Breaking Free from OCD is the true story of a quest to cope with, rid myself from and conquer OCD. I describe the book and journey as the place where fear meets faith and darkness meets light. I learned how to control my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in that place...but I didn't do it alone.
“I am a seasoned, experienced, non-suffering OCDer ready to share with you the path God took me down in order to manage my OCD and heal from the inside out. The brain of someone with OCD is compelling, intelligent and sharp. I learned to use my OCD to help control my OCD! And if I can do it, then I have faith that you can too.”
“God showed me how to use His Word, faith, prayer and some simple steps to help train my OCD brain to manage my OCD; helping me to learn how to live again. My compulsive actions and out of control thoughts that once took up 90% of my time each day reduced to taking up less than 10% of my time and this still holds true today. Fear has been replaced with peace and faith has continued to grow; I now have true faith in God, faith in myself and faith in the plan He has for my life.”
Over 12 years ago I found relief for my OCD, without drugs. In fact, taking a medication never occurred to me. I’m not against pharmaceutical help if needed. But for me, faith was the solution. At first, I was afraid not to seek God. But it wasn’t a healthy kind of ‘fear of the Lord’; it was a deep alarming fear of God, of people, places, death, circumstances…almost everything. Some people are so plagued by religious fear due to their OCD that they never get past the religiousness to discover God and freedom through Him.
OCD manifested in many other ways in my life besides what I now know was merely religion. (What I have now is faith and belief, not religion.) My memories of suffering with OCD stretch back to the age of 8. With each passing year my compulsive behaviors became worse. By the time I was 30 I was nearly fully home-bound, unable to keep a regular job and afraid of everything. I was afraid not to pray and yet my prayers were ritualistic, not a means of intimate communication with God. Fear permeated every part of my life, not just my faith.
Fear – that’s the driving force behind OCD. A real, succinct, deep-seeded fear of…well, anything and everything imaginable. Sometimes the fears are rational and sometimes they aren’t. But the need to control something, anything, compels the OCDer to take action…any action, in order to feel better. Hence the counting, repeating, checking, touching, cleaning, hoarding….counting, repeating, checking…
Over time I have realized that if you have a lack of faith then fear will quickly invade your mind; your waking and sleeping thoughts. I also discovered that faith is not the opposite of fear but faith IS the ability to see beyond the fear into the eyes of truth. If fear is darkness then faith is turning the lights on! Once you can see the lies for what they are, then the brain of the person with OCD can begin to dispel the many lies that make them feel compelled to obsessive, repetitive, nonsensical actions.
I am a seasoned, experienced, non-suffering OCDer ready to share with you the path God took me down in order to manage and heal from the inside out! The brain of someone with OCD is compelling, intelligent and sharp. I learned to use my OCD to control my OCD! And that means you can too. God showed me how to use His Word, faith, prayer and some simple steps to help train my OCD brain to manage my OCD without it stopping me from living. Before long, my compulsive actions and out of control thoughts that once took up 90% of my day reduced to taking up less than 10% of my day…and it still holds true today. Fear has been replaced with peace and faith has continued to grow; faith in God, faith in myself and faith in the plan He has for my life.
My quest is to help others see that OCD IS something you can live with, control, eradicate, deal with, move beyond and you CAN keep it from stealing your joy. Through faith, even if your faith is currently enveloped in OCD, you can find healing.
Team up with a Christian Life Coach to help you on your journey to break free! Check out Life Coach Inspired.
For more info on Karen and Life Coaching, check out her profile on Therapy Tribe or OCD Tribe.
Click here to order your copy of: Breaking Free From OCD
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Thursday, January 29, 2015
The lie most women believe
Like most women, Christian women are bombarded with cultural euphemisms, well-meaning quotes and worldly motivation that is supposed to guide us in the right direction. Every which we way we look, from magazine covers, to blogs, TV and radio, we are told what the world expects of us. We’re given powerful suggestions on how we should dress, act, work; how much money we should make and how happy, frustrated or stressed we’re supposed to be while trying to do all of the aforementioned. Whew, it’s exhausting just thinking about it. Every time I see another ‘self-help’ infomercial, a celebrity selling age-defying skin cream or hormone replacement ads guaranteed to make your flashes cool rather than hot, I just want to shout “Liar, liar pants on fire”. But hey, I am a little more mature than that. I stick out my tongue, roll my eyes and use the mute button, change the channel or go read a book instead. However, just because we have the option to shut the TV off, click out of a blog or throw a magazine away, doesn’t mean we won’t be scathed or effected by the lies thrown at us every single day in our modern worldly culture.
