Labels...

How often in life do we place labels on people we come in contact with? How often do we judge a person on their appearance without even knowing them?  How often does that judgement change when make the time to get to know them?

My Bible Study (Therapy) Group is currently doing a study called Alter Ego.  It is about rethinking how we label others and how we look at ourselves in the context of the labels we have had placed on us.  How do you see yourself and how has that been affected by the labels others have given you?

How often do we remember being told we're ugly, fat, skinny, pretty, weird, etc... How often are those labels given to us by someone else that we then adopt for ourselves?  I know that I am guilty of labeling other people, and I know that I am guilty of taking on the labels others have given me.

Whether those labels are good, bad or indifferent, I find myself attempting to live up to them.  Isn't that a strange way to look at it?  Attempting to live up to a label.  I have been told I am a "super mom"...I don't feel that way about myself, but the second I feel like I've done something wrong with my children or haven't done something I am supposed to I feel upset or frustrated that I haven't met that expectation.  I've taken on others label of me and tried to live up to it.

I am diagnosed with PTSD and I try to live up to that diagnosis.  I use it as my crutch.  I am a person living with PTSD though not PTSD itself.  I have learn that while PTSD is a diagnosis it is also a label.  A label given to those of us living with a disorder that we can overcome.  We can seek treatment and get better.  We may never be cured, but we can live with our disability.

I have given labels to my own children, and now that I realize this I have to make a concerted effort to change this.  They do not deserve to grow up labeled by their own Mother.  They deserve to become who God wants them to be.  Who He planned for them to be even before they were born.

My new goal in life is to start working on not only my own labels but on not giving those around me labels.  Not looking at a person in the store or on the street and assuming I know them based on their appearance.  I will start working on giving everyone a chance to show who they truly are.  It is not my job to label them, it is my job to accept them.

God has given us the true idea of who we are.  He has placed us in our lives for a reason.  He has planned our paths for us.  We need to choose to follow that plan and start living out our alter ego.  We need to start working on becoming more like God and less like our current selves.

Labels are harmful to us and to those around us.  Take a moment to truly consider how your labeling someone else may and can affect them.  Take a moment to think about how those same labels given to you have affected your life.  How they have molded how you see yourself.

Become the person God has planned for you!

Radical Obedience...

What does radical obedience mean to you when you hear it?  To a Christian it should mean one thing...it should mean that you are ready to completely and utterly give your life over to God and follow the path that he leads for you.  I am currently reading the book Radical by David Platt and I am astonished by the things he has written.

I realized that I was not allowing myself to listen to the plan God has for me.  I am not following the directives of the Bible as I should...I am not obeying God's word.

I realize that many of my readers may not share my beliefs, I hope that they can still respect my values and beliefs.  I can understand if they don't though.  It is a tough pill for people who do not believe to swallow.  It is a tough pill sometimes for those of us who do believe to follow.

God loves us, He created us in His image, He created us for His enjoyment.  He expects us to follow His word...He demands it.  The cost of not following His word is worse than anything you can experience in this life.  It is eternal damnation.  It is eternal separation from our Loving Creator.

He never said that this life would be easy, He never said that we would be able to easily follow His word.  He did provide us with the blueprint for this though.  He gave us the Bible to study, to read, to learn.  He gave us His written word, written by mortal men.  Men, who like you and I, found it difficult to radically obey His word until they were shown the path He laid out for them.

I can only imagine the shock and awe they experienced when the Lord reached down and physically touched them?  The Love they felt engulf them when they finally reached the point where they were ready to listen and believe.

Can you also imagine the fear they felt when at first they did not follow God's word.  They chose to stray from the path He laid for them?  The fear Jonah felt when the was in the fished belly, the fear he lived with for the days he was there?

Had Jonah simply listened and obeyed He would not have had to have that experience.  If we would listen and obey there are some many things we could avoid experiencing.  Not saying that you will never experience difficulties or obstacles in this life...you will.  Even the most ardent, most obedient of God's people will experience pain and suffering.  However, when the Lord returns those same people will be the first to experience His amazing love and healing.

You may not be in a place in your life where you are ready to follow the Lord, you may never be in that place, I pray that you change your mind though. I pray that I am able to find the radical obedience the Lord expects...that he demands!

"Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.  Although the whole earth is mine." ~Exodus 19:5

Our Government...

As each day passes and our elected officials are no closer to coming to a resolution among themselves I am becoming more and more despondent.  Our nation was forged on the ideals of the American dream.  A dream that is now in tatters for so many.

Each day we watch as the individuals we elected become less and less interested in helping the American people and more and more interested in their own agenda.  We watch as they argue among themselves with no real thought of how their actions are affecting those people who put voted them into their positions.

It's like watching my children fight over the remote for the T.V.  At some point they forget what it was they even wanted to watch and the fight is merely about who is in control of the remote.  Our government is so wrapped up in who is right and wrong, that they are missing the real point entirely.  They are making themselves and the American people as a whole look like bumbling idiots.

I watch as they bicker over who's idea it was to implement certain procedures, who's idea it was to implement Obamacare, who's idea it was to vote certain ways...how about they come together and make some decisions that will put us all back on the right track.  How about they stop worrying about which party is right and start focusing on how to fix this astronomical mess they have placed us in.

As a military member who is getting ready to retire I am fearful of what the future holds for me and my family.  Will I receive the benefits I was promised as a medical retiree?  Will my husband and I be able to financially take care of our children without losing our house, our vehicles, our sanity?  Will we be able to support them on the income we were promised?

Will our medical coverage take care of our special needs children?  Will we even continue to receive medical coverage at a rate we can afford?  Are our elected officials ever going to start hearing what we the people are actually saying or are they going to continue to listen only to themselves?

I am proud to be an American.  I am proud to be from a country. I am not proud of our current government and how these issues are being handled.  We as a people need to stand up and make our voices heard.  We need to ensure that we people we helped make it to government office understand that we are the only reason they are there and we can choose not to allow them to make poor choices for us.

Fear and it's effects...

As an individual living with anxiety and PTSD, I know all to well the effects of fear on your life.  I am coming to a crossroads not only for myself, but for my family as well and it is terrifying.

I am going to retire from the military in less than two months and I have no prospects for a future job.  My family will suffer because of my retirement and that scares me.  It terrifies me.  It makes me second guess  myself.

Would it be possible to pull of a full recovery and return to a job that kept my family going?  It is possible to downsize enough to manage our lives without two full-time pay checks? Is it time to give up on school, send my son back to public school, and get a full-time 9-5 job?

All of these things are running through my head and I have no way to see if any of them are viable options.  Let me rephrase that, of course I have ways to see if they are viable, but am I, are we willing to do the things we need to see where they go?

I love being home during the day, I love seeing my children as soon as they get home from school and help with their homework.  I love being a stay-at-home Mom in a way that I never thought I would.  Is it viable though?  Can I work from home and still be a full-time stay at home Mom?  Can I make this work?

Lord please let me make the best decision for my family!  Please put your arms around me and guide me to the decision we need to make as a family!  Be with us Lord, lead, guide and direct us.  In your name I pray...amen!