Maybe it is the fact that I've been "on the road" so much this fall, or that I've been praying with dozens of college students in the past month, or that my coaching clients have increased lately, but this week, I feel it would be a great benefit to even the most healthy person to tackle the questions in Chapter 2 on pages 44-47.
Everyone who wants to change their lives seems to resist (1) getting involved in a support group, or (2) seeing a counselor, ex: for marriage improvement, or (3) to journal daily.
This week I would like to challenge each of us to identify the pain in our past through this exercise, with the intention of finding ourselves less embarrassed or secretive or ashamed about it. Moving forward is, in part, letting God heal us AND use our stories to help and heal others. (II Corinthians 5:17-20).
Please stay committed to our blogspot assignments, as well as your daily Bible reading!
Be encouraged,
Becky
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6 comments:
What is the greatest pain in my life right now? Wow, I have had so much physical pain, emotional pain that identifying the greatest is difficult. Can anyone relate? I am in physical pain everyday and I have eaten in response to the pain so I struggle with emotional eating. I have given up sugar and white flour and most wheat products. My head is clearer. I am using my journey to help others. The specific moment I knew I had to change was in December 2004, at 245 pounds. I remember feeling so disgusted that I withdrew from my husband. So I began this journey knowing I have a God who wants me thinner. So I lost down to 160 by February 2008 only to regain 38 pounds by July 2008. Now I am losing again with the help of a support group, a sponsor, and an accountability partner and group. The ways I block my pain now is I say this is nothing to eat over and I plan what I eat and eat what I plan. I have worked through the blame game and I accept the responsibility of my physical pain that I have due to arthritis. I need to work through the pain of struggling at work. Ways I attempt to numb the pain are that I still want to escape reality and I still procrastinate. I will continue to eat less and move more. I am often trying to numb the pain at work. So I will not eat over my response to work. I have to take one day at a time, and one meal at a time sometimes one bite at a time. Thanks for listening. Blessings. Diana
Diana,
Thank you for being transparent and honest with us. You are a great encouragement me to me and others--not being fearful, even when you're hurting.
Love,
Becky
Diana,
Thank you for being transparent and honest with us. You are a great encouragement me to me and others--not being fearful, even when you're hurting.
Love,
Becky
The pain I am dealing with is feeling like I am not spending time doing the things I am gifted by God to do.
I currently have an elderly Mom, suffering depression for the second time in three years. Fortunately, we spotted the signs and got her help, but she will not be herself through Thanksgiving at least. So I have to do a lot of things for her I dont normally do.
Then my husband has just been diagnosed with a degenerative disc disease. He isnt near retirement age, but he can no longer do the physical part of his trade. He is depressed too. I am constantly organizing and scheduling for both of them. I know my ministry is to be a good wife and daughter, but right now it is very taxing on me. And I dont even have a way to numb it, I just deal with it (and get tired). I'm also dealing with my own chronic illnesses and our small businesses. When I get alone time, it is only very late at night.
I'm journaling, praying about this and fitting in exercise better than I was, but things on my to-do list keep getting bumped, both the fun things and the housekeeping things. And my Spiritual gifts seem to be largely unused. It's frustrating to be getting older, to have a very good grasp on what my gifts and dreams are, and to feel like they never get tended to.
PS Diana, I have fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis, so I know what that taxing physical pain can do.
I can tell God is using you and your circumstances to bless other people. I belong to a local fibro support group and numerous diabetes groups, and I think we can be a huge witness in those places.
God bless you!
This week with "Harness Your Pain" was very eyeopening for me. Being a Perfect Melancholy I am usually fairly introspective, but I commented to my husband after reading half the chapter that I didn't seem to be able to identify a defining event or subject of pain. Yet I knew that there had to be something that drives my escape into busyness and soothing of stress with food. It was during my quiet time a day or so later that I realized that I really do have a pain I deal with having grown up with a mom that was emotionally wrapped up in herself and absent as a mother for me. I know I still have a lot more to process on this, but I have started to face it by discussing it with a Christian counselor. It is the start of a journey out of the forest and into the meadow I feel.
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