Good Morning Father,

Yesterday I finished the Boogie Man Closet.  It turned out pretty cool.  

While I was working, I was in my usual “think mode.”  I realized that I do not know anyone who is truly “happy.”  I could think of no one who is happy for more than just in special moments.  Then my brain started on “is there anyone who is truly happy?”  Does the world even contain happiness anymore?  Happiness is found inside one’s self, but it is also dependent on those you surround yourself with.  

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:26-28 NIV

Be happy with what you have and are, be generous with both, and you won't have to hunt for happiness.

William E. Gladstone 

The purpose of our lives is to be happy.

Dalai Lama 

Don't wait around for other people to be happy for you. Any happiness you get you've got to make yourself.

Alice Walker 

True happiness comes from the joy of deeds well done, the zest of creating things new.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery 

There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.

Epictetus 

The first recipe for happiness is: avoid too lengthy meditation on the past.

Andre Maurois 

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:26-28 NIV

In you, there is no difference in people.  It took me a long time to be content with myself, and then I tend to go backwards.  I still find myself creating, wanting others to be “pleased” with my creations.  I remember as a child, we had gone camping with a few other families.  It was Easter so I decided to create a cross on a stump an decorate it.  In the process, I cut myself with the knife.  As usual, I found myself in trouble.  The next morning I awoke to finish my project.  I wanted to please.  Yesterday, at 50 years old, I still sent my Boogie Door Closet pictures to my parents.  They still don’t really get it.  I realized that I have spent my whole life showing them what I am good at, what makes me happy, and wanting them to see.  They still just do not get it.  I am finally getting it.  I am so busy trying to prove myself to my parents.  At what point do I stop this?  At what point do I realize that I have to be happy within myself?  I need to create to be happy.  I do not know yet how to make a living at this.  I don’t quite know what you are showing me.  

Now for the part of trying to make others like me.  I have to find somewhere where I am happy being me.  I have to get back to the point to where I understand that in You there is no physical condition, only spiritual.  I need you to help me understand my gifts more and use them.  I want to be that person everyone looks at and says, “Yes!  I know someone who is happy.”  I want to be satisfied with me.  I know in You I am alright.  I need you to use me and show me how to live without the need to please others.  

Charles Edward,

I love your Boogie Man Closet.  You took things that no one else would have found any use for and made them into something.  Maybe it’s time you realized this is your gift.  You take people who no one else has use for, and you make them meaningful.  Bravo Charles Edward.  Now there is your gift.  Use it.  Do not seek to be understood.  Seek to understand.