So, in an effort to keep the seeds of lies from taking root, I’d like to share some things I’ve learned thru the years. Lies tend to belittle, diminish and crush the self-worth, identity and spirit of many women. Even though, as Christians, we know our identity should be sought IN Christ rather than thru the world, when we live in a world tailored to telling us everything opposite of what the Bible tells us, we have to regularly train our brains to combat the lies that cause us to fear, doubt and eventually fall…
One of the biggest lies I see women battle with every single day is: “God will not give you more than you can handle.” First and foremost, this is not a passage from the Bible. Nowhere in The Word does it state this. What the Bible does say is, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13
God doesn’t tell us we won’t be tempted; we won’t be stressed; we won’t feel like we’re about ready to go under. He doesn’t tell us He won’t give us difficult challenges or that the world won’t try to overtake us. I see women every week trying to figure out just how they can handle all the stress, the pain, financial problems, marriage issues, addiction, fears about the future and daily gossip in their average everyday lives. Add to that a life and death issue, an accident, or a diagnosis and WHAM, they start to sink and cannot fathom what they’ve done wrong and why in the world God is allowing them to be punished. They question God and themselves. “What did I do wrong? What didn’t I do right? Why am I not strong enough, good enough, smart enough…to be able to handle all that’s being thrown my way?”
Many women blame themselves every day for things that are not their own fault – adding to the already amped up poor image they have of themselves for not measuring up to what the latest, greatest trend or magazine says they should be. I’m not talking about avoiding personal responsibility and consequences for our own poor choices in life. I’m talking about this lie that adds to a woman’s feeling of inadequacy, spurning on feelings of being unfit, unhealthy, not spiritual enough…all because they feel as if they cannot handle one more thing in life.
“What’s wrong with me? I thought God wouldn’t give me more than I can handle? But I cannot handle this! God must not love me as much. Or maybe I’m not good enough…” These are the thoughts inside the hearts and minds of many women who are receiving well-meaning, but false, motivation in the name of God. Toss the lies out ladies. Out with the lie that says “God will never give you more than you can handle.” And IN with the truth: “God will never give you more than He can handle!” 1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us that God IS faithful and he will provide a way so that you can endure it…whatever IT is! When we believe a lie that tells us we have to handle everything on our own, with the unspoken caveat that, if we don’t, then we must have something wrong with us, then we have embraced something that puts distance between ourselves and God. We’re supposed to lean on God. “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:26
There are many lies being thrown at women that can take root, causing destruction in our faith and walk with God. But not only in us, also in the hearts and minds of the young girls and younger ladies watching everything we do. As Christian women, we must step back, look at how we handle life’s everyday stress and the big challenges that come along. Ask yourself, am I pushing God out? Am I attempting to handle it all on my own? Or am I going to embrace the truth that I’m not actually supposed to handle it all myself? As women in Christ, let us work harder each day to look in the mirror and see the truth. We are human, fallible, and sometimes weaker than we want to be but look yourself in the eye and with boldness and confidence, tell yourself that God IS the strength of your heart. Seek God’s guidance and be determined to show through your actions that you know without a doubt that God is with you. And speak the truth, “God will not give you more than He can handle.”
~ Karen
Karen is a Professional Speaker, Christian Life Coach and published author. She is a former Children’s and Youth Pastor and an avid lover of colorful, crazy socks. Karen is a wife and mom who resides in Kentucky. She is blessed to travel frequently to fulfill her passion of reaching women thru humor, inspiration and Biblical messages. Karen is also a member of the American Assoc. of Christian Counselors, a Chaplain and free-lance Editor.
For info on getting guidance and support thru Christian Life Coaching, go to Life Coach Inspired OR email Karen at lifecoachinspired@yahoo.com
Monday, January 19, 2015
Help for people with OCD ~ moving beyond the fear!
