Hope2Offer

The anxious mind is a magnifying glass. 🔍 Hand it a small crack and it will show you a shattering.

Catastrophizing mistakes a possibility as certainty. Your worst case scenario is a story, not a forecast.

Have you ever carried the weight of shame?

Shame has plagued us since Adam and Eve. It convinces us we can never measure up. Shame rarely shouts—it whispers.

Shame can stem from what you’ve done, but it’s more about what you’ve convinced yourself what you are or what you’re not.

It can also lead to feelings of isolation and self-doubt, even exhaustion. It can even make us reluctant to seek help or connect with others.

SO WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT?

1. Talking about it, weakens it.
2. Realize that it is something you have absorbed, but not who you are.
3. Practice forgiveness.
4. Challenge your negative talk and replace it.
5. Seek out support.

Instinctually pride moves us to hide our shame, usually in the wrong places. We need to hide in the right place, the refuge of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 6:18–20).

He already knows everything about us. Rest in the fact that he still loves you in spite of your shame. There is no other place to take your sin anyway. There’s no atonement that you can make that will satisfy you. Only the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ can make you a whole again. Humility in what he has done for you breaks prides grip (ask the woman at the well or King David). They found real restoration, faith and peace. So can you.

If you’ve been to a funeral, you’ve heard, “He’s in a better place”, “He looks so peaceful”. “Why did God take her so soon”, “It’s all part of God‘s plan”, “All things work together for good those love God”, etc.

These statements suggest that what happened was good. But all they know is the person they loved is dead. None of the statements really help.

Time moves on and interestingly, some of the very people who rejected the “he’s in a better place” comments turned around and offered those same words to others in future years.

I get it, some people find a need to say something. But sometimes people just need a silent hug or I love you.

You also don’t want to be part of providing false security. If you grow up believing in heaven and hell maybe telling a non believer that “he’s in a better place” is lying.

One thing for certain is, they will be grieving. And that process is different for everyone. Let them take their time. When the time is right, take them out for lunch and just listen. The worst thing you can do is make it about yourself.

We can’t make our friends not suffer. We can be sure that they don’t suffer alone.

By the time we get to a funeral, talk about what the person did well – what they enjoyed in life. One of the best things we can do to begin the process of recovery is to remember the good times, the accomplishments, and the milestones.

Every one of us makes an impact on this world, to one extent or another. That impact continues long after we die.

Death is also a reminder that we never know how long our lives will be. Celebrate life and each other.

One final note, death has a way of confronting our own mortality. It is good to dig in and see what the Bible says about the subject. There’s nothing to be scared of, the gospel is good news.

Are u able to turn off your internal scoreboard?

Bigger house, more money, position, achieving child, investments, and the performance game goes on and on.

Your identity must be anchored is something that no one can ever take away. Then you’ll experience real peace.

The rest leaves you with insecurities in all the wrong places, even burnout.

Many carry the weight of poor past decisions and or abuse. They tried burying it deep but it stuck its head out through anger or lack of trust. They could not find healing, then came kids. They decided to change because of not wanting to pass it on to the next generation.

What about you? What helped you change? Forgive? Move on?

Maybe you haven’t been able to yet. I hope you find your healing.❤️‍🩹

Are kids more disrespectful today?

Kids have always tested boundaries. They are being taught that disrespect is allowed. Parents, you are the adult and your job is parenting. Don’t blame the kids. 

Numbing feelings

P**n numbs what you don’t wanna feel, covers up what you wanna hide, and it will never reject you. -Joshua Broome

P**n reveals deeper symptoms.

I am not going to numb it by scrolling through my phone, but we do.

Many of us run to our phone and scroll, partly because it’s so easily accessible and there’s so much information available. The question is why are we so interested in other people’s lives? Why are other people’s posts making you moody or emotional?

Have you ever tried to put it down for six or eight hours? It’s very difficult. Endless hours of scrolling even though we know the right answers, says it really has a control on us.

Research shows that it builds anxiety. Yet we’re told in God‘s Word, be anxious for nothing but in everything in prayer let your request be known to God.

Honest prayer: God, I know that you’re trustworthy. I know that you won’t leave me or abandoned me. I know I am not supposed to be anxious. Help me not to feed the monster. Instead, help me pray more and lay it at your feet.

Maybe it’s not the Internet for you. Maybe it’s alcohol, maybe it’s overheating. Whatever your advice is go back and read that prayer.❤️ I just did.

If you’re telling yourself you don’t deserve a 2nd chance from God, remember you didn’t deserve the first one.

Micah 7:18 says, "Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love."

Marriage

It’s not falling into something as much as it is sacrificing for someone. And that is selfless.