Tag Archive | mind

Peeling eggs. Digging holes. Hairy legs.

Aug13

So. What does peeling hard boiled eggs, digging holes, and shaving legs have to do with each other?

Let me tell you.

I am physically and/or genetically incapable of doing any of these things.

Eggs? Forget about it! No matter what or how I do it, they break apart in pieces.

Holes? No matter how hard I push, press or stomp on the shovel, a hole is nowhere in sight, only exhaustion.

Legs? Gaping cuts that bleed for days.

These things, I give up on. I cry uncle.

There are some other things however that I refuse to give up on.

Creating a quiet space for my heart and mind, eradicating brain fog, and following with all my being what I believe God has laid out for my life

None of the above things listed are easy. (At least for me obviously)

But important?

I have to ask myself, are they important in the scope of my life?

I have definitely decided that I can do life without some things. The perfect hard-boiled egg can be purchased at the nearby grocery. Digging holes? I have young grandsons for that, or I can call Bobby. That is what Bobby has done all his life, and he does it very well. Hairy legs? No one ever died from hairy legs, but there are creams and lotions and potions for that.

The final three, I have decided, are important for life, and health, and happiness.

In this work-a-day world, finding a quiet place is not always easy. The world is a noisy place. Some noise is to help elevate our moods, and keep us moving. Some of that noise I am convinced is because if we are quiet, we may not like the soundtrack that is playing in our head.

For my own mental health, I know that I simply must take that time to quiet myself. Even for a moment, and even if I don’t like what I’m hearing in my head.

peace and quiet..

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I was writing this on a Saturday evening. I was not completely sure where I was going with the whole thing.

When we went to church on Sunday, I found that the teaching there, really well with my topic.

Eggs? Digging holes? Hairy legs? you ask? No not at all.

But the peace part, how in my noisy life do I get there?

Where is that peace regardless of the things I can and can do?

Regardless of the circumstances I am facing in my everyday life?

The remedy was expounded upon by Pastor Ty.

Here is part of the scripture he used.

Philippians 4:4-9 English Standard Version (ESV)

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness[d] be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

I will rejoice, because in my life, there have been many trials, and God my Father has been walking by my side through them all. He has never told me that there will be no hard times, only that He will remain by my side. He will never leave me. It is these trials that make me stronger.

And it causes my peace to grow.

The peace of God is more than I can comprehend, and it guards my heart. It keeps it safe from all of the jabs I get from the world and the enemy. I can count on God my Father to carry my heart next to His.

And it causes my peace to grow.

I can change the way I think. It is a choice. I have always said that fear and worry were an inside job. And here, Pastor Ty says it too. He confirms my thinking yet again. “Worry is an inside job. Anxiety is borrowed stress, borrowed from tomorrow. Every time you borrow stress, it turns out badly.”

And it causes my peace to grow.

I can CHOOSE how I think. I can CHOOSE to reject anxiety. I can CHOOSE not to be stressed. I choose these things by choosing to think about what is true, and honorable, just and pure, lovely and commendable, excellent and worthy of praise.

And it causes my peace to grow.

My circumstances may or may not change, but the way I choose to think of them will.

And in that quiet place, my peace will grow.

Now. Back to the eggs, and the holes and the hairy legs.

I can spend my good time and energy on these things that do not matter, and will disappear in the blink of an eye, or I spend my energies on things that will not only help me, but others as well.

With this choice – my peace, and yours too, will grow.

PEace and quiet

Pavlov’s Dog – Quietude

Aug9

If you’re looking for content, then this probably isn’t the blog post you want to watch.

However, if you are looking for a place to get a moments rest so that you can continue your day, then you re in the right spot.

Let me tell you why.

Dictionary.com puts it this way;

Pavlov’s Dogs  [(pav-lawfs, pav-lawvz)]

The dogs used in conditioned response experiments by a Russian scientist of the late nineteenth century, Ivan Pavlov.  In these experiments, Pavlov sounded a bell while presenting                                                                food to a dog, thereby stimulating the natural flow of saliva in              the dog’s mouth. After the procedure was repeated several times,   the dog would salivate at the sound of the bell, even when no food                                       was presented.

Now, you’re not a dog, and I don’t want to make you salivate, but as my daughter has told me, she has a Pavlovian response to rain/thunder storms. She hears them, she wants to sleep. In the short video in this post, you likely won’t have time to fall asleep, but you will have time to get your mind a little bit of rest.

So go ahead. Close your eyes for a minute, and test the theory.

