Love and Sex

Sexual connection is a vital aspect of most romantic relationships, but it’s not always as central as people may think. Partners have sex for self-interested reasons—it feels good and can boost self-esteem; and for relationship-focused reasons—it enhances closeness and pleases someone they love. Over the long term, most couples will face sexual challenges, as bodies change with age and individuals’ desire for sex waxes and. Research consistently shows that most couples struggle to talk about sex honestly, but that when they do, it brings them closer together.

Love also brings people together, but it takes more than love to stay together. Many of us know couples that broke up despite believing that they were in love with each other, because of one partner’s infidelity or because of distance or circumstance. But even in long-term stable relationships, partners who feel that they are in love may grow apart, if one believes that they are not emotionally safe in the relationship, or that it lacks passion or intimacy.

Single Parenting: The Struggle Is Real

People become parents for some different reasons, though those reasons are mainly the result of a) divorce or b) death. And sometimes, after a divorce, your ex-partner can be so distant or uninvolved that it makes co-parenting nearly impossible. How many times can you disappoint a child by telling him or her that the absentee parent didn’t show up for yet another visitation appointment? It is stressful being a parent on a good day, let alone a bad one. You need to have time to yourself, whether it’s to blow off some steam with a good movie and a glass of wine, or get some housework done, so you stop looking at the same messes day in and day out. While it can be tempting to be SuperMom and get all the glory of doing everything on your own, the phrase “it takes a village to raise a child” didn’t come from nowhere. When you need help, ask.

One of the things single parents tend to worry about the most is being able to provide their children with a sense of security. The best way to establish this is to create a routine and stick to it. Many single parents tend to rely too heavily on their children, treating them almost as equals. They share their financial burdens with their children, as well as the struggles they go through both as a single parent and, if applicable, with their former spouses.

Being a parent sometimes requires us to ask for things we’d never ask for, and do things we’d never have done.

There's Great Value in Variety

This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot.

— Ecclesiastes 5:18 (AMP)

If we do the same thing over and over, sooner or later we’re going to get bored. We don’t have to wait for something nice to happen to us; we can be aggressive and do something nice for ourselves. For many of you, I know this is a new thought that may seem foreign and even unspiritual. But I can assure you that it is part of God’s plan. You can create variety, and it will keep your life more exciting.

I sat with my computer on my lap for about four hours this morning and then stopped for a while to do some other things I needed to do. When I went back to my writing, I decided to sit in a different part of the house just for variety. I chose a place that had plenty of light where I could look out the window. Simple little things like this cost nothing, but they are very valuable.

No day needs to be ordinary if we realize the gift God is giving us when He gives us another day to live and enjoy. An extraordinary attitude can quickly turn an ordinary day into an amazing adventure. Jesus said He came so that we might have and enjoy life. If we refuse to enjoy it, then it’s no one’s fault but our own.

I would like to suggest that you take responsibility for your joy and never again give anyone else the job of keeping you happy. Add a little variety to your life—break up your routine, do something different, and so on. When you do, expect God to meet you and help make your ordinary...extraordinary!

Prayer Starter: Father, thank You for Your joy. Please help me to approach my life with adventure, choosing to enjoy each and every day...and adding variety all along the way. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Keeping My Salvation

We have received the greatest gift through the greatest sacrifice of our great God. Through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have been given the chance to become sons and daughters of God that though we were once sinners, we were able to be reconciled to our Creator. This greatest gift is our salvation - a chance to live a life of eternity with God.

The responsibility left on us is to take good care of this salvation. Why do we need to take good care of our salvation? Because salvation is not a permanent bestowal. It is true that salvation is a gift but the long possession of it is something we must work hard for. The possession of salvation entails responsibilities in order to remain possessing it. Once a person is saved, he or she will be saved forever if and only if he or she takes the duty of taking good care of it conscientiously. In addition to this, the possession of salvation is a grace from God and this grace remains to those who take good care of it.

Taking good care of one's salvation implies certain responsibilities that are vital in keeping salvation. First, one needs to pray for it steadfastly. Second, one must always have the sense of keeping up with the activities inside the church. Third, one must show in one's lifestyle the gift of salvation. Lastly, one must share the word of salvation to other people.

