Category: Health

Posted in Bible Journaling, Faith, Forgiveness, Health, Life Inspiration, Uncategorized

You Can Fix Stupid

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It’s Saturday morning, I’ve had a crazy week and I stand in need of some serious rest. Well. Guess where I’m going? It’s not to the world. And it’s not sleep of which I speak. It’s mental rest that I’m in need of. This world can drag me into oblivion and I feel like I’m drowning. And so I go to the only place I’ve ever found true rest. The Word of God.

Christ says in 1 John 14:27

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 

John 14 is one of my favorite books. It’s speaks of that place for which God Himself is preparing for us, but until then, He has provided the Comforter. And just reading the word of God causes my anguished soul to calm and the peace for which I’m longing is there. 

Sometimes the blog comes and then the image, but this morning it was the other way around. I could feel myself collapsing under the weight of the world before I got out of bed. I love the quote “The struggle is real!” Because it is. I’m sure I’m not speaking anything new to you. We all feel it. I’m not the only one with issues. Am I? Of course not. And our dilemmas are personal, and although the struggles of other people may be far worse, it doesn’t mean that ours will be ignored by the Lord. He understands. Long before He went to the garden, where He felt a struggle far beyond anything we will ever know, He still had earthly struggles. 

There were stupid people who walked the earth in Jesus’ day too. That may be a Jesus Chick original quote… just sayin’. Stupidity was a seed planted in the garden of Eden and we’ve been eating of that tree ever since. I won’t throw the rest of the world under the bus and say that I have not had moments of stupidity. Most of the pressures I feel are self inflicted. That seems to be a reoccurring theme on my blog and in my life. So I guess the question for today is “What do we do with the stupidity of this world?”

Fix What You Can

I’m looking at my own life and what’s going on right now. I’ve re-entered the workforce and have taken a job that needs some serious TLC. (Tender, loving, care). This week had me wading through paper work, checking accounts and new computer programs and the occasional stupid person. Mainly a computer programmer who I have no desire to ever meet. What I discovered is, I can fix this. But every problem has to be dealt with one at a time and with wise counsel. I’ll be honest with you, that’s never been my strong suit. Asking for help has always made me feel weak and less. But when the computer program kicked my butt this week, I had to call for counsel; and when the computer programmer talked to me like I was an idiot, and told me that his program took 2-6 months of training, which wasn’t included in what I’m paying him, I immediately knew who the idiot was, and it wasn’t me. So how do you fix stupidity. Get a new program.

The same is true in life. If what we’re doing isn’t working, we need to get a new program. It might be my stupidity or that of another that’s causing me issues, but I can’t keep doing the same thing and get a different result. So let’s change it up.

Don’t Let What’s Broken Cause you to Fall

For certain something broken can cause you to fall. My broken body has put me into the position of falling on several occasions.That feeling has caused me frustration and I’ve had to learn that aging is a process, but it’s not an ending. It’s just a new program.  And I’m slowly learning that the new program isn’t bad. I’ve just had to adjust my ways of doing things and my way of thinking, a lot! 

But what if it’s not something physical. What if it’s a broken heart or broken dreams. Perhaps it’s a broken promise. All of which can cause us to fall into a spiritual trap of the Devil. Satan loves it when something stupid happens in our lives that breaks us. When we’re down on our knees we have two choices; we can either cower to the demonic forces that want to make us miserable, or we can take what’s broken to the Lord Jesus Himself, and allow Him to fix it for us. It takes counsel. Sometimes from people, but always from the Lord. He is the only One that has the power to mend a broken heart or spirit. 

So you see, contrary to popular belief, you can fix stupid. 

I am aware that there is an exhaustive list of stupidity. And that it’s not a one size fits all. But it is a One size fix’s all. And that’s the Lord Jesus. Regardless of the category, the level or the depth of disaster. God’s got it covered and is more than willing to work with us. Isn’t that great?! You can fix stupid… who knew!

