Have you ever wondered whether people actually have experienced miracles and the protection of God in life and death situations? Have you ever wondered whether prayers are answered when the answers to those prayers could only have come from the intervention by a loving God? Have you ever wondered if God is real and cares about us very much?
“It’s A God Thing”, is a collection of stories by real people who have experienced God’s protection, comfort, healing, provision, and everyday miracles. It is a collection of 42 real life events in which people have experienced the love of God – those moments in time that have no explanation for what has happened except for some intervention by a caring God.
Real people. Real Life. Real Grace. A new start after a colossal failure. Reconciliation with a son that had stormed out of the house years ago. Complete recovery when the doctors said there was nothing else they could do. A broken marriage restored. A moment of absolute joy, even when storms were raging all around. Big moments. Small Moments.
My story, “Angels on Duty”, was one of those stories selected to be in this book. It’s a story about a time many years ago when I was attacked in my home by an intruder. My husband was at work – the kids were sound asleep upstairs. The intervention by God’s angel was real. I share this story to let people know that God does hear whispered prayers, gives us the strength we need in any situation and the power to follow through.
This is a book about those special moments in life when the only explanation for what has happened – protection, joy, forgiveness, reconciliation, healing or a fresh start is something that God brought about.
If you like to read true stories shared by people about real life events, you will enjoy this book. I have read all 42 stories and they are inspirational and help us “experience the heart of God.”
“It’s A God Thing, Stories to help you experience the heart of God,” by Freeman-Smith, published by Worthy Inspired , 2013, is available at Amazon.com. Just click on the link below.
Properly channeled, stress enables us to live happy, energetic, productive lives. It allows us to set goals, meet dangers and defend ourselves.
Life is not perfect.
Just as there will be times when we will experience incredible joy and happiness, there will be times when we will experience high, extreme levels of stress because of unexpected tragedies, adversities, and losses that severely impact every aspect of our lives.
At such times, we will feel anxiety, worry and fear. The more overwhelmed we are in such circumstances the more helpless, hopeless and depressed we can become.
Our bodies were made to deal with stress
So, if we were made to handle all kinds of stress, should be concerned?
Yes. Why?
Perhaps we could liken ourselves to that of a well maintained car engine. As long as it is taken care of, it will run effectively and smoothly for a long, long time. But when neglected or not taken care of, that engine will begin to break down.
In a recent website article by According to a Psychology Today, Norman B. Anderson, PhD was quoted as saying, “Seventy-five percent of health-care costs are associated with chronic illnesses. What’s a key driver of chronic illnesses? Stress.”
Stress is a “proven precursor of many chronic conditions, such as depression and cardiovascular disease, and often makes existing illnesses worse.”
If 75% of doctor’s visits can be attributed to high and prolonged levels of stress, it would make sense that we look carefully at where we fit in that paradigm.
Consider the following:
Tranquilizers, antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications account for one fourth of all prescriptions written in the United States each year
Stress contributes to heart disease, high blood pressure, strokes, and other illnesses
Stress contributes to the development of alcoholism, obesity, suicide, drug addiction, cigarette addiction and other harmful behaviors
Prolonged stress exhausts the adrenal glands, depletes the nervous system and can cause symptoms such as ulcers, chest pains, headaches, depression and finally exhaustion. It also lowers the immune system which protects us from many serious diseases
Recurring health problems of any type can be a signal that we are under high levels of stress that we need to pay attention to. When the body is highly stressed for too long, it gets out of balance and that imbalance is expressed with disease.
We were designed to deal with whatever life throws at us. Our internal “engines” were made to function in many different situations.
However, when overloaded and fatigued for longer and longer periods of time, we begin to show signs of distress, both internally and externally. Normal stress gradually becomes “dis-stress” where we are constantly geared up for action without an opportunity to act.
You had been sound asleep, but now bolt upright, wide awake, heart pounding wildly in your chest. You strain to hear any further sounds beyond the thumping of your heart.
Silence.
Just as you get ready to lie back down on your pillow after reassuring yourself that you must have been dreaming, you hear another sound that shouldn’t be happening in the house at this time of night.
