Calgon Can Take You Away in the A.M.!

Wow!  Calgon can take you away in the early morning hours!!! Who knew?!! 

Throughout my life I have never been one that was much for pulling on "all nighter" and "keeping the fire burning" late into the night.  Besides a good nap, I have always been one that functioned best when going to sleep at a reasonable hour.  With age and the addition of more children to my quiver, finding those "calgon moments" of peace and taking a soothing, scented, warm & bubbling bath, before bed, were really "NOT GONNA HAPPEN" in my daily routine.

But, PRAISE BE TO GOD...I discovered the early mornings!  Although I have always preferred to be an "early bird", being an "earlier bird" and rising by 5 a.m. was not really what I had in mind.  What started as an alarm-set attempt to wake up early so that I was ensured uninterrupted time to blog for WoBM [http://www.womenofthebattlefield.blogspot.com/], became an anticipated, treasured, time that I often sprung to from the bed without the sounding of my mobile alarm. 

I now relish each morning that I am blessed to arise before the rest of the family and focus my heart and mind on God, through reading the Bible, praying, and/or blogging inspirational devotionals.  And just when you think the "buck stops there", it doesn't!  I also get to enjoy those "calgon moments" at the end of my  a.m. devotional time.  I tip, ever so quietly, into the bathroom with my cozy, chenille robe, run that warm water (bubbling with wonderfully scented bath salts and bubbles), and slip into a "heaven on Earth", for a time until the troops awake...and then you know how it can go from there!

Have an AWESOME DAY!!!

ONE Message...ONE Verse!

Isaiah 43:19 ~ Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

ENOUGH SAID!

I'm Back!!! - Part II

"When our souls lie barren in a winter which seems hopeless and endless, God has not abandoned us. His work goes on. He asks our acceptance of the painful process and our trust that he will indeed give resurrection life"
~ Elisabeth Elliot

Thank God for that book (Don't Die in the Winter, by Dr. Milicent Hunter), on that day! The title of that book clearly expressed what my spirit was attempting to do...FLATLINE and DIE during my tumultuous winter. I was getting extremely weary. I didn't want to completely throw in the towel, but I definitely didn't feel I had the spiritual energy to do anything but exist. I couldn't sing any gospel or contemporary Christian tunes to lift my heart. I didn't want to read devotionals. I definitely couldn't write or blog. How hypocritical would that be? How could I encourage others when I couldn't even encourage myself? I wouldn't' even allow myself to be encouraged by my best friend, who'd been my only steady, spiritual road dog during this long trek through the blizzard storm of both our lives.


I can even recall one evening during that time, while walking my dog, I came to the conclusion that Earth and my life here was quite overrated. I had been able to remember a time when the idea of death had scared me, and was a thought and life occurrence that I was in no rush to meet. But this night, as I experienced the nigh time quiet and then observed the peacefulness of the stars and the moon, my spirit longed to enjoy and share in that same peacefulness. To me, death seemed more peaceful and attractive to my daily life and to the season I was in . Mother of five or not, wife or not, I wanted to translate into the next world...flatline through this one or "Take me now, Lord!"

Thankfully, the Lord led me to this book, and I jumped into it that very night. Deep within me, I longed to "get back" to my old faithful self ; I truly didn't want to end 2009 and usher in 2010 in such a morbid spiritual state.


As I read, I began to become more encouraged, and to feel my heart's beat trying to recover its natural rhythm. And in just those few days, I began to make positive determinations about new approaches I'd take and changes that I would make in my spiritual life, in relation to my marriage, and in my health. I was not making resolutions, but I'd rock in that new year by renewing my mind and spirit from the dead place it had been in.

What was truly helpful to me about this book was it's breakdown and explanation of all the seasons of life that we all will go through, and specifically it's candidness about winter. Dr. Hunter's descriptions and juxtaposition of the spiritual winter to the natural winter, reminded me that winter was exactly what it was meant to be: cold, bitter, harsh, lonely, and trapping. It wasn't suppose to resemble summer or any other warmer or more restful season. It was, what it was! But the beauty in the way God designed creation was that one season always proceeded another. Therefore, as surely as there was a winter each year, there was going to be a blooming, beautiful, bright spring to follow it. My winter HAD to end, and MY SPRING, MY SEASON, would be coming! And in the meantime, reading this book had helped me to understand my winter season for what it was. I was in winter, but I'd soon pass through it and on to brighter hopes!