I would say that in today’s culture that almost everyone has heard of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. If you haven’t seen it portrayed in all it’s infinite, seemingly ‘crazy’ glory via the hit TV shows Monk, Friends or The Big Bang Theory, you’re sure to have seen it played out on reality TV in recent years. TV, Vh1, TLC and Discovery Channel have each found an audience over the years by spying into the private lives of men and women plagued by OCD.
In case you’re not sure or in case you have a TV Sunday Night movie idea of just what OCD is, let me just state that OCD is far more than a need for cleanliness and symmetry in one’s daily life. It has, over the years, morphed from being considered some sort of insanity, to a neurosis, to a chemical imbalance, to an anxiety disorder. No matter what science prefers to label it today, it is a very real source of emotional and mental torture for more than 2% of the population. While parallel fights ensue in the world of psychology and biology over just what causes OCD (genetics, viruses, environment) there is no question that the millions of people who suffer from it seek relief over and over again. For some, that relief is found via medications, changes in diet and counseling. For others, there seems to be no relief at all. For me, it was my faith in God and the plan He gave me that set healing in motion for this once OCD entrapped person.
Over 14 years ago I found relief for my OCD, without drugs. In fact, taking a medication never occurred to me. I’m not against pharmaceutical help if needed. But for me, faith was the solution. At first, I was afraid not to seek God. But it wasn’t a healthy kind of ‘fear of the Lord’; it was a deep alarming fear of God, of people, places, death, circumstances…almost everything. Some people are so plagued by religious fear due to their OCD that they never get past the religiousness to discover God and freedom through Him. I was once in that place too.
OCD manifested in many other ways in my life besides what I now know was merely 'religious obsession and fear'. (What I have now is faith and belief, not religion.) My memories of suffering with OCD stretch back to the age of 8. With each passing year my compulsive behaviors became worse. By the time I was 30 I was nearly fully home-bound, unable to keep a regular job and afraid of everything.
Fear – that’s the driving force behind OCD. A real, succinct, deep-seeded fear of…well, anything and everything imaginable. Sometimes the fears are rational and sometimes they aren’t. But the need to control something, anything, compels the OCDer to take action…any action, in order to feel better. Hence the counting, repeating, checking, touching, cleaning, hoarding….counting, repeating, checking…
Over time I have realized that if you have a lack of faith then fear will quickly invade your mind; your waking and sleeping thoughts. I also discovered that faith is not the opposite of fear but faith IS the ability to see beyond the fear into the eyes of truth. If fear is darkness then faith is turning the lights on! And faith - that's having the courage to do something about it, even though you're afraid to. Once a person can see the lies for what they are, then the brain of that person with OCD can begin to dispel the many lies that make them feel compelled to obsessive, repetitive, nonsensical actions.
I am a seasoned, experienced, non-suffering OCDer ready to share with you the path God took me down in order to manage and heal from the inside out! The brain of someone with OCD is compelling, intelligent and sharp. I learned to use my OCD to control my Ocd! And that means you can too. God showed me how to use His Word, faith, prayer and some simple steps to help train my OCD brain to manage my Ocd without it stopping me from living. Before long, my compulsive actions and out of control thoughts that once took up 90% of my day reduced to taking up less than 10% of my day…and it still holds true today. Fear has been replaced with peace and faith has continued to grow…faith in God, faith in myself and faith in the plan He has for my life.
My quest is to help others see that OCD IS something you can live with, control, eradicate, deal with, move beyond and you CAN keep it from stealing your joy. Through faith in action, even if your faith is currently enveloped in OCD, you can find healing.
For more info on my journey, please follow this blog and check out my book, "Breaking Free from OCD" (Free in the Kindle Lending library and for Kindle Unlimited subscribers.)
You can order a softcover copy of "Breaking Free from OCD" by clicking into my Blurb page. Or email me. lifecoachinspired@yahoo.com
Interested in Life Coaching to help make a plan of action to move forward out of fear, anxiety and OCD? Email me. Check out my Life Coach Inspired info by clicking on the LifeCoachInspired webpage.
