Jenn’s Journey

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Good morning! Happy Monday. It was nice to have some time off, to enjoy family and friends…and some yummy food! I'm still in thankful mode with so many things to thank God for. I hope to keep counting my blessings as the year goes on. Thanks for joining me today.

Yesterday was a tough day for me as a mom. It seemed that the whining would not end! If it was not over one thing, it was over something else. Nothing was right or pleasing to the little miss. She had gotten in her mind that she had to have a certain ice cream called Dippin' Dots. We've only ever found it at amusement parks. All day long I heard about this ice cream and there was even a tantrum involved. By the time the day was over, I'd been yelled at, blamed and told I was the meanest mom ever, all because I could not fulfill the request for Dippin' Dots! (I did promise I'd find her the ice cream at some point.) Mama had to go in a time-out to collect her wits and patience. Lots of prayers involved!

By this morning, I decided I would find her that ice cream and we'd get it as a treat after some errands that had to be done. I let her know ahead of time that she had a surprise coming. The excitement on her face once I finally let her know what the surprise was, well, it was priceless. I could ALMOST forget the complaining of the day before. After we bought it, and she was enjoying her treat, I sat her down and told her, "I want you to remember something. I can't always get you what you want at the moment you want it. But I will always do my best to keep my promises…like I did today, getting you this treat."

I was thinking about the situation this afternoon. How like little kids we are when it comes to our requests of God. We ask Him things expecting an answer right now, or we get mad because He seems silent. We call Him mean and accuse Him of not hearing or caring. We pout and cry. I bet, like me, He sometimes sheds tears as He watches our behavior. I bet He wishes we'd know He loves us even when answers don't come how or when we expect.

My daughter did tell me "Thanks, mom, for buying me Dippin' Dots. These are so yummy! I am so excited I got some." It made my day, and warmed my heart. This season is all about remembering what God has done for us. He's allowed us to live in a free country, founded by people who feared and trusted God. He came to this earth many years before that, to live and die as a human, so we can one day live in complete freedom with Him.

Have you thanked Him lately? Have I? Have I said "Thank you Father, for all the things You have given me? I am so glad I got them?" It's said that thankfulness is a pathway to happiness. I want to be on that path! I leave you with this verse, which came to my mind this afternoon: "So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him." Luke 11:13

Until next week, be blessed,

Jenn

Croley’s Corner @ Chicklit Power

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.” Ephesians 3:20

 Welcome to Coffee Hour and I’m hoping you have recovered from yesterday; that it was satisfying and filled with lots of wonderful tasty treasures of recipes and spent in thankful praise for all that God has done for you and your families! With that being said let’s grab some coffee and get started!

As I was pondering in my heart what to write I started with a sentence and deleted it many times, then all of a sudden a light came on…of course I don’t purpose in my heart to consider the Holy Spirit like a light bulb; however I believe there was validation in my thoughts. Thanksgiving has come and gone and, yes, Christmas is just around the corner! For many, this season can be so overwhelming! Our minds begin to race as we manage many lists, balancing maybe a job outside the home, a family and extra activities and it can be so daunting. All that said, I can’t help but pray that the next few moments will shed some light and speak a measure of quietness to your soul in the busyness of life! 

There’s a basic need to help every human in existence. It’s the first thing we do in the morning and last thing we do at night; we turn the light switches on or off.  Without even a blink of our sleepy eyes, we’re trust that our lights are going to come on or go off. I have no reservations they won’t; it’s automatic. The same goes for each and every electronic device that we own…we know when we push that button, turn that switch, dial that knob, no doubt occurs to you; you expect it to come on.

Well, without that resource of power to generate electricity, we would expose ourselves to great chaos, whether it’s turning on the heat or air conditioner, to putting on make-up or drying our hair, to making coffee or just simply toasting toast; we are in need of this power. It would be almost impossible to exist without electricity. Oh, it can be done but not easily. you could  substitute this power of light by opening the shades in your home if it were day, use a flashlight, candles or maybe even build a fire if need be in the night, but that would even be limiting.

We are so dependent on this source of power we really couldn’t exist…Yes, I know, I’m repeating myself but there’s a point I’m making, as always. Now to bring it to a spiritual level, as if I wasn’t going to!

