Sunday, July 26, 2009

Spiritual Sundays blog

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I have been asked to participate in a meme
These are the thoughts of the current day.
May they support and hopfully inspire.

I think that the length of my husbands illness with the thyroid I have found myself now going "oh no wonder!" to all of the idle and seemingly lazy days when I could not get from him the help I needed and just pulled it up out of me. Now I see that it was his illness that was being so, not his heart. I now have a much greater understanding of what I/he was dealing with. I found myself at times angry at him...
The things of many a marriage that is the basis for that line in our vows
"In sickness and in health" Wonder how many marriages are lost in The effects of illness in relationships. I know coming out of the nightmare of abuse recovery that this man of mine more than respects those vows that he made some 27+ years ago.

The Book of Common Prayer

I, take thee,
to be my wedded ,
to have and to hold from this day forward,
for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer,
in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish,
'til death do us part,
according to God's holy ordinance;
thereto I plight thee my troth.
(Thereto I pledge my love).


Recently while attending a meeting of several Believing Christians I was very nervous of concern over judgments and was uneasy after I had shared about my journey. Silly I suppose. Many times over my long life span in churches I have been very wounded by pastoral staff who had no or little personal understanding of such things and I think I just sorta remembered (in feelings way mainly) how I must of appeared to them.(that based solely on a limited understanding of the blank stares and such) I know that what God thinks of me is most assuredly the truth.
I thought of how beautiful all of them looked , so well cared for...I really have not taken time to care for myself due to the responsibilities I have. So I took some time. :) Now my hair smells like sulfate (I colored it myself) yuk will be glad when that goes away. I like my hair better now. I have tried so hard to grow out my bangs in part to save our family funds. This is a tight time for so many of us. We lost our 25+ career 5 years ago and have managed to keep our home. Keep the kids cared for. Last year alone we had over 14,000 in out of pocket medical co-pays. I know of a fact that we are not alone .Needless to say God provides we are just really working hard to meet goals of staying debt free and being able to raise the kids with needs met.

I have a great deal more optimism's than my spouse and dealing with that pessimism is very wearing on me. Every day I see Gods hand directly meet our needs. My husband however every day is panicked and freaks out over finance. I have so been reducing everything I can to be able to see my husband be able to have some of his/our dreams of travel , means for our retirement, kids education and future met. He gave up so many dreams fulfilling my/our dreams to bring the children out of Russia. I am struggling to get more and more independent and live as simply as I am able. I grind flour, grow a large part of our food, raise a few chickens, cook every meal from scratch, and tend two special needs children and right now an ill husband . Just tired, just tired.

Sorry I ramble.
Sorta just opening my heart

You see if we share our weakness we then can pray for one another.
So hear...The I am .

I am open real and raw. Worn and trusting and waiting seeing/to see the glory of His working all these things out.
I see my sweet man feeling a little better this morning well not feeling but he sounds better. We both have horrid headaches. We both love and trust God.

Men however real men who care about the future of their families care about providing for them and the future needs. Some men just take it all on and find themselves fearing the future. This is the case of so many many men (and women) right now in our times.
Our men (and women) need our support and prayers our encouragement and our commitment to help in every way we can to that end. Yes of course trusting in Gods provision is right and imperative.

Ladies/Gentlemen come on lets us all pull together as do our part in the provision and be as Ruth and start gleaning those fields unashamedly!
This worldly view of shame is robbing us all blind. It makes us judge one another and ourselves. We look down upon those of us who out of necessity need to do so...We all ought to do so out of simple respect.

The temptation is to look at ourselves as if we should be embarrassed for getting off the wheel of consumerism. We have to call it "GOING GREEN" or "ECO FRIENDLY" we ought to have been green and friendly all along and not need some excuse to do so without shame. So now under these titles we can find a sense of pride...What about these efforts being made under a sweet humility?

We make excuses and give our self permissions to disrespect our means that God has provided through the income that he has provided and the jobs we have are taken for granted.

It is but by the grace of God that any of us even have what we have.
Humbly please respect the blessed lives we are so very privileged to live.
No it will not be easy...Being debt free takes great humility, even in the circle of the church. Debt is the excuse to save face. Just hold that face up high Yes it is hard it really is! I must hold my face up high.
Non of this..."I deserve to splurge" yet even in that the balance can be hard to find if rigidity sets in as it is temping for me to fall into.

Sober minded means looking honestly...If I go to tea is it within the budget? It was for me if it were not then I would have to say no. If we need to say no we need to be able to do so without being pressured into doing things we ought not.
So I hold you/me accountable to support one another in doing what is right. Make it easy and less temptatious to your fellow and to yourself...

choose what is right
:)

13 comments:

SmilingSally said...

It's wonderful that you find God and His help when you have such great needs. Your faith no doubt will increase. Thanks for sharing.

Lisa said...

I am sorry you are going through some trials. I want to encourage you to praise God in every circumstance.(Remember Paul and Silas?) He is altogether lovely and worthy of our praise. Praise also confuses our enemy. Read 2 Chronicles ch:20. Please know that I am praying for you and your husband, expecting a great turnaround!

Marty@A Stroll Thru Life said...

