Stress = Self

I have been having a very stressful couple of days and I realized that I was slipping into an old, destructive habit or behaviour. Notice that I have already 'realized' it? That is the first positive sign. Well, stress does not come from God and when I am feeling it I have two options to choose from: 1.) Give it to God to handle and trust Him to help me deal with the cause of the stress. 2.) Ignore the need to turn it over to God and try to handle it my own way.

I have found myself in the face of stresses making the choice not to pray it through. Now, don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean I am not praying nor does it mean that I am not reading my Word. What it means is that I am only going through the motions in regard to what is really at the root of my stress. In other words, when I feel the stress I get busy with something other than what is bothering me. I may even get busy praying for someone else or studying the Bible. However, I have successfully avoided releasing the stress and the cause or root of the stress to God.

Why am I so dumb sometimes? I KNOW better than trying to deal with things on my own! I am no different than the Israelites who made the same DUMB things over and over. Okay, I have come to the point where I am ready to confess my self-centeredness that keeps me from turning it over to Jesus. It seems like such a contradiction but that is exactly what it is...Self-Centeredness! Whenever I take my eyes off the Author and Finisher of my faith, I turn my eyes to myself. I can dress it up, oh so prettily, but the bottom line is the same it is SELF that comes before Christ.

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Weekend Wrap-Up

Well, I can be called a lot of things and the names are not always nice ones; however, I cannot be called a boring mom. I know my son often says "I'm bored!" but he finally admitted that it is usually to see what I can come up with for him to stay occupied. Figures! Well, this weekend we picked up his friend, D'Angelo, and headed to the Lake County Reptile Swap in Grayslake, IL. where we all perused the wide variety of creepy crawly critters. We came home with four new snakes. I guess Grammy Elaine won't be visiting any time soon. (Just kidding!) She handles most things like that with appropriate grace. Now if it had been one of the many tarantula's we had seen I would not be joking and that would be a definite bad move on my part, the little corn snakes are just too cute and so pretty. Harmless little fella's who like to wiggle and squirm. I will have to post some pictures soon.

The Sabbath was quite nice and quiet and time to reflect on how good our Father is and how much He has blessed each of us!

February

It is here! This is always a good month for me because it keeps me in perspective. My birthday is this month along with my sister's, my second mom's, my nephew's, and many others. That is not really the reason for making it a good month except in the sense that it brings everything around full circle for me. You see unlike some people who start setting goals and making plans around the first of the year for me it is always the 28th of February that resets my goals and plans for the year. I will know what it is that I plan to accomplish and how I am going to do it in the next 24 days. I will post it in my journal and keep tabs on my progress throughout the following 12 months until February 2009 rolls along. It is even more exciting as cheering in a New Year because for me it is "Another Year" that God has blessed me with and I don't take that lightly. I am still working on my list and it is going to be a good one for 2008 and already I can see that He is going to grow me and stretch me in ways I haven't been stretched before.

I have been staying up-to-date with Kendra's blog and I am having longings for simpler life, more kids, healthier lifestyle, and more exersise.. Hmmm. I may have to pop over and see her soon!