Tag: Hello Fears

Week 1 Update – Choosing Courage

Posted on by Mary
Update

It’s day 9 and here is an update

Wow When I said that I was totally dumbfounded that 9 days have flown by so quickly but then in the next breath I say only 91 more todays. YIKES I need to stop that.

I have finished nearly 25% of the book (Hello Fears). Note I am only blogging through the book and I cannot yet recommend the book. I will write a full review at the end of the book. I don’t usually blog though a book like this, The verdict is out on whether I ever do it again,

How am I doing?

The first few days were rough. Fears were tough to fight through but I pushed through those and faced my fears, I posted two blog posts off my list of posts I have been putting off And I shared my artwork. I have managed to blog every single day without missing a single day, TOUGH it it did result in some late nights. Including an evening with some pretty severe stomach issues relating to a very obvious bad food choice.

Now at this point I am not really thinking much about what I fear before I hit the publish button. I am not so naive to think that those little fears won’t rear their ugly little heads again.

All of This has shown me that despite our crazy schedules that I still can find time to blog. A lie I had bout into for awhile now. It’s amazing what we tell ourselves when we are fearful of something. And that I can write without being afraid.

A personal update

it’s been 3-ish weeks since my last iron infusion and I am noticing a huge difference. The severe anxiety is almost non-existent. My heart is not racing non-stop. The icky taste in my mouth is fading. I am sleeping better. I am not short of breath And I can make it through most days without a nap or without going to lay down between 7 and 8 pm.. My mind is clearer and I am able to get way more done in the day.

Today I had an appointment with the Allergist who also specializes in immunology. I have had low IGG and IGA levels for sometime. So Over the last 5 weeks I have been (hopefully) growing antibodies. only managed to grow about 40% of what I should have. So starting within the next week or so I will start getting monthly infusions of antibodies . It’s a two hour process so I need to line up my future reading! I mean I have my list – so I guess I won’t be bored. I think I need to come up with something else to do as well. Goodness two hours to just sit and read. maybe I need a list of podcasts to listen to as well.

Family update

Our oldest two are embarking on their second year of soccer. And everyone is starting our second year of homeschooling. Hubby is in full swing of the church search and we are moving forward in every area. We are excited to wrap up the summer with some slip n slide fun with friends and just like that we slide into a new school year.

Thanks for hanging out with me through this first week of Choosing Courage and if you are new here you can check out the other 9 days by clicking here.

Happy Homemaker Monday Day 8- 8/23/2021

Posted on by Mary

Hey Happy Homemaker Monday Friends. It’s been a while! If you are interested in checking out why we took a leave of absence from my blog and all things social media you can check out my blog post here…..It’s been quite the journey

Happy

The weather….. 

You can certainly tell it is nearing the end of the summer here in upstate NY! Cooler mornings and evenings and we are now camping in the mid to upper 70’s and low 80’s. It’s also been an extremely WET summer for sure.

Right now I am….

writing this post at the kitchen table I REALLY need to clean off the table when I’m done!

Thinking….

about our new journey we are on. It has it’s ups and downs.  But it has been an adventure and we wouldn’t want to be on it with anyone else but each other.

On my reading pile…. 

Hello fears, Get Out of Your Head and S.H.A.P.E.

On my TV….. 

Touched By an Angel (It’s been a long time)

On the menu for this week….
Monday – Chicken and Biscuits
Tuesday –  Taco Salad
Wednesday -Pasta and Meat Sauce
Thursday Shepherds Pie
Friday – Chef Salads
Saturday -Chicken thighs and corn on the cob in the smoker. Sunday –  Chili

On my to do list….

Finish up last minute homeschooling stuff, cleaning, organizing

In the craft basket…. 

Finish up a cactus painting

Looking forward to this week…. 

Slip N Slide fun with friends

Looking around the house….

 LOTS of deep cleaning. We have lots of boxes around too so we are really in limbo.

From the camera….

We have had some great sunset pictures as of late and everyone in the house loves capturing them in photos. This gen was a rainbow that showed up with NO rain. The rain showed up about an hour later.

Happy

On my prayer list…..

Friends and family who are really struggling with death, and sickness. friends who have a lot of personal things going on. Afghanistan. Haiti. Friends who are recovering from surgeries. Wisdom and patience in many areas

Bible verse, Devotional….

Philippians 1:12-19 NIV

12 Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters,[a]that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. 13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard[b] and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. 14 And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.

15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.

Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance

For More Happy Homemaker Posts Check out The Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

When the Bible Becomes a Textbook- Day 7

Posted on by Mary
Bible

The Bible A Textbook?

