A year ago I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. Along with that, I was having trouble with every major part of my body – heart, lungs, circulation, head, etc. To say I was feeling sad every day would be an understatement. When I told the doctor I was a Christian Scientist, she smiled at me. After telling me what was wrong with me and that I’d need to see half a dozen specialists, she said “you need to fix your spirit, and I will fix the rest. And you know exactly what I’m talking about.”
As you may know, Christian Scientists don’t often go to doctors. It’s not “against our religion” not to go, but we just choose to turn to God first. However, at this time in my life, I was just scared. I was scared I wouldn’t be alive much longer and I had a 1 year old and a 3 year old at home to take care of.
Having the doctor tell me I needed to fix my spirit really got me thinking. I realized that I had been spending all my time focusing on what seemed wrong with my body instead of praying without ceasing – as the Bible commands us to do. I was giving more power to my body than I was giving to God.
A couple of months later, I awoke one morning and had an hour and a half to get ready to go photograph a wedding. However, before I could get out of bed, I experienced a minor stroke. Among other things, I lost most ability to use my right arm and leg and my speech was impaired.
The first thing I did was to call a Christian Science Practitioner to pray for me. I told her what was happening and that I had no choice but to go ahead and photograph the wedding. The practitioner began praying immediately and I was able to do my job.
Fortunately, my husband had already arranged to be my assistant that day and we had already hired a sitter for the kids. My husband ended up taking a lot of the pictures that day and I just refrained from speaking. No one knew what was going on. I didn’t want to worry anyone or take away from their special day. We kept in touch with the practitioner all throughout the day.
By the time I went to bed late that night, my speech was completely intelligible. To say the least, I was scared. The next morning I stayed home from church so I could pray. I phoned to relatives to tell them I was going to go to the hospital. They fully supported that decision.
However, after I made the decision I was going to the hospital, God gently spoke to me and said “But you’re not even giving me a chance!” I was shocked to hear that message, but I knew it was true. I had already made up my mind that if I didn’t get help from the doctors I could end up in serious trouble. The thought came again from God and this time it came with an action plan.
You see, I was trained in Christian Science 7 years ago, by going through what is called Christian Science Class Instruction. The plan that came from God was this “Julie, you study all your class notes and by the end if you are still scared then definitely go to the hospital. Just give me a chance first.”
Ok. I agreed with that. So I took out my “class notes” on Christian Science. To my sheer amazement, after studying the notes from the first day of class, I was completely healed! There were no more effects from the stroke. And… there wasn’t even a drop of fear left. I knew I was completely free!
Also, that same day, my daughter was completely healed of Epilepsy. She had been experiencing half a dozen silent seizures a day for most of her life. But we were both healed at the same time. By reading the notes, I understood more about prayer, more about God and more about my true identity as Gods reflection. These thoughts couldn’t help but heal! Also, as a bonus, the depression and anxiety were also immediately gone as well.
Now I am in the full time practice of healing others. If you want to learn more about being healed, visit my website http://www.goddoesheal.com/. God really does heal – but we have to get rid of our fear and truly put God first.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Losing Weight poem
A Spiritual Diet and Exercise Poem
This is a poem my Grandmother came across many, many years ago in the Christian Science Sentinel. The author is unknown. I share it with you today because I think it’s absolutely fantastic and it’s what I studied and lived by when I lost 40 lbs.
Losing Weight
This is a poem my Grandmother came across many, many years ago in the Christian Science Sentinel. The author is unknown. I share it with you today because I think it’s absolutely fantastic and it’s what I studied and lived by when I lost 40 lbs.
Losing Weight
This year I’m going on a diet!
In prayer and humility.
I’m going to reject those enticing
spoonfuls of
impatience,
indifference,
intolerance, criticism;
Refuse to take part in bouts of
depression,
ingratitude,
selfishness.
Instead
my diet includes
unlimited amounts of
quiet patience,
true compassion,
bubbling joy,
deep understanding,
unending forgiveness,
unconditional love.
These can be taken at any time of the day
in quantities that are as large as possible!
I’m going to exercise, too –
my God-given authority –
to see, feel, and act rightly.
not just a ten-minute exercise,
but continuously, hourly, every minute –
a moment-by-moment mental
s t r e t c h i n g –
each day more than I did the
day before.
In this way
the true outline,
the embodiment
of elegant balance,
perfect proportion,
the Soul-filled harmony
of God’s being
will be seen as
me.
