Living Life for Christ Alone

Can I be honest with you? If yes, read on. ;)  I am naturally one who gets very lost in the moment, so when moment after moment is overwhelming, it is no wonder that I am not only overwhelmed, but I go into "this-will-go-on-forever-and-I-must-live-to-survive-it" mode.  And the last couple of weeks have given me plenty of moments like that.  Moments where I feel like I'm being crushed under pressure that is too great for me to carry.  Moments where the decisions I have to make as a mom pile up so high in my brain that I can't even think straight enough to make them. If I stay too long here, I find myself becoming cynical. Life is not even meant to be fun, is it? (Spoiler: that is not true!) I woke up this morning feeling overwhelmed before the day began. I was stressed out and I hadn't even got out of bed. How can one possibly even begin to do a day right like that?  I sat at the breakfast table drinking my coffee, trying to gather myself for the day. I just want...

Discouragement often comes on the heels of high emotions and great encouragement.  Ever noticed that?  I recently heard mentioned in a podcast the saying: "What goes up must come down," and  I was struck by the fact that this very much can be referring to spiritual, emotional and physical highs.  A busy and fun weekend is often followed by a dull Monday.  A good day with little ones full of laughs and good behavior is quickly followed by another one with way less of both.  An exciting, energetic trip is often followed by an exhausted crash and sleepy, grumpy days to follow. A spiritual high can quickly be followed by spiritual lows, clarity by fog, joy by sorrow, confidence by faltering.  We so easily get discouraged once that high is replaced with a low simply because we secretly hoped the high would keep going on forever.  I experience this way too often, but I hadn't thought to expect it and even prepare for it.  If we are riding on the hi...

I so easily try to muscle my way through seasons of weakness and don't recognize God calling out to me in it. Do you resonate? Often, my season of weakness is something as simple as not feeling joyful about the mundane things I have to do. Other times, the challenges are more intense, like a parenting challenge that I don't have an easy answer to or a trip to Urgent Care because I cut my finger on the lid of a can and possibly cut through a tendon. (Yes, you're right... I'm talking about actual events here!) But either way, it is super easy to try to ignore those feelings of weakness and try to mask them by reaching for the wrong things.  I look for help in the temporary.  I try to console myself that something better is coming. I slip into survival mode, or completely shut down.  I hide in the kitchen and grab some chocolate to snack on.  I scroll on social media. But all the while, Jesus is calling to me, "Sandie... I'm here for you in this  too...."  I ...

I often write to my soul in psalm-style, acknowledging the feelings and struggles that are there, but then proceeding to counsel my soul with truth. It is he or she who "speaks the truth in his [or her] heart" that is given a clearer glimpse of God. (Psalm 15).  With that being said, I will be posting on here some examples of what that looks like for me in hopes that they will encourage you that it is indeed possible to have a soul-full of feelings and a day-full of less-than-ideal circumstances and still walk victoriously because of who we are in Christ and where we stand before God.  I penned the one below this morning as I was processing through some challenges that I am going through lately.... Hope it lifts your gaze upward as it did mine!  “I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the Lord, who call you by your name, am the God of Israel.” -Isaiah 45: 3   Oh soul, why do you struggle against being l...