Ask and you shall receive

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" ~Matthew 7:7-11

If you don’t ask, you won’t get, right?

At the end of a job interview what are you supposed to do? Ask for the job. If you don’t, how do you expect to get it? Ok, you may get it anyway, but if you ask for the position, it shows you are earnestly interested in it and you have a better chance of getting it.

If you need help, ask for it. You never know who may be in the position to help you. If you don’t ask, you’ll never know, will you?

If you’re lost, ask for directions. (Why do guys have a problem with this?) It may take you a long time to figure out where you are, even with a GPS in your car. If you program the wrong address or if the street is new, it’s not going to give you the right information. Save time, ask for directions. (Even Mapquest gets it wrong sometimes.)

That’s how God works. Kind of like the jeanie in the bottle. “Your wish is my command!” Well, sort of. King Solomon had that opportunity once. One night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you." (2 Chronicles 1:7).

Solomon, wise man that he was, could have asked God for wealth or power, but he actually asked for something he already had - wisdom. Wisdom to better govern God’s people.

God did better than just giving him wisdom, but He blessed him with the riches that he didn’t ask for, simply because Solomon was humble, not greedy or power-hungry. You can read all of what God gave him in 2 Chronicles 7:8-14.

So, don’t be shy, ask God for what you need and don’t be greedy about it. Ask Him for what you need, not what you want. There’s a big difference.

How? Just pray. Talk to God. He’ll listen. You may ask Him for next month’s rent money and you may end up getting a good permanent job. You may ask Him for a job, but he may give you a new direction to go in with better opportunities.

You won’t know until you ask.

God Bless
Giselle Aguiar
Soli Deo Gloria
Search Amazon.com for christian books
www.giselleaguiar.com/wwjd

Giving in to the Will of God

I haven’t posted anything in a while because I’ve been moving. I’m losing my house where I’ve lived for the past 3.5 years. I got it for $79,000 and it’s now up for short sale at $18,500.

I had to choose between paying for my own health insurance (since I no longer qualified for Medicaid because of the extra $25/week of Unemployment I get from Obama’s stimulus plan). That $200/month had to come from somewhere and that was my forbearance payment on my mortgage.

So I had to fall back to my first “worse-comes-to-worse scenario” from last year when I first lost my job (read Up the Down Escalator)– moving in to my friend’s spare bedroom in her small condo in North Phoenix. It’s tight. Most of my stuff is in storage. But it’s in a better neighborhood with a nice pool and close to the major highways.

On the brighter side, I did land a freelance writing gig at Examiner.com which is a site for local major cities with different topics. I’m in the Religion and Spirituality section writing for singles. For singles in the Greater Phoenix Valley, there are lists of links to local singles groups, things to do, places looking for volunteers and other websites offering advice. Please check it out even if you’re not in Phoenix. The articles apply to singles anywhere. Please pick me as your “favorite Examiner” or “subscribe” and that’ll help get me to the top of the list. Right now, the top “Examiner” in Phoenix is the UFO one. There’s something wrong with that.

I’m still in need of a permanent job as are many others out there. But with God’s help and the support of my Church Family (read Benefits of a Church Family), I can overcome anything that life throws at me.

I put my life in God’s hands and trust that He knows what’s best for me. I let him guide and lead me.

“I still have a rock to hold to if the bottom drops. Out here on my own, I won’t be alone. I’ll be believing.” (From “I’ll Be Believing” by Point of Grace - “24” CD ).

Consider it pure joy, my [friends], whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
~ James 1:2-4

If you want to get closer to God and find out what His Will for your life is, start here at this site.

God Bless,

Giselle
deovolente.love1@gmail.com
www.giselleaguiar.com
Phoenix Singles Examiner

Time on Your Hands

If loneliness is a problem in your life, you may just have too much time on your hands.

Being happy as a single is no accident. The secret is to convert wasted, tentative time to convert it to positive, committed time. Since many singles have time on their hands during evenings, weekends, vacations, it’s easy to turn nonproductive time into a time of growth.

No matter what your business or social schedule is like, taking time every day to review the day and to look at yourself quietly and calmly provides you with a space to grow, to change and to find alternative ways to get what you want.

Some things to contemplate are:

• Who am I?
• What am I doing here?
• What is the purpose of my life?
• What is God’s plan for my life? (that is sometimes not so obvious)
• Is there a reason why I am living, and is there a reason why I am living single?
• How much of this is my own creation, and what can I do about it?

Some of these may seem silly. You may say, "I know who I am." But, do you really? As mentioned before, you have to love yourself before you can love someone else. And you have to know yourself before you can love yourself.

Some other questions to ask yourself:

• What did I want today?
• What did I do to get what I wanted today?
• How did other people see me today?
• How did I see myself today?
• What did I do to improve myself or understand myself better today?
• How do I feel about myself today?
• Where do I see myself a year from today?
• Where do I see myself five years from today?
• Where do I see myself ten years from today?
• What do I really want, short term and long term?
• What am I doing every day to get it?
• Did I take time for myself today to plan and then review my day? If not, what got in the way.

