Lets Go Deeper

Disclaimer: I am not a certified phycologist nor do I have any sort of a degree in counseling. This information has come from experience and research I have done on the subject.   A s a Christian, I believe we sometimes feel at a disadvantage when it comes to toxic people. We feel stuck dealing with their issues because they have slapped a big fat 'MUST FORGIVE ME' sticker on our backs. They use our own beliefs against us, twisting the truth and justifying their behavior; making us feel shameful when we finally decide we have had enough of their drama. I have felt the guilt of not responding with a Christ-like attitude or feeling like the one who really has the issue. So I set out on a journey. A journey to expose the truth of the matter and to heal from the co-dependency I have lived with because of the toxic and dysfunctional environment I grew up in. Below are the steps I have been taking in order to receive healing from my past hurts and dysfunctional upbringing. I h...

A s many of you may already know from recent posts on my Facebook page or Instagram, around May of this year I was officially diagnosed with papillary carcinoma , a form of thyroid cancer. It has been a long hard journey for the last two years. My health began declining shortly after having my son. I was losing weight rapidly, my hair began to fall out, and my skin and eyes became jaundiced. On top of all of that my body was in constant pain and fatigue, my muscles and joints continually aching; but the worst part was that no one believed me. Okay maybe not no one, but it sure felt that way. My doctor basically without saying so implied that it was all in my head or that it's just my body recovering from having a baby. I was constantly telling my family and those who would comment on my weight that I didn't know what was wrong with me, all I knew is that I felt sick. I was not my pre-pregnancy self, in weight or demeanor. Before I was pregnant I weighed a consistent 120-12...

W hen we no longer feel conviction, it stems from a lack of applying God's Word to our lives. It becomes possible to deceive ourselves from a lack of the Word because we are no longer able to discern our own motives. Sometimes we may have the right actions, but the wrong motives. The Bible calls this--being a Pharisee. Doing the right thing for the wrong reason. There is an Adventures in Odyssey episode titled ‘Rights, Wrongs, and Reasons’ my sisters and I often listened to growing up. I still like to revisit it from time to time. It serves as a reminder to analyze my motives. In this episode Mr. Whitaker uses the account in the book of Second Samuel of Uzzah and the Ark Of The Covenant. It may seem strange to some that God struck down Uzzah for trying to save the Ark from falling off of the cart because to most it would have been the correct action to take, right? Wrong. God specifically commanded them not to touch the Ark. He did what he thought was right despite of what God ...

E xperiences are amazing.  They make something feel refreshed, revived, new, and alive. But if we only live for the experiences we will find we are not really that much alive at all. Living is something that is done in between every experience. Change doesn't usually come overnight or all at once. So, to say an experience has changed your life would be an incorrect statement. Our lives are changed by the choices we make and the actions we take everyday. If it takes an experience to keep you going, you may not actually be living. I was reading a book called "Lord Change Me" and throughout the course of this book the author talks about the process of the change taking place in her life. God had been working on her for over 14 months. Throughout those 14 agonizing months she had many amazing experiences. One particular experience led her to the writing of another book called "When Women Pray". Though these experiences were many and powerful, was it solely in the...

I was waking up from a late afternoon nap with my son and in the twilight zone-between awake and asleep-I hear a voice say, "Luke 5:17 and 18--pray and see." Getting up and mulling over what I had just heard, I grabbed my phone and began typing into my notes what the voice had said.  I then began to search for these scriptures. Luke 5:17-18King James Version (KJV) 17 And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them. 18 And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. Okay, but what do these verses mean? Well, the voice I had heard said "pray and see."  And so, that's what I did. I figured the best way to pray these verses was to memorize them and quote them over and...

I n my previous blog I wrote on being trapped by the enemy. Now I will continue with living free from control of the enemy's clutches . Have you ever owned a pet that escaped its cage or designated area in which it was contained? If you have, you know the frustration it can bring. First, you must locate the escaped animal; which, can take either a small or large amount of time. Sometimes you have to use some kind of bait to lure them back. Then, comes the retrieval. You must retrieve them in order to bring them back into captivity. And, more than likely, the last step would be to locate and fortify the weak spots of that cage or containment area. When we escape out of the grimy hands of the enemy, he gets angry; and the enemy will take these same steps previously mentioned in an attempt to bring us back under his captivity.   He begins by searching. 1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking who...

Before you begin reading this blog I will let you know that this is a very personal part of my life that I haven't openly shared until now, but it's part of my testimony and I will allow God to use it in whichever way he desires. I was hesitant to write on this topic because it is so deep and personal but the Lord has confirmed it to me twice now, so I hope it blesses someone here. S uicide is no foreign concept in scripture. We have Abimelec- who was mortally wounded by a millstone-who ordered his armour-bearer to kill him to avoid the suggestion that he had been killed by the woman who had thrown the stone. The prophet Ahithophel hung himself after betraying David. Zimri burned down his house around him after military defeat. And some of the more familiar stories: Saul and his armour-bearer, Samson, and, of course, Judas who was Jesus' disciple. Also, in Acts we find the jailor who almost committed suicide when he awoke and found his prisoners had escaped. I...