Acts 1:8 says “But you shall “receive power” when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they receive the Holy Spirit, which would result in power, equipping them with power to bring the gospel into the world. The Greek word for power is “dunamis,” and from this word, we have the word dynamite. The word means strength, power/ability. He has given us power for living, for wisdom, power to witness and to pray, power to overcome the storms of life. Even when it may seem at its darkest, we know that His power works within us always teaching, comforting, strengthening and never leaving us in the dark.

Now mind you, I don’t want to leave you with the impression that the Holy Spirit can be turned on and off like a light switch His power lives in us continually. With the recent time change, remember when you turn on or off a light, you’re cognizant that He is the power source within you. We’re the ones that choose to connect or disconnect yet He desires to be in constant communication with us, no matter how busy life gets. He is the light through us to this world that never grows dim, shadowy or out!

Father, I pray that as we enter into this busy season we must take time to connect with you in order to see your power working within us as life can be so loud. Help us to realize that  we need to be intentional about spending time with You, that in that quiet time there is where we will find peace, strength connection, comfort and healing. Amen.

Until next week, and remember, keep Him close to your heart!

Deb

Paws for Coffee Hour

Thanks for taking a few minutes out of this special day, a day of family, friends, fellowship to celebrate Thanksgiving. Grab your coffee or hot cider and come on in for a very heart-felt PAWS for Coffee Hour blog from our friend, Jennifer.

Today is Thanksgiving…

“For everything God created is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving” 1 Timothy 4:4

I love the early morning of this holiday before the day gets too busy, the smells of baked goods and a slowly roasting turkey. What I love most of all is that this holiday isn’t about receiving; it is about being grateful for everything we have in our life; it’s about giving thanks.

I am thankful for….

• A husband that sacrifices his time and talent to serve our country
• Three healthy thriving children
• Family that never gives up
• Beautiful friends who stand by your side no matter what
• A church I love serving in
• My faithful and loving puppies

What are you grateful for?  Listing them out may bring a tear to your eye but it will fill your heart with joy.  Take a few minutes and name at least seven things you are grateful for. In Psalm 119:164 it says: Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous judgments. What seven things can you praise Him for right now?

And now to honor our furry friends on this gratitude filled day, please enjoy the following…..

Puppies enjoying their first Thanksgiving 

10 Costumed Dogs Celebrating Thanksgiving 

PUMPKIN PIE FOR DOGS 

11 Thanksgiving Staples That Are Hazardous To Pups

Enjoy…everything about Thanksgiving!

 Jennifer, Logan & Corey

Twas the Night before Thanksgiving

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Welcome to Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power. I just love this time of year; as a matter of fact, it’s my favorite season, though we don’t need a season to be thankful. Last year was the first Thanksgiving apart from our son, daughter-in-love and grandkids, and so I needed a bit of humor to remind myself that there was still much to be thankful for. I’d like to share that with you now, and from my heart to yours, say to you and yours…Happy Thanksgiving!

Twas the night before Thanksgiving and all through the house

Every creature was stirring, including the mouse

Everyone was working on all of the fixings

The noise and smells were coming from the kitchen

The children were busy with their tablets and toys

Captured in their games, they made not a noise

While the adults laughed and worked all collectively

What a beautiful sight it was for any heart to see

When all of a sudden there arose such a clatter

Mom ran to the kitchen to see what was the matter

She looked to the left and she looked to the right

She couldn’t believe what was in plain sight

There was broken glass from a favorite platter

And at first glance, she knew it didn’t matter

Everyone was frozen, waiting for her reaction

But she didn’t give the devil that satisfaction

The counters were a mess, preparations everywhere

It looked as though a tornado had just gone thru there

The turkey had flown from the platter to the floor

The poor thing looked like it just couldn’t take no more

The stove was a disaster waiting to happen,

Filled with pots and pans, handles overlapping

The old mom would have immediately gotten on her broom

And painted the atmosphere with a bit of doom and gloom

But the new and improved mom was no longer that way

For she had learned the true meaning of Thanksgiving Day

She stared at each of them and the mess they surrounded

Knowing her response would leave each one of them astounded

Now sons, now daughters, in-laws and friends like family

Is this ever a sight for the eyes of my heart to see?

