Time Out

Dear Little Sis,
I came up with a solution for our dog Karlie's incessant barking at the door when someone knocks I say ..."Time Out"!  When I hear her barking ferociously, I point to her bed near the fireplace and say "time out".  When it's time for her to get out of her Time Out, we say the word, "Free".

After a few weeks and much patience, we finally achieved this training feat. I proudly show off our dog to visitors, family and friends that she was laying in the corner of the house when they entered. When we were ready, I then released her with the command "free" and she comes over and greets our guests.  Most everyone is really amazed that she is so well trained, but for me it was mostly a selfish desire to just have some peace and quiet in our home.

The other day I noticed that she was lying in this time out bed and I was happy that she was feeling comfortable with it.  But I also noticed that she didn't look very happy.  If I was heading outside to get the mail or another task, she would just lay there and look at me.  So I would call her and tell her to come along. She jumped up and joyfully joined me.

The other day she again went to her time out bed and I heard her whining.  I thought this was strange, and I wondered what was wrong. It then dawned on me...she went to lay down in the comfy bed but after a while she forgot she had put herself in Time Out and didn't know how to get out of it!  She laid there miserably until I finally said the command "free".  I released her from her self made prison.  I laughed hilariously, but later I felt a little sad.  All along she laid there, feeling constricted, imprisoned and condemned, but she had the power to leave the bed but didn't know it.

Thoughts crowded my mind as I thought of how much this was like us as Christians: imprisoned in our own self made "Time Out" bed.  We may have originally gone there to find comfort but we found we couldn't get out by ourselves. We dwell in our anger, fear, or habits, and find ourselves imprisoned.  We lay there in what was once a comfy bed until we realize we don't have the power on our own to get out... Who can release us?  We see our Master and then realize, He has the power to get us out of our prison. We wait patiently for Him and then we hear the Master's voice, say "Free".   Joyfully we jump out of our self-made confinement.  John 8:36 "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed".

After hearing His voice,  we realize we had His Power all along to leave our self-made prison and live in His Freedom.

No more time outs little sis!

God is Bigger Than the Boogie Man!

"Grandma, leave the light on, I’m scared!" It wasn’t the first time Gavin had asked me to leave the hall light on while he was staying at my house in what I refer to as the “grandkids room”. Full of cars, dolls, tea sets, and a trundle bed, I thought I had provided everything to make this 3 year old comfortable. I asked him if he would like me to read to him, I thought it might help soothe his little heart. I rummaged through the bookshelf and found “God is Bigger than the Boogey Man” a really cute Veggie Tales story. I read it through it and smiles replaced his tears. In the middle of the story, the book's character Junior remembers a song that helped him when he was afraid so he sings it::

“Cuz God is Bigger than the Boogie Man!

He’s Bigger than Godzilla,

Or the monsters on TV!

Oh, God is Bigger than the Boogie Man!

And He’s Watchin Out for You and Me!

After I sang the song in the book and finished reading the rest of the story, I left the light on and it wasn’t long before Gavin was fast asleep.

A couple of weeks ago, I found my heart filled with fear. Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Nuclear Meltdown, Radiation Threats…does it get any scarier than that? I was overwhelmed with the destruction and the pain of others. The news of the situation was constant and there didn’t seem to be any relief or solution. Threats of the huge nuclear reactor melting down grabbed the airwaves and spurting deadly radiation into the atmosphere and the situation remains serious to this day.

As my heart was stirring with fear, a tune came to my mind and I started singing it to myself, “God is Bigger than the Boggey Man...”. I then pictured in my mind the ominous nuclear reactor that I had seen on TV that no man couldn’t control, like a huge Boogie Man….but God was greater!

“Cuz God is Bigger than the Boogie Man!

He’s Bigger than Godzilla,

Or the monsters on TV!

Oh, God is Bigger than the Boogie Man!

And He’s Watchin Out for You and Me!

A smile came over me, peace in my heart replaced anxiety, and sweet sleep brought me to the next day. What Boogie Man is in your life right now?...sing along with me.

Celebrate Recovery - 30 Days

Big Sis, last night I attended my 4th week of Celebrate Recovery and received my 30 day Recovery Chip for attendance. The weather out here in Texas had turned bitterly cold and I had almost talked myself out of going to the meeting like I always do every Monday night but 15 minutes before the class started, I was on my way there. My biggest struggle is with depression, anxiety and fear due to multiple losses so I really have to push myself and just go and do it afraid... As the meeting began with prayer, we were treated to live music this time. I could really sense the presence of God there as we all sang praise and surrender songs to the Lord to help us heal. If I had stayed home I would have greatly missed an opportunity to witness yet another moving, inspirational testimony of brokenness which led to victory by one of the leaders who gave her testimony back in 2008. She felt compelled to tell her story again which gave all the newcomers a real sense of hope. As she courageously and bravely bore her soul, there was not a dry eye in the audience. She ended her testimony by saying that she will always be a work in progress and expressed how truly blessed she is to be loved and accepted by her Celebrate Recovery family.

We were then dismissed and asked to attend our individual meetings. I am in a group called Hurts, Hang-ups and Habits. We are seated in a circular formation and we first begin with prayer. We introduce ourselves, express that we are Great Believers in Jesus Christ and then briefly state why we are there. We go around the room again, one by one to discuss what we are feeling. Some of the women had victories to share. Others discussed how there week had been going.

My "Celebrate Recovery" Journey-First Step

Big Sis, I know that you are aware that I have been recently laid off and unemployed for the past 4 months. I am not regimentally getting up at 5:00 a.m. anymore so that I can get all "stressed out" rushing to fight the traffic for an hour commute. I also do not have to put up with all of the irate "crazies" at the last place of my employment in the high-stressed position that I held for the past 3 years. I really should be doing a "Happy Dance" about all of this wonderful new freedom that has been bestowed upon me due to "budget cuts" but don't get me wrong, although I do enjoy the schedule of "not having a schedule" to maintain for the time being to catch my breath, I completely feel like a "fish out of water." A job certainly should never define who you are but when you are working you feel "purposeful" and "useful."