For my professional credentials, I am required to earn 30 continuing education credits each year. This year I have chosen to take a 30 hour class on addictions to meet this requirement. I just completed a section on adrenaline addiction. The presenter, Archibald Hart, Ph.D., discussed the physiological purpose for adrenaline (to deal with emergencies, for short-term use), what triggers the body to produce adrenaline (high risk activities, stimulating games/activities, danger etc.) and how our own bodies become addicted to this chemical through craving the feel-good experience we get during the adrenaline rush.
In his presentation, Dr. Hart shared some very interesting thoughts regarding worship and adrenaline. He stated that "spirituality should not be adrenaline or excitement driven. Worship should offer peacefulness." He cautioned believers to be careful about the design of the worship experience, that it be driven by peace as opposed to being driven by excitement, which produces adrenaline.
It is important to understand that the chemical adrenaline itself "gives a heightened sense of well-being which can be misleading". With this in mind, it is understandable why people like excitement in their worship experience, because this excitement does produce adrenaline, which feels very good. However, it behooves us to evaluate where the sense of well-being is coming from, our worship of our heavenly Father, or from the effects of the adrenaline produced by our own human bodies during the worship experience.
The key question seems to be this. . . . .does our worship produce peace or an adrenaline rush that feels good? Dr. Hart encouraged us to manage (take control of) our own adrenaline, to work to enhance peacefulness (especially in our spiritual experience), incorporate healthy physical changes, work to learn how to let go of things/activities/feelings of being responsible for EVERYONE, etc.
What I am hearing from Dr. Hart is that we need more peace in every aspect of our life, especially during our spiritual worship experience. We must seek after the peace that passes all understanding comes from God alone.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
Seasons of Life
Have you ever noticed that different aspects of life have their own "seasons"? This has just occurred to me! Our family's life has transitioned into a new season very recently. My husband and I have just became grandparents to the most beautiful little girl in our world. (I think that most if not all grandparents claim that their grand babies are the most beautiful babies in the world.) This is most definitely a new and wonderful season of family life for us.
My role as a daughter has also transitioned into a new season. My mother is aging and I am transitioning from being her child to becoming her caregiver. I am starting to parent my parent. This is a most befuddling and weird season of life that most children experience at some point with their parents. This phenomenon happens for many reasons, i.e. when parents age, health issues develop, tragedy strikes, etc.
My family's financial situation has it's own "seasons". We currently are in a season of "financial drought", when finances are very tight. Many families are in this same situation because of the current economic climate. This season has the great potential to be very frightening and discouraging if we do not keep our eyes on God and His provision.
My career, relationships with my husband, children, parents, and friends have also gone through seasons. The one thing that I have learned about seasons is that they change! There is a definite beginning and end to each season. Some seasons I would love to have stay the same forever, but don't and some I hope and pray will pass quickly, sometimes they do and sometimes they don't.
Even though our finances are in distress, I am finding great joy in my new granddaughter. Even though I am becoming a caregiver for my mom (of which is a huge honor in spite of the challenges), I am loving being a parent to wonderful young adult children.
The moral of this blog is this, if one part of your life is in a difficult season, look at other parts of your life. You may find that other parts are in fun, good seasons and you will find great encouragement from them. Be careful to NOT allow your focus to be soley on the hard seasons, find joy in the good seasons as well, for this is a choice that we all have. It does take concerted effort at times to find areas of our lives that are in a good season, but they are there. If you look, you will find them!
My role as a daughter has also transitioned into a new season. My mother is aging and I am transitioning from being her child to becoming her caregiver. I am starting to parent my parent. This is a most befuddling and weird season of life that most children experience at some point with their parents. This phenomenon happens for many reasons, i.e. when parents age, health issues develop, tragedy strikes, etc.
My family's financial situation has it's own "seasons". We currently are in a season of "financial drought", when finances are very tight. Many families are in this same situation because of the current economic climate. This season has the great potential to be very frightening and discouraging if we do not keep our eyes on God and His provision.
My career, relationships with my husband, children, parents, and friends have also gone through seasons. The one thing that I have learned about seasons is that they change! There is a definite beginning and end to each season. Some seasons I would love to have stay the same forever, but don't and some I hope and pray will pass quickly, sometimes they do and sometimes they don't.
Even though our finances are in distress, I am finding great joy in my new granddaughter. Even though I am becoming a caregiver for my mom (of which is a huge honor in spite of the challenges), I am loving being a parent to wonderful young adult children.
