What would you do if…?

Lots of people encounter many struggles in life. Some get to learn how to cope with them, others get pulled down so much that they do not see any reason any more to live.

All have good and bad moments in life and whether we’re going through the worst of times or the best of times, history and our own experiences show us that life does go on and that we are just a very tiny atom in it

In this world there are people who, like Ray who grew up in London, moved away and travelled the world, ending up back where he started, are not able to raise their arm but found ways using other parts of their body to communicate or to move things, though at times it may feel for them like they might as well be trying to move the earth.

It is not the Most High Creator Who brings all that badness over us. But it is Him Who give us the opportunity to work around it and to become stronger, if we allow Him working in our midst.

We should not fear man nor fear worldly situations or diseases, but should fear God and come to trust and honour Him, putting our ‘tiny’ hand in His Big Hand, to be carried through life.

There are no rules to how life plays out. We have no control over it. The only thing we have control over is how we face those challenges. We are not so much a product of the challenges placed before us as we are a product of how each of us has faced those challenges. {To Live And Ride With ALS}

Please do find what Bill of Unshakable hope has to say and look how he manages to cope with the terminal disease called Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or ALS or call it “Lou Gehrig’s Disease”.

He does not believe God causes trials and he doesn’t believe we will ever fully understand, at least not in this life.

But, whatever other reasons God has for allowing trials, I discovered two big things that He accomplishes through our trials; He helps us reset our priorities and forms our character. (Obviously He had a lot of work to do on me).

For sure he is not the only one to whom God has a lot of work to do. For the creator of this and some other lifestyle magazines had also to go through two near death experiences before he decided to work more for God. It does not mean, that took all the pain and frustrations away from him, but he gets encouraged by feeling the Hand of God at work in him … and that keeps him going….

One night, about a year before Bill was diagnosed with ALS, he and his wife Mary were up late watching “Nightline” on which Ted Koppel was doing three nights of interviews with retired college professor Morrie Schwartz who also had ALS and was sharing his life-lessons with Ted Koppel just as he had done previously with one of his former students named Mitch Albom who compiled these life-lessons and wrote a best-selling book titled “Tuesdays with Morrie.”

Bill has one vivid memory from watching those interviews

having to rely on his wife + caregivers for virtually all of his needs = helpless he was

Bill turned to Mary and told her

I would rather just go to heaven than live trapped in my own body like him.

a year after making that statement = diagnosed with same “trapped-in-your-own-body” disease

=> hastily-made statement began to haunt + taunt me

=> change view + began trying to do best to live one day at a time <= grace of God in me, urging me to keep going

Hastily-made statements carelessly uttered by healthy people = spoken out of pride = cannot comprehend grace of God <= self-reliant, self-righteous + just plain selfish

Trials cause us to reexamine hastily-made statements we’ve made before the trial, when we so carelessly said what we’d do if this thing or that thing happened to us.

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Preceding articles

The Greatest Fear

Fear in your own heart or outside of it

Fear, struggles, sadness, bad feelings and depression

Phantom Of Dreams

How to Find the Meaning of Life and Reach a State of Peace

Watch out

Walking in the Light of Life

See the conquest and believe that we can gain the victory

When the world rages, let it rage, but let us not fear it

Those steady drips, those small steps!

My tales will be beautiful

For those Christians who say they are the Victim

Christians remaining hidden not sharing the gospel

How To Get Started In Sharing Your Faith As a Christian

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Additional reading

1. Struggles of life
2. Pain and Suffering is inevitable but Misery is optional
3. Good and bad things in this world
4. Your struggles develop your strengths
5. A way to prepare for the Kingdom
6. Not holding back and getting out of darkness
7. Science, scepticism, doubts and beliefs
8. If there is bitterness in the heart
9. Emotional pain and emotional deadness
10. Evil in this world not bringing us down
11. Dying or not
12. Life Goes On
13. Trouble is coming
14. End of the Bottom Line
15. A small trouble is like a pebble
16. She who sows thistles will reap prickles
17. Do not be so busy adding up your troubles
18. Do the appropriate for a friend
19. A Breath for tomorrow
20. Shelter in the morning
21. Luck
22. Rejoice even though bound to grieve
23. From pain to purpose
24. Faith because of the questions
25. Hope by faith and free gift
26. 1 Corinthians 15 Hope in action
27. May reading the Bible provoke us into action to set our feet on the narrow way
28. You God hold the future
29. Gaining Christ, trusting Jehovah
30. God is my refuge and my fortress in Him I will trust
31. Trust God to shelter, safety and security
32. Songs in the night Worship God only

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Further reading

1. ALS Awareness Month
2. Pesticide Use Linked To Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s & ALS
3. Why Me?
4. Having the Right Perspective
5. To Live And Ride With ALS
6. To Live And Ride With ALS (Part ll)
7. The Preamble
8. The Sacred In The Mundane
9. Don’t give up!
10. The Bread Of Affliction
11. I Can’t Resist A Good Challenge!
12. I’m Sorry
13. Cape and Tights – My Grandmother’s Struggle with ALS
14. 2016/05/09/ Repost
15. Mother With ALS Paints Again
16. Kirkus Review of My Perfect Imperfections
17. The Reason I Run, Chris Spriggs – a review
18. The Walk
19. Army vet starts ‘#22kill push up challenge’ to help other veterans
20. One man’s poison is another man’s….
21. The Story So Far…
22. Can you see it?
23. The Woman Behind The Blog
24. The Privilege of Growing Old
25. How Famous Researchers Work: Stephen Hawking
26. Advocates for Rare Diseases

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• Breath Of Life

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Unshakable Hope

One night, about a year before I was diagnosed with ALS, Mary and I were up late watching “Nightline.” Ted Koppel was doing three nights of interviews with a retired college professor named Morrie Schwartz. Morrie had ALS and was sharing his life-lessons with Ted Koppel just as he had done previously with one of his former students named Mitch Albom. Mitch later compiled these life-lessons and wrote a best-selling book titled “Tuesdays with Morrie.”

I hate to admit this, but even after seeing the three nights of interviews and reading the book, I cannot remember most of the life-lessons that Morrie taught. But, I do have one vivid memory from watching those interviews; it occurred while listening to Morrie describe his daily routine – having to rely on his wife and caregivers for virtually all of his needs. After hearing how helpless he was…

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