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by Ray Barbier | December 8, 2012 · 8:58 pm

Really needs to be rekindled in our hearts.

With Christmas right around the corner and the economy still in an unstable state seems we worry more about the finances than the family. So what you may not be able to buy the newest game system, tablet or any other high dollar gift, it isn’t about the cost of the gift nor is it important to try to keep up with the neighbors. When I was growing up there was no worrying about if I got a gift just like the neighbor kids, we were just happy to get something and to be with family. Nowadays seems Christmas gifts have to be several hundred dollars or even thousands at times, the spirit of Christmas is more about the presents for the kids today than God, Jesus or even the family. I feel we all have lost focus on the reason for the season. I don’t blame the parents, they just want their children to have the best and all the things we didn’t have as children. The cost of presents means little, it is the focus on the family and the celebration of the birth of our savior that really needs to be rekindled in our hearts.

Well hope all of you have a happy holiday season, Merry Christmas and even a happy new year.

God Bless

Ray Barbier

Rekindle The Season (simplyphenomenal.wordpress.com)
Weekly Image Of Life: Rekindle The Joy (thismansjourney.net)
Wonder: Advent Anticipation (everydayawe.com)
Weekly Image of Life: Rekindle the Joy (thewishfactor.wordpress.com)
What to Write in your 1:1 Holiday Cards (cardstore.com)
The greatest gift one can get (onelifetimeblog.com)
Finding the Cure for A Charlie Brown Christmyth (jayfnelson.wordpress.com)
Christmas Gift (poemsandponderings.wordpress.com)
MORNING PAGES: Christmas Magic (cowpasturechronicles.wordpress.com)
Weekly Image Of Life: Happy Holidays (thismansjourney.net)

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Filed under family, Friends, Holidays, Random Thoughts, Spiritual, Thought of the day, Writings

Tagged as Christmas, Christmas and holiday season, Family, Gift, God, god jesus, holiday, Holidays, Home, Jesus, neighbor kids, Opinions, spirit of christmas

by Ray Barbier | October 23, 2012 · 5:58 pm

Things like fellowship, friendship, family and love

We only have a short time upon this planet to live and enjoy life. We should be thankful for each moment we were blessed enough to have and enjoy. When you really look at how short a lifetime is, it makes a lot of what we think is important seem so shallow or insignificant in the end. We pursue wealth, popularity, power and the temporary pleasures of the flesh. they all are temporary and usually leaves one lacking in happiness and wanting for more. Things like fellowship, friendship, family and love are things that can last a lifetime and beyond in most cases. What will all the possession, wealth and power give you ? Will those things last a lifetime and will they ever satisfy your thirst for love and happiness?

It is Family, friends and the experiences we have in life that will always be with us, be it in physical form or within our hearts and/or minds.

Ray Barbier

Friendship Defined (auroramorealist.wordpress.com)
friendship (rezamir.wordpress.com)
In Celebration of Friendship {Inspired by Best Friends} (websterspages.typepad.com)
100 Days of Wisdom: Wisdom Day 31 – The Wisdom and Blessing of Honest Friendship (wisdominthewhisper.com)
Sometimes Miracles Happen (malibumom.com)
Friendship Defined (shafiqah1.wordpress.com)
Day 264: Celebrating Friendship (the365thoughtproject.wordpress.com)
Can Women and Men Be Just Friends? (katrinasworks.com)
The 5 Types Of Friends Everyone Should Have (thoughtcatalog.com)
How to End a Relationship With a Needy Friend (psychologytoday.com)

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Filed under family, Friends, Random Thoughts, Spiritual, Thought of the day, Writings

Tagged as Friendship, God, Home, Just Friends, Love, People, Philosophy, Poetry Quotations and Literature, Ray Barbier, relationship, Relationships

by Ray Barbier | June 15, 2012 · 11:02 pm

Tell your dad how much you love him and give him a hug

Fathers Day is around the corner and the memories of my late father come rushing in. All the good times and even some of the not so good times. But all of them are memories I cherish and try to remember and learn something new from if I can. I am not blessed with a child of my own but I do have nieces and nephews and try to be a good example to them. This fathers day remember to tell your dad how much you love him and give him a hug. For those like me that their fathers have passed try to be the best dad or Mom you can and remember the lessons learned from the memories of your father.

Happy fathers day to all you dads out there.
Love you Dad. Keep watching over Me and my Brother.

