Affirmations

"Do not be confirmed by this world, but be transformed by the renewal of the mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:2

All of us were told negative things about ourselves at some point in our lives. Chances are the negative things we were told were not even true. Chances are even greater that we believed that negative comment even though it was false. Ephesians 4:13 says to "be renewed by the spirit of your mind." How do we change the way we think? How can we stop believing the lies that we have believed for the majority of our lives? Sometimes when people become Christians God automatically sets them free from incorrect mindsets. However, this is not always the case. When you have lived the majority your life believing negative things about yourself, it’s hard to just instantly stop believing those things.

I can say that this has been something I struggle with. As a child, I was severely bullied. This caused me to have low self-esteem. Since my self-esteem was so low, I often allowed myself to be bullied without standing up for myself. This caused me to be bullied more and became very shy, unsure of myself, and withdrawn. I did not have many friends growing up, and the friends that I did have often took advantage of me, and were not good friends. I knew that my mom and some of my family loved me, but I still felt unlovable. I knew in my head that God loved me, but I did not understand how deep his love for me really was. As a young adult, I wanted so badly to be loved and accepted. So, I got involved in relationships that were unhealthy for me.I dated a guy who just treated me horribly and ridiculed me in front of my "friends." Then after that I became involved in a guy who was physically, emotionally, and verbally abusive to me.

Through my struggles, God has revealed his love for me. He has showed me that I deserved to be treated better than I was. He has showed me how healing forgiving those who hurt me really is. I often think of how amazing it is that God has taken the things in my past that brought me pain and replaced them with wonderful things. I now have a wonderful husband, who is full of faith in God and treats me with respect. I have real friends that care for me and are there for me when I need them. God has bought me a long way, and I am a lot further than I was in the past.

Even though I have a deeper understanding of God's love for me and my value to God, I still struggle with self-esteem issues. I have come a long way, but I still find myself believing things about myself that are false. Recently, someone suggested to me that I try positive affirmations to change my mindset. A positive affirmation is a true positive statement that you repeat to yourself over and over again to change your mindset. I have started to try it before, but I never really stuck with it. I am now dedicating myself to reciting positive affirmations to myself, so that I can have the mindset God wants me to have.

"Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on Earth" Colossians 3:2

It has been five days that I have dedicated myself to reciting my affirmations. I have three affirmations up in my kitchen. Every time I see the affirmations I read them out loud to myself.   Mine are "God shall supply all of my needs according to his riches," "I am beautifully and wonderfully made", and "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (My husband also put a bible verse on the fridge for me. It was more of a scripture, than an affirmation, but I thought it was sweet. He put "There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all.") (Thank you Adam for being so loving and supportive of me.) I have already noticed a difference in these past 5 days. I tend to be a worrier sometimes. I found my mind worrying about something the other day, and then my affirmation came to my mind. I felt calm because I knew that God would supply all my needs. I found myself worried about what someone thought about me, and I thought to myself, it does not matter what that person thinks because the God of this universe thinks I am beautiful and wonderful. It's still a process, but I plan on sticking with it. I encourage you to try it for yourself.

Read a book, Fly a Kite, Go to the park, and Play

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about stress management. That was really a useful subject for me this week. I don't even feel like explaining the events of this week, so let's just say that it's been a really tough week. Despite the struggles of the week, I have still felt God's love and grace. Even though I have felt like the world is crumbling around me, God had used some of those experiences to show me that he is walking with me through all of those stressful times in my life. He has also placed people in my life who love me and walk with me through all of life's storms. Even though this is not the subject of my blog I want to take a second to say that I appreciate that God has placed such supportive people in my life (my husband, my mom, my best friend I am VERY VERY VERY grateful for you guys and I thank God for you guys everyday:)

Okay, let me get back on topic. Even though this week was awful, today was a good day. After the week I had, I woke up feeling like I could not face the day. I remember praying for God to help me get through. My dog died last night and I was having one of those days where I just did not want to be home alone all day. My best friend called, and asked me to hang out with her and her four year old son.

