Today is Friday, and that means I have something special to share: A New Friday’s Friend! I do hope you are enjoying these each week, and I hope you are finding some new “friends” here within the blogosphere. 🙂
I’d like to share with you a blogger who has touched my heart with the story she shares. BeautyBeyondBones has an incredible testimony of how she has lived in the depths of despair and came out shining on the other side with hope. Her story inspires me and encourages me to look beyond the smile that someone has and really look into their eyes to see if their soul is truly full of hope.
I do hope you will go and visit her, and I hope you will find her story as encouraging as I have. I love that her latest decision has been to completely live by faith, to live it radically and for a greater cause than herself…this is truly beautiful!
Some might say my best feature is my smile. My friends might say it’s my eyes. I’ve heard others say it might be my hair or my tall physique. My husband would say…well, he just left the room when I asked him; so, I guess, I won’t be getting his answer for this post. If you ask me, my first response would be, “I don’t know.” This is really a difficult one for me, because I don’t like looking at myself and trying to figure out these kinds of answers. I’d rather talk about you and brag on your best feature(s). That is much more fun!
Yet, if I could say what I’d like my best feature to be is not something you will see at first glance, and it might not even be something you’ll notice at our first meeting of one another. However, once you get to know me, you’ll see I have a quiet, gentle way about me, and I have a knack for noticing small details. Sometimes, this trait will make me excruciatingly slow and meticulous, but when I’m “on it,” it allows me to see things others might miss. It causes me to see a pain in someone’s eyes when all the room sees their smile. It creates within me an ability to connect with the quiet, the lonely and the fearful. It allows me to see past the facade and smokescreen that someone may be giving in order to see the inner need to just belong and be loved.
I may not always see those little details, and I may very well “miss it” from time to time; however, when I’m listening closely to His voice and being in tune with His direction, this small ability becomes a great big asset in the Father’s hands, to be used for His glory, not because I’m ‘all that’ but because HE is.
The quality that makes me unique the most is probably my quirkiness. LOL. I wrote a little about it here, and I have often found myself feeling annoyed, frustrated or just plain embarrassed by this quirkiness; however, as I grow older, I have come to accept it as a part of me. Now, I work harder to allow Christ to reveal Himself through all of that, and I have realized when I rely more on Him than myself, His uniqueness is all I need! 😉
PS. Just as a side note… too often, in today’s culture, there are too many “fighting and dying” for so many things of not much value and not much “reward.” When you choose to ‘feel strongly’ about something, and you choose to fight for it, just make sure it is truly something worth fighting for, not just the latest trend or the latest, greatest and loudest scheme of the politicians or other agenda driven group to get your attention! 😉 …There are things for which to fight, and there are things for which to sacrifice a life, just make sure you are certain those things are right! … okay, that is all. 🙂
This feeds my soul. I love to sit on our back deck just staring out into the woods. I love sitting by the lake, looking over the tranquil waters. I love lying by the seashore listening to the tide returning day and night.
This feeds my soul… the beauty in the sunrise… the glory in the sunset… the brightness of the harvest moon and the first stars that shine. These are nourishments of my soul.
The birds that chirp in the morning light… the deer that leaps over log and rock… the rabbit that scurries across the forest floor… even the black bear that meanders about looking for summer’s first berries.
I wonder, sometimes, what do we truly value in this life? There is a story in the Bible, in the book of Luke, that tells the story of a woman who lost one silver coin out of ten that she had. She lit a lamp and frantically searched the whole house for the coin, even going so far as to sweep the whole house in her search. Then, once it had been found, she called all her friends and neighbors to celebrate the goodness she had found. This parable is in reference to salvation, and the truth revealed in God loving us so much that His search for us when we are lost is even more so than this woman.
“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!” Luke 15:8-10
However, the parable also brings to mind the thoughts of what we hold valuable in our lives, what we hold dear and precious to our hearts, and what would bring us to the point of extreme desperation at the loss of it. What we consider of value displays our true character. What we value sets our priorities in place and determines our perspective of significance.
I wonder what it might be in your life?
I wonder what it is that you hold cherished and valued in your life?
Is it your children? your job? your money? your possessions? What is it that sets your priorities in right order? What might it be that places your perspective and your ponderings on a particular sight, person or concept?
Those of us who call on the name of Jesus as Lord should pause a moment and consider the truth of this reality. Is it really the message of Jesus that we hold dear? Do we cherish Him as a treasure? Do we consider Him that valuable? Do we seek Him as expensive gold? Do we place everything aside simply to be with Him and to know Him more each and every day?
