Help! Momma has fallen, but her eyes have been opened.

A little over a week ago I was just simply walking down the front porch steps and tore a ligament in my right foot!  I mean I seriously have no memory of turning it over or anything...and yes I was wearing flats.  The injury reminds me of hearing elders speak about walking and their hip giving out. Hip giving out = broken hip.

The same situation with me and my foot.  I was just walking down the steps and then I heard an awful tear and break sound with awful pain!!! The next thing I know I am rolling in the front yard holding my foot screaming in pain.  To anyone that passed the house that day and saw me rolling in the front yard...now you know why.  Poor Haylen thought I was dying.  I asked Hart to call Daddy (of course he was at the FD).  I got Jonathan on the phone and told him to come home immediately that I thought I had broken my foot.  I also called my sister Amanda, because when I have a near death experience (ok, i may be exaggerating a wee bit) I call my sister to let her know it!  Now she laughs and tells me she could barely understand me on the phone from all the pain I was in.

After the call to Jonathan I honestly just remember being in awful pain. But some how I managed to get back up the porch steps and inside on the couch.  Followed by getting the kids to help me remove my chipped toenail polish.  I may of been in awful pain, but this Southern Belle still has her pride to keep in mind.

Looking back I guess adrenaline took over and I managed to get in despite the pain.  What a blessing because now when I talk to the kids I realize how much my injury really frightened them.  The pain was awful, I honestly compare it to childbirth!

So why am I sharing this embarrassing story of me falling and the awful pain???  What is my point???  Hurting my foot that Saturday afternoon forced me to find the time to read a book I have been trying to finish for months now.  A book that was recommended by one of my favorite people Candace Cameron Bure.  (Ok, she is an actress but she is one of my people)  The Way of the Master by Ray Comfort

And this is where my eyes were opened!  I can say in my 35 years I have experienced pain.  I have had two children and Haylen alone made sure I understood what true contractions felt like!  I have had the stomach virus which I call the "Devil Virus" so bad I thought death would be the only option. I have also lost both of my parents and I can say losing a love one such as your parents the heartache alone is a pain like no other and you will never forget it.  But as soon as you hold your newborn you forget all the pain and exhausting hours.  Days after the "Devil Virus" passes by you realize you can live through such torture and you do have an appetite again.  Now the death of a parent or a love one is a different story.  You will always have a hole in your heart where they once were here on Earth with you.  But our Heavenly Father sends you sweet reminders of the joyous time we spent with them here on Earth, so you can smile through the tears and share stories of why you love and miss them so much!

So why am talking about all this type of pain? From a torn ligament, childbirth, stomach virus, and even death of a loved one.  Close your eyes and think about the most pain you have ever been in.  Try to remember how it felt? The cold sweat, the sharp ripping pain, pain that left you unable to sit still, the pain that left you so exhausted looking back you must of just passed out.  Then read the below passage out of Ray Comfort's book The Way of the Master.  This is where my eyes were opened to how much Jesus loved us to die for our sins.

However, the death of Jesus of Nazareth, which purchased our salvation, didn't come swiftly.  Jesus himself told us that He would suffer (Luke 9:22).  When commenting on Psalm 22:14, Charles Spurgeon said:

The placing of the Cross in its socket had shaken Him with great violence, had strained all the ligaments, pained every nerve, and more and less dislocated all His bones.  Burdened with His own weight, the august sufferer felt the strain increasing every moment of those six long hours.  His sense of faintness and general weakness were overpowering; while to His own consciousness He became nothing but a mass of misery and swooning sickness... To us, sensations such as our Lord endured would have been insupportable, and kind unconsciousness would have come to our rescue; but in His case, He was wounded, and felt the sword; He drained the cup and tasted every drop.

The risen Savior retained the scars of the Cross for a reason. Calvary's grisly wounds must remain before the eyes of the Christians.  They stand as a fearful testimony, not only of God's unfathomable love for sinners, but also of His incredible love for justice.

Reading this while laying in bed in great pain opened my eyes! "To us, sensations such as our Lord endured would have been insupportable, and kind unconsciousness would have come to our rescue..."

My entire life I had heard how Jesus could of called out to God and asked to come down from the cross but He did not. Proving His love for us, He endured all the pain as a sacrifice for our sins. People mocked Him for not coming down from the cross.  We read in the Bible "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, "I am the Son of God.'" Matthew 27:42-43 NKJV

Jesus endured it ALL for our sins!  Every pain, cold sweat, contraction, severe nausea...what ever you can picture to make you understand He endured it ALL!  I can honestly say I have heard this my entire life, I have read this and thought I understood His pain during His sacrifice on the cross for my sins.  But until I was forced to lay in bed and read the words again were my eyes truly opened.  I reflected to how kind adrenaline kicked in to get me up the porch steps and back in the house.  At no time during Jesus' sacrifice did He have such an experience.  He endured it ALL so we may have everlasting life.  

 I encourage you to read Ray Comfort's The Way of the Master.  It is eye opening in so many ways.  It is a great read for new Christians as well as those who have been in church and reborn again for years!