Keeping salvation is a favor from God and one must always pray for the possession of it. Prayer is another way of showing the Lord that one is thankful for salvation. There are times when everything seems too constricted that we seem to be unable to find time to commune with God through prayer. But this is a mere deceit from God's adversary. There will always be time for us to pray as we always have the time to attend to our personal needs like eating, taking bath and washing dishes. When one prays, he or she must ask the Lord for help to keep salvation, crying and begging for the continuous grace of God for them.

When one wants to keep salvation, he or she must endeavor to do the will of God by keeping track to all the activities in the church. The church is the place where we will find all the activities that will make us strong in faith which will in turn help us keep our salvation. It is important that the children of God participate to all the plans set by the ministers in the church. When we participate, we are cleaning ourselves from all the iniquities we have had.

“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.”
- I Peter 2:2

This is so because the words of God will bring us to repentance and this will only happen if we let ourselves join in the activities of the church.

“Therefore my dear friends, as you have always obeyed not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”
- Philippians 2:12-13 (NIV)

Actions depict character than words do. When we are saved, it means that we are now children of God. As such, we have to show the life example by the early Disciples of Christ. We cannot separate our lifestyle from our being children of God. When we are saved, we are not of the world anymore. From the words we speak to the way we dress and carry ourselves they must depict our Christianity. We must show the gentleness that Jesus has shown to the people of Israel when He was still here on earth. We must show the love Jesus wanted us to show the people. Love neighbors, love enemies, love everyone. Our character is the best way to show our faith in Jesus and through this we are taking good care of God's gift for us.

As children of God, we are to share the Good News to other people. This is our duty something that we should do devotedly. Sharing the Good News to other people means that we are concerned about their spiritual welfare. There are a lot of people waiting for us to open to them the truth about God's love. When at work, don't let yourself be prevented from letting them know about the chance God is giving for them. Speak. When you are at school, it will be better to have no friend at all because of your faith than have as many without letting them know you are a Christian. In everything, we must let God manifest in our speech. When we do this we can say that we are securely saved.

“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”
- 2 Corinthians 7:10

There are early signs when we are losing grip on our salvation. First, we forget the little things that we have to do for the Lord like when we stop going to the church during the midweek. Second, we tend to get back at our old self without remorse. We start to do the things that we promised not to do anymore and it seems that we don't feel any guilt about it. Third, we tend to speak against the church even if it is on our own. Last, we stop going to worship God on the week's first day.

When these signs start to crawl in your life it is not too late for you to get back to God and ask for help.

“Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation…”
- I Peter 3:15

God's love and mercy is so abundant that He can cleanse you from all your iniquities and trespasses. And once God has given you another chance, take good care of it.

There was a certain person who received salvation and endeavored to keep it on his hands up to the last thread of breath. There were a lot of struggles in his life. He was persecuted, almost killed by disease but he remained steadfast to God.

If God knew people would sin why did He make them?

     This is a simple question and we are tempted to answer it simply by saying, "Why not?  Why shouldn't God make people if He knows they are going to sin?"  But, such an answer isn't very satisfying.  We could always say we don't know why God would do this since He is infinite and we are not and His ways are not our ways.  But this answer also leaves us a bit empty.  So, let's see if we can answer the question by analogy.

     When parents have children they know that their kids will eventually act in sinful and even harmful ways.  Yet, that doesn't stop them from having children. Why?  First of all, it is worth the risk of their rebellion to bring them into the world.  Second, the nature of love is to give and by having children the parents can better express their love.  Third, just because the children will sin and rebel doesn't mean they shouldn't exist.  Fourth, children have their own wills and can freely choose to rebel.  Knowing this parents all over the world still have children.  As you can see, analogies help us to make sense of thing, but they can't answer every question.  That is why we must go to God's word for more insight.  

     The Bible tells us that God is love and that He sacrificed His Son on our behalf.  The greatest act of love is to sacrifice one's own life for another (John 15:13).  In a very real sense, God has performed the greatest act of love in sacrificing Himself (Remember, Jesus is God in flesh - John 1:1,14).  Since God is love and love sacrifices, God has now manifested the greatest love by dying for us.  In this, God is glorified.  But, without sin in the world, there would be no way to demonstrate the greatest act of love -- which is self sacrifice.  So, perhaps God allowed sin in the world so that He could demonstrate the greatest act of love.

     Furthermore, in this self sacrifice God demonstrates the perfection of His holiness, the sinfulness of sin, the proof of God's righteousness, the victory over the evil one, and the guarantee of the saved with whom He can shed His love and glory forever.  In this, God is glorified.

