Dining Etiquette - European vs American Dining...

The Little Plant and You...

Folks, oh how I love flowers!

Tulips are my favorite, so lovely and delicate…

I don’t just love flowers but plants in general. I love green and it’s really one of my favorite colors.

But I am terrible with them! I try to care for them but I always end up drowning them or letting them die of thirst. I’ve tried to have plants several times but the same thing always happens- they die…

I’ve heard people say that plants require lots of love and attention and others even talk to their plants…

So, what am I trying to say with all of this?

I have no idea! I was getting ready to type about something that has just escaped my mind… can you believe that?

But here goes the main point I was trying to make…

We need to be strong and healthy, not just our physical body but mainly our soul…

The devil plans our defeat daily, he is patient (that disgusting thing!), he knows how to wait for the right moment to bring problems, which is generally when we are weak and while we are weak he attacks.

Therefore, when facing hardships don’t forget:

*Your faith is your fortress. If your fortress is weak, the city will be seized! Strengthen your fortress and use it against your enemy.

*During these moments the only consolation we need comes from the Holy Spirit. Do you know those moments when people can try to help and speak to you but nothing consoles you? Well, He will help you. Seek Him today and always!

* The weak say I AM STRONG! Don’t accept defeatist thoughts that can come to mind.

*The devil enjoys and has a blast when we cry. He teases us.

* Open up to God, tell Him everything you are feeling, empty yourself until you have nothing left to say.

* Trust, trust and trust! Even if you can’t see any sign, even if it’s very hard to keep on going, even if it seems impossible to find a way out, even if everything gets worse, even if everyone is against you, even still let’s TRUST. It’s not easy at all my friends but it is essential for our victory.

Our God never fails!

Even after so much incoherence, I hope I was able to pass on what I wanted to say…

Daily cleaning...

Have you cleaned your heart today?

Having a clean heart isn’t an easy task, especially for us women who are more sensitive.

The devil works in our heart, he uses people so that these, with their words and actions come to dirty our heart.

A person can be of God, but at the same time, if the person isn’t vigilant he/she can be used by the devil to say or act in a way that can affect someone who at that moment is the devil’s target.

It is important for us to use our X-ray vision to see that the devil is behind that situation.

It’s even more important to know what the devil’s purpose is…

The devil’s target is our heart. He wants for us to have a dirty heart full of grudges, sorrows, hatred, envy, etc… for a heart like that doesn’t please our God! Even worse, a heart like that will weaken us…

For this reason, we must do our daily cleansing.

The same way we have the habit of brushing our teeth every morning (I hope so!) we must also clean our hearts of all the “dirt” nothing can accumulate, otherwise, it rots!

My friend, care for your heart as if it were a precious jewel. A clean heart is priceless!

Thus, I ask again… Have you cleaned your heart today?

For reflection...

All the care in the world is not enough when it comes to our testimony.

Testifying is not only telling people about the changes and marvels that God has made in our lives but above all it’s to show these changes and transformations through our gestures and actions…

Surely gestures and actions speak much louder than words; with these we can either glorify our God or embarrass Him.

Now I ask... What kind of testimony have we given?

Have we glorified or embarrassed Him?

You say… “I’m a Christian, I go to church!” and at the same time you don’t think twice before lying.

You say… “I believe in God” but you always get to work late, you don’t stand out in anything, you complain about everything, you don’t add, you don’t make an effort…

You say… “Jesus Christ is the Lord” but at home with your family you are incapable of helping out whether financially or physically…

We would be better off not saying anything, for at least we wouldn’t be embarrassing our God.

Analyze your actions today. What kind of testimony have you been giving? Embarrassing or glorifying?

Only you can change this situation!

Let’s decide today to be vessel of honor for our God!

You've decided...

Cristina can’t sleep and as much as she tries she can’t stop thinking about Paul’s insinuations.

Lying on her bed she keeps staring at the ceiling and the thoughts keep coming.

Why does he suddenly have a problem with Patricia? We’ve always been friends and he never questioned it…

Is there something wrong? Is it possible that she knows something and hasn’t told me? Cristina ponders.

If it has something to do with Paul, is it possible that he is so shameless to the point of saying that she isn’t a faithful friend? Of course not!

“I have to sleep! I must wake up early tomorrow!” She turns on her side and falls asleep.

******* ******* ******* ******* ******* *******

“So Paty, have you decided what to do about Cristina’s case? Did you tell her?” Priscila asks her sister.

“I still haven’t decided what to do, I’m not sure if I will tell her. She likes him so much and will suffer a lot Pri, I’m not sure if I should.” Patricia answers.

“I don’t think that you will have the courage to tell her. It’s already been over a week and you haven’t, maybe its better if you just forget about the whole thing.”