Visit my website at www.GodDoesHeal.com to find out how you can be healed of anything. or call 1-866-507-1514. or e-mail prayforme@goddoesheal.com
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
The Art of Spiritual Listening
The Art of Spiritual Listening
Like any other art, the art of spiritual listening comes with practice. If you’re like me, you’ve always wished you could stop paying attention to all the negative thoughts that come and find a way to just think about the good things.
Well, it is possible to learn the art of listening for our spiritual guidance. Sometimes it really does seem like the cartoons where a character has a devil sitting on one shoulder and an angel sitting on the other and has to choose which one to listen to. We may laugh at that, but I think the reason we laugh is because we feel it’s all too true.
Since I was a young girl, I always desired to be able to hear God more – to be more spiritually minded. I knew that it wasn’t right to be thinking bad or negative thoughts – even if I didn’t say them out loud.
Something that helped change my view on how we should behave and think came from studying Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. Jesus spells out for us exactly how to act and how not to act. We shouldn’t judge. We shouldn’t even hold grudges. Wow! How can we go through life without even holding grudges!
After studying over and over the Sermon on the Mount, I realized I HAD to choose where my thoughts were going to be. I could either let myself become angry, upset, hurt, etc., or I could force myself to stick to the truth. And by “truth” I mean it was my job to see everyone and everything as God created them.
Doesn’t the Bible tell us God made man in his image and likeness? That leaves no room for anything unlike God, good. Instead of holding on to the negative things about people or situations, it was my job to practice the forgiveness that Jesus taught. I had to see my neighbours (everyone) as God sees them.
So, how does God see His children? Good question. God could only see His children as the complete, perfect, spiritual image and likeness of Him. That means, in reality, each of us has no choice but to be complete, joyful, satisfied, harmonious, healthy, spiritual, and thousands of other good qualities
We have to make the choice – are we going to stick to the negative, un-Godlike thoughts, or are we going to make sure we are listening to the good, pure, true thoughts of divine Love, God?
Practicing this has made a huge difference in my life. I am now able to forgive so quickly. The past is in the past and things just don’t bother me like they used to because I know I need to live by what Jesus taught – forgiveness, love, compassion, etc.
Like any other art, the art of spiritual listening comes with practice. If you’re like me, you’ve always wished you could stop paying attention to all the negative thoughts that come and find a way to just think about the good things.
Well, it is possible to learn the art of listening for our spiritual guidance. Sometimes it really does seem like the cartoons where a character has a devil sitting on one shoulder and an angel sitting on the other and has to choose which one to listen to. We may laugh at that, but I think the reason we laugh is because we feel it’s all too true.
Since I was a young girl, I always desired to be able to hear God more – to be more spiritually minded. I knew that it wasn’t right to be thinking bad or negative thoughts – even if I didn’t say them out loud.
Something that helped change my view on how we should behave and think came from studying Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. Jesus spells out for us exactly how to act and how not to act. We shouldn’t judge. We shouldn’t even hold grudges. Wow! How can we go through life without even holding grudges!
After studying over and over the Sermon on the Mount, I realized I HAD to choose where my thoughts were going to be. I could either let myself become angry, upset, hurt, etc., or I could force myself to stick to the truth. And by “truth” I mean it was my job to see everyone and everything as God created them.
Doesn’t the Bible tell us God made man in his image and likeness? That leaves no room for anything unlike God, good. Instead of holding on to the negative things about people or situations, it was my job to practice the forgiveness that Jesus taught. I had to see my neighbours (everyone) as God sees them.
So, how does God see His children? Good question. God could only see His children as the complete, perfect, spiritual image and likeness of Him. That means, in reality, each of us has no choice but to be complete, joyful, satisfied, harmonious, healthy, spiritual, and thousands of other good qualities
We have to make the choice – are we going to stick to the negative, un-Godlike thoughts, or are we going to make sure we are listening to the good, pure, true thoughts of divine Love, God?
Practicing this has made a huge difference in my life. I am now able to forgive so quickly. The past is in the past and things just don’t bother me like they used to because I know I need to live by what Jesus taught – forgiveness, love, compassion, etc.
Monday, February 13, 2006
How changing my thinking changed my daughters behavior immediately
How changing my thinking changed my daughters behavior immediately.
