Finding Strength in Adversity

Do you ever feel like you are facing one challenge after another? I felt like that this week.

First, I had a family situation to handle and then a job challenge appeared. I was thinking, "What next?" Then God reminded me that my perception was slightly askew. Instead of obsessing on what went wrong, I needed to remember what is going right.

We always have the choice to enter green meadows to rest beside quiet streams or to walk in gloomy darkness. We can proceed with quiet confidence or throw in the towel of despair. God will give us "a supernatural strength, a peace that passes all understanding, joy rising up in our spirit" according to Joel Osteen. If we remember who we are and trust our Creator, things will be arranged in our favor. If we know in our heart that all our needs will be met, we will gain the right perspective and see God's goodness in our lives. Then we can break through any barrier put in our path.

When I was feeling overwhelmed and confused, I remembered that God is my protector and my guide. Not only was I renewed at that time, but my family member seemed to find her way as well. Now I have the faith to believe my job challenge will be resolved and that I will come out of it stronger than ever. That is the kind of God I know and love. Instead of telling God how big my problems are, I tell my problems how big my God is. That fixes everything. May you have a blessed week and gain strength and renewal through any adversity that comes your way.

Light and love,
Patty

Happy Mother's Day!

It's Mother's Day! What an outstanding day!

When I had children, my dreams came true. Now I pray for successful lives for my kids. As I do this, I visualize their freedom, health, peace, abundance, harmony, strength, light, and understanding. I see them under the direction of the wisdom of the Most High God, achieving good and wonderful things and lacking nothing.

I know that God remembers them and guides them into victorious lives. I trust in the infinite goodness of God. I truly believe that any adversity that comes into their lives will be transformed and that the greatest measure of good will come to pass.


What causes this kind of faith? It is my ability to leave everything to God. It is my ability to stop worrying and start experiencing the peace that comes from my connection with God. It comes from the belief that God is good and gives me a richer and fuller life than I could ever imagine. It comes from the belief that this will also come to pass for my own children and for their children as well. I claim God's promise found in Isaiah 49:15-16 for my children when He said, "I will not forget you. I have engraved you in the palm of My hand."

God bless you this Mother's Day! You are either a mother or have had a mother so that makes this a special day for everyone. Happy Mother's Day!

Love and Light,
Patty

Transcending with Trust

Today is my birthday! It's time to contemplate my life so far. I took time to think about the writers who have influenced my way of thinking the most.

I taught English for over twenty years and was always attracted to the transcendentalists, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. In fact, one year I had my juniors read Thoreau's entire book of WALDEN. (Previously, we had just read excerpts). What was really interesting to me was the tolerance in these men for all religions, knowing that one God is the basis for them all. They also had complete respect for nature and the equality of men and women. Both wanted women to vote and slavery to end and stated that immoral laws were void to them.

One of my favorite things about the transcendentalists is their name. I like to think about transcending whatever happens in our lives. The only way for me to transcend circumstances that seem overwhelming is to remember my Spiritual Self and leave everything to God. To realize with certainty that all things really do work together for our good. It's a matter of trust.

Today I'm inspired by people like Pastor Robert Schuller of the Hour of Power who encourages us to turn our scars into stars, and Joel Osteen who says to turn our mess into our message. We can learn so much from men and women of God. They teach us to live our best lives yet.

"Happy are those whose strength is in You" ~ Psalm 84:5. This year I plan to draw on my spiritual strength to transcend any circumstances that would hold me back. I plan to soar like an eagle to new heights and draw nearer to God, trusting in my divine potential to bring me peace, wholeness, freedom, and light to live my best life yet. Care to join me?

Love and Light,
Patty

Love Is on the Way!

Do you need encouragement? Let me give you some. You will be healthy, debt-free, and loved by family and friends.

How can you have all that? You can have it by faith and by speaking victory over your circumstances. Phillipians 1:6 says, "He that began a good thing in you will bring it to completion."

Love is on the way! Light is coming! We need to live with expectancy and enthusiasm. The word enthusiasm come from two Greek words, "en Theos" meaning "God within". When we unite our minds with the wisdom and power of the Spirit, we will accomplish all these things. Christian D. Larson says, "Every situation will be met, and everything taken care of, when we leave it to God.....our highest aspirations will be realized. We will have no fear."

What a wonderful opportunity we have today! "My cup overflows with blessings," according to Psalm 23:5. Over a hundred years ago, F. B. Meyer put it this way:
"Whatever the blessing is in our cup, it is sure to run over. With Him the calf is always the fatted calf; the robe is always the best robe; the joy is unspeakable; the peace passeth understanding...there is no grudging in God's benevolence. He does not measure out His goodness as an apothecary counts his drops and measures his drams, slowly and exactly, drop by drop. God's way is always characterized by multitudinous and overflowing bounty."

Yes, indeed, love is on the way! Are you ready to live your best life yet?

Love and Light,
Patty

All Things Work Together for Good

I have exciting news! My mom had tests taken after her bout with cancer, and she has recovered. Praise God! We had a party for her last weekend before she had her test results back, and she looked great. We were expecting good news, and that's what we received. What a relief!

