Confronting

Doing things you’ve put off and doing things you may not necessarily want to do, but know you probably should, reveals a lot of what’s going on inside your mind and heart.

We are in the last week of our cleanse, and some of the things I’ve realized/confronted again:

🔹How often I snacked before because I wanted to be “doing something” and couldn’t sit still. • 𝘐 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘹𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺.

🔹How often I had urges of treating because I thought it would make me feel better or less stressed. • 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘧𝘺 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥.

I knew that the cleanse would do these things, which is one of the reasons we put it off for so long.

I knew I was going to confront all the ways I was turning to everything else rather than turning to God and believing He was the answer to all.

And that’s why we avoid right?

Because the confronting is hard.

It’s sobering.

But my friend, it is also healing.

It’s also freeing.

But you do have to take the step of not putting it off anymore.

You do have to go through the confronting.

Friend, what have you been avoiding taking steps toward because of all the thoughts and emotions it will bring up?

Commit today to trust that God has your back and will carry you through it every step of the way.

He wants to free you just as much, if not more, than you wanting to be freed from it. ✝️

#overcomingwithgrace

Gospel Centered Marriage

When someone we love is going through illnesses or other painful things, the thoughts we think can cause more pain for both people involved.

Here are some alternate ways that offer more hope and healing for both:

He doesn’t understand me! ➡️ 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗯𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝘁𝗼𝗼.

She hurt me! ➡️ 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗯𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼𝗼.

I can’t believe he said/did that! ➡️ 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝗢𝗧𝗛 𝗼𝗳 𝘂𝘀.

She isn’t helping me! ➡️ 𝗜𝘁 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗮𝘄𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀.

I didn’t sign up for this. ➡️ 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗕𝗢𝗧𝗛 𝗼𝗳 𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿?

When we remember our marriage is a picture of the #Gospel, we get a small glimpse of how Jesus laid His life down for us, so we could live.

We are the ones who look to our own pains and needs, and instead of doing the same, He looked at ours to make a way for us!

How can we reflect on this more in our lives, whether you’re the giver or receiver of these statements, and have your marriage represent more of the Gospel?

#chronicillnesslife #gospelcenteredmarriage #overcomingwithgrace

Chronic Illness: Not Your Emotional Death Sentence

What we think about our pain and chronic illness cause us more suffering than the pain itself.

I know many times we tend to feel like we are burdens.

No doubt that it makes our physical pain worse, and then the vicious cycle not only continues, but grows.

Remind yourself that your symptoms are just that: symptoms from your various health conditions.

They’re neither good, nor bad, they just are.

What you make it mean can potentially cause more pain and suffering, and I’ve experienced that first hand.

The good news is that YOU get to decide whether it does lead to that, or lead to something else that makes you stronger from the inside out.

#overcomingwithgrace #chronicillnessjourney #chronicwillnesswarrior