The moral of this blog is this, if one part of your life is in a difficult season, look at other parts of your life. You may find that other parts are in fun, good seasons and you will find great encouragement from them. Be careful to NOT allow your focus to be soley on the hard seasons, find joy in the good seasons as well, for this is a choice that we all have. It does take concerted effort at times to find areas of our lives that are in a good season, but they are there. If you look, you will find them!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Hello to all you readers! Sorry it has been so long since my last post, life has been very interesting in my world. The Lord has been teaching me new things and has been reminding me of lessons I have experienced in the past and reminding/challenging me to use what I have learned from them.
The lesson that I have been reminded of most recently has been to live life in a way so that I will have no regrets. This lesson has been in the context of relationships. At the present time, some of my family members are experienced some significant health/life events that are indicating that they would benefit from having support for a time.
Because of these situations and needing to determine what my role needs to be in them, I have been challenged to evaluate what my priorities are. In order to do so, I have gone back to scripture and looked at what God's priority scale is. In His Word, I am told that God is to be #1 in my life, then comes my spouse, then the rest of my family, then everything else. I am told to honor my parents, love my children, to follow the call of Christ, etc.
Reviewing God's priority scale has been very helpful to me as I determine how to respond to the needs of my family.
Next, I have gone back to the time when my dad's health was failing and we knew that his earthly life was coming to an end. My whole family talked a lot during those days/months and we all agreed that we each needed to respond to that situation in ways that would not cause regrets after dad was gone.
Everyone responded differently based on where each person was emotionally, spiritually and relationally with dad. We all made efforts to not place expectations on the others or try to determine other people's priorities for them. Our motto at that time was "No regrets". We all experienced love and support from one another and peace during those difficult and dark days because we each responded in our own ways so that we did not have regrets after dad passed away.
As I have been responding to the situations that have popped up in my life, I have worked to follow God's priority scale and to respond in ways so that I will have no regrets later. This has brought me great peace in difficult situations and joy in other situations. I have experienced great freedom in my responses because of taking this approach.
For those of you who are walking through difficult or hectic seasons of your lives, I encourage you to set your own priorities based on God's Word and respond in a way that there will be "No Regrets".
God Bless!
The lesson that I have been reminded of most recently has been to live life in a way so that I will have no regrets. This lesson has been in the context of relationships. At the present time, some of my family members are experienced some significant health/life events that are indicating that they would benefit from having support for a time.
Because of these situations and needing to determine what my role needs to be in them, I have been challenged to evaluate what my priorities are. In order to do so, I have gone back to scripture and looked at what God's priority scale is. In His Word, I am told that God is to be #1 in my life, then comes my spouse, then the rest of my family, then everything else. I am told to honor my parents, love my children, to follow the call of Christ, etc.
Reviewing God's priority scale has been very helpful to me as I determine how to respond to the needs of my family.
Next, I have gone back to the time when my dad's health was failing and we knew that his earthly life was coming to an end. My whole family talked a lot during those days/months and we all agreed that we each needed to respond to that situation in ways that would not cause regrets after dad was gone.
Everyone responded differently based on where each person was emotionally, spiritually and relationally with dad. We all made efforts to not place expectations on the others or try to determine other people's priorities for them. Our motto at that time was "No regrets". We all experienced love and support from one another and peace during those difficult and dark days because we each responded in our own ways so that we did not have regrets after dad passed away.
As I have been responding to the situations that have popped up in my life, I have worked to follow God's priority scale and to respond in ways so that I will have no regrets later. This has brought me great peace in difficult situations and joy in other situations. I have experienced great freedom in my responses because of taking this approach.
For those of you who are walking through difficult or hectic seasons of your lives, I encourage you to set your own priorities based on God's Word and respond in a way that there will be "No Regrets".
God Bless!
Monday, June 14, 2010
How Do You Do That??
I have often been asked how, as a counselor, I am able to listen to all the hard things people have to share with me and yet keep my own sanity, and even with some people, keep my "cool". I have thought about this a lot, and have been able to identify several "perspectives" that have helped me cope with the challenges of being a counselor and even in my personal day-to-day life. Maybe these "perspectives" will be helpful to others as well.
First and foremost, I work very hard to remember that we are ALL created by God and are dearly loved by Him. Nothing we will ever do, can change the fact that God created us ALL and He dearly loves His creation. Because I am a follower of Christ, I am called to have and keep this perspective. Even those individuals who have done ugly things, are loved by God and their behaviors do not change the fact that they are a creation of God. I must also love them as a creation of God, not for what they do, but for who they are in God's sight.
