stitchy

Wow. Really?!?!?!

That makes sense to me, Iryssa. Thankyou for that. I'm glad it worked out for you and your husband! I don't even want it to be about John ever loving me back, though. As I have realised lately through the Bible, love is selfless and kind. I think this is something God is teaching me a real lesson about. That I need to stop being selfish about this kind of matter. Thanks for your reply.

I just want to share some thoughts I've been having recently. I would love to have the opinions of all who read this, but please keep in mind that probably won't influence me to change my mind on this. I just feel that I need to express it to someone, and who better than my fellow believers at Worthy? You've all been such a blessing to me. Anyway, when I first joined, I'm not sure if any of you would remember but I posted a topic about a "love problem" I was having. Well, an "unrequited love problem" is probably a more accurate description. The thread is here if you're interested in reading it, but I find it to be quite pathetic now: http://www.worthyboards.com/index.php?showtopic=49273 However, it may give those who don't know the full story a better understanding of what I'm talking about in this topic. Sorry, it's kind of long so... you don't have to read it if you don't want to/feel like it. Now then. I feel God has been giving me a lot of wisdom lately. These feelings I have for "John" (as I named him in the previously linked thread) are still as strong as when I first fell in love with him. I was finding it difficult that I love him so much, because it was making me so unhappy that he didn't feel the same. I was heavily depressed at this time too, and this unrequited love made it all worse. But now... I have come a very long way. God has healed me in such an amazing way. I never feel depressed anymore. Can you believe it? I went from feeling depressed at least once a day, and now I never feel it at all. I can get down about something, but not depressed. And usually when I'm down about something it lasts only a short while! However, I've noticed that out of all the things that have changed, my feelings for John have remained. And they've remained just as strong. Rather than continuing to be upset about this, and letting it get the better of me, I'm looking at it in a different light. Think about when you give a person a present. You give it to them because you want to express to them that they mean something to you. It's a form of affection for a person. It's an unselfish thing. You don't expect anything back. Well... I personally believe you're not meant to expect anything back. Giving someone a present and then expecting one back is very selfish. I think love is a lot like that. When you give a present but don't receive one in return, it's wrong to get annoyed with that person and take your present back from them. And I think this relates to my feelings for John. He doesn't love me back, though I love him so much. Or rather he won't let himself love me... but that's getting complicated. The fact of the matter is he won't go out with me. And I was getting upset about that. I was asking God to take away the feelings, but He didn't and He still hasn't. Now I've realised that I can't just give John a present and expect something back. I can't be upset because he didn't give me a gift in return. I can't take back my gift because I'm annoyed that he didn't give me anything. You don't give a gift for the purpose of getting one back. You give a gift because you want a special person to have it. So I've chosen now to live with the feelings I have. Even if they are never returned, I don't mind. Love is selfless, as the Bible says. I can choose who I give my heart to, and I've chosen John. I've decided that he will either be the person for me or there will be NO person for me. It's a win-win situation, really. If John eventually loves me then we can live a life with Christ together. But if he never loves me at least I can focus on God and God alone, without having the distraction of a spouse/partner. I won't betray my feelings by taking them back from John and giving them to someone else. My love... my heart is a gift to him. I'm not going to take that away and give it to another. It truly is either him, or no one at all (except for God, of course). Sounds crazy doesn't it? But somehow in my heart it feels right. I feel at peace with this decision. At peace in my heart, in my mind, in my soul. God is with me. He has only the best in mind for me. Yeah... I just wanted to share that. Sometimes it feels good to get out thoughts that you've been having. Thankyou to all those who have read. Feel free to offer an opinion or whatever you'd like. God bless.

Thanks for your responses. This is really really interesting. I think I'll do some research and come back with my input, if I find anything useful.

This came up in a discussion I was having with some new friends on Saturday evening. We were just chatting about God and I can't remember the entire conversation, but this question came up in my mind: What did God do before Creation? We know that God is infinite. So He has always been there, and will always be there. But before he created the earth, and us, what did He do? Do you think maybe there were other worlds he made, worlds that had their own stories and their own Bible? He is an awesome being, though... so somehow I think that the answer to this question and other questions like it are beyond my mentality. He is all-knowing and all-powerful... perhaps I wouldn't even be able to fathom what there was before us. But what do you think? I find it interesting to think about. God bless.

Wow thanks for all the responses, everyone! Bless you all. One of the things we talked about in our 'baptism class' that I and some others attended last week was that baptism isn't only for babies. My pastor called what we were doing a "Believer's Baptism". I like that term. I think that makes all the difference between being baptised as a baby and being baptised later as an older child or adult. The belief and understanding is there, and you are willingly giving your life to Christ and saying "I want to be cleansed of my past so I can focus on my future with Christ". Thanks again everyone.