Ray Barbier

What To Do For Father’s Day (calmyourbeans.wordpress.com)
My Dad Saved My Life. And Then We Went to Burger King. (gojulesgo.com)
Father’s Day Messages (wabc.typepad.com)
See All the New Celebrity Dads in Honor of Father’s Day! (popsugar.com)
10 Grilling Gifts for Dad Food Gifts for Father’s Day (thekitchn.com)
What Does Father’s Day Mean To You? (bradsdeals.com)
Fathers of the year… (ryancarriesharpeblog.com)
What to give the Dad that has everything… (livingincheapluxury.wordpress.com)
What Dads Do For their Little Girls (awesomelyawake.com)

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Filed under family, Personal, Random Thoughts

Tagged as Family, Father, fathers day, Home

by Ray Barbier | May 26, 2012 · 5:28 am

Look at the world with the heart and eyes of a child

When we are young the world seems so new and there is nothing that can hold us down for long. When we grow old we forget how wonderful this world truly is. When we are a child we find delight in the simple things in life. When we are grown up we think money and possessions are what makes our life have worth. Seems to me we had more wisdom as children than as adults and we knew what life was really about back we were young. We grew older and colder as time went on, we have forgotten how to be our true selves and lost the spirit of happiness. We get consumed by our work, bills and the daily fight to survive. We forget to stop and smell the roses, we forgot how to play and have fun. We worry too much about what other people may think or say if we let loose and be silly. Some of us have even became bitter from all the harshness we have faced in our adult years.

Life is not a job, it’s a chance to be who you are to the fullest and a chance to experience the world we live in. We should look at the world with the heart and eyes of a child, we should see the beauty and wonder of this world we live in. We should leave behind the bitterness and mistrust we have learned to have through all these years and embrace the spirit of friendship and community. We shouldn’t allow our jobs and/or careers to be the main focus of our life. We should make our family and our friends the main priority in our life because they are what makes our life worth living. We should love and forgive like we did as children and live each day like it’s a new adventure not like it’s another day to survive.

Life is what you make it, for your life and world can only be the way you choose to perceive it.
Raymond Barbier

The Journey Begins… (thewonderkids4.wordpress.com)
A Single Mother’s Prayer (samestorydifferentface.com)
Some thoughts on Loss, Rejection, ETC… (chetjack.wordpress.com)
The Eyes of A Child (sistersofpower.wordpress.com)
A Place to Live (givemeabreakpeople.com)
I Won’t Give Up! (catseyesk.wordpress.com)
A Child of My Heart (cindyhfrench.com)
through the eyes of a child (moving2newyork.wordpress.com)

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Filed under Writings

Tagged as Child, Children Youth and Family, Family, God, Home

by Ray Barbier | April 18, 2012 · 7:03 pm

A Fork in the Road

Lately the cycle of life has really sped up around me, so many pregnancies and people either dying or getting life threatening diseases. This world is speeding up and we are heading towards a fork in the path we are going down. One of the paths ahead is to a dismal and foreboding future of selfishness, greed and eventual depletion of natural resources. The other path though will be rocky and hard to follow leads us as a species to a future of peace, equality and the saving of our wonderful planet and home called earth. We can not continue to walk through life with a selfish and/or apathetic heart, we have to become humble, compassionate and take care of this world we live in. We are all on this rock together and not one race, religion,country or individual has any more or less rights to live here. We are all equal and are equally responsible for our home and the life forms that live within it.

Some of the rich and powerful believe they are superior or at least deserve a better life than the average and impoverished man. This is just plain selfish and heartless thinking and not true, it isn’t about wealth, power or even physical prowess but it is about the spirit and the heart. The common and impoverished are not as naïve or as uninformed as the rich and powerful believe. We are waking up and seeing that we are not being treated equal in taxation and not being represented equally in our governments. Eventually the meek shall awaken out of their groggy state of mind and will help bring some of the change needed. Sometimes I see big business as a kind of bully, they raise prices to gain huge profits with no concern about if the average person can or can not afford it. Nothing matters but the profit margin and the bonuses they get each year. They fill their banks with money that was earned by underpaid worker’s in both their home country and 3rd world countries . I understand the need for profits, but to be too greedy and have no care about the workers or the consumers who helped build that wealth is just not a good business model. Eventual things will become so costly that only the rich will be able to afford to buy anything beyond just food. And since the rich are just a small percentage of the whole consumer base there will be a lot of businesses failing.

Though not all of the current financial crises is the fault of big business a lot of it falls on the consumer as well by using credit to purchase items they can’t really afford to have as well as buying luxury items that they could have lived without. Then the credit card companies also have their part in the mess as well as the mortgage lenders. There is many reasons why our world is in such a financial mess and the blame falls all across the board. The solution will also have to come from each level of the financial pyramid in order to fix it all. Greed and Envy seem to be the root of most of the mess, the businesses want more money and the consumer wants to keep up with the people next door.

We better change direction and choose the better path in the fork ahead, if we don’t our children, grandchildren and the generations afterwards will be living in a very dark future. We need to take care of the imbalance of wealth and start taking care of our home.

