Tag: Trust

Chains That Bind Us

by Journeys of My Heart, posted in Uncategorized

P1010742Have you ever found yourself under attack in the same area over and over again?  Have you ever wondered WHY that seems to be an area of vulnerability for you?   You know it… that one thing that can bring immediate doubts to mind.  That place where you say, “Oh great!  Here we go again!”  Or maybe was, “Victory!!!  It’s done!  I did it!  It’s paid for!”  And then…life happens.  Your victory dance slows, and a stomp ensues.  Shoot!  What IS the issue?!?  You are more likely to be saying things that are not edifying to anyone at this point!  Negative statements or thoughts of defeat.  Have you EVER said, “I will NEVER get this taken care of!  It seems to happen again and again!”  No!  You have NEVER said anything like THAT have you????  Yah…me either…as my nose grew a bit longer…

I lived through many of my parents struggles in this very area for me; the area of finances.  I watched them work hard to provide for us, give us a good life, and one of enjoyment.  But somewhere in the back of my mind I have always wanted my life to be more stable in that area.  Ever thought that way?  Now, I have lived differently in that area of my life than they did, not that the way they did it was particularly bad.  But, I feel sometimes when life hits, that I am no differently positioned than they were.  Oh how thecanstockphoto0019485 devil likes to play in our mind’s sand box!  However, God provided for my parents and me, as well as my siblings.  I was not without.  I loved my childhood.  When I was quite young, I began working.  I had to work hard, but I had what I needed and contributed in ways that I could to help my parents with the burden.  Even through hard times as a parent myself, my kids didn’t have a lot, but we had what we needed.  It wasn’t without hard times, but it taught them to be hard workers, as well as being resourceful.  They saw God’s provision in our lives over and over again on a daily basis.  I know there were times when they didn’t have things they wanted, but they tried their best to understand.  What we had plenty of was a love for each other, and that was our mainstay.

So what is it about those vulnerabilities in our life’s journey, that trip us up?  I have become more and more aware that my thinking has SO much to do with my action.  What do I do when those times hit?  Do I succumb to the negative thoughts that things won’t ever change, or do I put God’s Word into action in my life and change what I say?  I’m choosing the latter for my life any more.  I am replacing those things with statements that are scriptural to me.  What lifts me up.  What brings back my joy.  Replace my thinking and changing the channel.  When I think I can’t go on, I push a little bit harder.  I pray more often.  I inch my way through and push back against those things that try to run me over.  If I’m going to stomp my feet, then let it be against the devil.  Let the dance be in praise!

We took action in the area of vulnerability for us.  We have found God to be very faithful as we trusted Him and put Him first.  Maybe your button isn’t finances, but something else.  It works the same way.  God cares about all things, and that means ALL.  So, if you find yourself dealing with the same issue again and again, begin to be aware of how you are thinking about that area of your life.  Do you want to continue the way you are?  Or, do you want change and have victory over that particular area?  Are you willing to make the changes necessary to gain victory in that area of your life?  We can’t keep hoping for the change without taking action toward the change.  So many times, we keep doing the same thing again and again, hoping something different will happen.  It doesn’t work.  A feeling of defeat is the result.

img_2298-e1407215390181What if you HAVE made changes and you still don’t see it yet?  Are you in prayer about it?  Are you asking God what you need to do?  Are you being obedient to what He tells you?  We can be stubborn sometimes.  I mean, I know a few people who took a lot of years to take an 11 day trip!!!  Now, if you change, don’t think that you won’t have to tests to go through to make sure how committed you are to it.  Oh yes, that’s a given!  But don’t give up because He cares about you AND your situation.

I have a dear friend who at this writing is going into surgery Wednesday for another bout with cancer.  She is 90 years young.  She has had 48 procedures in her life.  When I expressed my concerns over yet another test in life, she told me, “JoAnn, after 90 years of living, one thing I have learned.  We NEVER outgrow the tests in life.  I can tell you from experience that they keep coming.”  I told her what a great attitude that she has.  Her comment back?  “What else can you do?”  I don’t think it’s that simple because we CAN do a lot of different things.  What is different for her?  She trusts God to get her through, and she has lived it well.  She has struggled, wiggled out from underneath the burdens, pushed back, fought the evil one, but in all of that, she hasn’t given up.  She has faith.   She trusts Him.  Period.

