I believe each one of us by this point of the semester will, if not already, hit a wall. On a personal level, this past week was rough. Everything seemed to get dumped on my plate all at once. There are plenty of transitions happening, bucket loads of "drama"... health, sleep, relationships, school, RA life; every aspect of my life I have felt like I have been failing in. On this particular night I was simply desiring some relief from the pain I was in. It had left me overwhelmed and discouraged. I was sitting on my floor, very pathetic like, bawling for no apparent reason, when I just so happened to be reading this. It was such a slap in the face as my heart was questioning just what the Psalmist was. I had been seeking what the Lord would have me bring as the devotion that Tuesday night, and it just so happened that I received all of the above and then some that evening.
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Every one of us will feel the pangs of loneliness at one point or another during the course of our life. Loneliness does not depend on how many relationships you have or who is around you. In fact, over 60% of lonely people are said to be married. [1] The long-lasting consequences of sin cause an immediate and drastic bodily response. Changes in body temperature, compromised immune systems, immediately activated stress responses, and increased blood pressure and cholesterol are among many of the negative ways it can battle with the physical body. In fact, one source went as far to say that loneliness is as dangerous as cigarette smoking due to all the drastic ways in which loneliness impacts our bodies, it presented as great a risk for our long term health and longevity as smoking cigarettes. [2] Even scientists acknowledge that loneliness greatly impacts our physical health.
It's “Valentine’s Day season”, right? One of my favorite times of year. I love the Fourth of July because I am a pyromaniac, I love birthdays because I can focus on appreciating and celebrating each specific person in my life, I enjoy the season of Christmas, but I also love valentines day. Just another opportunity to use as an expression to those who mean so much to me. So if you expected a sappy post, I hope you will not be disappointed. I had two books in front of me last night that I was reading; one was my expression of love to a man, and the other was an expression of love to me. Since my early teen years I have periodically written letters in a book for my “future husband”. Each were written with one specific person and purpose in mind. I had read the testimony a young woman had posted to her blog about her journey to marriage. It was a beautifully written story. Throughout her relationships, though she made some mistakes, she was determined to keep herself for her future husband. In so doing, she started writing letters to him. Once a year, on her birthday, she would write a letter to her future husband and then place it into a box. Year after year, letter after letter, she would write. It kept her mind focused on the best instead of the good or the now. Personally, it has been beneficial in bringing the fantasy back to reality. When you’re forced to write a letter, it causes you to think more realistically and concrete. I was enjoying skimming the poorly written, emotionally-driven chicken scratch pages and reading between the lines into where I was in each point of life. I could read the progression of the relationship I have now, even if it was not specifically mentioned. However, this is not the book I really got in to.
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Lizzy parkerMarriage.
Motherhood. Ministry. Missions. Archives
January 2023
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