a hope injection

This is a phrase I’ve learned from a wonderful friend.  She has a beautiful gift of turning a horrible circumstance, nasty day, down-n-out moment into something positive. This friend’s life is a continual hope injection to me.  I’m so thankful for her.

A little over a year ago I called her up sobbing like a baby.  Gut wrenching, puffy eyed, snot dripping all out fit!  (I warned you I’d be transparent, I don’t pretend well)  Now to give me some credit, I’m tenderhearted and that’s a good thing.  However, I don’t have frequent tantrums and fits.  Really, I don’t.  Drama doesn’t suit me well and I don’t put up with it very well either. 

On that day I had gotten some news that I would have chosen otherwise.  After crying and sobbing out to God, I called my earthly lifeline.  I needed a hope injection.  When you are single, there is no one to ask you how your day went on a daily basis.  There is no one to pray with you regularly.  I’m not asking for sympathy, just trying to express single life.  The other horrible reality is, I’ve been in a marriage where this exact thing was true.  Days and weeks gone by where you didn’t get asked how your day was or pray with you on a regular basis.  OUCH!  Being single there is no daily expectation of this.  Being married, you would tend to have these expectations.  I must add that I wasn’t perfect by any means in my previous marriage.  I had faults, selfish motives and failed way too often as well.  My point is our expectations of others and how quick we overlook our own responsibilities. 

This same wonderful, awesome friend once said that she began a habit of asking her husband at the end of the day, “How could I have served you better today?” WOWSERS, I just love that!  Isn’t that what marriage is all about?  Serving the other one above your self.  I read in a study guide for singles by FMU (Future Marriage University) that a marriage proposal really is (or should be), “Do you accept what I have to offer?” 

Instead of the ever so common phrase, “Always kiss me goodnight,” a different phrase I will choose to have on the “wall” of my heart someday when I’m married is “How could I have served you better today?”  Kissing someone goodnight can still hide a lot.  Having someone always kiss you goodnight, is receiving something.  Asking someone how you could have served them better changes things up a bit.  At least for me it would.  I recently read a great book by Gary Thomas called, Sacred Marriage: What if God Designed Marriage to Make us Holy More Than to Make us Happy?  It changed my life.  It changed the reason why I long to be married again someday.  

During this time of singleness I’m busy studying for the biggest test of my life, marriage.  I don’t want to wait around for the test and not know the material so to speak.  What you invest in something is what you get out of it.  When this life is all over, we answer for ourselves, no one else.  That is huge.  It is reassuring on some level.  On another level, it’s overwhelming.  How many times have I been guilty of my own agenda?  The answer is embarrassing.  

Single or married, I would like to challenge you & myself to ask God, “How could I have served you better today?”  I would like to challenge you to be a hope injection to someone else today.

if momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy……really?

I have never been a fan of using that phrase.  I tend to cringe inside when I hear someone say that phrase too. More so, I hope I never hear that’s how I’m acting.  I’m not saying I’m not guilty, AT ALL.  I have been known to have mood swings, be grumpy, crabby etc. I’m human.  Glad we got my secrets out of the closet.  I don’t want to intentionally make someone miserable because I don’t get my way.  I just don’t see how we moms would want to teach our kids that if we aren’t happy, we are going to make their life miserable (or treat a husband that way either).  Isn’t that what that phrase is saying?  I think that is called manipulation. 

One of my favorites apps on my iPod is the dictionary.  I use it all the time.

Definition of manipulation:  to negotiate, control, or influence (something or someone) cleverly, skillfully, or deviously.  OUCH!

How many stories have you heard of controlling mothers, have been the recipient of one or have acted that way ourselves.  I can say that my mom has never made me feel guilty for not celebrating a holiday tradition her way.  She’s doesn’t have an unspoken “this is how it is and don’t you dare choose otherwise attitude” really about anything.  I have felt pressure from others in life though to do “something” because that’s how they want it and you suffer regardless.  I’m sure you all have.  I really don’t want to ever make someone feel that way. EVER.  It’s kind of like an adult two-year-old temper tantrum, on a whole other embarrassing level. 

Or another thought to those of you who are wives and have been asked the question by your husband “Honey what’s wrong?” and you answered “NOTHING!” (guilty from previous experience)  Most of the time we’re mad that he has to ask that question in the first place or mad at him for something he did and are punishing him.  This could be called “the cold shoulder.” Since we might be hurting we want him to hurt. Insert here: “If wifey ain’t happy, ain’t hubby happy either”

I loved the Amplified Bible because it’s so descriptive. Proverbs 31:12, 27 & 28 say “She comforts, encourages, and does him only good as long as there is life within her.” “She looks well to how things go in her household, and the bread of idleness (gossip, discontent, and self-pity) she will not eat. Her children rise up and call her blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) and her husband boasts of and praises her”  

Philippians 2: 4 & 5 [AMP] Let each of you esteem and look upon and be concerned for not [merely] his own interests, but also each for the interests of others. Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus: [Let Him be your example in humility:]

Moms/wives, we can be the heart and soul of a family.  Our family reflects us in so many ways.  What does your family look like? Learn from you? Say about you? 

