Silly Saturday
healing
Funny Friday
Think Right. Live Right.
What strategies do you use to maintain your health and well-being?
There are probably several strategies I use to maintain my health and well-being and many more that I truly need to implement.
Like exercise and eating right. I need to do better in these categories. Eating is alright, and my saving grace is most likely that I do eat a lot of salads, try to make sure I’m getting good fiber, making better choices throughout the weeks, and I eat one big meal most days (lunch) and a protein bar at the other two meals. So, better than some, not as good as others.
However, I’d say the thing I work hardest at is keeping the right mental attitude, and that contributes to a ton of my well being.
Avoid stinkin’ thinkin’ for a good and prosperous life!
I am naturally introspective, and because I’m a reviewer (there are doers, dreamers and reviewers in life), I tend to automatically see what will go wrong in a given situation. Over the years, with the help of my “optimistic-big picture,-always seeing what can go right-amazing leader” husband, I have learned to not only see the problem but to also work hard to see the solution, too.
So, that’s what I do.
I strive to look at the good, the solutions and the HOPE in any given situation. I don’t always get it right, but I can proudly claim I am light years ahead of where I was 25 years ago.
A couple of things that help me do this:
1. Daily Scripture reading. Yeah. I read the Bible. For some, you’re already tuning me out because you think I’m going to get all religious on you. However, hold just a second, please, and just read a few more lines to see what I’m talking about…
I have found that the Bible is a great big story of incredibly amazing people, and it’s beyond interesting. It has mind-boggling miracles and mysteries, intriguing family dynamics and dysfunctions, and all kinds of battles and victories. It’s a great history book as well. And it’s certainly led me to a greater level of understanding, knowledge and insight. So, beyond the soul refreshing relationship I’ve found through knowing and talking to the ultimate Hero of the Book, it’s an incredible piece of literature. And it’s no wonder it’s been the #1 Best Seller for centuries. (I challenge you to just try reading it sometime.)
Then, the added bonus for my reliance of daily Scripture reading is that I find it gives me peace of mind, restores my joy, and fills me with more love than I could ever imagine. So, this would be the first and foremost reason for my daily reading plan of the Bible.
2. I strive to THINK right. Too many people will just let your mind wander all over the place, or maybe be consumed with so much reasoning that it lends itself to confusion, or even allow yourself to be so overwhelmed with thoughts of fear, anger, bewilderment or just plain chaos, doubt and confusion that you never have a clear thought about anything.
There’s another great book I’ve come across that has helped me learn to think right: Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer. She teaches you how to retrain your mind to have the right thoughts, no matter how messed up it might be right now. It’s a really good book! I highly recommend it.
3. I’ve learned to forgive and forgive again. This is huge. Unforgiveness can eat away at your health and well being before you know it. And when you’ve let unforgiveness fester so long that it’s turned into bitterness, it can literally destroy you!
I read an article once that talked about the scientific benefits and dangers of unforgiveness and negative thoughts. It described how these cause neurons, atoms (or something?… it’s been a while since I read it. Lol) or something in your brain to actually develop little spikes on them. And because your brain is the communication to the rest of the body, these little spikes start poking and prodding the various areas of your body and begin creating toxins and miscommunications, which then develop into sicknesses, diseases and even terminal illnesses.
Now, maybe someone wrote that article, and it was more theoretical than proven, I have no idea. And I really don’t care. It makes perfect sense, and it made a huge impact on me. So, I work hard to avoid harboring unforgiveness and negative thoughts.
4. I’ve embraced positivity and try to avoid negativity. (See explanation above.) I’m not always the best at this, but I try, and try, again. Being positive is really good for you mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally. Plus, it’s so much more enjoyable to be around someone who’s more positive than negative.
Now, this doesn’t mean I always have my head in the clouds and never see anything bad. That’s honestly a dumb way to live, too. And I’m a bit too much of a realist to be that way. But if I can choose positivity, I will work really hard to do so.
