BOHO CHIC LIVING ROOM REDECORATE FOR LESS THAN $100

So, the past three days I have been redecorating my blah living room, a much needed change.  It's been 4 years of neutral colors.  I decided to transform the room into a Boho Chic style.  It is not completely done as I decided to keep adding more colors and accessories.  I started with the old piano that is badly scuffed and brown.

I covered the keys to protect it from sanding dust and sanded the entire piano.  It wasn't too bad because the varnish was almost stripped from age anyway. 
I then chose a light blue green color and painted, sanded, buffed.  I was pretty pleased with the result.

I still have the bench to do, but for now I am burned out with the sanding.  I still have enough paint so I am reserving that project for another day.  Now I see the rest of my living room decor doesn't really match anymore.  So I figured I need to replace the curtains.

There is no color at all, so I need some punch.  I was up at 2am this morning so I decided to look online for the perfect reasonably priced curtains.  I found some and for the pair, it costs $110, which to me was pricey, I needed 2 pairs to cover 3 windows.  The total came up to $220 and here's the kicker, they want $60 to ship it.  Oh heck no!  I am not paying that much for curtains.  So I went to Burlington Coat Factory to check out their curtains.  Yeah I ended up buying sheer ones for $10/panel.  I figured if I got a contrasting color, I can still fork up, another $10 to double it.  I ended up buying 3 panels plus the aqua back panel.  I needed to tweak them to make it work because one was a pocket style and the other one was grommeted.   Anyhoo, I sewed, cut, pinned and it was finally time to put it up.  Well, it was still very sheer.  So I decided to use the old curtains, shown above as a blocker, so I made it the lining.  I now have three layers.  Lol!  It still worked and instead of spending an astronomical $300 on curtains alone, I spent $70, that is including the metal artwork above the piano.  I looked around the house for other accessories and found an aqua vase and then found glass roses, I don't even know I had.  The pillows were just waiting to go on the sofa to add that punch of color.  Next is a cover for my double sized papasan chair.  A boho style throw is on it right now just to gauge an idea of what it would look like later when I get the permanent cover for it.  I love the papasan chair, it's my fave!  So I hope you got some idea that redecorating does not have to cost you an arm and a leg.  Just some creativity that reflects your own personality.

Till the next rant... Love one Another!

WATCH YOUR TONGUE!

I AM WHO I SAY I AM

Perspectively, the tongue is the smallest part of the body that is engaged in conversation.  It has the power to deliver words intended to create a reaction from the person those words are directed to.  It starts with a thought.  The thought transforms into words.  The words are then conveyed through the tongue.  It is like a rudder that stirs the ship.  It gives comfort to the broken-hearted, it encourages, or it… kills.

If a father or a mother spanks a child through discipline, the child will learn but heal.  If they are beaten down by hurtful and discouraging words, their spirits never recover and they go through life broken and insecure.  Consequently, they pass this on to their own children and the vicious cycle continues.  Dr. Phil likes to say, “it takes a thousand “atta-boys” to make up for one insult.”  At one juncture in my life, I had been on the receiving side of this.  All through life I told myself I would never do that to my own kids.  And I didn’t.  I encouraged them and became their biggest cheerleader.  I want to be my children’s confidante.  So far so good.

There comes a point in one’s life when one realizes that when the effects of a childhood such as this is stunting their personal growth, one has to rise above the way you were raised, something you have to do on your own.  The sad fact is that we have to give ourselves what we wished we could get from somebody else.  One may have assumed to be a failure and sit around saying, Whoa is me, and that my parents that could have picked me up and lifted me up didn’t, but you have to give yourself permission to be who you are because the more you know who you are, the less vulnerable you are to becoming what other people tell you who you are.

On the other side of the spectrum, if you are the deliverer of hurtful words (I think we all have been in that position before), watch your tongue.  You do not have the right to slice up the masterpiece that God has created because each of us is His masterpiece. 

