Words…
- time…
- changes…
- feelings…
- pressures…
- struggles…
- determination to grow
We all deal with these words. We have time. Goodness knows, we have changes. Our feelings react to what is going on. Pressures? Yes we have those often too. God tells us we will have struggles. What about a determination to grow? Do we have that? Are we determined not to stay in the pit some of us are in? Are we willing to do the shoveling out that needs to be done in order for the changes to occur?
This is where my thoughts have been lately. If I want any of the above to occur, I must be willing to take on the path of peace and joy. I have to forget living in the past and what has been done to me. I have to leave the hurts where they belong…in my past, and at the feet of Jesus. Why? Because God tells us that we are to give it ALL over to Him when we accept Him. We don’t have to carry them anymore! What a blessing that is! And…when we do carry them, guess what? We know that satan has entered the building. He is the author of confusion, doubt, and disbelief. Don’t let him rob you over and over again by reliving it. Open the door wide and I mean WIDE open, and let Jesus take it on! If its everyday you have to do it for a while, its everyday. One day it won’t be that way. A life surrendered, is a life of joy and peace.
It makes me sad to see believers getting big on hype only. We run around in our lives seeking this and seeking that. I see this, so I must worship like that. I see that, and think, I have to do it like that. That hype can even start looking like the Holy Spirit. But I say it is not. There is a big difference in celebrating what God has done for you in your life, and getting caught up more in the world then in the Spirit. It isn’t about showing anyone else, for the sake of the hype, of how it looks to love Jesus. It’s personal. You know what people want to see in us? They want real. They want you to have something that is different from what their lives look like, but it isn’t hype and isn’t fake. Give them a life that shows Jesus. It should look the same in ALL areas of our lives. What if we got real with God, and admitted that a lot of what we think is right to do, is not effective. What if we ask God to come to us in a complete and personal way into our lives. No hype, just plain relationship. Not just raising our hands and then looking around to see who is raising theirs, or seeing what you think YOU should do based on what you see. I believe it is what you feel when you come before God. But more that, you are telling God in your very own personal and thankful way, how your love abounds for what God has done in your life. It doesn’t have to look like Mrs or Mister Super Christian. It just has to be authentic and true. God knows any way. Stop the hype and pretense and be who God has made YOU to be.
It sure takes the pressure off and you will find your heart more at peace with yourself. Because God DOES love us, He wants to change us to be come more like Him. It requires something of you 
though. It requires you and me to live our lives in such a way, that they see Jesus in us in ALL circumstances. All that you see out there in media world, is NOT the real world. We DO however, have a chance to be a change agent; a steady example of how to live for Him. The best thing is, you will have a relationship grow between you and God that is unshakeable. What do you see? What is your chosen perspective? Do you trust God enough to know that He is with you through it? Do you see it as a necessary journey or circumstance in order to push you through to the other side? The more we feel shaky in our faith, the more advantage the devil has to plant those thoughts in your head. Get with people of faith and share what God has done. There is nothing more faith building than to hear and see God working in the lives of those around you. Be honest with yourself about where your trouble lies. It is the only way the Holy Spirit can do his work in you. Go some place where you can have time alone to have a good conversation with the Lord. Mine is the beach. What about you? Where do you seem to hear from the God the best? Special place in your house? On the deck? In the mountains? Go there and talk God’s ear off! He wants to hear from you!
What NOT to do? Be on social media so much and believing everything on there! Live life! Don’t buy into all this junk going around. If you truly believe God is in control, then you know how the story ends. If we spend so much time dousing ourselves with social media negative
stuff, it just arouses that in you, AND the people you are sharing it with. We all talk to ourselves and there is statistics out there to show that we you say to yourself actually changes how you think. And…it effects you immediately and has an impact on you. So if you are speaking negative and bad comments, posts, or telling people off in your thoughts and words you say out loud, then you are changing your thinking and the feelings follow. Then when ever you think about that person, you think about what they have done to you, or said to hurt you. And THAT my friend, is just what the devil likes. He is rubbing his hands together and saying, “This is actually working!! Can’t believe they bought that one, hook, line, and sinker!!!” *insert ugly snicker here*.
