God > Social media

I am easily distracted. And these days it's been harder than usual for me to stay focused.  

My desire to remain almost constantly "connected" to social media is huge.  I’ll even find myself checking my phone when I am with my family….. uh, this is not how I should be spending our time when we're together. 

It's something I’ve known for a while but have refused to say out loud or even admit to myself.

I love Facebook, Instagram and yes Pinterest. {I'd probably be addicted to Twitter and Snapchat too, if I understood it better.}

But the truth is more like, I am consumed by it. {uncomfortable squirm}

In my mind, I think I have very good reasons for checking Facebook, clicking through Instagram and searching Pinterest. Often.

But here’s the thing. When I turn to Facebook/Instagram/Pinterest before turning to God, there's a problem.

For many days, okay maybe weeks, um let's be honest, it's been months, I would open Facebook and then Instagram and then Pinterest before doing anything else. Even on those mornings when I’d have my devotions first, I'd quickly read through it never pausing long enough to allow God’s word to sink into my heart. Because I needed to check social media.

Seriously! What’s more important? What God has to say? Or what someone has posted?

We all have the same 24 hours in a day and we make time for the things that are important to us. 

So, I’ve made a decision. One I’ve done before, but I've lost my focus again… I’m sharing it here to help me stay accountable.

I will put God above Facebook. Above Instagram.  Above Pinterest.  Above anything and everything. 

God wants my best. Not the rest.

Now this may not be a concern for you and by no means am I saying that Facebook is bad. Nor is Instagram or even Pinterest, Twitter or Snapchat.  But, like most every thing, it has potential to be really good, or really bad!

So, for me, when I awake I will turn to God first. I will spend at least thirty minutes in the Bible and in prayer before doing anything else, including {and especially} social media of any type. 

For the next 21 days {the time it takes to form a new habit}, I'll be searching through His Word, and seeking His advice and checking in with Him and hopefully the pull of social media will begin to wane.  

Is social media taking up lots of your time? 

It is up to us to let the Holy Spirit lead us so that our choices are righteous and our lives maintain a Jesus-glorifying balance. 

Take Care

Enjoy the ride

Last night I sat on the front porch, taking a few moments to relax and listened to the rhythm of the falling rain. Letting it's peaceful sound wash over me as I reflected on my day. 

We took the motorcycle out for a tour….. first heading out for breakfast, then off to the local farmers market and we stopped at a couple of other stores on the way home.  Not really looking for anything in particular, just enjoying the ride!

Sitting on the back of the bike gives me a lot of time to think.  And as I process my thoughts, I realize something ~ future worries, tomorrow’s struggles, and worst-case scenarios are something I tend to focus my thinking on. 

Small or big ~ it doesn’t matter, my worry finds a way to steal the joy from any situation. I become unglued and unraveled and undone, and every now and then, I cannot pull it together quickly enough. 

Sometimes my over~thinking comes from something as simple as the everyday details of life, but it can also paralyze me as I envision how I would respond should something happen.

How about you?  Do you struggle with the unknown of tomorrow? 
Or do you remind yourself of Matthew 6:34 {New International Version {NIV}} “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” 

We need not worry about the future. 

For God himself says “I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  Jeremiah 29:11

So then, let us continue to put our trust in the One who knows what is to come. 

Will you join me?

Take Care

Beware....the spoon robber

For those of us living with an auto-immune illness {Fibromyalgia, Lupus, Lyme Disease, MS - and so on} we have used the “Spoon Theory” to explain or help those in our family what our struggles can be.  

When I first read it, it made total sense, so much so, I told my family and close friends to read it,  I wanted them to better understand me. That may have been a mistake. You see, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Spoon Theory just doesn’t fit my life. 

For one reason ~ I have no clue how many spoons I will have on any given day. For me there is no set amount to wake up with. I cannot bank on having six or twelve or even one spoon. The theory states that going over your energy reserves on Monday, will take away from Tuesday. And that is certainly true. But I can have a completely restful day, and still have nothing in the tank for the next day. Until I open my eyes and take that first wakeful breath, I have no idea what kind of day it will be. 