Making the Most Out of Being Single

Creative Outlets in your own home:

• Learning a foreign language
• Playing a musical instrument
• Surfing the Net
• Learning new computer skills
• Reading
• Discovering hidden talents
• Exploring your spirituality
• Gardening – indoors and out

Getting Out – Don’t sit and wait around for things to happen. Mr. or Ms. Right probably won’t just come knocking at your door. You have to go out and meet them

• Take classes
• Volunteer – Free
• Go to the Library – Free
• Go to the park – Free
• Go bike riding – Free
• Get involved in church or community activities

But be careful not to over do it. Taking on too many responsibilities can lead to burn-out. Don’t be desperate to fill in those lonely hours by volunteering for too many projects. Remember, when you volunteer to do something, you are expected to do the job well. If you take on too many projects, your results will be sloppy. It’s better to take on one or two projects and do them well, than to burn yourself out trying to do too much.

Remember, you are NEVER ALONE! God is always with you. Jesus is always walking by your side.

If you don’t have that type of relationship with God and Jesus, then sincerely pray this simple prayer:

Dear Jesus,
I am a sinner and need you in my life. Please forgive me of my sins. I believe that You died on the cross and rose from the grave. Please come into my heart and life. Thank you for helping me turn from my sins and follow you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

If you received Jesus into your heart, welcome to the family of God! The following will help you deepen your relationship with Christ:

1. Pray. Just talk to God no matter where you are. He doesn’t care what the words are, just that they are sincere.
2. Read the Bible everyday to learn about Jesus and how to live that pleases God. Start with 1 John, then the Gospel of John, the Philippians.
3. An important part of helping your relationship with Christ grow is to tell others about Him. Demonstrate God’s love and be active in telling others about Jesus.
4. Find a bible-based church and become active getting to know other Christians. Find one with a singles ministry or groups for people your age. Many have groups for different interests. Shop around, but commit yourself to finding one and joining a church family.

God Bless,
Giselle
E-mail: deovolente.love1@gmail.com
http://www.giselleaguiar.com/
Phoenix Singles Examiner

Another Year Older and Still Single

Birthdays, Christmas and Valentine's Day used to depress me somewhat when another would roll around and I was still single. As I celebrate my 54th birthday this week, I'm still single, but I'm OK. I'm blessed. I'm unemployed and in a financial hole, but I'm blessed. I praise God for another year.

Since my birthday is in June, my years are broken up in to 6-month intervals. For me, my birthday is a start of a new year. At Christmastime, that marked the half-way point to another birthday. (I was happy when I could exclaim, "I'm 10 and a half!")

I'm blessed that I'm in relatively good health. Yes, my hands (and now my feet) ache with arthritis. Yes, my asthma kicks in every time I try to exercise. And, yes, my allergies are unbearable sometimes.

I'm blessed that my mom, who's turning 86 this year, is still healthy and sharp as a tack.

I'm blessed that I still have my house and my car.

I'm blessed to have a great church family.

I may not know what tomorrow holds for me, but I do know that I can trust that God won't give me more than I can handle and that He knows what's best for me and He has a plan for me. I've learned to be patient. It's God's timetable not mine.

Once I did that, I stopped worrying. WOW. That's a relief! I always have a worse-comes-to-worse scenario and somehow, that never comes to fruition. Somehow, the bills get paid. Somehow there's food on the table. Somehow, there's gas in the car. Sure, one has to make scarifies when times are tough. First thing that went was the Dish Network. I just couldn't see paying $55/m for 150 channels that I only watched maybe 25 of them. I got my antennas and my digital boxes and I get 25 or so channels FREE.

OK, I do miss the History Channel, but PBS makes up for that. And I still have the Internet. And if there's nothing good on TV, I turn it off and read a book. (For someone that grew up with TV as their babysitter, that's tough).

And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. ~ Matthew 6: 30-34

So, another year and I'm still single, but I'm not alone. God is with me 24/7.

God is waiting for YOU to acknowledge His presence in your life. Just sincerely pray this prayer and He will!

Dear Jesus,
Come into my heart. I accept you as my Lord and Saviour. I repent of my sins. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

If you received Jesus into your heart, welcome to the family of God! The following will help you deepen your relationship with Christ:

1. Pray. Just talk to God no matter where you are. He doesn’t care what the words are, just that they are sincere.
2. Read the Bible everyday to learn about Jesus and how to live that pleases God. Start with 1 John, then the Gospel of John, the Philippians.
3. An important part of helping your relationship with Christ grow is to tell others about Him. Demonstrate God’s love and be active in telling others about Jesus.
4. Find a bible-based church and become active getting to know other Christians. Find one with a singles ministry or groups for people your age. Many have groups for different interests. Shop around, but commit yourself to finding one and joining a church family. (Read the Benefits of a Church Family).

Feel free to ask questions. Either comment on the blog or email me.

God Bless,
Giselle <>< deovolente.love1@gmail.com
http://www.giselleaguiar.com/
Phoenix Singles Examiner