personal growth

“Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it.  Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it.  Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.”   

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

The MLK Jr. quote is a reminder to me that Love is a choice, that Love can be revolutionary (can cause dramatic change), and that Love does win.

Reality for all (maybe most) of us…we are thinking, talking, living, and I will use the words, obsessing and consumed about and with Covid and the election. Pandemics and politics.

I confess and acknowledge that I am struggling like you and yours.  Covid is still here wreaking havoc at every turn and impacting pretty much all of us. Then, toss in all that is going on in the political realm. Struggle bus.  And, yes, the actual election day is officially upon us.  The world we are living in feels eerily weird, not normal or peaceful and far from being unified—is that even possible?

Things seem, no, actually, things are, chaotic, divisive, and unsettling on so many levels. I am an optimistic person, by nature, yet, these days things seem like a lose-lose at every turn. Lots of emotions (big ones) and thoughts everywhere.  I mean, where are these two things not being talked about? 

I’ve been thinking and pondering, what happens after election day?  The words peace, unity and love bubbled to the top. 

So…what now?

First, I remind myself and I remind you of the quote above and the truth that we all have choices. Daily and moment by moment. 

Next, I remind myself that we are all humans worthy of dignity and respect, no matter our morals, values, beliefs or party.  What breaks my heart may not break yours and vice versa.  Thank God we aren’t all the same.

Finally, we can choose and be committed to “be, do and bring” peace, unity and love, whatever the results. With that, think about these questions:

1.  What will we choose to do, to be, do and bring peace? 
2.  What will we choose to do, to be, do and bring unity? 
3.  What will we choose to do, to be, do and bring love? 

My hope and belief is that I can and will do what’s required.  Will i do it perfectly every single time?  I assure you I won’t.  Yet, I am going to give it my best shot and celebrate when I do it well, and, I will get up and try again, when I falter.

My hope and belief is that you can do the same!  Together, we CAN do our part and make choices that will bring about (or move us closer to) peace, unity and love, in our world and to our fellow humans.

Dig Deeper:  

• How will you “be” peace in your circles? 
• How will you “do” peace in the places you show up? 
• How will you “bring” peace wherever you go? 
• What about this—How will you “encourage” peace among your family, friends, and co-workers…in the world?

This is a call to BE PROACTIVE and INTENTIONAL!

Know ahead of time what you will be, do and bring. 
Prepare ahead of time what you will say to others. 

Go back up to the Dig Deeper. INSERT the words UNITY and LOVE into the questions and give an honest answer.  Remember.  Each action may look/play out different than we think or have seen before. Be open and trust your heart.

Let’s all do our part, to rise up and be peace-bringers to our relationships, at home, work, and play…in the world…and on social media! Let’s love others like we want to be loved. And, Let’s knock it up a notch or two in our choices and chose with intention, knowing it will make a difference toward unifying humanity.

scripture brings me comfort & gives me guidance

Action Step: Meditate on these verses

Phillipians 4:6-8 NLT -  Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.  Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.  Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand and His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing.  Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.  Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise...

pic credit: Pixabay

Frog-farts. Who has ever (I mean EVER) heard anyone say that? Me, never…until yesterday when we were having a Face Time session with our almost 4 year old little grand-princess. 

It was a silly, goofy, and funny, pre-birthday party conversation! We were laughing and carrying on and my hubs, her G-dad—yes we call him G-dad—says to her, for your birthday, I am bringing you a bottle of frog-farts.  She replies, “FROG FARTS and starts giggling.” I’m like, “frog-farts, what are you saying? Stop it!” He then asks our little grand princess, turned mermaid for the day, do you know what frog farts smell like? Pause. I watched her face be very puzzled and she was definitely thinking. Then she blurts out, “frog-farts smell like BUTT!”  He laughs. She laughs. We laugh. And, then ‘ole G-dad says, “nope…frog farts smell like a lake.”  She giggles and says questioningly “a lake?”  I scrunch up my eyebrows and am like…”a lake…that’s all you got?” Such an anti-climactic ending to this story….hahaha

