trying to stay joyful

the past couple of days, i have seen an attack on my holiday cheer...as im attempting to shift my focus on God part of me feels alienated from my surroundings. ive had the harsh lesson that being blood related to someone doesn't automatically mean that they will automatically have love towards you. in the same instance, ive seen random acts of love from people from those who arent related to me. i have to say that im displeased with things that have been occurring, however my focus of today to discuss the 1- power of forgiveness 2- attacks today

Okay let's end this on a positive note so im going to start with number 2. MY HOLIDAY LUNCHEON WAS DISATROUS! effff...we had this one person there who was blatently lying about everything that came out of her mouth and in addition she was gossipping heavily about this lady who is supposed to be her 'close friend'. i lost my appetite...i came back to the office in a very grumpy mood and upset that my lunch was spent with someone who just was liar and someone who has so much hate for others. in addition, there were some people who were very bakheel i might add...those who have more tend to hold onto their things more...haga mish momkin! i mean we're going to eventually die, so i dont think holding onto that extra dollar will make a huge difference once we leave this world...let's look at the big picture people.

so let's focus on the positive part of the day...the power of forgiveness...theres a lady at work who i spend my lunch hours with on occassion but for some reason she made me feel like the outcast of the group. she would speak in spanish to the other women so half the time so that i wouldnt understand what was being said. in addition, she would not ask if i wanted to order lunch with the rest of the group...okay whatever...this isn't high school. on my birthday she refused to tell me happy birthday b/c she didnt believe in celebrating them however she got gifts for another person on their birthday...(im not looking for attention here, but the point u just dont walk by a person intentionally and not give them a happy greeting...whatever) however my patience ran out when there was an open discussion about sex. i dont know about you, but i know in my culture we tend not to discuss this on a daily basis and give details like these women were doing. i protested and asked that this not be discussed in the workplace (i didn't find this appropriate and i do not have a relationship with these people to even talk about it). when i asked this she told me that i had to grow up and just face the facts of it...i was really upset...i got up and left. i was embarrassed and i just dont think that these topics were appropriate for the workplace or over lunch (sorry i dont need to know the positions and ur partner's details..ew)

so since around mid-october i have ceased eating with her. now it's december and time to give out gifts and i was left with a dilemma...should i give a gift or no? after much praying and much thought it dawned on me that i do not want to have ill will towards this person, hence...i should get something small...it turns out she did the same. she gave me a star ornament and i hung it in my office today as a reminder to not hold a grudge for that long and to focus on Christ who forgave me..so in that same capacity of His forgiveness, I must forgive others....i think that's what part of this Christmas season is about...we lose the true meaning of gift giving...

at least there was a good part of the day...

oh and if anyone can answer me...what does mistletoe have to do with Christmas??!?!?!?!

thankful for you

i love going on visitations with my priest because i benefit from them...

the story of impact last night:

there was a kid in grade school who had no friends and was the social outcast. i dont remember the whole background of his family but the basic point was that he was very lonely. the teacher of his class gave a project to draw something that each kid was thankful for. some kids drew food (as they were thankful for the food), cars, houses, and other materialistic things. the lonely kid drew a hand. the teacher asked 'why did you draw a hand?' so the kid responded said that he was thankful for his teacher because she was the only one that reached out to him and gave him a helping hand when no one else did...

give a helping hand to someone today...(and this story was best told by the priest btw but i just wanted to share this)

holiday cheer

so today was our holiday christmas party...our office has a very low morale. last week we only had 5 people sign up but an hour before the party we had a total of about 85 people. while we were happy with that number, it doesnt reflect the 500 employees that work here...ive been discussing with the managers about how to raise morale, but i always get made fun of when i suggest things...i wont stop.

the heart and soul of this party was the support staff...they put it together and they served everybody and when it was time to let loose they let loose :) we had a deejay on hand to liven up the party but about 30 minutes after the food was served, everyone left except for the support staff. i stayed and had a great time. one lady that i was particularly impressed with was named marian, an african-american lady...shes pretty up there in age, in her 70s i believe...she takes good care of herself. when i first met her i particularly didn't like her, actually i was scared of her and her opinions...over time i have warmed up to her...and the day after thanksgiving she talked to me about how she would love to see egypt...and it gave me the opportunity to talk about Christianity in egypt...she was impressed and i realized that i wasnt scared of her anymore...today she got down on the dance floor...danced much better than other people. sometimes we need to take the time out and let loose and talk to people that otherwise you may not take the time to talk to :) you learn so many things that maybe essential for your salvation...

the lesson of today: never judge a book by its cover...and you never know the opportunity may come along when you least expect it to talk about your faith and listen to others experiences in the faith :)

yay i blog

okay so ive decided to blog, to share thoughts on random things whether it be on personal or current events. i realize sometimes i have so much to say but it get stuck in my brain...