Any intentions of going back to sleep are forgotten. You are fully awake; your body on high alert, in anticipation of whatever threat is there. Just as if you had opened your front door and came face to face with a snarling tiger, your brain has registered danger.
In the blink of an eye your heart, circulatory system, adrenal glands, stomach, intestines, kidneys, liver, brain – in fact almost every organ in your body has been activated in some way with hormones and chemicals to meet this danger. Your hands feel clammy, your feet cold and fear has created a hard knot in the pit of your stomach.
Before you can decide what to do, your bedroom door is pushed open, and in run your two cats. You had forgotten to put them outside and they had been playing tag in the living room, knocking over and breaking a large table lamp in the process. With some trepidation, you search the house, check the doors and windows, and with a huge sigh of relief, go back to bed and go to sleep. (I had such an experience while visiting a friend in California).
We were made to respond to life events like the one above
They may not always be so dramatic. But when your teen is late getting home from a party, your toddler dashes in the street, or that car weaving in and out of freeway traffic ahead of you almost causes a five car pileup; in such moments you experience panic and are instantly “geared up” to meet that emergency. Once the danger is past, our bodies return to a restful and restorative state.
We were made for the stresses of life whatever they may be
What we were not made for is constantly perceiving and gearing up for a danger that is not there, problems that remain unresolved, continuous anxiety and worry with no resolution, constant fear that has no basis, believing there are no choices, remaining rigid and uncompromising, and the inability to let go of our losses and grievances and take what life hands us and turn it into something positive.
When we feel at the mercy of whatever is happening in life, we are like a ship at sea without a rudder and a broken steering wheel. We live with an ongoing undercurrent of anxiety and fear, waiting for something catastrophic to happen.When storms kick up high winds and rough seas, our greatest fears are realized and we are sent into a panic.
Life can kick up some pretty fierce storms. But if we are prepared ahead of time, we will know how to trim our sails, tie the rudder, and hunker down until the storm passes. We will have a well stocked lifeboat in case we need it. We will turn our fear into actions that can save our lives. We will have a faith in God that no matter what happens, we know He is there with us at all times, giving us courage and strength to endure and find solutions. And when we have done our best, will be able to lie down in peace.
“And you shall teach them diligently to your children, and you shall speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.” Deuteronomy 6:4-9
So begins the book, “Clara’s War, One Girl’s Story of Survival”, a memoir of a 81 year old survivor of the Second World War during the invasion and occupation of Poland, first by the Russians and then by the Nazi’s.
It is a riveting true story of a teenage Polish Jewish girl who with her family and two other families was forced to live in an underground basement bunker in the home of the Beck family who hid them for 18 months. Clara (Schwarz) Kramer’s original diary of this time period is on display at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, written with the stub of a pencil on bits of paper.
Ever since I helped my sister-in-law put her own personal account of the second world war into a book for her children, I have had an interest in that time period. As a young girl, my sister-in-law, living with her parents and grandparents on their farm in Northern Germany, witnessed Hitler’s war planes on their way to bomb Poland. As seen from the eyes of someone who fled with her family from the invading Russians seeking revenge for Hitler’s deceit, you become a witness to the human side of war – the destruction, depravity and horror placed on people by leaders whose only intent is power and destruction.
Since those early years when I became involved with writing and editing, I have been interested in not just that historical time period, but the stories of people who lived through such events. (I have added a list below of some of the books I have read of that time period).
How do you live underground for 18 months, sometimes barely allowing yourself to breathe, with Nazi soldiers moving in and living in rooms above your head, and the SS visiting for short periods of time?
Clara’s War, is such a story of survival. Reportedly, there were around 5,000 Jews who lived in Zolkiew, Poland before WWII. At the end of the war, only about 60 survived. Clara lives in the United States and has spent her adult life telling her story and other stories of the Holocaust and the war years and has served as president of the Holocaust Resource Foundation at Kean, University.
