Steps to Avoid Disappointment

12 Steps to Avoid Disappointment this Christmas http://www.becomingminimalist.com/avoid-christmas-disappointment/

Stop Comparing Your Life

Stop Comparing Your Life. Start Living It. http://www.becomingminimalist.com/stop-comparing-your-life-start-living-it/

A Thought Guide to Gaining Self-Confidence

Another Beautiful Morning!

A Thoughtful Guide to Gaining Self-Confidence
by JOSHUA BECKER

“Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.” —Malcolm S. Forbes

The importance of self-confidence in our lives can not be overstated.

  It is, after all, a lack of self-confidence that causes our lives to be tossed to and fro by the sway of culture. From the very beginning, we see the harmful affects of low self-confidence on our decision-making process while the fear of rejection becomes an all too common presence in our lives. It causes many to adopt the values of the group and engage in otherwise undesired behavior.

Simply put, the need for love, belonging, and acceptance becomes stronger than the internal compass within us. And many unhealthy life choices begin to emerge.

In adolescence, this need for acceptance begins to show itself in substance-abuse, underage-drinking, dangerous sexual practices, or mischievous behavior. As we get older, some of these habits remain… but new ones begin to emerge. The desire to find acceptance by impressing those around me with my possessions begins to motivate aspects of my life. And whether it be a certain home-size, vehicle-model, fashion-trend, or latest-technology, many of our purchases are made with a simple desire to keep up with the neighbors and not be regarded as “falling behind.” Our need to impress and be accepted becomes more important than wise spending habits.

But self-confidence redirects our life. It begins to realign our desires with the unique heart inside us. It allows us to reject the trends of a culture built on consumption. When it is present in our lives, we begin to believe that we exist for a greater purpose than shopping on Black Friday. The need to impress others with our belongings is replaced by an internal desire to follow our heart and soul… and to embrace the desires deep in our soul is to reject the notion of shopping for acceptance.

To recenter our lives and embrace a healthy view of self-confidence, consider some of these practical tips:

Stop comparing yourself. Reject the desire to compare yourself to others. When we compare ourselves to others, we always contrast the worst things we know about ourselves to the best things we know about others. The inevitable outcome always leaves us with feelings of inadequacy and despair. Become wiser. Tell yourself that you can’t possibly be making a fair comparison. And reject the idea altogether.

Celebrate your uniqueness. Your life was never meant to be lived like everyone else. You don’t look the same, you don’t sound the same, your talents aren’t the same… and your deep-held values are unique. Throwing that away just for the sake of being accepted by others is one of the cruelest things that you can ever do. And it will always prevent you from fully living our life. Instead, champion the things that make you unique and find confidence in them.

Focus on the positives. Change your thinking. Focus less on the negatives and more on the positives. Stop dwelling on the negative messages of the past and begin centering yourself on the positive traits in your life today.

See past failures as learning opportunities. We’ve all tried and failed at some point in our lives. Confident people look back at failures and view them as learning experiences. In that way, failures can actually provide greater self-confidence moving forward. Learn from your mistakes and try again. Remember that it’s not over when you lose, it’s over when you quit.

Help someone. One of the most important steps to finding self-confidence in your life is to give yourself to others. Serving another person almost always results in the healthy realization that you are important in this world, that you have something to offer, and that the world is more beautiful because of your presence. See a need around you? Whether it be a need for time, finances, or a listening ear, meet it today. And the life you change just may be your own.

Begin realizing a life goal. Intentionally and specifically, begin working towards a life goal. Know that taking the first step is a momentum builder and can generate confidence in your life. There is a powerful difference between “I want to…” and “I’m beginning to…” So write the first page, run the first mile, or meet the first person. You know what you want to accomplish and you know what the first step is. Stop telling yourself it’s out of reach and take the first step.

Accept your weaknesses. While dwelling on our weaknesses leads to a lack of self-confidence, accepting them is an important step in developing it. First, it keeps us from unhealthy delusions of grandeur. It embraces that we are not perfect and forces us to live our lives in a healthy need for others. Secondly, it provides us with the foundation to accept failures when they arise. We are not caught off-guard when we fail. Instead, we are simply again reminded of our need for others to compliment our weaknesses.

