Every Ray of Sunshine Casts a Shadow

"Every Ray of Sunshine casts a shadow" was a statement given by Pastor this morning in Sunday service. As I frantically wrote this in the back of my bible........he went on to say, if you can't make it through the shadows of our lives, how in the world can we ever really appreciate the sunshine at it's fullest. I am such a visual person.....and as I sat in my favorite spot on that very back row of the santuary......I visualized many of my friends and family in the shadows of their lives. I could not wait to come home and blog this thought today before every bit of it just got wiped clean from my brain.

Let's put this into persective shall we?? Even on the clearest, sunniest day......where the sky is blue......somewhere else it might be raining. Like today, it is black, cloudy, rainy...thundering all around....but maybe today in TN or CO the sun is shining bright. When we are in the shadow places in our lives....we have to always be rest assured that the SUN WILL SHINE AGAIN. We don't always see it....but the perfect example of TOMORROW is a NEW DAY!

Something else Pastor touched on.......is you must make the distinction between Happiness and Joy. I thought they were the same. Apparently I was not........Happiness = Things, friends, tangable.......JOY = NOT dependent on circumstances and things....the total dependency on God and that he will bring you through the shadows or rainy day(s). We are all faced with daily challenges, stresses, anxieties, things that could really take it's toll on us and totally rob us from our JOY! We are human and our emotions sometimes rule our world whether or not they are consumed by thoughts or worry.....we feel consumed just the same.

To any of you who are walking in the shadows today, the sun in not shining in your emotional life because of the heavy things your are facing, I say to you, never loose sight that the sun will shine again. Just like the weather.......when it is rainy for a few days....sooner or later.....we all know the law of physics...it will shine again. You might be in a dark place and you may have lost the confidence that it will shine on you again....but I promise it will....and you will breath a sigh and know you have survived. If you are swimming upstream it is to only make you strong.....there is a reason you are in the test or trial, but you are the fittest of the fittest and you will come though the other side in the blue sky, sun on your face....knowing that you made it....learning a bit from it I hope so as to not return to the same lesson more then once. Try to take grasp of what the lesson God is trying to teach you.....try to see the wisdom He is trying to instill in you.....and try to remember, that this is just the shadow....and the rainy day....and joy does come in the morning.

Not sure who this was for....but I know that I needed to be reminded today that this life we live....we live day by day. What one day brings doesn't mean that tomorrow will be the same.....is certainly is a choice and a perspective. If it were sunny everyday we would take it for granted.....so the reasons for the shadows sometimes are clear........it truely makes me appreciate the sunny days....when life is a little brighter. I will pray for all my friends today....and pray the sunshine returns soon in your spot of the world. Until next time bloggers...Happy Blogging!

Survival of the Fittest!

Coach K challenged at the beginning of March.....Character building....that is health for every individual to do. So, I took her challenge to learn more about myself.......and this is what we have topiced......

HUMILITY
CONTENTMENT
SELF CONTROL
PATIENCE
BOUNDARIES / STRESSERS
COURAGE

All in all....I was able to look deep inside my heart and with the help of others....see that I need work on all of the areas for successful character building. The one I think that I strugged with the most Coach K is patience. soooooooo out of all of them....I will challenge the next 30 days to embrace the trials of my daily grind and greet the character building that God has begun. Not that I have mastered by any means the other lovely traits........but I know that Patience is the one I struggle with the most. So that brings us to Survival of the fittest!

Just like the picture of the salmon........trying to make it up stream...that is how I feel sometimes......my daily life......trying to swim up stream....against all odds....against the current....against the easy flow........with trials and test hitting me sometimes from all sides, however, it has been proven to me over and over....I am a survivor...and not a quiter!