What would you do, if you were a teenage girl living with your family under Russian rule when suddenly the Russians flee overnight as the Nazi’s returned to occupy the town? What would you do if you were a family who weren’t especially friendly with the Jews, but whose conscience wouldn’t allow you to let neighbors to be seized and never heard from again? Would you be willing to put yourself and your family at risk of being tortured and shot if you were found to be harboring Jewish families? Would you have the strength of character to maintain their safety when food was scarce and the war was becoming more and more dangerous. And how do you survive such trauma and then continue to live what we would call a “normal” life, and not be caught up in bitterness and in the end dedicate yourself to helping people to never forget?
Why read such accounts now? Because history has a way of repeating itself. Also in such stories we learn about the enduring human spirit that can survive incredible events. We learn a little about ourselves as well when we ask ourselves, what would we do?
Marlene Anderson
Other books you may be interested in:
“Bonhoeffer – Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy,” by Eric Metaxas
“Exposing the Third Reich: Colonel Truman Smith in Hitler’s Germany”, by Henry G. Cole and Edward M. Coffman
“The Guns of August: The Outbreak of World War I, Barbara W. Tuchman’s Great War Series, by Barbara W. Tuchman and Robert K. Massie
“The Forgotten 500: The Untold Story of the Men Who Risked All for the Greatest Rescue Mission of World War II, by Gregory A. Freeman, Dec 2014
“All Quiet on the Western Front”, by Erich Maria Remarque A book about the first world war written by a German who spent a year on the front lines and some time in a medical hospital. It is written from the perspective of just a man at war, regardless of his politics or country. Excellent portrayal of what war is, how it destroys man from the inside out. Well written – excellent book.
“Surviving the Angel of Death: The True Story of a Mengele Twin in Auschwitz”, by Eva Mozes Kor and Lisa Rojany Buccicri
But wait! What if we could eliminate it? Would that be a good thing?
NO! Because we can’t live without stress.
“Stress is the body’s nonspecific response to the demands placed upon it”, says Hans Selye, MD, professor, and research scientist who spent a lifetime researching and explaining the body’s physiological response to stress. (See his book, “Stress Without Distress”)
Our body is constantly adapting to changes. If we couldn’t adapt, we would be unable to go to work, make plans and keep ourselves safe. It is stress that allows us to respond to whatever is happening. It enables us to adapt to any new situation, whether it is cheering at a football game or responding to a threat. It is how we are able to respond to life: mentally, emotionally, socially and physically.
We can’t eliminate stress, nor do we want to. It is normal and natural.
Okay – so what does all that mean?
Here is another way to look at it. We are born with a certain amount of “adaptive” ability. Like a savings account, we use our “ability to adapt” throughout our life. When we have used up our storehouse of “adaptive ability” we don’t get any more. Aging and death will soon follow.
Although we do not have control over the amount of adaptive ability we are born with, we do have considerable control over how we use it.
When we set goals, manage our time, go to work, enjoy the kids, have good friends over for dinner or simply cheer at a Sea Hawks game, we are maximizing good stress. It lets us solve problems, build things and create meaning. It allows us to laugh and cry and run a marathon and live productive and happy lives.
So if stress is so good, why should I be concerned?
Like any system, when it gets overloaded, things begin to go wrong. When there are more and more demands and expectations to work harder, faster, increase productivity but still maintain excellence, we gradually become exhausted, physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally. When we continue to do this day in and day out without restful breaks that help restore our system, it has a negative effect on our body. So, considering how we manage our time is a crucial first step to maximizing our stress and energy levels.
Time pressure is not the only source of unwanted stress
But time pressure isn’t the only thing that creates overload. Our brain is constantly receiving messages from many different sources: touch, smell, sight, and sound as well as internally from our brain itself. When the brain receives these messages and interprets them, it sends chemical messengers to other parts of the brain which in turn sends messages to the body to prepare it for some kind of action.
When the messages received are considered a threat or danger of some kind, our Fight/Flight Response is activated so that we can fight, flee or freeze in order to survive. Almost every part of the body and brain is affected. When the danger is over, then our body returns to a restful, restorative state. It is a healthy and balanced system.
