January 2017 – Sisters in Scripture: Recent Episodes
None
Because of You’s, I am awake at 1:30 am and I couldn’t be more ecstatic! I want you all to know how amazed and excited I am right now to share this testimony with you! Let this show you how real God’s love is. He used ALL OF YOU to speak to me today, well, tonight. Ah! I’m so excited! He is just so amazing and continuously blows my mind. Okay, here’s what happened… So, first, you should know that in the past 2 months I have been sick with probably like 4-5 different illnesses and so have my 4 children. We have all just been passing around illness after illness, even after taking all those necessary steps to get rid of germs. We just couldn’t shake them all. Needless to say, it put me in a bit of a slump and I haven’t written a single thing until RIGHT NOW. I have had a few other things going on, other than catching every sickness the kids’ daycare has to offer. All of these “inconveniences” have sidetracked me a little bit and I feel like I haven’t even been able to think about something to write, which means I’m not even going to sit down and try. Here is an audio clip of the conversation Logan and I had tonight. I try to explain how I go from the “Yes, I want to be great!” person, to the “I am now depressed.” person. Once I realized that I was more overwhelmed than joyful, I knew what I hadn’t been doing (spending time with God, seeking Him) and what I needed to do (tell Him I’m ready to talk again, I need Him). I tend to do this quite often… ↓ Ya know, the feel miserable for a week or two and then remember I have God to talk to; that when I think He is silent, maybe it’s actually the other way around, non-sense. I call this, “My Comfort Zone of Nothing, Pretty Much”. I get in this zone by feeling numb. I believe it’s one of my defense mechanisms. The numbness keeps me from getting too low, yet, at the same time, it keeps me from experiencing true joy. When I realize that I am not expressing any kind of emotion, I know that I need to get back in Gods word. Anyways, those moments are happening less and less. I asked God yesterday to show me what He wants me to write about. Can He please tell me what it is that He wants me to do. Write or don’t write? Like, why did I start a blog to just stop writing within the first 2 weeks? Didn’t I start this blog with a mission? And not just any mission, but a mission that I felt God had put on my heart. I can’t let the enemy take this away from me and His purpose. I’m ready to listen and let His will be done in my life. So, I turned the song Hosanna by Hillsong United on and I worshiped Him. I just gave Him my cares. I laid my burdens at His feet and let Him know that I was listening again; eyes reading His truth, heart wide-open and ready for change, and ears waiting to hear His voice. Within 24 hours, He shows His work and talks to me. And He did it through all of you. Remember how I said that I hadn’t written a single article in the last two weeks or so? Well, during my “down” time, I didn’t have any new views, comments, likes, or follows on the articles I had already published. THEN, all of a sudden (today!), I start receiving notification after notification on my phone from WordPress and I’m thinking, ‘What is going on?!’. I close every notification I receive all day long and then finally take a second to swipe left on my home screen to check out the WP widget I have. I couldn’t believe my eyes! I go from zero (0) visitors a day to sixty-two (62). Thirty-one (31) hourly views compared to an average of zero (0). How does that happen and why?! The only explanation I have is God. It’s like He is saying to me, ‘Look at what I can do when you haven’t written anything in weeks. Can you imagine what I will do when you start trusting me and just simply write what I place in your heart?’. I hear you, God. Loud and clear. You have my attention and focus. You are in control of my life and I trust you. Thank you for always being right by my side, even when I decide to go silent, and stop seeking you. How awesome is He?! If you feel like God is giving you the silent treatment, take a moment and ask yourself if you are the one being quiet. He is listening. I would love to hear some of your own personal stories and experiences. If you have any feedback, fill out the form below.