Posted in Christian Service, Faith, Health, Life Inspiration, Uncategorized

Weary, Worry, and Wantonness

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There used to be a quote that said, “My momma warned me they’d be days like this.” And while that’s evokes humor, it’s true none the less! Today is a day of feeling overwhelmed. It often happens when I come back from a ministry opportunity because, not only am I facing the undone things of the home, I’m facing the undone things of the spiritual realm too. Things like, promising myself that my prayer life would be richer and deeper, that my ministry would be better focused and scheduled, and my music rehearsal time would become a priority. Hmmmm. Did I really say I’d do all that? Add that to the physical things of the world that has to get done: Chickens to feed and water, 3 critters under my feet today and an extra one, because Maggie Mae the grandpuppy is visiting, in amidst the posters I need to do for our high school cheerleading squad, which my daughter now coaches, 6 children I’ll be picking up from school this evening and yes… my plate is full.  

Some days I wonder if this is considered sanity or insanity.

And, I overslept. Not cool Shari.

The Three W’s of life take their toll. So what are we to do as children of God when it all seems too much?

Weary = Rest

Galatians 6:9 says And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

We must schedule rest; it’s not an option if we want to avoid fainting. And while I will agree with what you’re most likely thinking “There’s no room for rest!” As I said it’s not an option. As Pastor Mike so often said, “You do what you want to do.” And so, I think of my day and the many, many wasted moments that I piddle with this, that or the other that actually serve no purpose and I realize there is time for rest. I just need to schedule it like a doctor’s appointment and during that time allow the Healer to heal this weary soul.

You schedule yours now too!

During that time we need to

  • Tell the Healer where we hurt – Even the places we don’t like to go.
  • We need to close our eyes and listen to His advice. – Shssh.
  • And then we need to just breath. Quietly and peacefully. Imagining the sounds of heaven….

My 3-year-old nephew Jensen, who lives in Maine, is one of the wisest boys I know. He told his Momma last week that “His socks make noises like this… and then he sat very still and quiet for a few seconds.”

I have laughed at that for a week. Thinking of how wise this little fella was to understand that silence is a sound that we need to hear. There is a depth of wisdom in that boys statement that goes beyond what we allow ourselves to understand. Shsssh.

Worry = Trust

Proverbs 16:20 ~ He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he.

A lesson that I have to learn again and again, is to do the best I can, and then leave the rest to God. Because I’m a fixer, and I want to fix it… quickly. Trusting even in the Lord Jesus is a struggle. No… let me rephrase that, “Waiting on the Lord Jesus is struggle. I know that I know His way is best. But I so often think my way is faster. And while that is true sometimes, it messes up the plan and causes my happiness to be less than it should be. I’m wondering if you too can identify?

His way leads to happiness, our way leads to happy less. Oh dear… that one smarted!

Finally but not the least of the three that I struggle with is

Wantoness =  Conent

It could speak to “stuff,” or “position or place.” Wantonness is a fleshly struggle for me. I love bling baby!!! And I love it so much so that I get lost in it sometimes. Wanting things for my house, my kids, myself, my husband. It’s hard to be content in a world of media!

And so I’ve been trying to focus myself on using media to promote the Lord rather than allowing it to promote the world to me. If I spend time in my artistic endeavors of Christian banner and art creation, it will hopefully fill my days with causing the world to desire what the Lord provides. Contentment.

Does it always work? Nope. But as always I’m a work in progress.

I hope that my attempts at making my own self better, helps you with your life. I love ya, and I hope you have a Christ focused day!!!

Posted in Bible Journaling, Christian Service, Evangelism, Grace, Health, Life Inspiration

The Struggle with Social Media

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I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love. Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.

Psalm 119:113-114

The Struggle with Vanity

By human nature we are a selfish lot, are we not? I tuned into social media this morning and the heartaches of other people overwhelmed my soul. I felt helpless.

I can’t rebuild a life that was lost in a fire.

I can’t undo the bad decision of a young man that didn’t feel there was any other way than death.

I can’t control the fierceness of nature or the devastation it can leave in its path.

I can’t un-break a heart or protect people from destruction.

It’s life. And in this day and age it’s being lived out in a very, very public way that affects so many people with the stroke of a keyboard. Social media can be a blessing or a scourge. I have a love/hate relationship with it, as I’m sure most people do. But like it or not, despise it or not, it’s here to stay. But you and I need to be careful about the vanity of it all. If we are in the mindset of Christ… as we should be. We should shield ourselves from ourselves. Visit https://www.fanexplosion.de/produkt/instagram-likes-kaufen/ to promote your brand or any service to a greater reach on Instagram.