You are SPECTACULAR!  Believe it, accept it and live it!

Love one another…

ECO PAPER BAG ART -- TUTORIAL

I have been trying to figure out what to do with paper grocery bags for the longest.  I just didn't want to toss them out because of course, it is paper, an opportunity to make art!

So, this is what I came up with.   I'm not sure what to do with it, perhaps make a cover for my art journal.

Start with a brown paper bag and undo the structure to make it a flat substrate.

Next, fold on one of the folds and cut the bottom flap.

Cut in three parts so that you end up with pretty flat parts with no folds.  You will only need one for now, so set the other two parts aside.

. 

I chose to cut the edges with decorative scissors just to make it interesting.

I then affixed the back of the paper to the table with two-sided tape so it is anchored while you work on it.

Choose coordinating decorative napkins.  Separate the backing and tear random sizes.

Mix decoupage medium with coordinating color paint and decoupage the pieces of napkins to cover the entire paper. 

I applied paint randomly to cover but not enough so that the napkin print cannot be seen through.  Let dry completely.

Now you are ready to doodle on your paper.  I use various sharpie markers, but you can use any brand you want, just make sure they are as opaque as you can get them.

Tada!!!! the finished product! 

I wanted to bling it out, so I applied glitter glue to random swirls!  Finally, spray fixative on it to make it permanent.


I hope you get inspired and make it yourself.  You can use it to wrap presents, art journal, background paper for scrapbooking, etc.  


If you make them, I would be interested to see them.  Please send your photos to me at myhappycocoon@gmail.com.


Good luck and LOVE ONE ANOTHER!!

THE POWER OF A SOUND MIND

Our future is determined by the seeds we sow and no one can stop the outcome of our life.  It cannot be controlled or be influenced by what other people do.  Whether it is the government, friends, family or enemies, we can’t allow them to control us or determine our future.   

To have Love in your heart is to have a sound mind.  What does it mean? A sound mind is a spiritual mind, Jesus said John 6:63, my words are spirit and life. 

To be spiritually minded, we have to be word minded.  When all hell breaks lose, the very thing that rises up inside of you is “it is written”.  It means that when all you hear is bad news, God’s promise is the good news, because God’s word lives inside of your mind and your heart.  Whatever you focus on the most is what will be manifested especially when dealing with life’s trials and tribulations.  The trials are always going to come, the tribulations will always be present, but to overcome them we have to realize that we will have to face our negative circumstances with the word's truth.  If we are spiritually-minded, we cannot be stolen from.  When the enemy comes to rob you, he doesn’t come after your money, your health, your marriage but instead he comes to steal the word.  When the word is stolen from you, you start to doubt all the other aspects of your life, like your health, marriage, money, etc. in one fell swoop.  If you hear the Word but do not understand it, you are wide open for the enemy to steal from.  Matthew Chap. 13 and they heard the word of the kingdom but because they did not understand it satan came and stole the word. 

I dislike religious jargon that has no meaning.  If you understand the word, the devil can’t steal the word from you, he can’t take anything that is promised by God in His word.  God’s word has prosperity in it, healing, power, wisdom, victory, and if you can’t have the word stolen from you, nothing else can be stolen.  The only way to protect the precious seed that is being planted in your heart is to understand what is being planted.  To be spiritually minded is a mind ruled by the word of God and controlled by the rule of patience.  Patience is defined as, no matter what I see (pain, suffering, etc.), I planted the seed of God’s word in my heart and I expect a harvest and I will wait patiently knowing that harvest is coming, and I will endure whatever garbage tries to come my way, any trials, any lies, I will endure it because I have the patience that the word that God has spoken, that I have been believing will come soon.  His word is etched in my mind, I will overcome them all because God is watching over His word to perform it, and I will use patience as a force for my good, and if I don’t see the promise coming to pass yet and I’m holding on, and endure this moment not even able to see the promise yet but I will endure it, and won’t give up because it didn’t happen right away.  I won’t throw out healing, because I didn’t get healed right away, or throw out victory, because I didn’t’ have victory right away.  Plant that seed of patience and believe that it will grow! 

