Are you walking in the freedom of Christ? What are we refusing to let go of as a result of someone else’s unhealed brokenness? What did someone say or do to us to make us want to keep hustling for self-worth? Why do we continue to void out the cause of the cross? What are some coping mechanisms/survival strategies/weird behaviors have you found yourself in because you are still trying to prove to your offender/person who hurt you, that you are enough? Would love to hear your comments!
Background on Recovery: When you are recovering from PTSD/trauma, it requires a lot of in-depth work. This poem depicts just that. You have to regain your sense of self, learn to listen to your body for its story, and be still with patience as God does his work.
Episode 43: The Big “D” Healing Our Brokenness Podcast Seri...
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Have you ever been divorced? Do you know of someone who has been divorced? When you found out that this person was divorced, did you treat them differently? Today’s podcast is entitled, “The Big “D”, and that “D” stands for divorce. Click above to listen to the latest podcast episode.
It has been said that divorce is worse than death. There was a time when the word divorce was taboo. Older television shows reflect these ideas. When children mentioned that their friends’ parents were getting divorced, they were shushed by their parents, and/or the parents came up with an excuse as to why Johnny or Susan couldn’t play at the neighbors’ house anymore. They were outcasts.
Prior to getting divorced, I heard
someone use the phrases “It’s no big deal.
People get divorced every day.”
This is true. However, what is
also true is that you don’t have people lined up to tell you the real impact
from divorce. Divorce leaves lifelong
effects in every area: financially,
emotionally, mentally, physically, spiritually, etc. Basically, there is no table left
unturned.
Grief experienced from divorce can be
draining. With this pain, you must
grieve the loss of the marriage, the loss of the family as a unit, and then
grieve that part of your identity that is being taken away. There is no magic formula for the intensity
of the pain or the amount of time that it will take to heal. My grief so far tends to run in spurts. The grief might be off and on all day for
three weeks, and then there is a month break before it starts up again. I have had other women tell me that theirs
was every day for two hours for the length of anywhere from two to five years.
There are some individuals who have
gotten divorced because of severe abuse that has gone on for years. In Malachi 2:16, we are told, “For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for
one covereth violence with his garment, saith the Lord of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye
deal not treacherously.” (NASB)
It is possible for God to heal marriages from
any situation, even the ones listed above.
However, sometimes we make the mistake of thinking that one person can
fix the whole marriage. As individuals,
we can only do our part. We cannot be
the Holy Spirit for others. I am a
planner. I like organizing, analyzing,
and figuring things out. I thought that
if I could just do A, B, and C, things would be fine. If things weren’t getting better, it was
because I hadn’t figured out the right formula yet. Satan led me to believe that I was responsible
for the entire relationship.
He led me down the path of
dishonoring God, and disrespecting myself and children “all in the name of
love”. The best thing that we can do is
pray and ask God for wisdom and discernment, and then in turn get professional
help for ourselves. It is easy to pass
judgment upon others who are considering divorce. However, the truth is, only the individuals
involved in the marriage are aware of the severity of the situation. I stayed in a toxic situation for twenty
years. Thank God for Him getting a hold
of my heart and mind. We can pray the
same thing for others whom we know of that are walking in this path.
Dear God,
We thank you for your word to go to
when we are unsure, and don’t know where to turn. Please help us to help others by sending them
to your word and prayer when it comes to decisions about divorce. We also pray that we would not pass judgment
upon others when they are going through divorce because we don’t know the whole
story. Only you do.
Episode 42: Lessons from the Vine-Part 1 Healing Our Brokenness Podcast Seri...
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Lessons from the Vine Outline
Introduction
Scripture
Conversation with Coworker
Application to our lives
Podcast Transcript
Photo by Sarah Pflug
Good afternoon everyone!
Welcome to Healing our Brokenness episode 42, entitled, Lessons
from the Vine”. Have you ever received a lesson from a vine? What about the
illustration that God gives us in his word regarding the vine and the branches?
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in
you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
This past week I was talking to a coworker of mine about how the flowers in my
front yard, the side of the house, and in the backyard were doing something weird
this year. It is as if they were confused due to a combination of lack of sun, cold
temperatures in May and June, and a variety of other reasons.
