THE WONDER OF CHILDREN

The Lord has blessed my life with six children, by birth, and two separate step-parent experiences that blessed me first with four additional children and then 21 years later, with three additional children. Then there are the children who are mates to my children and who become my children also. This leaves my current count at 18 children; all very much loved for their own unique qualities.

My children have minds of their own and each one is very different from the other. When we get together their are some wild debates on many subjects. I don't remember teaching them to be such strong individuals but somehow they got the message. What I remember is giving them room to think for themselves and then accepting each one for their own personalities and choices in life.

Their religious beliefs are very varied; none of them believe the same thing in the same way. One son is a very strong atheist and very vocal about his beliefs; four are born-again Christians and are in a constant state of prayer; two are Wicca; five belong to different Christian faiths; two are Catholic; two are Jewish; and two are very spiritual.

How do I handle all of the different passions and beliefs? I listen carefully to each one of them and I have learned something, or lots of things, from each of the children. That way, I get many different perspectives on a subject and it helps me to compare beliefs and spot strengths and weaknesses in their ideas. It really challenges my mind and gives me an insight into many people before I ever have a chance to learn things about them on my own.

They each raise their own children differently from one another and sometimes when many of us get together the children speak from their innocence and make all of us really stop and think about our own take on religion; or politics.

Politics is another subject that they all feel differently about. I have those who are very conservative, and some who are very liberal. I taught them all to love America and to be fair to all of the other nations in the world. Not to be an ugly American, but to try to see others' points of view and understand their history and ways of thinking. To relish and enjoy each others' culture, art, and music.

I cannot say that it is easy to moderate their various passions, but I am so glad that they are each strong in what they believe and most do not try to force their opinions on the others, but I do like to discuss their ideas. It can get very hot sometimes, but to this point no one has gotten into a physical fight and we have all ended up still loving each other and rather glad that we each have our own mind and can think without guilt.

I strongly believe in thinking and studying, and then making up ones' own mind about a subject or idea. It is not a sin to think, but rather the great challenge. Question everyone and everything, for by doing so you respect the mind and heart that the good Lord has given to you. Consider different ideas, for you may find a tiny part of whatever discussion is at hand to be mind-opening and heart expanding. Everyone receives insight when they seek out knowledge. Their is no guilt to be found in being different than others around you, or thinking differently about any question. "Ask and it shall be given unto you; Seek and you shall find; and Knock and it shall be opened unto you." (Matthew 7:7) A.S.K.

I hope you have a very good day and that all is well with you and your family.

Love Diversity!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

ONE DAY AT A TIME; FOREVER!

"One day at a time," is a motto from AA. It seems to be doing the trick. I wake up in the morning, read from the Al-Anon handbook of daily messages called, "ONE DAY AT A TIME IN AL-ANON", ponder the daily message, and then think what I shall have for each meal of the day. I make my intention-of-the-day statement, "No sugar today; think of healthy alternatives," and then I start my day.

So far, I have managed to live day to day except when I went to Walter' and Lourdes' baby shower on Sunday and allowed myself one cupcake. By the way, a new great-grandchild, a boy (Malachi William Self), will be born somewhere around the 27th of September. He is my first great-grandson. Lourdes was born in Puerto Rico and she has the most wonderful, loving, family. I am so proud to have her as my granddaughter and have been blessed again to have Hispanic members of the family. I am so rejoicing!

By the way, and this is off of the subject, but I have received two book reviews. One of them rates the book as a 5-star-"Thought Provoking-Definitely Worth Reading," and the other rates the book as 3-star and "Offensive". You can read these reviews at www.amazon.com , then search under Books and then under THE GOD GAMES: Legend of Kor, and you will pull up the details of the book and the 2 reviews. Amazon has the reviews in a special VS. box. Both reviewers are very passionate in their views and I appreciate any input.

I seem to be rambling today, but the main idea is that I have been able to change my diet and exclude sugar for eight days now, but all that I am working on is this day. Just let me have the strength to get through this day. I have found my mood to be elevated, myself to be more energized and motivated, and tomorrow is just a dream that will be dealt with tomorrow. My blood sugar levels have begun to come down and are almost normal (with the use of insulin), and my blood pressure is starting to also become regulated. Thank you dear Lord for the AA process.


