Be Like Jesus

    It's a thought I have been wrestling with for a few months. Over the last few months, when someone hurt me or acted unkind, whether they intended to hurt me or not, I would think, "I don't want to be like them." Then Holy Spirit corrected me and said, "Be Like me." To which I responded, "Okay." So I worked on focusing on Jesus and less on other mistakes and how those mistakes can hurt others. A week or so later another person did something silly that also irritated me and again I thought about how I don't want to be like them. Again, Holy Spirit reminded me to be like Jesus instead. Be like Jesus because Jesus is God in human form, and therefore a human example of what God The Father desires from His people.

    In my Bible reading plan, I am currently reading through the Gospels and Jesus's earthly ministry. I have also been watching "The Chosen." Watching this series has been a beautiful visual of the Gospel, and I feel it adding to and strengthening my relationship with The Father.

    All this to say that it got me thinking about what passages in the Bible speak of Jesus's character and write them down for myself and share them with you. The first one that most will think of is Galatians 5:22-23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things, there is no law." When we have an active relationship with God and are actively growing in our faith, these are the signs that the world around us will see and know that God is real and loves us.

    Philippians 4:8-9, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or soon in me - put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you." We are to spend our time, energy and thoughts on things of God and not of the world. Now, neither of these passages are describing Jesus. But like I said a minute ago, they describe what we as believers ought to focus on and demonstrate to the people around us.

    "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him." 1 John 4:7-9.

    "When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. Where have you laid him? he asked. "Come and see, Lord," they replied. Jesus wept. John 11:32-35. You can read for yourself the rest of the story of how Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave.

    When Holy Spirit first told me to write this entry/post about the characteristics that Jesus demonstrated. He told me that the first one was compassion. Which is demonstrated in John 11:32-35. When I googled the definition of compassion, it says, "Sympathetic, pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others." I think Holy Spirit is trying to send me a message. 😉 Haven't been as compassionate with hubby as of late. Today, though He gave me a few chances to show him compassion and for that I am grateful.

    What messages is He trying to send you today friend? And are you willing to listen and obey?

    I pray this post finds you well rested and ready for the next week and blesses you in whatever ways you need today.

God Bless

~Hannah

Following Jesus down the path of life.

Thankful This Thanksgiving

 

1. Jesus died and rose from the grave and saved me from my sins. The older I get and the more I get into God's Word and strengthen my relationship with Him, the more thankful I am that He died on the cross for me and that death could not contain Him, and he rose from the grave. It also makes me realize that if He can do that for me, then I can do the hard things in my life that I don't want to do and do them to serve Him.
2. The Holy Spirit. My connection to God The Father until I get to heaven. I am so thankful that I do not have to go to the temple/church and talk to a priest like they did in biblical times and talk to God whenever and wherever I want.
3. My husband. The leader of my home. My favourite pair of arms to hug. He found a new therapist about six months ago, and it has been a joy and a blessing to watch God change him personally and enjoy the fruits of that overflow into our marriage. He is my favourite gift and the biggest earthly blessing from God.
4. Blessing. Our four-legged furry child. My photo adventure buddy and favourite running companion. My sweet girl.
5. My job. I am grateful that I have a job to go to every day that helps me pay the bills.
6. My health. I'm thankful that I am an able-bodied person with overall good health.
7. Good friends. God has blessed me with friends over the years and a few precious ones that have walked me through difficult seasons. 
8. My camera. I have wanted a DSLR my whole life. Hubby and I bought one a few years ago. I love developing my skills and learning new things about photography every time I take it out. I found a beloved hobby in my camera and some self-confidence.
9. My sewing machine. My mother gifted my sister and I with sewing machines years ago. I have had a love/hate relationship with mine for years and did not touch it. I recently decided to start working through that relationship to figure out what has caused me frustration all these years. God has used my sewing machine to teach me to deal with my frustration in a more healthy way, and as a result, I now enjoy sewing and am excited about all the projects I have on my mind.
10. Podcasts. I was introduced to them several years ago but didn't get into them. Finally, in the last year, I started listening more frequently and have since broadened my list of shows and topics I enjoy. I find they pair beautifully with my mundane sanding job. I enjoy a handful of ministry podcasts that bring the Word of God and a few personal interest podcasts. I get to learn more about God and other fun topics, all while sanding car parts.
11. The colour pink. My happy colour. I love wearing it and feeling pretty and girly in it. It has a calming effect that I enjoy. 
12. ASL Bloom app. After a conversation with my husband about bucket list items last week, it inspired me to make my bucket list items a reality. Learning Sign Language is the next on my list. It is a language I have loved since I was a kid and have on and off worked on my vocabulary. After our discussion, I decided it was time to stop making excuses and start learning this beautiful language. So I went to Google and found "the best" app to help me. It is well-designed and encourages you while you learn the language.
13. Our home. I am thankful that I have a place to come home to every day that is clean, warm and safe. I know not everyone has that blessing, so I am very thankful that we have it. 
14. Our car. It needs a little work, but she faithfully takes us everywhere we need to go.
15. Technology and Social Media. I'm thankful that I can send a text to my parents and other loved ones, and in a matter of a minute, they will receive the message and can instantly respond. Social Media and other such technology do have their downfalls for sure, but when used properly, they are helpful.