Often I wake in a morning and think ‘Yes! Today is a good day!’. Then, within hours, or even minutes, the tides have turned. I have used up my stash of spoons and it's not even noon.  I can go from having enough energy to less than zero quicker than the blink of an eye. Sometimes it’s due to a weather change, sometimes it’s stress. Often I have no clue whatsoever what’s happened. 

On top of this. The amount of energy activities take changes on a day to day basis. I cannot plan my day around how much energy things will take from me. Because I do not know. Yes ideally, 1 spoon equals getting out of bed on Monday. But on Wednesday it could use up 3 simply because, I had yet another sleepless night and my joints may feel stiff and rusty. Everything could take ten times more energy. I cannot count on using the same number of spoons to do tomorrow what I managed to do today. 

Finally there’s another complicating factor. Pain. Let me tell you now, you can have all the energy in the world, but if you feel like someone just drove over you with a truck, you’re not going anywhere! Pain entwines through my entire body on a daily basis. I never know how tightly it will grip. On a good day I can hide it. On a bad day it consumes me.  

So yes. The Spoon Theory is fantastic!

It’s an excellent way of describing life with a chronic condition. But unfortunately it gave people the wrong idea. They thought if I rested I could then plan activities. If I worked my day so I didn’t do more than one thing, then I could do that one thing. They had the impression that I had some sort of control. I do not. I try. I try not to let my health rule me. But at best, I’m flying by the seat of my pants on this ever changing roller coaster of pain and fatigue. Either way, it’s a whole lot more complicated than simply rationing my Spoons. 

Though I’ve come to realize it doesn’t fit me, it’s still worth a read!

Take Care

You are here

There are times throughout my life, I find myself asking the question, “How did I end up here?”

“Here”, as defined by dictionary.com,  “in this place, this spot, this location; at this juncture.”

Most times, when I ask the question, I'm in a place or situation where I'm not sure i want to be.

But yet here I am...

I want to learn to be present, to be fully aware of my surroundings.  But sometimes I t’s hard to be here and be accepting of my current situation.

Sometimes I’d rather run over there, or crawl under the covers and hide ~  because surely, the grass is greener on the other side.

But then my heart is convicted. 

I have so much to be thankful for.

How do I learn to fully embrace where He’s placed me?

It’s in the small ~ living moments that life happens.  The everyday, ordinary, simple moments that happen all throughout our day. These are what makes life extraordinary. 

And when we make the most of them, moment by moment, we soon realize that we are here for His glory to fulfill His purpose for our lives. 

Don’t you just love it when God reminds you of something you knew, but forgot you knew?

Yeah, I do too.

Take Care

Best day, evah!

We had an über perfect day to take our daughter and grandson to the beach.

Watching the seagulls, eating lunch, walking along the boardwalk was the best way to spend the day!

How did you spend your day?

Take Care

On repeat

It was another rough night last night. This is the third night in a row now that I am just. Not. Sleeping. 

Again!

It's just so very frustrating. 

And then I wonder do I not sleep because I'm frustrated about not sleeping or, if there is some other cause?

Which of course sends me to Dr, Google and I spend countless hours surfing the web, trying to self-diagnose, why for the love of Pete am I not sleeping. 

Is it menopause?, insomnia?, or is it just another wonderful symptom of fibromyalgia…

I don't know about you, but I am an impatient type of person and like things done in my own way and in my own time.

Like sleeping!

But then I’ll remind myself of Romans 8:28 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” {English Standard Version {ESV}

And while I might not understand the reason for my not sleeping, I will get up {being careful not to wake the sleeping bear beside me} enjoy a cuppa tea, read my bible and 

Because I'm sure He must have reason for why I keep waking. 

Take Care

A Day at the Beach

Because sometimes you need a day to rest, relax and read. 

The hubs and I spent yesterday afternoon at the local beach.  Enjoying the sun, a picnic lunch and he played a few games of beach volleyball, while I simply read.  That is until we were rained out.  

Not going to complain about the rain though, we needed that far more than we need a beach day.  We've got a few weeks of summer left before he's back to driving bus, I'm sure we'll try again.  

Take Care

'Fraidy cat

Confession: I am afraid of a lot.

