What GOD Has Taught Me Sunday: I Am who HE Says I Am

 Photo off of Pixaba 

So, today after class I had a chocolate doughnut.  Then Barrett had a deacon's meeting and I had a cookie n cream milkshake from Steak n Shake. Well, needless to say I got stuff all over my shirt.  As I sat there watching people watch me get stuff all over myself, my first instinct was to be embarrassed.  Then I started thinking about a song that we had sung that morning.  I want to say it went like this "I am because the I AM says I am."  

Being disabled, I've spent most of my life feeling like I was inadequate.  No matter how often my parents, teachers or friends told me how special, smart, or loved I am/was, I never thought I was good enough.  {it is only been since I was in my forties that I've realized most people feel  EXACTLY the same way!}  However, people have felt this way since the beginning of time.  Cain did kill his own brother because God said his sacrifice didn't equal Able's.  

Truth is, none of us measure up...We can't...Once Adam and Eve sinned and lost their footing with GOD,  we did too.  It's only the blood of CHRIST that can save us from sin so that we can be reunited with GOD and spend eternity with HIM in HEAVEN.  We don't have to try to be someone we are not.HE meets and accepts us where we are.  We can't be good enough; we can't wash a stained shirt and have it come out quite as white as it was when we first go it.  I find it uncanny that one of the elements that cause the worst stains; blood, is the same element that Jesus used to save us from our sins.  

 Better than Oxy Clean!

Friday Fall - Gospel of the Candy Corn

  Holy Trinty.pdf

Candy corn is one of my favorite fall treats - probably one of my favorite candies EVER (next to peeps, of course!!!)

The Gospel of the Candy Corn goes like this:

The yellow is the base - GOD the FATHER

The orange represents the JESUS. the SON:  GOD, the FATHER sent JESUS HIS SON to suffer and die for our sins.  HE rose on the 3rd day so that we can live with GOD in Heaven  forever

The white stands for the HOLY SPIRIT:  When JESUS ascended into HEAVEN, HE promised to send a helper, a comforter.   This Comforter is our GUIDE here on earth until it is time for us to live with GOD the FATHER and JESUS the SON .

The TRINTY is made up of GOD the FATHER, JESUS the SON, and the HOLY SPIRIT:  they are three different identities, but they make up one BEING. 

 

So next time you're eating candy corn, remember the FATHER, the SPIRIT, and the SON! 

 

Thankful Thursday: Why its Important to Be Thankful

Sometimes, it may be difficult to identify one certain that you're thankful for.  You know there are million different things, but maybe because of your mood and/or the situation you're in at the time, you may find it hard to pinpoint an exact thing you're grateful for.

Sigh...That's where I am today.

To be thankful is a verb.  I am going to choose something to be thankful for...

I am thankful that we had a good tech today.  Her name is Dominique.  She is our regular tech Monday thru Friday from 6 in the morning to 2 in the afternoon.  She knows how to do her job well and efficiently.  She always has a good attitude towards us and does not make us feel bad when we need something.

I think it's important to tell people we appreciate them.  Sometimes it may be the only bright spot in their day.  Too many of us feel that we are entitled to things and don't have to say "THANK YOU", especially to those people whose job is to "serve us".

BUT... When we are the ones who serve, we expect to be thanked and are offended when we aren't.

We...are...HYPOCRITS! 

Doesn't everyone deserve kindness?  Even if; especially if, they don't deserve it.

Mathew 5:38-40(NIV)

"You have heard it said: 'Eye for eye and tooth for tooth.  But I tell you, do not resist an evil person.  If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other cheek also.  And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well."

I think if we all treated each other life we like we would want to be treated, the world would be a much better place.

 

Wednesday' s Word - Determination

We all have it...

It is that small voice that lives deep within the soul that tells us we can do something.  I have had a strong sense of determination since the moment I took my first breath or didn't take my first breath; however, you choose to look at it.  (I was strangled by the umbilical cord when I was born.)  So, I literally had to fight for my first breath.  The doctors gave my parents a laundry list of things that, if I survived, I would never be able to do.  They even gave my parents an "out" by telling them they should abandon me at the hospital and walk away; free and clear.

Nothing enlights determination mort than telling you that you "CAN'T" do something.  Whether you call it a strong will, fight or flight, or something else, our natural instinct is to fight for our life. I've heard people say that if you try to hold your breath in order to take your own life,  you'll eventually pass out and start breathing again.

With my parents' support and determination, I was able to achieve and surpass most of my dream; I'm still not a world-renowned ballerina!!!

We think of determination as a positive thing, and it is, but I think it can also be negative. Sir Issac Newton says "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.  If you're not striving to succeed, while you're not necessarily saying I don't want to succeed, it may be saying I don't have enough determination for a particular thing.