There were 2 flowers that we discussed. One is a vine, and the other is a burning
bush. The one that I will dissect today
is that of the burning bush. The burning
bush sits in front of my house. It literally has 4 different things going on
with it. The first situation is that there were some branches were no leaves were
produced. The second situation that was
going on was that there were branches with leaves that produced and is thriving.
The next situation that is going on is that some leaves were thriving but are
now dead. And the last situation was one
in which some of the Leaves had started turning their burgundy color as if fall
was approaching already. I decided to cut
off the dead withered leaves.
She brought it to my attention that it could be a perfect illustration
for our lives. Here is what God gave me as a lesson from the burning bush. There
are certain areas of our lives that are dead. They need to be cut out. The second lesson is
that there are some areas in our lives where we are trying to move too fast instead
of going through the process that God has for us. This could be due to seeing
others thriving and excelling in their businesses etc. The 3rd lesson from the burning bush is that
there are some areas in our lives that are right on target and maturing properly.
The last lesson from the burning bush is that there are areas of our lives where
immaturity exists, and therefore, there is no growth at all. These are the
areas that God wants to prune so that we can produce fruit and continue to grow.
Which one of these lessons do you identify with? I’m quite
sure that we can find a little bit of ourselves in each one of them. Let’s be
mindful of the areas that need growth, areas that are moving too fast, areas
that are dead, and the areas that are growing in maturity in Christ just fine.
Thank you for listening to “Healing Our Brokenness, episode
42, “Lessons from the Vine”. God bless
and have a wonderful week!
Episode 41: Fear in Control Healing Our Brokenness Podcast Seri...
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Fear in Control Outline
Fear explained.
Dread explained.
How Fear took over in my life.
Repetition of Satan’s Tactics.
Podcast Transcript
Good afternoon! Welcome to “Healing our Brokenness”, Episode 41, entitled “Fear in Control”. How many of you have dealt with fear? How did it make you feel? Was your heart racing? Did you feel like you were losing your mind? Was your body shaking?
Photo by burst by shopify
What is fear? Fear is
when we are perceiving something as a threat or danger to us. If you have dealt with any kind of trauma, or
have PTSD, you know that the fear part of the brain can get triggered. And then when this happens, All reasoning goes
out the door. We know what we know, but
because the fear brain has taken over, we cannot stop it. What happens is that
while the fear brain is in control, you become keenly aware that the fear is
irrational and needs to stop. You literally feel as if someone is behind you
and after you at the same time. I have experienced this several times. When it
happens, I usually get praise music in my head to let me know that I am OK. However,
I cannot stop the process of what the fear brain of PTSD / trauma is doing. It
has a mind of its own so to speak. No
amount of talking myself down helps me to calm down. I know that I just have to
wait it out.
When we think of dread it does not bring about a good
connotation. Dread makes you think of something awful taking place, another
form of extreme fear within itself. When
I was in my 20s, and I found myself having a health crisis, my life was filled with
fear that was out of control, and daily battles of dread of dying because of my
health. I am allowed Satan to get the best of me in my thoughts, and in my
spirit. Every day, as I waited for my thyroid condition to improve, Satan had
me trapped in a foot hold of fear and dread about me possibly going into
cardiac arrest and dying before getting to the point of feeling better.
What made it worse is that i was suffering from an extreme lack
of sleep. When you are going without
sleep for so long, it puts you quickly in a category for having a lot of other
things to take place. And some of those things include mental health issues, nervous
system issues, focusing issues, brain fog, and the inability to cope in
general. My lack of sleep coupled with dealing with trying to get my thyroid
under control for months made me the perfect bait for Satan to get a foothold.
And what were his lies? His lies were “This is it. You are
not going to make it”. Then after a while, I realized that I had gone about 6
months feeding into this mess. I have wasted all of the time that could have
been used enjoying myself locked into fear of dying.
As Christians, we are not exempt from dealing temptation and
spiritual warfare. We have God’s
promises even when we don’t feel like they are true or that he hears us or even
that he is near to us.
Hear are some scriptures to help you during times of fear
that I am currently implementing as I walk through releasing fear in certain areas
of my life:
5 Casting
down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the
knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of
Christ.
13 I can do
all things through [a]Christ
who strengthens me.
Dear God,
Please cover us in your blood from the crown of our heads to the
soul of our feet. Please help us to know
that you are near. You are the same God
in every area of our lives, including fear.
