Tag: Wellness

About your spiritual / psychological toolbox.

Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the wil of God — what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Where are your thoughts falling short of God’s life-giving truth? Here are four tools to help you:

  1. remove the lie and replace it with truth. …an enemy who is seeking to destroy us. His weapon is the lie…
  2. create new trenches of truth. Our brains have neural pathways—mental ruts we created through repeatedly thinking the same thoughts—which trigger our automatic response to external stimuli. To stop a behavior, we need to remove the lie behind it and replace the neural pathway.
  3. reframe. You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control how you receive it and react to it. We all have cognitive biases that cause us to see things in ways that do not reflect reality. you have the power to reframe…
  4. change your perspective through prayer and praise. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by everything that is happening, but when we’ve had enough, God is enough. Not only is God enough, God is near. We stay mindful of His presence. When we do, it leads us to pray. Praying changes our brain, as does praising God. We praise Him for the who of who He is, even if the what is not what we want. As we praise God, we feel warming peace of mind.

Decide today that you will not think like the rest of the world. You will let God renew your mind… fix your thoughts on Jesus. He made you. He will sustain you. He can carry you, strengthen you, and empower you to do what He’s called you to do. You are more than a conqueror through Christ.

A blend of my thoughts and “excerpts from today’s Bible App Devotional called ‘Winning the War in your mind’”

Embrace Your Wabi-Sabi

In traditional Japanese aesthetics, wabi-sabi is a world view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of appreciating beauty that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete” in nature.

We do not have to fear or compete with others in order to have a place, and a purpose, and love.

Psalm 139:13-14 “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
and
Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

Practice the Pause

In my wisdom years, I am learning more the value of the pause, and one day at a time, making every day count, which is really all we have, right? We live daily until our last breath, then there’s the afterlife.

Matthew 6:34 “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Only God knows what tomorrow will bring, much more each single day beyond that.

Here’s what I know: you are alive today. Your people need your love and full presence. When your time (or your beloved’s time) comes to leave this earth, let it be with love, knowing you did your best.

A final note: When a loved one departs, don’t make any big decisions for awhile, you will not be able to make wise choices so soon. Allow the memories to wash over you, along with some mixed thoughts and feelings.

You may feel alone in this necessary time of processing the great loss, and you will come through it. You are not alone, and will never be. God has you, and you have God.

Stress and Overthinking and God Interventions

When it feels like the world is spinning out of control, do your spiraling thoughts overwhelm you? I can tell you what helps when I feel this way. I have learned this doesn’t just magically go away.

For me, I have to make an intentional decision to stop what I’m doing, become aware that I am spiraling, take a deep cleansing breath, find a quiet place, and talk to God.

I find it helpful to begin by acknowledging who God is, and offer gratitude for everything I can think of, as well as things I don’t even know. In those moments, I breathe deeply again, and allow God to re-introduce the peace I need, and that He desires for my spirit to feel.

Beloved, if you are too much “in your head” lately, ruminating, pondering excessively, with spinning thoughts to no end, I pray you find praying through the book of Ecclesiastes strangely comforting, like I did this morning.

In the end, this is what matters most: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.”
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

P.S. And isn’t it just like God’s Holy Spirit, that in the middle of processing all this, as my troubled spirit was healing, an unexpected encounter happened – a woman stopped to talk with me in the coffee shop, and poured out her heart to me and God, and we listened, and I cried with her. Thank you God.

Be Encouraged, Take Heart

Our focus belongs on God’s steadfast love and mercy, rather than the ever-changing values and troubles of society and the world.  It can be hard sometimes, especially when those near us devalue your faith.  Take heart, you are in excellent company.

“You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!”     — II Timothy 3:1 – 5

Cancer. Again.

If you’re dealing with cancer – either your own or someone you love, do not feel obligated to hide or “handle it” perfectly.

In my chaplain role, oncology patients have taught me so much.  One spunky, very ill, older woman said she had so much cancer in her family that she always knew without a doubt that her turn would come to battle it.  She already studied a lot on the subject, to help support family members.  She felt well-prepared for the time when it knocked on her own door.

She told me that when it actually happened to her, she realized she wasn’t as “good” at cancer as she thought she would be – it turned her world upside down and she had a much harder time emotionally than she expected to.  She ended up with the same fears, devastating thoughts and initial hopelessness that she saw in others.

Another woman I spoke with said the worst for her was losing her hair, no matter how perfect her wig was.  She didn’t feel like a woman anymore.  Another woman didn’t care so much about the hair stuff, but she could barely deal with losing a breast, and now she was losing the second one.   One man was sure his wife would not love him anymore, but would only stay with him out of obligation, hoping to find a “whole” man after he passed.

This cancer monster is so diverse and sneaky in the way it attacks each person!  It attacks ones psyche, spirit and body.  It finds each person’s own unique vulnerabilities and attacks.

If you are in a place where you can hear this, take heart and have full confidence in the presence of God in every aspect of your life.  Even cancer.  This is really hard.  You are a whole person, who happens to have cancer.  At times you may feel consumed by it, defined by it, in ways no one else can know.

Please know at least this one thing, beloved, God does care and will never leave you.  You are not alone, even in those dark quiet moments, when anguish washes over you.  God’s Holy Spirit accompanies each of us into our most personal battles, even the ones where we feel so alone and abandoned – He IS with you now and every tomorrow.

Peace be with your spirit,  RevDonnaH