THE CLIMB

I found this on one of my followers' blog. I thought it was inspiring and encouraging for someone who is struggling with life and feels there is no hope.

The Climb
(written by J. Alexander and J. Mabe) Sung by Miley Cyrus

I can almost see it

That dream I'm Dreaming

But there's a voice inside my head saying

"You'll never reach it"

Every step I'm taking

Every move I make feels

Lost with no direction

My faith is shaking

But I gotta keep trying

Gotta keep my head held up high

There's always gonna be another mountain

I'm always gonna wanna make it move

Alway gonna be an uphill battle

Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there

Ain't about what's waiting on the other side

It's the climb

The struggles I'm facing

The chances I'm taking

Sometimes might knock me down

But no, I'm not breaking

I may not know it

But these are the moments that

I'm gonna remember the most, yeah

Just gotta keep going

And I, got to be strong

Just keep pushing on

'Cause there's always gonna be another mountain

I'm always gonna want to make it move

Always gonna be an uphill battle

Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there

Ain't about what's waiting on the other side

It's the climb, yeah

There's always gonna be another mountain

I'm always gonna wanna make it move

Always gonna be an uphill battle

Somebody's gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there

Ain't about what's waiting on the other side

It's the climb, yeah

Keep on moving, keep climbing

Keep the faith, baby

It's all about, it's all about the climb

Keep the faith, keep your faith whoa.

MISQUOTING THE BIBLE

How many times have we heard this saying: God helps those who help themselves? How many of us have come to believe that this is an actual quote from the Holy Bible? The truth is, it is not a scripture and it is no where to be found in the Bible. It is acutally contrary to Biblical teaching.

The quote orginated in the 1700's by none other than Benjamin Franklin. His thinking was somewhat on the humanistic side, that we will succeed on our own if we put out the effort. Perhaps with a little back up from God.

The Bible teaches that God's grace and mercy is extended because we can't help ourselves. It states that true religion is to help the orphan and widow (James 1:27). Who could be less capable of helping themselves than the orphan and the widow? The Bible also speaks of helping the down and out (Matthew 25:34-40).

Some may ask about 2 Thessalonians 3:10 (...."If a man will not work, he shall not eat." NIV). This is totally unrelated to helping. This is a direct reference to laziness.

There is much that can be said about this. If you have something to add, or a pertinent comment, please share. If you believe this quote is in the Bible and can give me a scripture reference, please do so.

God Bless, Dr. Bobbi

CREDIT CARD FRAUD

I was sitting at my computer last night and an email came through the same time my phone rang. Both messages from my credit card bank. They had detected suspicious activity. I talked with a representative on the phone who gave me the charge that was in question. Sure enough, it was a fraud. The charge was listed as being made to 247nethelp.com. I looked that site up. What a scam! It is so frustrating to try and shop on line at a site you have used over and over, has the "https" that is supposed to show us its safe and then this happens.

Here we go again. Our credit card is cancelled again and we have to wait for new cards. We are going to take advantage of a free program with our bank called ShopSafe. Each time you make an online purchase, we will be given a new number that is tied to our credit card but only the bank knows that.

If this happens again, my shopping will be by phone to the company instead of by internet. What a hassle!

A CONTINUATION VS NEW START

I'm sitting at the threshold of a new year. I look back over the last year and see a mixture of good and bad. I think the year 2009 was a year of trouble and forced learning for me. It was a year of extremes in several areas of my life. Along with those extremes came loss and depression. But in contrast, there also came joy and hope. The thing that strikes me most interesting is that those things that resulted in loss and depression caused me to really examine my life, who I really am, what I really want, what I really stand for, what my priorities really are. I was able to find the answers to those things through deep introspection and prayer to God to search me and reveal to me my real self. I did not like what I saw. It was at that point that I had to do something to change me. In doing so, I brought much opposition, ridicule, and stress on myself. That's not a very pleasant thing, but it was more than tolerable because I was able to get my life in line with God and He wiped my conscience clean. There isn't anything that will bring peace to the soul than having a clean conscience. The joys brought to me in the past year are a new grandson, Sawyer, and the news that I have a new grandchild coming in July 2010. It reaffirms to me that life goes on. I can choose to go forward with optimism or live with regret. I choose the former. For the coming year I choose to continue growing spiritually, to reinforce my commitment to my marriage and seek to be a better wife, to spend more time with my children, and to be more a part of the world around me. These aren't New Year's resolutions, these are continuations of where my life has come to this point. I have recognized them and verbalized them and I am commited to them. My New Year's resolution is to get started back into exercise and improve my physical health. Happy New Year to you all.

God bless, Bobbi