Have a wonderful day, one day at a time!

FORGIVING YOURSELF & OTHERS

I'm so mad at him I could spit!

I'll never forgive her for what she did to me and my family.

I'll never forgive myself for not checking on the baby sooner.

We have all been angry at times when people abuse us or misuse our kindness. Most of us never forgive ourselves for times when we think we should have been able to do more, or been just a little quicker in what we did do. This is often what happens when a loved one dies and we go through the steps of mourning. We think so many "If only I'd..." "I should have been quicker to respond" "It's all my fault", or conversely, "It's all THEIR fault!"

We often go through our lives blaming and second-guessing our actions and others actions. This causes a great deal of stress on our body and mind. We lose our ability to find joy in life and often feel very depressed and balled up with anger. This stress can lead to heart attacks and strokes and stress on other organs of our bodies. In other words, wishing that someone who has hurt us becomes ill, has bad luck, or loses a family member, (sometimes cried out when we have been gravely wounded). Or just the thought that "they'll get theirs one day!" brings us pleasure for a moment. All of this wanting to get revenge, or beating our own selves up over some action or thought we've had, is like drinking a horrible and quick-acting poison. All negativity causes organic deterioration. The stronger our emotion, the greater the deterioration, until you become physically, mentally, or spiritually stunted, and take years off of your life span.

Wow, that isn't what we had in mind. We thought that expressing our rage would totally mess up the lives of our "enemy" and we would "get even" for what he or she had done or said to us. Truth is that when we take out our anger and frustration on others, or our own selves, the person who gets hurt the most is the person who has let their anger get the better of them.

So what do we do when others hurt us? Forgive them? That sounds namby-pamby and probably makes you feel that that would be the stupidest thing you could ever do. Why be a dummy and let others get by with their bad actions and words. Surely we have a right to defend ourselves when we get hurt, and you would be right. Only you would be "right" AND "ill" from the negativity that would come from our actions.

So what is our goal in life? To actually thrive and grow from our experiences, or to shorten our life by several years? The choice, of course, is your own to make, but consider these possible solutions to help preserve our own lives.

You have spouted off to a person who has just let you down, or hurt you in some manner. True, the other person is probably hurt by your words or actions and you may feel triumph or joy, but it will only make you feel good in the moment. In the long run, your actions bring about reactions that are negative and soon you are feeling doubly hurt and angry and the anger and resentment seem to escalate over time. Some of us carry a grudge or anger for years or decades and wonder why everyone else seems happier, or are not as ill as we feel.

So, the bottom line is this: we forgive other people, and let things go that anger us, not just to be a positive person, but to save our own lives and have the longest life span possible. It is for your own sake that you accept that there are going to be negative people that we have to deal with, and decide not to let their negativity destroy your own peace of mind and ability to know joy.

Thank you for reading and thinking about this subject. I have experienced all that I have talked about and done different things each time. I have been angry and known deep grief. I have yelled out at my detractors and harbored years of anger and resentment. When my fiance died I felt-feel-that I could have done more to preserve his life and bombard myself with "what-ifs". All of this resentment and anger made me very ill both physically and mentally. I am 69 and have only just come to grips with my own attitude on this subject. I have learned to come from love and release the negativity that comes into my life and my whole life has changed. I no longer dwell on others-or my own-negativity, and my health continues to improve and I am a much happier person.

Just an idea to ponder.

Have a wonderful, relaxing weekend and be sure to pamper yourself.

UNFEEDING THE BEAST

Today is Thursday, August 15th, and the third day in my battle against sugar addiction. I have been tempted and asked ONE to take away my cravings, and the cravings left me-for a half hour-only to rear its ugly head again and I have struggled by myself to avoid eating products with sugar or High Fructose Corn Syrup. By myself, what a laugh, I would actually be holding a cookie and be ready to take a bite when I would relent and ask ONE for his help again. I would then be able to put the cookie back into the bag and skate free for another half hour or so. This was repeated over and over again the first day, and half way through the next day. Then yesterday afternoon I suddenly realized that I was not thinking about food and had not been tempted for longer than I could really remember. I feel real joy right now because I am no longer sugar-snacking. Oh, I think about sugar filled treats quite often, but I have thus far been able to call on ONE and he has given me the strength to stay away from the sugar.

