PARADOXICAL

I've been through a depression lately and I've been bombarded with the ff. text messages from friends. Delete the text message that belongs to the bunch the least.

1. Never regret the choices you've made. Always be satisfied with what you have right now. Life isn't perfect. It's a blend of joy and sorrow. It's just a matter of how to deal with it.

2. When you deal with mean and hurtful people, just think of them as sandpaper. They may rub and scratch you painfully, but eventually, you end up smoother and polished.

3. God doesn't always tell you how He's working out His plans, but in His time and in His way, He'll clearly let you know His working out His best for you.

4. Shoe repair sign: I WILL HEEL YOU. I WILL SAVE YOUR SOLE. I WILL EVEN DYE FOR YOU! Just want to make you smile and SHOE away your blues. Have a shoeshiny day.

5. The truest measure of a man lies not in what he achieves for himself, but in the good things he does for others. Fulfillment does not only mean achieving our greatest hopes and dreams. It is also knowing that we have made the lives of others worth living.

5. Forget the things that made you sad and remember those that made you glad. Forget the troubles that passed your way and remember the blessings that come each day.

6. No matter how softly we pray, God listens and understands. He knows the hopes and fears we keep in our hearts, for when we trust his love, miracles happen.

7. When we lose hope, blackness settles like a shroud, days are bleak and gray, expectations die, and we die with them. We have nowhere to look except up.

8. A breath of prayer in the morning means a day of power and blessings. A soul shall never be helpless with God's infinite grace.

9. Whenever you're down, always remember: you're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think, because you have Jesus to back you up.

10. God sometimes pushes us out of our comfortable lives to teach us to trust Him. WE may fall a little, but He doesn't let us touch the ground.

11. In character, in manner, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity. Wisdom to live by. Send DAILY JOY to 2929 now!

***

Messages like those above I expect from members of my support group. What would really, really touch me, though, are the unexpected how-are-you's and i-thought-about-you's from people I've lost touch with, like W., my classmate in kindergarten and elementary school, and Ms. D., my high-school 'homeroom' adviser. For some reason, I got their cell number kept in my cell phone memory. For some reason, they suddenly thought of me at the exact moment I needed to be reassured of some kind of connection.

I don't question whether there is indeed a God, but these little miracles show me that God is indeed mysteriously good even when you're in the middle of some dire straits.

posted by Resty Odon  # 8:15 PM