To be spiritually minded is to be single-minded. No internal debate.  James 1:5-8 Asking God for wisdom.  God hates double-mindedness.  Being double-minded is to thank God and then complain.  Ask him to forgive you, and then later ask Him to forgive you again for the same sin.   Once God cleanses you from sin, he forgets it, therefore you have to forget it.  Single-mindedness is to pray and believe that He has already granted it, and not to keep praying about it again.  Get your mind renewed to the promise of God more, believe you have it.  Look expectantly for it to arrive.  Single-mindedness is sound mind, focused completely on what God says.  Be Single-minded when you pray.  Mark 11:24 believe you have received them and you shall have it.  Shut your mind out from your internal debate.  Tell the enemy to get behind you, and refuse to accept its lies. 

Be Single-minded about your past.  Old things have passed away if you are a new creature in Christ.  Stop going back to a double-minded attitude, be Single-minded and stay that way.  My past is over, Jesus wiped it out, and there is no enemy that will tell me otherwise and my future is not a by-product of my past, I’m not going to be the outcome of the DNA I was born with, I will be the outcome of the DNA of the bible, the seed of the bible because I am born again, a child of God, new creature.  You say you were abused, but if you think about it, who wasn’t?  We’ve all been abused in some way or another, by someone.  The past is over, Period.  End of story. 

Be Single-minded about other people’s past.  Theirs is wiped out too just as much as yours is, so stop bringing it up.  Let it go, and build new friendships.

To be Single-minded is to be heavenly minded. If you are heavenly-minded, the more earthly good you are and the more you would strive to help get more people to heaven, and help others learn more about Jesus.  If you are heavenly-minded, you would know the rewards that heaven has waiting for you so you will be compelled to live godly in this life for the rewards to come.  Being heavenly-minded is seeing things from God’s point of view, and I’m not going to look at life from my natural point of view, but from heaven’s point of view.  Think about the future of the people that are around us, our loved ones, our friends and be concerned about whether they are going to go to heaven or hell.  Not being concerned about if you get away with the decision that you are about to make, can I get away with the sin I’m about to make, but instead you’re thinking about heaven, there’s a reward for me if I honor God right now, yes I can get away with it right now here on earth because I’m saved by God’s grace, but I don’t want to get away with it, just in this earth, I want rewards waiting for me in heaven and the decision I make today is going to be stamped with eternity, stamped by heavenly thinking.  I know I’m going to get there but when I do, I want to make sure there is something waiting for me, because I chose to do God’s word, and it’s building up for me, the treasures in heaven.  Not seeing things from my horizontal view but my vertical vision.  I see from the top down rather than out. 

Single-mindedness is to be aware that Jesus lives inside of you.  When you wake up in the morning you pray, Praise Jesus because he is in me.  The anointing is in me to remove every burden to solve this problem and you have to start thinking like it.  That’s what wins grace, that’s what wins life.  That’s what you have, you may not have discovered or developed it but you have it inside you. 

Till my next rant… Love One Another!

THIS WEEK'S ARTWORK AT MY HAPPY COCOON

Be Yourself

Random Acts of Angels 1

Original Stamp Creation

Random Acts of Angels 2

A DOZEN LONG STEMMED-RED ROSES

I’m pretty certain that by now you get the picture of how much I love God by what I have shared with you.  The following story is one that I have not shared so openly with a lot of random people especially ones I’ve never met.  However, I did promise that I would share the story when at the height of my doubt of God’s existence; He proved to me that He is indeed very, very real.  If I may warn you, this story is not for the faint of heart or those who emphatically disbelieve that God is real.

