{"id":2638,"date":"2018-07-03T10:53:47","date_gmt":"2018-07-03T15:53:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/?p=2638"},"modified":"2018-07-03T10:53:47","modified_gmt":"2018-07-03T15:53:47","slug":"you-make-a-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/2018\/07\/03\/you-make-a-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"You Make A Difference"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"\u00a0My cousin Maria.<\/h6>\n
When I was nine months old my cousin Rosa Maria Gandy was born. I don\u2019t know why she was given the name Rosa Maria I\u2019ll have to ask my Aunt Rose when I talk to her again. But we all called the little girl, Maria. One of the tales I grew up with was that I bit Maria\u2019s finger and she knocked me down some steps. We became the best of friends. We lived three houses apart on Patsy St., and we both learned to whistle without using our fingers\u2026very loud, ear-piercing really. And we would communicate from one house to the other by sending that whistle out into the neighborhood\u2026we were saying, \u201cHey. I know you are there.\u201d<\/h6>\n
When I was about nine years old, my family and I, moved about ten miles from Rocky Creek, but Maria and I stayed connected. We were kindred spirits and we loved each other dearly. In fact later on in life after she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and she had married and had a little girl and I had, four sons\u2026I in my house and she in her house\u2026without knowing what the other was seeking the Lord about, we would call each other and discover we had been talking to God about the very same thing\u2026same scriptures, same thoughts, our spirits were one.<\/h6>\n
My best friend and cousin left this world when she was only 38 years old. I was devastated by the loss and I was extremely angry that she had to leave me at such a young age. As humans we do that we get angry, it\u2019s natural\u2026I loved God with all my heart and so did she. Why God? Why did you take her? I cried and screamed out to God but I only received silence\u2026Maria had been a beautiful person. She was talented in music and her poems was inspiring\u2026she had a beautiful daughter with everything to live for. She served God and was a living example of his grace. The disease took her strength, her youth and her life. And I guess rather than have her live in that condition God in His great mercy, chose to take her home. I do not for one second, believe God gave her the disease, but he allowed her to be tested in this way and I believe she passed her test. Only God knows why. He is God and I trust him but I was angry that it happened.<\/h6>\n
We all suffer loss at some time or another. It wasn\u2019t long after my outburst with God that I had a dream. Maria came to me in my sleep. She was healthy and vibrant with a big smile on her face. I looked at her and said, \u201cMaria, how can you be here, you\u2019re dead.\u201d She looked at me with great exuberance and said, \u201cMarla, I\u2019m not dead, I\u2019m alive.\u201d Then she vanished. I woke up and the grief I had been experiencing left me. I rarely dream about her or my brother or my Mom so when I do, it is for a reason.<\/h6>\n
Last night I dreamed about Maria. I walked over to her; she was sitting among some other people who I didn\u2019t know. I started to hug her but she said, don\u2019t touch me I\u2019ve been sick. Then she began to sing this song to me\u2026I don\u2019t remember the words exactly so I\u2019m going to write what I perceived them to be\u2026She was saying\u2026You make a difference.<\/h6>\n
Yesterday I didn\u2019t have much energy I stayed on the couch most of the day and just let my body rest. So maybe the reason she came to me was to encourage in this way.<\/h6>\n
You Make a Difference<\/strong><\/h6>\n
You may not know it, but eyes are watching, ears are listening and hearts are receiving the love you show to them\u2026<\/h6>\n
You make a difference while living here; God\u2019s not finished with you yet.<\/h6>\n
You see your life is not your own, a great price has been paid for you alone\u2026<\/h6>\n
God in heaven sits upon his throne to attend the cares of men\u2026<\/h6>\n
It\u2019s only when<\/h6>\n
You surrender your life to be used of him, that you will understand\u2026<\/h6>\n
You make a difference when you spend your time in prayer with him, when you bow your head and cry\u2026or lift it to rejoice<\/h6>\n
\nYou make a difference when you stand before the crowd and speak to them<\/h6>\n
The words of God penetrate the hearts of seeking men, children and women\u2026<\/h6>\n
When you think no one is watching and you lend a helping hand\u2026<\/h6>\n
Not asking for anything in return\u2026but doing what Jesus did\u2026<\/h6>\n
You make a difference in the lives around you when you give an encouraging word, or a hug, just simply love\u2026because you can\u2026<\/h6>\n
The wind blows without being asked, the rain waters the earth, the sun and moon shine in their own time\u2026seasons come and go\u2026 they do what they\u2019re created to do\u2026<\/h6>\n
So my friend you make a difference when you choose to do, what you\u2019re created to do\u2026<\/h6>\n
You make a difference for just being you.<\/h6>\n
So don\u2019t be weary or want to give up\u2026there\u2019s a better life ahead\u2026<\/h6>\n
Keep doing the things that you think don\u2019t matter\u2026you\u2019re making a difference keep climbing the ladder\u2026<\/h6>\n
Keep walking, keep sharing, keep living, keep daring, and when you think that no one sees\u2026<\/h6>\n
Life gets hard and sickness and disease, takes those you\u2019ve grown to adore\u2026<\/h6>\n
Heaven is our resting place, and there we\u2019ll be restored\u2026<\/h6>\n
Angles trod the golden streets\u2026but wonder how we walk these streets\u2026dusty roads and muddy places; they watch us turn our hearts to seek\u2026the one that they adore\u2026<\/h6>\n
Jesus made a difference He\u2019s Christ the Lord!<\/h6>\n
If only you could see, what he sees, when he looks at you\u2026
\nMaking a difference in someone\u2019s life that is what you do\u2026
\nDay after day, month after month, year after year
\nFor as long as you are here,
\nYou will make a difference.<\/h6>\n
And always remember, Those who have gone before us with Jesus in their hearts\u2026They are not dead, they are Alive!!!<\/h6>\n
You\u2019ll be remembered, \u2018There was one who made a difference!\u2019<\/h6>\n
~Marla Shaw O\u2019Neill July 3, 2018<\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0My cousin Maria. When I was nine months old my cousin Rosa Maria Gandy was born. I don\u2019t know why she was given the name Rosa Maria I\u2019ll have to ask my Aunt Rose when I talk to her again. But we all called the little girl, Maria. One of the tales I grew up…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8aPxH-Gy","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2638"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2638\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2640,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2638\/revisions\/2640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}