Thank you for stopping by Prissy Dixie!

Book Review - The Best Yes By:Lysa Terkeurst

The Best Yes Available Here

 

I can't tell you how many times I picked up this book or read about it over at Proverbs 31 Ministry, but every time I thought to myself "I am not a Yes woman."  I mean I am being 100% honest I never thought of myself as a yes woman, people pleaser, etc.  Don't get me wrong I like to help people and I am always game for any event or gathering.  But as my late Mother would say "If you want and opinion ask Allison, if you don't want you feelings hurt as Amanda (my sister)."  In my mind this book was going to be about how to tell people No, how not to let people run over you, or how to be an independent woman again.  Boy was I wrong!!!

 

My friend Danielle over at Butler Party of 3 sent me a message one evening highly recommending me to read The Best Yes.  She saw me post on FB on my son's 6th birthday finding myself wondering how my Mom who always worked full time when my sister and I were growing up, and my Dad who drove a truck full time and was gone M-F on the road... how in the world did she find the time to make homemade cupcakes for our birthday parties at school?  Needless to say Danielle could tell from my words in that simple post I was overwhelmed and exhausted.  Danielle is one of those ladies in my life I count as a great mentor.  If she recommends reading it I am going to grab it up!!

 

 

So of course I grabbed the book up ASAP since I was heading to the beach the following week.  And am I glad I did!!!  I am once again being 100% honest when I say this book has been life changing to me!  It made me realize I am a yes woman!!  I will never for uttering those words out loud while reading.  I have recommended this book to everyone I know and even given it as a gift.  I can't tell you how many times I have text or emailed the above picture of me at the beach telling friends to go get it!!!  Now let me tell you why you MUST READ The Best Yes!

 

 

Ok, read the above quote again!  How many times have you felt this way?  How many times have you said to yourself "How I wish I had the time for_____."  or "How I wish I just had a weekend of doing nothing and going nowhere."  Guess what...You Do!  This is exactly what the book The Best Yes will teach you!  This is where Lysa Terkeurst opened my eyes to me actually being a yes woman as much as I thought I wasn't. (This is also where I added her to my list of must meet women...SHE IS SUCH A BLESSING IN MY LIFE!) 

 

 

You know these ladies or you may be one.  I am guilty of sitting back and thinking to myself "How does ____ do it all?"  And where do I even start about how Pinterest has brought being a Wonder Woman/Mom to a total new level!  Yet, I have come to realize from trying to be a Wonder Woman/Mom it is exhausting!!  We may look like to the outside world we have it all together, but if we had a camera following us around or in our home you would quickly realize the people we should be taking care of and loving at 100% are the ones paying for us trying to wear that cape.  They are the ones that see us exhausted, see the tears, or hear our angry tone (or yelling if I am being honest).

 

 







"I will not let the awkward disappointment of others keep me from my Best Yes appointments with God" - Lysa Terkeurst The Best Yes

 

Above is just one of the meaningful points made in Lysa's book that I hold close to my heart when making daily decisions.  In chapter 3 Overwhelmed Schedule, Underwhelmed Soul in The Best Yes Lysa shares this great point. The decisions we make dictate the schedules we keep.  The schedules we keep determine the lives we live.  The lives we live determine how we spend our souls.  So, this isn't just about finding time.  This is about honoring God with the time we have.

This opened my eyes even more to the job which is a blessing that God has entrusted me to be...a Wife/Mother.  In the past I have said yes to so many things I should of said NO to.  And guess who has suffered...my husband and children.  Looking back was it worth it?  NO NO NO!  In my life it is the little yes that causes me anxiety.

For example saying yes to an early Saturday morning event on a day Jonathan is at the FD causes severe anxiety.  May sound silly to you, but after working 40 hours all week and knowing I have to be somewhere to be with the kids on a Saturday morning by myself by 8am or 9am sends my heart racing as I type this!  Thanks to Lysa Terkeurst opening my eyes to this I now assess my decisions before just saying YES.  Ex. If I say yes to being somewhere at 8am on a Saturday morning that I know Jonathan will be at the FD will it be worth the stress and anxiety it will bring me and the kids?  Who is the event pleasing?  Me and my family or the person that is asking me to attend?  Is this honoring God with the time I have?  Sometimes after asking myself these questions the answer is Yes and sometimes the answer is a simple No.  And I am ok with that!  And if the person asking me is a true friend or family member they are ok with my answer as well!

I won't give away any more of my favorite points from The Best Yes.  Why?  Because I want you to make your best yes and order the book!!!  I promise it will be life changing!!  This book along with Candace Cameron Bure's book Balancing It All helped me decide on my goals for 2015.  Reaching for a "less is more" lifestyle.  I promise a book review soon on Balancing It All as well as more on this "less is more" lifestyle!  Stay tuned!!  If you have read The Best Yes please let me know what you think or if you haven't let me know how eager you are to grab it up. 

Thank you for dropping by Prissy Dixie!