Release
6 Reassuring Bible Verses for When You're Feeling Anxious
I am not a stranger to anxiety. When I was growing up, it simply came and went depending on various situations I was in. But shortly after my second son was born, I found myself battling a whole new type of anxiety. I found it hard to sleep, and when I was able to sleep in between the anxiety and the newborn nighttime feedings, I had terrifying dreams. I felt paralyzed to make decisions and was constantly fearful of something bad happening to my husband or my young children. I was diagnosed with postpartum anxiety and put on medication. About two years later, as that anxiety became more manageable, I found myself struggling with a whole new type of anxiety after both of my sons began receiving diagnosis after diagnosis and my life became filled with a million appointments (or so it felt), and a constant worry I wasn’t doing enough for my children. The anxiety crippled my mind, my sleep, and my body as I found myself experiencing stress-related health issues.
FaithReleasing Negative Thinking and Embracing A Renewed Mind
I once watched a beautiful French commercial for Dove soap , in which women were asked to write in a journal every time they had a thought about themselves and turn the journals in. Later on, two actresses were chosen to memorize lines from these journals, and were told they would say them aloud to each other in a coffee shop. One actress asked the director "I have to say that? But it's so horrible!" After memorizing their lines, the two actresses sat in a coffee shop, where all the other women who had written down their thoughts were also sitting and enjoying coffee. The women were all appalled to hear the things the actresses said to each other and one stood up and told the actresses to stop because they were being "harsh" and "violent." It is absolutely crazy the things we say to ourselves sometimes. We say things to ourselves we would never say to another human being, and then we wonder why we feel lost, stuck, not good enough, etc. We doubt that God can love us.
FaithReleasing Fear and Embracing God
This blog has always been about embracing things in life. But I'm learning you can't fully embrace something if you're clinging closely to something that is not good for you. The next few months we'll be talking about a few things we need to release, so we can fully embrace God, life and the blessings and circumstances in our life. And to start it all off, we're starting with the big one: fear. Embedded in Luke 7:11-17 is a scene that I think would be awesome to witness. A widow, already mourning the loss of her husband and source of provision, loses her only son and any hope she had for her future. When Jesus sees her crying his "heart was overwhelmed with compassion." (By the way, his heart feels that way about us when we're going through our own storms and struggles.) The widow's son is lying lifeless in his coffin, and Jesus tells him to rise. And he does! Imagine the collective gasp as the crowd witnessed the son pop his head out of the coffin—the murmurs and the awe and surprise and even fear.
FaithReleasing Expectations and Embracing God's Plan
I'm sure we've all had expectations and we've gotten upset when our expectations weren't met. For example, I expected to do lots of fun things with my children, go on lots of play dates and adventures. Instead, my children require frequent trips to specialists and therapists due to their special needs. And my reaction was one of anger at God. Anxiety. And depression. Not fun, right? I was stuck in that unfun place because I was holding onto my expectations and mad that God didn't give me what I wanted. I was stuck in that place for a long time, until one December I read an all-too-familiar Bible story, but looked at it from Mary's perspective. Here was a young girl who expected to marry Joseph. As a former teenager, I'm positive she daydreamed about her wedding day, about Joseph being a loving husband, of having children, especially sons and of being a good wife and mother. I doubt she had huge dreams for her life, but she envisioned it with love and marriage before the baby carriage.
FaithReleasing Pain and Embracing God's Victory
David had a lot of crazy stuff happen to him before he became king. King Saul, his own father-in-law and the father of his best friend Jonathan, became jealous of David. Saul wanted David dead and chased him into a desert with an army of 600 of his finest men. David spent four years alone in that desert, being chased by Saul's army, and then another couple years settled in a town with a few wives and an army of misfits like him. He was appointed to be king, and yet he wasn't living a life of royalty. Talk about feeling betrayed, alone, wondering why God would choose him to be king and then bring all this upon him. And then, as if that wasn't enough, in 1 Samuel 30:3-6 we find that David and his men returned from fighting and found that where they had camped and left their families had been burned, and their wives and children were taken. When David and his men saw the ruins and realized what had happened to their families, they wept until they could weep no more.
FaithHow Journaling Can Help Your Faith and Emotions
When life takes an unexpected turn, or we are stressed and busy, it is easy to go into survival mode and bury our emotions. We keep pressing on, doing the things we know we are supposed to be doing and keep putting one foot in front of the other. It is also easy during that time to not spend intentional time seeking God. We are in survival mode, not seeking God mode. But it is vital that we process those emotions, rather than holding them in until one day we explode or hit a breaking point. Whether with other people, or alone on the pages of a notebook, our emotions need to be processed. Felt. Dealt with. And released. Writing is a creative form of worship. David was considered a man after God's own heart and he was known for writing the Psalms–full of his struggles and worries but always coming back to praise God and declaring his love and trust of God. It only takes a few minutes to sit down in front of a computer or a notebook with a blank page in front of you and start writing.
WritingReleasing Worry and Embracing God's Peace
I read a meme once that said that a worried mother can do more research and find more answers than the FBI. And I have to admit, it feels true in my life. I'm sure the FBI do a fabulous job of researching and finding answers. My job is to take care of my two children who both have special needs, and so I am constantly consulting Google to learn more about what could help my children, and it's also easy for me to find hundreds of things to worry about regarding them and their future. No matter your worry or your anxiety, I'm sure you can relate to the desperate search for answers and solutions to whatever you are worried about. Jesus told a parable about a sower spreading seed in Mark 4. The sower represents God, and the seed is the word of God, His promises and truths. There was a group of people who never really received the word. There were others who heard the word, but didn't really rely on the word and they died.
Faith