For other books by Karen, check out her author page on Amazon.com
In case you’re not sure or in case you have a TV Sunday Night movie idea of just what OCD is, let me just state that OCD is far more than a need for cleanliness and symmetry in one’s daily life. It has, over the years, morphed from being considered some sort of insanity, to a neurosis, to a chemical imbalance, to an anxiety disorder. No matter what science prefers to label it today, it is a very real source of emotional and mental torture for more than 2% of the population. While parallel fights ensue in the world of psychology and biology over just what causes OCD (genetics, viruses, environment) there is no question that the millions of people who suffer from it seek relief over and over again. For some, that relief is found via medications, changes in diet and counseling. For others, there seems to be no relief at all. For me, it was my faith in God and the plan He gave me that set healing in motion for this once OCD entrapped person.
Over 14 years ago I found relief for my OCD, without drugs. In fact, taking a medication never occurred to me. I’m not against pharmaceutical help if needed. But for me, faith was the solution. At first, I was afraid not to seek God. But it wasn’t a healthy kind of ‘fear of the Lord’; it was a deep alarming fear of God, of people, places, death, circumstances…almost everything. Some people are so plagued by religious fear due to their OCD that they never get past the religiousness to discover God and freedom through Him. I was once in that place too.
OCD manifested in many other ways in my life besides what I now know was merely 'religious obsession and fear'. (What I have now is faith and belief, not religion.) My memories of suffering with OCD stretch back to the age of 8. With each passing year my compulsive behaviors became worse. By the time I was 30 I was nearly fully home-bound, unable to keep a regular job and afraid of everything.
Fear – that’s the driving force behind OCD. A real, succinct, deep-seeded fear of…well, anything and everything imaginable. Sometimes the fears are rational and sometimes they aren’t. But the need to control something, anything, compels the OCDer to take action…any action, in order to feel better. Hence the counting, repeating, checking, touching, cleaning, hoarding….counting, repeating, checking…
Over time I have realized that if you have a lack of faith then fear will quickly invade your mind; your waking and sleeping thoughts. I also discovered that faith is not the opposite of fear but faith IS the ability to see beyond the fear into the eyes of truth. If fear is darkness then faith is turning the lights on! And faith - that's having the courage to do something about it, even though you're afraid to. Once a person can see the lies for what they are, then the brain of that person with OCD can begin to dispel the many lies that make them feel compelled to obsessive, repetitive, nonsensical actions.
I am a seasoned, experienced, non-suffering OCDer ready to share with you the path God took me down in order to manage and heal from the inside out! The brain of someone with OCD is compelling, intelligent and sharp. I learned to use my OCD to control my Ocd! And that means you can too. God showed me how to use His Word, faith, prayer and some simple steps to help train my OCD brain to manage my Ocd without it stopping me from living. Before long, my compulsive actions and out of control thoughts that once took up 90% of my day reduced to taking up less than 10% of my day…and it still holds true today. Fear has been replaced with peace and faith has continued to grow…faith in God, faith in myself and faith in the plan He has for my life.
My quest is to help others see that OCD IS something you can live with, control, eradicate, deal with, move beyond and you CAN keep it from stealing your joy. Through faith in action, even if your faith is currently enveloped in OCD, you can find healing.
For more info on my journey, please follow this blog and check out my book, "Breaking Free from OCD" (Free in the Kindle Lending library and for Kindle Unlimited subscribers.)
You can order a softcover copy of "Breaking Free from OCD" by clicking into my Blurb page. Or email me. lifecoachinspired@yahoo.com
Interested in Life Coaching to help make a plan of action to move forward out of fear, anxiety and OCD? Email me. Check out my Life Coach Inspired info by clicking on the LifeCoachInspired webpage.
For other books by Karen, check out her author page on Amazon.com
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Healing the broken pieces
“He personally bore our sins in His (own) body on the tree (as on an altar and offered Himself on it), that we might die (cease to exist) to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.” I Peter 2:24 (Amplified Bible)
Healing has been an intense theme in my life since I was in my early twenties. I sought God out for healing from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, adhesions, bladder and kidney problems, hemophilia, a brain aneurysm, broken relationships, infertility…the list goes on. But truthfully I am no different than most women. We are each broken vessels that need to be healed. We were born into a sinful world, not of our own doing, and as we walk the path with Him or away from Him, healing is what most people seek. We may call it other things, such as striving for success, seeking financial freedom, longing for love relationships or 'reaching for the stars' but when it comes down to each of these things, what our heart cries out for is fulfillment through spiritual, emotional, mental or physical healing.