Let me know in the comments what you think.

 

When You Were Seven Revisited

Jul20

Well, as you can see, I’ve been exploring my past through blog posts from long ago.

Why? Because it occurred to me that over time, I had begun to forget some of the look and feel of some of the dark places I’ve been, and the steps I took to find my way home. My heart is to help others to reclaim their lives, and progress to the places that God their Creator created them for.  Breaking this idea down;

  • You were created for greatness
  • Dark circumstances have blocked your progress
  • Reclaim what was stolen
  • Advance to the purposes you were created for

Hopefully, prayerfully, these Friday looks into the past will help create questions in you, and a longing to find the answers you need, finally.

I’m here cheer you on!

When You Were Seven 

(Original post date June 12, 2012)

This past Sunday our Community Hour Class began its summer session; “Proverbs; Making the Wise Wiser”.

During the introduction, we were each asked to answer a couple of questions around our table.

These questions were meant as kind of an ice breaker, and a lead right in to the topic we are studying.

Well they were ice breakers to be sure, but to me one of these questions was so much more.  It sent me on another journey, into the background that makes me who I am.

All of the time I have spent on introspection, I would like to think that it is all finished.

As we have spoken of in a previous post, it will not be finished as long as we are here on this earth.

However, our Merciful Father in Heaven will allow no more than we can handle at any one time.

Each journey into our background and back out again, carries with it another piece of healing, filling in the puzzle that is us.

English: Puzzle Svenska: Pussel

Have you ever been putting a puzzle together and many pieces go together quickly?

Have you noted that in the very same puzzle, some can take a long time to place?

Each of these remaining pieces needs to be inspected.

They perhaps need to be held in your hand, and placed and replaced until the proper

place is found.

If you do not enjoy the process, you probably will never finish the puzzle.

The question we were asked, seemed very innocuous at the time it was asked, but the more I reflected on it, the more I could sense that this would not be over, just because the class was.

This piece would have to be investigated closely.

Here are the questions;

* How many lived in your home when you were seven?

* Who was the warmest person in your life at that time?

Harmless questions right?

Well as the others spoke their answers, I sought my own answer to the question “Who was the warmest person in your life at that time?”

What I soon realized, was that I could not remember even one “warm” person in my life.

Were people supposed to be warm?

The only thing that came to my mind was that during my very young life, we used to travel every Sunday to my Grampas house in the country.

While there, I would climb the apple trees in his orchard and visit the hay mow in the barn.

Life was peaceful if only for a short time.

After dinner, I can recall clearly, sitting on my Grampas lap in his big comfy chair, eating popcorn out of an enamel roasting pan and watching Lawrence Welk.

I believe that was the safest, coziest, warmest spot I ever knew.

When the show was over, it was time to load up and go home.

My heart longed for our return the following week.

Those visits came to an abrupt end, when there was a misunderstanding between my Father and my Grandpa that got me a beating that today would have landed me in the hospital and my Father in jail.

Father never apologized and Grandpa would not let him return until he did.

I never got over the fact that it was my fault that we could not visit any more.

My warm person/spot was gone.

Grampa came to town to live with us several years later, after my Grandma died, and my Mother and Father divorced, but our relationship was never the same.

I knew it was my fault.

I didn’t find out until much later why it had changed so drastically, and that was that I had grown up, and he didn’t feel that hugging or snuggling with a girl my age was proper.

So NOT my fault.

But the damage was already done.

So.  After class, I was compelled to come and go through the family photos left here by my Mom.

There I found snapshots of brief moments of family life.  Brief shots.  Brief smiles.

I also, sadly, noticed that in nearly all of the photos of that time period, the smile never went to the eyes.

That sounds strange maybe, but it was there.  I saw it.

Here are two photos I found of myself.  In one of them, my favorite one, I was four.  See the light in the eyes?  They twinkled.

I think this may have been before I found out I was defective.

See the second photo?  Age seven.  Sad smile.  No twinkle.

I’m still processing what I see.

I’m still examining every piece.

With God’s help, and His alone, I will be able to fully place the truth, and go on to another piece.

Ladies and Gentlemen; here is the truth;

YOU ARE NOT DEFECTIVE!

AND NEITHER WAS I!

Psalm 139:13-16 (NIV1984)

13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.  When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body.  All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

 

Do not be afraid of the process.

Join me in placing the pieces where they rightly fit.

Let us hold God’s hands together,

And believe the truth.

John 8:32 (KJV)

32 And ye shall know the truth, and (He) the truth shall make you free.

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