……just a thought to chew on.

treating the symptoms or eliminating the problem. which do you prefer?

Okay, so normally I’m not a big fan of going to the doctor.  I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve had to go.  I say ‘had to go’ lightly too.  Some of the times were to do the required check-up so I could receive a certain prescription (by choice). Another time was to receive pills I needed to go out of the country on a mission trip.  Going to the doctor and doing what they required of me to get what I wanted was the only way.

I’ve been a very healthy individual my whole life.  As a child, I never went to the doctor.  The first time I had my blood drawn was when I was pregnant.  My only stay in a hospital was when I gave birth to my son.  As an adult the first time I went to the doctor I needed an antibiotic and it was the first kind I ever took.  I was allergic to it and threw up 6 times in less than 2 hours.  That was miserable.  The wrong medicine can be painful.

Many stories I’ve heard and personal experience I’ve had just seem to repeat a common and major problem to me.  Now this isn’t always the case, just hear me out.  Doctors sometimes tend to treat the symptoms, not the problem.  If I have a cold, yes, medicine helps with the symptoms.  It doesn’t ever make the problem go away.  That has to ride itself out.  My pediatrician for Bryce told me when he was younger that the cold medicine actual prolongs the cold from dying out and him getting better faster.  I like him!  That’s the truth, isn’t it?  Dealing with the symptoms and focusing on those prolongs the problem being resolved.

We can have many problems in life.  Horrible circumstances.  Always struggling.  Nothing goes our way.  We all could think of something to complain about.  What good does that do?  I’m learning to deal with the “heart” of the issue and quit focusing on the symptoms. 

Have you ever lived with a teenager?  Been a teenager?  They have a reputation to go through a selfish phase.  I did, just ask my parents & brother.  I’m training my amazing son that the heart of that issue is pride.  Loving your neighbor above yourself is selfless, period. It’s easier to fix the results of repeated selfishness by settling in our hearts a spirit of pride.  Simple really.  The wrong medicine can be painful.  The right medicine might taste really nasty going down (a.k.a. the truth) BUT in the long run, if applied right and you feel better you're thankful. 

I’ve been dealing with contentment.  I was convicted.  I’ve had numerous days where I rehearsed for a situation.  Prayed for hours.  Meditating on repeatedly.  I was frustrated until I repented and changed my attitude.  Wow, how enjoyable life has been in this area since I’ve admitted the problem, dealt with it and the symptoms have gone away.  That’s my kind of prescription!

Go to THE Doctor and He has the best solutions for you.  He should know, He created You.  You were His idea.

who am I......why is this blog even here?

Hi there.  I'm Corrine.  I am being stretched & obedient.  Well, that sums up who I am and why this is here on a simple scale.  On a larger scale, let me explain.

I am entering a whole new season in my life.  A new season where God is asking me to step out in faith in a way I really didn't want to.  Just being honest.  I’m opening up myself, my thoughts, my desires and putting it all on "paper" in black-n-white.  Sharing things I've learned, am learning, struggling with and need help on.  I'm a work in progress.  I think that's where I should be, continually being open and flexible.

A friend, who has known me probably for 25 years now, challenged me to share who I am, what I’ve learned and what God has taught me.  She said I have a story to tell and it should be shared with others.  She challenged me to blog.  After a lot of prayer and confirmation, here I am.  

There are so many good things going on in my life that I could write a book.  It would take a lifetime to tell you how God has loved me.  Someday, I just might do that.  I’m starting up a monthly women’s Bible study.  A year from now, I’m going to be a speaker at a women’s conference along with nine others.  So excited to share all of that with you in the future.  God has big plans.  I’m part of those plans.  So many awesome women are being willing to obey God. 

What you won’t find on here.  I don’t have all the answers.  I won’t spell everything correctly.  My grammar won’t always be right.  If the “value” of those things mattered to me, well I wouldn’t be doing any of this.  Like Moses had excuses, I’ve had excuses for a long time for NOT doing some things and withholding maybe some great life experiences I could have had.  I propose no longer to NOT do something because of what other people think. 

What you will find here.  One of the greatest compliments in my life I have ever received was that I was transparent.  What you see is what you get.  I’m great at being me.  I don’t pretend.  What is popular, I might not care to do.  What I’m convicted about by GOD and GOD alone, is what really matters.  He is my desire.  I am learning to be an expression of Him.  That is my highest goal in life.  Enjoy the journey with me.