Just a rant of a middle-aged man.

Raymond Barbier

Profit & Selfishness (involuntaryobservations.wordpress.com)
Generosity (alternateeconomy.wordpress.com)
What Does It Mean to Challenge the Establishment – Part 3 (citizentom.com)

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Filed under Green Issues, Political, Random Thoughts, The World Today, Thought of the day

Tagged as Business, Home, Personal Finance, Selfishness, Wealth

by Ray Barbier | July 29, 2011 · 6:50 pm

Has left most of us without the knowledge and/or tools to survive

Image via Wikipedia

I was just sitting here thinking about how my grandparents lived without running water, electricity and lived off the food they grew / raised. My grandmother was born in 1902 and she lived through 2 world wars along with Korea, Vietnam, the first gulf war and many other little wars / conflicts our nation had been involved with. She told me of how her dad would be gone for months doing odd jobs and how her and the rest of the family would live on the vegetables from the garden and on what eggs and game they could raise or trap. I really wonder how many of us could survive now days if we had to live off the land and have to garden, forage and hunt or trap our food. To live without central heating / air conditioning or running water. Mend or make our clothes out of what material we can find, cook on campfire since most of us do not have a wood burning stove like my grandma did. Live without light since most of us don’t have enough candles or even a kerosene / oil lamp nor oil to burn in them.

For the most part our grandparents or great grandparents were quite self-sufficient and lived a sustainable lifestyle. They knew the correct way to prioritize and how to manage their resources what little they had anyway. To be honest we can learn a lot from our grandparents and those who lived in the 19th to early 20th century. If my grandmother was alive today and a catastrophe struck she would be the one id run to. she would know exactly how to survive on the bare necessities and would know all the old remedies etc. Modern technology and conveniences has left most of us without the knowledge and/or tools to survive a long-lasting disaster. Good thing is that it’s still not too late to educate ourselves and prepare a little for the uncertain future.

Well enough babbling for now
Peace and Love to all
Raymond Barbier

“Live Life For Today” – a song inspired by my grandparents (markwebermusic.wordpress.com)
Will Your Legacy be More than Money? (moneyning.com)
Great Depression? OMG! Panic! (girlfriendsguide2homeschooling.wordpress.com)
Journey of Discovery: Finding Out Who I Am Really (socyberty.com)
Economic collapse leads to America’s new Great Depression (axiomsite.wordpress.com)
The wisdom of grandparents | Ursula Wills Jones (guardian.co.uk)
The Gallery – Grandparents (notsuchayummymummy.wordpress.com)
How Grandmothers Created Civilization (brain4biz.wordpress.com)
Remembering (rwainright.wordpress.com)
The ties that bind: Grandparents and their grandchildren (eurekalert.org)
Grandparenting in the Digital Age (education.com)
Family Treasures (brassandivory.org)
Why more kids live with grandma (cnn.com)

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Filed under Personal, Random Thoughts, Thought of the day, Writings

Tagged as Family, Grandparent, History, Home, Korea, Vietnam, Wars and Conflicts, World war

by Ray Barbier | March 18, 2011 · 7:33 pm

Slow Down, Focus on What is Important

This world is in fast forward, everything has to be done in such a hurry no one has time to really think or even enjoy life. Hurry and worry are the companions of a modern human being and no longer can one sit back and enjoy the simple things of life. Sadly paying the bills has become more important than ourselves and our families. Consumerism has taken control of the hearts and minds of most of the population of this world we call earth. Unlike our grandparents who knew how to do with less and seemed to be far more happier with only one car and if they were lucky a television or even a telephone. They saw life in a simplistic and conventional way. Family came before everything and they only bought a house or a car through a loan. They didn’t have credit cards to buy every new gadget and fashion trend that passed by.

They lived by the philosophy that if they couldn’t buy it with cash then they didn’t buy it at all. Consumerism is ok if it is tempered by reason and it doesn’t cause you to live beyond your means. Credit card companies are more to blame for the financial mess most Americans are suffering, issuing credit limits beyond the ability of a consumer to be able to pay. Also their loan shark levels of interests, extremely high fees and charges designed to slow down your ability to pay off the card balance has caused many to file bankruptcy to escape the bottomless pit of debt. The credit card holder is just as much to blame for the mess they are in, You chose to charge it instead of saving up for it and therefore you created the initial debt. Though I believe most people would have paid off their credit card debt if the credit companies would have not had such extravagant interest rates and be more willing to work with the consumers.

We really need to slow down and smell the flowers from time to time. Life is too short to waste on worry and family is far to important to let a career or financial worries to get in the way. We need to get back to living for the family, friends and being sensible in our financial dealings. What does all the trinkets and gadgets really do for us anyway except keep our focus off of what really is important.

Peace
Raymond Barbier