All the same

still feeling regretful and pessimistic at this time.
sigh.

Begin with the end in mind

Stumbled upon this, a helpful reminder.

Nurse reveals the top 5 regrets people make on their deathbed | Caroline Nettle 's Empower Network... For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives. People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality

I came back to this blog to read one of my favourite quotes.
I must caveat that joy and happiness are two different things.

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I disagree with the popular statement "Love others, and others will love you".
I think that because God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. And love isn't just a feeling, it entails actions for nurturing the relationship.

1 John 4:9-11 says "In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."

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Thankful and hopeful.

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I liked an excerpt from "You Never Marry the Right Person"

The reason that marriage is so painful and yet wonderful is because it is a reflection of the Gospel, which is painful and wonderful at once. The Gospel is—we are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared to believe, and at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope. This is the only kind of relationship that will really transform us. Love without truth is sentimentality; it supports and affirms us but keeps us in denial about our flaws. Truth without love is harshness; it gives us information but in such a way that we cannot really hear it. God’s saving love in Christ, however, is marked by both radical truthfulness about who we are and yet also radical, unconditional commitment to us. The merciful commitment strengthens us to see the truth about ourselves and repent. The conviction and repentance moves us to cling to and rest in God’s mercy and grace.

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Oh yea, hello blog!