Those who have grieved, raise your hand! Now, as you put your hand back down, think of all the other people who raised their hands with you. So many of us have experienced a time (days, months, years) when we have needed to mourn the loss of a significant person in our lives. We all know the multitude of emotions that respond to that loss: sadness, numbness, relief, anger, confusion, and guilt. Each one of us uniquely grieves. We could all lose the same significant loved one and we would still mourn their loss differently. Those who feel more relief could feel less sadness than the others. Either way, it doesn’t really matter. Grief is grief. Any one of those emotions can just “pop up” whenever it decides to. When you’re grieving, you never know when something may trigger your sadness. You may hear a song, smell a certain aroma, watch a movie or hear an old voicemail that immediately reminds you that YOU’RE STILL GRIEVING. You haven’t “gotten over it” yet. I had one of these unseen moments the other day. A few weeks ago, I contacted a local group of christian women who help counsel others. Most of the teens and women they help have been through a lot of abuse, trauma and loss in their lives. I wasn’t looking for a counselor because I think I need mental help, but I do think that I would tremendously benefit from talking to someone who doesn’t know me, my family or friends and can be honest with me while helping me see the things that I need to change or work on so I can grow. So, as I am explaining to my husband two days ago that I was called for my first meeting and that I was super excited, he asked, “Why do you feel like you need to talk to a counselor? You can talk to me.” Good question. I never really thought about it. I start telling him how I think it would be great to talk to someone who has an unbiased opinion and their own personal experience in life struggles..blah, blah blah. Then, all of a sudden, BOOM! It hit me! It all became so clear. I hear myself saying, “I really just want an older woman to talk to about womanly things. Ya know, like, just talk about life and stuff since I don’t have Mom to talk to anymore.” And just like that, I’m crying. Once I started verbally explaining why I wanted to go, the words became so overwhelmingly painful from the grief that still lies within me, completely unseen. Once I started verbally explaining why I wanted to go, the words became so overwhelmingly painful from the grief that still lies within me, completely unseen. via Daily Prompt: Unseen
What is temptation? Well, according to Google, temptation is a desire to do something, especially something wrong or unwise. We have all had those desires to do something we aren’t suppose to do or that we know isn’t right. So how do we combat those temptations? First, you need to know that temptation is the very first weapon that Satan uses against us to gain access into our lives. He uses this method to encourage us to sin, which gives him access into our lives. Think back to Eve for a moment. Satan did not have a place in Eve, so what did he do? He tempted her to sin in order for him to have a place in her. We can all expect some temptations to come our way when Satan wants to gain more grounds in our lives. If he is able to manipulate us, he has a place to operate; within us. Once you realize that you have been manipulated by temptation and have sinned, it is very important to turn from those sins and repent so that he no longer has grounds to stand on in your life. How do we resist this weapon? “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh (near) to God, and he will draw nigh (near) to you. Cleanse your hands, -ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” James 4:7-8 How do we break this power? Okay, so how do we draw near to God and break the power of sin? We grow in our relationship with Him. We come to know the love our Heavenly Father has for us, and in doing so, our love for Him will grow on its own. We will begin to love things that He loves (things we didn’t really see love for before) and hate the things that He hates (the sinful things we love to do because they make us feel good or happy momentarily). Once we develop a hatred for sin, the power it holds will shatter and will be no more. God tempts no one! “When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” James 1:13-15 Satan provokes in all directions to induce us to disregard both the Word and works of God. He tears us away from faith, love, and hope and brings us into despair. The enemy never becomes tired, when one temptation fails, there will always be another one arising. When he leads us into temptation, we have to remember that we have the power and strength to resist. We cannot escape temptation and allurements while we live in the flesh, but we can pray that we may not be drowned in them. Call out to God and run to the throne of grace when you are tempted. Grace is God-given ability; His will and favor, kindness, mercy and love. It is the influence of God in us to strengthen and improve. It is essential, we need it. Compulsive Sinning: When you feel you can’t break free. If you try to break free of the sin that is tormenting your life but you just cannot move forward, there may be a demonic bondage that needs to addressed. Most people that cannot break free of their sin/s are dealing with demonic spirits of pornography, anger, jealousy, etc. These are not easy or simple to just “get rid of” but you are CAPABLE of doing so with more knowledge of His word and His promises. He tells us how to rid these strongholds and be free of demonic bondage, we just have to read His word. I will be writing a piece on spiritual warfare and bondage to share and explain how I have been able to overcome some of my own and how you can overcome yours. via Daily Prompt: Capable
