Yesterday I met this wonderful woman. And she was a mess.
She came to me asking for advice because she had been having trouble sleeping. She had tried the typical pharmaceuticals but hated the spacey, zoned out feeling they gave you and as such they actually made her more anxious because she was scared about what they were doing to her body.
She wanted something natural. So I asked her what was really going on in her life. Was her inability to sleep a response to stress in her life or was it a physiologic response to her body being ill? These are questions that any wellness practitioner would ask before recommending anything. As we started to talk, within seconds, she completely broke down.Weeping profusely and shaking uncontrollably. My heart went out to her immediately. I gave her a hug and I told her, it was really all going to be alright.
We all went and sat down. Me, her and our box of tissues; you guys should know by know that I am a crier. Anyway we talked some more. She had a sick family member and I could tell that wasn’t her only burden.
Now here’s the part that got me. She felt guilty and ashamed that she was unable to handle the stress. Read more …
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I am currently reading a book called the stepmother. It is a work of fiction but it gives a very vivid account from the ex-wife and new wife’s perspective about the blending of two families.
It’s not lala land. Everything is not perfect. The two women do not meet and form some sort of instant friendship, like add husband and mix. Not at all. They spend a lot of time, wondering, fearing and secretly wishing away and envying each other. But I am at the part where they meet. And it is in a not so good way. In fact it is in a terrible way. A way that could have made them adversaries for life. But because these characters are open, honest and compassionate, I can see cautious and tentative bonds forming. These women actually help each other. They even begin to like each other. Of course it sucks to know that the man one slept with for years, had babies with and pledged to love forever is now loving another and that another actually spends time parenting said babies, every other weekend and on Wednesday nights, of course it sucks. But it is. And because it is, it must be dealt with. And because it must be dealt with, these characters choose to look past the stereotypes and embrace the humanity. All stepmothers aren’t wicked and all ex-wives aren’t evil. People are sometimes just people. Read more …
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Chimamanda Adichie has a wonderful speech she gave on TED about the danger of a single story, it has been referenced several times because it makes such a wonderful point about how Africa is viewed by the world at large. I was thinking about that talk this morning as I thought about life…actually.
The other day I shared an interesting article with a dear friend and she got stuck on a phrase about that had touched a raw nerve with her. She stopped reading after that and totally missed the message. I kept saying did you read this part or did you see that but she had already checked out. I started thinking about how we sometimes get stuck.
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Come let’s praise the Lord!
I am a member of a prayer group and we get together via telephone every Wednesday night to pray, we have been doing this for over a year now. It is always a wonderful time, last Wednesday as we were praying, a voice rang in my spirit…”and at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises to God…
If you don’t know the story, Paul and Silas, were evangelists and they were locked up by the powers that be in that city. But that night they prayed and praised and there was a great shaking and the prison walls and gates were broken and opened, allowing them to walk out whenever they pleased. They didn’t, but I am going to end the story here because I wanted to illustrate the power of praise. As they praised and sang songs to the lord, there was a shaking.
As we were praying, I felt we needed to have a praise night. To sing praises to the Lord, to praise Him for what He has done and for what he is yet doing. To announce to the enemy that we are walking by faith and not by sight, to reclaim what was lost and to break every gate that is trying to prevail against us.
Today I took a praise walk. 5 miles. It was no joke. Read more …
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