Life After Death… Being Born In Spirit!

   The age-old wonder of death and how we can escape it. We can’t escape our physical death from this world, but we can live forever in spirit! I look at death as being born into a new life… a spiritual life!

I want you to go with me on this one, as I am only using a common sense analogy. It is not my intent to offer the believes of any religious groups. I am talking about our spirit… something we all have.

We are all conceived in the womb. This is a place where we lived for 9 months. We kicked and we sucked our thumb. We were alive in that warm cozy womb. Then one day “someone” says to us “today you are going to born into a new world where you will breathe in air,  have parents, eat real food   and run and play. It is going to be so different from anything that you have experienced over the last 9 months, you will be born!” You say … NO! I don’t want to leave here (the womb) I am happy here. It feels so safe and warm! You say that I will be born into a new world… to me it would be like death to leave the womb. What you call being born is death to me! Well as life goes… you are born into a new world,  you breathe the air, you feel the love and comfort of your parents. You learn to eat real food, and you grow up to adulthood. Your life in the womb becomes a memory you can’t remember.

We come to the end of our physical life.  Now “someone” comes to us  again and says.. “it is time to be born into a new world”  Some say NO! and some welcome it with open arms! We  are going to be born again into a world that is so different from anything that we have experienced over the last however many years of our life. We are going to be born into our spiritual life!

Some of us will be afraid of this transition just as we were when we were in our mother’s womb. The fear will leave once we cross over to our spiritual life. A life that will give us all the answers to our worldly questions and a life that will be shared with all of those that have gone before us. And as with our memory of womb life, this physical life will also become a memory we can’t remember.

I am not asking you to dwell on the end of your physical life, just think of it as  another phase of our existence. It will be greater than anything our minds can imagine, and therefore it  is human nature to feel fear of the unknown. I for one will welcome it with open arms when my time comes. Stephen Spurling

Life’s Disappointments

I know that a lot of us live with some major disappointments in our lives, woulda, coulda, shoulda! The thing that will help us deal with our own demons is to remember that almost all of us can say this at varies points in our lives. I for one have my own disappointments and think of these disappointments as https://giannifava.org/njnja235o “did I have control over “what is” or “do I have control over what will to be?” The point here is that we all must move on from some of  life’s biggest disappointments. We must be strong enough to make alternate arrangements. Be at peace with ourselves, find our happiness and propose in life the best way we can. We are not all destin to have everything we want, and we must be at peace with what we have. And above all… know that if your disappointments were within your control…  You would have changed the outcome. Control over all things that come our way  will never happen, but how we deal with it and make it through should be our focus. Stephen Spurling

A House Renovating Fool!

Sawdust  runs through my veins… well not really, but I have often wondered if there is something in my gene pool that makes me love the smell of fresh-cut wood. The smell of a freshly painted house. and even the metallic smell of nails and screws. I have often thought of sweeping up sawdust at the job site taking it home and putting in a pot on the stove… my potpourri!  Now that’s foolish!

I have to love it. After all;  who could possibly like working outside in the cold of winter and  in the heat of summer. How about crawling under a house, entering into the world of bugs and spiders that are carrying on their day-to-day lives  were I am the intruder!  No fear of cobwebs here my passion is too great! Sometimes it can be dirty work but it goes with the job.  Now all this craziness is necessary to say that I am good at what I do! I feel as if I eat, sleep and  breathe  my work! It is my God-given talent to be a “renovating fool!” But sometimes I do wish God had made me a great piano player…  as my back would surely be all the better for it!

We can’t pick the talents that we are given. We must just figure without how to expound on them. So find your God-given talent, and you too will be able to eat sleep and breathe your gift! Even if means working alongside the bugs and spiders, you will do it. This all leads back to one if my favorite quotes: When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, “I used everything you gave me.”  Erma Bombeck Using the talents that God gave us is our intended path and there is nothing more gratifying than doing what we do best!  Stephen Spurling