Snakes … Spiders … Getting lost … Walking into a room full of people … Bees … The unknown... Finance trouble... Speaking in public … Frogs … Saran wrap … Mice … Pansies …  What if’s …  

and this is just the short list…

Fear is one of my biggest problems. I often times let fear rule my life more than putting my faith in God. 

Tell me I am not the only one!

There are so many things to fear though, aren’t there? Too many bad things that could happen in life, right?  It seems like we or perhaps I am the only one who spends an inordinate amount of time coming up with a list of everything that could go wrong.  And rather than considering that God knows what He’s doing and trusting Him, I immediately roll out a long list of what-ifs.

If we’re constantly worrying, then our actions are saying, “God, I don’t really trust You.

When you look back over your life and you really give God credit for what He's done, it's easier to trust Him. God has our best interests in mind. He knows our hearts. He knows what we need. Therefore, we can trust Him with our entire life.

So why do we worry? 

If you’re like me and are struggling to trust God with some areas of your life, let me tell you a secret… the only way to deal with it is to admit what you’re afraid of, and then give it all to God.  Easy?  Not really.  What I’m saying is that we must allow God to give us the strength, wisdom, and courage to overcome our fear. And then trust Him to give us the power needed to overcome the fear. 

How about you? Are you putting your faith in the what-ifs? Are you laden with worries, 
anxieties, and fears?  

Or do you “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”  Proverbs 3:5 {New International Version {NIV}}

However, you still won’t find me planting any pansies…

Take Care 

So I write

I’d never really thought of myself as a writer... although I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. I filled notebooks with oodles of diary entries, marking the details of my life, ~ the ups, the downs and everything in between.

Then there was the journals and notebooks filled again with words, I'd hope no one else would ever read. Life became a wee bit hectic after having three kids in four years and I journaled some… but those were a record, not an outlet. There just wasn’t time or maybe I didn't have the courage to hold a pen to paper and tell my story. 

Then one day I stumbled across the world of blogging. Oh. My. Gosh. You mean I could write my words and someone would actually read them!! That was my first thought.

And my second thought? Oh. My. Gosh. You mean I could write my words and someone would actually read them? 

Kinda exciting and a wee bit scary!  But the urge to write was stronger than the fear. So I created a blog and I wrote some posts.

I’ve never looked back again…. and here I am 9 years later.

And so I write…. 

But to call myself a writer? Nah!

Take Care

never say never

ahhh summer! it's finally slowing down and stretching out, and i’ve found a rhythm that is helping…. 

it’s becoming my new reality and i’m more and more comfortable with the fact that i am not and will likely never be on top of things. you see, when i’m in the middle of a flare up i struggle… thinking that i will never get my life back in order.

i wonder if God has chuckled at some of my “nevers.” 

like the time i said, “i am never going to marry a farmer.”  little did i know that God already had a farmer picked out for me and this fall, that farmer and i will be celebrating 30 years of marriage! 

i love how God has a way of working in our hearts. how He can change our perspectives to line up with His, our plans to His plans, and our “nevers” into beautiful realities. 

but sometimes i still wonder: is what I’m doing matter? am i making any sort of difference? does anyone else struggle like this? will i never get it together? 

am i the only one who whispers such questions? 

and so i wait…. impatiently and imperfectly and through this process, He wants for me to understand the value of “Philippians 4:13”

Take Care

It's a choice

Remember this post?  where I revealed my one word.   That one word I was going to spend this year focusing on.  That one word I was going to try to live my life by. 

I find it interesting that when I do not consciously think about my one word, I have quite the opposite experience.  So rather than being content I've become discontent.

Oh, the irony!

Too often I find myself focusing on what I don't have rather than what I do have... especially when I am in an active season of my illness.  It is far too easy to feel down about this, that, and everything else.

I guess it's choosing to be more thankful. The word thanks just lifts your spirit. To say thanks is to celebrate the gift. 

Something. 

Anything.

Everything. 

Too often we are too quick with our assessment of what God's gifts are. Especially if they're limitations according to the world.  

But we should still thank Him moment by moment. 

Day by day. 

And make the choice to be content. 

“Not that I was ever in need, 

for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.” Philippians 4:11 {New Living Translation {NLT}}

Take Care