Anti-climatic, yes; YET….Why am I sharing this silly story, from yesterday, about frog-farts?  It’s a legit question and here’s why.  First, so I don’t forget the ways God works in my life and secondly, to encourage someone else. Sometimes God uses the silliest, little, weird things to grab my attention and remind me that He is near and real and relational and knows me! Fast forward a few hours…

I got up at my sorta normal time today (the morning after the grand-princess-turned-mermaid-birthday celebration, COVID19 style), despite life being anything but normal right now.  Headed to the kitchen, grabbed my phone, checked my IG real quick (OK, maybe not real quick but you get the picture), brewed my coffee, poured in the Heavy Cream, sprinkled it with Stevia with monk fruit, gave it a stir, licked the spoon and scooted my booty into my little morning space to enjoy my quiet time. 

Before sitting down, I poured the water into my diffuser, picked my oils…Joy and Peppermint…and dripped them into the water.  Power on and diffusing begins.  Oh, how I love my diffuser.  Journaled for a few, about COVID-19 and the ways it has halted life, the world, caused chaos and fear and has forever changed all of us. Then, I opened my devo book.  It’s the one I have been using since January (The Message//Remix: Solo).  My pencil marked the page where I left it a couple of days ago (truth telling here, I don’t get to it every day. Grace to self). I paused to read that page again, made a couple notes there and flipped to the next devo reading, for today. 

You guys!  Guess what the heading said?  NO…not frog-farts! Be honest, did you think that? It said:

FROG:

Fully Rely On God

REALLY, the use of the word FROG?  I was like, “WHAATTTT!”

(Just in case there are in “doubters” in the house, here you go!)

So, I do realize this may not be as exciting for you as it is for me hahah and that’s OK. All I can say is that things like this stop me in my tracks, make me smile really big and shake my head, as I find myself whispering quietly…YES God, I am listening and I see this. What do you have for me today? What do you want me to see or know?  Don’t let me miss it. And then, heart of gratitude.

Over the years, I have learned that this is how God “speaks” to me.  A random, silly conversation about the gift of frog-farts, before a special 4th birthday party, and a devotional titled “FROG” is not random or coincidental.  It is my reminder in this unprecedented time, to know, remember and trust that He is here. He is near. He is Love. He is at work in the midst. Peace will come to all of the world.

This FROG moment is synchronicity within and around me, with the Holy Spirit, with God, with a power greater than myself. It captured my attention and connected me–spirit, soul and body.  Deep breath.  Smiling.  Thankful.  Hopeful.  A deep abiding peace within my gut. Thank you God for this little god-wink. It made my morning.

I continued to sip my coffee and look out my window, as I reflected and listened, all the while enjoying the hum and smell of the diffusing oils and the stillness that surrounded me.  Frog-farts and grand-princess giggles, with Meme and G-dad, are etched in my memory, for such a time as this, and “to FROG” is my mantra for the day.  My soul is at peace and open to receive from the power that envelopes and surrounds me.

To FROG or Not to FROG, that is the question.

Tammy Resler

What holds you back? What encourages you to rely on Him? Share your comments, ask your questions and, today, be on the lookout for the little God-winks.

Who doesn’t love a good story?

Storybooks have been around for generations.  Every one of us had a favorite childhood storybook. The pictures were vivid, the story was memorable and we would read it again and again and again.

What was your favorite storybook?  Mine was Curious George.  I loved Curious George.  I even had a stuffed Curious George that I took to college.  Yes, I know, I will address that in another post! haha

Stories captivate the attention of young and old alike.

Stories engage minds.  Stories connect hearts.  Stories transform lives.

Stories generate hope.  Stories inspire us.  Stories are powerful!

Jesus was the master storyteller. The stories he told did all those things and were so powerful.

Do you realize you have a story to share…it’s your life story?  The good, the bad and the ugly.  It’s yours.

Do you realize sharing your story could change the trajectory of someone else’s life?

I once heard, “Everyone has a story that someone needs to hear.”   I have been on both sides.  Powerful.

What’s your story?  Write it down.  Pray.  Be willing to share it…again and again and again.

Questions:  Have you shared your story?  What was the outcome?  If you haven’t, what’s standing in your way?   Share your comments and thoughts.  I would love to hear from you!