    The list could go on, but I don't feel like doing that. Besides, I don't believe the act of stopping your day and writing down a list of things you are thankful for is about the length of the list. It's about being thankful for all the blessings God has given you. Happy Thanksgiving friend.

    I pray this post blesses you in whatever way you need today.

    God Bless

    ~Hannah

Beautiful Clouds

Saturdays Are No Longer Scary.

    For seven years, I have hated Saturdays. I wanted to enjoy them, but I didn't. So much so. That I would dread Saturday arriving. Thursday was my "favourite" day of the week for most of these years because it meant that the weekend "aka" rest was on its way but hadn't arrived yet. 

    At first, it was because my husband had hobbies that he enjoyed on Saturdays, and I didn't. Leading me to feel jealous that he had something and I didn't. Of course, I didn't have the language to understand or express my feelings for years. He understood and tried to encourage me, but it never worked. This struggle lasted several years. You can imagine what it did to our marriage as well.

    Fast forward a few years. Now, I have hobbies that I enjoy. I'm not passionate about them yet. One of my struggles at this point is that Saturdays have no routine or schedule. Both of which I love and thrive on. Monday - Friday, I had and still have the same routine. Get up, do housework and get ready for work. After work, I make dinner and walk Blessing. But, no matter how hard I tried, nothing worked. It could be 6 a.m., I've been up for less than an hour, and something has gone "wrong," and now my whole day has been ruined, and I feel depressed. My other struggle during this season is that my self-worth comes from working and earning a paycheque, so if I'm not at work earning a paycheque then I have little to no value. I want to believe I have worth outside of work and simply "doing," but I don't. This season also lasted a few years.

    Finally, fast forward to somewhere in August 2023, when everything changed. I'm not sure of the exact date, but that doesn't matter. Hubby and I went out for the evening with family. Because of my self-worth issues, I said a few stupid things that hubby wasn't happy about, of which he was correct. I decided that night that it was time to start pressing in and asking God to fix my broken heart, and He did. He showed me my God-given value and has been helping me to allow His goodness to flow out of me instead of the muck that used to flow out of me. I've now had almost a month of good Saturdays. Now, I enjoy most of my hobbies every Saturday, including my newest addition, sewing. More on that later. It's been amazing watching God do a miracle in and through me. I believe one of the reasons why they always went "wrong" was because Monday through Friday, my morning routine starts very early and is very strict and rigid. I wanted Saturday to be the same, but struggled to get out of bed at three or four a.m. when I had nowhere to be, even though I wanted to get up that early. But Saturdays have a more relaxed "vibe" than Monday through Friday, and struggled with the different emotions involved in these days. Also, words and language that I struggled with/ didn't have and therefore couldn't connect the dots in my head and heart. It's funny how once we have the words/language to communicate how we are feeling, we can process them and act accordingly.

    I know that a lot of my issues including my ability to enjoy Saturdays, stemmed from my lack of self-worth and not accepting my values as a child of Christ. But I had no idea how much my life would improve once I started living out my true identity and not worrying about what the world thinks or feels about me.

    I wish I could explain exactly what happened, but I cannot. Looking back on these last few months and all the work God and I have been doing to heal my broken, self-conscious heart, I suspect that enjoying my Saturdays was simply going to be one of the many benefits and blessings of accepting my true identity in Christ. Makes me wish I had worked on these issues years ago. I also know that God knew when I would turn to Him for healing in this area and that I would struggle for years with not believing that I was worth anything more than simply a paycheck.

    It reminds me of the scene in Shrek where Shrek is comparing himself to an onion to Donkey and how Ogres have layers like onions. Similarly, as God heals one aspect of my self-worth another layer is revealed to be healed and blessed by God.

