Monthly Archives: August 2012

Setting the Bar. from Everydaychristian.com

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I want you to know that whatever you are going through right now, you can survive it and even at some point begin to thrive again, because God is enough. Just over a year since my heart break and little by little, I am healing. The scars remain but if I don’t pick at them too much, I can get through the day.

When I started a ‘thank you’ page listing those who made this journey a bit easier, I ran out of room. They listen, let me cry, bring meals and invite me to events, pray for and with me. They read books on grief so that they can relate. They hug and write notes and e-mails, keep in contact one way or another.

But especially I thank those who already walk this road of grief. You know what it feels like to be alone, to feel unprotected, and to learn new skills and responsibilities. You understand when I say I don’t feel like I belong anywhere anymore. You set the bar for recovery

For instance, a cousin lost his wife about the same time. This week he made a point of eating dinner out at a nice restaurant. To his surprise he found lots of people eat alone. So that is my new goal.

To sum this all up, God is sufficient and He works through people. This verse says it all.

2 Corinthians 1:3-5-All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too.

Prayer: Dear God of Healing Comfort, thank you for all you are and for your people who in so many small /large ways help others when they can…even in their own pain. For Christ. Amen.

Uncovered

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I can’t believe it’s a year already. No one told me the journey would be so hard or that I would feel so exposed.

Jeremiah 10:19 -Woe is me for my hurt! My wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it” (KJV).

Perhaps other widows said something but if they did, I don’t recall their words. I do however remember the look in their eyes. That should have given me a hint. We who had been loved and cherished find ourselves suddenly uncovered; that is unprotected, exposed to the world because our man is gone. Thank God for the One who is willing to take up that stance for us.

Isaiah 54:4-6a- Fear not, for you shall not be ashamed; neither be confounded and depressed, for you shall not be put to shame. For you shall forget the shame of your youth, and you shall not [seriously] remember the reproach of your widowhood any more.  For your Maker is your Husband—the Lord of hosts is His name—and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; the God of the whole earth He is called. For the Lord has called you like a woman forsaken, grieved in spirit, and heart sore—even a wife [wooed and won] in youth(AMP).

So my dearest Ronald…We rejoice with you as you enjoy heaven, even though our hearts continue to miss you. We strive to be the family you cared so well for, because you were always the beloved Husband, Dad and Afi we needed. You need not worry about us. God is covering for you…Love from Brenda and family.

Prayer- Thank you God that you are both Comfort and Covering for those struggling through grief. You can’t believe how grateful we are…In Christ. Amen

A Day Like No Other

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I am supposed to expect a terrible day tomorrow because Ron died a year ago on August 22nd. Apparently I am supposed to finally realize Ron is not coming back. Quite frankly, I figured that out the day he died.

The truth is that God has been excessively faithful to me for the last 364 days. I doubt that will change on day 365.

Instead of mourning, I determine to thank God for our wonderful years together. I thank God that Ron is free from pain and suffering.

I  thank God for loving family, friends ,neighbours and even strangers, who cared for me in so many ways these last months.

Heartache is love with no where to go. (Margaret Brownly-Grieving God’s Way.)

Health Food Cleanse

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Health food gurus insist we cleanse our bodies with their expensive, non-food concoctions and we rush to comply. We act as if God forgot our needs when He created us. If real food is so bad wouldn’t we all be dead by now? In North America we rave about the latest health diet. “Give up wheat, stop eating potatoes, bread is bad.” How did losing weight become giving up certain foods instead of giving up extra portions? Isn’t it odd that third-world countries gratefully receive these same ‘dangerous’ foods from us and thrive on them?

Mark 7:18-19– Jesus said, “Are you being wilfully stupid? Don’t you see that what you swallow can’t contaminate you? It doesn’t enter your heart but your stomach, works its way through the intestines, and is finally flushed.” (That took care of dietary quibbling; Jesus was saying that all foods are fit to eat (MSG.)

Of course, we can make better choices. It won’t hurt us to eat less, exercise more, fast occasionally, choose life, choose joy, declutter our junk and deal with our anger issues. We’ll really feel better then, because we got rid of that weight.  We’ll have money left to help feed the hungry.

So if you are thinking of a cleanse……

Mark 7:20-23-He went on: “It’s what comes out of a person that pollutes: obscenities, lusts, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, depravity, deceptive dealings, carousing, mean looks, slander, arrogance, foolishness—all these are vomit from the heart. There is the source of your pollution (MSG).”

