I find that my mind is 'clearest' when I am
working with plants.
Prayer by Stormie Omartian:
Lord, help me to not misuse my time and my mind
thinking thoughts that are a futile waste of time.
Help me instead to think high-minded thoughts---
thoughts that are creative and productive.
I give control of my mind to You, Lord,
and ask that You would fill it with Spirit-filled thoughts.
Don't let wrong thinking lead me astray
and alienated me from the life
You have for me.
Renew my mind with Christlike thoughts
and give me the ability to perceive things clearly.
Amen.
Accompanying Scripture:
Ephesians 4:17-18
And so I insist---and God backs me up on this---
that there be no going along with the crowd,
the empty-headed, mindless crowd.
They've refused for so long to deal with God
that they've lost touch
not only with God but with reality itself.
They can't think straight anymore.
The Message version
My Thoughts:
My mind has been my biggest problem/enemy this summer.
Mind games have been destroying confidence and zapping strength.
Our 40th class reunion did not help--
at least at first.
I went to see two close friends.
I only got to spend time with one of them.
The other was dancing to 70s music,
momentarily submerged in that time period.
I have no problem with how she 'enjoyed' the reunion.
I'm glad she was having fun.
I was simply unable to join her in that manner;
Often the very music that fellow classmates love,
bring back less than happy memories for me.
Plus, I am self-conscious about dancing
and esp. how my body looks.
Perhaps I need to lighten up.
Or perhaps I just need to accept my melancholy side
and find good from it.
I see no point in re-experiencing most of my high school times.
However, there are three incidents I talk about regularly
and those all involve English teachers who positively influenced my life
and my subsequent teaching of English to today's high school students:
But I digress.
I realized that a person I viewed as a friend (not the two previously mentioned)
has perhaps never really been a friend to me.
She has only reached out when she needed something.
However, I have reached out to her a lot in the past.
The realization hurt.
It didn't help that I have felt jealousy at times about how she looks---
It didn't help that I have felt jealousy at times about how she looks---
awesome.
I turned to God.
He and I are working it all out.
Meanwhile I need to reprogram my thoughts.
Those mind games can be brutal.
And I am eating healthier.
It sounds like you're doing just what you need to do Beth. I think we all tend to be far too harsh on ourselves. I pray the Father will speak truth to your heart - about the way He feels about you. You are so loved.
ReplyDeleteOh the high school reunions, I have never gone to. I wasn't close to anyone in high school so why would I want to see them now?
ReplyDeleteI like the simplicity of your blog.
Thank you for commenting on mine.
Your first line, about the mind thinking clearly while working with plants ...
ReplyDeleteYes, that is me, too. God speaks into my spirit when I'm in His creation.
i'll second that. every time i go into our small lot and start pulling weeds (that's right, no insecticides here either), i say to myself, just ten minutes of my time, and end up pulling and reorganizing for an easy and solid two hours. it does clear my head too, that's most probably the drug of it. but then again, it is also relaxing, ànd rewarding.
ReplyDeletewe should actually be gardening ALL the time, and nothing but!!
n♥
I too find that working with my plants helps crear my mind.
ReplyDeleteI don't go to class reunions because I know I would feel just like you did (high school wasn't a very graceful time of my life).
Even after nearly 50 years, some aspects simply haven't changed. I'VE changed a LOT, through the Lord, so some of them might like me better [or not as much since I don't have the same lifestyle].
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you went and I expect you were cared for very much, even more than you might have seen it, b/c we are sometimes the most critical ones towards ourselves.
Glad you had a English teachers that touched you. Me, too.