As God continued to be awesome in my life, one day as I was nearing the end of Dr. Hunter's book, an unexpected package came in the mail for me: another inspirational book. It was a book that I'd wanted so badly to get the very day it was to come out, sometimes around November of last year. One of my best friends had actually promised to buy it and send it to me the week after it was to be released. But as life does its thing, for this or that reason, my friend had never sent it and we had never discussed it again after the day she'd originally promised it to me. So, it was to my great surprise and excitement on that January day (months later) to open and graciously receive my Joel Osteen's, It's My Time.

"Lord, is it really my time?"....


To be continued...

I'm BACK!!! Let's Get "Back II Eden" and Live on Top of the World: Part I

Praise the LORD! I am back!!! As I pen my return to cyberspace and "blogville", the chorus of Donald Lawrence's gospel tune, "Back II Eden", replays itself in my head. My spirit longs to "get back" to you. It yearned to reach out and "get back" to sharing, encouraging, and being transparent with you. But, I'll be straight forward with you, it's been a COLD, FROSTY, FRIGID, BONE-CHILLING, & HARSH winter season for me in the spiritual and natural realm (I'm sure you can at least relate to the reality of this winter's uncomfortably low temperatures and snowy conditions). The storms and low temps of my spiritual winter began to take its toll on me, even as I had prepared myself with my spiritual North Face jacket (my winter's garments), and was well aware that I was in my winter season... which would eventually be followed by my spring. But even as you can be trapped inside your warm home, stocked with food and snacks during a snow blizzard, and began to feel a bad case of "cabin fever" come upon you, by mid-December, I'd found that my soul was in a state of "spiritual cabin fever".

I had been on a spiritual high: early morning sipping decaf coffee, journaling, taking in the word of God, and hearing specific "words" from God (exciting "words" from God). Due to my early morning connections, my home life and school days flowed beautifully and I ended almost each day feeling quite purposeful. Blogs almost spilled from my thoughts and spirit quicker and more frequently than I could type them on the keyboard of my computer. I walked around the house and went about some of my mundane tasks with songs in my heart, songs bellowing out of my mouth, and with lots of faith, hope, and thankfulness for great things to come from the Lord.

And then... my health started to become a bit weak. First it started with a cold. Then as I got over my cold, I began to suffer from a handful of nagging symptoms. Each day, I woke up extremely lethargic, feeling completely drained before my day even started. Waking up was a challenge, let alone preparing a breakfast, bathing the kids and myself, and forget about homeschooling. To add to this fatigue, my leg and feet joints ached and hurt throughout the day, and heightened in pain throughout the night and early morning. During the day, my fatigue and joint aches were so debilitating that I'd simply succumb to them and would plop on the floor, in the corner by the heat vent, in a fetal position (with my blankie, of course) for almost two or three hours. In addition to all of this, my hands and arms often went numb during the night, even if I wasn't laying or sleeping on them. At night, due to my pains, I usually had to walk on hands and knees up the stairs just to get to the bathroom; and it seemed that during this time, nighttime bathroom visits seemed to increase in frequency.

My physical conditions began to take a toll on my spirit, especially since I couldn't put my finger on the cause of my symptoms (a few pregnancy tests made it clear that I wasn't pregnant) and I could not remedy them. At the same time, dates and events were "finally" coming, but then going with what I felt were unfulfilled hopes. You see, during my "high" times, I had felt that God had given me specific "words" about my future, but as certain dates (that I had thought were going to be key breakthrough dates, or were even deadline dates for particular issues) were passing and other unexpected things were occurring instead, I became confused and dismayed with God, our intimate relationship, and my future. I didn't exactly give up, but I did begin to get "cabin fever of the spirit" and began to "flatline".

FLATLINE was a word that had boldly awakened me out of my sleep at 3 a.m. one night in November. I abruptly awoke and sat up to what seemed to have been someone yelling "flatline" to me in a audible tone. Realizing it had been no one in my home, I knew it must have been God. But what was His point? What did He mean? I immediately got a bit nervous, as I thought of a close cousin who'd been struggling in the hospital. Was He telling me she was dead? At that thought, I could not simply go back to my rest, so I stayed up to read my bible and pray. Ironically (or God-ronically...LOL!), it was the same night I believe God "called" me to a specific purpose for the Kingdom.