It was an early and rainy Friday morning, dreading the long hour and a half commute to Oakland from Antioch which features a drive to the BART station and a three block walk to the office.  I dragged myself through the whole routine already disgusted with the monotony that was my life.  Do you ever have those days when you just don’t feel like you ever get a break?  That was me.  I felt like a failure, a loser, down on myself, waking up day after day, struggling through life, financially and emotionally.  As much as I thank God for my two beautiful kids, they are now grown, and I was an empty nester.  There was nothing to keep my mind busy and to suppress the monster that I now have to face.  Today. 

As I drove to the train station, I realized that it wasn’t only rainy, high winds were whipping mercilessly as well.  I could have driven to work, and paid the $8 a day parking but I knew the traffic would make me late and I would get the all-day evil eye from my lady attorney boss.  I had to take the train.

After driving around for at least 10 minutes, I finally found a parking space at the very end of the lot.  I took a deep breath to gather up enough patience to speed walk to the station entrance.  As I sped walked, my umbrella could not handle the strength and folded inside out and actually snapped its joints to its demise, deeming it useless.  It then went straight into the trash.  I realized the dilemma I was in knowing that before my clothes even dried completely, there would be another block to tackle after I got to the destination station. 

Mental conversation:  “Great!  What else could go wrong?”  By this time I was letting it all out to God. “Is this all there is, Lord?  I mean, my life was just one disappointment after another.  I can’t catch a break!  I’m going to die miserable.  I have no one in my life, one shoulder to cry on, no one to care about how my day went.”  As soon as this thought played in my mind, there was another voice that was trying to overlap the negativity and it chanted, “I AM ALL YOU NEED”  I tried so hard to silence it and make the “whoa is me” voice louder and louder to overpower it but the louder the voice became.  My eyes were closed the entire commute that I didn’t even care who was watching me or what my facial expression looked like.  The voice kept going on and on until the negative voice was finally hushed but the other one kept going.  I started focusing on it and started to feel better.  Suddenly, the pre-dreaded walk to the office no longer mattered.  I thanked God, and apologized that my faith even wavered.

Mindlessly, I walked into a building which connected into the raised parking lot connected to our office building.  I seldom walked this route because it was barely taken, but it was better than walking the extra 3 blocks in the rain.  I felt a sense of happiness, blind faith and trust that God is true to His word.  He always had been, now is not the time to start doubting. 

As I walked through the exit door, I looked to my left where I was about to throw my breakfast wrapper away when I noticed something.  The trash bin had been lined with a brand new liner and the only thing in it was a dozen red roses!  I stopped and looked at it for a bit and thought to myself, who would throw these beautiful long stemmed roses?  Instinctively, I pulled them out of the trash can.  One rose had wilted, so I decided to discard it, feeling bad for it even.  Wow!!!! These will certainly make my Friday, something beautiful and alive sitting on my desk and make me feel happy all day. 

And then it dawned on me!  My mind was racing… trash can with a brand spanking new liner, the first thing tossed are a dozen long stemmed roses!  Humbling!  These flowers were from God!  I realized how humble this is.  He kept saying “I’m all you need” the whole ride, I never took this route, if He was to send me flowers, how would He be able to get them to me?  The humblest way, that is!  How else?  Now I felt bad for throwing away that wilted one.  But hey, 11 out of 12, not bad! 

I got compliments all day.  They knew I didn’t have a man in my life but when asked where they were from, I said “Someone who loves me.”  All throughout the day I counted 11 still feeling bad for the one that was discarded.  I took the flowers home, said a prayer, vowed it would be my testimony.  As I was arranging them in the new vase, still feeling bad for the discarded one, I started to count them again. I kid you not, I had 12!  GOOSEBUMPS!!!!!!!

I do regret one thing.  Although I have a photo of 11 roses on my desk, I wished I took another one at home with all 12.  God is simply and utterly AWESOME!  Now, you can believe this story and you can also doubt it, you are so entitled.  However, it is a testament that GOD IS ALIVE!! You do not have to seek Him outside of yourself because He is IN YOU.  Tap into that, maybe one day you will get a miracle such as I had.

