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He Knows Our Anxious Thoughts
Do you suffer from anxiety? This emotion, this feeling, appears to manifest itself in multiple ways, according to Merriam-Webster: 1 a (1): apprehensive uneasiness or nervousness usually over an impending or anticipated ill: a state of being anxious; (2) medical: an abnormal and overwhelming sense of apprehension and fear often marked by physical signs (such as tension, sweating, and increased pulse rate), by doubt concerning the reality and nature of the threat, and by self-doubt about one’s capacity to cope with it; 1 b: mentally distressing concern or interest; 1 c: a strong desire sometimes mixed with doubt, fear, or uneasiness Wow. Anxiety goes beyond a feeling and affects our bodies…
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Shackles & Freedom
Have you struggled in your relationships with your father figure(s)? Do you live in shame about choices you’ve made in the past? Do you feel hopeless? Do you sometimes feel adrift? I’ve struggled with my father figures. I’ve felt shame and regret about choices I made (to be honest, I still do sometimes). I’ve felt hopeless. I’ve felt adrift. But all that changed in 2004. I learned that the only Father I need is Father God. That I don’t have to live shackled by my bad choices. That I have been set free, yet I am anchored in love. Most importantly, I know that I am never alone; there is…
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Happy New Year!
Out with the Old Good-bye, 2020. I’m sorry to say, there are many who won’t miss you. You brought a lot of sickness, death, discontent, destruction, disappointment, loneliness, anxiety and unrest upon us – individually, nationally and globally. Oh, I’m sure you didn’t mean to, but those are the facts. You were a “dumpster fire” of a year. So much went wrong… and that’s what many of us have chosen to focus on… My dear sister, as you leave behind 2020, I invite you to change your perspective. Take off the glasses that cause you to dwell on everything that went wrong. Instead, deliberately choose a positive perspective. Focus on…
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Gratitude, Thankfulness and Thanksgiving
Does Thanksgiving make you nostalgic? I think about past years spent with my family of origin and those who have passed on from this life. I reminisce about how we spent that special time – playing games and squabbling over who should’ve won, eating too much of our favorite foods that are only prepared once a year, sitting together in the living room talking about our lives. Sometimes those memories bring a smile, but, more often than not, they bring tears of regret and sadness for what is no more. If you can relate to these feelings, I’d like to offer a different perspective that has helped me overcome these…
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Seen and Heard
Growth is painful. Change is painful. But nothing is as painful as staying stuck somewhere you don’t belong. Mandy Hale Worthy Hearing the words “Father God” prayed by my friend Karie quite literally changed my life. It was as if someone flipped a light switch on and illuminated a new path for me. Before that, I lived in a spiral of fears — of abandonment, of being unlovable, of shame, of unworthiness — most of my life. Looking back, I can see I sometimes hurt others before they had the opportunity to hurt me. I left before they left, and I stopped loving before they stopped loving because, eventually, everyone…
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Just a Little Bit of Faith
Newlyweds While living in Albuquerque, NM, David and I weren’t going to church, I wasn’t reading my Bible, we didn’t fit the profile of Christians. However, I remember praying in the shower many times for David to come home safely from wherever the Air Force sent him. I’m sure my prayers were like letters to Santa with more requests than gratitude or praise, but I was thankful that there was Someone looking out for David when he was away from me. Our life from November 1997 to July 2000 saw us through some ups and downs. David was often away, and I didn’t have any friends. I bounced through a…
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Married Too Young
As I mentioned in a previous post, I endured rocky relationships as a teen. I think I stayed in those relationships because it was better than being alone; a bad relationship was better than no relationship. By mid-November 1991, my relationship had become more abusive, and I suspected that my boyfriend was cheating on me. When he broke up with me just before my birthday, I was broken in heart, mind, and spirit. Moving On A couple of weeks later, I met someone. Five years older than me, “Dan” seemed more mature than the guys I knew. His quick smile and easy laughter were in stark contrast to the dark and…
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Misdirected
I knew of God… Growing up, we didn’t talk about God or Jesus very much. We observed Christmas and Easter, but I don’t recall anyone ever sharing the importance of those two events. Christmas was about Santa and gifts; Easter was about the Easter Bunny and egg hunts. We attended a Baptist church infrequently. When religion came up at home, my Nanna focused more on me going to hell if I wasn’t baptized, and, at twelve-years-old, I didn’t want to be baptized until I understood what it meant and why I should do it. I said as much to Nanna one day, and, instead of trying to explain it to…
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Words Wound and Scar
Sticks and stones may break my bones,But words shall never hurt me. Children’s Rhyme Words shall never hurt me is a myth; words do hurt and cause scars that no one can see. Mistake… my mother got pregnant outside of marriage. Accident… my mother didn’t intend to have any more children, especially not fourteen years after her third child was born, not as a single woman in the seventies. B*stard… “an illegitimate child”; illegitimate: “not recognized as lawful offspring; specifically: born of parents not married to each other.” (Merriam-Webster) Mistake… accident… b*stard… I used those words to describe myself in eighth grade. That’s when I learned that last definition, and…
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Are you a “fatherless” daughter?
Dear Sister, Welcome! I invite you to come in and stay awhile. During our time together, I want to introduce you to my Father. He gave me life, and, although I can’t see Him, I see evidence of Him; He walks alongside me every moment of every day. I didn’t grow up knowing Him, though I caught glimpses of Him from time to time. Helpful things to know about me as we begin this journey: My mother was the “other” woman, and my biological father completely abandoned me when I was four-years-old. I don’t remember ever seeing him, but a few photographs exist to prove he visited me a time…