I think we have to remember our interests and abilities.  Something you want may be something I could care less about, and my 100% may be your 20%.  This is how God wired us.

***Please note if you try hard and strive for what you and don't get it, YOU ARE NOT A FAILURE!!!***

We may be determined to succeed at something but don't get whatever we pursue.  The fact that we did not accomplish what we set out to achieve may not have anything to do with the determination that we have in our hearts.  Too many people have determination and success inner twined so tight that the heart gets lost behind the vines

I do everything from my heart, so of course, My determination is in sync with how my heart feels.  I have learned in a short 48 years that I can't get or do everything I want-yeah, (Am I a slow learner or am I very determined???).

So what do you want or need and determined are you to get it?

About Me Tuesday - Ms. Sharber

I have had many strong women in my life, so I'll be blogging about many of them.  Today I want to talk about Mrs. Sharber.

Ms. Eula Sharber was an elderly African American woman whou taught Sunday Scool in our church (St. Pius X) She was prodably in her mid 70's when I first met her.  I only mention her race because at the time 1 knew her, her race did effect her manorism.

She was one of the godliest women I've ever known  All you had to do was to look into her smiling face and you knew you were in thwe presence of God!   I went to a Catholic school, so I ddn't "have" to go to Sunday School; but I loved it and went every chance I got.

St. Pius went once a month to Broduex hospital.     You had  to be 13 to go.  So, as soon as I turned 13, she started taking me.  It was here where my passion for the elderly started.  This led me to study Social Work and Gerentology at MTSU  I believe that  studing these subjects prepared me for living in a nursing home.

One of my greatest memories of Sunday School was going to St. Mary's Bookstore on West End.  Every year they would open for ]one Sunday before Christmas.  Going St. Mary's always made me feel so special!

Ms. Sharber gave me my first "adult" bible

When she turned 85 (I think) Mama & Daddy let me give her a "surprize"   party.  (I think Mama did tell her, so she wasn't "shocked" to death.  I think she had a great time.  She got me back when she gave me a surprise sweet 16 party a few months later.

Daddy was the one who told me when she died.

Her funeral aboustltly broke my heart.   I think there were less than 20 people there and less than that at the cementary.  All I could think of how sad it was thet some who had blessed people sho much when she was alive.  (Yes, I know a funeral is for the living, but it was still sad.)

Ms. Sharber difinely had a hand in the (godly, I hope) woman I am today.

 

Mental Health Mondays - Self Harms

 

*Disclaimer-I am NOT talking about suicide here.- Disclaimer*

Self-harm is a hard subject to talk about.  People naturally think; Why would anyone  to hurt themselves.  I think it may be easier to accept a person taking their own life than to know someone who physically hurt themselves.

All I can do is speak for myself.  

For me it wasn't really about physically hurting myself, it was more of a psychological release.   I get all these pent up negative that keep building up in side of me.  I didn't want to physically hurt others, so hurting myself was the only logical solution.

I think it started out with the biting..  It was the easiest thing to do when I was little.  I never bit myself hard enough to cause pain,  It a cry out of frustration.  Biting myself was easy.  The a close proximity of my arm to my mouth allowed me to bite myself, often without anyone even noticing. 

Hitting myself was, is, a 2 ply reaction.  The is the natural, in the moment, state of hitting the side of the head with close fists.  This wast more obvious and was used when I wanted people to see my frustrations.

Then there was the there was the head banging.  I would literally bang my head against the wall.  I  mostly did this one in private. I believed, and I wish I could say this belief was only when I was little, that if brain damage caused the CP and all its problem , then maybe it I caused more brain damage would reverse it...(Yeah, didn't think one out clearly.).

My latest vice is pulling my hair out.  This goes from simply my hair gently pulling my hair one strand at a time to ripping out fistfuls of hair.  .  This too can be done in a minuscule way so no one knows you doing it.  If I keep my hair put up, I'm less likely to pull it

So, that's the ugly, uglier and ugliest of self harm.

Verse of the week: Sin's Crouching at the Door

Sin is crouching at the door... but you must rule over it.

Gen 4:7(CSB)

OK, Is it wried that I like the word crouch?  (I think it's a writer's thing just to find some words interesting. (No comments needed from the Norman Boys!!))  When someone is crouching they are deep in thought, ready to pounce or plan something strategically and sometimes even sneaky.  It requires great precision.  This is how Satan is with sin.  He waits until just the right time with just the right bait in order to entice us into sin.  What may cause me to sin, may not be the same thing that causes you to sin

This is why we all need our own personal relationship with God so that we have what we need to stand firm against the enemy.