Till my next rant… Love One Another.

SLAYING THE GIANTS IN YOUR LIFE - PART 4 - Conclusion

                     

     Wouldn’t it be nice if we can overcome our giants that easy?  But the truth is, it takes an awful lot of time to knock our giants.  Has anybody ever fought an addiction before?  Expose the giant in God’s light and truth and he will set you free.  Write it on a piece of paper, a journal, whatever… My giant is __________.  You know what it is, the thing that creates the most fear in your life.  What is it that is causing you to sleepless nights, that’s depressing you, disappointing you?  What’s hurting your heart?   Then underneath that sentence, write down these words, “But my God is bigger!”  Get your focus on what God says is the answer because lastly:

     Giant slayers give credit where credit is due.  Praise God when you've slain your giant!  1 Daniel 17:46 Look at how strong God is!  How great He is.  This will show the character of humility.  That is what WORSHIP is.  When we sing and we magnify God’s name we make it bigger!  Why magnify the Lord… because this is the best way to stop looking at the problems.  It’s a godly ritual to magnify the name of the lord so that every demon around you can know and understand that yes we’ve got problems that our  5 sensors recognizes there but we got a magnified God who is bigger than it all!


     Until my next rant... Love one another!


P.S. Hello and thank you also to my Russian, Latvian, Canadian, Italian, Malaysian, Chinese readers!  Don't think I didn't notice... :)

SLAYING THE GIANTS IN YOUR LIFE - PART 3

     Giant slayers can see what can be, not what is.  Did you know this is what the definition of FAITH is?  (Heb 11-1) Faith is believing what you cannot see.  God is bigger than your problems.  God is bigger than your giant so that giant doesn’t seem as big anymore.  What is your giant?  Is it financial, broken heart, illness?  They seem to be impossible to beat.  The question is NOT can you see your giant right now, the question is, can you see God?  J. Oswald Sanders wrote this, “Eyes that look are common, eyes that see are rare.”  


     It’s important that when you are facing your giant, that you start seeing God and stop looking at the giant.  That’s not denial, it is bringing reality in the situation that other people are dealing with, they’re only dealing with what they can see with their physical eyes, you also need to see with your spiritual eyes, don’t ignore the giant, just put it in perspective to the spiritual presence YOUR God.  


     We’re not talking about living in denial, we’re talking about living with all our senses alive.  Don’t disregard your five senses, just give God the opportunity to vote on what happens in your life.  Because the bible says, “greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world!”  Let’s bring God into the battle when we go against the giant!  Why go on our own? Why only deal with the five senses, why not do what David says, you come against me with all of the things everybody else depends upon and is afraid of, I have full knowledge of what you have but I also have full knowledge of what I have but I come against this giant in the name of the almighty God, and I’ll knock you down!”  David saw the target, not the giant.  When you’re afraid, you can’t think clearly, but when you put your confidence in God you will never be afraid.  (continued tomorrow)

Until tomorrow…. LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

** I see a few readers from Russia... Hello! :) ***

SLAYING THE GIANTS IN YOUR LIFE - PART 2

     All giant slayers are learners.  Leaders are always in student mode all their lives.  They’re always ready to learn and all giant slayers are learners too.  They don’t just stay and get comfortable where they are because who they are is measured by what they do when no one is looking but God.  B.F. Westcott says, “Great occasions do not make heroes or cowards, they simply unveil them to the eyes of men.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooke_Westcott The occasion doesn’t make you, the occasion says this is who you are silently and imperceptibly as we wait or sleep, we grow strong, or we grow weak and at last some crisis shows us what we’ve become.”  So if you’re not a Christian today, there is going to be a time in your life where you will want and need God’s help.  Mark my words, you will, all of us do.  I would suggest that rather than wait for God to have that crisis come to you and THEN go looking for God, to get ready now and start getting the Lord into your life so that you’re ready for those giants when they come.  Some of you have gotten ticked off because you did something in the name of God in a church someplace and it seems like nobody cared and you didn’t get strokes for it.  You’re frustrated, but God was preparing you for something bigger, getting you ready for something greater than you’ve ever dreamed of that God can do for your life because the best is yet to come.