I hope that you will not feel as if I am making light of other addictions such as to alcohol or drugs, or to other major addictions such as tobacco. Sugar addiction is wide-spread across America and affects adults and children alike. Obesity, Diabetes I & II, blindness, neuropathy, loss of limbs, and other side effects, and there is a high mortality rate connected with these disorders. I just want to live and become disease-free and take much less medication than I am now. My only hope is to overcome my addiction (with the aid of ONE) and basically live without sugar, or very rarely indulge. And there you go, I am hedging my bets and imagining that I can actually have sugar without falling off the wagon. One use of sugar starts a chain-reaction of desire in my body and mind and I am back to where I was a day and a half ago, and begging ONE for his help in getting some control back in my life. Somehow, I must realize on a very deep level that I cannot have "just a little sugar" at all in my life. I am struggling to accept that idea; it feels impossible to never have sugar again. I just can't get my mind around the idea. That is what I shall work on now, but without ONE's help I will not be able to comprehend this fact. My mind is going around in circles.


Tomorrow we are going to be discussing the act of forgiveness: not to forgive for other people's sake, but for the health of our own bodies and spirits. Thank you for your support through these tough times. God bless and keep you in joy and in peace.

FACING MY OWN ADDICTION

My dear friend, I am going to ask you a big favor and that is that I am going to first speak about my own addiction and then I am going to try to conquer my addiction by means of the 12 Step Program of Alcoholics Anonymous. I would like to journal my own progress, or stall-out, as the weeks go by. I feel that if I put this personal problem out into inner and outer space that I am obligated to give the process my all; just like my daughter had done. So this process I begin in the name of my daughter, Becky; in her memory, and I know that she will walk me through the program and call me on my shortcomings. She has a very strong personality and lets her presence be known in many subtle ways such as pictures falling off of the wall, or cell phones moving as if tossed. But, I'm off of the subject now.

Hello, my name is Davalene and I am an addict and have no power over my strong cravings and "needs." My life is out of control and I am having severe health problems because I use and misuse my drug of choice, sugar. Do not laugh nor think this a slight problem for this addiction has led to my Diabetes II, high blood pressure, Diabetic Neuropathy, and obesity (which has created another series of health problems). Quite truthfully, if I do not lose weight and get my blood sugars in tight control then I will shorten my life by several years, most of which I will be crippled to some degree.

I cannot let this happen because I have several books in me that are being asked to be written and I thoroughly intend to write them, and go on lecture tours, and be here for my children and grandchildren. I would love to see my great-great-grandchildren and have a chance to love them and guide them, so to that end, I set myself on the path to physical and spiritual health.

I believe that a power greater than myself, whom I shall refer to as "ONE", can change me and give me the power to overcome my addiction. I know that I cannot do this change on my own because I have attempted this change over and over without any lasting effects. My whole body and mind craves sugar and carbohydrates and I panic when there are none to be had. Sometimes I have even eaten raw sugar all by itself when the cravings get bad.

ONE help me, I am weak when it comes to eating or drinking sugary substances. I shall be looking for an AA meeting close to me and hope they will not laugh, nor think slight of, my addiction to sugar. It is sugar which creates alcohol in alcoholic beverages, so maybe they will welcome me. From what AA teaches, it is necessary to go to an AA meeting at least daily in order to receive the support you need to fight your addiction. I have read the big book once in my life, a long time ago, but imagine that I should buy the book again so I can read what I need to know to be successful. The big book is the main book explaining the history and methods of Alcoholics Anonymous. One thing that is required is total anonymity in your meetings and in speaking to others about AA, so those that reach out to help me will be given different names than their own.

So we start in this moment, on this day, August 13, 2013, a Tuesday; a day of thunderstorms and lightning and we must go to see Dr. Kahn, my pain doctor, to get medical help. I am confident that dear ONE will take my cravings away and give me strength to get through this day. Thank you dear ONE.

