RELAX! RECHARGE! RENEW!

Relax. Recharge. Renew.

3 Rs for the aging! Cannot be done alone! In His Presence is key!

Sarah Young (May 25) reminds readers the importance of turning from problems (ours) to Presence (His) Tangled thoughts with anxious knots get us no where....except maybe the ER!

Choose time in His Word. A creekside walk. A Porch "sit." 

Maybe even a nap to recharge one's body. 

A Word Search of "fear not" verses for a mind renewal. (Romans 12:2)

As for me, this week, I am camped out in the Psalms! 

THOUGHT PROVOKING......

Thought provoking or just plain ole sin?

"Let go and let God" is what my AA brother learned.

Act on what you know. Leave the rest to God.

Paul says to "throw off everything that hinders us and the sin that so easily entangles us." (Hebrews 12:1) 

Overthinking is wearying me out. My worrisome thoughts are a euphemisim for control attempts...people, events and things I cannot change.

Entangling me. I need to throw it out! Not only does hubby see this in me but friend Jerrie does as well.

She gifted me lately with something she knew was right up my alley....sticky notes!

But.....the quote, probably, also right up my alley,  gave me pause. Not a refreshing pause.

Hmmm...back to square one for me, the consummate overthinker!

Take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

We need only to have faith and leave the details to God!

THOUGHTS TO TALK

60,000 thoughts a day. What is one to do with all those ramblings?

Take every thought captive!  (2 Corinthians 10:5) Prior to those words.... "demolish...arguments against the knowledge of God. Demolish and captive are battlefield jargon. As Christians take thoughts captive they compare each thought to what they know about the character of God through His word.

In each and every moment remember this and "encourage other believers" to do the same--- for things that come out of the mouth come from the heart! (Hebrews 3:13) Our heart......where our mind, soul and spirit reside. As Jesus said it this way a couple of times: For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of" (Matthew 12:34; Luke 6:4) Keep your heart mindful of God's words.

Leave behind the words/thoughts of battlefield jargon; crushing, evil, painful, hurtful opinions and destructive.

Gentle words turn away wrath and anger; give life,....a fountain of life....(Proverbs 15:1, Proverbs 10:11)

Let's think good thoughts & "talk" good words daily. 

TROUNCE TEMPTATION!

For worry-warts of the world their besetting temptation is often WORRY! "What if's" invade their minds in subtle ways and not so subtle ways. The recent Collierville shootings not so subtle. Prayer ensued immediately!

"Stewing" over things with outcomes beyond one's control can seep in and catch him off guard. Fear ensues.

Such thoughts require immediate action. 

A battle of the mind....a temptation that must be dealt with before it can reach the heart and begin to permeate every action. 

Thoughts reflecting worry are stepping stones to temptation & need to be taken captive to destroy those worldly arguments. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

Focus is needed! Remember Who is sovereign in this world!

Remain............................

F IXED

O N

C HRIST'S

U LTIMATE

S OVEREIGNITY

Thoughts are okay when when brought into obedience of Christ. He's the only One who can trounce our temptations. 

Morgan says, "Our ability to trounce temptation is in direct proportion to our fellowship with Christ. (All To Jesus, Day 269, emphasis mine) 

So when the devil knocks, let Christ open the door!

WORRYWART!

Worrywart is a moniker I wear all too well. Often is a better adverb choice than well, I think. 

As a youngster, in Hoptown I was aware that Mother was seen as a fuss-budget. It sounds like the worry malady is hereditary.

What worry really is---is sin! A besetting sin for some.

For a believer, this "distrust" can begin with our thoughts......which too often can be more emotion-based than truth-based. Distrust = not taking God at His word.

A mind game! Mine, can run from one extreme emotion to to the other. Hot to cold. Fluctuations that override and overule the truth from God's word. 

What's the antidote for worry? Take every thought captive. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

Remember Jesus Christ. (2 Timothy 2:8)

Others need to see you as a testimony to His truth not as a slave to your emotions.

For me, it's not as easy as the picture might suggest. In my life, it's a real struggle that I have to submit daily to the Lord as I choose to disregard my own power and cling to His Presence, never discounting His omnipresence in my life.

Farewell worrywart......until the next time! In His time, no worries.

CAPTIVI-TEA

A cuppa captivi-TEA is often needed to calm one's soul---or at least one's anxious thoughts.

Topsy-Turvy times call for a cuppa to soothe.....and to take captive those overwhelming thoughts of fear, and questioning thoughts of why?
Thoughts are just words in our heads. 

