Gulf Coast Observer - Index

Gulf Coast Observer - MississippiGulfCoastObserver - Index

Hello My Dear Friends!!
With a �ew Year ahead of us, I know many are dwelling on the recent events in this Great Country that we Love, that have given us fear and doubt about our future!! The economy, the housing crisis,
the stock market downturn... I see the fear on the faces of everyone, just like I saw the days after Hurricane Katrina!! And it is for that reason that I felt compelled to write this special Editorial
�ote!! It seems that with a crisis on a much larger scale, that everyone is forgetting what it is that brought us through one of the most devasting disasters in our countries history, our Faith in God, our
Hope, and our Working Together to Build a Better Future!! If only we could instill in our Country the wisdom we learned in the days and years following Katrina!! That we cannot dwell on the events
that are currently happening, but ban together to see that our Future is brighter than the Past we are leaving behind!! I remember the days after Katrina, at first I wanted to run, but I said “Absolutely
�ot!!” This is a time when we need each other!! I can remember Coast Observer being wiped out, penniless, yet that did not stop me!! I prayed to God, as he has been the one that has always guided
me through this life of mine, and asked him to give me direction and show me what I need to do so that I can get Coast Observer back up and running to help the families and businesses of the Mississippi
Gulf Coast!!....He put people, family and both new and old friends, and events in my life that I could have never dreamed!! I never lost my Faith that he knew exactly what to do and whereever he
led me I followed!! I don’t have a crystal ball or know what the future holds, but I do know this...I just walk through this life, God guides me every step of the way, and I have a peace in my heart and
soul to know that he has never let me down, will never let me down, and no matter how rough life gets, He will always bring me through it so that I can look back and go WOW...I made it, and look how
much stronger I am as a person and in my Faith!! I Wish for You All a Wonderful 2009 and hope that you will see the path that God has placed in front of you and that much of the negativity we are
hearing about are actually incredible opportunities for a better tomorrow and brighter future for you and your families, so that you may look back, stronger in your Spirit and Faith and saying...
“WOW, We Made it through Together, Again, and Look How Much Brighter Our Future Is!!” --With All My Love!!--Cheli
There was a couple who took a trip to
ngland to shop in a beautiful antique
tore to celebrate their 25th wedding aniversary.
They both liked antiques and pottery,
nd especially teacups. Spotting an exeptional
cup, they asked "May we see
hat? We've never seen a cup quite so
eautiful."
As the lady handed it to them, sudenly
the teacup spoke, "You don't unerstand.
I have not always been a
eacup. There was a time when I was
ust a lump of red clay. My master took
e and rolled me and pounded and pated
me over and over and I yelled out,
Don't do that." "I don't like it!" "Let me
lone," but he only smiled, and gently
aid; "Not yet!"
Then WHAM! I was placed on a spining
wheel and suddenly I was spun
round and around and around. "Stop it!
'm getting so dizzy! I'm going to be
ick!", I screamed. But the master only
odded and said, quietly: 'Not yet.'
He spun me and poked and prodded
nd bent me out of shape to suit himself
nd then he put me in the oven. I never
elt such heat. I yelled and knocked and
ounded at the door. "Help! Get me out
f here!" I could see him through the
pening and I could read his lips as he
hook his head from side to side, 'Not yet'.
When I thought I couldn't bear it an-
The Teacup
other minute, the door opened. He carefully
took me out and put me on the shelf,
and I began to cool. Oh, that felt so good!
"Ah, this is much better," I thought. But,
after I cooled he picked me up and he
brushed and painted me all over.
The fumes were horrible. I thought I
would gag. 'Oh, please, Stop it, Stop', I
cried. He only shook his head and said.
'Not yet!'.
Then suddenly he put me back in to
the oven. Only it was not like the first
one. This was twice as hot and I just
knew I would suffocate. I begged. I
pleaded. I screamed. I cried. I was convinced
I would never make it.
I was ready to give up. Just then the
door opened and he took me out and
again placed me on the shelf, where I
cooled and waited and waited, wondering
"What's he going to do to me next?"
An hour later he handed me a mirror
and said 'Look at yourself.' And I did. I
said, That's not me; that couldn't be me.
It's beautiful. I'm beautiful!!!
Quietly he spoke: 'I want you to remember,
then,' he said, 'I know it hurt to
be rolled and pounded and patted, but
had I just left you alone, you'd have
dried up. I know it made you dizzy to
spin around on the wheel, but if I had
stopped, you would have crumbled. I
know it hurt and it was hot and disagreeable
in the oven, but if I hadn't put
you there, you would have cracked. I
know the fumes were bad when I
brushed and painted you all over, but if
I hadn't done that, you never would
have hardened. You would not have had
any color in your life.
If I hadn't put you back in that second
oven, you wouldn't have survived for
long because the hardness would not
have held.
Now you are a finished product. Now
you are what I had in mind when I first
began with you.'"
The moral of this story is this:
God knows what He's doing for each of
us. He is the potter, and we are His clay.
He will mold us and make us and expose
us to just enough pressures of just the
right kinds that we may be made into a
flawless piece of work to fulfill His
good, pleasing and perfect will.
So when life seems hard, and you are
being pounded and patted and pushed almost
beyond endurance; when your world
seems to be spinning out of control; when
you feel like you are in a fiery furnace of
trials; when life seems to "stink", try this.
Brew a cup of your favorite tea
in your prettiest tea cup,
sit down and think on this story
and then,
have a little talk with the Potter.
When all looks amiss
And nobody seems to care,
When life seems intolerable
And nothing looks fair,
God, I find in you, my solace
I believe you
would liberate me
Of my forever rising qualms
And make me blithe
as blithe can be.
When life looks
a tortuous path
With no one leading ahead,
When deceitful people
besiege around,
And fill me up
with horror and dread,
God, I find in you, my friend
I believe you
would protect me
From the atrocious folks
And make me as exultant
as exultant can be.
When fear grips over tight
And threaten to agonize
time and again,
FAITH is simply believing what God says rather than what you see or feel here in this natural realm.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not see. -Hebrews 11:1
I Believe
While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen:
for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. -2Corinthians 4:18
When all hope seems lost
And all looks futile and vain,
God, I find in you, my hero
I believe you
would bestow me
With faith and optimism
And make me as triumphant
as triumphant can be.
When hurt and betrayal
are on large
All I hear is my faults
and quibble,
When my views seem inapt
And ignorance is
not possible,
God, I find in you, my savior
I believe you would save me
From all evil in the world
And make me as robust
as robust can be.
Make me yours and I will be
A present of sorrows deprive
I believe you are always here
And this belief
keeps me alive.