The enemy is a thief.

 

 

There are days where the Enemy tries to steal my joy.

 

It's a fight.

 

I say no, come against thoughts, pray harder, yet there is still the enemy trying to make his way back into my head.

 

I know I have the authority, and I use it.

 

The devil is a persistent sucker.

 

His game plan and joy stealer is called COMPARISON.

 

We as women are constantly comparing ourselves to other women.

 

A HUGE way that we do this is PINTEREST.

 

I have a confession to make...

 

Pintrest is stealing my joy.

 

I'm comparing my home, my crafts, my clothes, jewelry and makeup.

 

I don't have the plates arranged with gorgeous food.

 

My photos aren't as great as the "pin worthy" pictures.

 

My home isn't spotless and clutter free like the pictures we see on there.

 

Everything isn't organized gorgeously and in it's place.

 

I have a "junk drawer."

 

I'm constantly comparing the way my home is decorated.

 

I change, change and change some more to strive for pinterest perfection.

 

Do people come over to look at my home or for dinner parties everyday?

 

No.

 

So why I am stressing over all these things?

 

It's because I don't feel good enough.

 

The enemy is using pinterest to steal my joy.

 

I'm comparing every little detail in my life and now feeling unworthy.

 

No décor is satisfying.

 

THAT'S WHEN I SAID STOP!

 

Enough is enough!

 

I declare that the enemy can not steal my joy!

 

So, what did I do?

 

I'm staying off of pinterest for a while.

 

God thinks I'm wonderful, beautiful, and talented.

 

He doesn't care if my home is perfect or if I have the perfect chippy paint on my furniture.

 

He doesn't care what color the walls are or what pattern my accent wall is.

 

He doesn't care what piece of art on the wall is DIY or if I sewed my own curtains.

 

All he cares about is how much we love Him, how much time we spend with Him, the priority we place on our relationship with Him and how we are working for His kingdom.

 

He loves me and that should be enough to make me happy.

 

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10

 

Set your mind on things above and not on earthly things. Colossians 3:2

 

 

 

When is it too much?

During the last 8 weeks my life has taken a U-turn. I needed to get back in the right direction. My schedule life was starting to pull me down. I found myself extremely overbooked and my thoughts and mouth were out of control. Running the kids to multiple sporting practices 7 days a week, trying to keep up with two bible studies, read the word, blog two blogs, cook dinner, wash the clothes, clean the house, work at the kids school, babysit, listen to peoples problems and occasionally wash my hair and update my Facebook status. I was a worn out, haggard, grumpy, and a self conscious mess!

I began flaking on things I had committed to. I was letting people down. I was letting myself down. I was letting God down. How was I to witness to people around me if I was a hot mess. How was I supposed to get anything out of Sunday Service if I was grumbling about having to run my daughter to her next soccer practice in...4 hours, because I was that awesome mom who supports her kids.

Bible studies, psh...those were supposed to be a daily reflective study. I was waiting till the last minute and cramming 5 hours of study time into 2.5. I can almost put money on it that I missed so much of what God was trying to tell me in those lessons, because I was rushing through, Instagraming, tweeting and mentally making my grocery list at the same time. Why, because I had to stay on top of everything. If something fell through the cracks in my day...I failed. I would beat myself up about it, snap at the Mister and choke the kids with my harsh remarks.

I had to really reflect about what I was doing to myself. What was I doing to the relationships around me?  I don't own a cape. I have no super powers, so why would I try and do the impossible...I was trying to be Super Mom/Blogger/Team Mom/5 Star wife  {Well, it's possible, just you probably wont be sane} When is it too much? Friends I was at that point. It.Was.Too.Much! I broke down one Monday Morning. I couldn't bring myself to get out of bed. I felt like a huge weight was on my chest. I fell under conviction because here I was proclaiming I am a Jesus Freak, but the fact is, I hadn't had time to even really pray. When was the last time I said, "GOD YOU ROCK! Thank you for my breath, my family and the ability to move in the morning." The kids were still in bed, so I just laid there and cried my heart out to God. I mean I really cried. Possibly in the beginning it was a poor me cry, but during the release of all that self pity, I began to really seek Gods face. Begging him to help me stop this madness. Begging with him, what did I need to do to get my sanity back? I needed to be in that sweet spot with him again that I had slipped away from. I needed that so bad. It was as clear as I am writing you now. He said "let go of Blogging. You need to dig more into the word." Out of EVERYTHING I was doing in my day...he wanted me to stop my personal blog? But WHY? Why can't I pull the kids from ONE of their sports I have to take them to, they are in 3!? Why can't I go on a cleaning, laundry and cooking break? Why...WAHHHHY!?! Because he wanted me to pull away from something that had me so wrapped up in myself and the statistics and less of him. *boom* I felt like such a schmuck. I fell for Satan's schemes. So I said my goodbyes to my blog. I pouted for a little bit. But....

Now that I have left my personal blog, I have started two new Bible studies AND I am actually focusing on what is flowing from those pages. I tell you what....Daniel by Beth Moore, is speaking to my heart. God is showing me how wrapped up in myself and things of this world I was becoming. I can slowly see some women that mean a lot to me headed in that same path. It scares me. I am still praying God will show me the right way to address that, but for now...I write here.

So I ask you beloved. When is it too much to handle? Do we let it get to the breaking point I was at...trying to please everyone, take care of everyone and everything, concerned about how my blog was doing, consuming myself with anger and frustration because I was failing at what I treasured the most. My relationship with the Lord.

If you are feeling overwhelmed, anxious, on the verge of a break down. Trust me you are not alone. So many women are dealing with the same situation. Something has to give right? Why not give it to God?