Proverbs 25:11-13 reminds that words fitly spoken are worthy---valuable to an obedient ear and refreshing to the soul. 

Encouraging thoughts give birth to encouraging words. Maybe the truth of that counts even when one is talking to herself. I know it counts when I'm talking to God.

Pouring over Gods word in Psalm 62, I'm reminded that when I pray I pour out my heart to God. His thoughts become my thoughts.

Tea is to be sipped but these days I seem to need to pour out a big cup and take a BIG gulp of captive-TEA, sweetened with acceptance......to soothe both my soul and my anxious thoughts. 

CHOOSE: TO HEED

Pray and Obey. Pithy with a punch. It even rhymes!  A great reminder to heed.

The Lord has been revealing much to me in His word this week as I have chosen to "pray" scripture.

Now....it's up to me. Will I obey the truth I have been shown? 

Some obedience is much easier than others. But God.....wants it all.

Taking every thought captive seems to me a besetting sin. (2 Corinthians 10:5,) i.e. worry. (Philippians 4:6)

Marginalia to the rescue. Chuck Swindoll notes, from the anxiety chapter 3 of Christ at the Crossroads, reminded me:

I worry when...

ADD--- something else to my already FULL agenda

          ---my reputation/pride to a situation

          ---someone else's expectation of  me ..........& then I become angry.

I worry when I calculate without God....considering consequences of "addition without him" seems a good beginning point for lots of needed heeding.

Now, I need to choose to heed, but I think I'll just focus on inappropriate addition---that seems doable today. I certainly don't need to add frustration or anger to my life, which Swindoll sees as a result of too much addition.

CHOOSE: MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR

"Ministry of the interior" is Oswald Chambers analogy (in a nutshell) for prayer. (My Utmost for His Highest, 6/20) A most important ministry.
Prayer is what I've needed these last few weeks. A need to intercede for many others (Job 42:10) as well as to pray for myself. Praying for myself seems far harder to do. Certainly I do it less often.

But lately, as a "phrase from the funnies" jolted me, I realized that "no matter where I go, I carry so much in the confines of my head."

That's why, for me, it's so important to have those thoughts be prayerful ones---for both self and others. Remembering to prayerfully take thoughts captive (2 Corinthians 10:5) helps to dispel the worries and fear which so easily consume my "interior."

Mind Minder

Scripture is a great "minder" for the mind. 

Mama Davenport often used the word "mind"as a verb----in the imperative form.

"Mind" the cracks so you don't trip, she would say. Her intent was for one to be careful about something or pay attention to it.

On the old British TV series, "Keeping Up Appearances," Hyacinth Bucket (snobbishly, she pronounced it Bouquet) was always nagging her husband, as he drove her around, to "mind the pedestrian." "Watch out for "was her meaning for "mind."

So....for me, a mind minder is one who pays attention to their mind as if to watch out for it. In capturing thoughts, that can be a positive. If it becomes "worry/anxiety," one needs to turn it over to the Lord. Just yesterday in my Jesus Calling devotional,  I had read about "pockets of darkness" and thought that was an apt description of my mind.

After writing yesterday's Dotsy Details' blog entry, I flipped the page on my kitchen table Jesus Calling DayBrightener to the day's entry (6/10) & read:

"Rest in Me, My child. Give your mind a break from planning and trying to anticipate what will happen..."

What a great reminder to rest in Him and allow Him to "mind" my mind.

I give my mind to Him and He becomes my "mind minder."

NO DOUBT!!!

Out, out "doubt" spot! (With apologies to "The Bard")

Don't let "doubt" cover you. Stain you. Touch your heart in any way. 

Doubt can start with a tiny spot? A simple, "Why, God?" question. Then it can spread.

Doubt can be like rot---attempting to erode God's Word which you know is true! 

It must not enter your mind. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

As Geraldine Brooks so eloquently writes of doubt, "Excise it at the first speckling, the first stain, the first stench of decay." (TSC, p. 121)

Never doubt God's goodness in the midst of your ongoing struggle.

Believe---whether it feels like He's there or not. (Mark 9:24)

Even in the midst of pain, God is there.........

.......There is no doubt of that!

Ruffled MInd

Authors have the best quotes---of course they do. They are wordsmiths!! Like a poet who says it best with the fewest words.

Besides a "ruffled mind" sounds more feminine than a "muddled mind."

