Thursday, November 23, 2017

LOOK, LISTEN, AND LOVE

Hey, Gabriel Girls!

 When I was a young teen, I started a club with some of my high school girlfriends. We named the club The AGCs, which stood for The All-Girls Club–a simple name for a club comprised of ordinary teenagers with an extraordinary purpose: to impact our community with the love of Christ.
Our first project shortly after our founding was to provide a Thanksgiving Day meal for a poor family in our town. The local butcher where my mother shopped for meats provided the name of the family. You see, our butcher was a humble man who, quietly and unobtrusively, gave generously to poverty-stricken families in our area. So he knew those families who could use our help.

The day before Thanksgiving Day, we members of the AGCs busily and excitedly planned, purchased, and packed the meal we would donate to the designated family. On the eve of Thanksgiving Day, in bitter cold weather, we loaded the boxes of food into my mother’s car, and she drove us across town to the family who would receive our gift.
I will never forget that night. In frigid temperatures that made our bones ache, we climbed the three flights of the fire escape that led to the tiny apartment on the third floor of an old, dilapidated house next door to the butcher shop. Laden with a big box of food, I carefully slipped a hand from under the box and nervously knocked on the front door.
My heart pounded and my teeth chattered.
In a few moments, a young woman opened the door. She looked to be in her early twenties. In her left arm, she held a baby.
“Yes?” Her eyes questioned me.
“Hello.” I tried to reassure her with a smile. “We are the All Girls Club and we want to bless you with a Thanksgiving Day meal.”
The woman’s eyes grew wide and immediately filled with tears. “How did you know we had no food?” Her voice quivered. “We were not planning to celebrate Thanksgiving Day.”
A lump rose to my throat. “May we come in to deposit the boxes of food?”
She nodded and then opened the door all the way for us to enter.
We placed the boxes of food on the kitchen table and then, after exchanging tearful hugs, we left.
On our way home that night, we AGCs shared our feelings about what had just transpired. To the last girl among us, we all knew we had just experienced a miracle of love within our own hearts. We had learned that, as Jesus said, it is truly more blessed to give than to receive. None of us would ever be the same.
That young family was only one of many families that still need our help today. Why not start your own club to impact your community? People are in need all around us. To find them, we just have to look, listen, and love.
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Copyright 2017 by MaryAnn Diorio, PhD, MFA. All Rights Reserved.
If you enjoyed this blog, please forward it to your family and friends. Spread the Word of God and be a blessing to others! Thanks! 
To Become a Gabriel Girl, you need to qualify as follows:
  • You need to be born again. This means that you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and the Lord of your life.If you don't know how to do this, click here.
  • You need to have a desire to tell others about Jesus wherever you go and whenever you can.
  • You need to commit to following Jesus by reading the Bible and praying every day and by obeying Jesus' command to love Him and to love your neighbor.
    ____________________________________________________
You can find me on the following Social Media Venues:
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Saturday, November 18, 2017

HOW TO DEAL WITH GIRL DRAMA

Hey, Gabriel Girls!

 It hits you when you least expect it. When you think things are going great with your best friend, all of a sudden she turns on you. She says something mean about you in front of the girls you hang with, or she reveals a secret about you she promised never to share.

 All of a sudden, you explode with ugly words you thought you'd never say to anyone. Before you know it, your once best friend has become your worst enemy.

So, what's going on here? What is really happening in girl drama?  And what can you do when you find yourself right smack in the middle of it?

 1--Stay calm. One of the worst things you can do when involved in girl drama is to let your emotions take over. Heated emotions cloud logical thinking, and what you need more than anything when you're thrust into girl drama is logical thinking. Forcing yourself to stay calm will help you to stay logical. 

 2--Take stock of the situation. Once you've calmed yourself down, you can take a look at what's really going on. You can acknowledge that you're angry and hurt, but you can also give your anger and hurt to God. You can ask Him for wisdom as to what to do next. You can try to understand the reason your friend turned on you. You can honestly ask yourself if you had anything to do with it or not. Sometimes we unwittingly contribute to girl drama by something we say or do. But if you honestly didn't have anything to do with the drama, then simply ask God to heal your hurt and to show you what to do next.

 3--Meet in person with the friend who hurt you. This may sound like a really scary thing to do, but it is one of the best ways to restore a friendship. In a nice way, tell your friend that you were deeply hurt by her actions. Ask her the reason for her behavior and then listen carefully to her side of the story. You may learn some surprising things.

 4--Apologize if you contributed to the drama. If, in some way, you contributed to the drama, apologize and ask forgiveness. A humble spirit is one of the best ways to restore a broken relationship.

 5--Forgive the one who hurt you. If your friend was entirely at fault, tell her you forgive her. If you had some responsibility for the drama, ask her to forgive you. 

 6--Have the courage to walk away from the relationship if it continues to be toxic. Sometimes the best thing to do is to leave a relationship when it is harmful to you. Don't ever be afraid to do so. Any "friend" who continues to hurt you is not a friend at all. 

 7--Learn from the drama experience. Girl-drama experiences can teach us a lot about ourselves. Ask yourself what you learned from the experience. How can you avoid a similar experience in the future? How can you help someone else going through girl drama?

 8--Choose your friends wisely. Some girls are true friends; others are not. Choose only friends whose qualities you want to emulate. You will become like the friends you hang with.

 9--Finally, remember that Jesus will always be your friend. He promised never to leave you nor forsake you. And He will never, ever hurt you!

 I'd love to hear your thoughts on how you have handled girl drama. Please write your comments in the box below. Thanks!
____________________________________________
Copyright 2017 by Dr. MaryAnn Diorio. All Rights Reserved.

If you enjoyed this blog, please forward it to your family and friends. Spread the Word of God and be a blessing to others! Thanks! 
To Become a Gabriel Girl, you need to qualify as follows:
  • You need to be born again. This means that you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and the Lord of your life.If you don't know how to do this, click here.
  • You need to have a desire to tell others about Jesus wherever you go and whenever you can.
  • You need to commit to following Jesus by reading the Bible and praying every day and by obeying Jesus' command to love Him and to love your neighbor.
    ____________________________________________________
You can find me on the following Social Media Venues:
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