The A Word - Part 2

A few weeks ago I shared my struggle with the A word... anxiety. I described some of the thoughts I have, what makes me anxious, and also what verses have put me at ease. I had an overwhelming response from that post from others who share the same struggle, so I wanted to expand a little on it.

I've been reading Power of a Praying Woman by Stormie Omartian along with the study guide. This is a tremendous devotional and I hope to continue reading her other books. But God has been speaking to me in the chapter I'm reading now entitled, "Lord Show Me How To Take Control of My Mind." The first verse mentioned 2 Corinthians 10:5: "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it more obedient to Christ." 

A few things really captured my attention and I believe God spoke to me through these statements:

1. A huge part of standing against the enemy of our souls is taking control of our minds. And I believe with God, that is completely possible. Paul writes in the Word that we are to take every thought captive. What does that mean? If you know your mind is wandering to things that are not of God, stop it in its tracks. Ask God if it is from Him? If not, ask Him what you should do with it. The enemy will lie about everything he can to get us to question God's Word and truth. Truth = Christ. Lies = The Enemy.

2. You do not have to entertain every thought that comes into your head. YOU HAVE A CHOICE. You have a choice about what you will accept into your mind and what you won't. This led me to what I like to call "Run Away Thoughts". These are what I had mentioned in the post a few weeks ago and here's an example: I rammed into the corner of our new guest room bed. Ended up with a huge bruise on my thigh, which really did hurt. I checked that bruise all the time for its shape, color, size, etc. My thoughts were, what if there's a blood clot underneath. Even two weeks later, it still hurts, and I'm still thinking what-if, still checking, still having anxious thoughts. These, are Run Away Thoughts. One simple thought leads to another which is worse, which leads to another, which leads to pure anxiety. God, teach me to stop these thoughts before they even begin!

3. There is POWER in the name of the Lord! The is POWER in the Word of God! Pray aloud against the enemy. Study and memorize scripture so that you can KNOW God's truth and promises and so that you can use His truth to destroy the lies in your mind. Ask God to help you to discern when the enemy's voice in upon you so that you may take those thoughts captive and release them to God. Don't be deceived by the anxiety, questions, and harmful thoughts in your mind. You have a choice - you don't have to be consumed by lies.

I encourage you to continue reading your Bible on a daily basis. Heck.. I'm encouraging myself. Because I don't do this daily, and I need it. I may know verses by heart and know of God's truth, but I often need to be reminded. I need to seek His spirit of truth daily so that I am prepared against the enemy and his lies. With God's help, I can take control of my mind. I have a choice when it comes to entertaining anxious thoughts, and I KNOW there is power in the name of the Lord!

The A Word

When you read the title of this post... please don't think *that* "a" word. No, the word I'm thinking of is one that gets tossed around quite a bit. A word that some fear.. some live with, some struggle with.. and some may not have any issues with at all. For some people it's embarrassing. For others, they are open about it. For me, it's a reality I have to deal choose how to handle myself towards everyday.

Anxiety. (Fear.) (Worry.) (Doubt.)

Yep, I have issues with it.. or.. all of the above. Have for a while. Not sure why, don't know if there's a single point in my life that I realized how much I let it take over. I can tell you that I used to have trust issues and I can tell you the exact reason in my life that is there. I can tell you that I'm a person filled with mercy towards others and always have been that way. But the anxiety has slowly crept up on me the last 5 years. I have anxiety over pain in my body.. "why is it there? what is the reason my leg hurts right now? what if I have a blood clot? ... does this headache mean more than just a simple headache? what if there is a tumor or I have an aneurysm?" (Ridiculous, I know!)  I worry about large crowds. This is why I've only been Black Friday shopping once... because what if I get trampled. (Crazy thinking. Yes, I'm aware.) Outside of the death of myself or my family members, my two main fears are tornadoes and snakes. I moved from a tornado state (Indiana) to a snake state (Arizona). And poisonous snakes, non the less. Rattlesnakes. Sometimes, I'm afraid to go hiking because I might see a snake, (yes, this has actually happened: my second hike ever in Phoenix, I walked right past a rattlesnake as my husband pointed it out then stopped to take a picture. I sprinted like a Jamaican in the Olympics.)

In the first few months after we moved here to the Phoenix area, Tiffany (one of our founders) and I started a devotional called Breaking Free by Beth Moore and soon after, started Girls of God's Heart as a Facebook and Twitter page. It was challenging for us to go through the devotional, realizing what we still might be holding onto that kept us captive from the relationship we wanted with God. The Breaking Free devotional defined captivity as this:

"A Christian is held captive by anything that hinders the abundant and effective Spirit-filled life God planned for him or her."

Anxiety can sometimes hold me captive. When I question or have doubts, I find myself often running to others first instead of God. I'll call my mom to answer medical questions. I'll question my husband when I should be trusting him, not doubting. God already answers my questions in His Word and I need to run to it and Him first.

____________________________________________________

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in EVERYTHING, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the pace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

The notes in my NIV study Bible about this verse are as follows:

Verse 4:6 

Anxious: self centered, counterproductive worry, not legitimate cares or concerns for the spread of the gospel.

In everything, by prayer: 

Anxiety and prayer are two great opposing forces in Christian experience.

Thanksgiving: the antidote to worry (along with prayer and petition)

Verse 4:7

Peace of God: to merely a psychological state of mind, but an inner tranquility based on peace with God - the peaceful state of those whose sins are forgiven. Peace is the opposite of anxiety. It is the tranquility that comes when believers commit all their cares to God in prayer and worry about them no more.

______________________________________

Read those notes a few times. Anxiousness is self centered. Anxiousness is counterproductive worry. Anxiety and prayer are two great opposing forces. Thanksgiving, prayer, and asking God for help = cure for anxiety.

Commit your cares to God and worry about them NO MORE.

AMEN. AMEN. AMEN.