“It’s not that easy Pri, I found out that it wasn’t the first time that he did that.”

“What? Tell me everything Patricia!” Priscila asks curiously.

“Do you know Carlos?”

“Yes I know him, he’s Paul’s best friend.”

“Well, he told his girlfriend who then told me that Paul has gone out with lots of girls but he says he really loves Cristina! Can you believe that?” Patricia said with disbelief written all over her face.

“Oh my, I’m in shock Paty!”

“Apparently Paul has this idea that Cristina is the person he wants to marry, the one he loves and the others are just for fun.”

“It’s unbelievable but many guys have that idea of “woman to marry” and “woman to use.” It’s a reality.” Priscila adds with a sad sigh.

“That’s revolting but at the same time they have it easy because many girls give themselves to them on the first date!” Patricia comments with revolt.

“It’s true, some girls let themselves be used.”

At that very moment Patricia’s cellphone begins to ring and before answering she looks at her sister apprehensively as if telling her who is calling…

“Hi Cris, how are you?”

“Hi Paty, I wanted to ask you something” Cris says with a sad tone in her voice.

“Ok, ask me.” Paticia says with her heart racing.

“Look, I don’t know where to start. Maybe it’s nothing but I have my suspicions… A few days ago Paul made a strange comment. He wants me to distance myself from you. I have no idea why! Do you have a secret that you aren’t telling me? “ Cristina asks her best friend.

“Secret? What do you mean?” Surprised by her friend’s question, Patricia launches another one without knowing how to respond…

“Paty, Paul insinuated that you are not a faithful friend and I am very distrustful of that. I can’t understand his reasoning. I thought that maybe you might know something that you aren’t telling me…”

At that moment Patricia feels like she’s pushed against a wall but despite of all the anger she feels against Paul, she thinks about how much her friend will suffer if she knows the truth.

“Cris, you know I tell you everything.” Patrica says with little courage.

“Okay, I trust you my friend. I need to go now; we’ll talk more later. Kisses!”

“Ok, kisses” She hangs up and looks at her sister.

“Priscila, you aren’t going to believe what I’m going to tell you…” Patricia tells her sister about Paulo’s foul play.

“I didn’t have the courage to tell her but now I am sure that it’s the right thing to do! How can I be part of this! He has no character at all!” Patricia tells her sister.

“I’m going to call her right now!” She says reaching for the phone.

“Hi Cris, It’s me. Listen, please forgive me for not telling you before but the truth is that I saw Paul kissing another girl. That’s why he’s playing this dirty little game!” Patricia tells her friend in one breath, as if she would lose her courage if she extended it.

“Cris? Cristina? Please say something!”

“Say what?” answers Cristina and through her voice Patricia can tell that she’s crying.

“My friend, don’t cry! I didn’t say anything before because I didn’t want this to happen!” Patricia says with sadness in her voice.

“I expected a lot more from you Paty. I’ve been playing dumb and if it weren’t for Paul’s insinuations I think you would have never told me anything… that hurts me much more…”

“Cris, you need to understand that it’s a difficult situation. I feared making you suffer, of you not believing me, loosing you friendship, in short, it’s was a difficult situation!”

“Paty, a friendship isn’t only flowers and happy moments. In a sincere friendship it is necessary to have devotion of one towards the other. Through this zeal you should have analyzed what would have been less painful… First of all, I wanted to know the truth from you and not through others. Secondly, always tell the truth because surely sooner or later it was going to come to light and knowing it as soon as possible would have spared me from feeling so used and so dumb to my own eye and those around me that also know the truth.” Cristina explained sadly.

“Forgive me Cris, you are right. I should have told you sooner but I was afraid of your reaction. What are you going to do now that you know the truth?”

“I’m going to end it.” says Cristina.

“Think it through Cris, you love him so much, you have been dating for so many years, if you make a rash decisión then you will break up, change your mind and get back together and I am going to be the bad one in the story!” says Patricia.

"Paty, I expected more from you tan a comment like that! I have self-love and a “love” that makes me stay with someone lacking of character, that lies like he did, doesn’t exist. I need to be rational and leave my feelings aside. I know it’s going to hurt but it’s like the saying… “What burns cures and what’s tight secures!”

Cristina was true to her words and ended the relationship with Paulo who tried everything to get back together and recuperate Cristina’s love.

Many months later Paul was still trying to resume the relationship. Many friends in common would speculate how long Cristina would resist Paul’s romantic advances as he sent flowers, chocolates and gifts.

Nobody won the bet since they did not believe that Cristina would never return Paul.

Epilogue

Five years later…

The two friends were sitting next to the pool in Cristina’s new house taking advantage of the hot summer sun...