I want more and more to have God’s perspective as my own. I want Him to keep shedding light on my path to guide me. After listening to the messages the last few Sundays on James, that is enough to make me say, “Wakey, wakey, JoAnn!” I have become more diligent to ask Him daily to show me what to say, what not to say, and how I need to act. I don’t always get it right. I can be critical of people at times. I can get real down like this last week. I can say things in a way to my hubby that doesn’t exactly show the kind of love I want to show. But I don’t have to live in regret of that. My pastor said last Sunday, “If we learn to control our tongue, then other bad habits will fall way”. I have become very quick to ask forgiveness of God for those things. And I am wanting to be quick to ask forgiveness of others. Then, I can move on in joy and allow Him to take away those down feelings, and…take action! I turn on the good music, read an uplifting book and scripture, working on a Bible Study, and God will bring me out. Stop trying to do it yourself. You can NOT. You just beat yourself up trying. Don’t look at things that take you there. Don’t hang with people who take you there. Don’t do the things in your daily life the same way anymore. Do something different. Ask God to show you what it is, and then do the thing!
I don’t know who this is for today, but once I started writing, it just came out. So maybe it was just for me. But I kind of doubt that. So I hope someone finds help, encouragement, or a kick in the behind out there from this post. I speak from a place of experience and have had to do all of the above at some time in my life. Actually, I lot of times in my life. But I have a Holy Determination to never give up and never give in. And God, He has been my Rock. Stay close to the Rock, and you will see your feelings of despair flowing down stream, away from you and in to God’s capable hands.
Until next time,
~JoAnn
This last Friday, hubby and I were going down South of our home to attend a training about helping people walk through the process of grief. I was all ready on Friday night with only toiletries to put in my bag, take the direction paper from the fridge, and grab my purse as I went out the door. However, hubby sees no need to get all excited about getting ready…after all, we aren’t leaving until tomorrow morning. :p. So… it made it rather rushed going out the door on time Friday morning. As we drive and are way too far out to go back, I realize that the post-it note with the name, address and phone number of the place we were staying that night down south, is not with me. Now, I tried to think of the name of the place, but couldn’t recall it for the life of me. I looked at recent calls on my phone because they had called to confirm. But when I call them, they have turned it to fax-line. As hubby is telling me that we need to have an address or name to know where to go, I’m saying, “Ya think??!!??” I’m searching the internet to see if a name rings a bell…nothing. It’s a pretty helpless feeling when you know the area is very busy with many conferences and you have “one chance place” to stay and you can’t find it. I thought I recognized a name as I looked, but looking at the picture, that didn’t seem like the right one. I prayed and asked God to open the line back up for a phone call. I tried four other times to reach them and the same thing happened. Finally, by the time we were about thirty minutes out, I reached them. I got the name and address, and put it my phone maps and we were able to drive right to it. Given that there were a couple of large conventions going on in the city, there was not another room to be had…so I was one happy lady to finally get through to them to confirm. Now… even though it is me who has to handle all these arrangements, and usually my fault if I forget something like this, somehow, it seems like if we were all ready like I was the night before, things would have been smoother going out the door, and I would have remembered all that I needed to. So was this another one of those lessons that I am being taught? What do you think?
Ask God sooner so He can show you another time of His love and power to change things in my life! Note to YOU: Don’t wait to turn things over. Be in the Word so you recognize Him and build trust in Him for the Lifetime Trip He has you on. Know where you are going before you leave home. If I had turned my morning over to Him before even getting upset over not being ready to just go out the door as I planned for us, then maybe my head would have been in the right place, and I could have avoided it all! Our journey may look like this ring that has its ups and downs, around a mountain or two, but that journey goes up and that’s how I wear this ring! I do like the other ring too that says, pray always, and I know my prayers go up. What I’m learning is how quick I send my prayers up determines how free I am going to be from the stress of the journey!
So even though I like to think I can roll with the punches, it seems I don’t do that so well sometimes. I’m kind of more of the type of person that if you tell me to be here at a certain time and or do a certain thing, then I am going to be there on time, and do what I said. My time is valuable, and I respect someone else’s time schedule also. Understanding that sometimes a surgery has complications… I get that. But to be 3 hours behind schedule? That just seems like you schedule too many in a day. So… it would seem, that I am not as much of a “go with the flow” kind of person as I thought I was yet. But I also remember the day when I would let others treat me without consideration also, and I would let it go and be mad later. I don’t do that anymore. I say something, polite possibly, but I think they get my drift. I AM quick to tell others when they do a good job, however. I have also learned that you have to advocate for yourself, or someone else, or you get ignored in those settings. Let’s just say I wasn’t feeling like going home and dropping hearts in my Gratitude Jar.