Recently, my friend and I took my daughter to a special playground in a nearby mall. This is a nice “foam” playground for toddlers. My daughter, Karen, was having a nice time.
Then, she started following another girl around. What ever that girl was playing on, Karen thought she had to be on as well. At one point, the other little girl sat on top of a turtle’s head and was riding the turtle, so to speak. Karen proceeded to try and push the girl off so she could have a turn.
I looked at my friend and started to say “Karen always has to have her own way!” But, as the words started to come out of my mouth, I realized I shouldn’t say that. Why would I put such a bad label on one of God’s beloved children? God would never label Her children. Since we were created in the image and likeness of God, that means our only choice as Gods child is to have Gods qualities – being loving, gentleness, kindness, forgiveness, patience, etc.
All this was rushing through my mind within a second and instead of saying “Karen always has to have her own way!” I said “Karen always has… no! Karen does NOT have to have her own way, she listens to God.” Keep in mind that Karen could not hear me saying this because she was in the play area and we were sitting on the bench watching from the side.
The split second those words came out of my mouth, Karen’s entire demeanor changed. Her hands dropped by her side and she looked up and calmly walked away and played somewhere else and continued being patient for the next hour until we left.
Ok, so you may think it was just a coincidence that at the exact moment I chose to see her correctly – as the perfect child of God – she stopped her bad behavior. However, I must disagree. I could have chosen to see her negative traits and continued to label her as “naughty” “pushy” “impatient” etc. Then, her behavior would continue along those lines. But, every time I choose to see the perfect child that God created and KNOW that as Gods reflection her real nature is pure and innocent, her behavior changes immediately.
It’s not wishful thinking. It’s not hoping she’s innocent, peaceful, patient, etc. It is knowing it. I KNOW God created not only her that way, but each and every one of His/Her children that way. So, if you find there is someone in your life who has a few undesirable traits, try to see them as God sees them. Hold in thought all the good, wonderful God-like qualities they were created with. You will see a difference!
www.GodDoesHeal.com
Recently, my friend and I took my daughter to a special playground in a nearby mall. This is a nice “foam” playground for toddlers. My daughter, Karen, was having a nice time.
Then, she started following another girl around. What ever that girl was playing on, Karen thought she had to be on as well. At one point, the other little girl sat on top of a turtle’s head and was riding the turtle, so to speak. Karen proceeded to try and push the girl off so she could have a turn.
I looked at my friend and started to say “Karen always has to have her own way!” But, as the words started to come out of my mouth, I realized I shouldn’t say that. Why would I put such a bad label on one of God’s beloved children? God would never label Her children. Since we were created in the image and likeness of God, that means our only choice as Gods child is to have Gods qualities – being loving, gentleness, kindness, forgiveness, patience, etc.
All this was rushing through my mind within a second and instead of saying “Karen always has to have her own way!” I said “Karen always has… no! Karen does NOT have to have her own way, she listens to God.” Keep in mind that Karen could not hear me saying this because she was in the play area and we were sitting on the bench watching from the side.
The split second those words came out of my mouth, Karen’s entire demeanor changed. Her hands dropped by her side and she looked up and calmly walked away and played somewhere else and continued being patient for the next hour until we left.
Ok, so you may think it was just a coincidence that at the exact moment I chose to see her correctly – as the perfect child of God – she stopped her bad behavior. However, I must disagree. I could have chosen to see her negative traits and continued to label her as “naughty” “pushy” “impatient” etc. Then, her behavior would continue along those lines. But, every time I choose to see the perfect child that God created and KNOW that as Gods reflection her real nature is pure and innocent, her behavior changes immediately.
It’s not wishful thinking. It’s not hoping she’s innocent, peaceful, patient, etc. It is knowing it. I KNOW God created not only her that way, but each and every one of His/Her children that way. So, if you find there is someone in your life who has a few undesirable traits, try to see them as God sees them. Hold in thought all the good, wonderful God-like qualities they were created with. You will see a difference!
www.GodDoesHeal.com
Saturday, January 28, 2006
How to control weight from a spiritual standpoint.
When I became pregnant with our son, I was wearing a size 6. Within a year after his birth I was wearing size 16. To say the least, I was horrified. How did this happen? Why did this happen? A few months later, I became pregnant again and decided that something had to be done about the weight problem. I turned to God for guidance, as I’m used to doing for every situation. At the time, I was home schooling 4 high school students and so for our PE time, we took a one mile walk 3 days a week. Mind you, one mile is only walking for 15 minutes, but it’s all I could manage. I wasn’t walking to lose weight. I was walking because I could. God gave me freedom, energy, joy, movement, etc and I needed to use that instead of just sitting around or chasing my son all over the house.