12 STEPS TO FREEDOM (CONT.)

From the first moment that Becky entered an AA meeting, she felt like she was home. She loved the anonymity, the donuts and coffee, and the fact that everyone in the group welcomed her personally and took an interest in her. Several woman took her under their wings and began to teach her how to dress like a lady and act like a lady. This spontaneous welcoming made Becky really pay attention to the lessons and steps from the Big Book. She admitted to herself and others that she had a problem that she could not control alone and that her life had become unmanageable.

There are 12 Steps to accomplish on the way to sobriety which is taken as a day by day step. She believed for the first time that a power greater than her own would give her the strength to overcome her habits. She turned her will and life over to a total faith in God and-that He could stabilize her psychiatric disorder- and restore her to sanity.

For the first time Becky began to take an inventory of her life and problems during her long illness. She would tell what she had learned that day or in the past days to the Lord, and to myself. She wanted to be delivered from her own shortcomings. She made a long list of everyone she had hurt during her life and began to send out letters asking for forgiveness and offering to make amends.

She was so happy that the program was working for her and breaking down years of having her back against a wall. She had spiritual hope for the first time in years and was speaking of becoming a sponsor of some other new girl and even of writing a book about her experiences.

For six weeks I had my beautiful, sweetheart of a daughter, and we were working with her lovely sponsor to meet each of the 12 steps. Becky's life blossomed and her new women friends and sponsor saw to it the she got to each meeting and continued working on the 12 Steps. Becky now dressed and walked like a lady and we had the greatest conversations.

Then, one morning, Becky did not wake up. The boys found her dead when they got her up to go to AA meeting. Her poor heart could not stand the change of not being on so many drugs and it quit her in her sleep. We were all traumatized because Becky had been so happy of late and we had hoped to have her around for many more years.

Becky was so glad that the Steps clearly said that we could turn our lives over to God as we understood Him. So it was not a religious organization or tied to any other organization except for Al-Anon for the families of addicts to help them understand the program, and Al-Teen for the teen-age children of alcoholics.

Becky began to smile and laugh and have good clean fun. She became an enthusiastic mother and a doting daughter. We became as close as sisters. Sometimes I wondered if she was really the mother in our relationship; she was so organized and determined to change her life totally.

The point of this story about my daughter, is that if you can get to an AA meeting and get started in the program-taking little steps and not being crowded but receiving love and support from others who have walked the same path as your own, you can find a group of people who will accept you as you are and never make you feel bad for going back a few steps before you go forward. God Bless AA; I will always be a supporter. Thank you for helping Becky.


This evening is Shabbat Shalom! Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy yourselves. Blessings to you and your family.

12 STEPS TO FREEDOM

When I was a little girl and had been naughty, my mother used to say this little rhyme to me:

Once there was a sweet little girl
With a curl in the middle of her forehead,
And when she was good,
She was very, very good,
But when she was bad
She was horrid!

When I had my second little girl, Becky, she absolutely fit that rhyme. She was never horrid as a child because she had a bright and loving personality, but when she turned 13 she had a psychotic break and we had to have her hospitalized to keep her safe from herself, and others safe from her. She went through six years of being horrid and I thought that I had lost my daughter forever. It was so bad at one point that we actually had to plan for a funeral for her. Fortunately, our faith and love had given us the strength to continue working with her and we had high hopes that the Lord would touch her and heal her. She improved to the point where she was able to find a good man to handle her outbursts and she began to mellow out. She became pregnant and had our first black grandchild whom she loved beyond herself. She found the strength to give up drugs and alcohol while she carried the baby and when she had the child, little Skeeta, she determined to give up all of her bad habits for good.

As the years passed she became a mother four more times, and suffered several miscarriages. She loved her babies with all of her heart and tried her best to become a really good mother. The years passed and she would fluctuate between being clean to taking anything she could get her hands on. She managed to hold her family together and raised excellent children, but step by step she began to sink into a greater and greater need for pain killers and muscle relaxants. The drugs kept her soul immobilized and took her will to get better away. She was a prisoner of her own addictions. She struggled to get well but always returned to the drugs.