God isn’t afraid to take us to school when we need it. So what are we afraid of when we hear living in the moment? It almost sounds irresponsible, or flying by the seat of our pants, doesn’t it? But really, that is not what it means, or at least not what I refer to when I talk about it. What makes us so afraid of it? And…why is living in the moment so hard for us? It could be that if we stopping running, or stop our hurried steps, we might FEEL. We don’t want to feel. So we keep so busy with life and responsibilities so that we don’t have to reflect on our true feelings or hurts. All our “tries” never seem enough. We may feel that we don’t measure up or we don’t feel worthy enough. But all this running is keeping us from dealing with the fact that it is a heart issue. We don’t want to deal with the feelings or the knowledge that comes from understanding that we really do know that we need to change something. So to keep from doing that, we keep busy, put a smile on our faces, and keep pretending things are ok. My hubby and I made a “live in the moment” decision for me to make the trip to Norway, and take my son and grandson with me. I called on ticket prices, asked my son if he would want to go and if my grandson could go, and booked the tickets. That all happened in one day’s time. If God gives you an idea, let Him work out the details. He put this opportunity to go on my hubby’s heart. God will work it all out when it’s His idea and His will!
His masterpiece. So just like that example, I ask God to reveal what is keeping me from happiness or joy when I have those feelings. He will then tell me and start the whittling process…chipping away at those things in my life that need to fall off.
But the one thing that I took back home with me from my trip to Norway is the connection with family and friends. How important it is for me, and for those around me to stay connected. It makes my soul happy and contented, even when life gets hard. Sharing life together. We need it. Dinners together, drives to do something as a family, and even putting down our phones long enough to really listen and share with each other. Making the effort to drive several hours two times in a week or so to be with your niece to love on her in a most difficult time in her life. God designed it that way. When we are running so busy that we don’t have time for stopping to comfort a child who is having a bad morning because we have things to do, or when we listen with our ears only instead of listening with our hearts to someone who is hurting, we are not living in the moment. We are too busy to even notice when God gives us an opportunity to minister to someone who needs it. Maybe not even with words, but just a hug or holding a hand. It can unlock the heart of the one who is needing a listening ear. That’s what slowing down our lives can look like. I saw those examples of support and listening when I visited Norway. They make an effort even when they may live further away from each other to stay connected. Connection is important to them. It is to me too. I take every opportunity to stay in touch with friends and family. One never knows when your call or text, or not in the mail, will be the one thing that gets them through the day.
There is a saying we have all probably heard that says to “live your one life well”. That means that where ever you are, be right there. I think the Norwegians have things right in that they work hard, and relax, and play hard. They know that the balance is needed for them to have joy in their lives. They balance the long, dark winters with being out in the light and sunshine as much as possible when Spring and Summer come. I saw a man in a large city in Norway sitting on a bench on a busy street with his shirt off just taking in the sunshine while it was there. Eyes closed, soaking in the sunlight. He lived in the moment. They make the coziness of their homes a priority so they DO enjoy the those long nights during winter…warm fires, candle light, and coffee or hot chocolate abounds. Knitting cozied up by the fire. They plan and do the things that prepare them for the winter months. They also look forward to the Holiday of Christmas and all being together. Balance…the key to joy.
to have connection, and THAT turns out to be priority. However, it took me some days to get that message. I was mad at myself for not getting better photos when I took them. I mean, who doesn’t want to come home with fantastic photos from such a beautiful country???? I missed some, and others were like on tours where you are moving through an area, and spending time setting up a photo isn’t necessarily what you have time for. I got pretty upset with myself. As I prayed about it, God showed me that the pictures I was taking were to remember. I’m not in a contest for the best photo. The connections are what is important and remembering them. So even though many of my photos were from a car window, that was ok. Because I had that memory. It also transferred to when I am at home. It isn’t important for me to be some great photographer. What is important, is that I DO hone my skills, but it is to take better photos in what ever circumstance, not to be in any competition for the best photo of the day or to BE the best. I love photography and I want to keep enjoying it. When I start putting undue pressures on myself to do it differently, that is when I realize, that I’m getting off course. A person could see my whole life through my photos. That is what I want with my photography. That others will see how I live and my philosophy and maybe be encouraged to take some of the steps I have taken to have joy in living.
