Encouragement When You Feel Depressed and Alone : Let's Pray

"When I said, "My foot is slipping," Your love, O LORD, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, Your consolation brought joy to my soul." Psalm 94:18-19 

Not every day can be a great day. Over the years I have learned to be more truthful with my feelings and stop hiding behind the "I'm fine" response which most often translates I am not okay. Saying I wasn't okay seemed to admit defeat or reveal a lack of faith. I convinced myself somewhere along the path of perceived togetherness, it wasn't okay to not be okay. 

My mind would say if I prayed harder, there'd be more Happy. If I listened to worship music and read my Bible a little longer, my circumstances might change which would surely change my heart and mind too. I would never had admitted a bad day for fear of being judged that I was a hypocrite or a weak Christian. How sneaky and manipulative is our enemy.

It took getting stuck in lots of pits and circling the same walls over and over to finally get through them. I've learned to honestly answer, "Not every day can be a great day, and I am not okay, but God is faithful." It is bearing false witness if you say everything's great when it's not. The false joy and perceived peace are not healing hopes. They are deceiving masks. 

The Lord tells us in His Word there will be trials and storms. What a prideful thing to equate ourself to God in thinking we can control things. You and I may be able to fake out some people, but we cannot fake out God or those closest to us who can immediately see the shattered twinkle in our eye. I think the Lord gives our close companions a special kind of discernment to know when we are not okay and call our bluff. Those are special kinds of Sisters.

Of course there is the opposite of me out there when someone is a Pity Party for One and all are invited in. They can't fathom anything good cuz the world is evil and there's no good left in anything or anyone. How exhausting it must be to live like that. 

People with drama drain me. I will certainly pray for them, but I am not going to enable them and I don't have to spend more than a minute with them either. Hello Healthy Boundaries. 

Life is just too short to waste time complaining, contemplating and gossiping. My Mom has always said I wear Rose-Colored glasses but I come by it honestly. I know the Lord gifted Hospitality, Encouragement, Empathy and Compassion into my heart but my Grandma used to always tell me, "Always find something kind to say to every person you encounter." So, here I am born with a glasses of Hope and yet, I still struggled with insecurity and anxiety.

Life isn't going to always be great no matter how we try to create a perfect place. There are seasons our sorrow will outweigh our happy. And God didn't promise us happy. He promised us a Helper. Life gets really hard and sometimes our prayers feel they fall onto deaf ears. We gasp for a breath under the weight of expectations, hopes and dreams that only seem to fade. 

So many friends are dealing with huge issues and it's hard even when it's not you. I read comments in social media groups that break my heart and drive me to want to be a louder, bolder Encourager and Light for the Lord, to reach those in dark places at the edge of depletion. I have been on that edge and praise God, 

He sent His Helper and His hugs through amazing, honest, warrior woman who knew how to Hug my heart through prayer and accountability. Scripture says together we are a City on a Hill if we all chose to Shine which means, no masks. Does that mean we tell everyone everything? Do we post on social media all our failures, problems, conflicts, insecurities? No. We are wise to pray before we post and ask, seek, knock where our help will come from. 

Our God....He is a Mighty Force, Ruler over all Authorities and principalities. Our Lord is a greater force than our finite minds can imagine. He is a real God, a loving Father, Great Counselor and Friend. He is our Rock and Refuge. He is our Anchor Who holds us in place when we find ourselves being tossed to and fro. When the seas roar, He has the power to calm them. (It's the only time you should stay close to a power source in a storm!! heehee!!!) 

When we know Who God is, there we find our Hope. Hope strengthens our faith and faith drives our perseverance, which strengthens our joy. No one can do what He can do but He can use us as His hands and feet here on this side of Heaven to bring that Hope Reminder to others. To remind the broken hearted He is near and He knows where we are. 

