Living Proof

Change. Is it really a bad thing? I think the biggest reason why people get depressed or develop anxiety is the constant change that happens to all of us at any given moment. It's the unpredictable nature of life that leaves our hearts unsettled. Change happened to me when I found out my father was diagnosed with cancer. And even though you watch a loved one going through the struggles of an illness, and realize that their time is coming to an end, the inevitable change is almost still the same as if someone left your life suddenly. Many would disagree with that, only because there's the element of preparation involved. Nonetheless, it's a huge change -- the change that your life will take on once someone you love and known has gone away for good. It doesn't feel "normal" and creates a sense of fear. It's just a "new normal" for many of us. Change can also mean a change in atmosphere -- a big move (whether moving on up or moving on down),...

Today, I saw a few posts and some live streams of a couple of my friends a little bummed out about today. There are three ways to enjoy love: give love, receive love, BE love. There are a number of ways of just BEING love. For instance, donating to an animal shelter, purchasing items for the person behind you in line at the supermarket, or even spreading some good positive vibes out there in the world. This world has become so angry, full of people with enormous amounts of resentment. To approach them on a bad day would be an explosive catastrophe. It didn't make things better once the election was over. "Love Trumps Hate" doesn't work so well when you're displaying hate yourself. The definition of a "peaceful protest" doesn't include burning up our own flag, carrying protest signs that say "electrocute Pence" or romanticizing about assassinating our President. That's not love. When you preach love, your actions should prove it as...

Have you ever felt that intense heaviness on your heart -- the type of pain that only exists when you lose a loved one or when the love of your life parts ways with you? Some say that a breakup is very similar to a death, except the other person is still out there choosing not to be apart of your life. For some, that can be the most painful thing in the world. I wrote about the broken heart syndrome before in this post . It's similar to what I feel happened to Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher. The pain was too much for Debbie Reynolds to bear -- to see her daughter go before her. No parent should ever see their child go first. In that article, I also had spoken about my dad's passing and how I reacted to it. I kept getting severe chest pains. I finally had to be hauled away by the ambulance because I passed out. The EMT said, "I was the one who helped your father in his last days, you're going through the broken heart syndrome." And that was the first I have ...

No one is the same. Not one person can relate 100% to somebody else. It's just a fact. Sometimes, we have to agree to disagree, but in most cases, we see people's egos pummeling through an argument until they have won the final battle. Whose opinion is better? Time after time, I have seen people post up political arguments indicating, "My opinion is right! My opinion is better than yours!" And while their heart is truly for the better, there are instances where fear comes into play. Fear can mean voting for Trump simply because "you" do not like Mexicans or Muslims, without realizing that Trump himself, is not a racist. There is not one thing he has said to be qualified as a "racist." I do feel his extreme vetting is appropriate due to what we have seen with terrorism. The list of countries that have been put on a temporary ban are all the ones that Obama had picked. On top of that, Obama and Clinton were adamant about illegal immigration. List...

Are you a control freak? Sometimes, you just gotta say, "I'm OK with it," and move on. There are so many things we want or need to control that it just overtakes our ability to see the message that's being sent. As cliché as this may sound, maybe it was just meant to be. Maybe God removed something in your life to give you something better. Or if you didn't see what the "better" was, then maybe He was trying to test your strength and endurance, especially your faith. Years ago, when I didn't get what I wanted, I'd turn into a huge crybaby, kicking and screaming like an undisciplined kid in a supermarket. But the more I fought and cried over the situation, the worse it got. My worrying, my tantrums, my crazy episodes weren't going to make anything better. To even top it off, sometimes I would get so upset over something that I had no control over, that my uncontrolled emotions would give me severe chest pains. So now, I had another problem...

In the midst of all this political chaos and divisiveness, I found myself becoming angry. I'm not sure what stirred up my anger, whether it was a contagious wave of political egomania, or if it was an underlining tinge of fear. I do believe whether you are on the right or left of the political arena, fear is the common denominator which ultimately divides us. We don't want our rights taken away. There are different set of rights on each side. From my standpoint, my first love is God, after that, the safety of our country, the 2nd amendment, pro-life, and many other views that lean mostly conservative. But then I have my social values. I'm an advocate for the gay, lesbian and transgender communities. I believe in marriage equality. I also believe in freedom of religion, whereas if a baker doesn't want to participate in my wedding, then I would respect their views and find another baker to help us. I try to understand each side, because even though many Christians bel...

Sally Sarratt and Maria Swearingen who are a married lesbian couple, were announced as the co-pastors of Calvary Baptist Church in Washington last Sunday. They received a lot of heat from other Christians who believe that homosexuality is a sin. Most cringed, throwing stones and condemning them to hell for "false doctrine." As a Christian myself, I do not believe that homosexuality is a sin. It is listed in Leviticus, just like the other 613 commandments that were from the Old Law. New Christians believe that Jesus died on the cross and abolished the law. If you keep the Old Law, you must obey it, like steering away from lobster and shrimp scampi, not shaving your beard, not wearing clothing made out of different fabrics -- the list goes on. In the Bible, it states: "But what if we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then find out that we are still sinners? Has Christ led us into sin? Of course not! Rather, I make myself guilty if rebuil...