Now, what about those ugly behaviors? God's Word tells us that we are to HATE sin, so those ugly things that people say and do, I also hate. I will never tell someone that sin is "OK" or "no big deal". Sin is sin! But. . .I must also be able to separate out the sin from the sinner. My understanding of Scripture is that only God can judge a person's heart, not me. I am not privy to the inner most thoughts of a person, God is. However, I, as a believer, am called to be able to discern good from evil. . . I must be able to recognize sin and call it what it is. . . .sin, wrong in God's eyes and mine.
Another perspective I work hard to maintain has to do with being patient with others. Many times clients don't show up for appointments because they forgot, misunderstood the appointment time, or simply didn't bother to call to let us know about a conflict or a change of mind about coming to the appointment. There is great temptation to become frustrated and even angry at during these times. Then I remember Jesus' words to the Jews who were about to stone the woman caught in adultery . . . ."Let him who has never sinned cast the first stone." If you will recall, NOBODY threw a stone at that woman because they all realized that they too had sinned, most likely none of that crowd had committed adultery, but everyone had sinned in some way. I work hard to remember that I too have forgotten appointments, or dropped the ball in communicating information to others, so I choose to show grace (giving something good that the other person doesn't deserve) to those people who don't show up for their appointments. This perspective applies to all situations, when I am tempted to give a harsh response to someone because of my own personal frustrations with that person, I am reminded by God that I too have sinned.
One final thing that I work to remember is that God knows what I need, what I can handle, and I trust Him with even my schedule. If someone doesn't show up for their appointment or cancels at the last minute, often I have something else pressing to fill the time. Maybe someone in crisis calls and I can see that person right away because of the time that has just opened up, I may have a report that needs to get written and the open time lets me get to that, or maybe I simply need a break for my own mental health. God knows, and again, I trust Him with my time and my schedule.
God is good all the time and I am striving to be more like Him every day. Taking His perspective has helped and will continue to help me deal with the challenges and stresses of my profession and my everyday life. I encourage us all to experience life through God's eyes and with His perspective.
First and foremost, I work very hard to remember that we are ALL created by God and are dearly loved by Him. Nothing we will ever do, can change the fact that God created us ALL and He dearly loves His creation. Because I am a follower of Christ, I am called to have and keep this perspective. Even those individuals who have done ugly things, are loved by God and their behaviors do not change the fact that they are a creation of God. I must also love them as a creation of God, not for what they do, but for who they are in God's sight.
Now, what about those ugly behaviors? God's Word tells us that we are to HATE sin, so those ugly things that people say and do, I also hate. I will never tell someone that sin is "OK" or "no big deal". Sin is sin! But. . .I must also be able to separate out the sin from the sinner. My understanding of Scripture is that only God can judge a person's heart, not me. I am not privy to the inner most thoughts of a person, God is. However, I, as a believer, am called to be able to discern good from evil. . . I must be able to recognize sin and call it what it is. . . .sin, wrong in God's eyes and mine.
Another perspective I work hard to maintain has to do with being patient with others. Many times clients don't show up for appointments because they forgot, misunderstood the appointment time, or simply didn't bother to call to let us know about a conflict or a change of mind about coming to the appointment. There is great temptation to become frustrated and even angry at during these times. Then I remember Jesus' words to the Jews who were about to stone the woman caught in adultery . . . ."Let him who has never sinned cast the first stone." If you will recall, NOBODY threw a stone at that woman because they all realized that they too had sinned, most likely none of that crowd had committed adultery, but everyone had sinned in some way. I work hard to remember that I too have forgotten appointments, or dropped the ball in communicating information to others, so I choose to show grace (giving something good that the other person doesn't deserve) to those people who don't show up for their appointments. This perspective applies to all situations, when I am tempted to give a harsh response to someone because of my own personal frustrations with that person, I am reminded by God that I too have sinned.
One final thing that I work to remember is that God knows what I need, what I can handle, and I trust Him with even my schedule. If someone doesn't show up for their appointment or cancels at the last minute, often I have something else pressing to fill the time. Maybe someone in crisis calls and I can see that person right away because of the time that has just opened up, I may have a report that needs to get written and the open time lets me get to that, or maybe I simply need a break for my own mental health. God knows, and again, I trust Him with my time and my schedule.
God is good all the time and I am striving to be more like Him every day. Taking His perspective has helped and will continue to help me deal with the challenges and stresses of my profession and my everyday life. I encourage us all to experience life through God's eyes and with His perspective.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Father, Son and Holy Who?
