Enslaved by Shame

Many out there are just like me and at times are full of shame. Shame that we aren't as pretty as someone else, as skinny, or as "perfect". For some it involves our past...mistakes we made, lies we told, whatever it is we hold onto that causes us to feel "Less Than". My new ladies Bible study is "What Women Want - The Life You Crave and How God Satisfies" (by Lisa T. Bergren & Rebecca Price). In it they quote Liz Higgs saying "Shame is the result of a search for perfection, and perfection is impossible." I was convicted beyond words. I am an admitted perfectionist..not always in ways other people would think, but there are areas of my personality where I don't want to willingly settle for anything less than the closest appearance of perfection. Alan Wright says in his book "Shame Off You" .... "the cycle of shame can only be broken when repentance replaces bitterness. Shame can only be healed when honor replaces dishonor. To let go of shame, you must let go of your sinful reaction to it. Be angry, but do not sin. Hold no judgment. Harbor no resentment. Nourish no bitter root." I never gave my frustration and shame over my physical imperfections enough thought to think of them as sin they were just me being a typical girl and not thinking I had as good of genes as the next girl. They are sin though...the Bible says that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. It says that GOD knit me together in my mother's womb. If we believe that our God is perfect then He is not capable of making a mistake and who do I think I am to tell Him otherwise?? I was struck by the realization that I need to replace my negative self talk with the truth of who God made me to be. Each time I start to think one of those thoughts...I'm too fat, my skin looks awful today, why can't I have straight hair. I recite those scriptures above and say out loud to myself (and my kids if they are listening) "Christ's love makes up the difference". As creations of a loving, amazing, fantastic God we are covered in the blood of Jesus and all the love it represents and WE ARE ENOUGH!!!! Replace the dishonor you are showing your Creator with those words of shame with the honor He deserves in the form of REPENTANCE AND CHANGE. Looking toward the sky accept the Grace He so willingly pours out to us and with joy begin the new habit of reminding yourself daily or hourly that between me and perfection -- "Christ's love makes up the difference".

Hi again!

Well I know I've been on a little siesta, but as I started my new Bible study I know that God has been teaching me a lot and there are some great things that I want to share so hopefully over the next week or so I will get the chance to put into words all that He is working on in my heart right now. For now... a challenge to be in THE WORD everyday NO EXCUSES!!!! I know for me this is not always easy, but oh so worth it when I make it my #1 priority. LOVE TO ALL - S

I Wish You Enough

An email that circulates around that I love......

Recently I overheard a mother and daughter in their last moments together at the airport. They had announced the departure.
Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the mother said, 'I love you and I wish you enough'.
The daughter replied, 'Mom, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Mom'.

They kissed and the daughter left. The mother walked over to the window where I was seated. Standing there I could see she wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on her privacy but she welcomed me in by asking, 'Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?'. Yes, I have,' I replied. 'Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good-bye?'.
'I am old and she lives so far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is - the next trip back will be for my funeral,' she said.
'When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, 'I wish you enough'. May I ask what that means?'.
She began to smile. 'That's a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone'. She paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail and she smiled even more. 'When we said , 'I wish you enough', we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them'. Then turning toward me, she shared the following as if she were reciting it from memory.

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear.

I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.

I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.

I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.

I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.



TO ALL THOSE I LOVE -------- I WISH YOU ENOUGH

The Law of the Garbage Truck

An email I got recently that I thought was good to read more than once....


One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in
the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in
front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and missed the other
car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and
started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I
mean, he was really friendly. So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy
almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!' This is when my taxi driver
taught me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.' He explained that
many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of
frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles
up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't
take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take
their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.
The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over
their day. Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so.....
'Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't.' Life is ten
percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!

Don't miss the blessings....