Donetta, such a perfect message. I think sometime we expect too much from our spouses and them us. I also agree that "keeping up with the Jones" is what causes many heart aches. The Lord always gives us what he knows we can handle properly, so we should be trustworthy with what we have to glorify him. Hope you feel better and have a super day. Hugs, Marty

Mary said...

Donetta, I'm so glad you left a comment on my SS post today. I checked two of your other blogs before finding this one, and I just want to say how impressed I am with your spirit and committment to all things living, as you so eloquently stated it. I hope many people see this post - it is uplifting and inspiring, because it's real life. I also have a special needs daughter, and have NO thyroid, so I relate to your challenges. God bless you!

Charlotte said...

I'm glad you chose to share with us today, Donetta. It was such a pleasure to meet you on Thursday and I was totally impressed with the way you are coping with difficult situations in your life. You were an inspiration to each one of us at that meeting. I think it is wonderful how God is working in your life. I know he will give you the courage and strength to meet any challenge that comes your way.
Blessings,
Charlotte

Saleslady371 said...

I love your strong spirit, girl! I read those marriage vows and reflected how hard they are to keep. My husband is ADHD and one dr. thinks bipolar. The stress inour relationship keeps me dependent on Jesus and prayer and every day it is worth it. God is at work in us. Hooray.

You are on my prayer list for healing. God is doing beyond what we can imagine in us and like you said we must support each other in prayer. I'm thanking Him!

Luv,
Mary

Saleslady371 said...

I love your strong spirit, girl! I read those marriage vows and reflected how hard they are to keep. My husband is ADHD and one dr. thinks bipolar. The stress inour relationship keeps me dependent on Jesus and prayer and every day it is worth it. God is at work in us. Hooray.

You are on my prayer list for healing. God is doing beyond what we can imagine in us and like you said we must support each other in prayer. I'm thanking Him!

Luv,
Mary

RCUBEs said...

Love your honesty in sharing what you are going through. It is not easy to just open up and I'm glad you chose to do so, like what you said, so we can encourage each other through prayers. I am doing that for you. God does meet all of our needs through Christ. We just have to trust that and believe! Blessings to you sister!

Talk..to..Grams said...

Hi Donetta! Bless your Heart!! You really do good!! I can't imagine grinding my own flour!! Whoa!! You are a Blessing!!
I don't know how do all that you get done! You are a gem!!
Ok, you get the idea I think you are great and doing good!!

It is hard when money is short and folks have to be fed!!!
Raising special needs kids is not easy!! Nancy turned 47 last month and bless her heart she doesn't get any easier with age!! Sometimes harder.....
Much love and hugs, "Care O Lynn" is that what you call me!!! Carolyn, I alway smile when I see that!

Musings of A Minister said...

Those who got here before me left such great comments that I can't think of anything new to add. I agree with them. Press on!

Denise Marie said...

Well, I know our precious Lord sees you working so hard to provide love, care and strength in your family and home!! I pray that he will strengthen your heart and calm your husbands spirit. I pray that your beautiful children will have every little thing they need and more. I pray that you see tonight as you slumber and tomorrow when you awaken how much your Father in Heaven loves you deeply. I pray he touches you and girds up your resolve to stay so strong!!

We live debt free here in Houston...where NO ONE lives debt free.

It is hard, even with church friends, if we've vowed a lifestyle to the Lord and others don't understand how hard pressed we are or share the values.

Your rewards will be waiting for you and may he increase your bounty here as well.

Blessings to you!!

Ginger~~Enchanting Cottage said...

Thank-you for opening up your heart! What you said is so true, we do need to open up if we want prayers on our behalf. I will pray for you and God Bless you.
Ginger

Denise said...

Bless you for being who you are. you inspire me daily. I love you.

Older women likewise teach the younger women...

• how to love their husbands
• how to love their children
• how to be self-controlled
• how to be pure
• how to be keepers at home
• how to be kind and submissive (not subservient) to their own husbands. (See Titus 2:3-5)

Blog Archive

By Maya Angelou

'A woman's heart should be so hidden in Christ
That a man should have to seek Him first to find her.'

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not shouting 'I'm clean living,'
I'm whispering 'I was lost, Now I'm found and forgiven.'

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.

When I say.. 'I am a Christian' I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible, but God believes I am worth it.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I still feel the sting of pain...
I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner Who received God's good grace, somehow!

Words have power. Here are a few of my favorite sayings.

  • A warm cup of tea is like a cuddle with a friend.
  • The North American Indians have a more eloquent word for ‘friend’ than we do in English. In their language, the word for friend literally means, “the one who carries my sorrows on his back.”
  • Return with Honor
  • The sage anticipates things that are difficult while they are easy, and does things that would become great while they are small. All difficult things in the world are sure to arise from a previous state in which they were easy, and all great things from one in which they were small. Therefore the sage, while he never does what is great, is able on that account to accomplish the greatest things."
  • "HOME IS WHERE YOUR STORY BEGINS"
  • “Live so that when your children hear these words they think of you… Fairness Caring Integrity Honesty Love Trust.”
  • "O Lord help my words to be gracious and tender today, for tomarrow I may have to eat them."
  • "No man has ever been shot while doing the dishes"
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This was given to me for the third time in just a few weeks.

Zephaniah 3:17 NLT
"For the LORD your God has arrived to live among you. He is a mighty savior. He will rejoice over you with great gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will exult over you by singing a happy song."

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