Conversations with a Calvinist

(From my other blogs, My Crazy Faith and Anti-Calvinist Rant.)

(meme link)

(meme link)

Getting Through the "Broken" Times (short version)

(This is the short version.  The long one is here.)

Practical Advice for Getting Through the Broken Times (in no particular order, reposted from a few years ago)

1.  Be gracious toward yourself!
            You make sense.  You are not a hopeless mess.  You are human.  And humans hurt.  Humans break sometimes.  And we all need compassion and grace and understanding and love and forgiveness – for ourselves and for others.  So do not feel abnormal, like there is something wrong with you.  We are all broken in some way.  (It’s just that some people don’t know it yet.)  None of us really knows what we are doing in life.  (Although some won’t admit it.)  We are all just trying to make it through as best we can.  So you are in good company – in the company of many other hurting, broken, clueless, weak, needy people.  The very kind of people that God holds closest.
            Psalm 34:18:  "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."  

Getting Through the "Broken" Times (repost)

(This is the LONG version.  The short one is here.)

Practical Advice for Getting Through the Broken Times (in no particular order, reposted from a few years ago)

1.  Be gracious toward yourself!
            You make sense.  You are not a hopeless mess.  You are human.  And humans hurt.  Humans break sometimes.  And we all need compassion and grace and understanding and love and forgiveness – for ourselves and for others.  So do not feel abnormal, like there is something wrong with you.  We are all broken in some way.  (It’s just that some people don’t know it yet.)  None of us really knows what we are doing in life.  (Although some won’t admit it.)  We are all just trying to make it through as best we can.  So you are in good company – in the company of many other hurting, broken, clueless, weak, needy people.  The very kind of people that God holds closest.
            Psalm 34:18:  "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."  

I So Needed This Today - "Strength In Your Struggles"

I desperately needed this sermon today: Tony Evans Speaks on Strength in Your Struggles.  Such a great one!

Last week sometime, I made a very deliberate effort to decide to not believe that everything goes wrong all the time, to have hope that things were going to be okay and that I'd make it through the crushing trials.  Generally, I wake up with a feeling of anxiety (and I have for over 3 years now), but that morning I had decided "No more!  I can't keep living like this.  I'm just going to trust that God's got it in His hands and that it's going to be okay.  I am just too tired to be anxious anymore."  And I felt rather relaxed for the day, in a way I hadn't in a long time.  And it felt good!

And then ...

Don't Call Them "Pets"!

Did you see this article about how disrespectful it is to call your animals "pets"?

Yeah, totally.  When I called my birds "pets," they wouldn't look at me for four days or even eat the food I gave them.  And when my neighbor called their dog a "pet," he bit them and then pooped on the floor to show how offended he was.  

But when we made a point to say "companion," my birds snuggled right up to me and then stretched their weak little heads out to accept a seed ... and the neighbor's dog cleaned up his own poop and did the dishes! 

What a difference one word makes!  And seriously, people, think of the animals' feelings!

Pastor Tony Evans' Tribute to His Wife, Lois

A Death Worth Dying - A Tribute to Lois Evans

2018 Peonies and Roses

It's been awhile since I've posted my pictures here.  I've been putting them on Glory In Beauty, but I'll start adding them here again too.

The Evans Family Discusses Faith and Loss

I have been feeling fragile lately.  Too many heartbreaks.  Too many losses.  Too many feelings of "Bad things always happen.  Where is the hope?  Where is the peace and joy?"  I wake up with anxiety in my stomach (and I have for years), and it takes time and lots of conscientious, biblical thought and prayer to subdue it.  And because of this mental and emotional overload, I have been unable to write much.  I know I need to write less for now, even to think less, and to instead just spend time in the Lord's presence and in the Word, being filled instead of trying to fill others.  (So bear with me as I repost things and share links to other people's writing.  I just can't write new stuff myself right now.)  I am working on wrestling my anxious mind, to take my thoughts captive (long-term, ingrained, negative thoughts and fears) and to replace them with God's Truth.  It's a slow process.  But I'm working on it.

Anyway, I don't know why I clicked on this video (The Evans Family Discusses Faith and Loss) today (the last thing I need is to hear about other tragedies and heartaches), but I was captivated by it, just listening to the family of my favorite preacher - Tony Evans - talk honestly about a tragic loss they experienced the night before and how they are getting through it, how they are clinging to their faith and trusting God in this time of heartache.  I cried with them.  I found comfort in their transparency.  And I found encouragement in their faith.

(Sadly, Tony Evans' wife just passed away December 2019.  Dr. Evans has had many losses close together.  And yet he keeps clinging to the Lord and praising God in the pain.  I was just saying the other day that if I could get a hug from anyone in the world besides my family, it would be him.  I would let him hug me and I would cry.  May the Lord bless this beautiful family for their faithfulness!)