      We could come up with a variety of possible reasons why God made people knowing they would sin and we probably can never fully answer it.  But, knowing that they would sin is no reason that God shouldn't make them, especially if His plan includes the acts of sinners so that others would be redeemed.

Take The Time

We live in a pretty demanding world full of a million distractions and things to keep us pretty busy.  Some of the things are important and demand our attention, others are less important, and then there are the time wasters that suck the life out of you should you allow them to.

This gadget happy, materialistic environment that calls out to  us continually to occupy our minds with thoughts and things that are “nice” and “handy” can tend to distract us from the pure simple and natural joys of living, that for some have gone all but lost in the shuffle.  All of these great, new and wonderful commodities are useful tools that can help us accomplish more.  They can bring us temporary fulfillment and happiness because they make our life easier.  But they will never bring us the lasting happiness that  feeds our inner soul and brings us back to the simple childlike joys of yesteryear.  I was thinking about this

the other day as I took some off-time from the frantic busy life-style that I now call my “normal”.  This day  I took the time to enjoy the beauty of a flower, watch the sunset and gaze at the stars in the sky brought me feelings of appreciation for my family and loved ones as I remembered moments that I had spent with each one.  That is a joy that lasts on forever.

If you hope to have a great time, put aside all of the distractions, be it work, play gadgets or toys and take the time to feel that inner-peace and joy you experienced as a child. Learn to be happy with the moment, don’t allow yourself to be dependent on “things”.  They are but tools that we can use, just don’t allow them to use you!

Do you take the time?

Don't Quit

"When things go wrong, as they sometimes will;

When the road you're trudging seems all uphill;

When the funds are low and the debts are high;

And you want to smile but you have to sigh.

When all is pressing you down a bit-

Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Success is failure turned inside out;

The silver tint on the clouds of doubt;

And you can never tell how close you are;

It may be near when it seems far.

So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -

It's when things go wrong that you must not quit."

Be Positive

Be positive whatever happens because God is with you, be positive if you are going through hard times, so what, this is life and everybody has to go through, be positive hard days come for our betterment, be positive everything happens for a reason, be positive at the end everything will be in your favor.

Be thankful for what you have because God first fulfill our need then our wish. We always run after what we want and forget about our needs. Let God fulfills your wishes according to his time because God is never late and you just enjoy what you have before you loose.

Try to avoid negative people, negative situation, negative matters and surround yourself with positive energy like positive people, read positive books and quotes, go out for a walk in any park area because nature spread positive energy.

Be a good listener because when you will listen then you start realizing that not only you other people are also facing problems, may be more than you, more painful than yours.

Make your presence positive so that people start loving you. Spread happiness, always smile, spread kindness. Be an example, so that people learn to live from you. Teach everybody how to smile in every situation. Spread positive energy and do read good books to remain positive because books help a lot and remember all the successful people in the world like Brack Obama, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison etc they have set an example with positive thinking. They all have faced failure and overcome their every failure with hard work and positive thinking. Do read biographies of successful people for encouragement.

Pain

What is pain? Pain is a reminder. It reminds us our mistakes. pain is an alarm of upcoming beautiful days. There are two types of pain in the world. First is physical pain like tooth ache, body ache, back pain, neck pain etc and second is heart pain. This pain has not any medicine yet. This pain only reduced by bearing it. Rumi says "The cure for pain is in the pain."

When we forget God and run after world and pain enters into our life because all the worldly things are painful. "Put God first put God's work first then the other things will be yours as well" (Mathew 6:33). Where there is God no question arises of pain because God is our higher self and higher self itself is a biggest happiness. We need to explore ourself and start getting rid of pain.

Pain is the only one thing which brings us close to God. In pain we never remember mom or dad or any friend. We just look at the sky and start praying. God is the only one who understands us and support us throughout the bad time. Every relation in the world remains because of some selfishness and our relation with God is only remains because of love.

In hard days we always feel loneliness and this loneliness brings ourself closer to our higher self. We get to know our talents and good and bad qualities which you cannot know in the crowd. Some people do solitude just because to know themselves because they know the value of their existence. Some do meditations.

Pain changes your life. It will increase your conscience. For the first time when you face the pain you feel like going mad. You cry a lot, try a lot and after that you will pray and now you are on the right path. God has the solutions of every situation.

Everything created by God is for our benefits so do as with pain. Pain is necessary. It opens our heart and mind. It makes balance in our life. Pain is a result of mistakes.

