33 Messages of Hope
By Hope Ulch Brown
Copyright 2012 Signature, Inc.
ISBN-10: 0975856162
ISBN-13: 978-0-9758561-6-1
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TABLE OF CONTENTS (TOC)
WIRELESS CONNECTION
BUSY…DON’T FEEL
NO MISTAKES
DESPERATION
DREARY DAY
BELLY BUTTON…UMBILICAL CORD
CHANGE DEFECTS
GET OUT OF MY WAY
I NEED SUPPORT
EACH DAY I BEGIN
WHAT OTHERS THINK
NOT MY BUSINESS
OUR THINKING
UNBURDEN YOURSELF
JESUS TAUGHT US
HE MEETS US
ASKING
I…I…I
IT’S ME AGAIN
WHAT IS MY NEED
SIMPLE
GRAMMA SAID
UNSEEN
REMAIN CALM
NOT IN COMPETITION
ACQUIRED NOT DESIRED
GIVE UP THE BATTLE
GOD’S GRACE
DRAW CLOSER
JUST KEEP GOING
DAILY I TRAVEL
IN CHARGE OF MY LIFE
A WONDERFUL LIFE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
WIRELESS CONNECTION
The greatest wireless connection of all
Is with God…it’s the one we call PRAYER,
When calling Him there is no “busy signal”
He’s always waiting right there…
To answer our call when we dial Him up,
What a comfort that is to know,
That we can always have a CONNECTION,
Whenever…wherever we go!
So I make use of my “free minutes plan”
And I talk to Him quite often each day,
The exciting part is…when I get quiet,
I can hear what HE has to say.
I so look forward to our conversations,
I can tell him my problems and then,
He inspires me with what I’m to do,
Because HE is my very BEST FRIEND.
I always feel better when in contact with Him,
He gives comfort and advice to me.
And to think this wireless connection is called PRAYER,
Costs nothing…it’s absolutely free!!!
Return to TOC
BUSY…DON’T FEEL
If I can stay busy…I won’t have to feel,
For I don’t like the way that I’m living,
If I stay in motion…then I can avoid,
The PAIN…that is how I am driven.
When I stop and take stock of just where I am,
I may not like the place that I’m at,
And when I ACCEPT…that’s not how to live,
Then I will do something about that.
Changes are something that I don’t like to make,
They’re on the bottom of my list…not the top,
But if I continue the “spinning” I’ve done,
With this running…someday, I’ll just drop.
I don’t have to wait ‘til I’m at “death’s door.”
To EVALUATE my life…check and see,
In order to examine…I just have to STOP,
For AWARENESS…I just have to BE.
So I must slow down…and pay attention,
To my inner most feelings and cares,
Make the changes I can…to improve MY LIFE
Of MY NEEDS…I NEED TO BE AWARE.
Return to TOC
NO MISTAKES
There are NO MISTAKES in life,
Only LESSONS to be learned,
And the speed we learn each lesson,
Is to be our great concern,
If we don’t learn it quickly,
Then we’re just bound to repeat,
The very thing we need to change,
Until the lesson is complete.
Once we’ve changed …we move onto,
The NEXT LESSON we’re to learn,
And we recognize more quickly,
To sick behaviors NOT to return.
Return to TOC
DESPERATION
Sometimes DESPERATION can be a blessing,
Because reaching a “bottom” becomes real,
Until I am willing to “surrender” MY WILL,
My sickness is unable to heal.
What I have been doing is not working out,
The answers I do not know,
It’s only when I become desperate,
Am I willing to LET GOD…and LET GO!
Return to TOC
DREARY DAY
Today is a dreary, overcast day,
Sometimes sprinkles fall to the ground,
But that doesn’t keep me from joy in my heart,
For that’s where the SPIRIT is found.
My God is the light that glows in the dark,
My happiness I find on the inside,
It doesn’t matter if the weather is gloomy,
My joy comes from where HE abides.
My happiness no longer depends on the weather,
It’s with Jesus, that my day…I start,
Whether warm with sunshine…or overcast with rain,
My JOY always comes from my heart.
Return to TOC
BELLY BUTTON…UMBILICAL CORD
A button is used to close a hole,
A BELLY BUTTON does the same,
It closes the hole between mother and child,
And tells us from where we came.
The umbilical cord is difficult to cut,
Not just at time of the birth,
For mother and child are linked forever,
The entire time they are on earth.
