PassionPuffs

Heaven for Women is a Broken Foot

So, two weeks ago I got my ‘ol bunion fixed.  It was quite a hefty operation too.  I had so much damage that a bone had to be broken and two tendons cut, don’t I sound like an old person trying to outdo your bunion surgery?  Anyway, the wonderful doctor told me that I couldn’t even think of putting weight on the foot, even to balance for five weeks and that I would have to stay home from work since I drive for my job for at least eight weeks.  What this means is that all I can do is sit on the couch.  I can’t carry anything, because I am totally dependent on the crutches and if I lose my balance I could really damage my foot worse than before and this whole process will turn into a much longer thing.  What that means is that my husband is totally motivated to keep me sitting, so that this ends as soon as possible.  What that means for me is that I am in total heaven!  I think the last time I rested this much I was in a uterus.

Everyone keeps saying to me, “aren’t you going stir-crazy?”  No.  I am loving it.  Is that wrong?  It seems as though it should be wrong since that is what everyone keeps asking me.  My house is totally trashed and as a result of that I have maids coming on Saturday.  I get to rest, read, write, watch TV and have maids clean my house.  Is anyone smelling what I’m cooking?  I have to say that it’s hilarious that I would use that phrase since I don’t want to cook anything, but this is one meal that I will heat up.  The biggest difference is that my mind isn’t so busy and so full and running non-stop with things I need to do.  It’s like your mind is out of breath all the time and it never gets a chance to catch up.  Well, this is my chance to catch up.  I know it won’t last forever, but I am hoping to re-grow some lost brain cells and come back with more brain power to handle it all.  If nothing else I am just going to enjoy myself.  There’s nothing I can do about it, the foot had to be fixed.  Now it has to heal, so why make an effort to be crazy.  I’m just gonna not worry and be happy.  Now, what else on my body needs a little surgery…

What Works vs. Our Ego

I recently had surgery and the nurse that took care of me afterward had had to bring her 9 year old son to work, because his school had been closed due to weather.  She spoke of it with such ease and didn’t seem at all like she was about to die of the stress of it, that I was prompted to ask her about it.  She said that her supervisor had the attitude “whatever it takes to get you here” and that meant that the supervisor had no problem with kids of appropriate age hanging out in the break room all day.  Being a recovery nurse you can see the true need for a full staff every day.  If they didn’t have it surgeries would get cancelled and/or patient care would decline.

Okay here are the facts.  Over half of the workforce is now women.  Women give birth.  If women didn’t we’d have no more people.  So, doesn’t it make sense if employers want their employees there that they have a back-up plan with their employees?  As a parent it is my responsibility not my boss’s, but sometimes all I can do is call in and take the day off.  Before you start arguing with me I realize not all jobs are amenable to something like this, but many many are and don’t offer any options.  This supervisor not only had a plan, but clearly didn’t make her staff feel stressed about using the plan.  This supervisor was more concerned with the needs of the job than being the boss and writing people up.  I say kudos to her.

Spiritual Warfare

Spiritual Warfare by Derek Prince-This book is only 136 pages, but it explains the spiritual battle that is going on everyday whether we believe or acknowledge it better than anything I’ve ever read. When I started to learn about spiritual warfare and that Satan is still active and seeks to destroy I was so annoyed with my church. Why hadn’t I been taught any of this? Suddenly I realized how vulnerable and defenseless to the enemy I had been. God is the same as He was 2000 years ago, but so is the devil. The devil comes only to destroy and God knows it and He gave us His weapons to fight the evil. Don’t just sit back like some resigned weakling to the crap that happens in your life, fight it. Learn how to fight and then get up and fight. This book will explain the weapons given to us all to fight evil.

A Different Kind of Gift

It’s the holidays and we are all bombarded with giving; charities to give to, family that wants time and presents, opportunities for serving people. It can be overwhelming, exhausting and we can become resentful. All of us only have so much time, so much money and only so much energy. But the requests and the demands usually far exceed our supply. And like many women out of guilt or a feeling that we should be doing something we push ourselves beyond our reserves.

There was a time in my life when I sat through a sermon in church and the minister berated the members for not giving enough. At the time I was very strapped financially and felt griped at for not doing something that I couldn’t even do. Many times I have felt so much pressure to volunteer at the school or at church that I did so even though I, myself was strapped for time. No matter where we are the pressure to give is there, and there is something in us as women that we want to give. We are natural nurturers and that is a beautiful thing really. Where would families or the world be if it weren’t for women seeing a need and taking the initiative to fill it? But we have to stop giving until our own well is dry. It is okay to keep some water for ourselves.

