Thoughts, Stories, Quotations

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Poetry

Wonderful Things “Tell me, what do you see?” said the old man “I see the night sky decorated with stars, the beauty of the sea!” “Good.” the old man replied “Look again, what do you see?” “I see the peace of the pastures, the loveliness in the trees! Birds chirping a melody!” “Wonderful, wonderful my son, one more time, what do you see?” “I see a heart...broken and needing mending...tears streaming!” “What is this father?” He said, tears welling up in his eyes. “You're seeing my heart son, my people don't understand.” “Don't understand father?” “How much I love them, a love greater than the decorated night sky, greater than the peace of the pastures, and more wonderful than the birds that sing.” “Father...is this how you love me?” “Yes my son, it is. Because to me, you're greater than all these wonderful things.”

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Poetry

Why I Write

This is me writing, speaking, letting it out

Just writing what’s on my heart, letting it lead me about

Spewing out to my own content

Outpouring from my heart, dumping out it’s contents

Saying what I normally would not say

Giving life to what’s been brewing inside all day

I just gotta let it all out!

Because really, that’s what it’s all about

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Judgement

Matthew 7:1-3 King James Version (KJV) 7 Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

     I fail to comprehend on how if Jesus clearly says “judge not,” that often time Christians are the most judgmental. It grieves me that when somebody falls, makes a mistake, or goes in a different direction that people think that person should be going in, immediately a wave of judgment sweeps through. We fail to love those who make mistakes, or who have appeared to have slipped and fallen. We take no account of what that person is going through, and prefer to spread their falling like gossip. Why do we do this? We don’t see the pain that person is going through, just like we don’t see the pain we cause when we judge them. Your judgment won’t cause anyone to want to do right, but loving them through their failures, will. It’s time out for judging, it’s time to start loving.

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Part of a Devotional I’m Writing

Day 1 Let it Go Matthew 11:29-30 (NKJV) 29  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

    What are you carrying that is making your life heavy? Heartache? Pain? The expectations of others? Perhaps even the expectations of yourself, or even your parents. All of us are carrying burdens that we should not be carrying. Some are harder to let go than others, but when we examine scripture, we see that anything is a heavy burden, is not our burden. Don’t worry about the bills you have to pay, or perhaps that doctor’s appointment you’ve been avoiding going to. That is not your burden to carry

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Often time we want to wait until we “get there,” but God is not looking for that. Come as you are, dirt and mud between your toes and all. His love covers your mistakes. Love does not seek to expose and shame, love seeks to cover.

My First Book

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Simplicity

    How often we hide what we truly want to say in a cloud of unnecessary sentences. “Why did you do it?” “Because I’ve been going through this and that…” Untrue! The real reason? “Because I wanted to.” I’ve noticed a lot of people (often time including myself) have the greatest difficulty, saying the simplest of things. Why can’t we just say “I like you. How do you feel about me?” Rather than beating around the bush playing foolish games, constantly wondering when we could just ask. “You hurt me when you did this, and I don’t appreciate it.” Instead of making the other person guess what they did wrong to you. It points to a deeper issue, that we as humans, struggle with simplicity.     However, there’s always beauty in simplicity. What takes our breath away are not the extremely technical occurrences that breeze by our day to day lives, but those special simple moments that we can’t find the words to describe. It’s these kind of moments that make life worth living, that make dating that person so fantastic, that reminds you what it means to really be alive. Take a moment, and examine the simple things in your life, you’ll see things you’ve never seen before.

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End

I let you go my pride, my treasure Even though I wanted to be with you forever I needed an eternity with you, spend it forever in your arms Now it’s all gone, lost in the sun Perhaps that’s where the memories belong, and not in the night Let them be free, let them be alive Let them bask in the rays of the sun Yes, that’s where they belong Thank you for the memories, for showing me the day. I hope one day I can repay you I pray You were the best of the best Clearly ahead of the rest Thank you for the day There’s no one else I’d have rather spent it with.

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Fear, the Great Stopper

    That feeling that just stops you in your tracks? That just brings you to an absolute halt? That’s fear. Fear will paralyze you, and if you let it sink it’s talons into you, you’ll never do anything you want to accomplish. I read today an article that essentially said, without risks, there can be no reward. If you really want to do great things in life, things no one has ever seen before, you have to step out. You can’t expect things to just happen, you have to take those steps forward and potentially leave yourself vulnerable. Leave yourself open to criticism, and take the hits that come along with finally doing what you’ve been putting off to do.     We don’t live in a world of sunshines and rainbows. Yes, there is definitely beauty (like that girl or guy you’ve been admiring from a distance), but there’s also a lot of mean spirited people, or even people you know and care about that will not support you. Sometimes what people say just flat out hurts, but as Rocky (yes I am quoting Rocky) said, “Life’s not about how hard you can hit, but how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward, how much you can take, and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done.” You’re going to take hits in this life, but you can’t be afraid of the punches that are coming. Put up your guard, raise those gloves, and keep moving forward.