Having carried the child in her womb,
There’s a bond that forever lives,
Cutting that cord, so the child is free,
Is the GIFT that the mother can give.
For children come to them and THROUGH them,
Parents can GUIDE them…and then LET GO,
Only by cutting the umbilical cord,
Can a child be INDEPENDENT and grow.
Return to TOC
CHANGE DEFECTS
GOD, help me to change my “defects of character,”
Many, of which, I am NOT AWARE.
I know my behavior starts with my THINKING,
I ask myself…”how did it get over there?”
When I find my THOUGHTS have gone elsewhere,
I need to bring them all back,
I must pay
attention to what I AM DOING,
It is there that I must stay on track.
I start by focusing on what I can do,
Then if my mind…to others…does stray,
When I find myself wandering off onto them,
Is when I return to YOU and I PRAY,
I really don’t know all my shortcomings,
Do I resent, manipulate or deny?
Do I rationalize, justify, minimize,
Make excuses…or to myself lie?
These are the things for which I need Your help,
Make me aware of what I need to change,
For I have the WILLINGNESS to let them all go,
So you can help me…my life rearrange.
(And I’m sure this will alleviate my PAIN!)
Return to TOC
GET OUT OF MY WAY
Sometimes the best way I can help,
Is to simply get out of the way,
Put everyone in the hands of God,
And go on my way as I pray.
I think I am loving when doing for others,
But that is not really the case,
When often…I am interfering,
I need to get out of their space.
And let them deal with THEIR problems,
Or how will they learn how to do?
Mind my own business is the best way to help,
Then their problems….they’ll learn to get through.
Return to TOC
I NEED SUPPORT
I can be a member of a church that I love…
Or an organization or 12-Step program,
That won’t change the things OUTSIDE of me,
It will change the person I AM.
Yes, I need support from all different places,
On this “SPIRITUAL” journey…my quest,
I learn that happiness is an INSIDE job,
Help from GOD and others…my REQUEST.
For trying to go it on my own,
Feeling I’ll be self-sufficient,
I know I’ll always come up short,
For dealing with life, I’m deficient.
So, I can learn lessons from everyone,
Sometimes, exactly what I’m not to do,
By contacting GOD and others for help,
I’ll know exactly what I’m to pursue.
My responsibility is for me to reach out,
Join others…and their support seek,
To ASK for HELP is a STRENGTH I acquire,
To not, is to keep myself weak.
Return to TOC
EACH DAY I BEGIN
EACH DAY I BEGIN…I reach for GOD’s hand,
For a “CLOSER WALK WITH THEE,”
With HIM at my side, I know I am safe,
No matter how life...it will be.
For HE is the POWER and STRENGTH that I need,
It’s to HIM, MY WILL I must yield,
For HE will feed me, take care of my needs,
Like the birds…lilies out in the field,
And HE will protect and guide me along,
His BLESSINGS will daily unfold,
HE knows my needs and takes care of me,
Like the petals that grow on the rose.
I must daily THANK HIM for all that HE’s done,
His timing…it’s somehow just right,
With patience and love I wait for HIS answers,
All day…and then all through the night.
So, with His hand, EACH DAY I BEGIN,
That way…of WORRY…I’m FREE,
For HE is the one who LOVES me the most,
In no one‘s hands…would I rather BE!
Return to TOC
WHAT OTHERS THINK
It’s none of my business…WHAT OTHERS THINK of me,
I just check myself out…and inventory what I see.
If the things I do…are God-centered…healthy,
Then what others think…is of no business…to me.
Return to TOC
NOT MY BUSINESS
It’s none of my business what others think of me,
Or try to figure what’s going on in their head,
Instead of “mind reading” and worrying about them,
I need to pay attention to MY LIFE instead,
What doesn’t work is spending my time,
Trying to ”please others“…and so,
I’ll focus on what I am doing with me,
As for others…I have to “let go!”
It really is a waste of my time,
Making sure others are happy…not my job,
For all the while I am concentrating on them,
Then it’s my own life that I have robbed.
So, each day I begin with just God and me,
And ask for his guidance to show,
What I’m to do to take care of myself,
So, HOW to be the BEST VERSION of me…I will know.
Return to TOC
OUR THINKING
If you’re feeling hurt or mad,
Don’t believe every THOUGHT you’ve had,
For our THINKING…causes us to feel,
Sometimes our thoughts aren’t even real.