I was talking to a dear friend the other day.....and she is dieting like all of us are.....and has taken up a new dance class....she commented to me....that she feels so out of place....but her waiste is slimming and she has lost weight and feels better about herself more and more every day. Since January...I beleive she said she has lost 14 lbs! I gave her a high five. I told her that I beleive that God brings us to hurdles for a reason...maybe one of the most NON OBVIOUS reasons...is for us to learn these lost character traits....if you are in a place where you feel humiliated...maybe God is trying to teach you humility....if you are in a place where you feel impatient all the time....maybe He is trying to instill patience......once acheived at the level where God knows you really "got it" maybe the lessons will weaken. BUT no matter what lesson we are trying to learn to build character......there will be a reason. Maybe someday down the road, a dear friend or family member will walk down the same path....and you will be there....to walk the road with that person....because you have already walked the same path and you can actually have more then sympathy for that person....you will be empathic as well......as you have walked it! You see, only the fittest of the fittest will survive because we do not have another option. We are born to survive!

So whatever God is trying to instill in your character.....we have learned this month.....to EMBRACE it.....it is character building time.....not a personal vendetta against you....to see if you will crack....but an OPPROTUNITY to SUCCESSFULLY build QUALITY characteristics that will help you the rest of your JOURNEY! Again....the old addage.....The rocks in the road...may make you stumble or stop.......just to ponder....but not to derail you....if you are derailed...that is when you use your option to "call a friend" to help you over the bolder....and move forward...knowing that you are treuly the fittest of the fittest.

I guess even without being told what to blog...the "bloggest" didn't do to bad....still waiting for the "blogger" for further direction....so until then....happy blogging everyone...and if you are struggling today.......I will pray for you...as we are on on a path....to the same destination....we just are all on different stretches of highway to get there! See you next time everyone.

Courage She Challenged!

Courage.......I embraced anything except patience today! LOL Kathy challenged a blog on courage...and it comes in many forms.....courage to just get up in the morning.....courage to face another day......courage to fight a battle that we fought yesterday......COURAGE! Let's bring it on!

i think that courage is another way to say......hurdle over the rocks in the road! Daily! Not just one hurdle at a time....but what ever it is in your life.....be it.....your diet or weight......your jeans not fitting........your husband...your kids.........your son being wayward or your daughter not listening and thinking she knows what is best and everything at the age of 18..........courage comes in so many forms it is scary!

We take these forms in our character and try to sooooo build on it.....and thank God for Coach K....to remind us....that courage is soooo necessary to survive the dialy gind of life......to just get through the first battle of the morning of lets get to school.....and then the second...yes you have to eat breakfast........and then....OH GOLLY what is for dinner....there are so many things in our dialy lives that need courage..and that is why......that courage is soooo important!

Happy Blogging everyone.....i found this soooo much easier to talk about then patience....don't tell Kathy....she might next time spend a whole week on impatience! LOL See you all tomorrow!

Learn the art of patience. Apply discipline to your thoughts when they become anxious over the outcome of a goal. Impatience breeds anxiety, fear, discouragement and failure. Patience creates confidence, decisiveness, and a rational outlook, which eventually leads to success.
Brian Adams

I was not very happy today when I logged in Kathy's Blogspot to find the challenge on Patience. I looked for a patience test online, and decided to just painly admit that I have very little patience.......I don't need any of my best friends to over anylize me....I am a big girl.......and can stay, I have very little and need to work on this area of my life.

I have no patience with stupidity, puzzles, boiling water (even though I have the eye on high) waiting in traffic, computer problems I can't figure out, someone calling me back, summer coming, electronic equipment failures, my kids messy rooms, my girls not wanting to go to school...dishes in the sink when you can load the dishwasher.....I guess...that is a small list of impatience.

I guess the above quote really sums it up that patience is truely an art and as the bible puts it a Fruit of the Spirit. It takes self control and discipline to not become anxious over the outcome of a goal. Impatience does really breed anxiety, fear, discouragement and failure. Patience creates confidence, decisiveness, and a rational outlook, which eventually leads to success. I do want to have success and not failure.....so as Kathy said on day one of the challange.....Humility and Self Control do have something to do with patience. To know someones challenges with character issues it is important to know about your personality profile. So as I peer into the own life and heart (since I am admitting things here) the otter personality would truely be one that patiece doesn't come very easily too. The otter at heart is only worried about one thing.....where is the playmate or who can I play with today??? The Lion in my personality (which isn't alot) is the one who keeps me on track, but I have discovered these past few weeks, that I do have detail in my personality and strong character traits...I find that I just have to work hard for really stay on task........so I guess, I can start today to try to be more patient.