I am learning many things right now about the Holy Spirit that I never knew before. A couple of weeks ago we had a guest Pastor speak at our church. His topic was the Holy Spirit. A colleague and I are also reading the book, "Hearing God's Voice" by Henry and Richard Blackaby. This Pastor and this book have both put great focus and emphasis onto the Holy Spirit and I thought that I would share some of the new insights I have been given from these two sources.
The Pastor took us back into the old testament and read scripture that indicated that the Holy Spirit is a person, one of the trinity. . . Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Ghost ). The Blackabys write, "The Father is sovereign. He has designed a perfect will for His people. The Father planned for the atonement for sin through the redeeming act of the cross. The Son accomplished the Father's will when he took on physical form and was crucified for humanity's sin. The Son continues to intercede for people with the Father (1 John 2:1). The Spirit takes the will of the Father and the work of the Son and seeks to make them a reality in the believer's life."
I never thought of the Holy Spirit as being a person like God and Jesus, but He is. I also learned that, in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was given to people for specific tasks, often manifesting Himself in Godly wisdom, visions into the future and extraordinary strength, all things beyond human abilities. The Holy Spirit came and when the task was completed or the person disobeyed God, He left again or was taken away. King David was the only person in the Old Testament that was given the Holy Spirit at a particular point in his life and was with him for the remainder of his life.
In the New Testament, Jesus promised his followers God's continual presence through the Holy Spirit. When every believer makes their profession of faith in God the Father and Jesus Christ His holy Son, they are given the Holy Spirit to remain with them for the remainder of their lives. The Holy Spirit then does God's work in the lives of every believer. The Blackabys' book goes into great detail regarding the Spirit's work. I would strongly encourage everyone interested in learning about and understanding the Holy Spirit to read this book!
There are many more things that I am learning about the Holy Spirit, however I don't have the time/space to share everything. I do want to share two more things that have been very impactful to me having to do with our response to the Holy Spirit. Again, Blackabys' book identified 5 responses to the Holy Spirit. We can resist the Holy Spirit, Grieve the Holy Spirit (meaning actually causing pain to the Spirit with our sin), Quench the Spirit ( suppress or extinguish the work of the Spirit), Blaspheme the Holy Spirit (openly defying God's Spirit ), and finally be Filled by the Spirit ( living in cooperation and communion with the Holy Spirit, allowing God to move and work in and through us).
I believe that we need to do regular checks on our thoughts, attitudes, and choices to make sure that we are maintaining a good relationship with the Holy Spirit and keeping our heart pure in God's sight. I am really excited about the new insight that God is giving me about His Holy Spirit. I hope that you will do some study on your own to learn more about the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. It's exciting stuff!!
The Pastor took us back into the old testament and read scripture that indicated that the Holy Spirit is a person, one of the trinity. . . Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Ghost ). The Blackabys write, "The Father is sovereign. He has designed a perfect will for His people. The Father planned for the atonement for sin through the redeeming act of the cross. The Son accomplished the Father's will when he took on physical form and was crucified for humanity's sin. The Son continues to intercede for people with the Father (1 John 2:1). The Spirit takes the will of the Father and the work of the Son and seeks to make them a reality in the believer's life."
I never thought of the Holy Spirit as being a person like God and Jesus, but He is. I also learned that, in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was given to people for specific tasks, often manifesting Himself in Godly wisdom, visions into the future and extraordinary strength, all things beyond human abilities. The Holy Spirit came and when the task was completed or the person disobeyed God, He left again or was taken away. King David was the only person in the Old Testament that was given the Holy Spirit at a particular point in his life and was with him for the remainder of his life.
In the New Testament, Jesus promised his followers God's continual presence through the Holy Spirit. When every believer makes their profession of faith in God the Father and Jesus Christ His holy Son, they are given the Holy Spirit to remain with them for the remainder of their lives. The Holy Spirit then does God's work in the lives of every believer. The Blackabys' book goes into great detail regarding the Spirit's work. I would strongly encourage everyone interested in learning about and understanding the Holy Spirit to read this book!
There are many more things that I am learning about the Holy Spirit, however I don't have the time/space to share everything. I do want to share two more things that have been very impactful to me having to do with our response to the Holy Spirit. Again, Blackabys' book identified 5 responses to the Holy Spirit. We can resist the Holy Spirit, Grieve the Holy Spirit (meaning actually causing pain to the Spirit with our sin), Quench the Spirit ( suppress or extinguish the work of the Spirit), Blaspheme the Holy Spirit (openly defying God's Spirit ), and finally be Filled by the Spirit ( living in cooperation and communion with the Holy Spirit, allowing God to move and work in and through us).
