For people like me who wage a daily war with depression, there is a phrase that pops up every so often, and we grow weary of saying it: "I'm depressed... Again." It's frustrating, upsetting, and draining. "Will this ever completely disappear? Surely people are sick of my black cloud... I know I am." You know you have to face the day again tomorrow. You know you'll likely wonder why you bothered to get out of bed. You feel like nobody cares. There is One who always cares. He already knows you're hurting. He holds all your tears in a bottle. He watches the ongoing fight.
Tag: #PressOn
No tests?
The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the Lord tests hearts. ~ Proverbs 17:3 ESV My children have taught me a great deal about parenting. For instance: when I was a starry-eyed parent-to-be I said things like, "I'll never yell at my children. I'll never say, 'because I said so.'… Continue reading No tests?
Feeling overwhelmed?
Somewhere, right now, there is a young mother standing in her house, the fingertips of both hands pressed into her head in frustration. The house gets cleaned, only to be dirty within a few minutes. She sits down to rest only to be interrupted by another of her children. The sink is clogged, the repairman is calling, the bills need paying and dinner needs preparing. Somewhere, right now, somebody you know is feeling overwhelmed. It might even be you.
Who do I tell?
Have you ever had your heart crushed by someone who was supposed to be a friend? Enemies can attack and leave some bruising, but nothing is as devastating as being hurt, neglected, ignored or betrayed by a loved one. Enemy attacks are like surface wounds; friend's attacks cut to the bone. When you feel this way, where do you take your pain? To whom do you relay your frustration?
“Little Faith” — Good, bad, or simply a start? (Coffee Chat 15)
With all the big leaps I've taken lately, my mind has travelled several times to the account of Peter stepping out on the water in the middle of a storm. There are a plethora of songs that allude to this idea of stepping out in faith/walking on water. Many focus on Peter sinking the moment… Continue reading “Little Faith” — Good, bad, or simply a start? (Coffee Chat 15)
Progress Report – February 2016
Remember those goals/resolutions you created at the beginning of the year? You do? Wait... you don't? Where's your list of goals? "oh, right.... that list was in my head." "Goals? What goals?" "My New Year's Resolutions? Well... Uh..." That's where a lot of people are by this point in the year---all those great plans are often under a pile of papers or covered in dust. If you are on track with most of your goals for the year, congratulations! Keep up the good work! If you still have your list of goals and have fallen behind, there's no time like the present to rev them up again.
It’s time to break camp!
A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. ~ Proverbs 16.9, NKJV When I was young, I had very definite ideas about what I wanted to achieve in life. I wanted to have enough money to live in a nice big house in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I wanted a college degree, a good career and a good church to worship with. I wanted to be married, have children. I wanted to have it all. There's a funny truth about our crazy dreams: while many are attainable, they are not necessarily attainable together. I couldn't have everything without sacrificing something.
And the greatest of these is….? (Comparison Cure #5)
It always comes down to love, doesn't it? Do you rejoice when your child does well? How about your spouse? Why? Because you love them!
The Humility Remedy (Comparison Cure #3)
Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man… It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition is gone, pride is gone. C.S. Lewis
Acceptance: what it is and what it is not. (Comparison Cure#2)
So often we think we've been dealt a bad hand. We see God as unjust and unfair---though I daresay we only think it in our heart. The truth is, Satan is trying to pull us away from God by any and every means possible. Satan will use wealth and prosperity to create pride, apathy and complacency. He inspired concentration camps to create despair and hopelessness. He destroys families, feeds loneliness and abandonment so that people will seek help outside of God, falling deeper into his clutches. God is not unaware of what goes on, and we are never beyond his reach. God is able to transform any agonizing trial into something glorious if we accept the situation and allow Him to work.
Elihu's Corner 