    When I started down the path of healing with God, my main intention was to stop disliking myself, okay, fine, stop hating myself. Yes, hate is a strong word, but that's how I felt about myself. My hatred of myself caused me to project all my negative emotions on those around me, and I was getting tired of it.

    But God has healed me, and I no longer project, or at least way less than before, and I now get to enjoy my Saturdays.

     All I know for sure is that God is good and faithful.

    The moral of the story friend, is that we need to accept and believe in our identity in Christ because everything stems from it. So much of how we interact with the world around us depends on how we feel about ourselves. If we choose to believe what the world says, our worth will go up and down with the trends. But if we believe what God says, our identity will never change because God doesn't change.

    Praise God that in a constantly changing world, God never changes. With so much inconsistency in the world, it brings me peace when I remember that God doesn't change

    I pray this post finds you well and blesses you in whatever way you need it to tonight friend.

God Bless

~Hannah

Practicing Self- Portrait Skills

Fighting My Battles in Prayer

    The other day, someone said something to me that was both hurtful and offensive. I told hubby about it before bed, and after he listened and empathized about it, he reminded me to fight my battles in prayer and to give the offence to God. I agreed that he was right, and then we headed to bed. The next morning I woke up still upset about the offense. I decided to follow my hubby's loving instructions and prayed about it. I told God that I wanted Him to take care of it and that I knew it was His battle in the end anyway. I also know that He has already won the battle, and all I have to do is walk in freedom. I "picked" it back up a few times during that prayer time but managed to leave it at the foot of the Cross in the end.

    As I went about my day, I was amazed by how much peace I had over the situation and life itself. Later that day I found myself wanting to vent to my coworkers about the situation but then reminded myself that I gave it to God and therefore didn't need to tell anyone else about it. That too gave me such peace in my spirit.

    I have "known" about this principle for years but have never practiced it. Until now. I came home that day and told hubby all about it and about how much peace I had found in taking my battles to God. He agreed that it's amazing what God will do for you and to you when you give your battles to Him and let Him take control of the situation. Easier said than done of course, but so worth it.

    I didn't realize it while I was praying that morning, but when I was thinking about it throughout the day I realized that by giving it to God and leaving it at the foot of the Cross you are giving up control of the situation and giving up your emotions over it and desire to do anything about it. It's as if you no longer care about it, which was very freeing. When I gave it to God, it felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders and it allowed me to simply worship God and enjoy my day. I was no longer a prisoner of my thoughts and feelings. Again, so freeing and peaceful.

    It's such a blessing to have a man of God for a husband who leads me back to Jesus when I drift off course a little. God often teaches my hubby something new right before teaching the same thing to me, allowing me to look up to and lean on my hubby all the more. The way God intended. 

    Someone once said, " Talk to God before talking to others." Meaning, vent to God before venting to friends and family. We often vent to friends and then pray when we are either in trouble or simply praising God, but I think we miss the mark when it comes to simply venting to God about our daily frustrations and offences. We forget that not only is He our Heavenly Father, but also our friend who wants us to talk to Him like a friend at times. So I'm here to encourage myself and you too, friend, to vent to God first and others second.

    Most importantly, though, I want to encourage you to give up your battles to the Lord and experience the same freedom and healing that I did. There is no need to be held down by the bondage that the world offers when you can enjoy freedom in Christ instead. Of course, not every offence and battle will be as "easy" to give up as that first one was, but they are all equally important to give to God.

As always, I pray this post finds you well and blesses you in whatever way you need today.

God Bless

~Hannah

Choosing To Believe God's Word

    For most of my life, or at least as long as I can remember, I have struggled with my self-worth and physical looks. I have gone through seasons where I do a little better and believe a little more that I am beautiful and worth it. Whatever "it" is.  Overall, it has been a losing battle for many years.

    I have been a hard worker for as long as I can remember. The problem is that I believe I am a hard worker. In my opinion, it is a fact about me. Like my height. I'm 5ft 4in, a simple truth that thoughts and opinions cannot change. I don't believe I am beautiful or worth it. I have read Scripture telling me what God says about me, but it never really sticks. The reason I use hard work as a comparison to my worth and beauty is that between my character and the Word of God, both of these things are facts. Neither of them are opinions or ideas that can be disputed.

    Near the end of August, I started a Bible reading plan about my identity in Christ. I have also read or at least started many reading plans on my worth and beauty, but again, nothing ever sticks. After spending so many years not liking myself and hurting those around me, I'm tired. Looking back, I'm not sure what pushed me to start this plan. But I did. Didn't finish it mind you. Anyways, the first verse in the first day's reading was Psalm 139:14, "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful. I know that full well." A verse  I have known my whole life. I have also always struggled with the word "fearfully." But have never done anything about it. This time, I decided to change that and looked up this verse in other translations to see if anything else sounded better to my ears. Sure enough, The Message version uses the word "marvelously" made. I liked that better. So I sat on that for a few days.

