Sunday, October 20, 2013

FREEDOM IS SACRED AND PRECIOUS

MY THOUGHTS: Hello my friends. I feel inspired today, so I must write and share!If any one desires to send a private message you can do so at danielisatruesoldier@aol.com.
 First I want to send a shout out to my nephew Cade Ashton. Hes a senior in HS and he spoke at our church today. The spirit was very strong as he spoke. He is such an example to everyone he knows because he doesnt just talk the talk, he actually walks the walk. What I mean is that he lives his life according to the standards of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and people take notice. They take enough notice to stop and ask him why he lives the way he lives, and he is able to answer because he has taken the time to study the scriptures and he knows and loves the Lord.  He is able to answer them by sharing his personal testimony in Jesus Christ. He lets his light shine bright by choosing to live righteosly when many of his friends around him choose to live much lower standards. I want him to know that he makes following the Lord seem awesome and cool because the light that is in him shines bright and his inner peace and happiness shine through. I know that following the Lords way IS THE AWESOME AND COOL THING TO DO!!! Thank you Cade Ashton for standing up today and speaking with confidence and sincerity. You should know that you make me and all those who know you want to be a better person and that my friend is COOL!!! I will also send a shout out to MR. Noah Bean...He is one of Cade's best friends, he also spoke in church today. He spoke of the love he has for his older brother who is out on a two yr mission inviting others to come unto Christ. He also spoke of his personal testimony in Jesus Christ. I want Noah to know that his example is powerful and he too makes it the cool thing to do to choose the right in all you do, and that my friend is COOL!!!  Mr Cade Ashton and Mr Noah Bean you are a true soldiers in Gods army, I love you both!!!! 

I also want to share a little about my day on Fri. Oct 18th. I was assigned to attend a training at the prison in Huntsville Texas. I am about to start a practicum at the prison in preperation to becoming a licensed chemical dependency counselor. I just want to say that just going into a prison helped me to appreciate my freedom. Im hoping to somehow get the message across that our freedom is very precious and sacred. Im hoping that somehow you will think about what it would be like to be locked up in a prison amd then somehow appreciate your frredom that much more. I know for me it helped me to appreciate my freedom and family on a deeper level. When we have something taken away from us all of the sudden it is that much more precious. I think we can learn to use our minds to appreciate what we have without having it taken away. I think my sisters blog thenotsoordinaryangels.blogspot.com does a good job at helping us realize that life is a gift and it is sacred and precious. I would reccomend that blog to everyone.
So while I was there in the prison surrounded by inmates in white jump suits I realized that we all make mistakes in life and can easily wind up in prison. The Captian spoke of a 26 yr old guy who was in his office the other day explaing that prison is no place for him. The Captain was explaining that somewhere along the way this young man lost his way and his choices landed him in prison. The Captain took the opportuinity to teach this young man that their is a better way and that he can change. That he can choose to cherish his freedom and live a full life outside of prison. I was reminded once again just how precious our freedom really is.
I attended my nephew Cade Ashtons HS football game Fri night and as I listened to the sounds of freedom and family I was overwhelmed with grattitude for my freedom. I will say that one who is lost in the world of addiction usually has three choices. One, they will continue in their addiction and wind up DEAD, or in PRISON. Or they can choose recovery and FREEDOM!!! These are your choices, choose wisely. I highly recomend recovery and freedom. Prison is full of misery and darkness and recovery is full of light and happiness. I have experienced both and I am a walking, living, breathing testimony that change is possible. If I can do it than so can you! Believe you can and your halfway there!! Cherish your freedom and family, it is a sacred and beautiful gift. CHOOSE THE RIGHT AND LET THE GOOD CONSIQUENCES FOLLOW...  CHOOSE FREEDOM OVER PRISON... CHOOSE LIGHT OVER DARKNESS... CHOOSE TO STAND TALL AS A TRUE SOLDIER IN GODS ARMY...STAY STRONG...STAY POSOITIVE...  LOVE LIFE!!!!

WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT:




FROM MY BOOK: "TRUE SOLDIERS IN GODS ARMY"......