     Moses told God all he had was a stick, God said ok, I’ll use the stick and he did.  He used it to part the Red Sea, he used it to get water out of a rock, it’s really cool! 


     We need to do what God wants us to do using what we have.  You don’t need what somebody else has.  We often think, if we had something else we can get though this, or if we had more money, but do you know the more money you have the less you have left over?  The grass is greener where you water it.

     God said, stop telling me what you don’t have, tell me what you do have and I will use all that you have, your background, your training, who you are, those gifts, those talents, your ability.  He’s given those to you and wants to use you for his glory.  You don’t have to be somebody else, you just need to be someone who surrendered to God.  Amen?

     Everybody needs help in life, we all face different giants.  The question is how are you going to face it? With just your five senses? Or are you gonna start looking at God to help you?  If you decide to be a giant slayer, you will be able to pass what you thought was impassable. (continued tomorrow)

Until tomorrow... Love one another!

SLAYING THE GIANTS IN YOUR LIFE - PART 1

Due to the length of this message, it will be written in parts.  Each part will be featured for four days.  The purpose it twofold.  One is to practice patience, the other to soak in every step.

Picture this.  He was 9 feet tall and 400 pounds.  He got up at the crack of dawn and goes to the top of the hill overlooking your city every day and verbally bullies you, breaking your spirits down because you are one of the survivors our of 30,000 already annihilated by him and ones like him.  His armor weighs a ton.  The head alone of his spear weighed 16 lbs., not including the pole.  His name was Goliath.

He was a teenager, probably no more than 95 lbs., 4’11”.  He had 4 rocks and a slingshot in his pocket.  Not very long ago, 30,000 of his people were killed by the giant Philistine and his people.  His name was David. 

Imagine this kid asking King Saul to give him permission to kill Goliath.  Even the king did not want to go up against him.  But David had God’s strength.  He knew that someone needs to do the job of shutting down the giant.  So with his humble ammo in his pocket, runs up towards the battle line to meet Goliath.  Then David flung a stone that sank in the forehead of the Philistine who fell face down to the ground.  David then walked over to the fallen corpse of the giant, removed the giant’s sword and decapitates him with his own sword.

Whether you are sitting there and reading this or not, we all have giants in our lives.  No, not actual giants or people who give you a hard time, but giants like fear, addiction, etc.

How can you become that kind of a courageous person?  How can you have that lion’s heart of valor well up inside of you instead of becoming a shrinking violet when you come up against a giant in your life? All of us have big dark things that blot out the sun in our day.  Our giants usually have names.  Maybe a financial or career giant, an addiction, an affliction,  whatever the giant may be, we come to a decision, and when you are in that moment, you ask yourself, will I stand or will I fall?  Will I advance or will I retreat?  I believe that in the crucible of decisions, is where we really see who we are and even more so, what we’re becoming.

Now some of you have faced your giants for a long time, and it taunts you and maybe it is time for you to face that giant and it is time for you to do something about it… enough is enough!  If giants are faced, they can be defeated. 

The first characteristic of a giant slayer is that they live with the perspective of preparation. 

We must be faithful in the lonely places and in the little things when it seems like nobody else is watching.  David had fire in his eyes for God when he prepared to fight Goliath, and the king knew that it was their only chance.  If he lost, it was over!  But something was so animated and intense in David’s eyes when he stood before the king that he even had Saul believing in him.  Saul who was the chosen one to become king of Israel because he was the tallest man, the giant of Israel, who was looking down at this little teenager who convinced him to allow him to be the man for the job.