One of my many, many faults is counting. Now I know it got David in serious trouble in 2nd Samuel 24. So I try not to; but remember the struggle I spoke of. It really is a struggle on social media. How many people likes my post… how many people viewed my video… how many people liked a post, or loved a post. And who were they? Oh. I’m vain. For me it’s validation as to whether or not I was a success.

That a load of lies from Satan. But I buy it like a good flea market find.

Our lives will never be defined in eternity by how many people seen our posts. But it will be defined by what that post did for the cause of the Kingdom.

The Shield of Victory

For all my vain thoughts, and they are many; God put a heart of compassion within me. It’s what drives me to share the hope of Jesus Christ that I find in His word. It’s what creates images like the umbrella in my mind when I think of how many times the Lord has shielded me from the sun and rain. The good times and the bad times that would have had a negative result in my life.

It’s not only the bad times in our lives that cause damage. The good in life can bring more vanity, more self-reliance that can destroy the good things that God wants for us.

How many people do we know with great wealth and health that have no relationship with God? Or how many do we know that have “seemingly” never struggled as we have and are so ungrateful.

Some of the worst things in my life, I am certain, have protected me from forgetting where my hope lies.

I’m so thankful that we have God’s word! It is as if I’m sitting here in my office this morning with God, and I hear Him say… “That’s my girl. Keep writing. Keep drawing. Keep serving. And by the way, stop counting.”

Posted in Bible Journaling, Health, Life Inspiration, Word of God

Get Me a Water Gun! Satan’s out of control

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A note I scribbled on a scrap piece of paper in my office said “More of an attack on my heart than the actual heart attack, has been the spiritual attack on me.” In recent months it’s been very, very real. The final icing on that well decorated cake was a hacker tearing down my web site on Tuesday. Years of labor disappeared into the oblivion of cyber space and I was a mess. I don’t understand the mentality of people who live to do something like that, but I understand their source of evil. Satan and his minions I’m sure had a huge laugh at my expense.

I don’t have a web designer or personal tech support. Everything I do is on my own through programs designed to make it easy, mainly by paying for godaddy.com hosting. I know just enough to be dangerous to my health when something like this happens. Three days, and a $120 poorer my site is back up but I am drained emotionally and physically.

It’s not been just the website issues. My overall health has been on the decline since the knee injury, another of those fiery darts meant to bring me down. Okay, I’m done whining, now onto lifting you and I up together!

Get me a Water Gun!

For the record, Satan only has the control that God allows him to have. An idiot tearing my website down did not catch God off guard. Satan never has one over on God. It’s why God has me in the book of Job right now. If He can bring Job through the heartache he went through, He as me covered too. I have no doubt.

There is Wisdom in the Water

I love Job’s response to his friends in Job 12:15

Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth. With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his.

Water is one of those biblical words that has great spiritual meaning and depth. Just in saying that God is the Water of the Word is like drinking a cool glass of water on a hot day. It soothes the soul, just like it does the body. How wonderful to understand that it is God who control such an amazing substance. The substance that will put out the fire of Hell that try to heat up the life of a child of God.

Satan will never see us in Hell, but he can try to make our lives Hell here on earth. He and his minions can tear down websites, families and even bodies, but they cannot have the Spirit of man. God control them all. Glory to God, I just wrote myself happy again! I love when that happens. I hope you read yourself happy too!

The Water Gun is loaded. And the fire is about to go out!

There is Life in the Water

Job 26:5-7

Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof. Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering. He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.

Verse number 7 is one of my all-time favorite verses. But the words of Job leading into it cause me to ponder greatly. And then from the depths of my soul I heard this response.

“Water creates life, and fire causes death. God is water, Satan is fire. Nothing is concealed from God, even those who believe their destruction is hidden in the world wide web. God knows them. Personally. And they should fear. If he can hang this ball of dirt in the midst of space and keep it there, one web hacker is nothing.”