Well I was finally baptised today at around 2.30pm. It was originally planned for us to all go out to this lovely river on the outskirts of town, which I was really excited about because it would be all like... Jesus-style. Lol. But the weather wasn't so good so we went to the pastor's house and were baptised in his pool. It was lovely. I said a few words about why I wanted to get baptised, then I went in (argh it was so COLD! but worth it), and then I was prayed for and they dunked me. I think I just about cried when I came up. Though it could have been because the water made me so cold. I was shivering a fair bit. But no, I felt quite emotional as well. The best part about it was when I looked up at my parents. My mum is a Catholic, and since I was baptised as a baby, she didn't think there was any reason for me to be baptised again. I told her this time it was different, that it's my choice, but still she would say "No, you don't need it". I think she feels I have converted away from Catholicism. I guess this is true in some respects, but I don't really feel that it is because in the end it's still the same faith, the same God, the same Jesus. I'm just confirming that this time I have chosen to follow Jesus, whereas before it was placed upon me without me even knowing what was happening. Anyway, I know she hasn't felt very good about this whole thing. But when I looked up at her, she was smiling. It looked like a really proud smile. There was something in her eyes that was just.. indescribable. I think it's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. I'll work on writing my "big testimony" now. Looking very forward to it. Thanks to all here at Worthy who gave me support and encouragement for my baptism, and to all those who have been encouraging me in my Christian walk since I joined the forums. Love and blessings to you all.

Wow!! That's wicked! I love it.

Hmm Teresa I'm very sorry you're going through this. I'm also sorry I'm not able to help in any better way. I will keep you in my prayers. Perhaps you should take your husband's direction as his wife, but yes do pray that he gets his direction from the Lord. Again, God bless

That was brilliant!! Did you write that?

First of all, welcome Teresa! I hope we can all be of a great help to you here at Worthy. Now, I'm only young so I hope you don't mind me offering my opinion of this situation... the way your sister-in-law is acting isn't very nice, so I think you might benefit from trying to have a talk to her about it. Take your husband along for backup if you want to. Just try and sit down with her and explain how you feel about the way she is acting. Perhaps she doesn't realise she's hurting you and your family this much. (I don't know exactly.. just a thought.) As for the Christmas presents... it's not your nephew's fault his mother is acting unkindly. If you were to buy him something he didn't want then you'd be acting exactly the same way as your sister-in-law is and that only puts fuel on the fire... you may hurt your nephew's feelings as your children's feelings have been hurt by their aunt. Since he is not the problem, using him to get to her would be really unfair (in my eyes anyway..). I hope this has helped a little, and I haven't offended you in any way. God bless.

Josh this is great. Keep it coming!!

Oh wow... that's really beautiful!

Thankyou very much, both of you. This is a huge help. I've decided to go about it by just writing EVERYTHING out. I'll get it all down on paper. It helps me to organise my thoughts better that way. Then I can edit it, picking bits and pieces that I'd like to include and exclude. Thankyou both for your wonderful advice. May God bless you.

I've been having an incredible urge to write out my testimony for a while now. But I've never done it before... so I'm hesitant. For those who have done it... how did you do it? How did you start? How should I write? I'm worried because it's very important to me. I want my testimony to mean something to someone. I want it to show others exactly how God has worked in my life. I don't want to fail at showing that. How...?

Maybe I'm ignorant, but I quite like the idea that there was no actual day set by the Lord for the sabbath, but that we should choose a day ourselves to have as our day of rest each week. Just as long as we have it is what's important, right?... Maybe I'm just not educated enough in the Bible yet though. Oh and I'm not saying that you can just randomly choose a day of the week - I mean it's one that you stick to as a pattern. You don't just decide to have Wednesday off one week and then the next week you decide Thursday. edit: forgot to mention that like most people my sabbath is Sunday. That's what I was raised with as the norm.

I think you would have to upload the video somewhere and then post the link... ? I don't think we can directly attach things to our posts.

Yes! Couldn't have said it better myself.

This is a topic that was talked about in church this morning, and I thought it was a good message, so I wanted to share it with you. 46 Then they reached Jericho, and as Jesus and his disciples left town, a large crowd followed him. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus) was sitting beside the road. 47 When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby, he began to shout,

Kitty, I know how you feel. I'm in a similar situation with some people I know right now. Sometimes I'm afraid to talk about Christ and our Lord, but then when I get the courage to bring it up, these people refuse to listen. It's a shame. We've just go to keep on trying.

Praise Him. I believe!

What a powerful story. Thankyou!!

Yeah, prayer is always a good idea. It has so much power

God bless you Sierra!!! You've handled this really well I think... I wish you all the best.

Thanks so much! I thought I'd post this little "update" as I know it would please a lot of people to hear! I mentioned that I'm struggling with something in this post. Well when I made this thread I was very desperate and feeling unhappy. I won't go into details but a few hours after I posted the thread, something really good happened, God granted me a blessing, and my unhappiness was lifted from me. Now I don't think my 'struggle' is gone completely, as I know that is something that will take time, but I'm just so happy and feel so grateful that my Heavenly Father came through for me when I was feeling down, and lifted me up. I just wanted to share that with you all