Running on fumes

Counting the Ways

I’ve been re-thinking Spoon Theory and how it applies to me recently. I wrote about spoons before, but I have come to the conclusion that Spoon Theory doesn’t really reflect what I experience. The way I understand it, you start the day with a set number of spoons, and when you have used them all up, you hit a wall. That’s it. Nothing more doing. I am also astonished that people seem to be able to quantify how many spoons they will need for particular activities. I don’t know how they do it!

I still think it’s an excellent metaphor and a good, comprehensible explanation of what people experience, but I think that what goes on with me is something different. You see, I don’t hit a wall. I don’t crash. I don’t shut down, or meltdown. I keep going. Probably not as efficiently as I should, but nevertheless, I…

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Today’s Word with Joel & Victoria Osteen Ministries

Today’s Scripture
…”The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”
(Judges 6:12, NKJV)

What Can God Do Through You?
Many people feel inadequate to do anything for God. But God doesn’t see you as inadequate. He sees you as complete, lacking nothing in Him! In the Scripture, Gideon was hiding out from his enemies. He was afraid and didn’t feel equipped to do what God called him to do. Gideon was focused on his circumstances and his limitations, but God was focused on what He could do through Gideon. Gideon felt weak; God saw him as strong. Gideon felt unqualified; God saw him as competent to do the job. Gideon felt insecure and full of fear; God saw him as fearless and full of boldness. Sure enough, when Gideon obeyed God, against all odds, he ended in victory!

You may feel that you’re average. You may think you’re ordinary, but God sees you as a champion. He believes in you and regards you as a strong, courageous, successful, overcoming person. You may not see yourself that way, but that doesn’t change God’s image of you. God still sees you exactly as His Word describes you. Dare to start seeing yourself as God sees you—as a victor!

A Prayer for Today
“Father, thank You for giving me a spirit of boldness. Thank You for giving me a spirit of power, love and a sound mind. I yield myself to You. I yield my heart, my mind and my whole being. Have Your way in me and lead me into Your victory in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

The Word Became Flesh By Bobby Schuller

Originally posted here: http://hourofpower.org/the-word-became-flesh/

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

– John 1:14

In the first century Church, there was a group of believers called Gnostics, who were convinced that everything about the body was bad and everything about the spirit was good. While they affirmed that Jesus was from God, they believed He was only a spirit-being and therefore did not have flesh and blood. Therefore, when the Apostle John began his Gospel with the phrase, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us,” he was directly attacking this sect of contemporary Christianity by asserting that Jesus was not only fully God but also fully man. Traditional Jewish and Christian belief has always held that the body is considered a part of the soul, which holds the spirit, mind, and flesh together.

Interestingly, there are two words frequently translated from Koine Greek to describe flesh. The first one is soma, which means an ideal, beautiful body (think a model, an Olympian, or an actor). The second, however, is sarx, which translates as flesh in the most negative way (think wrinkles, stretch marks, and hair in all the wrong places). If you can imagine, when John wrote the verse above, he didn’t use soma to describe Jesus’ flesh, he used sarx! In essence, he said that the Lord became a dude, and that his body wasn’t without its own annoyances or flaws.

Friend, if God Himself embraced life in a tent of sarx, you should do the same! There is nothing inherently bad or wrong with your body, even if it’s imperfect by the world’s standards. The architect of all of Creation fashioned you from His all-knowing and all-loving mind, which means that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. In fact, you are just like He you wants you to be, and that thought should set you free to love your flesh, flaws and all!

Prayer
I am grateful, Jesus, that you came to earth as flesh. Help me to love and embrace my body, imperfections and all, just as you did.

Reflection
How does it impact you knowing that when He walked the earth, Jesus’ body was just like yours, not perfect or glorious?

Wednesday 17th Week in Ordinary Time

Matthew 13.44-46
Jesus said to his disciples:
“The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,
which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.”

Memorial St. Ignatius of Loyola
Lord, teach me to be generous.
Teach me to serve you as you deserve;
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labor and not to ask for reward,
save that of knowing that I do your will.

Sunday Pause (Paws): Play!

Animals Are Feeling Beings Too

It’s Sunday! Time to kick back, relax, and play!

Life can be hard, can’t it? If it weren’t for some “play” time we would probably all go crazy.

I‘m not one who goes out a lot or is super social. But that doesn’t mean I don’t like to have fun or take any time to “play.” I work around children and I have a cat…I get play time. 🙂

The picture below is Cino playing and guarding her fuzzy felt ball with another one of her favorite toys “mousey” next to her while she lays and plays on our tree skirt. Yes we leave the tree skirt out all year long because Cino loves it so much! (I turned the picture into art)

I was awake at the crack of dawn
Another week has come and gone
Today is my favorite day…Sunday
I’m ready to go…

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Today’s Word with Joel & Victoria Osteen Ministries

Today’s Scripture
“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.”
(Psalm 100:4, NKJV)
Enter with This
What an amazing privilege we have to enter boldly into God’s presence. Scripture says that we can come to His throne of grace and receive His mercy. Because He loves us, He has given us unlimited access to Himself 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. But notice that today’s verse tells us that we shouldn’t just come any old way to God. We shouldn’t come empty-handed to the King of kings and the Lord of lords. What can we bring? What do we have that’s worthy of Almighty God? Our praise. Our thanksgiving. Our worship. We are to enter His gates with an offering from our hearts of adoration because He is worthy!