More than the chaos, the mess on the floor

The memories we’re making are worth so much more

So grab a rag and a dishtowel too

Here’s one for each and every one of you

Let’s work together in cleaning up this mess

It will only take a few minutes or less

Pick up the turkey, and we’ll wash him off

We’ll stuff him but good and put him in the trough

We’ll baste him all over, and get him ready to eat

No one will ever know we stepped on his feet

And when the morrow comes and we gather for the meal

We’ll be able to discern what matters and what’s real

Faith, family, friends, love and laughter

Help to bring us all the happily ever after

I looked to each of them with tears in my eyes

And said something I had just realized

Oh, why can’t it be Thanksgiving every day?

Loving each other in a Christ-like way

Patience, self-control, love and joy too

Are there for the asking for each of you

We don’t have to wait for a holiday to see

That Christ’s greatest gift is that of family

Praying you enjoy your Thanksgiving, no matter what circumstances you are in, no matter who you are with … or not with!

Thankfully,

Evinda

Tuesday’s Trench Lesson

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Thanks for stopping by for Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power and Tuesday’s Trench Lesson. This is my favorite time of year, my most favorite season: Thanksgiving; although we shouldn’t need a specific season to be thankful, if you know what I mean. In keeping with the holiday, though, I thought it would be good to continue with this subject of despair for its opposite is hope…and when we have hope, there’s always something to be thankful for. Grab your coffee and jump with me into this trench for just a few minutes.

If you have a faith-based relationship with our living God, you may think that this particular trench lesson doesn’t apply to you in any way, that you don’t ever really feel a sense of despair, which in and of itself is a lack of hope, but stay with us anyway as I go over the five things that we tend to put our hope in, subconsciously, unconsciously or consciously.

Most of us desire pretty much the same things, though some of us may not recognize and/or acknowledge them: somebody to love, somebody who loves us in return…and this need leads us to the first thing we tend to put our hope in: in others, especially if our childhood was interrupted or interfered with in any negative way. Here’s a cool truth about that one from my friend Steve Atkinson: “The degree of neglect or the absence of nurture historically leaves us vulnerable to the need of having someone ‘fill in those blanks,’ even in the face of a great deal of pain.”

The second thing we tend to put our hope in is money! Now, I don’t know about you, but I’ve learned, and of course the hard way, that money doesn’t buy happiness…but – yes, I said BUT – it does make life a bit more comfortable! But the truth is that while money can buy comfort, it can’t buy peace, but we often chase it, believing that it can fix more of what’s broken, or right what’s wrong. I love how Timothy puts it in 1^st Timothy 6:10: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

Do you see what I see? It’s not money that is evil…but the love of money that causes problems which send us right back to the pit of despair. See, putting our hope in money is trying to fill an internal need with an external object…and there’s no eternal value in that!

We can finish up this trench lesson next week, but let me leave you with this thought: That which we put our hope in we come to love!

Hoping in the Author of Hope,

Evinda

Croley’s Corner @ Chicklit Power

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6

Good Morning Coffee Hour friends and thanks for taking a few minutes to join me. Grab a hot cup of your favorite beverage, your journal and let’s see what journey He takes us on today.

There was a song I sang as a child and I’m sure many of you are very familiar with it and it goes like this “oh Zacchaeus was a wee little man and a wee little man was he, he climbed up in a Sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see; and as the Savior passed his way He looked up in that tree, and said Zacchaeus you come down for I’m going to your house today.”

Wow, can you imagine? My heart would be thumping out of my chest! Which brings me to my point; many times in life we hear of something great that’s about to happen, whether it be at church or a Men or Women’s Conference or a retreat. Instead of making plans to go we view from a distance. Oh, yes, our spiritual appetite might want to inquire; we may even be inquisitive but our hearts may not be in a position to fully get involved; but yet we still remain at a distance. Why is that?

We often stand back or even in the shadows and then kick ourselves for not following through because we’ve learned that lives were changed. Sometimes the Lord speaks to us in many ways by venues and avenues. As that ole’ saying goes, you can lead a horse to water and you may even put him or her in the trough, but you can’t make them drink. And we can miss out on such valuable lessons all because we choose to stay in what we call the comfortable zone.

The Bible says in Luke 19:5-7 He spoke to Zacchaeus to come down out of that tree for He was heading to his home for some revival!

Wow! My first thought might be; “Jesus coming to my house! Oh my, I’ve gotta go clean and tidy up a bit. I surely wouldn’t want Him to see how I really live! Yet if Zacchaeus had stayed in the tree as Jesus passed by, Zacchaeus would have lost the greatest opportunity to follow and be a part of something exciting.

