I have a deep passion and commitment to the ongoing development of spiritually strong and emotionally healthy individuals, marriages, families, leaders and cultures, helping you achieve your God-designed and appointed destiny.
All tagged Health
Almost without exception, we all want to know our purpose. It’s one of those universal questions we ask ourselves again and again over the course of our lifetime, gnawing in our gut. “What am I here for?” We want to know we have value and meaning. We want to know we’ve made a difference, that we aren’t just taking up space and sucking up air. We want to know that we matter.
In this demanding, over-stimulated and over-scheduled world in which we live, Soul Weariness is epidemic. It’s destroying lives, families, careers and churches in its wake. Anxiety, loss of enjoyment of life, and depression are the result. Many are just hanging on, when they want to move ahead. Some are in a deep rut, or even paralyzed, as clarity of purpose and vision have vanished. With this in mind, how do you know if you are Soul Weary? What are the symptoms? And once identified, what do you do?
I hadn’t asked myself what I wanted in life, my marriage, my pursuits, and as a woman in…well, maybe never. It seemed as if I had always piggy-backed on other people’s wants, needs and desires. As a good Christian wife and mother, isn’t that was I was supposed to do?
There I was again – too much to do and too little time to do it. Honestly, it seemed to be the story of my life these past months. You’d think with the kids grown and gone; I’d be getting more - not less - done. In the past it wasn’t a problem. I was practical a machine! Being someone with what seemed to be endless energy, each day would begin with a mental, or better yet, written list of all that needed to be accomplished. I always knew how much I could get done, almost down to the minute. I considered myself to a Time Management Master.
Why do we do it? Why do we compare? We know it’s a black hole. It won’t help, nor will it solve any issues. In fact, it makes issues much larger and bigger than they already are! So why do we insist on carrying on this love affair with comparison?
The outcome of our willingly (and even knowingly) subjecting ourselves to everyone’s polished persona and comparing our lives with their pics (most of which have been altered or filtered), has resulted in nothing less than GRAND THEFT, stealing our confidence, self-respect, uniqueness, healthy body image, focus, and peace. For goodness sake, it’s even taken our money, as we’ve gone out and tried to purchase the life we’ve seen depicted on our phone screens!
Crappy stuff has happened. Thing’s haven’t turned out as expected. You’re holding on to every remaining ounce of faith you possess, believing that God is at work in the midst of it all. In fact, you know He is, because when you look back, you recall circumstances, events, and situations in which He’s orchestrated such happenings that cannot be chalked up to mere coincidence.
God most often doesn’t immediately deliver us from that which we need deliverance, as most often His concern is not only deliverance, but character development, which takes time.
After 25 plus years of consistently reading God’s Word, it never ceases to amaze me how you can read a particular scripture countless times, only to have it resurface in a new and powerful light, impacting you with a truth that is not only encouraging, but can sometimes shake you to your core, causing you to do some drastic re-evaluation. Such an occurrence reinforces the truth that His Word is living and active, never diminishing, and ever empowering
I’ve heard it said, by Dr. Henry Cloud, no less, that there are three types of individuals - Wise, Foolish, and Evil. In pondering this concept, I’ve come to a few conclusions.
In addition to being a genius, Thomas Edison (most famously known as the inventor of the light bulb), was often described as an extreme optimist.
Of recent days, we've witnessed society fueled by those who display the greatest passion with the loudest voice to a greater degree than ever before. Those who storm the gates with the most powerful force appear to receive the highest level of attention and response. We’ve seen it in both the political arena, as well as world events. It seems these individuals are both admired and revered as they desperately seek to command the greatest level of attention. Whether they are brilliant, or as dumb as a doornail, we give them our attention…at least for a little while.
You know when you hear a word for a phrase, over and over? It seems you can’t escape it’s invasion into your space. Author Margaret Feinberg describes this as a “Sacred Echo,” when God is trying to get your attention or get a point across. This very thing happened to me this past week. The word I kept hearing? “Forgiveness.” First, I saw it in a letter someone had written. Then I heard someone say it out loud. Then I heard an analogy about forgiveness. Finally, I clearly heard God’s voice…”Cammie, you haven’t really forgiven ________.” Awesome. Just awesome. I thought this account had been cleared.
She sat directly in front of me, nervous, scared and frustrated - rejected by those who claimed to be friends. And if rejection in itself wasn’t enough, it was accompanied by accusation, judgment and criticism. She had been labeled as bitter and unforgiving, when those flinging the accusations were themselves withholding forgiveness.