My eating habits changed too. But, not in the form of a diet. I just decided that over eating wasn’t what God wanted for me or any one. Was I making a god out of food? Was I giving more power to food than I was giving to God? As I sat down to each meal, I asked God if I needed the next bite. Materially speaking, we learn that our stomachs are actually only the size of our fist. So, why do we think we need an entire plate full of food. I know my fist isn’t that large. Anything more than a fist full seemed to be overeating. Oh, but the food tasts too good to eat just a little! But I had to question “Is God telling me I need to eat more? Or are these thoughts not from God?” I didn’t feel limited in any way about my eating. I wasn’t counting calories or obsessing over fat grams. Again, was I going to give calories or fat grams more power than I was giving God? Of course not!
The day after my daughter was born, I had lost twenty pounds from the time I became pregnant with her. After that, I increased my activity level by taking both children for walks around the neighborhood. Now, I could walk for an hour instead of just 15 minutes! For the past year I’ve been back down to the 130’s and it comes from my choice to not give power to food. I have so enjoyed turning to God for my fitness. Another thing I focused on was having a fit state of thought. Not only did I desire to be physically fit, but I knew I needed to be mentally fit as well. So, I began practicing questioning each thought. “Is this thought from God? Or am I letting the world around me take my thinking away from everything good and focus on the bad?” Every time we think a thought, we have a choice to think good, true, God-like thoughts, or we can think worldly, negative thoughts. I know which ones I prefer!
When I became pregnant with our son, I was wearing a size 6. Within a year after his birth I was wearing size 16. To say the least, I was horrified. How did this happen? Why did this happen? A few months later, I became pregnant again and decided that something had to be done about the weight problem. I turned to God for guidance, as I’m used to doing for every situation. At the time, I was home schooling 4 high school students and so for our PE time, we took a one mile walk 3 days a week. Mind you, one mile is only walking for 15 minutes, but it’s all I could manage. I wasn’t walking to lose weight. I was walking because I could. God gave me freedom, energy, joy, movement, etc and I needed to use that instead of just sitting around or chasing my son all over the house.
My eating habits changed too. But, not in the form of a diet. I just decided that over eating wasn’t what God wanted for me or any one. Was I making a god out of food? Was I giving more power to food than I was giving to God? As I sat down to each meal, I asked God if I needed the next bite. Materially speaking, we learn that our stomachs are actually only the size of our fist. So, why do we think we need an entire plate full of food. I know my fist isn’t that large. Anything more than a fist full seemed to be overeating. Oh, but the food tasts too good to eat just a little! But I had to question “Is God telling me I need to eat more? Or are these thoughts not from God?” I didn’t feel limited in any way about my eating. I wasn’t counting calories or obsessing over fat grams. Again, was I going to give calories or fat grams more power than I was giving God? Of course not!
The day after my daughter was born, I had lost twenty pounds from the time I became pregnant with her. After that, I increased my activity level by taking both children for walks around the neighborhood. Now, I could walk for an hour instead of just 15 minutes! For the past year I’ve been back down to the 130’s and it comes from my choice to not give power to food. I have so enjoyed turning to God for my fitness. Another thing I focused on was having a fit state of thought. Not only did I desire to be physically fit, but I knew I needed to be mentally fit as well. So, I began practicing questioning each thought. “Is this thought from God? Or am I letting the world around me take my thinking away from everything good and focus on the bad?” Every time we think a thought, we have a choice to think good, true, God-like thoughts, or we can think worldly, negative thoughts. I know which ones I prefer!
Thursday, January 26, 2006
What does it mean to be REALLY loved?
