What does Thanksgiving mean to you?

With Thanksgiving just days away, the time of preparation is certainly on most peoples minds. This year will be different, as my husband and I have decided to cancel the traditional Thanksgiving and celebrate in a different way.

For years, I have loved Thanksgiving. I enjoy the grocery shopping days, planning the menu and creating a list. My home has always been welcome to invite family and friends to celebrate with me. I long in my mind that life could be like the Norman Rockwell photograph of a family gathered together around a table, giving thanks---not just on Thanksgiving, but everyday.

My husband and I, recently married--not our first, I might add. With remarriage comes the dilemna of how to get the family together. We could dwell on the sadness that comes in knowing that my son is once again incarcerated. Or on the fact that perhaps Thanksgiving conjures up painful images in my stepsons heart of the last time his mom and dad were together under the same roof. Or just on the mere fact that families today are spread apart across this big nation and everyone's lives are busy.

So, what do you do with that? For me, Thanksgiving is just one day out of the year. It truly could be celebrated any Thursday, or Sunday or any other day of the week or year. More than that, Thanksgiving, I beleive should be an attitude that flows from within our own hearts. So, instead of dwelling on what is not right and on what we wish were different for our new families, we have chosen to be thankful for what is right and direct our efforts elsewhere. We will look for opportunities to be a blessing that day. We are blessed in this day where there is so much economic uncertainty, and we know it. If we can be just a tiny touch of hope to someone on this one day, we can truly give thanks that God has blessed our lives and hearts and is working through us to help someone else.

We will always hope that someday, our entire extended family can join together in a peaceful celebration. But, until that time, we will plant a little goodness in someone elses life.

Be Blessed this Holiday Season!

Are you living the abundant life?

Do you know your value?....your worth? I would venture to say that most people I know do not.

For years, I did not value myself and had very low self-esteem. On the outside, I suppose it appeared that I had decent self-esteem, but inside I often crumbled. I wish I could say that when I became a Christian that this all changed.



It wasnt until just a few years ago and even more recently that I really understood how valuable I am. The only way I got to this place was by reading God's word and understanding that my worth and value was not based on what anyone else thought of me, or even what I thought of myself, but rather upon what Gods word said. God apparently loved me so much that He sent Jesus to die a cruel death on a cross. God allowed this for me and for you and for anyone who chooses to beleive. He would've done it if we were the only ones on the face of this earth.



When we know our worth, our value--we think and act differently. Our choices will be completely different. We will not act out of fear-based emotions, but will choose to be in faith about God's love for us and we will walk in a place of peace. When we know our worth, we are not afaid to give or to receive. We beleive that we deserve good in our life and we are not afraid to share that good and give to others. We know that there is enough of God's amazing love to go around.

There seems to be an epidemic of those who do not know their God given worth and value these days--probably due in large part because God was taken out of school some 40 years ago. People look to fill that whole in their lives with alcohol, drugs, education, obsessed with their looks, financial status, sex, even good works.

Jesus said in John 10:10 that "the theif (satan) comes to steal, kill and destroy, but I (Jesus) have come that you would have the abundant life." An abundant life! Doesn't that sound great. Satan definitely stole alot from me by lying to me about my worth and value, for years-even as a Christian. It was only after I got in agreement with God's word as to who HE says that I am, that I began to see a difference in my life. Are you living the abundant life? Ask yourself that question and if the answer is "no", I pray you would ask God to reveal His abundant nature to you, so that you may walk in the fullness of who He created you to be.

"I will heal their backsliding"

I was wondering what I would write about today. My emphasis for this blog is all about God's ability to heal. I opened up my bible randomly and saw these words found in Hosea 14:4 "I will heal them of their backsliding, I will love them freely; for my anger is turned away from him".

As soon as I read those words, I thought about my son. For that matter, I also thought about so many young people today that are living in a rebellious phase of their life.

One day, not too long ago, I was crying on my couch and talking to God. I shared my heart with Him telling Him that my heart grieved at the latest mess my son found himself in and how he would have to "suffer the consequences of his actions". Instead of a rebuke or condemnation from God (which is not His heart), I felt Him saying that "He understood."

God watched His children, the Israelites make choices repeatedly that went against His wisdom. He tried to share with them and required only one thing-their obedience. If they chose to follow Him, they would be spared from so much heartache and in turn would live a life of many blessings. Because they chose willful rebellion, they often suffered. All God could do was sit back and wait to see if there was a heart change.

I tried in vain, for years to "change my son's direction". Did you know that the word repent actually means to change directions? No matter what I shared with him, he needed to learn for himself. I invited constant heartache into my own life at these vain attempts and seeing him make poor choices all over again inviting more suffering.

This verse gives me a tremendous peace. God tells us here that "He" and He alone will be the one to heal them of their backsliding. It will be through God's amazing love and the revelation of that love that they will choose to repent. My son, although incarcerated once again, is in God's hands. God has a custom designed plan to work on the hardened areas of his heart and heal him that he too will be turned around.

I share this scripture with you, if you have a "prodigal child", that you may rest in the knowledge that God is at work. Give your child fully to Him and praise God that He loves your child more than any earthly parent ever could.

Your Faith has Healed You!

I mention in my sidebar that I was afflicted with a condition for 30 years. The name given to this condition is Trichotillomania. If you are not familiar with this term, it is a french word meaning "compulsion to pull ones hair out".

