also, are you looking at men within the God's definition of beauty?
 Are you man, being defined by the world's physical view of handsome? Or are you being teachable and in the search for the true knowledge? Also, are you looking at women within the definition of beauty that God has set for you?

Food for thought,

Blessings

Naty

WF: I surrender

As we continue with what we've learned this week, we close this Worship Friday with the basic lesson…Let's surrender it all!!!

Have a blessed weekend!

I'm stuck… P.2

Today we finish reviewing the scripture from Job 22:21-25, which when I read made an impression on me about how to move forward when we as believer get stuck in our spiritual growth. If you missed the first part just click hereto catch up.

The next part of this scripture reads:

Clean your house of everything evil- This one really called my attention, we need to be very mindful and careful of what we feed our mind and spirit. Sometimes those things that we feel are harmless are kids. It's not healthy, they don't need them anyway and you know your hand is going to end up in the cookie jar. But it's more than food, if you struggle with lust, why are you watching shows or videos with people with little to no clothes or listening to suggestive music? You know where your mind is going to go. If you struggle with gossip, you know who are the gossipers in your office and family, why are you entertaining those conversations? Are you the one who starts the conversation? If you struggle with anger, watching action movies where people are killed and buildings are blown up are not going to make you feel more at peace, and even if your struggle is having time for yourself and spending more time in the word, when are you going to get off Facebook, twitter and other websites or the television to do just that; either get some rest, more family time or more time with God.

Relax your grip on your money- I think one of the biggest lessons I'velearned is that it's not my money, it's God's money and I'm just an administrator who gets a chance to use some of it to cover my needs but the rest is supposed to go back to build his kingdom. Have I master that concept? No, I'm not going to lie, but at least I have it as a concept now. We can talk about tithing and giving and I did so in a stewardship series last year. We can talk about the consequences of not seeing the resources available as God's and think they are ours as in the Parable of the Talents, but you can read about those later, at least get the concept of being an administrator and not owner of your money and you can start giving baby steps in the right direction.

And abandon your gold-plated luxury- The last time I moved, I realized how much junk I have, that I probably never used or rarely used. No joke, I did fifteen (15) trips to Goodwill to donate tons of things. For one I was moving from a house to an apartment to I truly needed to downsize what I had, but I also needed to get rid of all of that. Guess what? I have not missed a single thing. The sad thing is that even with all that downsize I still have closets full with things. The bible says that we should be content with just food and clothing. We don't live by those standards. When I moved to my apartment, I had four TV's. Tell me why a single person needs four televisions. How many shoes do you need? How many purses? How many gadgets? The sad truth is that some people are in debt while still buying more and more. If you were to die tonight, what are you taking with you? Will God tell you good and faithful servant because you spent $600 in the latest gadget? Or will he ask you why didn't you feed him while he was hungry on the street with that same money?

God Almighty will be your treasure, more wealth than you can imagine- We need to get out of our heads that by giving we are losing, it's not ours to begin with. This scripture can basically be explained with another scripture: "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Matthew 6:33

In summary, first we need to acknowledge that God is in control, therefore we need to relinquish the control of our life in order to experience change and growth. Then as we mature spiritually we need to recognize those things that are getting in the way of us living the life that we were intended to live. Finally we will experience the fullness of our purpose as we grow our relationship with God.

God bless you!

I'm stuck… P.1

Regardless of where you are in your walk with Christ, there are moments when your journey feels stuck. Once you became saved some of your worldly habits went away, but there are some lingering in your life. Somehow there's this conception that if you're a Christian and you're saved you are just happily living in a cloud and everything in life is perfect; nothing farther from the truth.

That concept makes some Christian hide their struggles; they feel ashamed that they are struggling in a sin or a habit when they proclaim to be lovers of the Lord. This type of bondage makes their spiritual growth to stop and hinders them from enjoying the freedom, peace and fullness of blessings of a life with Christ.

I found this scripture that I want us to look at it closely. It really tugged at my spirit because is what I call a hidden treasure in the bible that can start getting us in the right path to moving forward from being stuck. The scripture is Job 22:21-25, I like The Message version, it helps slow pokes like me understand the Word better, so let's start this journey:

Give in to God- Ask yourself what is it that God has been asking you to turnover for a while and you have not. As yourself, why haven't you? Sometimes we battle God over our habits, whatever they may be. Sometime we enjoy our sins too much to give them up, and we're just not sure we want to live without that worldly pleasure.

Come to terms with him- There is nothing, absolutely nothing impossible for God. When we are faced with a struggle we think that we have tried everything in our power to get this resolved, there's no other way things are going to be any other way. Wrong! You are right, you are powerless over your sin and your situation, but you need to accept that God can change everything if you hand it over…then what are you waiting for?

And everything will turn out just fine- This is God's promise, if we turn things over to him, they may not come out the way we want them, but they will come out fine and for our good.

Let him tell you what to do.- Are you one of those people who when they pray they tell God how things should be fixed? Guilty as charged. If we knew what we were doing we would have fixed it already, therefore I think is time to sit quietly and allow God to be the one telling you what the real plan out of your misery is. Yours has not worked so far, give it a chance.

Take his words to heart- Once he tells you what to do, do it! Sometimes theanswer is not what we want to hear, so we start questioning if it comes from God. Keep yourself in communication with the Holy Spirit so that you can discern the sweet voice of the Lord and not be mistaken.

Come back to the Lord Almighty and he will rebuild your life-Once again God reassures us that the answer is in him. He will turn things around. I've lived this promise in times of duress and the times I have not been living it has been simply because my spoon is in the saucer. Once I come back to God and his word and his will he has restored my life in better ways than what I had planned for the outcome to be, even when the process didn't exactly looked like what I was hoping for.

On our next post we will continue to explore this powerful bible verse. Until then… Be blessed!

Restored Life

By Karen Baney

Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. Psalm 71:20 (NIV)

When I was thinking about what to write for this post, I came across this verse. It's one that I wished I had known before I published my novel A Life Restored, because it sums up the theme of the book very well.

In the novel, Thomas Anderson has faced many bitter troubles. Even though most are consequences of his actions, there are times where he struggles to catch a break. At one point he gets very discouraged and even starts to look away.

Do you ever feel like you can't catch a break? Have you been tossed around by trial after trial after trial? Maybe you're not currently facing so many troubles but have in the past. How do you deal with it?

From this verse, we can remember that God does restore lives and will bring us up from our deepest lows. I know it's hard to remember when the waves feel like they are drowning you—but that doesn't make it less true. Over and over in the Bible, we learn that God never leaves us. He never forsakes us.

The next time you face insurmountable trials, I hope you'll remember this verse and be encouraged. No matter how deep or how long they last, God will restore you and lift you up again. Ask him to give you the strength to live through the trials well.

Karen Baney writes Christian historical and contemporary romance novels. When she's not busy writing, she enjoys traveling the state of Arizona with her husband, exploring museums and the picturesque landscapes the state has to offer. Her faith plays an important role both in her life and in her writing. Karen and her husband make their home in Gilbert, Arizona, with their two dogs.

For a limited time only, pick up a free copy of A Life Restored (Prescott Pioneers #3) by Karen Baney.

Visit Karen at her website: http://www.karenbaney.com or on Facebook or Twitter. Visit her special blog for authors at http://www.everythingauthor.com.