Be known and loved. There is no greater key to self-confidence that being intimately known and genuinely loved by another. Allowing another human being into the deepest depths of our heart is one of the single most difficult acts in the world today. But doing it (and being loved despite of it) breathes life into our soul and builds confidence in our inner-most being… and this confidence continues to grow as the commitment to each other deepens. (On a related note, take a moment this week to better know and love your child… it’s one of the greatest gifts you can ever give them).

To be clear, the importance of self-confidence in our lives can not be overstated. It provides the motivation to pursue our passions. It provides the foundation to reject the claims of a consumerist culture. And it provides the incentive to live the life you’ve always wanted to live..

http://livingthebalancedlife.com/2010/whatever-is-is/

Looking forward to another great day....

Bruising and Swelling

I've been bruising and swelling a lot...

Highs -n- Lows Living with the Disease

Another Beautiful Morning!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 

We had a great time with our family on Christmas Eve...love having the kids and grandkids home.  Sometimes it's tough on me.  I wish it wasn't but it is....

During our Christmas Eve celebrations we had a lot of lights on in the house :-(  that started my swelling and along with the swelling comes the pain. 

My mom, grandma Faye, stayed overnight Christmas Eve so Christmas day I brought her back home to Faribault, first stopping to eat a turkey dinner with grandma Gloria...

Today, I am trying to take it easy and let my body rest...

I am so thankful for family and friends!

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Today's Bible Study

Immanuel—God Is With Us
Read | Matthew 1:18-25
By Charles Stanley

Names have great significance in the Bible. Jesus was called Messiah in Hebrew, which is translated as Christ in Greek. Both of those terms designated Him as an anointed One who would become King. Immanuel was another important name He was given. It means “God with us” (Matt. 1:23).

To understand what a difference it makes to have God with us, consider how this blessing affected three biblical leaders. First of all, the Lord’s presence was the reason Moses repeatedly approached Pharaoh to demand the release of the Israelite slaves—God’s promise enabled him to overcome his fear (Ex. 3:12).

Second, after Moses’ death, Joshua was appointed to take Israel into the Promised Land. Imagine what it meant to this new leader to realize that the Father was always near. As commander, Joshua would face many challenges, including travel, combat, and rebellion. He could be a courageous leader because he knew that the Lord would never leave him.

Third, as a young shepherd boy and later as king, David knew the Lord’s presence well (1 Sam. 17:37; 2 Sam. 7:18). In Psalm 23, he wrote that in his darkest times, he would not fear evil because God was with him.

Our Father has pledged to be with all those whom He has redeemed (Isa. 43:1-2). If you've received Jesus as your personal Savior, then His Holy Spirit dwells within you. No matter what happens in your life, God remains with you to strengthen, guide, and comfort.

I look forward to another great day!

Another Beautiful Day!

I had an appointment with Dr. Danning last week.  She decided to start me on Lyrica and tapper down on the Gabapentin since it hasn't taken care of the nerve pain.  I started taking one Lyrica in place of one of my Gabapentin doses and will continue to add until I am no longer on Gabapentin.  I'm ready for a relief from the nerve pain... :-)

My next appointment is after the New Year...January 6th, I am having an ultrasound to see why I continue to bleed, a bone density test, and a mammogram.   I go back in to see my general Dr, Dr. Meiriener and my eye Dr in March... 

I continue to swell alot... :-( I'm at my best staying at home with the curtains closed...

Yesterday, our youngest granddaughter, Gracie (she just turned one), was transported by ambulance from one area hospital emergency room to another hospital emergency room.  They admitted her after treating her for breathing several times...she still wasn't breathing without the struggle and the Dr. wasn't  comfortable sending her home... 

Wednesday, her mom took her in to see the Dr because she wasn't herself.  Gracie was diagnosed with the flu and was coughing and having breathing

 I am so thankful for family and friends!  Looking forward to another great day...

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Today's Bible Study

Christmas - A Personal Promise

By Charles Stanley

What do you consider most significant about Christmas? Many people would say visiting with relatives, attending parties, or giving and receiving gifts. For believers, however, Christmas is far more than a December holiday with time off from work. It is a personal promise from God to mankind.

The significance of this special day is embodied in two scriptural names. In the first chapter of Matthew, an angel of the Lord told Joseph that Mary, his fiancée, would bear a son conceived of the Holy Spirit. He instructed Joseph to name the child “Jesus” (v. 21). He also announced that the birth would fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy: “‘They shall call His name Immanuel,’ which translated means ‘God with us’” (v. 23, referring to Isaiah 7:14).