When "sleepless in Memphis," I need to ruffle my pillow and unruffle my mind prior to bedtime. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

Brainworm/Earworm/Songworm

Brainworm. Earworm. Songworm. By any such name, all are equally irritating.

Repetitive. Stuck. 

Unwanted. 

Catchy in a negative way.

Unlike the urban dictionary definition, my brainworms can be words only w/o melody---I can get a brainworm, usually between 2 am and 4 am ---pithy disturbing phrases like "if only".....or "what if." Then my brain begins to fill in the blank over and over again. Thought after thought.

Trying to capture & replace those "brainy earworms" of thoughts (2 Corinthians 10:5) can lead to a musical interlude earworm melody to full blown songworm---not something like "Come Thou Fount" but more like zumba songs. Songs that I can't even understand the words to----I only know the first few repetitive words----haven't a clue what the song is really about---I just know those pounding, too upbeat for the middle of the night, phrases. Think "bang, bang da, da, da, da, bang, bang....." or "I'm all about that bass, 'Bout that bass, no treble" over and over and over again. There is no rest with those vibrating words in my head.

"Earworm" Used by permission of the artist, Owen

I need more pithy scripture lyrics with a slowbeat replacement melody---esp. this morning when the ear worm went from 2:30 til sometime after 5.














Be gone Brainworm/Earworm/Songworm...whatever you are.

Captivi-TEA

A cuppa captivi-TEA is needed if I'm to serve a little positivi-TEA to others. I have to live it before I can serve it.

Yea, yea, I know----tea blogs were for last year ----but cut me a little slack because "tea thinking" is a part of who I am. And a cuppa captivi-Tea is about one's thought life.

If I'm concerned about thinking positive thoughts about Memphis town, surely I can work on eliminating negative aspects about my self.

Replacement thinking. Sounds like something one would hear from a therapist's couch. Replacing my thoughts with His thoughts is from the "good book" not a psychology book. My thoughts are not His thoughts (Isaiah 55:8) so I need to "bring every thought captive" (2 Corinthians 10:5) out of obedience to the Lord.

This week, partly in response to my husband's request to "quit being so hard on my wife," I have tried "replacement thinking."

• ADD Reality---Always Distracted Dotsy---(similar to my often "Ditsy" typo-label) Replacement Response---God knows me by my "real" name---(Exodus 33:17)

"Dotsy(s)" on the cuppa mark it as really mine! CF knew that!

--Reality (what I think)---It's so-o-o hard being me.

**Replacement Response--I am fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14)

--Ineptness Reality---What I think when unable to conquer my PowerPoint for upcoming Exodus lesson.
**Replacement Response--God's power is made perfect in "my" weakness. Go God! (2 Corinthians 12:9)

--Most common self-inflicted diatribes---I haven't a clue and I can't remember squat.
**Replacement Response--To the man who pleases Him, God gives wisdom, (Ecclesiastes 2:26)

WHOOPS---how pitiful are those diatribes for one whose desire is to please Him---God gives wisdom to those who please Him. 

My "personal pursuit" for 2015 is to please GOD. I'd better bring that reminder front and center---a cuppa Captivi-TEA of thoughts and actions to please Him.

s-TEA-rife tempered by captivi-TEA

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5, NIT)

Strife. What is it? What causes it? What can one do about it?

My life must have it as I often realize my teeth are clenched. Even my shoulders seem to stay "clenched" lately. Up around my ears----until I intentionally pull them down, willing myself to calm down and relax.

Then, yesterday my iPad notes from 2 years ago opened wide for me to see:

• Strife---an inside job---it springs from within
• Strife---the enemy of peace and calm
• Root of strife = SELF-Worldiness, aka pride (opposite of pride is humility)
• Strife is conflict between our thinking and God's word.
• Mood-induced thoughts can keep me in turmoil, aka strife.
• Real issue--Whom will I love? God or the world? James 4:4 asks, "don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God?"

Good riddance for strife---submit to God, draw near to Him and as He reciprocates by drawing near as well, it becomes much easier to take every "rebellious self" thought captive.

(Continue reading).....God's word, that is.

God gracefully serves us cuppa after cuppa of humili--TEA, puri-TEA, and in-TEA-macy once we pour out the dregs of enmi-TEA and s-TEA-rife that have stained the insides of our former cuppa.

Got junk?