Do you sometimes feel you’ve been up in a tree just viewing and not participating, needing and desiring for Him to create in you a new heart or even to restore what you feel is broken or think can’t be fixed?  Has He been calling to you?  Remember, God is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscience and unless we respond to Him, we may remain up in that tree always looking but never experiencing the awesome benefits that await us.  When we finally realize we can climb down out of our tree and follow Jesus, we will gain new knowledge of His Word for our lives; the joy, the peace, the fruitfulness of walking in the spirit all for the healing of our hearts and minds.

My prayer is that your heart will be likened as of Zacchaeus: the willingness and the hunger to see Jesus not at a distance but up close and personal and when He walks by, make a move towards Him for He’s more than willing to create a clean heart and renew a right spirit within you.  Psalm 51:10

Until next week, allow Him to surround you with His presence to bring you to a place of peace and remember, keep Him close to your heart.

Love Deb

Paws for Coffee Hour

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Oh, it’s a great day to join us for a lesson to learn in the classroom of life from our four-legged friends…one with spiritual significance. Jennifer is so good at tying it all together, which is really what we’re supposed to do as we learn in this life, to remember we are made of mind, body and soul, physically, emotionally and spiritually! This one is incredibly profound! Please, grab your coffee and join us!

I saw something quite disgusting this week and it reminded me of a verse in proverbs.

“As a dog returns to its own vomit so a fool repeats his foolishness” Proverbs 26:11

Did you know that dogs will actually do that?  I have always wondered why.  Is it because it was a part of them?  Does it remind them of their last meal?  Who knows!  I know it sounds gross, but stay with me here! :-)

As I was cleaning up the mess I thought “I am sure glad humans don’t do this.” But then the Lord reminded me of the second half of the verse.  He nudged me and said, “Yes, they do.”  Let me share with you how:

We do this, not in a literal sense, but with other things:  Emotional things, temptation-type things, old habits that are negative in nature, self-destructive even.

How do we purge ourselves of these things we don’t want in our life, whether it is pain, suffering, hurt inflicted, any of the things we struggle with?

For me, it’s depression.

The weight of the world and my past grabs hold and I feel myself sinking…returning to its foolishness.

I push it off, pray it away and offer it up to the Lord.  I get freedom from it.  Then something happens.  A trigger, a memory or a new pain and I find myself sniffing around for what I had just let go of.

What I have recently grabbed a hold of is that these things in our past, present or future are opportunities for victory or to nose around in our muck.  It may not feel like it but we have a choice to make.  Do I seek victory or vomit? 

To seek victory I dwell on these scriptures:

“For the Lord your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and he will give you victory!”  Deuteronomy 20:4

“You have given me your shield of victory; your help has made me great.” 2 Samuel 22:36

“I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him.” Psalm 62:1

“I thank you for answering my prayer and giving me victory!”  Psalm 118:21

Speak the truth until you feel it…He will give you victory!

Jennifer and Logan

Jenn’s Journey

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Welcome to Monday's blog! This will be a busy week getting ready for Thanksgiving. Wishing you safe travels, happy times with family or friends...and lots of pie! :)

I've had a lot of fun spending time in my daughter's 1st grade class. Today we made turkeys out of cookies, chocolate frosting and various candies. Kids have such creativity. Their joy and enthusiasm is contagious!

It's quite interesting to observe behaviors.  It can't help but make me think. My daughter was involved in a squabble today over some crayons. One of the girls in her group picked up two crayons from the floor and said they were hers…however they did not match the brand she had on her desk. Then she insisted that they belonged to the boy at the other desk. My daughter claimed they were her crayons and that the other girl had borrowed them. This went back and forth for several minutes. Long story short, the teacher came to solve the issue and decided to take away the crayons. My daughter insisted that the other girl had borrowed them and they were hers. Again, the other girl was questioned and finally owned up that yes, she had indeed borrowed the crayons.

A couple of us talked afterwards with the teacher about this little spat. How easily the entire thing could have been solved if the girl had just admitted that she borrowed the crayons in the first place. Yet, it seemed that being right meant more at the moment. Oh, how I resemble this! Sad to say! How many times has being right meant more to me than backing down on an issue or argument? Too many!