Smiling For The Camera

Would it not  be great if we wore a smile everyday instead of just for the camera! I was always told by my mother, “live your life as if your on a stage and everyone is watching”. I have always remembered this and thought of it in terms of posing for a picture. Don’t we always put on our best smile? After all no one wants to take a bad picture. This is a thoughtless process smiling for the camera. I say that we should carry this thoughtless process throughout our day-day lives. If you think about it we are almost always being observed by others whether we realize it or not. So smiling should be a thoughtless process when we encounter others. And hey, they are taking a picture of us in their minds anyway. We only have one chance to make a first impression so smiling is a guaranteed positive first impression. You say…. “I can’t walk around smiling all the time”  Yes you can! If you want positive feedback from others you will have to learn how to smile even when you don’t feel like it. Besides I bet you will feel better just putting forth the effort! Smile for the snapshots that are being taken in minds of others. You will alway take a good picture! Stephen Spurling

“Firecracker Friends”

I have a friend that used  this saying https://wasmorg.com/2024/03/07/kqtsxdwsqt “firecracker friends” to describe our friendship. I thought what is a firecracker friend?  Well  when she explained, I was  blown away! Here is what a https://musiciselementary.com/2024/03/07/e3cpau2w61 firecracker friend is… someone whom you have not seen or talked to in a long time and when you do reconnect… you both pop and light up  like a firecracker! I thought what great compliment to a friendship. Someone that you haven’t seen or talked to in some time, and you are completely able to pick up right where you left off  the last time you were together. We laugh and talk as if time and distance have not come between us. Friends can become our chosen family and we can share so much of our lives with each other. I feel so lucky to have quite a few  “firecracker friends”, and even luckier that this particular friend  taught me that we make each other pop and light up!.Thanks my firecracker friend!

So I want you to remember the next time you reconnect with a friend and you both pop and light up with excitement… then you are “firecracker friends”. Stephen Spurling

 

A Mother And Her Son

I should start by saying that my mother was the very best… She was a kind, and a God-loving  women. I was her son although not her first choice. Odd circumstances would bring us together to share a life that would  grow into a beautiful mother and son relationship.

I was adopted, and I know as most would say…. how special it is to be “chosen”. And I say yes it is! However I was only chosen because I came as a “package deal”. My mother had to adopt me to get her first love, my brother. I was the extra baggage that came with the child that she really loved. We would all three grow up and live in the best harmony my mother could provide. Yes, my mother would raise us as a single parent something unconventional for the era that we were living in. She worked hard to make ends meet, a journey that she took willingly! I loved my mother and I know that she grew to love me in time. She wasn’t a mother who said “I love you” nor did she show affection. I understand now, it was her only way of being strong as she had been hurt by all the turmoil surrounding the adoption of my brother and me! Plus the fact that now she would have two mouths to feed which made her life twice as hard! So, how lucky was I that she loved my brother so much  that she was willing to take on a second child that she really did not want or have the means to provide for. Although my childhood wasn’t always easy, and the love at first was not equal, I was a part of the “package deal”.

I fast forward to the end of my mother’s life, a life that was taken way too soon. I only had my mother for a very short period of my adult life, an injustice that only life can deal. When I think back now on our adult relationship and all the love that she learned to show, it still brings tears to my eyes. No, I wasn’t wanted, but I was in the end  one of her most proudest accomplishments. https://elisabethbell.com/v4li73mi You see life will give you back all that difficult circumstances can sometimes take away. It is the circle of life. I  now understand what my mother meant when she said to me… “God gave me this life and I have truly done the best I could with it”. If I can share anything  with you from my past experiences, it would be… ” If life is full of unwanted circumstances and it is, then make the best of them”! It is all any of us can do. And at the end of the “day” even if that “day” takes years to come, and we are wise enough to see, life will give us the answers. My mother taught me that wisdom. I have so much love for her and her choices in life. After all I am here and I am all that I am because of her! Stephen Spurling