So, where am I at with this?  I will choose to praise Him in the hard times.  I may “feel” the worry come, but I quickly take it to God and thank Him for what is good, and what He IS doing in my life.  I then thank Him for His answers, even the ones I don’t see yet!  However, answer He will!  He always answers, but not always how we think it should go, or in our timing.  Don’t live in defeat!  Live in victory instead!

But, in my case, I don’t give up and I don’t give in.  I’m doing a lot more dancing these days than stomping!  We are all on a journey of progress and learning.  Just stay in school!

Walking the journey with you…

~JoAnn

 

 

The Ups and Downs of Life

by Journeys of My Heart, posted in Uncategorized
Jetty at Ocean Shores
Jetty at Ocean Shores

If you remember, my last post included a story about rock climbing to see the ocean waves coming in (check out the last post).   I reviewed that story, I felt I was supposed to share a bit more of that story with you.  The background to this story is that September 23rd of 2013, I had bilateral knee replacement; both knees at once.  I chose that way because I thought if I went in for one knee, I wouldn’t want to go back for the second knee.  I’m sure I would have been right!  So, keep that in mind as I share this little object lesson God gave to me.

We went to the ocean to spend some time away.  One of the places I had never gone before was the jetty out at the point in Ocean Shores.  I lived in Aberdeen for a bit over 4 years, went out to the ocean many, many times, but never to the jetty.  My husband and I went out to see what we could see.  From what I understand, there are two currents that meet and it makes for some gigantic waves to come crashing in to shore.  There is a wall made up of rocks that lines the shore line IMG_5342to break the water that comes into the beach.  Well, as you know by reading my posts, I am an ocean dweller!  I love the ocean!  Where there are waves, I’m gonna go!  Now the key here is, that my knees get me around pretty good for seven months out of surgery, but they are nowhere near maximum range of motion.  However, I see those crashing waves and I am thinking, “I have to get up there and see!”  I climb up on top of the rocks with my camera to get as close as I can to see the waves.   Huge waves are building and building, and headed for shore!  So exciting!  I stood protecting my camera as much as possible, and got as many shots as I could.  I took out my iPhone and did the same.  It was absolutely awesome!!!  It began chilling down quite rapidly, with some rain beginning to fall.  I decided I had gotten some good shots and had a blast watching the waves, so I turned to go back down the rocks.  I’m looking at those big boulders and thinking, “They look at lot bigger going the other way!  How in the world am I going to get down?”  You see, you bear weight differently going up then you do going down.  Down is where you have to depend on those muscles, that are weak from a surgery, and they take a lot of time to build strength for stepping down.  Even ordinary steps take a bit of time.  Well… here I am with boulders!  I had my camera around my neck and it was dangling as I tried to bend over to help myself down.  Can’t have camera damage so I unzipped my coat and tucked it in and zipped it back up.  Ok, next…I moved my body around thinking if I went backwards, maybe that would help me get down.  Uh…not really.  How about sideways?  Humm…this is kind of scary.  By now, I’m thinking, “I don’t think I can get down!”  I was ready for the bottom slide when I looked up and Terry is coming toward me from a ways down the beach.  He motions for me to wait and he will help me.  When he gets to me, he tells me there is an easier place to get up and down.   He takes my hand and helps me take those steps that were kind of scary to take on my own.

Now here is the kicker!!!  God very gently told me that, it is like that in our lives.   We think we can do anything!  We can climb rock walls with new knees, we can get that house if we want, we can buy a new car, we can do it on our own!  We are like theIMG_5441 little child that is trying to be independent and says, “I can do it myself!”   You know what?  I didn’t think at the moment to ask God to help me get down.  I could have.  I didn’t.  How many times do we live out our lives and just don’t think to ask or, we are too proud to ask?  Maybe, its that we don’t want to be vulnerable to what God might have for us, versus what we want.  I know it should have been a natural response to ask.   That is an area I ask God to change in me.  I’m usually pretty good to ask first, but we all have times we miss it.