What Mom went through will make her a stronger person. "All things work together for good," according to Romans 8:28, and I do believe that.

I know it didn't seem like things were working for her good when she went through chemo. She lost her hair, her eyebrows, and had to have surgery. She was uncomfortable, and it seemed that the treatments would never end. She became weak and many times wondered if the treatments weren't worse than the disease.

All of this was a preparation. These challenges helped her to grow. She began to question what was really important in her life and started prioritizing. She didn't spend time in self-pity or defeat. Outside it looked like her body was deteriorating, but her spirit became stronger than ever. She never stopped believing. She gave it her all.

Even though it seemed like she was walking through the valley of death, she didn't get stuck there. It was temporary. It passed. Psalm 84:6 says that passing through the valley of weeping, you will find pools of blessing.

This served as another reminder to expect good things. When something happens, I have choices. I can either say, "This really isn't fair. It makes me furious." Or I can say, "I really don't know why this happened, but I know God is in control so it will not steal my peace and joy." I might as well give God control of everything. He has it anyway, so why resist it?

If we trust in the goodness of God, we know that things will work out for the best. I remember when my daughter had her motorcycle accident. She was staying so strong for everyone else. I wondered if she needed to just let her family and many friends take care of her. For Mom I wondered the same thing. I thought, "Just let us be there for you in your time of need."

As much as I wanted to take the burdens from my loved ones when they were hurting, I couldn't do it, but God had placed in them the strength and faith they needed to get through their adversity and come out stronger than ever.

Thanks for letting me share my story with you. I sincerely hope that you experience your best life ever by knowing that whatever challenges you go through, God will restore you and turn things around for your benefit. He will give you beauty for ashes and joy for mourning. That's what He's done for me. God bless!

Love and Light,
Patty

Bounce Back!

This weekend we enjoyed a party celebrating Mom's recovery from cancer. Her hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes have grown back. Mom has bounced back!

Mom's health and attitude reminded me of something I read today about palm trees. During a hurricane, other trees will be blown over and uprooted, but the palm tree can bend all the way over until its top reaches the ground and still not break. If the storm lasts for hours, they will still bounce right back. Why? It's because they are resilient. Biologists have pointed out that when the palm tree weathers such a storm, their root system is actually strengthened by the stress. This gives them new opportunities for growth.

My Mom is like that. She has come back stronger than ever. She has bounced back. Life almost knocked the wind out of her sails, but she is an overcomer. Life is good! The cancer was not welcome in her body, but she did not let it steal her joy.

She's still standing. It reminds me of the Elton John song, "I'm Still Standing". The lyrics go like this: "Don't you know I'm still standing better than I ever did, looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid. I'm still standing after all this time, picking up the pieces of my life......Once I never could hope to win....I'm still standing, yeah, yeah, yeah....I'm still standing, yeah, yeah, yeah...."

I'm trying to learn something from this for my own life. Like that old cliche', "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade," I want to be able to make something delicious out of something sour. Like the palm tree, I may get battered and beat, but once the wind stops, I'll bounce right back again. I like what I read in Joel Osteen's book when it stated, "I'm too blessed to be stressed." Let's make this our motto. Let's appreciate the little things, as well as the big things.

Light and love,
Patty

The Comeback Kid

Jesus was buried and rose again on the third day according to I Corinthians 15:4. He is the original comeback kid. He literally rose above His circumstances.

At some point, we all face major challenges too. Thankfully, they will not be as drastic as what our Lord faced, but nonetheless, we have all faced or will face stuff: a layoff at work, a broken relationship, sickness, or the injury or death of a loved one. What keeps us from falling into despair when something like that happens? For me, it is my faith. It is my expectation that I will be able to rise above whatever happens.

Joel Osteen says, "When you plant a seed in the ground, you don't say, 'I'm burying this seed.' You say, 'I'm planting this seed.' The difference is that when you plant a seed, you expect it to rise again and come back to life. The time for planting comes when challenges arise....When you go through disappointments and you're in tough times, you may feel like you've been buried, but the fact is, you've simply been planted. That means you're coming back...better, increased, stronger."

When you plant a seed in the ground, if it had feelings, it would probably be dark, lonely, and uncomfortable under the soil, but guess what? It doesn't stay under there forever. It is planted and soon it will burst through the soil into the light. It rises out of the dark and becomes a beautiful plant.

We too can become more beautiful than ever before when we face adversity. No matter what we come against in life, we need to remember that we are not buried, but we are planted. The same Power that raised Jesus from the dead can raise us too. Our best life yet is coming. We won't live defeated. It's time to make a comeback.

Two thousand years later we are still in awe of Jesus, who was a man with skin like we have. We still look to His example to help us live our best lives yet. Nothing could keep Him down. Now we know that nothing can keep us down either. We don't have to tell Him about our problems. Instead we can tell our problems about Him.

This is a time of year we always celebrate resurrection. The same power that raised Christ from the dead is available to us. We have eternal life. We don't have to wait until we die to enjoy it. Are you letting your life raise you up? Do you have comeback power to overcome any challenge set in your way?

Let's join the original Comeback Kid this Easter and let God's blessings bloom in our lives. Happy Easter!

Light and love,
Patty