Celebrate Your Life

Today I celebrate my life! A life that was given to me not by choice but because it just happened. How lucky am I to have lived  most of  my 49 years  to the fullest once gaining control of it at a very young age. CONTROL doesn’t mean that I have always made the best choices for myself, and I will probably continue to muddle through wrong choices in the future. But I feel so blessed to be able to own my mistakes and to rise to the challenge of them. I see life as a gift, and you may well say… “I have it all”… and I do! But https://asperformance.com/uncategorized/uulil761 I chose to see my life that way… because I don’t have it all, but I am happy with what I have. I can always look around me and  https://worthcompare.com/dylj3f6 be thankful that I am where I am! I have my health. I have a job that I absolutely love. I have people who truly love me. I could go on and on… We should all celebrate our lives and the people in it that enhance our being. It will only  makes the journey more precious!  If we open our eyes to what we have in our lives, then and only then do we see how blessed we are. And by all means let go of the mistakes, we ALL make them!  Now go! Celebrate your life! I’m celebrating mine!  Stephen Spurling

A “Humbleness Of Mind” About What Is FREE!

I think that one of the biggest blessings that God ever gave me was my “humbleness of mind”  I am happy with the most simplest of life’s pleasures. In my day-to-day life I find that I am aware of all things big and small. I can sit on the porch and relish in the moment of the breeze, feeling the sun on my face, and smelling the smells of nature. All of these things are free! I notice every sunrise and sunset. Some of us are not always in tune with our “humbleness of mind” to even notice these things. We need to notice! These are free gifts that are beautiful and make us “take a breath” and we all need to take a breath. It doesn’t matter where you came from or where you are going,  just be sure to enjoy the free things in nature. After all, these things can only enhance our well-being. This is not a difficult task, but for some reason it is so overlooked.  Today and for everyday hereafter smell the air, really feel the warmth of the sun, and enjoy all things that are FREE in nature! Be more than aware of the sunrise and sunset… Dance in them! I challenge you to be “humble minded” about the free things in nature . So when you notice a beautiful blue sky … say to yourself or to whomever your with “that’s free”. You will be surprised at all of the free stuff around us, and saying it out loud will help you be in touch with all things. And most of all; you will catch yourself taking a breath! And if you are really lucky you may see something “free” that will take your breath away! Stephen Spurling

Past “Emotional” War Wounds

    Boy, didn’t some of us have a difficult emotional past that has cut hard and deep into the very thread of our present lives. I would say that I qualify for that tee-shirt! My past war wounds are more visible some days than others and it takes a constant effort on my part to keep them hidden. I do not need to show off  a badge of courage.

What I am trying to say is, I had a past that  might have led me to think that I would always be destined for heartache, disappointment, and the feeling of living with a broken spirit.  But I decided long ago that I am worthy of true happiness and that I can make it so.

How??? I control my attitude and I control my mood. I can be however I wish to be so I choose to be happy, funny, smiling and positive. I can say that my life is full of people who laugh, smile and share positive energy with me. My cup runneth over! I think it is this way for me because I have always try to hide my past war wounds.  Although they are a source of wisdom, they don’t rule my present being.  I say http://countocram.com/2024/03/07/q4is6by0e5x Don’t let the war wounds of your past make your life become something that you don’t want it to be! Stephen Spurling

Death, We Will Not Escape…

    I find myself in a strange place this morning with the announcement that Whitney Houston  has passed away. No I didn’t know her personally, but because she was sometimes bigger than life itself, it just seemed that she would always be there and we would grow old together. She enhanced my life with her beautiful voice and that is what I will always remember her for.

     We can also take this time to reflect on our own mortality… as no one will escape  death. It will come to us all. We can justify Whitney’s past life as her cause for her untimely death, but she had plans for next week. She may have planned on taking her daughter to the amusement park, who knows, but she had plans for tomorrow. The point here is she was just living her life. We  should let this iconic death be a lesson for us all that life truly is too short and that we should live each moment to the fullest.

        We all plan on growing old and living a long life. Just  remember as we make these plans death can come unannounced. We know that none of us are promised tomorrow, but do we really live our lives that way? No, I STILL THINK I HAVE  TOMORROW  and I am one that smells the roses most everyday… .  Let’s live today as if we don’t have tomorrow, it will be the best thing we can take away from her untimely death. In closing Whitney touched my life with her voice, and ultimately with her death, I can hear that beautiful voice in my head now.  https://fotballsonen.com/2024/03/07/9egniqneg I will squeeze all the living I can into today because none of us can escape death tomorrow.  Stephen Spurling