Have you been allowing God to prepare you and to teach you the things he wants to teach you so you will be prepared to whip the snot out of your giant when you’re ready to go do it?  In the quiet times when it seems like nobody else is looking, have you been preparing yourself so that when you face the giants that you’re facing right now you look at it square in the eyes and say, "I’m gonna do to you what was done to the last lion and the last bear when no one else saw what I was doing, I took them on because what I did was not in my own strength, but in God’s strength through me."  I believe God wants you to be ready for any giant that comes your way but for you to be ready you’ve got to be willing to be one of his students. You’ve got to learn the lessons in the quiet place, we’ve got to be faithful in the little tasks, responding to the little challenges along the way that don’t seem to be any big deals but maybe reading a daily devotional in your bible, that’s getting prepared.  Christians don’t even do that.

(continued tomorrow)

PRIDE

Pride has both positive and negative connotations.  Imagine a line, on the left the positive, and on the right end is negative, with the middle the balance, where we hope to be.  But sometimes, the magnetic field pulls stronger on one side because of our free will.  I don't mean control, but it could be part of our makeup that we have gotten used to, what we've learned throughout life, and how people respond to us.  Here's what I mean.  On the positive side, growing up, our doting parents thought the world of us, give us praise of every achievement no matter how small, and we get used to it until they're no longer there to continue to do it.  Then all of a sudden, we crave it from maybe the real world, who is not so impressed by us.  Now it becomes our mission, to get approval.  Then there is the negative side.  We never got approval from anyone especially our parents, so we strive to do things perfectly.  When someone corrects us, we tend to resent the correction lest we were viewed to be imperfect and vulnerable.  


I read somewhere in the Bible that God hates pride (remember I don't memorize verses?).  If I'm not mistaken, it is also one of the 7 deadliest sins.  Not deadly in a way that if you are prideful, you physically die.  It's more like a spiritual death.  We all need to be careful to listen closely to what God says so we do not fall into these traps.  So let's dissect...


In my opinion, all fall-outs are stupid.  I say that because nothing in this world matters except God, right?  So if that statement is true, you and I don't really matter in the grand scheme of things.  Ok, that's a little harsh maybe because my kids matter to me.  But at the end of the day, it really isn't about us, and all the negative and petty issues we argue about don't really matter.  So why even waste our time?  


So let's just say you had a falling out with a sibling.  At the end of the day, you're still related.  But pride separates people.  Neither one wants to forgive the other and start hashing things out.  This is why God hates pride.


We're only human you say?  Hmm, that's true but think about this.  When you've had a falling out with someone, you go to sleep with a heavy heart, or even worse, lose sleep over it.  Even if you did finally fall asleep, you wake up  still thinking about it, and get that heavy heart back.  And for what?  Oh he/she hurt my pride.  What???  Pride is the pain, without it, nothing gets hurt.  I can't sit here and say I am perfect, I let everything negative bounce off me like a racquetball wall.  Far from it.  But I do realize it later and make the move I need to make to fix it.


Look at this painting.  Eeek!  Even I had qualms about painting it and confused because I only like to paint beautiful things.  This one was a real challenge.  But that's exactly how pride makes you feel inside.  Unpretty and unattractive.  Be this way enough and you start physically killing your own body.  Blood pressure goes up, wrinkles start to form, focus start to fade, and the list goes on.  Simply said, rid yourself of pride.  God doesn't like it, oh wait, actually, He HATES it!


Shy of perfection, pay attention to yourself enough to determine if pride makes you a better person.  Before it gets you down the path of death, get rid of it.  It won't be easy because being the "bigger" person, or turning the other cheek is so hard but is also such a pride killer!  But think about it.  The Bible says, you reap what you sow.  Just think about how the other person reacts to your unexpected apology, or even maybe an onlooker who sees it.  You can be such a blessing to them.  Easier said than done?  Well, maybe, but you may be surprised by the lifting off of the heavy weight from your shoulders and instant balance you will feel.  Your choice.  


Till my next rant... Love one another.