And the most important fact I learned: He is trustworthy and faithful. His love is unconditional and He loves me right where I am, in my insecurity, my anger, my fear, my hurt, my unknowns...He loves me here. Are we willing to surrender ourselves to Him? Do you trust Him to be a Promise Keeper? Do you believe He is Who He says He is?

One day, crashing waves will find their calm and joy will conquer painful sorrow as all the tears are absorbed into The Master's sackcloth. There is a time for everything as Ecclesiastes 3 explains. We will dance but we will also mourn. All in His time.

I challenge you to do more than simply give an Honest Answer. Surrender and Trust Him. Depend on Him. When you trust Him, you will be honest with Him so you can then be honest with yourself, and others because you trust Him more than you trust yourself. We can find comfort knowing God is Who He says He is and gives us exactly what we need as we need it. You cannot borrow joy, or grace. You cannot create peace. You cannot move mountains, divide oceans, calm storms, or create life from ashes. But God is more than able to do exceedingly more than we can ever imagine. 

Do you trust Him as YOUR Honest Answer?! 

Lord, as we cry our salty tears, replenish us with Your Living Waters. Give us the peace only You can. Heal our hurts. Forgive our unbelief. Forgive our forgetfulness of who You are. Forgive us for minimizing Your power of provision and grace in our lives. You are more than we can imagine and Your love immeasurable. Give us favor in the mustard seed of our faith to walk trusting You. Transform our insecurities with Your insight.

We believe at the command of Your voice, healing can come and hearts restored. Lord, heal our broken bodies. Renew our minds and set them on You again. Help our broken hearts beat in the rhythm of Your grace. 

God,  I pray for those in the middle of a storm, remind them of the Strength of Your Anchor! Send hugs and Help to them and lift them up. Call out to the winds and calm them that You may be seen walking on the horizon. Break their chains and renew their hope in Jesus Name. Grant them peace, revive their strength. Relieve the weight of their sorrows and replace it with Your mercy, new every morning! 

We acknowledge You are faithful, steadfast and Honest. Father, we worship You and bow before You asking for revelation of Your Power. Use us and gather us as a City on The Hill. Open our eyes to see what You see and clear our minds to hear wisdom. Give us courage to take off our masks and be a Light for You. Take our flesh and cleanse us. You are so patient and worthy. We praise Your Holy Amazing Name! You are everything to us. Amen!!

"You turned my wailing into dancing; You removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give You thanks forever." 

Psalm 30:11-12

When your loved one is suffering. Part One.

Do you have a loved one suffering with panic and anxiety attacks? I am betting that if you do, you are having a hard time understanding what they are going through and don't understand why it won't stop, why they say they think they might die. I know. That was my poor husband as I walked those scary and painful moments in 2008-2009. Honestly, your loved one who is suffering this heartache is asking themselves the same things. They don't get it either. 

As difficult as it has been to share my testimony and experiences with others, my spirit wants to testify to the goodness and sweetness of the Lord. In His grace, I found healing and the truest of love and kindness, and mighty, mighty power. But it took going through those dark days to see such pure Light. God's Word is full of testimonies of God's grace, provision and protection. I found such comfort being back in His Word, alive and active it is!! I felt less alone when I read the perils of Job and Paul and so many others. 

This is exactly why I began blogging and writing: to share and encourage. Yes, it's hard to visit those terrors but the hope to encourage and even save a life overshadows and uplifts me right over that pit of despair onto the wings of an eagle, soaring above defeat, shame and embarrassment. God has crossed my paths over the years with sweet Believers who have fallen into the same pits whom we have been able to share each other's journey, many in the middle of a valley. What a joy to celebrate hope and healing in Jesus Name together.

When I am sitting with the person in anguish, we speak the same language and as much as we get it, we don't get it. I liken it to listening to my teen speak calculus or when my husband it calling sports plays. I just don't understand their lingo. It's the same here. Until you have walked in the same shoes, it's a struggle to get it. 

