Archive for Christian Living
The Shopping Cart from Hell
Posted by: | Comments
It began innocently enough. I walked into the store and grabbed the first available shopping cart. I checked it out a bit to see if it rolled nicely and having not received any red flags, I took off. Well, let me back track momentarily and invite you more fully into the moment.
Grocery shopping is a part of my life that I have a love/hate relationship with. It can feel like a piece of heaven or an experience from the pits of hell.
At times, I enter the store and they’ve got Norah Jones playing. When that happens, I always muse at how smart the owners are. Who could refuse such a beautiful musical invitation to experience the moment? I inevitably slow down and shop longer when Norah is pouring out her heart over the airwaves. I mellow out, breathe, and linger to experience the wonder of choice, creativity, color, smell, and touch. I dream of savoring that spinach dip or the chocolate cake or the chicken enchiladas….
And then on other days, I am on mission. I plan out my time strategy. I will shop when there are not too many people in the store. I will begin on Aisle C and proceed to Aisle G and blaze out of the store through Aisle H. It’s the ‘divide and conquer’ strategy. With laser focus, I enter the store to “get” something. With my Superwoman cape in place, I have a silent inner goal: I will enter this store, find my purchases, and be back in the car in less than ten minutes! Watch out, fellow shoppers!
Enjoy this post? Share it with your friends by clicking the Facebook LIKE button..
Powered By Facebook Like Post Plugin
How God Speaks to Us Through Our Emotions
Posted by: | Comments
What emotions are you feeling right now? Can you name what is happening inside your inner world? Could God be speaking to you through your emotions?
Are you annoyed, ashamed, confused, hurt, depressed, jealous, anxious, fearful, stressed, angry, or sad?
While it may sound like a simple task to name what emotions you are experiencing, I haven’t always been able to do that and I’ve found in my work as a therapist, that many, many folks are not able to accurately name what is happening inside them.
Enjoy this post? Share it with your friends by clicking the Facebook LIKE button..
Powered By Facebook Like Post Plugin
Use This in Case of Emergency
Posted by: | Comments
A little over three years ago, God challenged me with a particular scripture. It was one of those times when I ‘heard’ the scripture reference spoken to me by God, not knowing its content. When I opened my Bible and read this verse, I knew intuitively by God’s Spirit that it was what we might call a ‘Now Word’ for me and my church family.
The verse was Isaiah 30:15 which states “For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: ‘In returning and rest you shall be saved: In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.’ But you would not.”
In the historical context, Israel was being invited into a place of rest with God where she would allow God to do what she could not do. She was being invited to access God’s help without going back to her slavery mentality. She was being challenged to lean upon God and not look to any other source for her help.
Isn’t it easy to look at such Bible passages and clearly see how a nation or an individual made huge mistakes? As we say, hindsight is 20/20.
Much more difficult is for us as individual believers to ‘get it right’ when we are faced with challenging circumstances. Our emotions rage and our minds whirl.
God offered me, and I believe He offered my church body, a specific invitation on that particular day. Some accepted the invitation at the moment. Some never even realized there was an invitation issued, and most of us passed for a day or two along the way and flunked many other days.
Enjoy this post? Share it with your friends by clicking the Facebook LIKE button..
Powered By Facebook Like Post Plugin
Honest Anger
Posted by: | Comments
A few years ago, I invited a counselor friend of mine, Susi Harbour, to come to our ladies’ retreat and administer a personality test to our ladies. I had already taken it once and thought it would be fun and useful for the ladies of our church to know more about themselves and how they ticked. Susi suggested adding an anger inventory to the activity. “Okay, sure,” I said. I suppose I didn’t quite get the purpose of the whole thing, but I figured it’d be interesting.
As I sat at the table with other Christian women leaders, I was surprised that they were such fire balls! They apparently had lots of anger! I, on the other hand, scored “anger avoidance” as my style of dealing with anger. I didn’t really think that was such a bad thing. I mean, after all, I was a godly woman. I was extremely patient. I almost never spoke sharply to anyone and had lots of grace for others. Well, as it turns out, I had a lot to learn about how to deal with my anger and what healthy anger was.
Just a short time later, my world crashed. I was drawn into a whirlwind of pain, gossip, betrayal, fear, threats, and just plain lack of people skills and Christian love, and my anger style kicked into overdrive!
Enjoy this post? Share it with your friends by clicking the Facebook LIKE button..
Powered By Facebook Like Post Plugin
Giving Up and Giving In; The Pathway to Receiving His Grace
Posted by: | Comments
My journey is a journey to know God, others, and myself.
Enjoy this post? Share it with your friends by clicking the Facebook LIKE button..
Powered By Facebook Like Post Plugin