It’s a problem that seems to be growing more and more within the church. It’s more prevalent in college’s and seminaries where the Bible really is on the textbook list. I think a Bible was on every class syllabus I had throughout college except for Math class and maybe the two English classes I had.

When the Bible is taught on an academic level we need to be careful to make sure the Bible stays personal. We need to be sure that we realize that the Bible never returns void and that we can learn something each and every time we read it. But it’s not just in college and seminary, this happens in churches too. It happens when believers take in too much spiritual information. We do it in the name of learning but we forget that there is another piece….

Spiritual Gluttony

Are you a “FAT” Christian? There are so many spiritually obese Christians within the church. They sit in their homes and in Bible studies and they talk about how much they have learned and how much time they spend praying or studying God’s word. They can quote and re-quote God’s word . Yes we are commanded to learn and hide God’s word in our hearts.

That’s not the problem. the problem is when we as believers don’t use the knowledge God has given us through his word. And it’s not just what we do with it it is HOW we use it.

3 Areas That point to spiritual obesity

  1. Holding one’s quiet time/ spiritual disciplines over another person. When we think that our spirituality is greater than someone else’s we are elevating ourselves over others. We aren’t to think ourselves better than other people, no matter how much time we spend in God’s Word.
  2. Using scripture to beat people up. Misuse of scripture and hurting others also shows a lack of maturity in faith. I’m not saying we shouldn’t speak truth but oftentimes we forget the second part of that verse. We need to speak the truth IN LOVE. Not with the proverbial biblical baseball bat.
  3. A lack of spiritual growth. I once heard someone say “I’m not a very merciful person.” It was this person’s excuse to behave poorly and mistreat people. We shouldn’t wear our sins and faults as a badge of honor (more on this in an upcoming blog post). When we know but are not putting the knowledge into practice we show a lack of growth.

Right now our church is doing a study of the book Respectable Sins. And today in church the message was on harshness. And each Sunday, the pastor speaking answers a respectable sin with a Fruit of the spirit. Today the pastor said that fruit is there for us to pick and use as we need and sometimes we just ignore the fruit entirely. Wow!

4 Steps to keep us from Making the Bible. textbook

  1. Remember that the Bible is for us to grow. We need to take the beam out of our own eye before we can take the speck out of another. It’s called humility. Remember that scripture never returns void. We are to learn to become closer to Jesus and grow in his heart and character.
  2. Humility, humility, humility. Have a teachable spirit. Don’t forget that we need to not only take in the information, we also need to apply it to our own lives.
  3. Remember we cannot give what we do not have. You cannot tell someone else how to live if you yourself do not have Joy, Peace, Forbearance, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control.
  4. Practice the idea of a personal prayer closet. It doesn’t matter how much time you spend in God’s word just as long as you are devoted to him and have a teachable spirit. If you are reading God’s word for the sake of attacking someone, that isn’t a teachable spirit. Depending on the specific season of our lives we may not have the ability to spend longer in God’s word. Case in point: In December I couldn’t spend as much time in God’s word however, I grew by leaps and bounds because my faith was being stretched in far different ways. My prayer life was different, I learned to rely on God for the most basic of needs. And it taught me a whole new level of reliance on God.

A word about forbearance

Forbearance is a funny word- I have studied it before but I always forget what it means and then I look it up and I say “OHHHHHH”. It also happens to be what I have seen as one of the BIGGEST struggles within the church- patience and tolerance.

Tolerance is more than “you need to be tolerant of me and my ________”

Remember the “we can’t give what we don’t have”. If you cannot be tolerant of the music, or the children in church than you cannot expect to receive tolerance for whatever your preferences are. Did you notice I said preference? Sin should never be tolerated in church.

Confession time

I have struggled with this from time to time. If we are honest with ourselves we all struggle with this. And it’s that honesty that will make the biggest impact in our walk with God. Repent of our sin of mistreating others, misusing God’s word and give over that critical spirit to God and allow Him to change our hearts.

It’s time we realize that being obese Christians fattened up by all of our knowledge is useless. It’s only when we apply God’s word to our lives that it is at it’s most useful state.

How about you? Have you ever struggled with falling into the ‘Bible as a textbook as a trap”? Let me know how you have overcome it in the comments below.

Choosing Courage: Day 6 Letting you in on a Secret

Posted on by Mary

Happy Saturday everyone. So today I am letting you in on a little secret about me. (as if you didn’t already know that by the title ). So about my secret. As a young girl I had a desire to learn something. I didn’t have the resources to learn this task and for whatever reason our art classes In school didn’t really teach painting. We used things like clay and colored pencil and paper mâché but no paint (except for on the paper mâché).

So did you guess it?

