Don't Give up

Don’t give up and don’t give in
It’s all in the Lord’s hands
No matter what you’re facing
HE is the one who can.
In any situation
HIS grace can turn it around
So you can be victorious
As HIS love does abound.
The Beginning and the end HE knows
And all that’s in between
So put all your total trust in HIM
To HIM it’s all foreseen.
HE knows about your struggles
HE knows about your pain
Your hardships and your sorrows
And HE will help you to reign.
So don’t give up and don’t give in
Don’t quit before it’s time
God’s grace will give you power
To make it to the finish line.
In HIS way and time… (Janet Mullaly)

Can you Listen?

When I ask you to listen to me
and you start giving advice,
you have not done what I asked.
When I ask you to listen to me
and you begin to tell me why I shouldn't feel that way,
you are trampling on my feelings.

When I ask you to listen to me
and you feel you have to do something to solve my problem,
you have failed me, strange as that may seem.
Listen! All I asked was that you listen.
Not to talk or do-just hear me.
Advice is cheap. Ten cents will get you both Dear Abby and
Bill Graham in the same newspaper.
And I can do for myself. I'm not helpless.
Maybe discouraged and faltering, but not helpless.

When you do something for me that I can and need to do for myself,
you contribute to my fear and weakness.
But, when you accept as a single fact that I do feel what I feel,
no matter how irrational, then I can quit trying to convince
you and get to the business of understanding what's
behind this irrational feeling.
And when that's clear, the answers are obvious
and I don't need advice.
Irrational feelings make sense when we understand
what's behind them.

So, please listen and just hear me. And if you want to talk,
wait a minute for your turn;
and I'll listen to you.

Listening is silently loving another person and only requires an open heart. Listen to someone you love