I am not a road rager......but do get impatience with slower drivers........So, thank you Coach K for the lovely reminder of PATIENCE and it's importace in our lives. I will start a new day tomorrow, and will remind myself of the challenge before me, to take one day at a time.....to be patient instead of flying off the handle when the impatience challenge raises it's ugly head. I will be "CONSCIENCE" tomorrow to try to be patient in an impatient world. I will take a ONE DAY challenge to record my impatiet daily behavior and be honest enough to blog it. So, until tomorrow, happy blogging everyone....and heres to the otter in me....to learn the patience of the beaver! OH GOSH! THis will be more challenging than I thought.

Stressers - Bounderies - Ultimately Self Control!

Auntie K hit this right on the nose about self control. It is more then how we react to certain issues in our life......Self Control also entails how we manage from day to day. How many committments we make and think we can juggle all of it without cracking. Stressers of just the daily grind and the self control to just sort out what we can take on.....again.....BOUNDERIES!

We all have the one or two things that we like to do that helps us with our every day stresses. How we handle the unlimited of thought and things in just one day to accomplish. The many, many directions that others pull us into, not to mention the directions that we go on our own. Yes, Kathy....that too, is self control....learning sometimes to only take on what we know we can do in a 24 hour period without feeling overwhelmed.

"Stress is a feeling that's created when we react to particular events. It's the body's way of rising to a challenge and preparing to meet a tough situation with focus, strength, stamina, and heightened alertness." I liked this description as it was a little more on the positive side of life. Rising to the challenge and preparing to meet a tough situation. However, then there are the things in life, you don't have time to prepare for........like sudden changes on a dime things that add to the already frazzled mind of many of us. And when they are unexpected, the only thing you can do.....is let go of some of the less important things mentally in our minds.....to make room for dealing with the unexpected bigger stuff.

But also remembering that tomorrow is a new day....and somehow, sleep (if you sleep) is a rejuivinator and will help you think more clearly the next day. Somehow.......there is JOY IN THE MORNING as the bible says....and I truely know the meaning of that. I am learning that no matter what I am faced with today.....some how....the joy comes in the morning as I learn to trust in Him a bit more and as I learn to regroup daily. Life is daily. We can't live our lives like we have forever....we can only be promised the moment we have.

Embrace the learning of building the character of "self control". As we work on ourselves together....through each character that will take structure.......take shape......begin to build in us.......in that.....we will be better woman! Better wives.....better mommy's........better in everything we do. But most of all.......down the road.......when we have gotten a little closer to the person we need to be.......we will stand proud and know.....that we might be an inspiration to some one struggling with something that we were able to get through. So, come on girls, embrace it.......let it truely let you learn who we are.....and who we really want to be. Happy blogging....and until next time............and what ever your struggle with SELF CONTROL.......YOU CAN DO IT YOU ARE NEVER ALONE!

Do I have Self Control?

0 —no problem

1 —slight problem

2 —occasional problem

3 —noticeable problem

4 —major problem

5—chronic problem

Be as accurate as possible, there is no time limit but usually the first reaction is the most accurate.

1. Do you binge clean? For example, in stead of doing your dishes after every meal you wait until they pile up to the ceiling, with no cutlery left and are finally forced out of necessity to do your dishes?

2. Is your car a mess? Do you allow you car to fill up with garbage until you can’t see the floor?

3. Is reading the bible and prayer a form of damage control? Do you only read the bible and pray when you are struggling or depressed or your life has become in a state of chaos?

4. When you have a bag of peanut butter cookies (or your favorite treat) sitting in your cupboard, you cannot get it out of your mind? Either you throw the bag out in anger or there is nothing left but crumbs and a sore tummy?

5. Do you binge exercise because you are frustrated with your physical shape or condition, but the exercise only lasts for a few days?

6. Do you unconsciously bite your nails, pick your nose, pick your teeth, or have any unconscious behavior patterns in which you wish you never had, but can’t seem to over come? This is a tough one, you may have to ask someone who is close to you. (or ask your best freind who knows you better then anyone!) Ethel I want to know what my score is from your eyes! LOL

7. Do you watch TV to escape the blues or depression?

8. Are you driven by your emotions? In other words, do you live differently when you are happy than when you are down? For instance, when you become depressed you become dysfunctional, having a difficult time being productive in what ever your doing.

