Janet Perez Eckles's Blog – May 2008 Archive (9)

Have you ever felt your whole world is beginning foreclosure proceedings? All options exhausted, doors closed, emotional account is reaching bankruptcy, calls from collections ring torment in your nights, and worry flogs your days?



Phew! Some of us have been there - in the prison surrounded by bars of anguish and helplessness.



Here’s the question: Is God Almighty - powerful, loving, and all-knowing - aware of me, little old me trapped in the prison of gloom?



Do… Continue

Sweeter and more delicious than chocolate…



I have friends who are a little nutty, some who are just a hoot, some creative, others loving, some generous, and others who are a walking image of Christ…and this weekend in Dallas, I just happened to be with two who possess all said attributes.



I attended a speaking engagement outside of Dallas. After I spoke, my dear friends picked me up and graciously invited me to their home for the evening.



There we were, chatting… Continue

That cry, slightly familiar for some and a nightly companion for others, is growing every day. It happens in unexpected places--we’re in the midst of crowds, surrounded by family members, our children tugging at us and calling our attention. In our crowded world, loneliness screams a desperate cry. The reasons are as varied as aches in a lifetime, disappointments in relationships and in the uncertainty of things to come. Loneliness when we're not alone makes no sense, yet it’s true, palpable,… Continue

There was a blind girl who hated herself because she was blind. She hated everyone, except her loving boyfriend. He was always there for her.



She told her boyfriend, "If I could only see the world, I would marry you."



One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her. When the bandages came off, she was able to see everything, including her boyfriend.



He asked her, “Now that you can see the world, will you marry me?”



The girl looked at her boyfriend and… Continue

I was talking to my next door neighbor and she sighed, blew out a long puff of air, and muttered, “Things are bad all around. Gas is unbelievable. And I just know they’re trying to hint around at my job to see when I’m retiring…but I can’t afford it.”



“Look,” I said hoping to impart a bit of inspiration. “Life is not up to us…it’s up to God. He provides, guides, and comforts all who call to Him.”



OOPS…wrong thing to say. She grunted and gushed that it was easy for me to… Continue

Got a story to tell you. It happened this past Saturday, the day before Mother’s Day.



I was busy putting the finishing touches to a story. Earlier I had facilitated a session on managing stress to colleagues across the country. Still at my computer, I paused when hubby walked into the room and said, “Just to remind you, we need to be leaving in about one and a half hours."



Ah! I perked up. The black and white gala we were to attend held promises of great food, good… Continue

I’m talking about Paul. Is he ever a type A personality! Driven, zealous, committed, tenacious, bold, and often forceful.



To his credit, he exercised all these qualities to win souls for Christ.



Often he moves me with his unwavering faith, and he wins my admiration for his endurance. But sometimes he baffles me with some statements he makes, like this one: “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why,… Continue

Sigh. Everything but peace rules there, especially lately. Though the beauty of its majestic mountains, the loving people, the tasty food, lively music, simple life style still tug at my heart, sorrow also frames my thinking.



“We want a change!” Bolivians clamored before the election two years ago. And change is what they got—a president who holds beliefs contrary to God’s precepts. And to add to the destructive ways, he readily caters to the same values that drove Cuba and Venezuela… Continue

Isn’t it crazy how dependent we’ve become of that device that connects us with others?



Working as an over-the-phone interpreter, I literally live on the phone. For eight hours a day, I receive calls with only a couple of seconds in between. Grueling? Yep, it is. But I absolutely love, love my job. Why? Because I delight in speaking. So what better way to best enjoy what I do than to be able to speak in two languages?



But that talking also carries into my spiritual life. I… Continue