Just like my husband Terry, God comes along and says, “It’s much easier if you go this way and let Me help you.  My timing is perfect and my ways are best for you.”  If we are willing to put aside our pride and trust Him, He will take our hand and help us off the rocks and down to safe ground.  I hope my little adventure helps you to see that God wants you to trust Him in everything.  Don’t go along thinking you can do everything by yourself.  It’s not worth it.  I could have stayed up there fretting, got dirty sliding down hard, pointed rocks, risked hurting my knees, and what I was carrying… and… all for the sake of doing it myself.  Crazy!  Not worth it!  Extend your hand.  He is waiting!

Walking the journey with you…

Frozen In Time

by Journeys of My Heart, posted in Uncategorized

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Frozen in time…sounds like a storybook, doesn’t it? We have a new year started. Don’t get frozen in time. Do something you have wanted to do!! God will part the waters but you have to get your feet wet first! I’m making some noise about my new year already and getting my year moving and started right! Go ahead! Put those feet in the water! It’s exciting!

Walking the journey with you…

Sorry for the small pictures.  I did this post from my iPad and forgot to set pictures normally.

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A Slow Journey Back

by Journeys of My Heart, posted in Uncategorized

IMG_3489Warning:  Some pictures are graphic.

I am back among the living…at least I think I am. I have been gone from my blog and normal life for almost six weeks as I underwent surgery. I had bilateral knee replacement, and for a simpler version of that statement, I had total knee replacement on both knees at the same time. Many people ask me if I would recommend it. In fact, that is the first question they usually ask me. My answer is still out on that. I know for me, I did it because I don’t like hospitals and all that goes with it, so I knew I wouldn’t want to come back again to get the second one done. I will tell you it’s not easy and one of the hardest journeys I have taken in a long while.

When you are in this situation, you really have to learn to live with yourself. You have only yourself, your brain, and what you are thinking all the time. I was most fortunate to have a husband that stood by me the whole time. He took time off of work to be with me in the hospital everyday, then when we got home, he took care of me in the day and through the night; eventually doing that and working too. He was a great house husband too!  God knows what we need.  However, as you know you talk to yourself non-stop all day long and I found that what I was saying certainly didn’t line up with what I was praying.  Oops!!  Not good.  You see, I also had a lot of blood loss, and so I had to have transfusions to even get me to a place that I had enough energy to get myself up out of the bed.  And then I had to have it a second time, and I got a reaction so the last half was not administered.  So my recovery was very slow.  I remember one time thinking that people would say of me, “She came in for knee replacements, but didn’t come home.”  Now WHERE did THAT thought come from?  To give even a second thought to that was to allow the devil free rein in my thinking, and that just wasn’t going to happen.  I may FEEL like I’m going nowhere fast, but I wasn’t going to give in to it.  The night hours were the worst when you can’t sleep and satan tries to fill your mind with defeat.  I would call the nurse and get up! I would walk to the bathroom and walk back to the bed.  I would tell myself, “I was making progress, no matter how slow it may look, I wasn’t destined to be this way forever.  It will change.”  I was blessed to have my sweetie there all day telling me that I could do it.  To say that it was a humbling experience, it to put it mildly.  He became my nurse.  I believe with all my heart, that I am where I am today because of the prayers of faithful friends and family who covered me daily in prayer.  I had circles upon circles prayed around me!  Does that mean that I still don’t have times of discouragement? Nope. I still can have that feeling at times when I want to do something that just doesn’t work too well for me right now.  But, then I have to remember where I came FROM, and then I am thankful I have come this far.

My experience is not your experience so if you are looking to this in YOUR future, I would say, have a GREAT doctor (do your research), and prepare yourself ahead of time for what you need to do.  He is faithful.  I walked from the very beginning with a walker, but only for a couple of weeks.  Then it was a cane, and the last couple of weeks, I have walked on my own without assistance from either.  I would say that is a good track record, and my healing IMG_3482WILL be complete.  Is it over?  No.  I still have pain and discomfort.  But I can now do other things to help with that. I am even down to my last three visits of PT.  Yay!  But I still have to discipline myself to do it on my own.  See?  We are required to do our part.

Lessons?

