grief..."good grief"

Grief really is a process. A process of life....of love. It's just part of moving through this journey. I think we have to acknowledge it. examine it. feel it. and ultimately be at peace with it. Then maybe we can call it "good grief". Grief will challenge your faith like nothing else. It will cause you to dwell on the truth of eternity. Is Heaven real? Will I really see them again? Questions become hope and hope brings joy. As your beliefs become your rock solid truth, it will realign your priorities and that's a good thing. It will also make your eyes swell in a particularly grotesque way ...that's a bad thing! (Thank God it's temporary) FYI : Cold washcloth to the eyes and try to fall asleep elevating your head on an extra pillow. Morning will come!

Enough

Where do I stand on this subject? What are my beliefs regarding this subject? Gastric bypass. Surgery to fix the problem of being overweight. There's a part of me that really wants this to be the answer. I would do this surgery myself if I believed it to be the answer. That would mean that the problem was strictly about weight. I believe the problem to be more complex that that. Last night I fell asleep asking God what to think about this. Sometime around 2 am I woke to this; Surgically imposed discipline ......or.......spiritually empowered discipline. I have to believe this was from the Lord 'cause I can't put words together in the middle of the night
Surgically imposed discipline. That's really what the surgery does. It makes it impossible to overeat. Weight loss will follow. is this success? I guess it is if this is the only goal. I know I personally want more. I want to feel the thrill of walking in obedience. I really want to know that God is what makes it happen. I really want to know that even without surgery God will help me lose this weight.
What would I say to an alcoholic? Sorry....there isn't a surgical solution for you. There isn't anything to do. Please Lord you have to be enough.

I have to admit a certain amount of frustration and panic of my own right now. I see my two best friends considering this and hear them say that nothing else works. The desperation is palpable and completely understand it. Oh, how I wish I didn't. I do. I feel it frequently. I look for encouragement and find discouragement. I look for hope and find despair. I look for direction and find confusion.

I'm looking to you Lord. I'm going to keep asking and hoping you hear me.

Embrace the difference

There's so much freedom in realizing that we are each uniquely designed by God. In seeing this as truth , it would be absurd to think that our journeys in search of God's fullness and truth would all be the same. I have a personality that likes quiet and peace. I have to have it to hear, to learn, to pray, to enjoy God. Even knowing this , I've felt "less spiritual" than others who think we should all dance during worship. Why is that? I think it's my need to conform and be led by man instead of believing that the spirit within me would know best how to communicate my love for the Lord. I want to embrace how God put me together and the passions that I believe were within me from the moment of my creation. I want to embrace this part of me and then "let go" of any inhibitions and pre-conceived ideas about how to know God.
This is an exciting phase of life for me. I feel that in many ways I have a new freedom to explore God and my place in this world. I feel a new peace about who I am and being OK with it. Really, better than OK. I'm beginning to feel good about it and sensing GREAT is now far out of my reach. So, in case someone else reads this , I'll sum it up better;
YOU are UNIQUE
Quit comparing your situation to others: God has brought you to THIS place and spend the time and energy to discover what is wonderful about it and what you can learn from THIS PLACE.
Don't expect others to understand or agree with everything you do or believe. Don't discount your beliefs because of this.
Embrace and be OK with others. You don't have be be on the same page all the time.
If you'll ALWAYS seek God and truth....you'll find you way through the maze or marriage and parenting.