Have you ever wanted to find the kind of love that is lasting? Did you think you found everlasting love and then it went away? Have you considered digging deeper and finding love from a spiritual perspective? There are 280 citations in the Bible that talk about love. For instance Deut 6:5 “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” It doesn’t say love just a little or when we feel like it. How can we possibly love God that much? Jesus tell us in Luke 6:27 “But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.” Wow. How often do we actually do that. It is so much easier to react in a bad way when people are not doing good to you. However, Jesus commanded us to Love our enemies. If we spend our time forgiving and loving unconditionally, then we are open to feeling God’s love for us. God has already wrapped us in his arms of divine Love. His love for us never ever goes away. We are His beloved and cherished child. Sometimes we don’t feel God loving us, but that’s when we’re not really listening. We must question our thoughts every moment of every day “Is this thought a good, loving thought?” “Is this thought full of peace, forgiveness and love, or full of negative thinking?” The more we practice turning our thought to love, we will begin to feel the unconditional, never ending, always available Love that God gives us. Every kind, loving thought we think means we love God. Every time we forgive, we are loving God and his children. Keep doing this. Include yourself in this forgiveness. Soon you will begin to find that you are already filled with the everlasting love from God.
Have you ever wanted to find the kind of love that is lasting? Did you think you found everlasting love and then it went away? Have you considered digging deeper and finding love from a spiritual perspective? There are 280 citations in the Bible that talk about love. For instance Deut 6:5 “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” It doesn’t say love just a little or when we feel like it. How can we possibly love God that much? Jesus tell us in Luke 6:27 “But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.” Wow. How often do we actually do that. It is so much easier to react in a bad way when people are not doing good to you. However, Jesus commanded us to Love our enemies. If we spend our time forgiving and loving unconditionally, then we are open to feeling God’s love for us. God has already wrapped us in his arms of divine Love. His love for us never ever goes away. We are His beloved and cherished child. Sometimes we don’t feel God loving us, but that’s when we’re not really listening. We must question our thoughts every moment of every day “Is this thought a good, loving thought?” “Is this thought full of peace, forgiveness and love, or full of negative thinking?” The more we practice turning our thought to love, we will begin to feel the unconditional, never ending, always available Love that God gives us. Every kind, loving thought we think means we love God. Every time we forgive, we are loving God and his children. Keep doing this. Include yourself in this forgiveness. Soon you will begin to find that you are already filled with the everlasting love from God.
Monday, January 23, 2006
New Ringtone for my phone brings me closer to God…
Today the thought came to me that I should get a new ringtone for my cell phone. In contemplating what to get, my favorite hymn popped into my head. It’s hymn 412 from the Christian Science Hymnal, to the tune of Danny Boy. I was so excited about getting this hymn as my ringtone because every time someone calls for healing, the ring puts these words into my thinking “O dreamer, leave thy dreams for joyful waking, O captive, rise and sing, for thou are free” etc. That lets me know we can awake to see the truth about our being. We can awake from this dream and realize we are already free of all seeming mortal conditions. As God’s children, God’s image and likeness, we are naturally free. We are at one with God every moment of every day. Instead of hearing the startling ring tone, I’ll be immediately putting my thought back on God before answering the phone. Below I’m posting a copy of the hymn.
O dreamer, leave thy dreams for joyful waking,
O captive, rise and sing, for thou art free;
The Christ is here, all dreams of error breaking,
Unloosing bonds of all captivity.
He comes to bless thee on his wings of healing;
To banish pain, and wipe all tears away;
He comes anew, to humble hearts revealing
The mounting footsteps of the upward way.
He comes to give thee joy for desolation,
Beauty for ashes of the vanished years;
For every tear to bring full compensation,
To give thee confidence for all thy fears.
He comes to call the dumb to joyful singing;
The deaf to hear; the blinded eyes to see;
The glorious tidings of salvation bringing.
O captive, rise, thy Saviour comes to thee.
Today the thought came to me that I should get a new ringtone for my cell phone. In contemplating what to get, my favorite hymn popped into my head. It’s hymn 412 from the Christian Science Hymnal, to the tune of Danny Boy. I was so excited about getting this hymn as my ringtone because every time someone calls for healing, the ring puts these words into my thinking “O dreamer, leave thy dreams for joyful waking, O captive, rise and sing, for thou are free” etc. That lets me know we can awake to see the truth about our being. We can awake from this dream and realize we are already free of all seeming mortal conditions. As God’s children, God’s image and likeness, we are naturally free. We are at one with God every moment of every day. Instead of hearing the startling ring tone, I’ll be immediately putting my thought back on God before answering the phone. Below I’m posting a copy of the hymn.
O dreamer, leave thy dreams for joyful waking,
O captive, rise and sing, for thou art free;
The Christ is here, all dreams of error breaking,
Unloosing bonds of all captivity.