We ended up taking him to the park. We spent a lot of the day playing with her son. We even swung on the swings. We threw a beach ball to each other. (Even though my friend's son doesn’t quite understand the concept of throwing and catching in that he throws the ball wherever, we still had lots of fun!) We even sat on a blanket and looked at the clouds and pointed out what each cloud looked like. All of these activities made the burdens of the week feel lighter. I realized how much play can alleviate stress.

When I got home I wondered why playing helped to calm me down, then it began to make sense. Playing is one way to make you rekindle your childlike spirit. In Matthew 18:3 Jesus said "Truly I say unto you, unless you turn around and become like little children, you will by no means enter into the kingdom of heaven." When I look at children, I am amazed at their faith. As, adults, our cynical minds often tell us that we need proof, proof of God's love ,proof of God's presence etc. , but once children understand God's love, they don't need proof, they just accept his love for them. I am also amazed at their appreciation for the simple things in life. As adults, we sometimes feel like we need this item or that item to make us happy, but children for the most part enjoy simplicity. It amazes me when I see I child put down an expensive toy so that he can play with a box or when a child gets extremely excited because she saw a butterfly or flower in the yard. Children are mostly carefree, and worry free, they know that their needs will be met. God wants us to have the same mentality. He wants us to understand that no matter how trying and difficult our life may be at the, he will take care of us. He wants you to "Cast all your worries on him because he cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7.

I want to encourage you to rekindle your "inner child." Remember an activity you used to enjoy as a child and do it. Spend some time playing with your children, or if you don’t have your own children maybe a child that you mentor or one that is in your life. I encourage you to ask God to show you to love him with all of your heart. Ask God to give you a childlike faith.

Take heart in waiting

"Wait for the Lord. Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." Psalm 27:14

WAIT...  If you know me you probably know that I hate the word Wait. Sometimes I think wait is a four letter word. Patience and I do not always have as good as a relationship as I know we should. If I know something in my life is going to happen or if I want something to happen I want it to happen right  now. I get so frustrated. I know this is supposed to happen... Why can't it just happen right now? Why do I have to wait? Isn't this the sort of attitude ingrained in our culture? We are taught that we shouldn't really have to wait for anything. If we want a hamburger we rush to the drive thru and hurry back home as fast as we possibly can. If the line get held up for whatever reason we get so mad. We got places to go. Right? If we want to talk to a friend all we got to do is send a quick text or email. It is ingrained in us that we shouldn't have to wait for anything, so we don't really want to wait. Often when I look  at the people around me they are in a hurry to get somewhere. Where are they going? That lady over there is in a hurry to get to work. That man over there is in a hurry to watch a football game. That girl over there is headed to a soccer game. That guy over there is just in a hurry;he doesn't have anywhere to go. He just doesn't want to wait. Why should he have to wait? Why should anyone have to wait? Why can't we have it now?

 " There is a time for everything and a season for everything." Ecclesiastes 3:1
As I said earlier, it is ingrained in our culture, that we really should not have to wait for anything.
Unfortunately, this is not the way God operates. He does things on his time, not ours. The beautiful thing about waiting for God is that his timing is  even better than the timing we have planned out in our head. He knows us even more than we know ourselves.  Therefore, he knows what is best for us and when it is best for us. "For you formed my inward parts. You knitted me together in my mother's womb." Psalm 139: 13. He loves each of us, so he has a beautiful plan and destiny for each of our lives. " For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord plans to prosper you and not to harm you Plans to give you hope and a future."  Jeremiah  29:11. The way to embrace those plans he has for us to wait patiently for things to take place in God's timing and to seek his will for our lives instead of our own will.