9. Are you a binge spender? You spend money not because of necessity, but because it feels good? Are you able to keep a savings?

10. Do you daydream a lot?

11. Do you make decisions out of fear?

12. If you are faced with a difficult situation, do you constantly roll the problem over in your mind becoming anxious and worrying?

13. Do you find it impossible to lose weight?

14. Are you filled with guilt? For example, after eating a rich meal.

15. Do you have a problem with controlling any form of drugs whether it be alcohol, tobacco, pain killers, even chocolate or caffeine?

16. Do you have a problem with any form of sexual perversion, whether it be fantasizing, pornography or paging through the Sears catalog?

17. Are you always late? Rushing around, but never being on time.?

18. When you do a job, do you clean up after your finished, or leave it to another time?

19. Do you start many books but rarely finish them?


20. Do you leave your dirty underwear or socks behind the bathroom door, or anywhere for that matter? You continue to do so even after your spouse has begged you to pick them up?


Scoring your results


The possible range of scoring is between zero, and one hundred. The
higher the score, the greater the difficulty with self-control.

For example, if you scored zero, there must be an internet connection in heaven, or you are walking in the fullness of Christ, (or you didn't get your wife to help you answer the questions.) But if you scored in the high seventies and eighties, then God’s greatest desire for you is to set you free! So read with a surrendered heart.

Christ said, be filled with the Holy Spirit! This is God’s will for you, and the fruit of the Spirit is self-control, not fear-control, guilt-control, or craving-control.

I was talking to my best buddy about the last test posted by Auntie K and thought I did pretty good, but she informed me that she took my test based on what she sees in me.....maybe that is the most honest way to get an answer..........not on how we view ourselves, but rather...how we are viewed by others........I scored myself a 30 on this one. There were questions on here that I didn't have an issue with...and then others of course that I knew.......once I read them....that I needed to work on. I consider myself a person with self control unless pinned in a corner.

So even based on a good day, I know that there are parts of my character that God would want me to be ever mindful about......and it starts today. So, be challenged too today, to allow yourself to be honest and work on the areas in your character that will bring you closer to Him and make you a better person inside. Happy Blogging everyone.

Character Challenge......SELF CONTROL!

Character Challenge......SELF CONTROL! Self Control is one of the things that can get me in trouble the fastest...maybe why Auntie K felt that it was a character builder. Self Control huh I said???? What is to be said about self control. Well, like Kathy said, it can be in many facits of our lives....for me.......it is thinking before I speak....this is something that for about a year....I am trying to get to where I do not blurt out my feelings off the cuff of my sleeve...and really try to think through what I am saying.......it does work better...but takes more brain power.....my natural reaction is to just react........immediately on anything....whether it is anger, happiness....frustration...no matter the emotion the reaction for me is the same....usually very spontanious with out thinking first.

So, I find it very funny that Kathy would challenge this self control for us. I find that I have to slow down and really think about things........I still blow it....but I feel that I am learning and know this will be life long acheivement. Self Control is something that I do pride myself in having in many areas in my life......but there are areas in my life that do need improvement.......I will take the challenge given to me.....and work on the outer areas that are need for positive character building.

One of the hardest areas is my response to my husband when he angers me.......and I have been praying that God will help me....really learn how to react better this 2010. It is not easy to change...but as Coach K said........if we realize that change is for the best...and we realize we need to change....then the pain of change is not so great..........so I will embrace this need for change and more self control in the scattered areas of my life....in the junk drawers of my life....and accept the need and the desire to change as it will make me a better person. We all have the junk drawers...they are the places in our lives that we can be cluttered and close the drawer and no one knows that inside the drawer is messy! Sooooooo I hope you too, will take this challenge.....to clean out the junk drawers.....with me...and the areas in your own life that need self control........if you can learn daily how to tame it......change it....down the road......you will too, be a wiser person and healthier. So, happy blogging everyone...and cheers to you all......and the outcome of being a person with better self control!