5. I don’t do drama. I don’t do OPD (other people’s drama), and I don’t do my own. Drama just works everyone up for nothing. If you’re going to fight a battle, there better be spoils, and good ones. But when everything gets dramatic, and especially when it’s someone else’s problem and solution into which you are inserting yourself, there’s usually absolutely no good pay off. So, why do that to yourself?
6. I strive to keep peace in my heart. This doesn’t mean that there’s never a storm of life that I’m not walking through. It just means that I’ve learned to embrace peace no matter if the circumstances around me are chaotic or not.
And truthfully, I can’t do this in my own strength. None of it. Whether it’s being disciplined to read Scripture, thinking right, being forgiving, being positive, avoiding drama or seeking peace, I really don’t have the ability to maintain all of this by myself. I’m not passionate enough, strong enough or even wise enough to know how to do all that, but I’ve met Someone who works it all in me and through me: my loving Savior, Jesus.
He is truly my Rock, my Shelter, my Peace, my Provider, and my Source for all I need for health and well-being. And often, those who don’t have a relationship with Him will say, “That’s just a crutch.” And I have to admit. Yes. I have found I can’t even walk without holding onto His hand. For when I’m leaning on Him, I can do all things well…
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:13
You will keep him in perfect peace,
Isaiah 26:3
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Psalm 18:2
Grasping at Heritage
I recently lost my grandmother of 94 years, and I miss her so. She and I were a lot alike in so many ways, and often growing up, she was more like a mother to me than a grandmother.
She taught me how a young lady should carry herself and how to really love your man.
She taught me that a gentle word really can turn away wrath and a loving touch can bring harmony to a chaotic world.
She taught me how to be classy and be okay with tradition, religion and “the way things have always been.”
She taught me that you’re never too old to try new things, as she traveled to Jamaica in a missions trip at 80 years old.
She taught me that if you set your mind to it, you can accomplish just about anything, as she lived by herself for almost 20 years in a great big bay front property after my grandfather’s death.
And the most important thing she ever taught me was that a relationship with Jesus Christ and with the joy of the Lord being your strength, you can live out your days with laughter and peacefulness, no matter what the storms of life might bring.
I am thankful for the heritage she offered, and I will gladly pick up the mantle she left. She may not have always done everything right, and she’d have never wanted you to call her the picture of perfection.
But if I can live my life with as much dignity, class, integrity, charm, joy, love and peace as she had, I will call myself a blessed woman.
What heritage are you grasping hold of today?
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
Proverbs 31:30-31
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.
She is clothed with strength and dignity;
Proverbs 31:25
she can laugh at the days to come.She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:
Proverbs 31:26-29
“Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.”
Silly Saturday
Healing is Messy
Healing is never easy.
Healing is not for wimps.
Just as a broken bone takes time to mend, it takes time for a wounded heart to heal.
Really, more often than not, it takes longer for the heart to take the journey of reconciliation.
And sometimes, the healing, the mending, and the restoration of peace and sanity may come while reconciliation never does.
Forgiveness is for the heart to heal and for the soul to be freed.
Forgiveness may not bring the reconciliation that was once hoped for or demanded.
For some things can be so damaged, the body cannot be recovered.
For some things can be so destroyed, the explosion left nothing but the crater that had already been formed.
For some things can be lost forever.
Never demand harmony when you’ve caused the destruction.
Never demand compromise when you were the source of the wound.
These are hard words to receive and much harder ones to actually live out.
But we all live by grace, and by grace we go forward.
So, forgive again and again.
Repent as needed.
Heal over and over.
And leave the rest up to the Creator of your soul.
For He knows all, and He will bring healing that soothes the soul and brings redemption.
Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise.
Jeremiah 7:14
Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security.
Jeremiah 33:6
He who covers his sins will not prosper,
Proverbs 28:13
But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.
Choose Well
It’s so true that there are many things of which we have no control of our choices.