And the award for “Most annoying, mind blocking song of the day” goes to..drum roll..Baby Shark by Super Simple Songs! mom screams My soon-to-be 3 year old is obsessed, and I mean ear-cringing obsessed, with this YouTube channel called Super Simple Songs. They post videos of animated mice, itsy-bitsy spiders and now holding breath because I think it will take away my thoughts of this next one..quenching jaw..exhale baby sharks singing different nursery rhymes and other “simple songs”. The worst one is this baby shark song. If you know what I am talking about right now, my deepest, deepest empathy goes out to you. I feel your pain! 25 mins later, and I am trying to regain my thoughts from even the above paragraph after he decided to have a melt down because I wouldn’t replay the damn shark song! So, I put him to bed and now I am listening to my 7 year old daughter fart while she is eating a frosty and making her other brother laugh, which is causing him to spit out little splats of his frosty all over my laptop. Should I just throw my hands in the air and give up now? I mean, yeah, I definitely could. I could be mad and just spit out harsh, unnecessarily stern words..OR..I could do what I am doing now and just continue to stare at my screen and type, trying really hard not to even crack the slightest smile so I can look annoyed when I really want to bust out laughing. Wait. Re-read that last sentence. Do you see what the problem is? Why do I feel like I need to be annoyed rather than laugh about it? – Pause – I had to laugh. 🙂 It was too gross not to laugh! lol.– Play – But why would I think that way? Why do we want our children or any child to think we are annoyed? Why can’t we just laugh with them? I don’t have the answer to any of those questions. Hell, I didn’t even plan on this writing session to lead anywhere, I was just writing. Isn’t it crazy and amazing how much we can learn about ourselves and our thought processes when we write or talk about something that is going through our minds? We don’t need someone standing over our shoulders to tell us whether we should think about our actions or not. We are the only ones responsible for ourselves, right? Our actions come from all kinds of different places: the past, hurt, love, trauma, loss..the list goes on. We have good characteristics and some not so good ones, however, we CAN change those. I do things all the time that I don’t like. When I notice them, I try to figure out why I acted that way or why I got so defensive for no reason. I have come to learn some of my roots, the deep roots of underlying and “pushed to the side” emotions. And all we have to do is have a desire to dig down into our souls and deal with those feelings (which could take days, months, years) and then be able to move on to the next. This is how we grow. We first have to notice the problems. We have to hold ourselves accountable and start pointing out the things we would like to change or that we think could be improved. You CANNOT take a step back, look at yourself and admit your flaws if you have pride. If you think you can, you are wrong..dead wrong. I have very little pride. Now I’m not saying that the pinnacle of pride doesn’t pop up every now and then, but I will say that I am the FIRST person to admit my “areas of opportunity”. I don’t leave it up to anyone else. Why would I? So, I’m supposed to leave it up to everyone else in this world to point out my flaws? Ha! You’re kidding me, right? This reminds me of that song by Limp Biscuit called Break Stuff (I think). He says, “It’s all about the he said, she said bullshit.” And that is exactly what causes people to get so butt hurt when someone says something about them. If we could all just look at ourselves first and actually make an effort to change the parts of ourselves that need improvement (we all have them), then no one would be able to say a damn word to us! Why? Because if you recognize it, you can change it before it is even recognized by anyone else. Phew! Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Do you look at your own actions the way that I do or are you the one pointing the finger at others? I will be looking into why I tried to be annoyed by my children instead of just laughing with them. That really bothers me. As soon as I know or have further insight as to why, I will let you all know! Wish me luck.
This is a blog written by me, Her. The first thing you should know is the meaning of my blog name – You Him and Her – so you can better understand where I am coming from. The “You” represents YOU, the reader. The “Him” represents God, our Almighty Father. The “Her” represents me. It’s time to start self- reflecting, growing, and encouraging others in the process. If you don’t share your trials with others, how can you share how God has made you triumphant? This is The Book of Her. “Turning Wounds Into Wisdom” – Her 💜 Let’s do this together.
What is your interpretation of this poem? The infinite is happiness By: Sri Chimnoy The Infinite is the satisfying happiness. In the finite no happiness can ever breathe. The Infinite alone is the fulfilling happiness. via Daily Prompt: Infinite
My superpower is Forgiveness. I’ll admit, I didn’t even think of forgiveness as a superpower, my husband actually did. I was just as taken back by this as you are; more like, BLOWN AWAY! He said, “The kids would be in SO much trouble if you weren’t so forgiving!” After thinking about it, I really do forgive easily. I wasn’t always that way and I made really bad decisions because of the web of negative feelings that I had from being resentful, angry and hurt. It has taken me 10+ years to be so forgiving. I will write some more on that later. Right now, we have to remember that NO ONE is perfect. When we feel bitter and resentful, we only think about the wrong doings of the person/s that wronged us and we stop seeing them as a person with flaws, emotions, feelings and their own demons to deal with. If we start looking at people from this perspective, we could possibly try to help others grow and/or we can start doing it for ourselves. Set yourself free, people. Just forgive, it’s super easy! Right? It can be easier than you think if you ask God to help you through and show you how to forgive. There’s no one better to ask about forgiveness. I mean, c’mon! First John says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” He forgives us so easily and all we have to do is ask! Now, as the verse says, he is faithful and just. Meaning, He keeps His promises. No fingers crossed behind His back. We need to remember Matthew 6:14-15 “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” You may be thinking that these two verses contradict each other and that is probably a very popular thought (didn’t the other verse just say that all we have to do is ask? I’m confused now.) but let me explain it to you. When we truly forgive someone we “release” or “send away” what felt so unforgivable. So if we do not really forgive others of their trespasses, we will not be forgiven and simply just asking him to forgive us of our own sins will not be sufficient. That’s actually kind of hypocritical of us, don’t you think? Forgive us, Father, but I will NOT forgive anyone who has wronged me. We are lucky that he forgives us at all and has also given us the ability to forgive others. Forgiveness is powerful. So powerful, that our eternity depends on it; if He decided to not forgive us we would be spending eternity in hell for the sins we have all commited. Forgiveness gives you freedom. You have to be determined and understand that it will take time. Having forgiveness as your superpower doesn’t come easy but it is definitely worth fighting for. “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:31-32 NIV)