    Then one day at work I was thinking through all these things. I texted hubby and asked him if he thought I was choosing not to believe what God says about my worth and looks. He said yes. That I was choosing to not believe God's Word. Kinda heart to hear, but I needed it. He is such a blessing, and I don't know what I would do without him. So I decided to pray about it. I wasn't in the privacy of the sanding booth though. I was out on the floor in the buffing department. In full view of most of my coworkers. I didn't want to pray because they could see me, but I reminded myself that I was praying in my heart and no one could read my mind. The enemy was trying to discourage me from talking to God because I'm not afraid or embarrassed to be public about my faith. So I started praying. I asked God to forgive me for choosing not to believe Him and take Him at His Word about my worth and looks. Holy Spirit then said to me that by not believing what God says in His Word, it is as if I am spitting on the cross and what Jesus did for me. That hit hard. Right between my eyes. I never have nor ever will intentionally spit on the work of the cross and what Jesus did for me. Jesus's death and resurrection are the basis of our Christian faith. Without it, our faith is null and void.

    So I'm working on choosing to believe in what God says and believe that I have worth as a person created in the image of God and that He created me beautifully. Genesis 1:27 NIV, "So God created mankind in his image, in the image of God he created them." I have believed in God since childhood, but I don't always take him at His word.

    I'm working on choosing my words better when speaking to others and myself. I spent years putting others down in the hopes of elevating myself. To no avail of course. God has also been using a dear friend of mine to remind me of my worth and it's been breaking my heart in the best way.

    It's been a slow and at times painful journey, but I'm slowly telling Satan where he can go and that I no longer believe what he says about me. I am choosing to believe what God says. Because I do believe what God says. I believe that every word of the Bible is true, I just don't always believe it for myself. But I'm working on that, one day at a time. And you can too friend. Whatever lies the enemy is trying to tell you, God's Word has an answer for you, and His Word is true.

    A friend once said to me, "It must be nice to be a size 6 with an hourglass figure". I said, "Just because I am smaller and have a nice figure, does not mean I have self-confidence." She being a bigger girl, was shocked. Guess she figured us smaller girls have it easier. The point is that something or someone might look good to you on the outside, does not mean that they don't have self-confidence issues.

I pray this post finds you well this rainy Sunday evening and blesses you in whatever season of life you are in.

God Bless

~Hannah

God's beautiful creation on a beautiful day that He created.

Don't Look Back Longingly

    On Thursday this past week, I started my work day like most days, in the sanding booth. I put my earbuds in and turned on some music to get the day started. I wasn't sure what podcast to listen to, so I figured I would start with music.

    A few minutes later, Holy Spirit told me to listen to the Proverbs 31 Ministries podcast. I said, "Okay, I'll just finish these parts I'm on, and after I put them away, I will turn on that podcast." A few minutes later, I put on the next episode of this podcast. The title is "Moving Toward God's Purpose for Your Life." with guest Christine Caine. I didn't give much attention to the title, just started listening.

    The teaching was about Lot's wife and how Jesus wants us to remember her. We are to remember her for her actions and turn away from them. Genesis 19 tells us of how God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, and verse 26 is where Lot's wife turns back to see her home destroyed and, in so doing, turns into a pillar of salt.

    Christine Caine said several things that were too good not to write down and share with you. First one was that, "Lot's wife was torn between what she was leaving and where she was going." Which, of course, is why she looked back. She, like many of us today, does not want to leave our homes, friends, and communities. We don't want to leave our comfort zones. Even if we know God is doing it to save us from destruction. Now, no one has turned into a pillar of salt since then as far as I know, but I'm sure God has disciplined others for the same reasons in other ways. We shouldn't criticize or make fun of her though, because if we are honest with ourselves, we would probably do the same thing.

    Lot's wife was attached to the past. Her attachment to the past outweighed her confidence in what God had for her in the upcoming future. "She wanted what she had more than what God had for her." Christine Caine. She didn't trust God, and ultimately it ruined her life.