If we feel the need to be better, greater, more fulfilled, then we must surmise that we are unfulfilled – empty or broken – in one or more areas of our life. God’s Word tells us that Jesus died for our iniquities. He died for the places inside us that are broken. He died to heal the inner-most parts of who we are that feel broken and hurting. Out of those hurts we attempt to fill ourselves up with things of this world. Many of these pursuits involve sinful tactics and selfish actions to achieve a desired status or recognition. And from that selfishness we need forgiveness. But fear not, because if you seek Him you will find Him. If you ask for forgiveness, He will give it. And more importantly, you’ll have healing and fulfillment like you’ve never had before. Before you can truly be fulfilled or filled up to overflowing with God’s abundant life, you must first have your broken parts healed. A cup that has cracks in it won’t hold anything for very long, especially joy. I encourage you to let the God who made you, reshape you, mold you and heal those broken parts.
Needing some help along the way? Have you considered Christian Life Coaching? For more information and your free session, email: Lifecoachinspired@yahoo.com
For additional information on Christian Life Coaching, check out Life Coach Inspired.
Resources and encouraging books/devotionals for women:
Running on E'
28 Days of PMS, Praising My Savior devotional
Healing has been an intense theme in my life since I was in my early twenties. I sought God out for healing from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, adhesions, bladder and kidney problems, hemophilia, a brain aneurysm, broken relationships, infertility…the list goes on. But truthfully I am no different than most women. We are each broken vessels that need to be healed. We were born into a sinful world, not of our own doing, and as we walk the path with Him or away from Him, healing is what most people seek. We may call it other things, such as striving for success, seeking financial freedom, longing for love relationships or 'reaching for the stars' but when it comes down to each of these things, what our heart cries out for is fulfillment through spiritual, emotional, mental or physical healing.
If we feel the need to be better, greater, more fulfilled, then we must surmise that we are unfulfilled – empty or broken – in one or more areas of our life. God’s Word tells us that Jesus died for our iniquities. He died for the places inside us that are broken. He died to heal the inner-most parts of who we are that feel broken and hurting. Out of those hurts we attempt to fill ourselves up with things of this world. Many of these pursuits involve sinful tactics and selfish actions to achieve a desired status or recognition. And from that selfishness we need forgiveness. But fear not, because if you seek Him you will find Him. If you ask for forgiveness, He will give it. And more importantly, you’ll have healing and fulfillment like you’ve never had before. Before you can truly be fulfilled or filled up to overflowing with God’s abundant life, you must first have your broken parts healed. A cup that has cracks in it won’t hold anything for very long, especially joy. I encourage you to let the God who made you, reshape you, mold you and heal those broken parts.
Needing some help along the way? Have you considered Christian Life Coaching? For more information and your free session, email: Lifecoachinspired@yahoo.com
For additional information on Christian Life Coaching, check out Life Coach Inspired.
Resources and encouraging books/devotionals for women:
Running on E'
28 Days of PMS, Praising My Savior devotional
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Take refuge and refuel!
“For in the day of trouble He will hide me in His shelter; in the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will set me high upon a rock.” Psalm 27:5 (NIV)
There are days I want nothing more than to run and hide. Whether due to stress or emotions, there are days I just want to curl up in bed with the covers over my head. Those are the days I’ve learned that I need to seek God even more.
Some days there is no actual trouble I’m hiding from. Sometimes it’s just the world around me and the daily “to do” list that has me seeking shelter. In today’s culture women have even more titles than ever before: home-maker, bread winner, seamstress, maid, taxi-cab driver, Mom, daughter, wife, care-giver, nurse, business woman...add to that the tasks of balancing the household finances, volunteering at church and keeping up with all the little pieces of life that need to be put in to place daily and it’s no wonder so many women are worn out and empty-feeling.
If you’re tempted to retreat from life and all those responsibilities on a regular basis then I encourage you to immediately fall to your knees or rest your head for a moment as you close your eyes and seek God for a place of spiritual refuge. Even if it’s only for a moment or two, God can overcome your heart and your weariness with a fresh message from the Bible or just a small refreshing whisper to your heart.