We are able to feel what the other feels and understand the depths of it all, physically, emotionally and spiritually. But, when I find myself sitting with the loved one, they really don't get it. The look in their eyes was the same bewilderment my husband had with me many years back. He just didn't understand what it felt like to be in my body. 

He couldn't understand when I shut down or quickly fled situations, why I was so exhausted, why I couldn't handle loud noises and big crowds. One of the most painful stings to the heart is the look of weirdness, puzzlement, judgement, nervousness in your loved one's eyes looking back at you in your moment of fear. 

These were the moments "fake it till you make it" were necessary, just to avoid that look. To avoid the pain it pressed like a sword into the depth of me. It slayed me, reminding me of how crazy I was, shame flooding every part of my soul. And if this loved one who had my back looked at my like this and couldn't understand what I was experiencing, how could anyone else, and how much deeper would their look slash my soul? So, we hide, mask and protect. 

Thankfully, the Lord heard my cries and sent me rescue and all the while, I prayed for my husband to have compassion and understanding. He was one of my first subscribers to the blog, learning more about my experience than I was able to verbalize. Also, we had 4 kids running around the house and it wasn't something we just called out and spoke about. I wanted to continue on as normal and stable, conquering and hopeful, calm and collected as a true perfectionist and encourager personality. 

Over time, through healing helps of Christian counseling, natural remedies of essential oils and vitamins, Scripture memory work and meditation, a deep and purposeful prayer life, worshiping without wondering, letting go of perfectionism, accountability of a few trustworthy Sisters in Christ, re-prioritizing my life and schedule, addressing how I was (not) taking care of my body, mind and spirit. All these combined together for the help and healing, overcoming and conquering I experienced against fear. To God be all the power, and glory!

Recently, several loved ones have approached me about my journey, asking for help in dealing with their loved one suffering in anguish. With all my writings focused on the anguished person, I thought I would write to the loved one because I know as many who suffer with panic and anxiety attacks, there are that many more loved ones trying to understand them and help them. 

Lord knows you need the same help, love, hope and encouragement as you deal with the heartache and confusion in dealing with your loved one's current battle. So, in the next blog, I will share with you a few simple helps from my own personal experience in hopes to encourage each person touched by these attacks in compassion and hope.

Meanwhile, meditate and believe on Jeremiah 29:11-13, 

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

 Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will hear you.

You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart."

To God be all our glory, help, hope and praise, amen.

Click Here for When your loved one is suffering. Part Two.

My Love Story

My Love Story

I met my Sweet Love in the Summer of 1986. I had heard of Him but did not know Him personally. His reputation preceded Him as was one of great compassion and love. He was a favorite amongst most. He always made people smile even on their worst of days and somehow He managed to get my attention on one of those days. Like I said I had heard of Him but didn’t know Him personally, so I said Yes when He asked me to spend time with Him. He was everything I had heard, a perfect gentleman and compassionate soul. He was kind and gentle, aware of His surroundings and the people’s needs around Him and somehow was always able to make it a better place just with His presence. He literally lit up the room.

The more time I spent with Him, the more my heart began to beat for Him. I began to see people as He saw them. I had been hurt so many times in my past by the ignorance or selfishness of others, that trusting Him took time. With each passing day, my love for Him grew deeper and wider till one day when we were alone He asked me for my hand and heart to join Him forever and there was no other answer I could give but "YES!!" I was His and He was mine. He literally changed me life!! 

Through the years, my Love has continued to love me with such an unconditional love and He gives me way more grace and mercy than I deserve. When I am feeling weak, He lifts me up. When I am crushing under the weight of this world, He holds me and is my shield. When others persecute me, He defends me. When I don’t know what to do or where to go, He leads me. I don’t mean to, but when I hurt Him, He forgives me time and time again. I am so thankful for my Sweet Love and I pray each of you finds your Love too. His name is Christ Jesus, my faithful and loving Lord, the Lover of my soul. 

This is my happily ever after.

"Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His commandments, to a thousand generations,"

Deuteronomy 7:9

Human love is wonderful and was created by God that we would "love one another." However, it is not perfect love. We will hurt each other, knowingly or unknowingly. We let each other down at times and often forget to say Sorry. Even in the best of marriages, families and friendships, there are sure to be moments of pain and selfishness. But, not with the Lord our God. He is perfect and just, faithful in His Love and steadfast in His character and promises. God's Love never fails!! 

If you have a void in your heart and are looking for the filler of your soul, He stands before you, pierced hands, sacrificially loving you, waiting to spend time with you. Look up and see His outstretched hands desiring to take yours and walk a Forever Journey with Him. His heart is for you! 
By faith, won't you place your trust in Him and discover the most amazing Love of all. You will be satisfied, complete, and receive more love, mercy, grace, peace, joy and fullness than you could ever think or imagine in this lifetime! Out of His Sweet Love for you, all your human loves will grow richer too. With His love, you can love deeper and wider. 

Say "YES!!!!" to the Greatest Love of all and walk a new life in Him. He is your Happily Ever After.  

Thicker Skin

I LOVE being out in the nature of God!! His glory is on display at every glance. There are glimpses of His mightiness in the trees and unshakeable boldness in the mountains, His consistency and strength in the waves of the oceans, His kindness and care in the smallest of detail on the flowers and creeping little critters.

 

There is so much beauty to be seen!!! I have hundreds of pictures from my time outside. One thing I have observed is the amount of thorns scattered amongst the beauty.
I was enjoying a day outside and as you can see in the photo with my sock, there are pokey things digging in like needles into my skin. I got these painful pokes during a walk with a friend. I couldn't take it anymore and I had to stop and remove these needles in my foot!! My friend laughed at my "tenderness" as she felt nothing from the few in her own sock. "How can that not hurt you?" I asked. She replied, " I guess I have thicker skin." I must agree...on many levels! LOL
God brought back that moment a few days later when I was upset. We look at other people and wonder how they can experience pains and seem unaffected by it while our heart feels like it is literally breaking into pieces. We will not all respond the same way to every situation. God did not create humans to be robots. We were created and fashioned differently. The truth is, what's true for me may not be true for you. We are His masterpiece, wonderfully made to think, feel, and live!

"I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well." Psalm 139:14

The way we think and respond (while rooted in the truth of Christ) to trials will vary. A harsh word spoken to me may be like a dart thrown at my heart while a harsh word spoken to my friend may be like throwing a spear at her heart. I may fall down but you can be sure my thick skinned friend would rise up before you, surely standing taller than you!! An illness or trial that falls upon me may cause my heart to fear while the same trial for another may gird them up in anticipation for a good, Holy fight. I may crater, while they rise up. We are not all the same.
It's easy for us to go about our day thinking our reality is the reality for everyone else, but I would dare to say there is a pridefulness within us that says "Our ways are right." "This is truth for me and therefore it must be the same for you." We begin to judge and possibly shame or condemn others when they don't respond just like we would in their situation. What makes us think we are so right?!
I am challenged today to check my pride and exercise mercy and compassion towards others knowing that what works for me and what I think is right may not be their right. (Obviously I am not discussing the absolutes of God's Words and commands. But considering the heart and soul of others.)
May we look at the Creation of our World and remember that we too are each created with a specific design. May we remember that God's Truth is the Only Truth to consider as absolute. Our roots and our fruits may be the same but the type of bloom we are is as diverse as the flowers of the fields!!

Challenge:
* Next time you hurt, know it's okay if it's hurting you. You may just have tender skin compared to another. And really, who's comparing? Our truth is Christ alone.

 "I will meditate on Your precepts and fix my eyes on Your ways." Psalm 119:15 

* And if another expresses hurt, extend mercy and love, believing their hurt to be real even if you don't think it's valid. 

"Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love." Ephesians 4:15-16

"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and all were made to drink of one Spirit. 

14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 

The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. 27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it." 1 Corinthians 12:4-7, 12-14, 21-27