I believe that we need to do regular checks on our thoughts, attitudes, and choices to make sure that we are maintaining a good relationship with the Holy Spirit and keeping our heart pure in God's sight. I am really excited about the new insight that God is giving me about His Holy Spirit. I hope that you will do some study on your own to learn more about the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. It's exciting stuff!!
Ouch! That Hurt!
I have recently been challenged to take a close look at myself and much to my dismay, have found many areas that need growth. It is one thing to do a self-assessment and come to this understanding, but it is a whole other thing when we are on the outside and recognize the need to challenge another believer toward growth.
How do we go about challenging others toward growth? 1 Peter 3:15 says, "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect . . . ."
The phrase "with gentleness and respect" jumps out at me when I read this passage. My interpretation of this phrase is that we are to be kind to that person we are encouraging toward growth, speaking the truth in love, being careful with and caring for that person's physical, emotional and spiritual well being. We must remember that the goal is to help that individual draw near to, not shrink away from God.
Have you every been around someone who has beaten you up with the truth? They were not kind in their speaking of the truth. The truth is still the truth, however, the delivery of the truth makes all the difference. If I speak the truth harshly, the receiver will put up walls to protect himself and I will have lost the listening ear of that person. If I speak the truth out a heart of love and compassion, being kind and respectful, the receiver will feel safe to hear even hard truths, and be much more likely to accept and receive the message/truth and hopefully rise up and meet the challenge to grow.
So as we strive to fulfill the great commission and work to further God's kingdom, we need to be mindful of Jesus' example of speaking the truth in love and delivering the message in a kind and respectful way, "doing this with gentleness and respect."
How do we go about challenging others toward growth? 1 Peter 3:15 says, "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect . . . ."
The phrase "with gentleness and respect" jumps out at me when I read this passage. My interpretation of this phrase is that we are to be kind to that person we are encouraging toward growth, speaking the truth in love, being careful with and caring for that person's physical, emotional and spiritual well being. We must remember that the goal is to help that individual draw near to, not shrink away from God.
Have you every been around someone who has beaten you up with the truth? They were not kind in their speaking of the truth. The truth is still the truth, however, the delivery of the truth makes all the difference. If I speak the truth harshly, the receiver will put up walls to protect himself and I will have lost the listening ear of that person. If I speak the truth out a heart of love and compassion, being kind and respectful, the receiver will feel safe to hear even hard truths, and be much more likely to accept and receive the message/truth and hopefully rise up and meet the challenge to grow.
So as we strive to fulfill the great commission and work to further God's kingdom, we need to be mindful of Jesus' example of speaking the truth in love and delivering the message in a kind and respectful way, "doing this with gentleness and respect."
Monday, May 24, 2010
What do you think?
I think that we all need feedback from others. I know that I do! It is hard to open ourselves up to others and then have to wonder what they are thinking. We wonder if they agreed with our perspective, if we did a good job or not, if there are things that we need to do differently or better, etc..
Without feedback, we are simply left to wonder. I am kind of feeling this way about my blogging. I know that there are people reading my blogs, but I have gotten very little feedback from those readers. I want to invite you to share your comments/thoughts with me. The Bible says that "iron sharpens iron" and I believe that I can grow through receiving your thoughts and comments.
Yes, there are times that we are going to need to "lovingly agree to disagree" on issues, but even those times can be times of growth as well, so don't be afraid to share your honest thoughts with me. I want to grow in my understanding of and faith in God and in life matters in general. I invite you to help sharpen me through your feedback. I would ask that we all be respectful of one another because the Bible also says that the "tongue is like a double edged sword" and can cut very deeply if not used in love.
Thank you for reading this blog and thank you in advance for your willingness to share your thoughts with me. God Bless!
Without feedback, we are simply left to wonder. I am kind of feeling this way about my blogging. I know that there are people reading my blogs, but I have gotten very little feedback from those readers. I want to invite you to share your comments/thoughts with me. The Bible says that "iron sharpens iron" and I believe that I can grow through receiving your thoughts and comments.
Yes, there are times that we are going to need to "lovingly agree to disagree" on issues, but even those times can be times of growth as well, so don't be afraid to share your honest thoughts with me. I want to grow in my understanding of and faith in God and in life matters in general. I invite you to help sharpen me through your feedback. I would ask that we all be respectful of one another because the Bible also says that the "tongue is like a double edged sword" and can cut very deeply if not used in love.
Thank you for reading this blog and thank you in advance for your willingness to share your thoughts with me. God Bless!
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