The Woman of God I Want to Be

Welcome! This week we’re in chapter 11 of Renee Swope’s A Confident Heart. Have you thought about the woman you want to be? The woman God wants you to be?

As a woman of God, I want to…

A Confident Heart Online Study - Week 10

Welcome! If you've been studying Renee Swope's A Confident Heart with me, I pray you've enjoyed the reading and have seen God at work in your life.

This week we wrap up the study with the last two chapters.

I Am Thankful for...

With Thanksgiving approaching, I decided I should write about what I’m thankful for. I figured it would be predictable…family, friends, home, job…and don’t get me wrong, I am truly thankful for these.

However, at the end of a long, exhausting week, that ended with an afternoon of disappointment in myself, different thoughts took hold, and a new list emerged.

A Confident Heart Online Study - Thanksgiving Week

Welcome! If you’re studying Renee Swope’s A Confident Heart with me, we’re going to take a break in the reading schedule this week for Thanksgiving.

If you have time and need to catch up on the reading, this would be a great week to do so. Also, feel free to read ahead. Next week, we’ll finish the last two chapters of A Confident Heart.

Although it won’t be related to the reading, I still plan to post here on my blog this week. I hope you’ll stop by again!

Happy Thanksgiving!

In Christ,

Laura

I Know He’s With Me

Sometimes I can’t feel God’s presence…but I know He’s there.

Usually it’s when I’ve hit a feeling of despair…a situation isn’t going well…I’m tired, stressed, or angry…life isn’t going the way I hoped or wanted…and I can’t feel His presence.

But I know He’s there. And sometimes knowing instead of feeling has to be enough.

A Confident Heart Online Study - Week 9

Welcome! If you're studying Renee Swope's A Confident Heart with me, we're in chapter 10 this week.

Give Your Worry to God

Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. Philippians 4:6-7 (The Message)

Years ago, I read a Christian fiction book titled, Becoming Olivia by Roxanne Henke. In it, the main character, Libby, struggles with anxiety, depression, and worry. Through a group therapy session, she learns a technique to get her worrying under control.

A Confident Heart Online Study - Week 8

Welcome and thanks for visiting! This week we're studying chapter 9 in A Confident Heart by Renee Swope.

Have a great week!

In Christ,
Laura


Week 8 – Nov. 6-12, 2011

Monday & Tuesday

• Read Chapter 9 “When Doubt Whispers ‘I Can’t Stop Worrying.” Remember to underline or take notes on anything you want to remember and go back to. 

Tuesday

• Visit Laura’s blog at www.laurarath.blogspot.com for the weekly post. 

Wednesday & Thursday

• Reflect on, and answer, the Discussion Questions at the end of the chapter. 

Friday

• Spend time in prayer and reflecting on this week’s reading. 

To Go Deeper:

• Visit Renee Swope’s Website for a printable copy of Peace-giving Promises.
• Visit Melissa Taylor’s (Proverbs 31 Ministries) blog.

Comparisons

Thank you for visiting my blog today! If you are studying Renee Swope’s book A Confident Heart with me, we are on Chapter 8, “When Doubt Whispers ‘I Don’t Have Anything Special to Offer’” this week.

Comparisons. I hate them, and yet, I can’t stop from making them.

We compare our looks, our skills, our jobs and careers, our families, and what we have or don’t have. They make us unhappy and discontent because something else looks better.

Comparisons lead to feelings of insecurity and depression, and feeling like we have to keep up with someone else to be as good as that person. Comparisons can make us judgmental and jealous, even causing us to not like someone we don’t even know.

Comparisons can be made quickly, often before I even realize I’m doing it, and just as quickly, I lose my focus. Instead of appreciating what God has blessed me with, I focus on what I don’t have.

Recently, I heard a breast cancer survivor speak. When her story had been told, there was not a dry eye in the room. I’m ashamed to admit that I walked away feeling sorry for myself. She described the incredible support she had as she went through her ordeal, and all I could think of was how little support I was convinced I’d have if it was me.

The feeling lasted as I left and drove home. But once home, I was convicted. I realized I was focused on what I thought I didn’t have, in a situation I wasn’t in! Even more ridiculous, was that I had forgotten how blessed I was.

Earlier in the year, I had my annual mammogram and was stunned when I received a call that I needed another one. The x-ray showed an area that could be something, or could be nothing, but a more detailed mammogram was needed to find out. It was scheduled for the following morning and within an hour, it was confirmed that it was nothing.

As I compared myself to the speaker that day, I lost my focus. How could I worry about something that wasn’t happening to me, while forgetting how God had blessed me? Her journey was not the path I was on. God blessed her with a strong support system and survival. God blessed me by not taking me down that road at this time in my life.

Isn’t that what comparisons do? They make us focus on what we don’t have, instead of what we have been blessed with. They make us look at someone else and think that what we have isn’t good enough.

Comparisons…the enemy must love them. In fact, I wonder if he’s behind the comparisons we so easily make. Recognizing that, can we refuse to take the bait? When we start to compare ourselves to someone else, can we see what we’re allowing to happen to our thoughts, and turn our focus back to Jesus and all that we have been blessed with?

I’d love to say that since that day I don’t compare myself to others, but I can’t. It’s a daily struggle to not look at someone else and think…If I had that…If I was like her…If only my situation was different…you get the idea. But that’s not how God wants us to think. He has blessed each of us in different ways—ways only He knows fit into His plans for our lives.

We each have a different journey to take in this life, and yes, some seem much more difficult than others. But in each journey, God has a plan…and it is a plan for good, to give us a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)

Have a blessed week!

In Christ,

Laura