4/24/12 More specifically, got a junk drawer? According to organizing guru, Maryanne MacDonald, no drawer should be a junk drawer, ie a catchall. Each drawer should have a specific purpose. I assume she meant that junk wasn’t a worthy purpose. Our junk drawer evolved into a purpose on its own---a place for hubby and me to put things when we didn’t know where else to put them. “Tidy”ing said “junk” drawer wasn’t on my day’s “to do” list but it came about anyway when I was looking for a sturdy rubberband. I was too lazy to go upstairs and get one out of the “Rubberband” labeled drawer in my old card catalog. Excess “junk” had the drawer jammed----thus the tidying up began.

As I culled and organized, I mused how akin to my brain this drawer was. Crammed. Filled to overflowing. Some information was useless clutter (trivia comes to mind) making retrieval for important info virtually impossible at times.

Sadly, one’s mind can be too spiritually similar to a junk drawer. Truth is, some thoughts don’t need to take up permanent residence there. Those thoughts can build resentment and bitterness and can “jam” pure thoughts or spew over and affect other unrelated aspects of your life. Bitterness is known in the Bible as spiritual poison and a means by which many are defiled (Hebrews 12:15)

 

Some thoughts never need to be allowed access in the first place. Take every thought captive… (2 Corinthians 10:5)

If mind ”junk” continues to be a problem, “….be transformed by the renewing of your mind” through scripture. (Romans 12:2)

Of course, I tidied up my drawer and wrote it on my “to do” list, (after the fact) so I could ✔ it off and feel a sense of accomplishment. Just yesterday, Debbie P. told me she often does the same thing. Since she’s a pastor’s wife, that info made me feel much better.

✔Drawer accomplished. Beginning to work on my brain now because in one’s thought life..…..organized junk is still junk.

Worry Webs

7/2/11 When life, as I had known it for most of my adult years , began to drastically change for me a little over 3 months ago, I had blogged (3/18) that I was in a tangle and worry–webs were about to consume me. 

Just like the spider’s sticky strands, my thoughts would begin with a single strand and then quickly begin to encircle my mind and entrap me. Why is it so hard for me to rid my thought life of this impertinence to God? (Oswald Chambers) 

A note in my Bible marginalia defines worry as a mild form of atheism. I hoped I had once and for all abandoned these cobwebs of anxiety, but for me, it’s a daily battle. Then, as now, I’m using God’s word to clear out this anxiety clutter and once again break down those “worry webs.”

We (I) demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

Be Gone, Worry-Webs! 

Thankful Thursday

1/29/09

---one year I had to do all 365 days focusing on thankfulness---it became my gratitude journal---I never missed a day but some days I had to scratch/choose to see events as thanksgiving---it became lots easier, the more I practiced---that was a life lesson for me. "In every thing, give thanks."

Yesterday's entry seemed to be full of run-on sentences of mental meanderings. My stream of consciousness tangle/jumble was hard to untangle even for my hubby and he's lived with this confused brain for almost 40 years.

Even during early hour prayers this morning, I found my thoughts would wander. But…..the answer was in Jesus Calling----Keep your focus on Me. When your mind wanders, "Bring every thought captive," (2 Corin. 10:5) In My light anxious thoughts shrink…….. confused ideas are untangled.

I began with focusing on the Lord through song---thinking, " I just need a hymnal." Well, searching on the bottom shelf of the lawyers cabinet that had been my grandmother's, I found a Cokesbury Hymnal, copyright 1923. It cost 30¢. So, the Lord and I had a songfest and my heart began to overflow with gratitude.

When I sang, It is Well With my Soul with tears starting to flow, I knew that even in this challenge, my soul is well, He Keeps Me Singing as I Go---was the hymn reminder that kept me singing/thanking Him all day:

1. …while waiting for the doc phone call that never came.

2. …while celebrating with friends at Houston High*

3. …while talking to myriads of people who care

4. …while hugging a dear friend. IC, whom I had to track down

5. …while calmly responding to my father-in-law's fears about his surgery tomorrow---though my heart ached for him

*UTrust came to school to film the school nurse and the HHS Café ladies, based on a story I had written about them. I was the author, but they were the inspiration---it was their story, I just told it so others would know how each of them make a difference in the lives of so many of us---and they do it because they care. The nurse has already showered me with flowers and hugs and I left the cafeteria today laden with my favorite soup and BUTTER COOKIES!!!! That shoud be #6---b/c I'm thankful for such a big stash.

Things change with a call and before I could even post these earlier comments, I had another BIG reason to say Thank you, Lord! I had an entire chapel to myself, to kneel before the Lord I love and beg for extra measures of mercy and grace for a family I love as my own.