Picture courtesy of www.foundationsforfreedom.net

Happy Memorial’s Day Prosers!

I recently came across a quote by Dieter F. Uchtdorf that states “How much of life do we miss by waiting to see the rainbows before thanking God for the rain?”  Life has consistently proven to be an uphill battle.  Just when you feel it is your moment to exhale, you become faced with a new challenge to overcome.

I experienced a great deal of highs and lows this past week.  The beginning of the week proved to be nothing less than triumphant.  A wonderful friend of mine hired me to assist her with her real estate company; to oversee her marketing and help to show new homes to her clients.  I happily accepted the opportunity because it allows me to learn something new, while offering what I know, all while earning some extra side money.

I also had the luxury of attending an invigorating conference in San Antonio that left me with a good amount of educational information to make more informed decisions about my new career path.  The doors are starting to open in every direction and this week, I have been contacted by a number of recruiters and human resource representatives requesting interviews.  I have sent out a massive amount of resumes in the past four weeks and now I am starting to see momentum.  I can take my time and really ascertain which position is truly the best fit, while continuing to build Mara Prose Publishing House.  Needless to say, I was enjoying these highs and feeling extremely confident about the new direction my life is taking.

And then, just like that, the tables turned and my good fortune seemed to be running out.  First, heavy thunderstorms moved into the Houston area once again flooding my neighborhood and ruining the houses of several friends of mine.  Then my bank experienced transfer issues, wrecking havoc on my account balance.  But the most devastating moment of all was when I received a call that during a routine maintenance appointment for my laptop, somehow a factory reset was triggered and all my files and my back up were wiped clean.  This carelessness caused me to lose years of writing, including my Davenport trilogy!!!  I am still waiting to find out what they can possibly recover but there have been no changes to date.

I was angry, distraught, frustrated, tired and questioning why me?  My faith was shaken and I was an emotional wreck.  When the downward spiral continued to occur without reprieve, I knew it was time to call on my prayer teams.  Now if you are not spiritual, then my blog will serve no purpose in your life.  But if you are like me and know that without God, life is pointless, then you will know what I mean when I say that there are times that only prayer will do.  When life hits me hard, I not only request prayer from my home church but also from the many churches I watch and follow on television.  In these moments of despair, I need true prayer, not the lip service that most deliver to you but never actually seek out God in prayer on your behalf.

“He takes us as we are – and make us more than we imagined” ~ Neill F. Marriott

I realize I am going through a huge test and period of refinement in character.  God tests us by sending trials that bring tribulations so that we have testimonies to share with others.  A wise friend told me to ask God what he is trying to show me instead of getting angry and frustrated.  These periods of time are uncomfortable to say the least.  I’m a realist, so I know everything I am going through is very necessary for what I am to become but that knowledge does not make it any easier to endure.

I find it hard to confide in other people.  I get tired of their canned responses and their assumptions that just because I am strong, that I should be invincible and easily overcome every hardship.  I feel that the majority of people who say they are there for you, really are incapable of being there for you, it is just another response they have on automatic dial.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” ~ Charles Dickens

I see the big picture and I see all the abundance that is possible if I remain faithful and committed.  There are too many doors of opportunity that have been presented to me in the past few weeks to deny that I am well on my way to greatness.  I accept that I need to go through everything I am going through to be the person God wants me to be.  I also realize that what I see as hardships are minuscule in comparison to the hardships some people face.

Despite everything that went wrong this week,  my high points are overshadowing the lows.  After the bank fixed my transfers, I wound up with credits owed to me that probably would not have been identified if not for the mishap.  Although years of my short stories, poems and even my current book were lost, I was able to pull a lot of it from emails, my penzu.com account and simple re-writes.  I have to admit, The Davenport series is turning out to be even better than before; at least in my opinion.

“Embrace the struggle and let it make you stronger, it won’t last forever.” ~ Unknown

The story of Job in the bible keeps coming to mind as I forge my new path in life.  Despite all the tragedy and loss he endured, he remained faithful and was substantially rewarded for his faith.  When my father passed away, my aunt chose 2 Timothy 4:7 ” I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” for his obituary.  When I leave this earth, I want people to say the same for me.  I will continue to fight a good fight and finish my course on the path God is leading me.  Be sure you do the same!

Until next time, remember the rainbows are always meant to follow the rain because they remind us of God’s promises, you just have to believe.

~ Mara Prose