Thankfully, the next day I was relieved to find out that my cousin was fine, but I still pondered on that word, "flatline". A week or two later, I finally reached a connection with it. After "googling" it, I studied its definition. This medical term referred to registering on an electronic monitor as having no brainwaves or heartbeat, or to being in a state of no progress or advancement. As I translated "flatline" into the spiritual realm, I had lost my spiritual heartbeat and was in a non-progressive state in my walk of faith with God. I had definitely FLATLINED by mid-December.

I was spiritually listless. My early mornings in the word and with God had long ceased since I had gotten that cold in the beginning of December. I desired to be resuscitated, but felt that I lacked the ability to do so. I missed my powerful daily time with God, but due to this state I was in, I actually feared hearing from God anymore. I didn't want to "hear", to believe, to get disappointed, and then to be dismayed and baffled again about what I "thought" I had heard. I began to seriously question if I had even ever heard from HIM. And though I was spiritually so close to death from my cold, harsh winter, somehow I still had a spark of faith in me that I knew God would EVENTUALLY deliver me; but in the meantime, I 'd just have to flatline!!!

BUT (Christians love this word!), praise be to God, the Lord remains faithful even when we are not [2 Tim. 2:13]. I guess He used that spark of faith I had to encourage me to go to Barnes and Nobles a few days before New Year's Eve. I was bored and desperate for something encouraging to read. I had some Christians inspirational books already at home, but none of them had a title that I felt would shock my heart back to beating in rhythm and balance.

As I entered the bookstore, I had limited time to find a book, and went straight to the Christian section. I perused through a few fictional ones and chose one that boldly shown my son's name, "Joshua". I was content with this quick pick, but scanned the entire shelf one last time, when it practically leaped out at me! The book! It was THE BOOK, THAT TITLE...supernaturally screaming it's title to me, Don't Die in the Winter-Your Season is Coming (by Dr. Milicent Hunter). The title and topic that I unexpectedly tripped over, the title that had all potential to "shock my heart" back to its steady beat.............

TO BE CONTINUED...later this week...I promise :-)

Been on VACA...sorry!

I am soooo sorry that I have not been here to give you a good word from the Lord in quite a while. The weekend before the holiday, I had to go out of town to visit some relatives & handle a little biz. Then, I got caught up with the holidays and returning back to my children. This week I have been under the weather with a silly cold. I have LOTS in my head and heart to share with you.

Please be patient. I hope to return by tomorrow.

Thanks for being a follower! I LOVE YOU! And OH how GOD loves you!

Gentleness...A Fruit of the Spirit

I have spoken to you before about my issue with sensitivity. Well, yesterday presented itself to be QUITE a challenge to my human capabilities, as I struggled with my oldest child during our homeschooling session. Unfortunately, this school year, it is NOT unusual for her to breakdown in tears during the course of a school day; especially during a certain subject that she does not feel is her forte. Yesterday, I guess I had JUST HAD IT, with all the tears, attitudes of defeat, frustration, negativism, etc... I was about to blow a gasket; and had gotten to the point where I had resorted to asking her not to return to the table for class after lunch and then ignored her completely (I know this sounds awful). She cried and sulked even more, and I callously finished lunch and reconvened class at the table, beginning with journal writing. I wrote in my journal as well and penned: I have seriously extreme problems dealing with my daughter. I understand being sensitive and gentle, but she is about to cause me to "jump off the bridge" in my insides. I CANNOT deal with her! I cannot deal with her daily, constant emotions about EVERYTHING!.....(as few sentences later I went on to write)...At the end of the day, it is really horrible how deeply I feel this frustration...(and on I wrote until journal writing was over).

During this time of writing, my daughter had quietly joined us at the table and wrote as well. I am SURE she had her own choice words to say about me and my issues. By the end of journeling, things were calm and we went on with the rest of our subject areas for about another hour and a half.