Decade in which we are born.
Parents. Birth location. Upbringing.
Physical attributes. Talents. IQ.
These things are given to us, and we have no say.
Yet, we do have a say in how we respond, in how we handle, and in how we carry on once we have them.
And this choosing results in our character.
Which is also a choice.
And it also will become our voice.
How we respond to the things we cannot control will determine our promotions, our successes, and our influences.
We are never a victim.
Being a victim is a choice. And that choice brings about our character.
When we choose to hate these things out of our control, or maybe just fight against them in a rage that wounds all those around us, it shows our character as rude, spiteful and selfish.
When we choose to embrace these things out of our control as chains, and we are just a martyr for the cause, or maybe we just can’t do any better because of all that has befallen us, it shows our character as weak, whiny and self centered.
Yet, when we choose to accept these things out of our control, fight against the things that would try to inhibit us, and become overcomers inspite of the pain, the turmoil and the difficulties, it shows our character as bold, courageous and focused.
And when we take this tenacious attitude a step further and begin to show others how to overcome their own obstacles, it shows our character as loving, giving, and outward seeking.
We can be a hero or a zero.
The choice is ours.
What will you choose today?
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
Romans 8:37
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
Romans 8:31
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28
Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:8-10
Silly Saturday
Funny Friday
Music to My Ears
What is your favorite genre of music?
To be honest, I think I must just like music. Haha.
When I get the question, “What’s your favorite genre of music?” I want to return the question with, “What’s my mood today? What’s the season, or what’s something new?”
I might be better of to answer what music do I NOT like because that might narrow the field a little more.
To listen consistently, I can’t really handle the screamo-metal genre. And even that, my son has introduced a song or two that I really like. However for the most part, that genre is probably the one with which I can’t really hang for long.
And maybe Techno isn’t one of my favorites. Still, there’s some techno tunes of the 80s that still get me moving and singing along at the top of my lungs when they come on.
And I guess, I’d have to say if there’s a genre that often turns me off, not for the music but more for the vulgar language used, is today’s culture of Rap. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’ve listened to plenty, as our oldest aspired to be a rap artist when he was younger. So, I’ve listened ti my fat share, and if you’re not cussing or talking dirty, I’ll give it a good listen. Unfortunately, too many of today’s rap artists have taken the cheap route of filling their lyrics with more F-bombs and bedroom brawls than they have good lyrics and story telling.
But give me Easy Listening, Southern Rock, Hard Rock, Classical, Acoustic, Indie, Southern Gospel, Blues, Bluegrass, Alternative, Christian, Christian Rock, Classic Rock, Jazz, Big Band, Folk, Celtic, Pop, Rhythm & Blues, Hip Hop, Soul, Punk, Reggae, Disco, Ambient, Latin, Progressive, New Wave, Dubstep, Vocal, Choir, Rock & Roll… (did I miss any?) Y
ou name it. I’ll give it a listen.
I just love music. It’s melody that soothes the soul. I love the quote our Choir leader tells us, “Music is what feelings sound like.”
And something I love even more than man made music is the music of nature. The chimes of the breeze through the branches; the thunder of the clouds upon the mountains; the roar of the oceans upon the sand, or the chirp of the newborn baby birds calling for their mother. These are the beauty that will unfold in God’s creation, if we will but take a moment to listen.
A good song can uplift the broken heart. A good lyric can soothe a weary soul. A good tune can wipe away tears and being a smile.
And a well placed melody can write a book to express the deepest emotions that words just can’t describe.
So, turn up the volume just a little and tune into what someone is trying to tell you.
Let your words be few and your notes be many.
And let the harmony take you to places you’ve never been.
For you shall go out with joy,
Isaiah 55:12-13
And be led out with peace;
The mountains and the hills
Shall break forth into singing before you,
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree,
And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree;
And it shall be to the Lord for a name,
For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory.
Isaiah 43:2
the grizzle grist mill 