I've decided that I need to strike the word 'but' from my vocabulary. At least when it comes to something I've done wrong. "But she made me mad so I had to say something.” “But he cut me off on the freeway so I had to flip him the bird!”  “But he said,” “but she said,” but, but, NO MORE buts!

Why is it so difficult to just admit a mistake? And why do I want to point out others' mistakes?  I think it boils down to pride. I don't want to be the only one with flaws. Or maybe I want to deflect the attention from mine to the other person's. Either way, it's a way of seeming in the right.

"Don't think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us." Romans 12:3

Until next week, be blessed,

Jenn

The tongue can be a tool or a weapon

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Welcome to Coffee Hour and thanks for stopping by! Oh, how important it is to make the time to take the time to get a bit of encouragement throughout the day. It’s like a mini recess, or a power nap…well, actually, no closing your eyes right nowJ Grab your coffee, and your SOF (strand of faith) and join me as I share from my heart to yours.

We’ve all heard and even been known to say that the tongue can be a tool or a weapon. There are so many scriptures on the subject of speaking…evil versus nice, uplifting versus demeaning, encouraging versus discouraging. It’s almost like I can hear myself saying yada, yada, yada, in other words, yeah, yeah, I know.  But have you ever thought you knew something only to find out you really didn’t know in depth about that something? Oh, my goodness, what a piece of sweet humble pie! And just FYI, the Bible mentions “tongue” as it relates to the words we speak 129 times! I’m thinking we need to understand all we can about it so we can use it the tongue as a tool and not a weapon! Let me share with you what I mean and how I came upon a deeper understanding of this principle.

My husband and I were working in our Battlefield of the Mind Devotional and workbook, Chapter 5 to be exact, and she cited a verse that truly caught my attention and pulled on the strings of my heart: 1^st Peter 3:10 “For he who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.” Oh, if only it were that easy, right?

I pondered that verse and it wouldn’t leave my head! Something was pushing the curiosity button within me: why is it the tongue is mentioned first before the lips? Couldn’t they just say lips because that’s where words come out, right? Well, that may seem like a sort of silly or philosophical question to you, but let me tell you, I chewed on that, and tasted it, no pun intended, for several days. In fact, I added this verse to my stack of verses that I am committing to memory. This scripture has followed me into many difficult conversations I’ve had this past week, and continues to follow me, but somewhere along the trip, I’ve received a revelation, a deeper meaning.

Have you ever been so mad at someone you could spit? Or you could literally taste the anger coursing through you, almost feel it on your tongue? I have! And actually recently! :-( See, emotions, negative or positive, travel up through your heart, which is the seat of your mind, into your mouth, onto your tongue and then out of your lips!

The tongue is where the words are formed…as we taste them! And then I had this thought: It’s almost as if God created the tongue as a stop sign but often we blow right through it and cause an infraction!

Oh, Abba, whenever I taste negative emotions on my tongue, please help me swallow them instead of letting them roll right off my tongue and out through my lips. And thank you for the promise of loving life and seeing good days!

Evinda

Tuesday’s Trench Lesson

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

It’s so good to be in the trenches of life, learning and applying as much as we can as we wend our way toward heaven! Grab your coffee and your Strand of Faith and let’s go talk about some powerful truths of despair!

This was such an interesting and exciting root to write in the curriculum of Transform. There were so many revelations that exploded with truth from years past in my own life. That’s not to say that I don’t ever have moments where I am low on hope, but it’s different for me now, much more so after realizing that even though I was a “Christian” for many years before truly beginning this transformation process, I slipped into the slippery slope of despair for a few reasons. 

What is despair? Well, the Merriam Webster’s Dictionary defines it in this way: “To no longer have hope or belief that a situation will get better.” But here’s where it gets a bit tricky: See, many of our Transformers have a faith system, a belief in God, so they all begin this root declaring they don’t struggle with any of the symptoms within the root…until they go through the information process!

The word “despair” is in the God’s love letters to us only three times; however, the word that is linked with despair is in the Bible hundreds of times and that’s its antonym, hope. One of the Hebrew translations for despair defines it in this way: “To be of no hope.”

I can remember, even though I had accepted God into my heart and had my fire insurance, my entrance ticket to heaven, so to speak, having those dark, desperate times where I had no hope for the situation to get better – i.e., divorce, others’ addictions that ripped me off, death of a loved one, losing my career and what I thought to be my identity. We’ve all had those times where we wondered if He was listening, why we even bothered to pray…because that’s what despair does: despair can lead to blame-shifting.