Help us to remember this, even when we don’t feel it or can’t see it. I pray for a covering of hope, love, and peace.
In your name,
Amen
Thank you for listening to Healing our Brokenness, episode 41 entitled
“Fear in Control”.
I am reading about six books at one time. This is almost always the norm as of the last couple of years. One of the books that I am reading is entitled, “I Thought It Was Just Me (But IT Isn’t) by Brene Brown. I just recently started this book. This particular read hones in on shame and perfectionism, how they work together, and how we can employ shame resilience.
Although I am only at the beginning part of the book, what stuck out to me is the correlation between shame and performance. We have all been guilty of using shame to get the end result of performance. This happens everywhere, including work, home, and in our churches. However, using shame to get this result only damages both side. It damages the shamer and it damages the one being shamed.
No one is left feeling good about themselves. Why is that? Shame reaches into areas of our lives that stirs all kind of unwanted emotions. In order for people to change, we have to have a motivator for ourselves, not from the pressure of other people via shaming or any other form of pressure. Change will not last in this manner. Consequences are not always enough to produce change. Understanding what our behavior does to others will.
Now, on to the recipe. This recipe that I made two weeks ago is a quick recipe for seasoned chicken breasts that can be made in no time and then placed on buns to make a chicken breast sandwich restaurant-style. Hope you enjoy!
Photo by Katina Horton
Activity: Making Seasoned Chicken Breasts
Total Prepping and Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
Parsley- 3 teaspoons
Onion powder-2 teaspoons
Curry-3 tablespoons
Chili powder -2 teaspoons
Black Pepper – 2 teaspoons
Cumin-2 teaspoons
3 large chicken breasts
1/3 cup of olive oil
Directions:
Rinse off three large chicken breasts.
Cut them up into chunks, season them on one side, and place them in a skillet of oil.
Turn them over after 13 minutes and season the other side.
Eat them paired with sides, alone, or in between two pieces of specialty bread.
Are you feeling alone? Do you long to be embraced? Do you know that being embraced by God is the best comfort that we can have? This poem deals with just that.
Episode 40: Get Out Healing Our Brokenness Podcast Seri...
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Get Out Podcast Outline
Dissecting Temptation
When to Get Out
When did Joseph Get Out?
Photo by Sarah Pflug
Show Notes:
Get Out!!
Temptation
is one of those things that can sneak up on you out of nowhere. It helps us to
get a bigger sense of the difference between seeing and looking at something.
Back in the day when I was caught up in my shopping madness, I would see
something in the store after I had purchased everything I had already planned
on buying. Then, I had to go over to take a closer look, and then I ended up
back at the register, spending way more money than I planned. My time of escape
was right after seeing it, getting out of the store quick, fast, and in a
hurry. This is often how it is with temptation. We ignore that small window,
and then it’s too late.
God’s
word gives us example after example of this happening, while we are in our
minds going, “No that is not going to happen to me.” Even now,
because it was a stronghold in the past, I am constantly having to be on guard
when Satan tries to get me over to the looking side. All the feelings that were
back then come rushing back as a warning.
1
Corinthians 10:11-14 says:
These things happened to them as
examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the
culmination of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing
firm, be careful that you don’t fall!
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.
(NIV)
When my kids were younger, we lived in a townhome that is pretty close to where we live now. I loved the small city, as well as the location of the townhome. This was because we lived in the end unit, which had plenty of windows. We also saw plenty of exotic birds and rabbits, which were good discussion for homeschool. Because of the fact that we lived on a hill, we could see clear down one particular street for a good ways. The part that we didn’t like is that we sat right next to an open field. On any given day, we would look out the window and see deer, coyotes, and red foxes. We would use this field during the times that we were rushing to catch the bus to music lessons. In the back of our minds, there was always the hidden message, “Beware of the Foxes”. In our Christian life, the foxes are anything that can be hindering us from our walk with Christ. They may be good things. However, too much of a good thing can also be bad when it gets in the way of God. These foxes can be reading, television, computer time, and even friendships with people who are not encouraging us in the Lord. “Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoilthe vines: for our vines have tender grapes.” (Song of Solomon 2: 15, KJV)
When did you find yourself “missing the message” because you were in a rush? How did it make you feel? What happens when you slow down so that you can take in what seems to be the smallest of moments? These missed messages can be God’s time with us if we allow him the opportunity.
