Well, I’d love to say I’m listening to some podcasts. I’m so far behind in this that every time I hear podcasts mentioned, I hear a little voice in my head that says, “You are too far behind the times!” Lol!
I’ve started a few podcasts from time to time, but I have a bad problem of getting too easily distracted when I’m simply listening to something. I can read a book and be so in tune that I won’t hear you calling my name, and I can watch something and be highly focused; yet, when I set something to audio and start doing something else, whether it be driving, cleaning or writing, I may not catch everything the speaker is saying.
And I’ve really tried. The only time I can be focused with precision with audio is if I’m walking. This does work; however, when I’m walking, I try not to be distracted from those whom I might meet along the way. It seems rude to me to walk passed someone and not say hello, and more so, I don’t like to have my ears plugged when I’m outdoors. So, I’m in a bit of a predicament. Ha!
However, if I were to dive into some podcasts, and the few I’ve listened to before are Dr. Mark Rutland, Pastor TD Jakes, Pastor Jentezen Franklin, Dr. Laura Schlesinger, and a few audio books like Lord of the Rings (the one that used to be on Spotify was phenomenal!).
I’ve heard there’s some dynamic ones; so, maybe if I would just settle in to listen, I’d find some great ones!
Sometimes, healing comes instantly, but more often than not, it’s a long and tedious process.
Just as it takes a broken limb weeks, even months to mend, the heart needs so much more.
We are emotional beings. We are thought-filled humans, and wounds are like a heavy broomstick lying atop a tangled web of cords.
You’re not going to move that stick without disturbing the cords. You can’t just grab it, swoop it up, and call it a day.
You’re gonna have to move slow.
You’re gonna have to breathe deep and exhale at a snail’s pace.
You’ve got to ensure the healing is there.
And sometimes, a tiny gesture, a simple word, a small memory can come crashing in to slam that stick back onto the pile and even twist it a good bit!
Slow down, one more time.
Breathe in deep, one more time.
Exhale slowly, one more time.
Now, go work on picking up that stick again, one more time.
You can do this hard.
It might be messy, excruciating and long, but I promise you:
The healing is worth it.
Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything. And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.” Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.
Grief can be hidden and tucked away so deep, you almost forget it’s there.
Yet, when it peeks back through the shadows, it’s like a scream within that no one else can hear.
But you can sense it, even in the deepest shadows.
You can feel it, even in the stillest night.
You can almost see it, even in the blackest of eves.
And it will return with such fierce vengeance while no one else recognizes it’s deafening sound.
That is grief.
The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart and saves such as have a contrite spirit.
Psalm 34:18
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
In the vast expanse of the Grand Canyon, one small tree branch can seem minuscule.
Just as my life can seem futile in the sense populate of the human race.
What can my life accomplish among so many?
How can my life make an impact within he density of the crowd?
And it would be so easy to stay tucked away in a hole, never reaching, never moving.
Yet, how is it with that little one by your side?
How is it with the coworker across the room?
How is it with the roommate on your hall
How is it with the ones surrounding you day to day?
If you quit, who will lead them?
If you let go, who will breathe life to them?
If you walk away, who will speak hope and truth?
That small branch on the side of the canyon might be the resting place for the weary, fluttering butterfly.
That small branch might be just the finishing touch for the next of a feathered friend.
The insignificance we feel might be just the highlighted reel of the one who can’t see tomorrow.
Don’t look out over the sphere and lose your way.
Look right in front of you, beside you and behind and reach.
Be hope. Be light. Be truth. Be life.
Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”
Beauty really does come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. It all depends on your perspective and angel.
Viewing a brilliant mountain sunset can be all about the incline or all about the glowing orb in the sky. It can be all about the painted sky.
Or it can be about the tiny patch of flowers at your feet that will be trampled if you take another step.
Viewing an enormous crisis can be all about the chaos of sights and sounds or about the multiple dilemmas that have just been added. It can be all about the loss of time, money and energy.
Or it can be about the tiny hand grasping yours that is desperate for reassurance and comfort.
It all depends upon your vantage point.
So, what do you see?
Where is your focus?
Beauty is all around you if you can only open your eyes to see.
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:17-18
My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.
But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.
Proverbs 4:18-19
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
The best piece of advice would actually be two statements given by different people, but the statements work together:
It takes 1,000 tiny miracles to make a marriage work.
Marriage will only last best when Christ is at the center.
These might sound a bit cliche, and if you don’t have a relationship with Christ; then, it might not even make sense to you. Or if you’ve “been a Christian but everything went wrong in my marriage/in life,” then, it might be a difficult concept for you to accept.
Let me say this loud and clear and long:
Just because the statement did not/does not ring true in your own life, does not make the statement untrue.
That’s why these two statements work so well together. It truly takes a 1,000 tiny miracles to get the right two people together, at the right time, in the right location, under the right circumstances, and in the right context, in the right season for each.
Much more is it tiny miracles that keep those two love birds together over time. After all, he is marrying a woman. And she is marrying a man. Imagine that. Lol. They think differently, act differently, speak differently, react differently, even feel differently. How in the world can that work?
And that’s where God comes in. He is the Creator of our very lives. He designed every part of us and breathed breath into our lungs. How could He not be the miracles working within our lives? But there’s one caveat. He allows us to have the freewill of choice.
You heard me right. He’s the Almighty, great Creator of heaven and earth and all that we see. He is the Master Designer of all creation and of the intricate, complex beings called humans. He is the Alpha Omega, the Beginning and the End, meaning He can create and finish life and everything in it and around it.
Yet, He in His ultimate design, He gives us the ability to choose. We can choose Him or not. We can choose love or hate. We can choose life or death. We get the beautiful freedom of choice.
And what we do with that choice will determine the beautiful finality of those 1,000 tiny miracles that it takes to make a marriage work. What we do in choosing determines where we end up in life and who we end up with. What we do with the choices determines how we think, how we speak, how we act, interact and react, and it determines how we live our lives.
Every. Single. Day.
Every. Single. Minute of that Day.
Every. Single. Second of that Minute of that Day.
These choices don’t automatically make us somehow perfect. They don’t make us sinless. But if we’re daily choosing Christ and the things of Him, it will make us seek perfection, and it will make us sin less. And if two people are seeking, choosing, sacrificing and loving in these ways, it surely helps to support and strengthen a healthy union.
So, what will you choose?
Or better yet, WHO will you choose?
And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
My journey didn’t stop with mere time travel or writing; it led me to become one of the most sought-after empaths, a soulful psychic who reads the hidden depths of the human spirit. I’ve been blessed—or perhaps burdened—with an ability that allows me to feel the emotions of people from every corner of time.
I am a licensed psychologist based in Greece. My love for housekeeping has inspired me to create this blog about home management and family relationships. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing!
Dedicated to movie nerdom, nostalgia, and escape. In the late 90s, I worked at Blockbuster Video where they let me take home two free movies a day. I caught up on the classics and reviewed theatrical releases for Denver 'burbs newspapers and magazines. Today, while raising two young, beautiful daughters with my amazing wife, I look forward to anything rated R and not Bluey. Comments and dialogue encouraged!
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