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A Section from the Book I’m Writing

He Loves You Too Much To Leave You Where You Are At     Often time we think, “How great would it be if there was no struggle in life?” Where we would never have to be in a position where we would have to change. God loves you too much to leave you where you’re at. And often times, we go through things we don’t want to go through, but it’s important to remember that God has a purpose in every single one of them. The best way to think about this is through the eyes of a potter. He sees the finished work before He has begun. What you are going through is shaping you towards where He’s taking you. There is a purpose.

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Slightly Depressing Poetry

Not Ok “What’s on your heart? What’s on your mind? What are you thinking of all the time? Is it a boy? A girl? Something in between? Perhaps that piece of food you can’t remove from your teeth? Tell me what goes on that pretty little head? Is it fear, trauma, or something pleasant instead? Please tell me what’s going on in your mind I’d love to hear it, because I think you’re…” “Fine.” “I’d love tell you what I got in my head. It’s anger, frustration, hatred in a bed! They’re wrestling about, tormenting my mind. I don’t know who I am anymore, I’m running out of time! Because I don’t want to exist in this world of pain. I’d rather die, than face another day. So if you want to know, that’s what’s on my mind, And no, so we’re clear, I’m not…” “Fine.”

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Something Good

     Originally, my intention was to write on something painful, such as the stunning lack of intelligence displayed by people we call part of humanity, or maybe the pain of indecision, and how the worst part of anything can be not knowing. However, I decided to write something good. Maybe something that’ll lift your spirits.

     Everything happens for a reason. You might be saying, “Sam, that’s a steaming hot load of BS.” It very well could be. But often times there is a reason behind everything that happens in our lives, and we may not know why they happen until many days, weeks, or years down the road. Maybe that school you got denied at just wasn’t the right fit for you, perhaps that promotion you got turned down for was because there’s something better right around the corner. What am I trying to say? Keep your head up during those tough times. Often time I’ve noticed it’s darkest right before dawn. Sometimes you just have to put your head down, and move forward.

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Amazing Love

     You could search the whole world over, and you would never find anyone as loving as God, as Jesus. I understand there may be a lot of misconceptions about Christianity, how the one thing we love to do, is hate. Although there may be some who do so, some famous even, it does not change the fact that sometimes we misrepresent the perfect God, by being continuously angry at those who don’t know Him yet.

     God is love, but what is love? A never ending preference for someone, that goes past faults, mistakes, and previous failures. Truthfully, it’s something that’s nearly impossible to describe using words, but is better expressed through action. John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” If God’s primary motivation behind sending His Son to take our place on the cross, to take the punishment of sin (which is death), was love, how can we call ourselves Christians and try to use fear, or anger to drive people into the Kingdom of God?

     My point is this, Christians should not be known for speaking ill of others, for being judgmental and cruel, but we should be known by the love of God. So what if someone is a homosexual, a prostitute, or a criminal? What’s so amazing was that even when we ourselves were doing wrong, God loved us. Spewing hate will always fall short, letting love flow however, will not.

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Perseverance

    The dictionary describes perseverance as “steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.”

    Let’s expand on that. I see perseverance as I’m going to do what my mind is set on, and although I realize there will be difficulties, perhaps even some setbacks, I’m going to make it.

    Let’s focus on the setbacks. Often time in my life I’ve realized that sometimes you take steps back, in efforts of going forward. The important thing to remember during those step backs, is not to dwell in them, but use them as a launching pad to move forward. Your life is often just like that of an arrow in the hand of a well equipped archer. An arrow with no pull back, will never be able to be propelled forward. But it’s the arrow that’s pulled back, that will hit its target.

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Humanity is not perfect, but if we focus on the imperfections, we lose sight of the beauty.

     Today I realized that even though there may be things we dislike about certain people, whether it be their character, or mannerisms they possess, there is still beauty to be beheld. Each person on this earth is a one of a kind human being, with different dreams and aspirations than the next. We all bear certain “chips” or “dents” that make us totally and completely unique. But sometimes others might see these “imperfections” as something that takes away from our overall value. The truth couldn’t be farther, our faults and weaknesses, help make us who we are.

     What am I trying to say? Don’t focus so much on the “bad” you might see, but see the greatness of the total package. Your flatter than normal nose, along with your monstrous thunder thighs, help make you that totally unique masterpiece, something that’s never been seen before, and will never be seen again.

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Why do we do what we do?

     I’ve asked myself, why do I do what I do? Perhaps childhood incidents have influenced the way I act or react. Or maybe because of the environment I was raised in (which by no means was a bad one). Perhaps because of fear? It begs the question, why do we do what we do?

     Do we act polite merely because of the fact we were raised to, or because we genuinely want to be good to people? Do we work because our parents told us to, or because we want to for ourselves? Who influences our actions the most, who controls our life?

     I’ve recently learned that I don’t want to be good to people, love Jesus, or do anything because others think I should. But instead I want to do those things because I genuinely want to. And if people so choose to judge me, condemn me, or belittle me for anything, so what? Why should I listen to your influence, to the words you have to say? My existence and what I do does not depend on what you say, or will say. I’m going to be me.