Now, society often uses the phrase "He made me so angry, I wanted to pull my hair out!" loosely, but this condition is real! For some, it afflicts them so severely, they literally have no hair and must wear a wig. Fortunately, for me, it only affected me to the degree of pulling out my eyelashes and eyebrows.

I still remember the first day I did this. I sat at my school room desk in Mrs. Deckers's fifth grade classroom. Talk about compulsion; I didn't know why I suddenly wanted to pull out every eyelash, but I did. I was powerless to stop. As a 10 year old, I instinctively knew my behavior was wrong and tried to hide it. Before I knew it, I had a whole pile of eyelashes hidden under the palm of my hand. Then, I had to go home and face my parents. What would I tell them? I snuck into my mothers makeup and found some dark eyebrow pencil to hide the damage I had done. This worked well for a few days. Eventually, they knew something was wrong.

Off they whisked me to a Psychiatrist, who in his "professional opinion" prescribed to my parents that I needed to sit in my room for one hour after school each day and THINK ABOUT WHY I WAS DOING THIS? So, my mother imprisoned me each day for the prescribed hour, only to hear my disappointing answer each day........."I DON"T KNOW!"

I came to know the Lord as my Saviour in 1996. He worked on me through His word to bring about much needed emotional healing in my life for many years. One day, I was reading Mark 5:34 and was stunned when I read the words: "Daughter, thy faith hath thee whole."

For years, I had been praying to be delivered of this affliction. I tried natural supplements, behavioral therapy, counseling, self-help books. Everything was a temporary help, but nothing seemed to last or produce total healing. So, it was the Daughters faith that made her whole. I began to look at that with regard to my own life in relationship with MY faith. I understood then that this was not just a story written 2000 years ago, but it was a LIVING WORD, activated by MY OWN FAITH--relevant for today and my healing.

I share this with you to give you a hope that God's word is true and healing is for Today! It seems so simple, but in order for it to take root in effectiveness in our lives, it requires one thing--OUR FAITH!

The Curse of Perfectionism

This is my first ever attempt at posting a blog. So, here goes. I asked the Lord what He wanted me to write about and I felt Him saying "Perfectionism".

As of this writing, I am 44 yrs old. Perfectionism, has influenced my life for most of these 44 yrs. I don't pretend to know when it started or even how it started. My mother and father were quite controlling and there was much turmoil in my home. As a young girl, I became a "people pleaser" in my own attempts to control, whatever I could, in order to have some peace in the home.

Another way perfectionism reared its ugly head in my life was through my attempts to "fix others" (thus resulting in my failed attempts to fix my first husband-who struggled with alcoholism AND also attempting to fix my son with his struggles with substance abuse). I found fault with myself and those around me. I did not love myself, had little acceptance for anything that is flawed or "imperfect". Little wonder that I could even survive this world, since we are ALL FLAWED and IMPERFECT!

Over time, I learned that "Perfectionism" which is linked to self-hatred and contol was and is a generational curse, passed down from my Mother's side of the family. Up until just a few years ago, I had never even heard of the words generational curse and certainly could not perceive that such a thing existed in my own family. What I did know was that my mother committed suicide when I was just 16. I never met my maternal Grandfather, but learned from my Dad that he also committed suicide.

When my mother died, I remember saying that I would never take my own life. I was angry at her for alot of reasons-one of which is because I judged her as having wasted her life. Vowing not to take one's life, does not guarantee that you will live it joyfully.

You see, while I was still physically alive, I was spiritually dead. You could liken my life to that of a tree that is still standing, but its very core or roots are dying and therefore the tree produces virtually nothing. I lived and breathed, existed you might say--but with all honesty I did not earnestly wish to be alive.

I invited the Lord Jesus into my heart in 1996. It would take many more years and healing through the written Word of God and the Grace-filled fellowship found through the Body of Christ, to transform my life.

I will stop for now with this writing. I think this is a topic that needs to be shared especially with our young people today, who struggle with acceptance as they attempt to fit in and compare themselves to the latest Hollywood celebrity. I hope to add on to this topic and perhaps invite comments from those who read my blog.

May you be richly blessed and prosper in every way in your lives,

Coleen

The Stream Flowing from the Temple

Ezekiel 47 tells the story of a man showing the prophet Ezekiel a stream of water that ran through the temple. At first, the stream came up to Ezekiel's ankles. Then as they walked further, the water came up to his knees. As they continued their journey, the water came up to his waist and finally, it was so deep it could only be crossed by swimming.



Not only did this water get deeper and deeper, but it produced life, wherever it went. This body of water emptied into the Dead Sea. I imagine it might have been called the "Dead Sea" because it was Dead and nothing could live there. The temple water was able to transform this dead, salt water into fresh, living waters, where all kinds of animals and fish could live. The water would also allow fruit trees to grow along the banks and according to the scripture verse 12 "The leaves will never dry out, because they will always have water from the stream that flows from the temple and they will be used for healing people."



I am sure an entire book could be written on the actual medicinal benefits from this water and the leaves produced on the fruit trees. The correlation I wish to make is to the temple and our bodies, the fruit produced and the fruits of the spirit and the water getting deeper and deeper--just like our walk with the Lord should be.