Praise isn’t just about singing songs on Sunday mornings. Praise is the expression of gratefulness to Father God for Who He is and all that He has done. Praise gets God’s attention. Praise is a powerful tool in the life of the believer because God inhabits our praises! When we enter His presence the right way, He enters our circumstances; and when God shows up, the enemy must flee! Today, enter into His gates with thanksgiving and open the door for Him to move on your behalf!

A Prayer for Today
“Father, I come to You today with thanksgiving in my heart. I enter into Your courts with praise. Today I declare that You are good, and Your mercy endures forever! Have Your way in me by the power of Your Holy Spirit in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Wounded Healers By Bobby Schuller

Originally posted here: http://hourofpower.org/wounded-healers/

“Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

– 2 Corinthians 12:7-9

We talked yesterday about our bodies being a gift from God, even though they are imperfect. You see, as easy as it is to focus on the many things that are going wrong with our flesh, the reality is that without it, Jesus could not reveal Himself to others through our lives.

Your body is what the Lord uses to make a difference in the world! Without flesh, blood and bone, you would not be equipped to have a tangible impact on His Kingdom. For example, if you’re going to build an orphanage, you should use your arms and legs. If you’re going to heal the sick and pray for the hurting, you should lay your hands on them, and to comfort a child, you should give him or her a hug. In each of these instances, your body is what enables you to create a physical manifestation of something spiritual. This is the beautiful reality of having a dual existence — one that is both visible and invisible.

Friend, no matter how broken you are or how badly you are hurting, God can and will use you to restore others. In the words of Henri Nouwen, Jesus has made you a “wounded healer.” In fact, some of the greatest soldiers of the Christian faith have dealt with their own afflictions and still had powerful ministries (the Apostle Paul and his thorn in the flesh is a great example). This is why I urge you to love your body, as imperfect as it is. Your flesh is the vehicle driven by your spirit to carry out God’s call on your life, so cherish it, take care of it, and thank the Lord for it, today and every day!

Prayer
Thank you, Jesus, for making me a wounded healer. I give my whole life to you, including my body, and ask that you would use me to show your love to the world.

Reflection
What has God done through your life to impact the world? How did your body make it possible?

Tuesday 17th Week in Ordinary Time

Psalm 103
The Lord is kind and merciful.

The LORD secures justice
and the rights of all the oppressed.
He has made known his ways to Moses,
and his deeds to the children of Israel.

Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
He will not always chide,
nor does he keep his wrath forever.

Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.

As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he put our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.

Jesus gave us the Eucharist as a constant memory of his life and death. Not a memory that simply makes us think of him but a memory that makes us members of his body. That is why Jesus on the evening before he died took bread saying, “This is my Body,” and took the cup saying, “This is my Blood.”
By eating the Body and drinking the Blood of Christ, we become one with him. Henri Nouwen

Being a Woman with Autism: Expressing Myself Beyond The Spectrum

The Neurodiversity Trailblazer

          

I am getting married, I live on my
own with my fiancée, I can drive, I have a bachelor’s degree and I am employed
full time working with young children with and without special needs. Someone
may ask me why I wanted to pursue working with young children with and without
special needs.

There are quite a few misconceptions people may have when it
comes to Autism. Many people may think of autism predominantly being a male “disorder”
and may see most individuals diagnosed with autism as not being very social and
lacking empathy. I am very opposite from that. First of all, I am a total
extrovert and am very social. I am also very compassionate and have tons of
empathy for others. Secondly, I am also female, not male. And last but not
least, I do not view autism as a “disorder!” I view it as a…

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The Importance Of Resilience

The Neurodiversity Trailblazer

Someone may ask “Why is it important for individuals with disabilities to be resilient?” The answer is simple…… “Because to show that you can do things just like everyone else, you have to fight for it.” Life is always an uphill battle for anyone, but for someone with autism, it is an even more treacherous one. The employment statistics for individuals on the autism spectrum are very bleak. The full time employment statistics are even worse. According to the Autism Now (https://autismnow.org/on-the-job/employment-research-and-reports/) less than 1/3 of individuals with autism are employed, and a vast majority of those employed are employed part time. What makes things worse is that states are actually allowed to set their own minimum wages for individuals with disabilities. My home state of Florida apparently has a separate minimum wage for individuals with disabilities, which is $2.00 an hour. That is very unfair and unjust…

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