One way you can learn to practice this principle of letting go and letting God lead the way in your life is to look at it like my friend Joe does. I asked Joe to write about his perspective of this step, and this is what he wrote, “Hi, I am Joe W. I am an addict. This step is one I have to do everyday. Sometimes I take this step ten- times a day or more. I look at this step like my life is a car. I can drive it or God our Father can drive, it’s my choice. I start every day off with a prayer and I climb into the back seat, and off we go, but before you know it I am driving and our Father is in the back seat. So I have to stop the car and trade places. There are days when all we do is trade back and forth. It is very hard for me to let someone else drive, but I realize I must have faith in our Father and let Him do all of the driving. I know if I will let Him drive, the road of life will be one of happiness and joy. I like to ask myself and others, “Who is driving today?” Be a true soldier in God’s army, and allow your Father in Heaven drive you down the road of life. You’re Friend, Joe.
So I ask you, “Who is driving you down the road of life?” Are you willing to let go of the wheel and let God drive you down the road of life? Put your trust in God. He is real; He will not lead you astray. God knows all things. He knows the beginning from the end! He knows what is best for you. Trust in God! It wasn’t until I was incarcerated that I sincerely decided to turn my will and life over to God. Once I began to rely on God’s higher powers, it was as if a large weight was lifted off of my shoulders. My burdens were truly lightened! I began to trust that no matter what happened to me God was going to grant me the guidance, strength, and protection I needed to get through. It is my hope and prayer that as you are reading this today that you will begin to trust in God to do the same for you. He will bless you according to your faith in Him. Just believe that God wants to help you, and push all doubt out of your mind. TRUST IN GOD! He will lift the weight off of your shoulders and your burdens will be much easier to bear. I know He will because He did it for me!!!
THANK YOU FOR READING, I HOPE YOU HAVE BEEN INSPIRED AND STRENGTHENED IN SOME WAY...STAY STRONG...STAY POSITIVE...AND LOVE LIFE!!!

Monday, October 14, 2013

TRUE HOPE & THE SHINY LITTLE DIME THAT SAVED ME.....

MY THOUGHTS: Greetings blogger world. I have not posted in a while and Its time I did. I have decided that Im not going to share my entire book on here, but I will continue to share parts of my book. I am hearing that many of you like to hear my personal story, so Im going to share with you a little about whats going on in my world currently.
I am enrolled in 15 hrs of colllege at Lone Star College here in Montgomery county Texas. I am having to relearn math wich is sooo fun, let me tell you. Ok that was sarcasim. Math is not that fun! It is rewarding to put forth the effort it takes to learn it. I mean when I do well on the test, it feels good.I feel like I accomplished something great when I do well on the test. I have made B's on all my test so far, so Im pleased with that. In every other class I have A's!!! I have made an A in every class so far, thats a miracle all by itself!!!
  On the 29th of this month I will have been clean and sober for 3 years! I will celebrate by doing something special for myself as well as by reaching out to another who is still lost in addiction. I have come a long way in my life. Well I should say that the Lord has blessed me tremendously since I started to include Him in my life. I give Him all the credit. I definitely recognize that the Lord has carried me through and blesses me with the strength necessary live a sober life. I started a routine of praying daily when I was in rehab. I continue to pray each day today and I feel stronger every day. Yes some days are better than others, but life was not meant to be happy always. If we didnt experience bad we wouldnt be able to recognize and appreciate the good. We all have good days and bad days! I live by the motto that our lives are 10% what happens to us and 90%  how we react to it. In other words our attitudes will make or break us. My motto is STAY STRONG, STAY POSITIVE, AND LOVE LIFE!!!
 I have also included physical exercise into my recovery. I exercise in some way 6 days a week. I get stronger every day in every way! In fact I tell my self out loud some days, "I am getting stronger every day in every way!" And I feel strengthened just by saying those words. I still have a dream to play golf at the highest level and I practice golf almost every day. This keeps me sane! Golf is my therapy! so what Im saying is that we need to find something that were passionate about in life and make time to do it. I am saying that we need to first get our own self together and then reach out to help others. Someone once said "One drowning man cant save another drowning man". This is why I work so hard to keep myself strong in every way. I also dont pretend that im perfect because Im far from it. I am in no place to judge anyone nor do I. I believe that every soul is of great worth.  I also tell my self sometimes, "Im far far from perfect, but Im ok". I think we all need to encourage ourselves every day. we need to tell ourselves positive things. We need to be our own cheer leader.
 I am also saying that this life is a battle, a spiritual battle. We need to be execising physicallly and spiritually. We exercise spiritually by praying and reading the scriptures and serving others. I specificly ask God to bless me with spiritual strength. We exercise physically by walking, running, lifting, swimming, ect... I am so much stronger and happier because of the exercise that I do daily. I try to run atleast 2 miles a day. I am sharing these things with you because these are the strategies that have worked for me and I know they will work for you too. I also am sharing these things because I have been informed that most people that read this blog love to hear aout my personal life.
So a quick story about me: The other day I was running my 2 mile run amd I started down a road Ive never ran before. I was running along when I saw a shiny dime on the road. I thought to my self "why dont you run back and pick up that dime?" Then I thought , " Oh its just a dime, you dont need that". Then I went a few more steps and the thought came more powerfully, "GO BACK AND PICK UP THAT DIME". I thought to my self "this is weird, maybe that dime is like some secret token to protect me in some way". I thought "Ok this is weird, but the thought had come again even stronger this time. So I turned and ran back to pick up the shiny dime. Then I continued to jog and about 100 yrds  down the road all the sudden this vicious looking female Pitt-Bull came running at me with full force!!! I saw another pitt-bull running at me from another angle!!! Oh my Lord, Im about to be attacked!!! One Pit-bull was yanked back by its own chain, luckily he was tied up. But the female Pitt was growling and was not on a chain. She was in attack mode!!! I have been around pitt-bulls my whole life, so I know that they can be extremly sweet, loyal, loving dogs. I also realize that they can be killers. Well, I immediately stopped running when her nose was headed for my crotch!!! All of the sudden she put her nose right up against the pocket that I had that shiny dime in and she calmed completly down!!! I spoke very sweet and calm tones to her and she stuck her nose in my crotch once again, but stayed calm. Then she put her nose again up against that shiny little dime... Now Im not forsure, but I cant help but think that turning around and picking up that shiny dime gave the Angels around me time to act. Im not forsure exactly what happened, but Im pretty dang sure that there was a higher power and angels of some sort protecting me from this vicious pitt-bull. I know dogs and I know something changed this dogs entire demeanor in a mattter of seconds, She went from attack mode to chill mode in a moment. Lets just say that Im grateful to have my konands still in tact...lol  Im pretty sure she was about to lock her jaws on my crotch!!! I feel that I was protected that day, and Im thankful for that. I choose a diffirent route on my run now too!! I hope that yall enjoy hearing about my life and that you are uplifted and encouraged in some way. I write this in hopes that someone somewhere will choose to live a better life and find true hope in their life. Faith, Hope, and Love are some good things He gave us and the greatest is love!! STAY STRONG, STAY POSITIVE, LOVE LIFE!!!

WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT:


What is true Hope??? From TRUE SOLDIERS IN GOD'S ARMY:

In step 2 we begin to realize that Jesus Christ can and will deliver us from the spiritual prison that we call addiction. This step is about hope. What is hope? Hope is that feeling of confidence that we get inside that helps us look to the future with confidence and with a positive attitude. The attitude that we have as individuals is so important, because it will impact your life in so many ways and on so many levels. A man by the name of Charles Swindoll said it best when he said,   “The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company…a church…a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past…we cannot change the fact that people will act a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude…I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you…we are in charge of our attitudes”
When you have a positive attitude then your recovery process will be so much easier and you will be much more willing to take action. Your attitude will make or break your recovery! When my nephew Travis was in the car accident and had a severe brain injury, he couldn’t walk, or eat, he had to start over in life. If anyone ever needed to have hope in life it was him. Henry B. Eyring wrote a letter to Travis about hope. In his letter he said, “Hope is a feeling of confidence that comes from faith in Jesus Christ that everything will work together for your good if you put your trust in Him.” As we learn what it means to be a true soldier in God’s army we will put our trust in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. He is the only one that has the power to restore you to complete spiritual health.
HAVE HOPE MY FRIENDS....HAVE THAT FEELING OF CONFIDENCE THAT THIS LIFE ONLY LEADS TO A BETTER LIFE. HAVE THAT FEELING OF CONFIDENCE THAT YOUR SOUL IS SPECIAL TO A LOVING FATHER IN HEAVEN. HAVE THAT FEELING OF CONFIDENCE THAT YOUR LIFE IS FULL OF PURPOSE AND MEANING. YOU ARE A MIRACLE...YOUR LIFE IS A MIRACLE IN AND OF ITSELF.  STAY STRONG STAY POSITIVE AND MOST OF ALL LOVE LIFE!!!