At the end of the school day, I dashed up to the computer (for my "ride home") to research information on how to be a more sensitive person. After reading a devotional from my email and finding some one's blog from 2007 on the issue, I came to some real revelations about myself and my behavior. I got off the computer and begin to journal about how great God was and how thankful I was that He had helped to make the rest of the school day go more smoothly.

As I was writing, I realized that although I have known that my lack sensitivity and understanding towards others needed to be worked on, I had never really been repentant of the behavior. It's like I had known that I needed to change, but my efforts to change had primarily been driven by the fact that I needed to be able to get along with my daughter (if I planned to have a good relationship with her in the future). My efforts had not been driven by the fact that I really NEEDED to change. It wasn't until yesterday that I really realized that I needed to change regardless of having a sensitive daughter or not. I came to the realization that I had been esteeming my "toughness" higher than the sensitive nature of the others close to me. I had viewed their sensitivity as a weakness in their character, and as inferior to my sense of "toughness". I felt that being more sensitive and gentler would be like me stooping down to a lower level. As I was deeply reflective yesterday, I finally saw that if I would open-up and allow myself to be more gentle and sensitive, then I would actually be more of a person and would be utilizing real strength...not weakness (as I HAD viewed it).

These reflections on my behavior and character were painful for me, but I feel it was very necessary. As 2 Corinthians 7 states, "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter...". These biblical words definitely coined the feelings that I was experiencing at that moment, as a result of these revelations.

I also thought about a profound point that Jesus had made on love from enemies. Luke 6:32-33 & 36, quotes, "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And what if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you?...Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." So yeah...what credit to me is it to simply get along with others who are "tough" and just like me? I'll show greater strength and more of Christ's character when I can have mercy and show a gentleness towards those more inclined to sensitivity than I am. I need to STRETCH my character more.

So I felt like, "WOW!" I further realized (after reading a spiritual morning meditation, that afternoon) that the HOME is suppose to be a refuge for the members of a family: a safe, healing haven. I had to ask myself, "Am I honestly providing that type of home emotionally for my children and my husband?" Sure, I may be in the running to be nominated for "Mom that provides a great physically & spiritually filling and safe home". But emotionally, I may not get a passing grade for making the bar.

I realized that I NEEDED help and that is was going to hurt my flesh to succumb, even though my brain and heart were on board. It would hurt me, and thinking about it hurt! However, it was funny that my devotional the day before was on threshing harvested wheat. In the natural, wheat is threshed by a machine that beats or threshes the stalks of wheat. The ripe, good grain is shaken loose and separated from the straw and chaff. Well, in the spiritual realm, God realized that it was harvest time for my character. He was going to have to use His "machine" to thresh my character until he could separate the desired qualities from the undesirable qualities. Oh, well, He did forewarn me that it was harvest time! I guess I did not realize how FUN reaping would be! Gotta love our God!

Between yesterday and this morning, God showed me some scriptures that I need to meditate on and follow. Today turned out to be awesome! First off, I made sure that I apologized to my daughter for my previous actions and any words that I may have spoken that hurt her. During the school day, she did have a breakdown, but today her breakdown was attended to by a mom/teacher that was calmer, gentler, more understanding, and more patient. As a result, her breakdown was short-lived and her progress in class was much more successful.

I guess we' re both on the road to change and healing with God. Praise Him!

Scriptures that will heal me in this matter:

Let your gentleness be evident to all. ~Philippians 4:5

A gentle answer turns away wrath. ~Proverbs 15:1

The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit. ~Proverbs 15:4

Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. ~Proverbs 16:24
...do not exasperate your children. ~Ephesians 6:4

...do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged. ~Colossians 3:21

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. ~Galatians 5:22

Be Blessed!

I Am Content Just the Way He Made Me!

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made...~Psalm 139:14

About a month or two ago, I found the need to use scriptures from the Bible to write a special prayer for a young girl who was struggling with her self-esteem. A great deal of her esteem issues were related to her negative feelings about her body size and shape. She was spending many of her days in a depressed state, and although she longed to be smaller in size, the depression was causing her to eat even more (and then feel even worse). I was deeply concerned about the continuing, future affects of such thought patterns on her health and her overall mental well-being and stability. What also bothered me so was the fact that she was so young to carry such a burden.

