Teaching Notes

Comfort for your heart

Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief. - Psalm 31:9

I have heard a lot of bad news lately. Many are trying to make sense of deaths of friends that were too young to be leaving this world.  Some are sleepless and have unrest in their hearts. Many don't talk about it because, well adults sometimes just don't understand.

I know sometimes we (I happen to be one of those adults) forget that we are not the only ones faced with difficulties, problems and news that just takes the wind out of us. Well today, I want someone to know that your hurt is important. Your grief over the lost of a friend, loved one or even a change in your life situation is something that God will give you comfort for.

Yes, God does often work through people to comfort, but he still can comfort you in through his spirit. The psalmist understood that. The psalmist was in distress, he speaks that his eyes were weak and his body was filled with grief. I understand having weak eyes. Have you cried so much that your eyes were puffy and you felt like you couldn't even keep them open any longer?

That is distress! Today, however I want to come and bring you encouragement. God knows your hurts and just like the psalmist you can turn that grief, confusion and hurt over to him. He is waiting and ready to comfort you in this time of need.

This month, I pray that those that have suffered lost (friends, family, loved one), that God would help you through. This situation does not have to take down. You can continue to stand regardless of what you are facing.

There are also some things you can do to help in the healing process:

1. Talk about it. - I've heard the saying, there is more room out, than in. You cannot keep all your feelings bottled up inside of you because they will eventually come out. They just may not come out in the way you want them to. They may come out in anger, frustration, etc. So find someone that will give you a listening ear and talk about it.

2. Don't deny how you feel. - You cannot pretend that you do not care or that the situation does not matter. You have to face your feelings head on. However, in dealing with your feelings you cannot let them tell you what to do. For example, you might be feeling sad, but you cannot let the sadness tell you that you have no hope. Feelings are "facts" but they are not "truth". Facts just tell you what something is. God's truth tells you that while the fact is you feel a certain way, that is not all there is.

3. Pray. - It is our most important tool. When you find yourself feeling overwhelmed or distressed, pray. In fact pray when you feel happy. In fact, just pray all the time. Prayer helps you to be connected to God and helps you learn how to communicate with God. Try it.

4. Give yourself time. - Healing of emotional hurts take time. Grieving takes time. Don't be hard on yourself because you have a bad day. Get back up and start again. One day you'll find out that the pain isn't so painful and the hurt doesn't hurt as much. It is simply a process and you need to seek God the entire way so that you can have the victory.

Prayer: Lord today, we seek your help as we face hurts, disappointments and losses. We do not alway understand the reasons for these things, but we are sure that you can hear us and help us so we seek your help. Amen.

Look Who is in the Spotlight

Blog interview with Author, Fiadanantsoa Vonjimalala

(also known as Fia)

Fiadanantsoa is a remarkable young lady. She is a college student that has a desire to do great things for God. While I have not read her book yet, I have had the opportunity to see her and I have marvelled at her beautiful spirit. I like hearing about wonderful things our young people are doing. Read this interview from one of our young people striving to reach their dreams.

Fia: First of all let us give “Thanks” to God, for His Love and Mercy endures forever. Second, thank you Min. Jewel Williams for giving me the opportunity to share about my book while answering your questions. I am very grateful to God on how you support and mentor young people to follow the right path of Jesus Christ and to grow in the true faith, hope, and love in Christ, The Lord. To God Only Be the Glory! Amen.

Jewel: What's the title of your book and can you tell us a brief synopsis of your story.

Fia: The title is ‘Willing For Love’. The story concerns on the importance of family, friendship and about protecting and fighting for those who are dear ones.

In the story, two teenagers named Jake and Haley, with the help of Jake’s family, are uniting together against a mysterious organization named M.G.S, which is a dark organization that seeks to destroy the lives of two brothers named Edgar and Jimmy, who are Jake and Haley’s friends. To be under the power of this organization is dangerous and is putting people in harm’s way. The brothers are crying for help, also many more people, people very close to Jake and Haley. This situation calls for a brave hero to stand up for these oppressed people. Who would this hero be?

Jewel: Why was this book important to you to write at this time in your life?


Fia: This book is important to me, because it describes the strong power of selfless love, a love without boundary, ready for any challenge, maybe even sacrifice. In the society we live right now, it is rare to find this love; it is only in God that we find this kind of love. However, God can work through us; he can show us that loving our neighbors, enemies and humbling ourselves–this is the kind of love that he looks for.

In my book, this love is stressed when the people cry out and someone steps in, due to love and not profit, to protect them. In this book also, unity is stressed: the willingness of people to work together, to achieve a big goal and to make a tremendous change.

Jewel: Who do you want to reach with your book?

Fia: This book applies to everyone: adults, teens and children. The dark organization that oppresses us in this life is our different kind of problems: spiritual, financial, educational, social, etc. In this postmodernist time, people are crying out for help, because they feel oppressed, enslaved, threatened, shaken, and it seems like there is no way out. In the society, however, everyone has his or her own problems to face too. To whom should we turn? We know that we should turn to God, but God also mostly work through people. Would there be someone out there willing to step in for us? Willing out of love? Willing for Love?

This book, through the story of the friends and what they do for one another, would help us understand and see the pure power of this love and would even guide us and teach us to apply this love in our lives. This book also stresses the potential of unity and harmony, which is just what our society needs.

Jewel: What other plans do you have for the future? Do you plan to write any other books?

Fia: Willing For Love is my first book but it will not be the last. I enjoyed writing so much that I felt that I want to use this talent to honor God for the rest of my live.

There will be other stories in the future and they, like this one, will have messages for different kinds of people and for the society. Traveling along with the characters, each of us would find more meaning of our lives and will come to a closer interaction with dreams and ourselves.

Jewel: You are a young woman doing something that many young people would not believe they could do at this time in life, what would you say to someone else your age that wanted to write a book? How can you encourage someone else to reach out and begin to accomplish his or her goals even now in life?

Fia: I just want to say that if you want to write, write! Writing is not about showing off your ability in literature or writing; it is translating your dreams into words, that means making your dreams of wanting to share something–story, advices, suggestions, personal experience and testimony.

Write because you want to, not because you have to for various reasons. The only condition is to find happiness in what you do: to enjoy and have fun writing. This is the first step.

Do not worry about the professional side when you write; worry only about having what you want to write written down and finished. Do not worry about the reaction of the people around you either; this is something you want to do and thus believe in yourself. Surround yourself with encouragers and finish what you have started. If by any means, you meet with something that discourages you along the way, remember that many writers before you have faced the same things and have conquered it, meaning you can do it too. Be persistent and enjoy what you do! May God bless you while using your talent(s) to bless others!

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

http://www.fiavonji.com/

You can read some of Fia’s story on her page. This information is taken from that page:

Fiadanantsoa Vonjimalala has always loved books ever since she was little. Reading fiction is one of her favorite hobbies and it has been one of her greatest dreams to write her own book and share with the readers the pleasure and happiness she has always found in books.



She started by writing short stories and plays when she was nine years old. In junior high, the theater club she was part of decided to perform some of the plays she had written during school festivals. The audiences so loved their performances that the school awarded the club first prize for the excellence of the stories they played.

In High School and now in College, her love for reading only intensifies and she feels even more dedicated to write.



After writing various short stories, she is now starting to write real books with Willing For Love as her first one. She invites the readers to enjoy this touching story, which shows the value of family and friendship ruled by love, and she hopes that the readers will find their own places and roles in this story as well, as they travel along with the characters.