Prayer: Lord, we are really and truly sheep, following one another into the latest craze. Forgive us. Steer us aright. Remind us to follow you only. Thank you for all you created for us. In Christ’s name. Amen.

Maggots ( Under the Skin) Anyone?

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What is getting under your skin? Is it festering, continuing to wound you? Do you keep picking at the open sore, wondering why it won’t heal? You may have Myiasis.

Like Jesus, many a speaker/writer compares believers to sheep but they don’t always tell all. I guess maggots aren’t a great selling point. You see, certain types of flies are attracted to wounds in sheep, cattle, deer and even humans. They lay their eggs there, then the larvae hatch, burrow into the skin and if not treated, travel through the body, damaging organs. Sadly, they are often part of being a sheep. Still, a controlled maggot can be a great thing.

It is estimated that hospitals across the USA order in about 5,000 laboratory grown maggots every week. They are used to fight infections resulting from bed sores, leg/foot ulcers, stab wounds and even gangrene. Maggots are great because they promote faster healing and won’t likely injure healthy tissue. Of course you have to stop picking at the wound while the critters do their job. Wounds won’t heal if the blood supply is blocked.

Doesn’t that sound like a sheep issue to you? It does to me. If the blood of Jesus isn’t circulating around and through our wounds, we will not heal.

So what does our Myiasis look like? Child abuse, financial woes, annoying relatives, children sick, personal loss, you name it, if we won’t let the healing blood of Christ pour through it, it will continue to swallow us up.

Psalm 57:2-3– I will cry out to God Most High, To God who performs all things for me. He shall send from heaven and save me; He reproaches the one who would swallow me up. Selah God shall send forth His mercy and His truth (NKJV).

Prayer: Lord the maggot of __________still eats at me. I offer my wounds to you. Help me obey your truths so that I shall be healed. For Christ’s Sake. Amen.

How are you—Really??

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Don’t you just want someone to care a little bit about you?  Don’t you want to vent just a smidge? I know I do.

Today I am not writing anything but simply asking you to tell me how you are.

Get it out of your system and you will feel better.

And I am not going to share it anywhere, but I will pray for you! Hugs.

Brenda J Wood- author & speaker

Meeting Myself, Snippets from a Binging and Bulging Mind
 The Big Red Chair-storybook for grieving children Heartfelt
366 Devotions for Common Sense Living God,
Gluttony & You, the Bible Study

So you thought you knew me???

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REVIEW of Meeting Myself by Author Iris Ford

MEETING  MYSELF: SNIPPETS FROM A BINGING AND BULGING MIND

It’s not  often you pick up a book and can’t put it down.  The inner agony here is palpable. You  will feel it as you read. The pace rushes on and you say to yourself, “Oh, what  will she do?”  The author has got  you in her grasp, or maybe it is better to say – her bulimic despair has you up-tight,  especially if you also suffer from the up-chucking that is actually clenching  Brenda in its grip.  Can you get rid  of your despair that way, or any way?  If this is you, hiding in there, then this book will grab you!

Brenda  suffers agony and keeps it all to her ‘self’, upchucking down the pipes of the “white toilet”, trying to get rid of an unpleasant agony from childhood. “White” means pure, right? You read on and get the message: this is a struggle to be  pure.  Only God achieves that and He  does as the book hurries you on.  One senses the tug of war with God and one’s body.  What to eat, or better put: how much NOT  to eat, or even better, HIDE the food where no one else will find it until  later, later, later in unimaginable places.  The struggle goes on, and you read on  and on, sharing her despair and secret.

Finally, the  reader also shares Brenda’s approach to God where she thankfully finds healing  and peace.  But it is not over yet.  God moves slowly as Brenda takes you along her every struggle until God fills  her soul and body with forgiveness and peace. Yes, this is quite a book and if  you know anyone suffering from this affliction do share Brenda’s story.  Here is hope, forgiveness and a loving,  forgiving, healing Saviour. Jesus also knows what a painfully suffering body is  all about as His body took the brunt of all our sin, including  Brenda’s.

Brenda is  openly honest as she “Meets with herself, sharing these Snippets from a Binging  and Bulging Mind”, showing the reader what it feels like to suffer from a  bulimic disposition. Yet Brenda also brings children into the world and shares a  loving relationship with her husband.  How did she do it, you ask?  Well, read on and find out.  You will enjoy this book even if you aren’t bulimic. We all suffer from  some kind of pain, whether in the body or mind – usually in both.

Reviewed by  Iris M. Ford