The only thing I knew to do was to design this prayer for her to pray; to encourage her, to heal her, and transform her. Perhaps you know a young lady experiencing some of the same struggles. Or perhaps, you are that woman. What ever the case, be blessed by this prayer and please pass it on to any others you know in need.

With much love and affections,
~Teri

Dear Father,

I’d like to thank you, in the name of Jesus, for caring for me and harkening your ear to my prayer.

Lord, thank you for creating my inmost being, knitting me together in my mother’s womb. I thank you that when I get down on myself, am sad, and am unpleased about my body, in anyway, I can praise you instead as I remember that I am fearfully and wonderfully made by you. And, Lord all of your works are wonderful (that includes me). I know that fully well! My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.

I will no longer allow my soul to be downcast over my body shape or size because I know that I am indeed your precious work of art. You are the Potter and I am your clay.

Father, I thank you that you will fulfill your purpose for me, your love, O Lord endures forever-do not abandon me, the works of your hands.

Lord, since I know that apart from you I can do nothing, please help me to be good to my body each day. Let wisdom enter my heart, and let the knowledge be pleasant to my soul. Allow me to be a prudent young lady that gives thought to her actions and steps, especially where my body and health is concerned. Remind me daily that although, everything is permissible for me, not everything is beneficial is for my good health.

I want to love and respect my body because I know that my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. I will honor you with my body and offer my body as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to you-this is my spiritual act of worship.

Praise be to God who gives me victory through Jesus Christ!

Amen!

Awaken!

"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. " ~Isaiah 60:1

If you are a follower of my blog, you know that more than a week ago, I was having a continual struggle with waking up early each morning. Not only was I awakening too late for a woman with the constant responsibility of a husband and four young children, but it was also WAY too late for one that had the responsibility of spending time with God FIRST and also running a homeschool throughout the greater part of the day.

I knew that my rising each day was not acceptable and felt that it was negatively affecting the way my mood would progress, the way I treated myself and others, and the overall productiveness of the homeschooling day. I longed to arise earlier and sought after God's assistance in the matter. The night of one of my most miserable days, I petitioned the Lord to hear my prayer and to help me out in the matter. This time I was truly serious and desired to change. I was sick of myself!

He INSTANTLY answered me, and woke me up earlier and earlier, each and everyday since. What started off as a 9:00 a.m. wake-up time, progressed to a 5:38 a.m. I have battled no struggle to get up since that day. And honestly, now when I awake, I CANNOT wait to get up and get to my Bible and coffee to start off my day. I love the quiet time to read, to think, to pray, and to even get in a showing of Believer's Voice of Victory on channel 9.

I will not pretend that I feel very awake and vibrant throughout my day...I have not, particularly the last three days (these are the ones that I've been up before 6 a.m.). But I know that this is a work in progress and that my body is simply adjusting to my new schedule. Yes, I took a nap for the past three days around 4:00 p.m. (after school). I am just being patient, however, knowing that I am going from glory to glory each day.

Another challenge that I have experienced over the past few days is that now my baby boy has started to wake up by 6:30 a.m. and slightly interrupt my time. Now the normal Teri would have reacted to this new issue with annoyance and frustration. However, with God's grace I was able to take a deep breath and remember that this is new and I will find ways to work around the kinks. When Joshie crawled in, I got him a bottle, sat him in his seat, and placed him next to me. He eventually settled down or even fell back to sleep. I was still able to have my devotional time; but I tell you what...this new Joshie thing has just encouraged me to get up even earlier to overcome that, and to ensure that my time with God is just me & Him. I cannot express to you how much progress this was for me to meet this challenge in a relaxed, "we can work around this" manner. Praise be to God!

I am further glad to boast that ever since I have been awakening much earlier and getting in that necessary time with God FIRST, I have not had one miserable day, but only marvelous days in succession. It has been refreshing! I guess I should not be surprised because the Bible clearly speaks to us on seeking him first and early.

People, there are benefits in it!:

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.~ Matthew 6:33

I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.~ Proverbs 8:17

O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You...~Psalm 63:1

She gets up while it is still dark...~Proverbs:15

SOoooooooooo........

" Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light.”~ Eph. 5:14

~Be Blessed...I WAS!