Finally a time came when she was on probation and had to do a drug program as part of the probation requirements. The doctors and probation officers wanted her to go into a drug program, but Becky, being Becky, was going to do things her own way. She hated drug programs-she had gone through the programs so often already and each time she would stop drugs for a while but then she continued to party with the group from the drug program. She felt that she could not get clean in a drug-focused program because she knew she would just re-use again once she met other new people with her same problems. So she looked for an alternative and found Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). AA changed Becky's life and tomorrow I am gong to talk about HOW the program was able to have such a positive power over her behavior and addictions.


Have a great day and, just for fun, meet me at:  www.outskirtspress.com/thegodgames
 

OUR FIRST BOOK REVIEW

I am so excited. Yesterday I was sent my first book review by a professional book reviewer, Michele Bodenheimer. I wanted to share it with you as it made me feel wonderful and gave me hope that my book will be well received.

Book Review - THE GOD GAMES, Legend of Kor - D.R. Hirsch, by Michele Bodenheimer. Sunday, August 4, 2013:

"This science fiction novel can also be viewed as an allegorical novel depicting man's inhumanity to man and what it would take to make the world a better place. It takes place in a fictitious world where one powerful man is attempting to kill off a group of people just because he thinks them inferior. Remind you of someone? Well in this story 4 people who have lived out their life games and now live in heaven full time with "ONE" are asked to travel to Kor and help them to overthrow this tyrant and cause love for "ONE" to heal their broken spirits. This book made me think long and hard about how some people do not like others just because they have a different pigmentation to their skin or are different in other ways--religion comes to mind. I was able to read this book quickly and was happy it ended the way it did--I do suggest whether you are a science fiction, adventure book lover or not-you should get a copy of this book."

I wish to thank Michele Bodenheimer for her excellent review. I am now filled with strength and joy and for the first time feel like I have succeeded as a writer. Now I can finish my revision work on book #2 with a much lighter heart and new hope.

As time goes on, I will share with you all of the reviews that the book receives, both positive and negative; I am sure that there will be some who do not see the book in the same light as Ms. Bodenheimer, but thank God that her's was the first review I have read.


Hope that your week will be productive and that you will know joy and peace. My prayers go out for each of you that you will be specially blessed with all of the desires of your heart. Thank you so much for your support.

Website for THE GOD GAMES: Legend of Kor.   www.outskirtspress.com/thegodgames

WHAT IS A "GOD GAME"?

ONE created the God Games to give Its new spirit children a chance to make choices on their own. They would create a life game for themselves, by themselves, and choose to have certain experiences in life which they would deal with in either negative or positive choices and then they would come to the knowledge of who they really were. At first the energy forms would be in a very primitive condition and only after living for hundreds of life games did they begin to mature and seek the great force that sparked love and joy in their hearts, minds, and spirits. They sought out the meaning of the Cosmos and the reason for there being both positive and negative choices to be selected. They sought out meaning for their short life games and developed religions to keep control of the average person's thoughts and actions. They feared what they did not understand and gave those that sought true answers the defining name of a creature that they created to handle the negative deeds that they themselves experienced: a devil.

Every energy form was sent to a planet of their own choice, in the Cosmos, to live out a life game whose boundaries and challenges they had created themselves in Heaven (the original dimension that is home to all energy forms) before being born on the planet of their choice. The purpose of their life game was to move ever closer to the goal of winning their life game and being able to return to Heaven and live there infinitely. To win their life game they must remember who they really are: pure love and one with ONE. Some energy forms require thousands of life games to be able to see and understand this truth.

The God Games gives ONE the opportunity to experience Its creations and feel emotions such as love and pain. Whatever Its children experience, ONE also experiences, because each of Its children are a part of ONE. ONE is no longer lonely or bored.

Davalene Hirsch


Have you gone to my new website at:  www.outskirtspress.com/thegodgames yet?

You can hear a reading from THE GOD GAMES: Legend of Kor on the website.

Have a wonderful day and beautiful weekend.