Faith

Hope in Front of Me

Feeling down, discouraged? 

Need some encouragement?

 Listen to the words in this song and grab on to hope!

Sinking Your Mind

Above everything, guard your thoughts and your heart to keep your life moving in the right direction.

Learn To Laugh

Learn to laugh at yourself and at the world. Instead of getting bogged down in the mud of worry and fear, laugh and be happy because I am by your side. Just as parents delight in the laughter of their children, so I delight in hearing you laugh. I feel happy when you trust Me enough to enjoy your life." -Jesus Calling for Kids by Sarah Young

Worry

Worry robs our lives of joy, and causes health problems. 

Let. It. Go.

It's The Thought That Counts

"It's the thought that counts..."  

Your thoughts really do count/matter because what you think is usually what you become, what you achieve.  Toxic thoughts often hold us as prisoners and affect our life and our relationships.  You can overcome those thoughts by replacing them with Truth.  Truth that you matter.  Truth that you were created for a purpose, by a God who does not make mistakes.  

Let. It. Go

Worry strips away joy.  Worry puts us in a false reality, often making things worse than they truly are.  Worry destroys our lives.  

Today, decide to let worry go.  Push it out of your life, and close and lock the door behind it.  Work hard to keep it out of your life.  As soon as you find worry creeping back in, actively take steps to overcome it, and send it out of your life.

Focus instead on joy, love, laughter, and gratefully live every moment of this life you are given. Live with purpose and passion, and leave loving footprints on the lives of everyone you encounter.    

Uncertain Or Difficult Times

Dealing with difficult or uncertain times? 

"A surgery may fail, but God’s compassions will not. A treatment may fail, but God’s compassions will not. A relationship may fail, but God’s compassions will not. A dream may fail, but God’s compassions will not. My friend, no matter what you’re facing, God cares for you and will carry you. It may not be OK, but, because of the Lord’s great love, you will be OK..." - Jennifer Rothschild


Great blog to read:  

You Will Be Ok 

Dealing With Depression or Anxiety?

Feeling down or depressed? Need to overcome your depression, sadness, overwhelming anxiety?  A few simple steps are guaranteed to ease those feelings.  

Unplug. 

Take a break from Facebook, Twitter, the news, social interactions and discussions, people who cause much unneeded drama in your life.  Instead, take time to focus on good things in life, the things that bring you joy.  Go outside.  Read a book.  Go for a walk.  Have a true face to face conversation.  Enjoy a hands on hobby.  Go for a drive and enjoy the beauty of nature.  It will change your mood and your outlook on life.  

Worry Less, Give Thanks More

Worry less, give thanks more.

Word Challenge, Overcome

The first word I am going to use in this new challenge is OVERCOME. Share with me what this word means to you, how you have overcome, whatever comes to your mind when you see this word. 

At the beginning of the year, I took a challenge of 'pick a word for the year that you want to be your theme,' and I picked overcome.  It has definitely been a theme for me, and I have overcome quite a few fears, challenges, attitudes that held me back.  I still have things to overcome, which has become very obvious the past few days, such as anxiety over unknowns or what if's, but I have overcome a lot in the past few months that used to hold me back.  

Here are three examples of things I have overcome this past year.  There are many more, but these are the big ones:

I started to work out, something I hadn't done at this level in years!  I had walked, done some hiking and bike riding, but I am actually going to the gym 3-4 days a week. The walking and hiking we do have become much easier and much more enjoyable.

There have been some past hurts that I have overcome, and by doing that, I have been more open to letting new people in my life, made new friends, and torn down walls around my heart.  I have become more outgoing, speak up more, and have been blessed with some wonderful new friendships because I overcame the past hurts and scars others left on my heart.  

On my birthday, I went across a narrow, swinging bride that ascends from rock to rock over the Kootenai River in Montana.  Fear had kept me from taking more than two steps on this bridge before.  I don't like heights, although that fear is going away, but heights over moving water, on a narrow, moving bridge was not my idea of fun.  I climbed the steps, determined to overcome this fear, took the first few steps, which are high up, but I was over rocks, not water.  I took a few more steps, slowly, clinging to the cable as tight as possible, and fear swept over me.  My husband and niece were part way across, cheering me on and waiting for me.  I froze for a bit, and just stood there.  I looked up at my niece, who is 8, and did not want her to think it's ok to quit something because of fear, so I took a few more steps.  At this point, one of the three boards under my feet moved, escalating my fear, but kept me moving forward!  When I got about half way across, the fear left, and I enjoyed each step of the journey across that bridge.  It was beautiful.  I felt very accomplished when I hit the stairs on the other side.  I felt free from the fear that had held me back so many other times before.  The trip back across was now easy.  I had overcome by putting fear behind me, and taking a risk to move forward.  With each step moving forward, the fear grew smaller and the confidence grew more and more, and I overcame a barrier that held me back for so many years. 

This only shows about 2/3 of the bridge, it is a long one!  