  • Trust. Trust. Trust.
  • Don’t listen to the wrong voice in your ear.
  • God will use circumstances and people around you to bless you and lift you up.
  • The end of something is always better than the beginning. Always…because we have learned.
  • I learned I have an inner strength given to me by God that keeps me going no matter what.
  • Have a grateful heart for everything; that included my physical therapy. Yuck…
  • I am required to do my part.

IMG_4948This is only one snap shot of my life. I will likely have many more, and maybe some that will be harder than this to make it through.  But I know where my strength comes from, so I can look to the future with hope!  I’m happy to answer any questions if you leave them in the comments.

Walking, yes walking…the journey with you.

Why Does It Have To Take So Long?

by Journeys of My Heart, posted in Uncategorized
Trust In THe Lord
Trust In The Lord

 

This new year has been monumental for me! I have spent many years praying for certain things to come to fruition and was placed in “waiting mode”.  Been there?  Nothing seems to be going on and you don’t see any answers?  Did you give up?  Think God wasn’t listening? Lose your joy? Get all negative?  You can’t see where it’s going so you aren’t even going to take the next step?

I have seen and read a lot of negative things around me lately.  Lest we forget how blessed we really are, I want to share some personal thoughts with you.  Did you know that sometimes we have to wait for the answers for MANY different reasons? I have found that God sometimes is teaching me things that I need to know during those times when I think He isn’t doing anything. BUT…in reality, He IS doing something! It all depends on whether I am willing to be obedient to what He says to me during these times. I may gripe, complain, get a short fuse, even get discouraged about my whole life, but, all the while, God is working on the solutions. I can’t seem them.  Shoot!  I don’t even know they EXIST yet! BUT GOD…is faithful. He never let’s go of my hand. The only time our lives get in this situation is when we have pulled our hand away. Possibly, we have tried making things happen on our own rather than waiting.  Oops…never a good thing.  But then, when we put our hand in His, all of a sudden, things become a bit clearer. We start to see things through His lens and view-point. We see His hand at work and we can begin to see the wheels turning toward what God has in mind for us.  In my case, I am much more willing to step out with Him.

These last several months, I have seen God…

  • Bring us to a point of being debt free.  We have been praying and working on that for about 8 years.  Something always seemed to happen that kept us in debt. But we began diligently seeking God about this area of our lives, and asked Him to help us, AND we got some Holy Spirit gumption and determination!
  • Bought a house that had lots of work to do on it.   He has helped us accomplish that the work.
  • We sold a house that took many months to sell which meant we were making double payments.  But after many offers falling through, He brought the EXACT right couple.
  • We made additions to our home, that under normal circumstances, would seem impossible.  Yet, God did it.
  • Money unexpectedly coming to us to pay debt down.  Also, through scrimping to make extra payments, somehow the money spread around to all expenses.
  • We were faithful in our giving.
  • We even enjoyed some “get away” times together.

God just did it!  The important part of this whole process was, OUR involvement with Him. We prayed and listened.  We were obedient to say no to ourselves,  in order to say YES to God.  So, He was faithful to honor our needs and some of our wants.  We can’t ask Him to be debt free and not be willing to do our part to get there.  THAT was our process.  We listened.  We learned.  We followed.

Next BIG point?  We thanked Him ahead for what He would do.  We thanked Him for

The Perfect Reflection
The Perfect Reflection

being debt free, we thanked Him for the appliances, we thanked Him for the items we needed to save on daily living expenses, and we thanked Him for the savings that we had.  We thanked Him for how He made the money stretch.  You know what?  He did it over and over again!  We might find just the right thing for our home (the mirror in the picture) and He blessed us with a way to make that happen.

Now before you think it is all about “things”, He will do those exact same things in ANY area of our lives.  AND, He cares about the smallest desires of our hearts.  I love that about the Lord!  In this process, I have learned to love the daily, simple things that come my way and never take them for granted.  I have a Gratitude Jar that I am keeping this year and every time anything good comes my way, I am putting a heart in my jar with the written word of my blessing, and at the end of the year on New Year’s Eve, we will take that jar out and read what God has done.  Anyone coming into my home may add to that jar.  Last week, my grandson asked if he could add another heart to the jar!  Now THAT does a grandma’s heart good!