I encourage you to do what took me waaaay too many years to do: take time for yourself. Set up regularly built-in breaks for yourself. Take time to read, go to lunch, go for a walk or just pamper yourself. God-time and personal respite time will make all the difference in your daily life; whether your hormones are telling you that you do or do not, you DO deserve it. Our culture, perfectionism, obsessiveness, vanity, pride and other people's opinions might try to stop you from taking care of yourself from the inside out but don't let them. Don't let the world take every bit of fuel you have. Make time to refuel and do so by taking refuge in God and His Word.
Feeling like you’re Running On E? Nearly empty from all you've given out or given up? Please check out the following book for inspiration and encouragement on how to fuel up the right way! Running On E’ (Also available on Blurb and iTunes.)
~ Karen
Seeking Christian Spiritual Life Coaching and encouragement along the way? See, send email to Lifecoachinspired@yahoo.com
www.womaninspired.com
For other great blogs, go to: Womaninspired.blogspot.com
There are days I want nothing more than to run and hide. Whether due to stress or emotions, there are days I just want to curl up in bed with the covers over my head. Those are the days I’ve learned that I need to seek God even more.
Some days there is no actual trouble I’m hiding from. Sometimes it’s just the world around me and the daily “to do” list that has me seeking shelter. In today’s culture women have even more titles than ever before: home-maker, bread winner, seamstress, maid, taxi-cab driver, Mom, daughter, wife, care-giver, nurse, business woman...add to that the tasks of balancing the household finances, volunteering at church and keeping up with all the little pieces of life that need to be put in to place daily and it’s no wonder so many women are worn out and empty-feeling.
If you’re tempted to retreat from life and all those responsibilities on a regular basis then I encourage you to immediately fall to your knees or rest your head for a moment as you close your eyes and seek God for a place of spiritual refuge. Even if it’s only for a moment or two, God can overcome your heart and your weariness with a fresh message from the Bible or just a small refreshing whisper to your heart.
I encourage you to do what took me waaaay too many years to do: take time for yourself. Set up regularly built-in breaks for yourself. Take time to read, go to lunch, go for a walk or just pamper yourself. God-time and personal respite time will make all the difference in your daily life; whether your hormones are telling you that you do or do not, you DO deserve it. Our culture, perfectionism, obsessiveness, vanity, pride and other people's opinions might try to stop you from taking care of yourself from the inside out but don't let them. Don't let the world take every bit of fuel you have. Make time to refuel and do so by taking refuge in God and His Word.
Feeling like you’re Running On E? Nearly empty from all you've given out or given up? Please check out the following book for inspiration and encouragement on how to fuel up the right way! Running On E’ (Also available on Blurb and iTunes.)
~ Karen
Seeking Christian Spiritual Life Coaching and encouragement along the way? See, send email to Lifecoachinspired@yahoo.com
www.womaninspired.com
For other great blogs, go to: Womaninspired.blogspot.com
Monday, January 5, 2015
Don't be anxious about ANYTHING? How do I do that?
"Don't be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)
In Philippians it tells us that being in Christ will help guard our hearts and minds. When we allow ourselves to be immersed in Jesus Christ’s grace and love, then we are supplied with all the armor we need to keep falsehoods from taking us down to a place we don’t emotionally or mentally need to be…namely, to a place of anxiety and worry.
I used to be a worry-wart of the worst kind. I would worry if I didn’t worry enough about something! (Yea, seriously.) I was afraid if I didn’t worry then I didn’t care enough. Talk about a vicious cycle that kept me from peace and from a good night’s sleep! The older I get the more keenly aware I am of how I need to guard my heart and mind against worldly stimulus and materialistic ideas. As I seek to keep my identity in Christ the more Satan tends to creep up on me, trying to steal my quiet time and my peace. When I let my guard down or attempt to keep the world at bay all by myself then I can see myself go into a gradual decline of worry, low self-esteem and even anger because I feel out of control of my emotions.
Is that you? Do you get anxious often? Panic-stricken? Worried? During hormonal times via PMS and menopause, those bouts of worry can easily become worse. (And yes, for women AND men, hormones can really effect your emotions.)For women, as you’re hitting those low points I encourage you to be prepared. It’s not like you don’t know the signs that your period is coming, correct? It’s not like you don’t know you’re in menopause, right? Then be prepared…in and out of cycle, to seek His Word and spend additional time in prayer so you can guard your heart and mind for the times when your body effects your mindset, causing your anxiety to increase.