“Cris, I am so happy for you. It’s great to see that Eduardo and you were made for each other! To think that you wasted so much time with Paul, remember him?” Patricia asks her best friend of many years.

“How can I forget? It was hard to forgive him and leave my feelings aside but it was worth it! I’m happily married and I love Eduardo a lot.”

“You guys complement each other! But till this day I don’t understand how you managed to resist Paul’s appeals. I’ve never seen anyone insist so much, I think that deep down he really did love you….” Patricia comments.

“Look, it wasn’t easy but what made me be even more sure of my decision was when I found out that people, even my parents thought that I wouldn’t resist and get back together with him. I think that from that point on it became a matter of honor! I needed to love myself more than him… Today I feel more than happy with the decision made!”

“All of that was a lesson for me as well! There are times that we need to set emotions aside and act with our head. It’s not easy but your example shows me that it’s worth it. Especially after I found out that Paul got married and always cheats on his wife. Look at what you freed yourself from!” Patricia states.

“Poor guy, surely he isn’t happy and his wife isn’t either. Avoid commenting that with others and let’s pray for them.” Cristina responded with a sad tone in her voice.

“You are right my friend, I shouldn’t have commented it with you. Perhaps in my subconscious I imagined that it would bring you some comfort…”

“Not at all Paty, I feel sad for them.” Cristina answered pensively.

“Hey, let’s change the subject?! I heard that tomorrow the two love birds are going on vacation!!”

“It’s true; we are going to take advantage of the summer.” Cristina answers thinking about how she was going to have to pack her bags later.

“Ohhh how lovely… holidays with my love….”

The End

You will decide the end of this...

He was waiting for the right moment. How could he bring up the subject without making her suspect?

“I need to act fast, I need to do something if not that little friend of hers is going to mess up everything and tell her where I was and with whom!” he thought.

On his way to his girlfriend’s house, Paul thought of a way to prevent his girlfriend’s friend

from revealing that he had been cheating on her.

“Man, what bad luck!!!” he thought.

Upon arriving to her house, they headed for the living room together but always under the watchful supervision of super mom who doesn’t take her eyes off them.

“My love, I think that friendship of yours with Patricia is not very cool” Paul abruptly states.

Cristina looks at him and doesn’t understand where that idea came from.

“What are you trying to say?” Cristina asks.

“I’m not trying to say anything, I only think that Patricia isn’t a faithful friend and I think you should take a break from your friendship with her.

“Paul, Patricia and I are childhood friends and she has always been a faithful!” Cristina answers not believing what she is hearing.

“Ok, forget it. I just think that you shouldn’t go to her house soo often.” He answered not knowing what else to say to impede their friendship.

“Paul, I hardly ever go to her house!”

“Very well then…”

Meanwhile..

“Pri, I don’t know what to do! Yesterday I saw Paul with another girl.” Patricia tells her sister.

“And what’s wrong with that?”

“Priscila, they were kissing!!!”

“I can’t believe it!!!” Prsicila answered with her eyes wide open in shock.

“That’s right, believe it! That scoundrel is betraying Cristina!” Patricia answered angrily.

“What are you going to do?”

Patricia sighs, rolls her eyes and answers “I just said that I don’t know what to do, I need your help! Should I tell her or not?!!”

“Oh what a situation! If she believes you, she’s going to be devastated! They have been dating for nearly 4 years! That’s going to destroy her!!! On the other hand, if you don’t tell her, you are going to spare her soo much pain for what is out of sight is out of mind but we will still know that he is a cheater and we didn’t do anything about it…” analyzed Prsicila.

Today, you decide, give your opinion…

What would you do if you were in Patricia’s shoes?

What do you think should happen to Paul?

If she finds out the truth, do you think that Cristina should forgive Paul and continue you dating him or not?

Leave your comments and see the story unravel tomorrow.

Feel like crying?...

The other day a young lady came to speak with me and she was upset.

She was having problems at work and was feeling persecuted.

She hadn’t even started telling me what happened yet her eyes were already filled with tears, she was without a doubt very sad.

We spoke for some time and she left with a smile on her face.

Some weeks later she returned very sad and troubled once again, it was another problem and once again she was very upset and cried a lot.

In these moments when it seems that everyone is against us, where the persecution is relentless, when we feel the need to cry and cry….

…Only doing God’s will is not enough!!!

That’s right, I’m not crazy!

You need to resist!!!

Every time we cry the devil gets cheery! That’s it!!! He got what he wanted!

In James 4:7 it is very clear!

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

If we don’t resist and breakdown every time something annoys us, that means that the devil has a feast! It means that he will not flee and will not stop tormenting us.

Use your faith my friend, refuse to cry, be strong! Strike out the devil, see things through the spiritual side and he will flee from you!!!