It is no surprise to anyone how much I love Max Lucado. He is definitely one of, if not, my favorite writer. Of all time. His books are beyond inspiring and eye opening. I love the occasional fiction, cheesy high school romance and downright funny books, but Max's books on Christianity and God always leave tears in my eyes and my heart thoroughly moved.

So you can only imagine as I had been perusing the aisles of OMF that I stumbled upon another one of his books, which would soon be a favorite of mine, "You'll Get Through This" It doesn't get any more appealing than the title, right? Comfort for the toughest of times is what I imagined the book to bring. And boy was I right.

Allow me to share with you some of the quotes from the book along with the lessons I've learned thanks to Max's entertaining and God-given writing. It has moved my heart and though the tough times still hang around (I don't think anyone will ever not have a problem- unless you really don't then good for you!), I have just a little bit more armour to face them. Head on.

Gratitude doesn't come naturally. Self pity does.

Ooohhh... ouch. Ouch ouch ouch. Does that sound like you? It sounds like me. We're all human and I guess at several difficult situations we've all RSVPed and attended the "Self Pity Party." A problem I've had as well was how long I stayed at that party. I'm a self-confessed Granny Nanny- I'm in bed and asleep by 10:30PM, my idea of a "fun day" is a day at the grocery store or hardware and the thought of going out on a Friday night until the early hours of the morning scare me. Blanket and movie for one, please. But the self pity party is a party I've found myself in at many points in my life.

How sad is it that most of us find it easier to be upset and miserable than grateful? To feel bad for ourselves because we're experiencing hardship and pain? I'm not saying to be happy and joyous when times get tough, but after reading this line I really had to re-evaluate how I deal with tough times. And just how often I end up pitying myself. Pitying oneself doesn't accomplish anything. It just makes us feel even worse about ourselves and more helpless. Little by little when I end up in a difficult situation, I constantly try my best to snap out of the funk I call self pity, and ask God to help me figure out how to get passed it.

If you feel the world owes you something, brace yourself for a life of sour hours.

How often do we make sour faces when things don't go our way? How often to we complain and whine and freak out because things didn't go according to plan? I've been there. I'm still there. I'm the world's most anal planner. I have to plan EVERYTHING. Down to the last little, insignificant detail. Everything has to be set a certain way before I can function. So imagine how I deal with things when they don't go according to "my plan." It's sadly funny because, at the end of the day, it isn't about "My Plan" but God's Plan.

Here's the truth: The world, and everyone in it, owe you NOTHING. Nada. Zip. N-O-T-H-I-N-G. Anyone and everyone has to work for what they have and take care of what they're given. That's the truth. We can't live our lives expecting things to always go our way and for the world to be generous and easy. No. Nothing's ever really free. So the sooner we stop expecting things from the world, the sooner we can move forward and better ourselves. That's something I'm slowly learning now.

The forecast is simple. Good days. Bad days. But God is in all days.

This hit me hard around December of last year. The reality had begun to sink in that a lot of the financial responsibilities would fall on me and my older sister Trina. We would have to take it upon ourselves to provide financial for all the household expenses and make sure that our Mom didn't have such a hard time with things. Now I know for most of you this has been your lives for as long as you can remember. Tons of you are breadwinners for your family or have your own families and kids to think of, work hard for and sacrifice little luxuries in order to make sure there's enough for everyone. And if you're reading this, and you're one of those selfless people, I APPLAUD YOU. It really isn't easy. I've only been doing it for a couple of months but boy does it hit hard, especially I forget that it's not just about me anymore or about my wants- it's about other people, too.

It's funny because at first I thought I was going to go crazy, cry myself to sleep every night and just not function. But I was wrong. So wrong. This statement is true in so many wonderful ways. Like one of my favorite quotes that goes: "It's a bad day, not a bad life." Too. True. We have to learn to take the good days and the bad days together. They're a package deal, no matter how much we wish they weren't. But you know what I realized? God is in ALL DAYS. The good and the bad He's there. Watching over us and waiting for us to turn to Him. How long before we start realizing that?

These are some of the things I struggle with everyday:

Why don't I have what they have?
Why is it so hard for me and so easy for so many other people?
They don't even need those blessings- I do.
When will I get my breakthrough?
Don't I work hard enough?
Am I not a good person?
Does God even care anymore?

We have to constantly remind ourselves to stop comparing and complaining and to just start working and praying. Remember that God knows what's in YOUR heart and He knows what's good for you. Try not to think of the "Nos" in your life as a "Never" and start thinking of them as a "Not Now, I have something better." Because let's face it- if you don't, then you'll just be sad forever.

PHEW!

Talk about a heavy entry to kickstart my entry back into this blog! I hope you guys enjoyed this little dialogue with me. I promise to try my best and update this more and more- life's been busy and things have been crazy but I now know just how much I've missed this and how much joy it brings me to just sit down and type.

Let me know if there's any topic you want me to discuss or talk about based on my personal experiences and I'll do so. Feel free to comment it on my Instagram or Tweet me topics too :)

Love you all!