Not sure where to start? First of all, devotionals are helpful but also taking time to mark passages ahead of time that you can easily turn to when you’re feeling anxious is a great idea. (You wouldn't go out in the desert without water would you? Then why go into a cycle of raging hormones without midol and the Word to encourage you?) Look in your Bible for scriptures that personally feel comforting to you on a regular basis and that remind you of God’s truth - that you need not fear because God’s got everything in His hands. (Suggestions: 2 Timothy 1:7, 1 John 4:18, Psalms 27: 1-3, Isaiah 41:10)
For more encouragement check out "28 Days of PMS – Praising My Savior" – a humorous, uplifting devotional for women.
Interested in finding a Christian Life Coach? Contact LifeCoach-Inspired via email at: Lifecoachinspired@yahoo.com
In Philippians it tells us that being in Christ will help guard our hearts and minds. When we allow ourselves to be immersed in Jesus Christ’s grace and love, then we are supplied with all the armor we need to keep falsehoods from taking us down to a place we don’t emotionally or mentally need to be…namely, to a place of anxiety and worry.
I used to be a worry-wart of the worst kind. I would worry if I didn’t worry enough about something! (Yea, seriously.) I was afraid if I didn’t worry then I didn’t care enough. Talk about a vicious cycle that kept me from peace and from a good night’s sleep! The older I get the more keenly aware I am of how I need to guard my heart and mind against worldly stimulus and materialistic ideas. As I seek to keep my identity in Christ the more Satan tends to creep up on me, trying to steal my quiet time and my peace. When I let my guard down or attempt to keep the world at bay all by myself then I can see myself go into a gradual decline of worry, low self-esteem and even anger because I feel out of control of my emotions.
Is that you? Do you get anxious often? Panic-stricken? Worried? During hormonal times via PMS and menopause, those bouts of worry can easily become worse. (And yes, for women AND men, hormones can really effect your emotions.)For women, as you’re hitting those low points I encourage you to be prepared. It’s not like you don’t know the signs that your period is coming, correct? It’s not like you don’t know you’re in menopause, right? Then be prepared…in and out of cycle, to seek His Word and spend additional time in prayer so you can guard your heart and mind for the times when your body effects your mindset, causing your anxiety to increase.
Not sure where to start? First of all, devotionals are helpful but also taking time to mark passages ahead of time that you can easily turn to when you’re feeling anxious is a great idea. (You wouldn't go out in the desert without water would you? Then why go into a cycle of raging hormones without midol and the Word to encourage you?) Look in your Bible for scriptures that personally feel comforting to you on a regular basis and that remind you of God’s truth - that you need not fear because God’s got everything in His hands. (Suggestions: 2 Timothy 1:7, 1 John 4:18, Psalms 27: 1-3, Isaiah 41:10)
For more encouragement check out "28 Days of PMS – Praising My Savior" – a humorous, uplifting devotional for women.
Interested in finding a Christian Life Coach? Contact LifeCoach-Inspired via email at: Lifecoachinspired@yahoo.com
Move beyond the walls of fear
Have you ever lived with a wall of fear around you? A thick fog of fear that you cannot seem to see beyond? It’s as if you’re stuck there. You know you should be knocking that wall down but you don’t have the strength to do it, so you stay within those walls. The walls can even be strangely comforting. You feel secure because they are familiar, habitual; consistent. Knowing that you have these walls of fear is one thing but the idea of not knowing how to exist without them is a whole different kind of frightening thought altogether and so you do not dare break them down to see if you can indeed live without them around you. You do not dare rid your life of them or of the very thing, person, feeling, events, relationships that helped to build them in the first place.
The resistance to break the walls down inherently comes from the sense of comfort in the middle of pain; a kind of comfort that only someone in the same position would understand. To others, that comfort looks disastrous, ridiculous, and even insane…for they see the dangers lurking. They see the future you might likely face if you stay where you are. But you cannot see beyond today or tomorrow. You have become comfortable in your pain – in your fears – because at least you know what to expect then. You know, at least at a reasonable rate, how to successfully deal with the wall of fear on a daily basis. It’s your wall. You know every crack, every graffiti mark…every place where the wall has threatened to topple. So you let it stay.