But then there was that moment in time where I jumped…emotionally and spiritually into the Father’s arms, into His will for my life and I began to grasp this truth: that whom/what I put my hope in determines my stability…and my safe landing!

Those who hope in the Lord shall renew their strength…

Hope to you, my friends

Evinda

Jenn’s Journey

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Good morning! Welcome to Monday, and my blog for Chicklit Power!  Grab something hot to drink and take a few minutes to join me on my journey.

We've all been subjected to the feeling we somehow don't measure up when we look at the posts on social media.  It's easy to envy people's supposedly perfect lives. Recently, I was told that I look like a Christian woman who has it all together because of the things I share on my page. This comment has haunted me for weeks. I am so far from that! Quotes, Bible verses, thoughts and even pictures that you might find on my page, are all shared because I personally needed the inspiration. Perhaps I was struggling that moment and something spoke to my heart.

I've shared a lot recently about my failed marriage and what I've come to understand about abuse. Sharing in this way was to bring awareness to the ugly truth of abuse…while bringing it out in the open proved to be cathartic for me. It's a little harder to share my own bad habits. But here goes...

Today I was sitting on my bed journaling when all of a sudden my cat pounced on me, digging her claws into my leg. My reaction to the instant pain was anger. It took a minute to calm down, and then it hit me. This is the very same reaction I have to emotional pain, to criticism (constructive or otherwise), when things don't go as planned, and it's a defense mechanism. I've only recently been able to realize that what I am underneath that anger is just plain hurt. Yet, somehow it's easier to lash out than to name the feeling and be vulnerable.

This is something I long to change about myself. I know I've hurt people with angry responses, and I've thrown up walls where they don't need to be.  I've felt guilty and convicted when I read verses concerning the 'quiet and gentle spirit' (1 Peter 3:4) The truth is, I might be a Christian woman, but I am one who regularly recognizes my need for Jesus.

It helps to remember that I can be completely vulnerable to God. When He convicts me of something, it is not with condemnation. He will love me through the process of change!  He says so in Jeremiah 31:3: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness." That is what I am thankful for this week!!!

Until next week, be blessed,

Jenn

Paws for Coffee Hour

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Oh, it’s a great day to join us for a lesson to learn in the classroom of life from our four-legged friends…one with spiritual significance. Jennifer is so good at tying it all together, which is really what we’re supposed to do as we learn in this life, to remember we are made of mind, body and soul, physically, emotionally and spiritually! This one is incredibly profound! Please, grab your coffee and join us!

I saw something quite disgusting this week and it reminded me of a verse in proverbs.

“As a dog returns to its own vomit so a fool repeats his foolishness” Proverbs 26:11

Did you know that dogs will actually do that?  I have always wondered why.  Is it because it was a part of them?  Does it remind them of their last meal?  Who knows!  I know it sounds gross, but stay with me here! :-)

As I was cleaning up the mess I thought “I am sure glad humans don’t do this.” But then the Lord reminded me of the second half of the verse.  He nudged me and said, “Yes, they do.”  Let me share with you how:

We do this, not in a literal sense, but with other things:  Emotional things, temptation-type things, old habits that are negative in nature, self-destructive even.

How do we purge ourselves of these things we don’t want in our life, whether it is pain, suffering, hurt inflicted, any of the things we struggle with?

For me, it’s depression.

The weight of the world and my past grabs hold and I feel myself sinking…returning to its foolishness.

I push it off, pray it away and offer it up to the Lord.  I get freedom from it.  Then something happens.  A trigger, a memory or a new pain and I find myself sniffing around for what I had just let go of.

What I have recently grabbed a hold of is that these things in our past, present or future are opportunities for victory or to nose around in our muck.  It may not feel like it but we have a choice to make.  Do I seek victory or vomit? 

To seek victory I dwell on these scriptures:

“For the Lord your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and he will give you victory!”  Deuteronomy 20:4

“You have given me your shield of victory; your help has made me great.” 2 Samuel 22:36

“I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him.” Psalm 62:1

“I thank you for answering my prayer and giving me victory!”  Psalm 118:21

Speak the truth until you feel it…He will give you victory!

Jennifer and Logan