    Listening to this episode, I thought about all the times hubby and I have moved towns, apartments and jobs. Through all these moves and changes, I have only found myself looking back and longing once. I left a job I loved becaue it was no longer serving my family the way it needed to for a job that I quickly came to hate. For several months, I prayed and asked God why He had brought me to this place and what His plan was. He answered and told me why He led me to that new job a few months later. It only made the job a little bit more bearable. I spent several long, rough months in that position before God moved me into a different department in the same company. It changed everything. Before I left the first job, my manager made it very clear that I was welcome and wanted back if I chose to return. Even contacted me personally after I returned for a visit and told my new ex coworkers how much I hated the new job, but I knew that God took me out of that place and into a new place for a reason, and I needed to follow. Didn't like it one bit in the process, but I followed and trusted that God had His reasons, and thankfully He will never change and therefore still has His reason as to why He takes us away from certain places and brings us to new places.

    All that being said, it's not bad to look back and enjoy fond memories or learn from negative experiences and apply those lessons to the future. The important thing is that we do not stay there. We keep moving forward, hopefully toward God.

    Thankfully, I know that when I am walking through a difficult season, I can trust God to always listen to my heart and walk with me through the situation. I am also blessed with my amazing husband, who is always available to listen, support and encourage me with whatever is on my mind. I also have a handful of close friends who are there when I need them.

    When the episode finished, I thought, "Boy, that preached," and, "I know what this week's blog will be on." I would encourage you to go and find the Proverbs 31 Ministries podcast, listen to this episode and enjoy the full teaching from Christine Caine.

So friend, don't be Lot's wife. Don't look back longingly. Look to and trust God. He knows what He is doing.

Have a blessed Sunday evening. I pray this blesses and encourages you where you are today.

~Hannah

Look to the Son, not the Past.

Labels

What kind of labels are we putting on ourselves?

    I just signed up to participate in the Terry Fox Run this September. Not sure if I will be running it or walking it. I know that if people are running, Blessing will want to run too. So part of me wants to train to run it. I was a runner on and off for years with a love/hate relationship with it. I don't want to run, even though I feel good in the process, and I like the label/title of being a runner. As I'm laying in bed thinking about wanting the label of a runner and yet don't want to put my runners on. It got me thinking about the other labels I either willingly hold or that life/society has put on me.

    My most important label is "Child of God." Of course, calling my relationship with my Lord and Savior a label sounds very religious, and I do not like that word. Whenever someone from the community asks me if I am religious, I use to say yes. Simply because it was easier than explaining that it's a faith and not a religion. And how religion is about actions and rituals and faith is about a relationship. Then I decided that was too much to explain in passing small talk with unbelievers. I figured they don't understand anyway, so why try and explain it? Then it dawned on me that if I don't explain the difference between the religion of Christianity and my relationship with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Then who will? So now I am more intentional about explaining the difference.

    I'm now sitting in my living room in my late grandfather's rocking chair. I'm thinking about my other "labels" like, "wife," "dog mom," "employee," etc. The things I was thinking about before I got my journal out and started letting my pen do the talking. To be honest, "Child of God" was not the first thing that came to mind. I think "wife" was. But, then I corrected myself and reminded myself that the most important one is "Child of God" and needs to be number one.

    Then, when I finished my last thought train on religion vs. faith/relationship and started thinking about what my second most important label/title is. I realized that none of them mattered. In the light of eternity, none of them matter. Yes, I love holding and carrying out these labels/titles, but they don't matter. The only thing that these labels tell society is what's important to you and how to categorize you. Now, I'm all for categorizing and organizing things, but at the end of the day, the only label that matters is that I am a child of the One True God. And when I am faithful to let the Holy Spirit work through me and silence the voice of my sinful nature, the rest simply flows out of me. Because when you put God first in your life, everything else falls into place.

    God doesn't care about the other labels that we put on ourselves or what society puts on us. Because the truth of the matter is that as humans, we give ourselves all these titles/labels to make ourselves look and feel important in the eyes of the world. The more labels, the more important we feel. At the end of the day, those labels won't save you. Only a relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will do that.

    Now, I'm not saying labels aren't fun to hold. I love and am proud of the few that I hold. But, on the day that Christ returns and brings me home, "Child of God" will be the only label that matters. But we need to make sure it's not simply a religious label, but an intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father.

    Funny, when I started thinking about labels and what this journal entry would look like, this was not it. It was going to be a  list of the labels I hold closest to my heart and explain each of them. Holy Spirit had other ideas and wanted to remind me, and I assume you too, friend of, the importance of our only label that matters in the light of eternity and God's eyes. Child of God.

    I pray that this post finds you well on this Labour Day long weekend and blesses you in whatever way you need today.

God Bless

~Hannah