Many of you know that our car broke down on our trip to Sacramento. It was one of those moments in life where I felt the panic and stress begin to well up inside me and fortunately it only took a few minutes of talking to Jason for us both to realize that it wasn't necessary. It was inconvenient... for sure, it was expensive... unarguably, it was character testing...for certain, but not a reason to stress. It didn't take long for us to kick into solution mode and call our parents and other resources and get a plan in motion. Jackson of course had a typical 3 year old's solution.. "Let's just go buy a new car." Aren't problems easy to solve when you are young? During our two plus hour wait in the Shell station parking lot we had enough time to verbally begin to list all that we had to be thankful for... we broke down in an area we were familiar with so I wasn't concerned for our safety, we broke down in a parking lot and not in the middle of the freeway. It happened during the day and not in the last few hours of our trip which would have fallen late at night. It happened close enough that our extended family (who are so generous and caring) were able to rescue us and give us a place to stay and a reputable mechanic to solve the problem. Just over a week before we were on our trip to Wisconsin with Jason's family where the timing would have been a lot more complicated and caused more problems to resolve (hotels already paid for, schedules to meet, etc.). I could go on, but I think you get the picture. Although it was a trial of sorts we could see God's hand in it, and how He helped us through it. We both KNOW without a shadow of a doubt that our own natural character would have sent us spewing expletives and ranting about how put out we were and how unfair it was. We were able to see that God has made some progress on us over the last few years and we were grateful for that as well! Don't worry we know we have plenty of other things to work on! :-) We were so looking forward to our trip that when we found out it would be a week before the car could be fixed (broken intake manifold) I shed a few tears and my husband came up with the idea of renting a car and going on as planned. We did and had a great time visiting family and picked up our car on the way home. The mechanic wanted us to have the car looked at again when we got back by the shop that did the work that he thought caused the problem. We did and now it is all good! We received a lot of blessings and prayers and we felt very cared about through the whole ordeal. It was a deviation from the original plan and yet everything worked out pretty smoothly. So the next time it feels like something is ruining your day or your plans step back & take a second look and don't miss the blessings!!

WOW!

I have read this before, but it is a great one to read again.....


WHY DID JESUS FOLD THE NAPKIN?

Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection? The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which was placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes. The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded and was placed at the head of that stony coffin. Early Sunday morning,while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, "They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I don't know where they have put him!"

Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see. The other disciple out ran Peter and got there first. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn't go in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus head was folded up and lying to the side.

Is that important? Absolutely! Is it really significant? Yes!

In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day.The folded napkin had to do with the Master and Servant, and every Jewish boy knew this tradition. When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it. The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table until the master was finished. Now if the master was done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers and mouth with that napkin and toss it on to the table. The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, "I'm done." But if the master got up from the table,and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant knew that the folded napkin meant, "I'm not finished yet." The folded napkin meant, "I'm coming back!"

We believe that Jesus is coming back and are so thankful that He isn't finished just yet.....

A pain in the neck

I wrote this about 2 years ago, but I found it & wanted to share it.....



Last week the Lord gave me a pain in the neck, literally a pain in my neck. As I took my son for a walk I asked Him to show me something through my pain. As I walked our usual route I realized that the pain was enough that my typical neurotic habit was interrupted. I tend to look around a lot – glancing behind so no one will startle me, to the sides so that no animals from the brushy area sneak up on us, and just constantly trying to stay aware of my surroundings. I realized as I was walking that I COULDN’T look behind me. My awareness to this fact began a dialog between me and my Heavenly Father about how I could apply this to my life. I felt the Holy Spirit guiding me to the realization that I spend too much time looking behind me at my past and the mistakes that I have made. It was hindering my concept of my God – I kept falling back into a trap that was steering me to see a god who might still be punishing me for those old mistakes, one who not only remembered them, but was still actively looking for me to make amends for them. Now I KNOW that this is not the character of my God, and yet every time an opportunity arose for me to act as I believe, I kept choosing to act as the enemy was prodding me to believe. God’s Word says that when we ask for His forgiveness He remembers our sin no longer. Hebrews 8:12 “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” So as I realized that I couldn’t look back on my walk that day I realized that I didn’t want to look back any longer in my walk with Christ. I want to be the new creation that His word says that I am and I want to hide those words in my heart so that the next time the opportunity arises I have already decided that I will act as I believe and extinguish that dart that the enemy wants to use to pierce me. Praise God that His lessons come even in the mundane everyday things…..like a pain in the neck!!!