Do we share Him with those around us as the good news we have found?
Sometimes, we think we’ve overcome certain fears, and later on, we realize we have to face those fears once again. So, I’m going to share a time when I simply overcame FEAR itself…
It was the summer of 1993, when I had returned home from college. My parents had just moved to the mountains of East Tennessee a few years before, and my room was now a “studio/attic” room on the top floor of their house. I began waking up in the middle of the night with a paralyzing fear. There was a large, double window on one end of the room, the wall I was facing when I awoke each time, and it seemed as if two great big eyes were staring at me. I know, I know, for some this might sound like it is being written right out of one of those cheesy 1970s cheap horror flicks. However, I am here to tell you, I was petrified. I had always battled fear as a child and young adult, but this fear was so debilitating, so overwhelming, I would just lie there in the bed, unable to move, speak or even hardly blink.
This went on for about 2-3 weeks, and the consuming fear of falling asleep was causing me to stay up till the wee hours of the morning, only to fall asleep exhausted and awake to the paralyzing fear just an hour or two later. My mom would just tell me to pray, as I didn’t really give her much detail of what I was going through. The books I’d read would advise me on all kinds of nightly routines to combat the fears and prepare my body for sleep, and the soft instrumental music I’d play seemed to help as I drifted off to sleep but would be off by the middle of the night (remember, this is the early 90s. I didn’t own a iPhone with a playlist built in. 😉 ) It seemed nothing was helping to change this terrible cycle of sleep and fear into which I had fallen. About 3 weeks into this “rollercoaster ride,” I was talking to a former pastor’s wife and describing to her what was going on. She very gently encouraged me to read the Bible more, concentrating on verses dealing with trusting God, combating fear and standing on the promises of God. She encouraged me to memorize one Scripture, 1 Timothy 2:7…
ptl2010.com
She, also, told me to just speak His name. I asked her, “What if I can’t speak His Name?” For, I had not been able to call out to my parents during those times or speak a word of anything. She said, “Then, you just whisper it, and if you can’t whisper it, you close your eyes and think His name in your head until you can.” Ok, now that I was armed with “weaponry,” I was miraculously healed that night from all my paralyzing fears, right?? Unfortunately, I have to say, “NO!” That night, when I was awoken once more by that debilitating fear, I started trying to quote the Scripture that I had not yet fully memorized, this all in my mind, of course. (Remember, I couldn’t speak, because the fear was so great.)
All I could remember was, “God…isn’t…fear.” Oh yeah, that’s just great! How can I battle this fear when I can’t even think of a Scripture to quote in my mind? Then I remembered my pastor’s wife, her sweet voice telling me, “Just say His name.” So, I did. I said, “Jesus” inside my head just as loud as my mind would scream it. I screamed it over and over again, and evidently, I drifted off to sleep after about 30+ repeats. This rolled on for about a week before I was able to whisper His name and the Scripture I was memorizing. After about 2 1/2 weeks, I was speaking this Scripture each time I awoke, speaking the name of Jesus, and very peacefully, drifting back to sleep.
After 6-8 weeks, from the very beginning, I no longer had these “night terrors,” as I now call them. I cannot tell you why I had such a battle, and I cannot answer the questions as to why God didn’t just instantaneously and miraculously heal me from that paralyzing fear; however, I can tell you this, I emerged from that period in my life with a stronger faith and trust in my God. I can tell you that I have not dealt with that type of ‘midnight fear’ again. I can also tell you that I have been able to use this story, over the years, to help people who have battled with a spirit of fear.
I have found that, throughout my life, sometimes, God doesn’t answer our prayers exactly the way we want Him to, but if we will allow Him to and trust Him to, He will answer them exactly when and how He needs to in order to fulfill His glory in our lives.
I do hope this story will encourage someone out there who has battled or is battling fear. He is a good God, and He can help you. ❤
*This is a song set in a Christmas setting, but it is a wonderful reminder to FEAR NOT… I hope you enjoy…
*I do not own any part of this song, these lyrics or this video. Copied straight from YouTube. Song by Travis Cotrell.
PS. Happy Valentine’s Day!! Love the one you’re with, and share your love with those around you!
Quotes are always the hardest for me to choose. There are so many worth sharing and repeating. I did a quote “challenge” last Fall; so, I guess I will tag those and let you read all three here, here and here…
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!
the grizzle grist mill 