They’re based on FEAR and DOUBT…mistrust,
This THINKING causes PAIN for us.
If with HAPPY FEELINGS we want to live,
Then our THINKING must be POSITIVE.
Return to TOC
UNBURDEN YOURSELF
“Come to me…I will give you rest,”
Is what Jesus invited us to do,
HE said, “Give ME your burdens…I will take them,
I will lighten your load for you.”
We really don’t have any burdens in life,
Only those that we “CHOOSE” to carry,
For we can give them all to our Lord,
And then we don’t have to worry.
How could we ever hear these words,
And then HIS invitation refuse?
What a sad day that would be for us,
If HIS help, we choose to not use.
Yet, if we take HIM up on HIS offer,
Give HIM our burdens….we find relief,
For we don’t have to carry this load,
Without this pressure…we can find peace.
Return to TOC
JESUS TAUGHT US
There is something Jesus taught us to do,
That was to take time to PRAY,
It didn’t matter the time or the place,
Often…He’d just walk away,
Leaving the apostles right where they were,
A place by Himself He would find,
So He could tune out the rest of the world,
And only have GOD on His mind.
We need to also take time for this,
Over and over each day,
Finding a place for just US and GOD,
To spend time together…and PRAY.
Return to TOC
HE MEETS US
Jesus meets us…wherever we’re at,
Like the apostles in the locked room,
He said to them “Peace I leave unto you,”
He would be leaving them all very soon.
Just as people come in and out of our lives,
Some stay a short time and they leave,
Others are there for most of our lives,
When people leave…it’s then that we grieve.
The reason they go is not up to us,
Sometimes it’s by choice or event,
At other times people die…leave this world,
Back to God is where they are sent.
With whatever happens our lives will go on,
We must pray and “let go”…keep on living,
For if we remain…entrenched in their loss,
It’s to them…our lives we are giving.
There is a PEACE of which Jesus spoke,
It is always there for our taking,
So, we must continue the journey we’re on,
Our SERENITY is of our own making.
Return to TOC
ASKING
It’s different ASKING, “God, what do you want me to DO?”
Than ASKING, “God what do you want FROM me?
The latter implies I am willing to GIVE,
My WILL to Him…so I am free.
Does He want from me more patience, understanding,
Or compassion or the ability to say “No.”
Does He want from me to do some things…
To go places I don’t want to go?
I’m willing to GIVE all He wants FROM me,
It’s amazing the freedom I feel,
For then I become a GIVER…not taker,
How much easier it is…with my life to deal.
Return to TOC
I…I…I
Whenever I get into I…I…I,
I’m forgetting that there is a WE,
For I have a God who runs my life,
And goes everywhere with me.
So, when I get nervous and move into FEAR,
I guess my mind just went blank,
Did I forget that He is with me
And I always have Him to “thank?”
How happy I am when I change from the “I,”
To the WE…that God and I are a team,
Then I’m not overwhelmed or scared to death,
For nothing is as bad as it seems.
He’ll give me the words…or actions to take,
And on Him I can always rely,
What comfort that brings to whatever I do.
If I remember WE…as each day goes by.
Return to TOC
IT’S ME AGAIN
“Good Morning Lord…it’s me again!”
As I ponder in silent reflection,
What exactly You mean to me,
And how I ask Your protection,
Please, keep me healthy and safe from harm,
And direct my every deed,
For I wish…to be close to You,
To do so, it’s YOUR WORDS I heed.
To LOVE one another…YOU and myself,
My ACTIONS must display that I DO,
How I think and feel…the things that I SAY,
They must continually reflect YOU.
Please guide me today in all my encounters,
I put ‘my will’ and life into Your care,
My day will unfold…just like the rose,
And of YOUR PRESENCE, I’m ever aware.
I ‘THANK YOU GOD‘…for another day,
A day I can praise…give You glory,
I’m excited to see, what You send to me,
For You’re the DIRECTOR of my life’s story”
Return to TOC
WHAT IS MY NEED
What is my need to try to control,
How others…they think, act and feel?
Like what church they attend or political views,
Or what they choose to eat at their meals?
Isn’t it enough just to take care of me,
Not worry what others are doing?
As long as their behavior towards me is okay,
Then how they live and what they’re pursuing…
Has nothing what so ever to do with my life,