He comes to bless thee on his wings of healing;
To banish pain, and wipe all tears away;
He comes anew, to humble hearts revealing
The mounting footsteps of the upward way.
He comes to give thee joy for desolation,
Beauty for ashes of the vanished years;
For every tear to bring full compensation,
To give thee confidence for all thy fears.
He comes to call the dumb to joyful singing;
The deaf to hear; the blinded eyes to see;
The glorious tidings of salvation bringing.
O captive, rise, thy Saviour comes to thee.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Praying for your neighbors
Yesterday morning I awoke to a strange sound. It was 5am. Lights were flashing. Upon looking out the window I saw a fire truck and two ambulances across the street at my neighbors house. What to do? I could have decided to cuddle under my warm cozy down comforter and fall asleep (which was very tempting.) However, my thought was flooded with warm, loving thoughts for this family. One ambulance left with someone laying in the back. Even though I’ve never met those neighbors, I knew that they were still God’s beloved children. I had an obligation to clear my thoughts about this situation. The initial thoughts that came were “Oh, poor family. I hope everyone is ok.” But then God’s thoughts entered and let me know that our Father/Mother God is always in control. Since we are created in God’s image, we naturally reflect each and ever one of Gods qualities. The people in that house and in that ambulance naturally express completeness, peace, joy, confidence, freedom. Why would I even think for a moment to look at them in pitty. It is my duty to see everyone the way God sees them. The Bible tells us “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Jesus healed by seeing people the way God does – spiritual, complete, whole, not limited or material. Jesus beheld their true identity. After listening for those God-like thoughts and praying to see my neighbors correctly I felt completely at peace knowing that their only choice is to be at one with God, expressing His qualities.
As we practice turning our thoughts away from the seeming material picture, to the Truth of being, our experience will change. We stop looking at things from a limited perspective and see things from the unlimited eternal way they truly are. Those around us can feel the difference and we change the world one day at a time.
Yesterday morning I awoke to a strange sound. It was 5am. Lights were flashing. Upon looking out the window I saw a fire truck and two ambulances across the street at my neighbors house. What to do? I could have decided to cuddle under my warm cozy down comforter and fall asleep (which was very tempting.) However, my thought was flooded with warm, loving thoughts for this family. One ambulance left with someone laying in the back. Even though I’ve never met those neighbors, I knew that they were still God’s beloved children. I had an obligation to clear my thoughts about this situation. The initial thoughts that came were “Oh, poor family. I hope everyone is ok.” But then God’s thoughts entered and let me know that our Father/Mother God is always in control. Since we are created in God’s image, we naturally reflect each and ever one of Gods qualities. The people in that house and in that ambulance naturally express completeness, peace, joy, confidence, freedom. Why would I even think for a moment to look at them in pitty. It is my duty to see everyone the way God sees them. The Bible tells us “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Jesus healed by seeing people the way God does – spiritual, complete, whole, not limited or material. Jesus beheld their true identity. After listening for those God-like thoughts and praying to see my neighbors correctly I felt completely at peace knowing that their only choice is to be at one with God, expressing His qualities.
As we practice turning our thoughts away from the seeming material picture, to the Truth of being, our experience will change. We stop looking at things from a limited perspective and see things from the unlimited eternal way they truly are. Those around us can feel the difference and we change the world one day at a time.
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Did you know that prayer doesn’t have to be words. It can be a smile or any kind gesture. Any act of love is a prayer. Prayer is said to be “an attitude of gratitude.” (source unknown). So what are you grateful for? Are we going through life complaining about all the negatives around us? Like “He did this to me” or “She didn’t do that” or “we don’t have enough money.” Personally, I find those thoughts lead to anxiety and depression. Then I question myself… Is God – divine Love – giving me these thoughts? No! Then these are not truthful thoughts. Anything that doesn’t come from God isn’t good. I try to replace those negative thoughts with pure, loving thoughts of gratitude such as “Thank you God, that you made all your children in your image and likeness.” “Thank you God for enabling me to see your children the way you do, instead of the limited mortal view.” “Thank you for providing each and every one of your children with the ability to see and hear spiritually.”
After this line of thinking my thought isn’t on the negative way mortals see things, but is turned to discerning things spiritually. God gave each of us the ability to do this! Aren’t we so grateful!
