I Am A Work of Art (with a messy room)

Here I go again with another fabulous bible study with  Proverbs 31 and Melissa Taylor ! We are doing a study on  Renee Swopes "A Confident Heart" . Many times in my life I have let self-doubt, low self-esteem, and a lack of confidence make decisions for me. I didn't take the high paying job because I felt like a failure. I stepped out of my marriage because I let those doubts and negative talk convince me that my husband did not love me. I won't say yes to becoming the service unit manager for my local Girl Scouts because I believe that I'm nothing special. Even more recently, I stopped writing on a blog project for my church because I got sick with a nasty virus and missed a bunch of days that have now turned into a couple of weeks. I let myself think that my church family will not forgive me and why should I bother, I am not qualified. I fear failure. In chapter 1 of "A Confident Heart", the following verse stands out: "So do not throw away y...

Lifegroups, that is what my church calls it, is a group comprised of people, men or women, couples, young people, old people who have one thing in common. God is what they have in common. Some are baby christians, a few are "on the fence" believers, while others are head-over-heels-in-love-with-Jesus. New members and old members alike are encouraged to be a part of these groups. When I was first approached, I thought to myself, "Oh! This is just an over-glorified bible study group. I have no time for this. Why do I need to attend one of these?" The first time I stepped into our meeting room, my heart did a silly flip flop, my legs felt like rubber, my hands were shaking...I was inundated with negative chatter like, "Why are you here? You are no Christian, you are not like these people, they are not going to like you, you are going to be ignored...on and on." I finally calmed myself (at least I thought it was me doing the calming ;) haha) down enough to l...

On the wall...this life is no fairytale. That's for sure. At least, that's how I am feeling this fine Thursday evening. I am defeated today with worry, stress, pressure, he said-she said drama! I am worn. This video came to mind last night (Thursday) but when I wrote this blog due to my being so tired and worn, I forgot to add this video: I looked in the mirror tonight, Father. I don't like what I see...bags under my eyes, tired and hurt eyes, scraggly hair that desperately needs to be cut, extra weight. My thought Father is how could you love this mess of a woman? But then I felt your hug tonight as I was crying in front of my bathroom mirror. I know you love me, I know you want me to be healthy but YOU. LOVE. ME. unconditionally, forever. I am still hurting, Father, I am broken but am I really beautiful to you? What can I change? I feel so lost tonight, my Father. What do I do about those situations I brought to you earlier? His reply is below: Matthe...

Too blessed to be stressed! Today being Thursday would be a great day to have a theme, yeah I know you've guessed it! Thankful Thursday or AKA Finding the Blessings when you are stressed to the max! Starting with 5 and hope to add more to this list if not every day maybe once a week for now. 1. God 2 Family 3. Friends (Yes, even the one lounging on my couch right now!) 4. My Patients 5. SuperE's Therapists and Teachers Sunday Blessings...added 4-14-13 6. A beautiful day 7. My niece 8. Sunday School..the kids all of them and one today really stood out...JK buddy, you totally made my day! Sweet and loving kids, they are all so very special! 9. Food, I have food for my children to eat. 10. My children: SuperE waking me up with a kiss and saying sorry for something he did the day before. KK seeing an old pic of her when she was about 5 and taking pic of her standing in front of that pic. Wednesday, April 17, 2013 The more I think of blessings, the happier my d...

Stressed-Less? I sure hope so! Stress....what image comes to your mind when you think of stress? Me, I imagine myself with hair that's standing on end like when you stick your finger in a light socket. A raging migraine, the kids are yelling and fighting...again, the dog is barking, the TV is blaring. I am standing in the middle of it all with steam coming out of my ears, holding my head, and all of sudden, I explode! My mind keeps racing about Girl Scout meetings, women's ministry, work problems, money, IEP meeting, KK (my daughter) has a music program, the argument the hubby and I just had...A scream comes out but nobody hears it. They just keep on with the chaos. Why don't they hear me? Why can't I find peace? Hopefully soon through the new OBS with Proverbs 31 and Melissa Taylor's OBS, I will learn how to live with stress and finding true peace. My vision of true peace involves an island all to myself with nothing but the quiet, good music, and a good b...

***WARNING! Some of this may be hard for you to read. I do explain a few specific things about dying and about my own Mom's passing.*** I've been thinking about my life a year ago. One year ago, I had only been attending church for one month. I went at first for my daughter. You see, she was saved on Christmas Eve. She asked Jesus to be her forever friend at the Christmas Eve service. My goal was to take her to church to help her blossom in her faith. Then my next goal was to get my son going to Sunday school to help prepare him for school. All of this was from my Mom dying earlier in the year from cancer. You see, God has perfect timing. He showed us His perfect timing a few days before my Mom passed and the day that she left us to go home with the Lord. The Thursday before she died, my daughter and I were on our way to visit her. KK grabbed my hand and looked up at me (we were about 1 block away from the nursing home.) and said, "Mom? Is everything going to be ...

Let.It.Go. A book by Karen Ehman . I am getting ready to start a new Online Bible Study through Melissa Taylor's OBS and Proverbs 31 Ministries ! Here's a sample from the back of the book cover: "The housework. The meals. The kids. Many women are wired to control. But trying to control everything can be exhausting, and it can also cause friction with your friends and family. This humorous, yet thought-provoking book guides you as you discover the freedom and reward of living life "out of control", in which you allow God to be seated in the rightful place in your life. Armed with relevant biblical and current examples (both to emulate and to avoid), doable ideas, new thought patterns, and practical tools to implement, Let. It. Go. will gently lead you out of the land of over control into a place of quiet trust." So nervous about this idea of just letting it go! And I just read beautiful words written on the inside cover from my previous OBS leade...