So don’t let the devil get you all tied up in knots over time lines.  Know that God is working the night shift, and He KNOWS what you need.  But you need to walk in faith “in the mean time” and trust His timing too.  Leave your cares in His hands because He cares about you.  ALL about you!  Don’t put your mind to the negative.  Find the good in your day.  You are alive here on this planet today to enjoy your friends and family and to be a light to others.  Make it count!  Count your blessings one by one so you SEE what the Lord has done!  Remember that song from when you were younger?  It is true.  It will bring joy to your heart.  I promise, and God promises that very thing to us in His Word.  “This is the day that the Lord has made.  I will rejoice and be glad in it.”  THAT is the best way to fight the good fight.  Be a warrior and start wielding the sword of the Spirit!!  Don’t let the evil one whisper in your ear anymore.  Bring out your Sword!

Bottom line?  I have walked this journey with the above ways for most of my life.  I can tell you it works.  Do I get discouraged?  Sure I do!  But not for long, because my experience with God tells me that He knows.  He cares.  He is always working.  What He has done before, He will do again!

Give Him your cares, SO THAT, He can show Himself faithful.  Don’t give in, give it up to Him!  Walking the journey with you…

Does Your Life Need Balance?

by Journeys of My Heart, posted in Uncategorized

The other day, I was out by the water here in Whatcom County and witnessed an interesting situation. Out on the channel there was a log with three seagulls perched on it. They were in perfect balance and enjoying the ride as they floated down the channel. I raised my camera to get a picture when all of a sudden, one decided to take off. What happened next was pretty funny but also an interesting life lesson. One of the seagulls decided to lift off and it left the other two struggling to maintain balance as the log shifted and moved. So I got the picture of the two seagulls who were left trying to work together to save themselves from having to leave the log. They raised their wings to maintain balance as they slowly moved up on the log. However, as they moved to correct themselves, the log also rotated, and so they were doing some pretty fancy foot work as they worked to stay on. Eventually, after each trying to right their position, it failed and they flew off. This whole scenario seemed like a great lesson in a balanced life for me.

We hear so much about the importance of keeping balance in our lives. We have a lot going on, and if we don’t maintain balance, one area of our life can get out of control and take over. We all know the story, right? Let’s think about the seagulls for a minute. Before the “situation” happened, they were just floating along enjoying the free ride down the channel. Then, the one decides to take off. No warning, no discussing it, just doing what that seagull wanted to do. But what was left in the wake of the one seagull leaving were the other two picking up the pieces of that one seagull’s decision. The other two of them scrambled trying to stay on for the ride. It was so easy when they were all together and no one else is messing around. Our life gets like that. One person does something, or a situation comes up, that sends us spinning out of control. Our life balance is totally off and we are dangerously close to upending our log and hitting the water in a belly flop. Oh, we try to adjust our lives at times with things such as time management, charts, clean and organizing our house, quit one thing to free the schedule, but then start something else. We try for a while to have more family time or time for the Lord in an effort to right our log, but it doesn’t last much longer then the float down the channel did for the seagulls. We flap and flutter, trying to do it by ourselves. We do the dance to stay on, flap our arms trying to keep from losing it, and end up leaving the log or, in other words, running away from the truth of what is really going on or how we feel.

So what is the answer? We need to have God on the log of life with us! I mean really. We trust Him with everything that is in us. Are we going to believe IN God or are you going to BELIEVE GOD? Just like He calmed the storm on water, He can calm the storms in our lives. If we partnered with Him to give us balance, we would have a different reaction when one decides to go off on some tangent of their own or life hits us full face. We still have God on our log to help us maintain balance. So we don’t have to do the happy feet to stay on, we can do the happy feet because God is there. He is reaching out to us to say, “keep your feet firm and stretch out those wings, catch the air and slowly move forward with me. I’m here.” You know what will happen?

He will give you a picture like He gave me that day! If our hearts are open to Him, He will speak to us through the simple things in our lives. He wants to remind us of His presence and to help measure our steps and stay on the log of life with Him. Lift your wings and let God be the wind beneath them, trusting that with His help, you can float down the channel of life and enjoy the scenery of life as you go! He may even ask you to dive in with Him! OR maybe you are the one leaving the log of the status quo to be lifted higher with Him!

God bless you as you invite Him onto your log to dangle your feet in the water together!