After this line of thinking my thought isn’t on the negative way mortals see things, but is turned to discerning things spiritually. God gave each of us the ability to do this! Aren’t we so grateful!
Friday, January 20, 2006
The TV hit series "Desperate House Wives" really hit home with me. One character on the show has several young children. She always seems frazzled and at her wits end. It seems nearly impossible for her to control her children as they are loud and rowdy. No matter how much she does or how hard she tries, the work never finishes, her children are still out of control and she feels helpless and depressed.
In my own life I had been desperately searching for answers on how to raise a family peacefully. My children are 2 and 4 and we spent the past 4 years trying to get our son to be obedient - which wasn't working out too well!
There is always laundry to be done. The kitchen needs to be cleaned. My youngest throws half her food onto the floor instead of putting it into her mouth. Diapers need to be changed. Potty training never seems to end. The kids constantly fight and scream and torture one another. Bills need to be paid. Mom is losing her mind. Dad works all day and goes to school at night. Mom runs her own photography business. Things just seem to be chaotic and never ending. Depression and anxiety set in.
Somewhere along the line I questioned what I was personally doing to help or hurt the situation. Was I throwing bigger tantrums than the kids were? When they would scream and yell, I would do the same thing right back in effort to make them stop. If they weren't behaving the
way I thought they should, I would lose my cool. Then I asked "Is this they way Jesus treated children?" A profound "No way!" was the answer. Then why was I treating God's children in a way that wasn't peaceful and loving? Why did I have to get frustrated and angry every time my kids were losing it?
One day I made the conscious decision to slow down and be more patient with the kids.
Each day keeps getting better and better. I am able to control myself a little more each day. I now have notes posted all around the house to remind myself of the correct way to be thinking. I made several copies of the following three quotes and posted them all over the house. The essages are:
1. "Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick. Thus Jesus taught that the kingdom of God is intact, universal, and that man is pure and holy." SH 477:1. This one helps remind me that I need to be seeing myself and my children the way God sees us. Instead of thinking "my kids are so loud!" or "these kids are so naughty" I can think "These are God children, made in God's perfect, complete image and likeness." I have gotten into the habit now of clearing my thinking out loud. For
instance, if they do something naughty, I will sit them down and tell them " You are God's child. You can hear what God is telling you. You were made perfect and peaceful, etc etc." Then they become peaceful and run off and play nicely.
2. "Beloved Christian Scientists, keep your minds so filled with Truth and Love, that sin, disease, and death cannot enter. It is plain that noghing can be added to the mind already full." My p10:3 - by Mary Baker Eddy.
This one reminds me to watch what I'm letting into my thinking. If I am making sure Truth and Love are filling my thoughts, then the depressed thoughts and views can't enter.
3. "And we solemnly promise to watch and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus, to do unto others as we would have them do unto us and to be merciful, just and pure." SH 497:24 This reminds me that we have promised with all our heart to think the way Christ Jesus did. It also reminds us of the golden rule. It helps remind me to keep my
thoughts pure and loving. We're not just wishing we'll do this, we "solemnly promise" to do this.
I finally don't feel like a desperate housewife any more. I feel as though I have control over my thoughts and actions. If I am doing what the three statements above tell me to do, then I can't help but be happy, healthy and at peace. I can't help but see myself and my children as God sees them. It doesn't come over night. You have to train your thought to stop thinking negative things and fill your mind with Truth and Love.
So the kids are still loud (although far less than before), the dishes still need to be washed, the floors are constantly getting dirty, and all the other typical things are going on. But I have my sanity back. I choose God. I choose good thoughts. I choose not to listen to mortal mind trying to get me to believe what I see. I chose not to feel helpless. I choose not to accept as fact each of the things the children do that aren't loving. Each day is better than the last because my
thoughts are turning more and more to God.
There are countless moms out there feeling overwhelmed. You don't have to feel helpless any longer. It took me a long time to realize I actually had more control over the situation than I thought. The more I keep my thoughts filled with Truth and Love, the more the entire family
is at peace.
UPDATE: This article was written summer 2005. Since then, I have completely turned my thoughts and life over to God. I am turning to Him for every situation in my life and am now in the full time healing ministry. It's a privledge to help other people learn that they too can turn to God for help any time and for anything. Our home is now a peaceful one. The children are much better behaved - and so are Mom and Dad! It's no longer chaos and discord, but peace and harmony from leaning on God.
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