My knee pain is not too hard for God to fix or to work through it. My heart is fixable. Both the physical and the spiritual. God is in charge.

There is No Water without God

Job 38:34

Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?

God’s response to Job was a reminder to us all that we better understand Who it is that’s in charge of every aspect of our life. The good, the bad and the ugly is under God’s thumb.

I found a warped humor in verse 3 of Chapter 38, because I think I too have had this conversation with God.

Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.

It almost felt like I heard God say, “Put on your big girl pants and answer me Shari, who did you think was in control?

In my ignorance I gave credence to the destructor of my website and forgot who had destroyed this body by not taking care of the temple. We have the power of destruction, but through God we can have the power of life. But only through Him.

We can pray for rain, but the final decision is His.

God asks Job in chapter 41, verse 1:

Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? Or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?

Leviathan was a sea creature, whale and even Satan is referred to it in the scriptures.  Something larger than life. We cannot control it on our own. It would literally be like fishing for a whale with a Walmart rod. How long would that last before we too were destroyed by the beast?

Satan and his minions are not to be taken lightly. They certainly have destruction powers. But not when God intervenes. The question is have we given God full control to hand the situation before us. Or are we still trying to catch a whale with a $2.00 hook? or shoot Satan with a water gun.

Posted in Bible Journaling, Easter, Forgiveness, Health

Renewed Like the Eagle’s

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Most every day since the heart attack has been filled with a plethora of emotions. There are days I feel awesome! And I appreciate those days because they’ve been less than more. I ask not for pity. It’s just the process of aging and the result of having poured more junk into the vessel the Lord gave me rather than healthy fuels. The truth hurts… sometimes literally.  The same is true spiritually.

I’ve spent a lot of time in the book of Psalms lately. It’s my go to place when I’m in need of encouragement. Most likely because I can relate to many of them which were penned by David, who certainly experienced more than one lifetime of emotions through tribulations and celebrations.  Take Psalm 103… Just in the first 5 verses it describes my day to day:

That is my prayer this morning as I approach the Easter weekend and attempt to dry nigh to the Lord Jesus. It’s difficult when you’re in the flesh and throwing a pity party for your aching arthritic bones. I find myself saying “Oh my stars!” more than “Oh my soul!”

Which is exactly why I needed to fuel my body with His words instead of mine!

The Benefit Package

1Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

While insurance companies are paying less and less on the average health care bill, the benefits of serving the Lord have been multiplied. A fact I need to remember. As a matter of fact it’s a prescription dose we all need this week.

Because of the cross our benefit package is out of this world. There is nothing that our God cannot do so long as it’s His will. And His will is for certain that His children walk in truth and joy.

However when you reach 40 and over, your responsibilities have likely changed considerably. Most will have families, mortgages and debt, which makes life-insurance an attractive option to ensure financial protection should the unthinkable happen. But for you to know the reasons why you might consider getting life insurance in your 40s, you can visit a helpful site like lifecoverquotes.org.uk for more info!

The Prescription Plan

3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

In 2017 I took no medication. At the beginning of 2018 I took 2, by mid 2018 to now I’ve been on 9-13 daily meds to make this body of mine function. How ridiculous is that!

Well, I may not like it, but it’s what keeps me going. Missing anyone of those pills can make life difficult. The same holds true with my spirituality. Failure to take the prescribed daily dosage of God’s word and time in His presence takes its toll on me. I feel terrible. And not only that,  I miss the blessing of feeling clean and whole through His forgiveness. And for certain I lose sight of the fact that He has the power to heal this body and strengthen me for His service.

The Forgiveness Clause

4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;

This was an “oh my stars!” moment for me today. Only God has the power to take back the damage that I have inflicted to this soul and body. He created me, through sin and poor decisions I destroyed me, through doctors and medicine He restored me, but He can just as well heal me. He has that ability and His mercy may go there… or it may not. But either way He has given me so many opportunities I did not deserve. Yes Glory to God it is an Oh My Stars! Kind of day.

Open Enrollment

5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Unlike the insurance world enrollment isn’t limited to a certain time. It’s any time. God’s ready and willing for us to use our benefits and renew our relationship with Him. This is a good week to think about that…