good advice for someone like me who has a tendency to take things personally...

yes, choose wisely...

his name was Miguel...

i didn't know him personally, but i met his parents in July 2018. they are friends of your A'po Norm and Omalou.

after I read his father's post this morning, i found myself having a hard time wrapping my mind around what this young man might have been going through. what was he thinking before he took that fateful step off of the Coronado Bay Bridge?

all i know is that if that were my son, i would be devastated, like I know his parents are... 

My heart aches for his family to lose him in this way. They never even got to say goodbye, like you would when there's a lingering illness.

because depression runs in our family (on the Isidro side), we need to be vigilant and truly watch out for each other. and if it looks like someone in our family might be going through depression or a "blue spell," we must reach out and be there for him/her.

we mustn't ignore the warning signs:  

1) feelings of hopelessness, despair, like you can't do anything to change your situation

2) loss of the ability to feel joy or pleasure

3) weight loss, especially more than 5% body weight in one month

4) sleep changes--either insomnia, waking in the early morning hours, oversleeping

5) anger/irritability--everything and everyone gets on your nerves

6) loss of energy--feeling fatigued, sluggish, drained

7) strong feelings of worthlessness or guilt

8) reckless behavior

9) trouble focusing, concentrating, making decisions

10) unexpected aches and pains.

I strongly believe that ONLY GOD can end our life. we are not the masters of our destiny; God is! He has ordained the day of our birth as well as the day of our death and if He chooses to give us 91 years, like He has with your GGMa, or if He calls us home when we're in our teens, it's HIS choice. so, even though I understand why people might want to end their lives because they feel like they have no other choice, our lives are really in HIS hands and only He knows when it's our time to leave this earth...

as Christians, we know that when we die, we will be with the Lord Jesus in heaven, that place He has prepared for us. that is our comfort and consolation. we will no longer suffer. we will not longer have any aches and pain. There really will be no more tears in heaven because He has promised to wipe away all our tears...

I don't know if Miguel had a personal relationship with the Lord. but, I would like to challenge you, my grandchildren, to make sure your relationship with the Lord is secure and eternal because it would be a tragedy of the worst kind if it isn't...

always choose to please God

i pray you'll all have the same courage as this young man...

The Boy Who Stood at the Flagpole Alone
by Stacey Philpot

The air on Facebook has felt a bit toxic to me lately. So, I announced I’d be taking a little hiatus. I needed some space between me and all the heated political discussions, the finger pointing, and name-calling. I looked forward to the wide-open space free from Facebook notifications.


For this reason, a friend of mine knew I wouldn’t see the thread in a local community group she’d tagged me in and yet it was a tag I wouldn’t want to miss so she texted me a heads up. At first, I couldn’t understand why she felt it was so vital I see this particular thread. It was about a young man who’d stood alone that morning around his school’s flagpole praying in observance of the annual See You at the Pole day for students. Members of the community were chiming in, praising both the student and his parents. “I don’t know who he was, but his Momma and Daddy should be proud. That takes courage. He’s obviously a young man of great character,” one man commented. As I scrolled through the pictures, it hit me---the boy who stood alone at the pole was my boy.

They were talking about my son.

The little boy I’d rocked to sleep in blue airplane pajamas when he was sick. The toddler who loved Elmo and couldn’t go to sleep without holding his Veggie Tales characters in his hands had captured the attention of our community by standing alone, by doing everything we’d ever taught him, everything we’d ever hoped he would do. I was completely undone.

I read on through the thread. People who professed no faith commended my son for standing up for his. Some folks said, “there are clearly still good parents out there.” Can I pause for a moment and tell you how rarely I feel like a “good mom?” As someone who battles chronic illness, the sensation of failing is a constant in my life. There is never enough of me to go around. I never feel present enough. There is never a time in which I can offer as much of me to my husband, my children, my community as I long to. And yet, strangers were praising my parenting.


I texted my son at school and told him, “You should know that people in our community are going crazy about a young man who stood at a flag pole alone and prayed this morning. They are talking about what an amazing young man he must be and how proud his parents should be. And I want you to know that your parents are so proud of you. You are an amazing young man. I love you so much.”


When Hayden came home from school with tears in his eyes, read the hundreds of comments together. He told me with sheer amazement in his voice that as he stood alone and prayed, the cry of his heart had been, “God as people drive by, let them wonder, let their hearts be pricked.” He laughed and said, “It’s crazy because it’s like he answered in this big way.”


My son says at first, he thought he would simply pray until someone else came along. Eventually, he realized no one else was coming. Then, the cry of his heart changed. He asked that God would do something with his standing alone.


So to you wherever it is in your life you stand alone, be it a flag pole or a marriage, a place of work or a seemingly impossible situation, I believe my son would like to remind you [that] God can do big things with your standing alone. Perhaps, for now, you are praying until someone else shows up or takes notice. God sees, He knows, and He can do big things.

let this sink in...

some good advice...

for the girls...

for all of you...