Replacement Plan

Let it go, and let God replace what stops you and brings you down, to a life of faith, purpose, and endless opportunities.  

Is Your Life Overwhelmed, Or Have You Overcome?

What worry is weighing you down?  Worry destroys our health, our quality of life, even relationships.  Worry comes and seeps in to every part of our being that we ALLOW it to invade and consume.  It can be stopped, however.  We can stop it from overpowering our life, but it has to be a choice.  Some days, it's a minute by minute choice when we face overwhelming circumstances, or circumstances that appear to be overwhelming.  

As someone who has struggled with this, I understand how it can destroy health-body, mind, and soul.  I understand how it seeps into every area when allowed to do so, and weighs life down.  I also have experienced how it affects relationships, both because I was worrying, and because another was overwhelmed with their own personal anxiety so much, that they quit living life.  Thankfully, I have learned how to identify worry, stop it before it invades, and let it go.  There is great freedom in letting go of anxiety and stress.  

In what ways have you learned to overcome worry?   If you are currently overwhelmed by worry, what one step can you take today to let it go?

What Do You Think?

What occupies your mind?  What has taken up residence in your thoughts?  Is it helpful or hurtful?  Worries, negative thoughts, regrets, and anxieties can infest our minds like a parasite, going through each part of our thoughts making us sick, depressed, and  only seeing the bad in life.  What goes on in our minds can be an invisible invasion to others, but eventually, those diseased and harmful thoughts do spill out of us, in our words, our actions, our lack of caring about life.  

Guarding and protecting our thoughts is very important.  Recognizing when our worries have  parasitically invaded our minds and exterminating those thoughts and worries from our lives is essential to good health, a good attitude, and true joy.  

Everyday take time to examine your thoughts, and gather up those that are wandering away in a harmful direction.  Instead of complaining about something, find something to be grateful for and focus on the positive, not the negative.  If the news is overwhelming your mind, which it can easily do, turn it off, don't read about it, take a media fast for as long as it takes to calm your anxious thoughts.  If you are judging someone, find something good about them and focus on the good, not the bad.  We all make mistakes, we are all human, we all struggle.  Live in the present, not the future or the past, and be present in the day you are given.  Worries about what could happen, or what has happened, easily infest our thoughts and steal the joy of living today.  Today is a gift, don't waste that gift on 'what if's' and 'I should have's.'  

Life happens.  It's our choice how we react.  When we refuse to let worries infest our brain and stop them before they start, we can enjoy life much more, see the beauty around us, be grateful for what we have, and be a blessing to those in our lives.  

Stressed Out Life

Stress affects many people, for many different reasons. 

Too much stress can make you sick.  Have you been there?  I have. We will all face stress, we have to learn how to deal with that stress to keep our bodies healthy, our emotions and choices healthy, our brains healthy, and our spiritual selves healthy.  This diagram is from Men's Health on a few affects of stress on our mind, body, emotions, and behaviors:

There are many ways to manage stress.  One, is separating true reality from fears we blow up in our minds.  Sometimes fears take over and make a false reality in our brains, making things seem much worse than they actually are.  It is essential to get a grasp on what is truth and what is exaggerated fears in our minds. 

One great place to start in managing stress is by eating well. Eat nutritious, balanced foods, and don't skip meals.  Veggies, low sugar to no sugar, and a lot of water helps our bodies to be nutritiously sound.  Regular exercise is also important to help get rid of the stress in life.  

Getting enough sleep is another key. The right amount varies with the individual, but most adults need eight hours for proper restoration of our body and mind.  

Something very important, that many forget about when stressed, is to take time for yourself.  Creative outlets are important, such as reading, drawing, photography, music, artwork or building something, whatever it is that gets your creative mind moving. God gave all of us creative gifts.  I know when I am out with my camera in nature, my stress levels immediately go down.   Also, take time to get a massage, soak in the tub, go for a walk, get away by yourself for a little bit and quiet your mind of your to do list during this time for yourself.

It's important to remember that it is ok to say NO, as you are only one person, who cannot, and should not try, to do everything. It is important to know your limits and stick to them.  

Daily prayer has been shown to reduce stress.  In the book The Faith Factor by Dale Matthews, he says that people who read the Bible and pray every day are 40% less likely to suffer from hypertension than others.  

Learn to laugh. Research shows laughter brings down, and helps controls stress hormones.  "Laughter is the best medicine" is very true when it comes to reducing stress.  

Enjoy your life and let the stress go.  Laugh a lot, love those around you, live every moment of life.  For every moment wasted on worry and stress, we lose that moments potential to have joy and love fill our lives.  It is truly a choice, I know as I have suffered with a lot of stress in the past.  I have learned to take steps to overcome it, and capture and enjoy life.  If you would like to learn how to take steps to a healthier, less stress-filled life, please contact me.  Life keeps going.  Are you truly living it, or is stress and worry robbing you of the gift of each day?  It's your choice, what choice are you making?