A Great Life

Today I woke up from my sleep with everything is fine,it's a reminder that a new beginning of the day has begun, a new blessing that we are receiving without noticing, why? 'coz not every one has given a chance to wake up and fullfill their dreams...so let's all be thankful to God for his amazing love for us.

Though I am far from my family for now but I am glad I have good friends to share with and we treat each other just like a family..we ate at the same time and table during the night,we do teasing,and we able to share our problems and give some point of advice if needed..I have a job and good officemates.

In our case he is our inspiration..his situation let us strive for ourselves,to help each other and to live selflessly for others..

Real Secret of Success

Learn to front-load your pain.

That's it.

That thing you feel crappy about? That thing you're dreading? That is exactly the thing you need to do in order to improve your life. Instead of dreading it, go ahead and embrace it. Embrace the yucky feeling and all. If you can do this for three weeks consistently, you will change your life forever.

What you have to do is front-load all those yucky crappy feelings. Go ahead and feel it now so you don't have to feel it later. And guess what? If you put it off, it gets amplified. Right now you're dreading doing your homework or writing an article or w/e, but what if you don't do it? And worse, what if you put that stuff off consistently?

Finally, think of your actions as alchemy. You are taking time and adding energy to it to create a result. If you take action haphazardly, you will have a 'meh' kind of life.

You know you're going to end up feeling like sh*t if you procrastinate anyway, so go ahead and do the thing you're afraid to do. If you're going to feel bad either way, you might as well take the action that will improve your life.

Change is Life

A life is a journey full of changes. It is changing every second. Change is the most important part of our life. Everything changes. Time changes, weather changes, circumstances change, age and body changes every year, fashion changes, moreover people change, life is impossible without change.

Some changes are good and joyful, whereas some are bad and some are very painful. Sometimes we want to change our situations for out betterment and some time just change in our attitude makes our world beautiful. Sometimes we don't want change in our life but we have to accept the change. These changes are God's planning and are called painful changes. But remember that every change what kind of it is, it is only for our betterment. Some changes are brought into our life by us and make our life worst. I mean to say when our circumstances changes and we forget our pain and change our attitude towards the people who were kind with us or with poor people. These are bad changes and these changes take us back to hard days.

Life is precious and will end one day. Life has given so many gifts and so many chances and opportunity. But we moreover miss them because we are very far away from us and from ours. If you feel life is not changing, sometime it happens with very rare people. So what, you bring some change into your life. There is always something good and something bad in every situation not only situation everything has good and bad properties. It's up to us how we take. If we find good things then life will be peaceful and attract happiness whereas if we find faults or negativity then life more negativity, aggression, frustration, fear, despair etc. Try to be thankful to God early in the morning whenever you open your eyes then day will be good and no change will disturb your peace of mind.

We want to change the world beside ourself because we thing we are perfect. No, we are still not perfect. Perfections and growth comes only with change. Change in job gives you experience, change in thoughts can change your life and even your relationship. As time passes we start adjusting with the change and at the end it is like a huge surprise. We have to keep and maintain lot of patience. Accepting life as it comes is the best way for being happy throughout the life.

If You Say You Can't, You Won't

 If you say or even think you can't do something, then you won't.

It's that simple. And this is the saddest truth there is in the process of being successful. There are so many hurdles you will face in your journey to wherever it is that you're going, there's no getting around it. There will be plenty of circumstances and people and limits that you will face insisting that you can't. NO matter how positive, how motivated or how successful you become, there will always be obstacles in your way, it's just a natural part in the process. However, the biggest obstacle you will likely face is yourself. I can pretty much guarantee the only thing standing between you and your most outlandish dreams and goals is the limits you place on yourself. 

You can accomplish almost anything you can dream of with the right tools and motivation. But you will not accomplish even your most ordinary goals if you say you can't. You will never know how hard, or how easy something really is until you actually try with all your might if you never even give it a chance. "Can't" is the ultimate serial killer of Chance. You might not even be aware that you are you're own worst enemy, and how much you are limiting yourself simply by your own conviction that you can't. So evaluate the things you think you "can't" and turn it into could be. Start thinking, and then knowing you can and prove yourself wrong knowing you tried your hardest. Then when you think you've done everything you can do, and you can't do anything more, think again.

You CAN do it.

Until Being Strong Is Your Only Choice

Change is considerably easier when you have a full complement of supporting partners and unlimited resources. But, since very often it is the shock of a death, divorce or some other life tragedy that unceremoniously tosses us out of our comfort zone to fend for ourselves, it can mean being forced to strike out alone which for many of us is the scariest part of all.