But what happens when the walls close in on you – moving ever closer – smothering who you are? Stunting your growth and keeping you from becoming who you know you can become? Then what do you do? Lay in wait until the walls come so close that all God’s light is blocked out completely? Becoming a dark, dreary, sorrowful shell of who you should be? Perhaps you are already a mere shadow of the person God meant for you to be by now. Perhaps the very dangers others see lurking are the ones you live with on a daily basis and these dangers seem too daunting to tackle on your own and so you stay where you are – comfortable, though not comforted; secure in the habit, though not safe from the dangers...feeling unable to break free.
For many of us, that is our exact scenario. Perhaps the reasons for the walls vary amongst a thousand different stories, but the walls are the same. The story is familiar. The ending all too familiar for many. Will it be your ending as well? Or will you reach up through the last bit of existing light and grasp hold of God’s hand – allowing Him to pull you through? Will you see beyond the walls to grab a life-saving hand of a friend and allow Him to help you break the walls down?
You have to make the first move. The walls are impenetrable from the outside except by God. You must be the one who reaches up to accept the help. You must be the one that looks forward to the future - who sees beyond the walls to the outstretched hands of friends and loved ones…and you are the only one who can say Yes to life and No to fear!
You are the only who can lean on the Lord’s promises that He will never leave you nor forsake you. You must be the one who decides that growing into the person God is calling you to be is more important than hanging on to your fear and to what you wish 'could have been' inside those walls. Letting go of what might have been to see what truly is – that is part of the challenge. You can do that – with prayer and God’s help – you can see the truth of the fearful walls you are living within. You can move into the TODAY He calls you to live and thrive in! Saying Yes is the very first step. You can do it…God will reach for you but you must take hold of Him and never, ever let go.
For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, do not fear; I will help you. Isaiah 41 1:13
~ Karen
Follow Karen on her WomanInspired blog!
www.womaninspired.com
The resistance to break the walls down inherently comes from the sense of comfort in the middle of pain; a kind of comfort that only someone in the same position would understand. To others, that comfort looks disastrous, ridiculous, and even insane…for they see the dangers lurking. They see the future you might likely face if you stay where you are. But you cannot see beyond today or tomorrow. You have become comfortable in your pain – in your fears – because at least you know what to expect then. You know, at least at a reasonable rate, how to successfully deal with the wall of fear on a daily basis. It’s your wall. You know every crack, every graffiti mark…every place where the wall has threatened to topple. So you let it stay.
But what happens when the walls close in on you – moving ever closer – smothering who you are? Stunting your growth and keeping you from becoming who you know you can become? Then what do you do? Lay in wait until the walls come so close that all God’s light is blocked out completely? Becoming a dark, dreary, sorrowful shell of who you should be? Perhaps you are already a mere shadow of the person God meant for you to be by now. Perhaps the very dangers others see lurking are the ones you live with on a daily basis and these dangers seem too daunting to tackle on your own and so you stay where you are – comfortable, though not comforted; secure in the habit, though not safe from the dangers...feeling unable to break free.
For many of us, that is our exact scenario. Perhaps the reasons for the walls vary amongst a thousand different stories, but the walls are the same. The story is familiar. The ending all too familiar for many. Will it be your ending as well? Or will you reach up through the last bit of existing light and grasp hold of God’s hand – allowing Him to pull you through? Will you see beyond the walls to grab a life-saving hand of a friend and allow Him to help you break the walls down?
You have to make the first move. The walls are impenetrable from the outside except by God. You must be the one who reaches up to accept the help. You must be the one that looks forward to the future - who sees beyond the walls to the outstretched hands of friends and loved ones…and you are the only one who can say Yes to life and No to fear!
You are the only who can lean on the Lord’s promises that He will never leave you nor forsake you. You must be the one who decides that growing into the person God is calling you to be is more important than hanging on to your fear and to what you wish 'could have been' inside those walls. Letting go of what might have been to see what truly is – that is part of the challenge. You can do that – with prayer and God’s help – you can see the truth of the fearful walls you are living within. You can move into the TODAY He calls you to live and thrive in! Saying Yes is the very first step. You can do it…God will reach for you but you must take hold of Him and never, ever let go.
For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, do not fear; I will help you. Isaiah 41 1:13
~ Karen
Follow Karen on her WomanInspired blog!
www.womaninspired.com
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