How do we wait for the Lord? Since impatience is so greatly ingrained in our culture, how do we develop an attitude of patience and surrender to God's will for our lives?  This is not an easy task. Let's refer to the bible verse I put at the beginning of this blog. Psalm 27:14 says to wait on the Lord twice, but it also says take heart and to be strong. I think the verse says that because waiting on God requires strength and heart. How can we acquire this kind of strength and heart?

One thing we can do is ask God for help. We can ask God to teach us patience and to wait on him. (Don't pray this prayer unless you are serious. You mind yourself stuck in traffic often or at the longest Walmart line ever because God is trying to teach you patience)

Surrender your hopes and dreams to God. He knows your hopes and dreams. He is the one that placed them in your heart.  When you surrender your hopes and dreams to God, you are not giving up on them, you are trusting God and his will for your life.

Ask God to show you if the things you are waiting for are the things he wants for your life. Remember, if what you want is not in his will, he has a better destiny for you than you can ever imagine.

Ask God to prepare you for the things that you are waiting for. You may be waiting for a job, husband, children, or perhaps to start your ministry. Maybe God has placed these the desire for these things in your life because that is what he wants for you. Maybe the timing is just not right. Maybe God needs to prepare you, so that when you get these things you will be ready.

Read biblical testimonies about those who had to wait.A good example is Abraham and Sarah who had to wait many years to have a child, but when they did have a child Abraham's decedents outnumbered the number of stars in the sky.
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Remember that when we wait for God he has an even better destiny for our lives than we can possibly fathom.

Dont panic

 "Be anxious in nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication and with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

Stress is an unavoidable part of everyone life. Unfortunately, stress is also harmful! According to aliahealth.org stress can "weaken your immune system, keep your blood sugar high, and cause weight and skin problems. This is bad news for me, because sometimes I have difficulty dealing with stress. Since stress is so damaging on the body, I want to take a more proactive part in managing my stress. I encourage you to do the same. Here are some helpful hints!

1) Exercise regularly. I will probably have the most difficult time with this one, because I get bored with exercising. I plan to write another blog on keeping exercising fun later, but for now I will make a small commitment to exercise. I plan to exercise 30 minutes a day 5 days a week.

2) When you  are stressed Pray, pray and then pray some more. I find it helps me to write my prayers down. This may not work for you, but I find it easy to express myself in writing. (That is how God made me, so that is how I often choose to communicate with Him) Plus, I find it helps calm me down, when I go back and reread prayers I wrote down in the past. (I wrote a blog about this earlier) Rereading old prayers helps me to remember how God has helped me in the past to get through difficult times, and is a reminder that God will help me with my current crisis.

3) Meditate on scripture. Some good scriptures to help with stress management are:
 " Do not fear for I am with you. Do not anxiously look about you for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you, surely I will uphold  you with my right hand , who says to you do not do not fear I will help you" Isaiah 41:10,13
"Cast all your cares for him, for he cares for you" 1 Peter 5:7
"You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind stayed on you because he trusts in you" Isaiah 26:3

4) Talk to someone you trust about the things you are stressed about, such as a friend, counselor, or family member. Sometimes it helps to get another person's perspective. Sometimes God uses others to speak to you. Sometimes it helps just to vent.

5.) Practice Deep Breathing
Steps of Deep Breathing taken from familydoctor.org
A) lie on a flat surface, such as a bed or floor
B) Breath in slowly and make your stomach rise
C)Hold your breath for a second
D) As you breath out let your stomach go back down

6) Avoid being around people who will stress you out or bring you down. This is not saying that you do not love these people or that you should avoid them all the time. This is just saying that if you are already down and know that being around someone will drag you even more down, maybe you should avoid that person for now, until you feel better.
"Do not be deceive bad character corrupts good character" 1 Cor 15:33
7) Spend 30 minutes of me time. Sometimes life is so chaotic we forget that we just need a minute to ourselves. Do something that you know will calm you down like going for a walk, praying, journaling, or looking outside at nature.

I will be trying these daily to see if they help me. Let me know how these ideas help you. If you have any other ways that help you cope with stress. Let me know.