I believe, I’m in another chipping off season in my life, and that is ok. He gave me a trip to Norway to show me what is important in the way I live MY life. So I leaned in close in Norway. I learned about the ways of making coffee can be an art. Now I know that from coffee shops, but it can be like that at home also. I don’t like coffee that much, but I learned to like it the way my cousin made it. So I asked how she did it. I loved many of the foods I ate, and I asked how to make it. I wanted to absorb as much of the culture as I could. Not just BE there, but to live in the moment of every day there. I learned about the history of the immigrants, like my grandparents on both sides of my family and why they made the decisions that they made to move away from everything they knew to come to the unknown in the U.S. How those that were here in the U.S. would work so hard so that they could send money home or tickets home for their family to come to the U.S. I learned how some couldn’t stay in the U.S. because they missed the beauty of Norway and they came back home. Some were so destitute living here that they took their lives before admitting to family at home of their despair. We as kids who grew up around our parents talking about the depression, and all the fun many of us made out of them walking to school with holes in their shoes and walking miles to school, isn’t so far of a stretch. I know it to be true of my father’s parents and even his older siblings. I have found a new respect for each of them searching for a better life, and their tenacity to keep going. It’s amazing, actually. I don’t take that for granted and wished as young child, I would have known more about what they went through. I think I would have been a much more attentive granddaughter. But they didn’t talk about it at all. Neither did my parents. As children we missed so much. I don’t want my kids to not know about them. Thus, I took my two sons and my grandson with me the two times I have gone. I want all my ancestor’s hard work to make a life for their families, to survive as a story and testament to their courage. I am here because of the hard work of all who came before me, including my parents. What work ethics they had! Families stuck together through thick and thin, and helped each other. That is legacy.
I hope this last trip is not my last. I have more to learn…more to experience…more time on the beach in Norway with neighbors and relatives around a bonfire! More letters to read. I copied 
some of my mother’s letters to relatives in Norway that were written to my cousin. Sometimes I find out more about my mom through reading them. I took pictures of old pictures so that I can share them with family, and they will know who they are. I have decided that writing on as many of the pictures I have, is important, since many of my parents’ pictures did not have names on them.
it is hard to take your eyes off of what you see. It is full of farms, mountains, fjord, rivers and waterfalls! You see it everywhere! There is something about being there that just pulls on the heart strings…like coming back home. It’s like a good friend said while I was there, “It’s my spiritual home.” I can agree with that. It’s not heaven, but it is pretty close. You definitely see God’s gorgeous handiwork!
We had some very busy days of traveling to see the sights in and around the area before doing some day trips to see other relatives. I can’t even begin to thank our hosts enough for their willingness to take us around. We saw relatives on both my father’s side and my mother’s side. Aaron got to see where his great, great grandfathers and grandmothers grew up. Ethan, even one more great. That was awesome. I have a Page called “Sojourners to Norway” where I have posted several pictures from Norway. I also posted them on my website, JoAnnShiley.com. A lot of the pictures I took were while driving by the country side. But I didn’t want to miss sharing what it looks like for those that were interested.
I had fun looking through shops too! I found my number one purchase goal just a few days into the stay. My bread trough. Oh my! So cool!! It is vintage and even had some of the red color to the outside of it. THAT was one thing I have wanted for a very long time. The fact that I got it in Norway? Priceless!! It looks great on my kitchen on the table. Someday soon, I hope to have it on my dining room table. It was very special to me to bring back.
Many of my photos last time were from a moving car. I couldn’t expect them to stop all the time for my photo taking. Thus, I took man of them on the move. So I am looking back to see what I did, so that, (you know I love those words) I can see ahead to this trip and make adjustments.
what can be ahead.
I guess for me, it has pretty much been the way I have lived my life. I just didn’t have those words to put with the idea. However, this fits me. Life has had MANY challenges for me! Some real hard knocks. But I know, that I know, the Holy Spirit helps me see things for the truth that they are, not for a lie from the devil that makes me think its how it always will to be.
I’m having fun this week as I put together the last plans for our trip to Norway! I have had a blast texting my son and grandson about the trip; counting down the
days til we go! Eight more sleeps!!!! What a blast! They are very excited about it, which thrills me to no end! I have had pants hemmed, hair cut, shopped for toiletries that are new so I don’t have issues at the gate if it’s checked, ironed clothes, pre-packed so I know if it fits well into the suitcase, charged batteries, picked up new ones, SD cards…all the things I need to make the trip. By the way, the packing pouches for your various clothes items is the bomb! Helps so much in organizing the suitcase. I think I will invest in another pair. They work great! The anticipation is so fun, and so is the planning. That’s always the beginning of the fun part of the trip for me.
Do you know what else? I’m teaching myself to speak Norwegian! It’s hard but I was determined to learn! I will keep pressing on. I will be paying closer attention to the Norwegian 
language this trip! I have a group of people learning with me via Facebook. We share a challenge each other to learn and practice. Great experience.