However, it is indefensible to can claim ignorance to the possible ramifications of continued inaction. The choice belongs to each and every one of us. We all have the power to change both our thoughts and behaviour thereby giving more intentional direction to the remainder of our lives.

Probably the most difficult thing about pursuing significant change is doing it when you don’t have the knowledge, financial or emotional tools available to make the process go smoothly.

I don’t know if it’s possible to leave this world with zero regrets. Because of the natural life cycles and the fact that sometimes it’s the tragedy that causes our awakenings we often have our epiphanies too late to avoid certain painful outcomes.

Happy Life

Are you truly happy? Do you even know what it means to be happy and what it takes to achieve happiness? These are important questions for anyone who is seeking happiness to ask themselves. I live my life to maintain my own happiness while trying my best to not cause unhappiness to anyone else. If you want to be happy you need to understand that you can be happy and that you should be happy. Many people make the mistake of believing that they don’t deserve happiness and accept their unhappy state as their destiny. The truth of the matter is that happiness, like anything else in life, needs to be nurtured.

 Happiness is hard to define but most people are aware of whether they are happy or not. Many people believe that happiness is a form of luck and that some people are destined to be happy while others are destined to be unhappy. I try to incorporate the tips above into my life and have had great success in achieving happiness.

Life Is a Precious Gift

I believe that every single day of life is a precious gift and should be lived to the fullest extent possible. It did, however, take me 34 years to arrive at this conclusion. Up until that time I was afraid to live. I was afraid to speak up or share my opinions, hopes, fears, or (God-forbid) beliefs to anyone.

While it was always difficult for me to express my voice, I certainly had one. I felt a deep, internal passion for all aspects of life. Yet I was afraid to let it shine through. Instead I just wanted to blend in and not be recognized as different or distinct. I wanted to be the background of life’s tapestry – I preferred to let others fabricate the bold, creative, and unique design on top.

Sometimes to live fully means allowing the tears to stream down my face when I experience pain or sadness. At other times my smiles and laughter express the shear abundance of happiness in my life. I welcome all of these feelings, emotions and experiences. I recognize that my life is enhanced by the good and challenging experiences alike, as long as they are received as opportunities to learn and grow in response to them.

I now readily offer my opinions, hopes, fears, and (most of all) beliefs to anyone who will listen. I recognize that every person (myself included) equally imprints their own, bold, creative, and unique design to the tapestry. The background, which I mistakenly thought was my contribution, is actually the thread that ties us all together making equal space for everyone’s individual beliefs to be proudly displayed. This spacious, encompassing, integral background is what holds life’s tapestry together where my voice is expressed and heard just the same as everyone else’s. Recognizing that, I now awaken each morning ready to embrace what the day has to offer me and I allow the passion I feel in each moment to shine through.

First Impressions

This words reminded me how easy it is to make wrong first judgments. Based on incomplete or inaccurate information, we can jump to wrong conclusions and make poor value judgments about people and situations. And that can cause great hurt to others.

Speaking to people who had misjudged Him, Jesus warned, "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment. We need to be careful that our judgments are backed up by the right information the truth and the right attitude the compassion of Christ.

Don't judge too quickly what you see. Treat lightly first impressions. Misunderstandings multiply without right information.

Appreciation of Hard Work

Statistics show that half of employees switch jobs to gain more recognition. Showing your employees a little appreciation can go a long way. Gallup found that employees, who receive praise, perform better. The below listing of employee appreciation messages have been used by others to provide additional encouragement and appreciation for their employees. To become easier to execute, changes become easier to implement and problems become easier to solve.

From time to time, small verbal gestures of appreciation do a lot to motivate and boost the morale of employees. As an employer, show your appreciation by sending a thank you message to your employees. Good work on the completed project! Our client was pleased; and that was because of your commendable idea! 

God's Hand of Blessing

In the midst of the Lord 's Prayer are these familiar words: "Give us this day our daily bread". They remind us that we are dependent on God for everything, and He is the giver of every blessing. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights.

Some people say, "Why should I pray for my daily bread? I can take care of my own needs. If it weren't for God's love and grace, you wouldn't have anything. We need to pray this prayer everyday, because we need to be reminded to trust God in everything.

This prayer reminds us also of Jesus words "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger. Thank God for all His gifts especially Christ, the greatest gift of all.