The image kind of gave it away. And so did my talking about painting. A few years ago I told my hubby about my dream and asked if we could get some paint. I have always been a crafter but I never really thought of myself as an artist and truth be told I still don’t.

I have been sharing some of my art on instagram for a while (that started with #inktober.). and sometimes I share on facebook. But when I did I also shared where I needed to grow. And someone jumped down my throat for it being just fine.

The problem isI don’t write to get attention or praise I explain this in my post here about why I use social media and one of the reasons is for my own personal growth. Utilizing facebook memories serves as my reminder of where I was and how much I’ve grown from that point.

Past promises are now fulfilled

I have been promising to post artwork here for sometime, but after some of those moments I just kept putting it all off. Well todays the day. As I was thinking about the the choosing courage writing project I asked myself what was I holding back in and the art posts came to mind.

So here are a few of my better art projects. Some watercolor, some acrylic and one alcohol marker test page. I by no means am a professional. And there are MANY areas of improvement. I don’t paint or art for anyone else but that 6 year old little girl who watched Bob Ross before Bob Ross was cool.

secret
secret

(Now I know these pictures aren’t the full ones (something is going on with my computer/blog this evening so I will try to get these fixed tomorrow.

How about you? do you have any hidden areas that you secretly enjoy but have been too afraid to share with the world.?

Have a great night and we will see you tomorrow!

Choosing Courage -Day 5

Posted on by Mary
courage

Good evening everyone- tonights post as you can see is going to be about courage and being courageous and after yesterday’s and today’s reading I think I have settled on a series title. (Let’s be honest it can’t be Hello Fears forever, because that is already taken ;). ). Today’s reading check-in is based on pages 26-56. It finishes chapter 1 and chapter 2 in it’s entirety.

courageous

Let’s Jump in

So one of the neatest things I learned this chapter was the difference between being fearless and being brave or having courage,

FEARLESS- lacking fear

Brave- showing courage

Michelle talks about how it is important for us not to be fearless but to face our fears with courage. Our hearts may race, our palms may sweat but we can still choose courage and face our fears head on!

“Being brave is when, despite the fear, we have the courage to take action, and that is way more powerful and inspiring than being fearless.

Wow- JUST WOW!

Assignment #1

After those insights Michelle challenges us to list out our areas of fear, fearlessness and bravery.

So here’s mine:

FEAR-

  • what people think
  • writing truth and offending people
  • being transparent and authentic
  • being criticized
  • losing friends over my writing

FEARLESS. The truth of the matter is I don’t feel like I am fearless in anything..

BRAVE-

  • raising kids ( This sone of the biggest fear inducing experiences of my life time)
  • At 19 I boarded my first plane and flew half way around the world and had some of the greatest adventures I have ever experienced. Outside of raising our kids. I ate things that I never thought I could. Made friends with people I never thought I could. and just the act of getting on the airplane was one of the scariest things I have ever done.. I was told many times during that time that I was very brave
  • Serving God- I have found myself in some pretty scary moments. Inner city kids ministry on the worst street in the city. , street witnessing in NYC. Being shown a gun while doing so. Talking with a mentally ill man on the streets. Loving kids who other people run away from. every time I directed a Christmas play. Riding in a parade. Writing here on my blog.
  • Taking next steps in life- I wish I could explain more of this right now but I can’t. but stay tuned it will be coming. (No this isn’t about our next church).

The bravery part was really hard mostly because I don’t feel brave. and then I remembered a favorite verse

Joshua 1:9 – Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

God doesn’t want us to have a spirit of fear but to be strong and courageous and trust him.

Be an Influencer

The section on being an influencer struck a chord with me because I have only been teaching it both here and in our church for how long? I vary slightly on the idea f influence than Michelle. We (EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US) is an influencer Whether we like it or not. the things we say or do influence those around us, whether it is a good influence or a bad influence. AND as believers we are called (each and everyone offs) is called tube godly influence to those around us- both believers nd unbelievers.

Leadership

Michelle talks about how we tend to elevate “fearless leaders”. but they have a tendency to be reckless. Brave leadership on the other hand counts the risks and steps out bravely . I know I would much rather be and have a brave leader over a fearless one.

Assignment #2

This isn’t an ongoing assignment. We are to keep track of all of our small and not so small acts of courage We are to keep track while reading to the book.

So as of today I have five “posted” blog posts. Five shares on Facebook and Five shares on Instagram. I won’t be posting all of my little acts of courage over the next 95 days.

So how about you? What are some of your fears? And what are you moments of bravery?

For more Choosing Courageous posts and Hello Fear Posts click here

And Check out Michelle Poler’s book Hello Fears click here