While I’m just having fun this week on the post, I want to share a gadget with you that totally rocks!!! It like an external hard drive for your iPhone!!! You can totally off load your photos on to this little gadget, and free up space on your phone. When you want to access the pictures that you off loaded, then you just plug it back into the phone to use the picture. So awesome. I was doing some research for my trip and thought this is a great way to give me more space for….of course…more pictures!!! Love technology!! I have a couple extra chargers for charging my iPhone too, since I know we will be out for the day at times and I need my phone at the ready along with my camera. Such a kick to have these memories to revisit and share when we come back home.
Before I begin the post, I just want to take a moment to wish all the Moms out there a blessed and wonderful Mother’s Day. You are amazing! My mom was one of those amazing people. She was there for me; behind me to support and to help when I needed it. She went through a bad patch when I was in high school for a couple of years, but God took care of that matter. She was always willing to help someone, and loved to craft and had many projects going at one time. She was also known to have a completely different looking room or house by the time we got home from school. It was wild a few times! I will always be grateful for all she did for me, my home, my kids and my life. Thanks mom.
with the world. I realized that I don’t want to miss any of those kind of moments. I want to:
As I have thought about the upcoming trip, I am having fun planning and executing the schedule so it comes together well. I have my ironing board out to iron this next week so I can finish packing. I have connected with the airline to find out what time we need to be at the airport, and about checking bags, and all those little details. What fun! My youngest son is bringing his brother and nephew down to the airport, so we will meet up and have a nice lunch before going to the airport to check in. The anticipation of going is pretty exciting for the three of us. This will be Ethan’s first time on a plane, let alone traveling internationally. I got a kick out of him as we talked about the money. He thought it was so dumb that our money wasn’t the same as theirs, and that given one day or a few days later, could be worth even less, or maybe worth more. So cute. But he will learn all about that exchange first hand. Learning first hand is always best. I hope this trip will be something they will never forget. I love the idea of giving them some historical background about where they came from. I am also very thankful to those who make it possible while we are there, to meet up, and share history with us. And of course, anytime I can walk outside and immediately see the fjord, I feel like I am getting a glimpse of heaven. I thank God every day I am there for the beauty!
I was just thinking about these questions over this last week, and then one of my books I have been reading talked about this very thing in today’s reading! So I decided to explore this a little bit with you. I think we have always had trouble being different. We have grown up competing with each other. If a child has a birthday party that is out of this world, then we think we have to do that too or kids wouldn’t come for our child’s birthday because it wouldn’t be as cool. It might be a friend that has a really expensive prom dress, we feel we should too because she we feel we have to compete to make a statement about ourselves. After all, we want to look good. Maybe I am a home owner, and I see someone who got a new house… then all of a sudden, mine doesn’t look as nice. I begin to desire to make some changes in my house to feel better. Let’s say that I am a young gal, and I choose to make a choice to dress modestly, wear less make up or no make up at all, or I don’t go to parties and drink or smoke. That would definitely put me in the “different” category. What if I chose to follow Jesus no matter what the costs were to me or the changes I might need to make to follow Him where HE leads, instead of where I want to go? Getting the idea? We are constantly comparing ourselves to a standard that really may only be average at best. Because if we are choosing to live differently, than we wouldn’t be comparing ourselves to the same people. We would look to other types of people to admire. We would be looking for what is Godly, not what the world has.
planned because it may be an apartment, and you may be even asking yourself, “What you are doing here.? Where did I go wrong?” So and so seems to be doing just fine. Here comes a thought…If I had what she had, I could do fine too. Maybe you experience a loss of a parent, child, spouse, or, just lost yourself in your efforts to make things better. You begin asking yourself where God is in all of this. For some reason, we don’t think God had THIS in mind when He was talking about struggles. It’s not supposed to be that way for Christians or good people. We get disillusioned. Our thinking goes south, along with our faith.
In my life, I have chosen to live differently than most. Some may even find my life a bit strange. But I know the joy that comes from doing my life this way, and I wouldn’t change that for anything. I have had some real hard struggles, no doubt. I have times that I wish something wasn’t what it is, but I can always come back to God with the knowledge that He knows what is best in everything! Personally, I would rather live in a tiny house, with little possessions, with love, my camera, and my family than anything else that money can buy. It’s kind of like the book I was reading. The author talked about the fact that if I wanted to be different, I am going to have to be different! I agree!
GO BE DIFFERENT SO YOU CAN BE DIFFERENT! Remember, God may even be the “instigator or the rub” because it is the only way to move you forward. Step up!
Journeys of My Heart 