I want you to think about a different kind of giving. There are ways to give that use our resources without draining them and without sucking us dry. I want you to give what you have. Here’s what I mean. Do you have two good legs? Take the parking space further away and leave that close one for someone else. Do you have extra time today? Let the pinched about to explode looking person go in front of you in line. Do you have a beautiful smile? Smile at someone today and send out that happy energy. Are you already outside with your mower and leaf collector all set up? Suck up your neighbor’s leaves as well. Are you already cooking dinner tonight? Make a little more and freeze it. That way you have it if you have a bad day and don’t have time to cook or you have something already made if you hear of someone else in need. Do you already have a houseful of pets and a big fenced in back yard? Can you babysit someone else’s pet and save them the kennel fees? Has it been long enough that your kids were babies that you actually want to hold one again? Hold the crying one during dinner or church and let that mom or couple have a break. Did you just get a good bonus? Put $50 in an envelope and tell the pharmacist to use it for the next person’s prescription.

Are you getting point? I don’t want to stop doing for people, but something has to give. The mom who also has three screaming kids at home is not the best choice for holding the crying baby. She is already depleted in that area. I don’t always have extra time and would feel frustrated if I felt like I always had to let people jump in front of me, but when I do have time why not share it? It’s the constant sucking and the sucking in areas that are already dry that causes so much difficulty with giving. We feel like we are bad people if we don’t. Take inventory of your dry spots and don’t allow yourself to feel guilty about not giving in those areas. Give out of what you have, not what someone else says you should. Even Jesus said “do you have two cloaks, give one to your brother”. He didn’t say “are you cloakless, then take off your shirt and give it away”.

Free Servants

Do you need help?  Do you ever feel overwhelmed?  Do you sometimes look at your problems and think “I can’t see any way this can be fixed”?  Yes!  I do.  Can God really help us with everyday problems like the bills, my child struggling in school, my marriage or my job?  WILL he help me?  These are questions I have been searching the scriptures for the answers and have been trying to actually believe.  It is one thing to read a verse in the Bible, but it is totally different to think that applies to me, right now.

I have referenced the story of Elisha before, but I will recap for the benefit of this article.  In II Kings 6:14-17 Elisha, the prophet to Israel, awakens to the city completely surrounded by the Syrian army.  Elisha’s servant runs to tell him and is freaking out as any of us would be.  What are they going to do?  Have you heard that question in your head?  “What am I going to do?”  Elisha is all calm and says not to worry; Israel has more warriors than Syria.  His servant is looking around like where, no we don’t, we have half the warriors, the man must be crazy.  Elisha prays for his servant to see what he could see.  When the servant’s eyes were opened he could see God’s army of angels all around them protecting them.

Hmm, well do I have an army of angels all around me protecting me?  Hebrews 1:14 says “Are not the angels all ministering spirits (servants) sent out in the service of God for the assistance of those who are saved?”  Psalm 91:11 “For He will give his angels especial charge over you to accompany and defend and preserve you in all your ways of obedience and service”.  So, yes I do have angels whose job it is to assist me, help me and defend me, because I am one of the saved ones.

Now I didn’t just read these verses and suddenly go oh yeah I get it.  It has been difficult for me to understand that God wants good things for me and will help me, because if I have angels sent here to help me then here’s the list and what have you been doing for the last 42 years?  But wouldn’t it be wonderful if we too could have our eyes opened like Elisha’s servant and we too could see what is all around us?  And if this is too ‘out there’ for you to believe think about bacteria and viruses.  We know that they are all around us, on our skin, food and surfaces.  But we can’t see or feel them.  Maybe that analogy will help you to make the connection.

So, now what?  Are these angels just hanging out?  Can I tell them what to do?  The answer is kind of.  Psalm 103:20 says that angels are moved by the Word of God.  So, here’s my ‘kind of’ understanding and my ‘kind of’ answer.  If you have a problem find a verse that fits and speak it, write it, memorize it.  If I am all worried about something I can say Philippians 4:6 “Be anxious for nothing…”  When Jesus was tested in the wilderness by Satan he responded with God’s word and nothing else.  Satan would tempt, Jesus would speak relevant verse, Satan would move to next thing until Jesus finally commanded him to leave.  Now what exactly happens in the spirit realm when we do this; I don’t know, but we know that things happen.  I like to visualize that each time I pray, read or speak scripture, thank God or sing a praise that I am loading my angels weapons.  One prayer =round of bullets; one verse =bomb.  And if I don’t do any of those things my poor angels are in fact just sitting around.  But if I do it and do it and do it before you know it my angels have bombs and automatic blah blah some kind of big rifles, you get the point.

I have had to challenge myself to believe and I challenge you to believe.  Don’t believe because I wrote it or it sounds cool.  Believe because it is written and God wrote down His Truth for us to have.  The Bible is truth.  What is written is not just some old stories, but real moving alive Truth.  Do your angels have any weapons?  Arm them!  They work for you for free.