“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, “thank you,” that would suffice.” – Meister Eckhart
“I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for the day.” – Abraham Lincoln
While we are thankful for:
Our lives
Family and Friends
Love and Blessings
Joyful hearts and good health
Staying true to ourselves
Peace of mind and living in a War free country
Mistakes and Failures (“My imperfections and failures are as much a blessing from God as my successes and my talents and I lay them both at His feet.” – Mahatma Gandhi)
Pain and Sorrow (“To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory.” – Isaiah 61:3 (NLT))
God’s Unfailing Love
We are constantly reminded that they are people out there who have little to nothing and who fight just to exist. Our prayers are with them, always.
“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:18
I started actively reading about Cancer Fighting Food in 1997 when my Father was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer and my research intensified in 2011 when I found out that my former neighbor was in her final stage of Cancer. They are so many disease fighting and preventing foods out there. For this post, I am only naming a few. Click on each one of them to learn about their health benefits (and possible side-effects, if any).
Soursop Fruit
I fell in love with this Juicy fruit back in 1990 without knowing it benefits and without knowing what it was called then. I later found that it was called “Corossol” (its French name). If I am not mistaken, I believe we had two Soursop trees growing in our front yard and I remember my Mother urging me not to eat too much and too fast. It would be great to have a few trees around here, from the Sweet Soursop.
Boil 1 liter of water, then take 15 Soursop matured leaves (fresh or dried ones both have same effect) and 1 small stem cut into small pieces and put into the boiling water then continue to boil the water on medium flame for 30 minutes, until the water evaporates to 600 ml. Now the Soursop tea is ready to drink. Drink 1 cup (200 ml) filtered Soursop tea after cooling or warm, 3 times every day, in the morning, afternoon and in the night. For better taste you can add some honey (not sugar).
After drinking, the body feels the effects of heat, similar to the effects of chemotherapy but no side effects. In 1 or 2 weeks time you can feel the benefits of Soursop yourself, and in 4 weeks time the improvements can be checked with the doctor.
Note: every time you drink Soursop tea see that 30 minutes before and after, you don’t take any other food. Do not use it during pregnancy. Do not use in large single dosages and avoid long-term use.
Click here and here for additional information about this fruit. Click here for some delicious Soursop Fruit Recipes.
Some research firmly believe that Organic Food should be the only option out there (absence of pesticides and other chemicals). Other research, on the other hand, believe that Conventional Produce is the way to go and that there is no apparent difference between the two.
Read book on Diet and Nutrition to educate yourselves and be accountable for your health.
Life is so unpredictable and emotions are unstable. Why are some people impatient, unappreciative and irrational? I am one of those people who prefer to walk the walk as opposed to talk the talk (though I can do both while staying true to my word). I get in a different state of mind when someone purposely and repeatedly steps on my shoe. In such case, the best approach is to keep my cool; However, there comes a point when I just have to put an end to the madness or risk making a fool of myself.
All of last week; until this morning, part of me was stuck in my own gray cloud. I have been collaborating alongside an individual, who to my surprise has turned out to be quite difficult. Today was the final straw after receiving an unpleasant message. People shouldn’t judge each other; lest people who don’t even know us. And why was I being judged? Simply because I didn’t give a lot more of myself and time. I chose to be silent (as it was the best thing to do) and let this person have a moment of glory. I prayed for more compassion and for the ability to see clearly through the tick gray cloud that completely enveloped me at that moment.
Thankfully I was sane enough to remember that I had wonderful friends around the World I could call and talk to. I am glad I did because these wonderful individuals kept me grounded by turning the unfortunate incident into a joyful celebration. I continue to stand in awe of my Lord and I thank Him for putting so many wonderful people in my path; their friendship, honesty and undying compassion uplift me. I love my friends dearly.
I know that as long as I am doing what is good and what is right, my future will always have blue skies in it.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” – James 1:1-4 (NIV)
One of the best things we truly enjoy to do in this Life is to give a little bit of our time to others. Sometimes we give too much and it’s fine too. We do not wait until someone calls for help to assist them; we offer to help. For instance, it breaks our hearts to see an elderly weeding or cutting down a tree. We know they are more than able to complete the task ahead of them; it’s just that ‘Compassionate Human Side’ of us which kicks in and urges us to act; to get up and reach out. Fighting it only makes it worse and leave us empty.
Most of the times, these individuals are reluctant to accept the help. When it comes to this, we barter for something (in our case that something never gets taken away). When at the end, they realized we tricked them, well, we all have a good laugh. We are always available to lend a hand and our help is always free. We strongly believe that helping someone should be free (of course, to some extend).
Last month after helping a neighbor remove the remainder of his tree stump, he surprised us with samples of beautiful Christmas Card collections and a gorgeous 2013 Boys TownTreasured Moments Wall Calendar. You see, he had to leave them in our mailbox because we politely made him understand that our help is free and he wanted to do something nice for us in return. That was quite a nice surprise and we thanked him.
Yesterday we had the opportunity to help out another neighbor clear the weeds in his front yard and organized his tools in the garage. I just got tired of seeing him sneezing and struggling to do the work himself. I cared less that he had a full house; I was more concerned about his allergies. He offered to pay which was a huge no-no for me, especially given the nature of the task. I said I would take a few branches of a Pine tree he had lying around (to use as plant border, see an example here). He agreed and we sealed the deal.
An hour later with a blistered finger, the job was complete. He was grateful and I was happy I could help.
Prior to leaving, I spotted what turned out to be a Vintage Wood Crate in his garage. As I began to inquire about the little treasure, he started moving his tools from the crate into an empty box and handed the crate over to me. How cool was that? In my state of gratitude I managed to let out a sincere thank you. The thing is, I have always wanted to own a Vintage Wood Crate and — oh, I still couldn’t believe that I was getting one.
Vintage Wooden Fruit and Vegetable Crate.
Here’s the slightly new and improved Vintage Wood Crate, serving now as storage for our Giveaways goodies. I cleaned it up, did a little sanding here and there and spray painted it. I used Brushed Metallic Satin Spray Paint Nickel for the crate and Brushed Metallic Satin Spray Paint Sparkling Canyon for the Tulip.
I was blessed to receive all these beautiful things because I gave of my time to assist someone else, freely.
Click here to learn about cleaning Wooden Antiques.
By JM Perez
