by Lucy | Jun 18, 2011 | emotions |
The comparison trap steals your joy. God wants you to have a thankful heart and experience his peace.
Many years ago the Hubs and I bought our first house. We were just 24 and happy. . .even though the place needed an overhaul. Carpenter ants had feasted on the back porch. The roof leaked. The fascia was holey, explaining why a family of raccoons had made a home in our home.
She had to go.
I just wasn’t going to share my home with another female.Once we kicked out the raccoon all was good.
For a little while.
Then on my walks to and from the train station I began noticing other homes: brick homes, big homes, homes with impeccable landscaping. It bugged me that my precious little Cape Cod didn’t measure up.
Into the comparison trap I fell and broke my neck.
At the core of my comparison trap: fear.
You remember the story of Eve and the forbidden fruit. Satan in the form of a serpent – a very chatty serpent – put doubt in Eve’s mind and she believed that God was withholding something good from her and the Hubs. So she chomped.
Bad decision.
The good news is you can replace your fear with faith, your comparisons with confidence. How?
Continually believe God and give thanks to him.
THIS IS NOT EASY.
Satan will tempt you to entertain fearful thoughts and to compare.
Remember to whom you belong: GOD. He will supply everything you need.
What is your comparison trap? Please leave a comment. Also visit my website. You’ll find practical helps, complimentary downloads and encouragement. If you’re interested in e-counseling, contact me.
You Are Loved!
by Lucy | May 10, 2011 | biblical counseling
You can change the way to think with God’s help. The result: peace in place of deadly thoughts.
Is it time to rid yourself of deadly thoughts and align your thinking with the bible?
You can experience sweet victory by taking captive every thought for Christ. But how? My online radio show guest Shelly Beach shares her own fight against deadly thoughts and practical tools.
To listen to the live or taped show, click HERE. The show is Tuesday at 2 p.m. Eastern (11 a.m. Pacific).
An author, speaker, and champion for the hurting (including women in prison), Shelly wrote The Silent Seduction of Self Talk, Conforming Deadly Thought Patterns to the Word of God as a testimony to God’s healing power and a help to women like you and me.
Since she was a little girl, Shelly thought that the world revolved around her. Her needs. Her desires. Her everything.
In a very young child, you’d expect this. Remember when your own child or your friend’s child first uttered, “Mine”? Brow furrowed, hands on hip, and too cute! Mine.
Mine, mine, mine, me, me, me.
It’s not so cute when you’re an adult.
The Need to Control
Like many of us, Shelly had good reason to go into self-protection mode. Her dad called her fatty. So did the kids at school. Shelly learned how to protect herself by being a good student. She tried to get others’ approval by being good.
At the tender age of 19, Shelly was attacked by a serial rapist. Her safe, little world was falling apart. Later she married and become the mom of two little blessings, a daughter and a son. She did everything a mom was supposed to do: she strapped them in their car seats, held their hand while crossing the street, screened babysitters. She had everything under control.
Or did she?
Her now teen-aged daughter revealed a secret held deep for seven years. At age 7, and possibly earlier, Shelly’s little girl was molested by a close friend of the family, a Christian man who attended their church.
And then. . .a few years later, Shelly’s son got into drugs. Cocaine. He became a modern day prodigal son, turning his back on everything Shelly and her husband had taught him, turning his back on God. Her marriage was under stress too.
What Will People Think?
Shelly felt devastated, broken. Would would people think? What would they say. How could she protect herself against the unfolding truth that she wasn’t as wonderful as she thought she was?
Praise God that Shelly’s story has a joyful ending. You need to hear it. You need to know how to change your deadly thoughts and align them with the bible. Get practical tools for your own healing.
Click HERE to listen to the live or taped show.
You Are Blessed,
by Lucy | Apr 18, 2011 | biblical counseling |
A grandma powerfully touches a child’s life. Some bring hope, others pain. But God ALWAYS uses a grandma’s life to show us his deep love.
The grandma I met gave me my middle name, Ann. She smelled like Ivory. Her skin softer than Charmin. Her eyes blue like mine.
She scooped vanilla ice cream in tall glasses and poured over root beer. Wide-eyed, I watched the froth become white lava and nearly spill over the side. A treasure of sticky, sweet memories.
I loved her.
The grandma I never met gave me my first name, Lucy. She died before I was born. Complications after a surgery.
Sad to say, I had nasty memories of her. When my mom and her sister still wore diapers, my grandma drank lye. A suicide attempt. A neighbor found her. The little girls lived in an orphanage for a year or two with a gaggle of doting nuns.
Where was the dad (my grandpa)? He hit the road during the Great Depression and never returned. When grandma took back her girls, she found comfort in booze and my mom raised her. Her painful memories became mine.
It took me years to see the blessing from the-grandma-I-never-met. Her blessing to me: Jesus. My mom had searched for Jesus and his love all her life then she let him hold her and speak tender words to her heart. She forgave her mom. Me too.
How powerful is the grandma?
As powerful as root beer floats and forgiveness. “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (Colossians 3:13).
Woohoo! YOU ARE INVITED!
Sweet sisters, “The American Grandma” Kay Swatkowski is my special guest on my online radio talk show. Please listen Tuesday at 2 p.m. Eastern. This godly woman shares heart-felt stories of her own grandma and powerful love for grandkids everywhere in these uncertain times. Can’t listen live? Listen to the archived show.
Be encouraged. Stand firm. Hold onto hope
Q4U: What favorite treat did your grandma share with you? Please take a second and leave a few words in “Comments.” 🙂
Bunches of blessings, 