Let’s examine the two names in this passage—Jesus and Immanuel. The name “Jesus” is a transliteration of the Old Testament Hebrew word Joshua, meaning “the Lord is salvation.” When the angel said, “You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (v. 21), he was pointing to the significance of that original Christmas: God provided a solution for your sin and mine, as well as for the sin of the entire world—past, present, and future.

Seven hundred years before Christ’s birth, Isaiah’s prophecy was a word of hope and encouragement to Judah as it faced a great crisis. The prophet’s message was an indication of what God was about to do then as well as what would ultimately be fulfilled in the Messiah’s advent. Immanuel, a name full of promise, was God’s way of assuring the Old Testament saints that He was with them. Taken together, these two names encompass what we need for our entire life: Jesus, the pardoner of our sins, and Immanuel, the divine presence within us to help and guide every moment of every day. The names and the promises in them are the foundation for every facet of Christian life.

So how did God engineer that first Christmas to fulfill the promises of Jesus and Immanuel? His method was the incarnation. On the night Christ was born, the eternal God—motivated by love—entered the human family. He was supernaturally conceived by the Holy Spirit and physically born of a virgin. Jesus never ceased to be God, and He remained perfectly sinless in His being.

If the incarnation hadn’t taken place exactly as it did, then we would still be living in our sin. According to Scripture, the punishment for sin is death (Rom. 6:23). The Bible also says that God rejects any imperfect sacrifice (Deut. 17:1). Jesus, because of His absolute sinlessness, is the only one who could save us by offering Himself as a payment for our sin debt.

Apart from the birth of God in human flesh, every one of us would have to stand before God with all of our sin resting upon us, and our sins would separate us from Him (Isa. 59:2). So the incarnation is the promise of Jesus—“the Lord is salvation”—for every person in the world.

But that was not the full extent of God’s awesome plan. He also promised us His presence, which was fulfilled in the birth of Immanuel. Jesus was “God with us,” the incarnate Deity, who physically lived and walked among men to show us what the heavenly Father is like.

Before His crucifixion, Jesus encouraged His disciples with the promise of God’s indwelling presence. Christ said that when He went away, He would ask the Father to send the Spirit of truth, who “abides with you and will be in you” to teach, remind, comfort, and guide every step of the way (John 14:17, 26).

Far better than God simply being “with me” is God within me, for me, and through me! And that is His promise to every generation of believers—the incomparable, supernatural, immeasurable God will take up residence inside us and be everything we need. Once He lives within you, there will never be a time you have to walk without Him (Heb. 13:5).

In light of the wonderful promise of God’s redemption and presence, believers should be confident and courageous. We don’t have a single need He can’t satisfy. How can we worry when the sovereign, almighty God is with us?

So this year, as you gather on Christmas morning, I encourage you and your family to kneel and give thanks to almighty God. The incarnation is the very essence of Christmas. There’s nothing wrong with the gifts or festivities, as long as they don’t crowd out what belongs in first place: Christmas is about God breaking into humanity, shattering time, and becoming life and hope and help to all mankind.

Related Resources

• I've heard the Christmas story many times, is it possible I'm missing something?
• Why did God choose a manger instead of a palace for Christ's birth?
• What does our response to Christmas say about our view of God?
• Why is Jesus known as the "name above every other name"?
• Is peace possible at Christmastime?
• What was the first gift ever given at Christmas?

Highs -n- Lows Living with the Disease

Another Beautiful Day! 

This afternoon I had my yearly exam with Dr. Marinier, my primary Dr. 
I am having some issues, I needed to address....

I've been having vaginal bleeding for a few weeks... :-)
Dr scheduled a pelvic ultrasound, some xrays and a mammogram. 

I continue to have pain on my right side from the shingles...

I am having an xray to check my right hip. I had some bone thinning in my right hip a couple years ago... Dr Marinier is checking to make sure the hip hasn't deteriorated since then.

I also continue to have GERD issues

My blood pressure was up today... It was at 142/94

We are hoping to get a handle on these issues soon....

I am so thankful for all I can do...
I have been blessed!

I am looking forward to another great day...

A Journey to Joy

A Journey to Joy

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