But when the threat or danger is not a real physical threat, but a paper tiger – a perception of danger – the system gets out of whack and we remain in an “activated” state for longer periods of time not allowing our body to return to a restorative state. That is when we begin to experience health problems. Stress is no longer allowing us to adapt to situations so we can enjoy life – it is burning it up.
On Friday we will look at some of the ways we can become de-stressed.
Habits are resistant to change. Replacing them takes time, commitment and dedication.
A lifestyle becomes a habit. When we are no longer satisfied with how we live, it’s time to question what we are doing.
We not only need to know what isn’t working, we need to know why and what new habits can replace them that will give us a greater reward.
We resist change because there is both a comfort level and a payoff to remain where we are. Putting a new habit in place takes hard work and courage and we’ll often rationalize why it is just too difficult to change.
Make that commitment
When you have identified the areas that require new habits pick one and put together a plan of action. A plan of action will address the following:
Identify what habits aren’t working and why
Determine what new habit is required to replace it
Name the obstacles that might interfere with your reaching your goal (include self-sabotage)
Work on one habit goal at a time
Mark a starting date on your calendar
Make a commitment. Put it into a statement that you repeat every day. In that statement include why you are making this commitment. This is important because it will continue to motivate you. Write it down, sign it and carry with you wherever you go.
Some habits take longer to put in place. For example, changing diet or exercise habits. At first it will be uncomfortable and will take determination to stick to the goal. Reward yourself every day with something that is meaningful and pleasant to you.
Be consistent. Set a time and follow through dutifully and unfailingly. If you miss one day, start over again the next. Any plan of action can break down. It doesn’t mean you abandon your goal.
Use positive reinforcement. One of the most powerful rewards you can give yourself is recognizing and praising yourself. Remind yourself that you are succeeding.
Put in place a support system. Either with a friend or in a support group with similar goals, this is a powerful motivation to continue when it just seems like too much work.
Long term motivation is always a challenge. Pick up the challenge. Keep reminding yourself you are on a journey to success. You determine the goals – and you can succeed.
As a therapist, I have recommended many books for clients to read. One of those books has been “Forgive for Good”, by Frederick Luskin, PhD.
I have used the well-written and easy to follow guidelines in this book in many workshops and retreats that I have given. Whether you are dealing with grief and loss, adversity, or healing the wounded child within, it is a book that touches each of us.
As a licensed mental health counselor, I was privileged to attend a day-long professional training seminar facilitated by Dr. Luskin himself. The book was an outcome of his doctoral thesis and designed to help wounded, angry and blaming clients recognize the benefit of forgiveness. He also developed course material for classes to be used by churches.
We tend to think of forgiveness as a command made by Christ – forgiving not once, but seventy times seventy. It is not only a spiritual necessity but a clinical one as well.
Forgiveness is for you
If you are resentful, blaming, angry, and hanging onto grudges and grievances, you will suffer huge negative psychological and physical effects. Learning to forgive allows you to be less angry, anxious, and depressed and more hopeful and confident. As you forgive, you find you like yourself more.
In the beginning of his book, Dr. Luskin has the following quote. It is so profound; I have taken the liberty with permission by Dr. Buechner to add it here.
“Of the seven deadly sins, anger is possibly the most fun.To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back – in more ways it is a feast fit for a king.
The chief drawback is what youare wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you.” Frederick Buechner
In his book, Dr. Luskin describes what forgiveness is and what it is not. I think it important to understand what it is not. There are grievances that are so heinous that without understanding what forgiveness is not, you will be inclined not to even consider it.
For example, forgiveness is not condoning unkindness, inconsiderate or selfish behavior of others who hurt you; it is not forgetting something painful that happened or excusing it. It is important to put in place the necessary boundaries so a similar thing doesn’t happen to you. It is not denying or minimizing your hurt and it doesn’t mean you are reconciling with the offender.
Forgiveness and reconciliation are not the same. Forgiveness can make it easier for reconciliation – but it doesn’t mean it will happen. It does not mean you have to give up your rights to feel or want justice or compensation or be a doormat.
Forgiveness is for you – it is taking back your power, healing your wounds and no longer allowing a nurtured grievance story to rule your life. Forgiveness is recognizing that we have the choice to let go of the hurt and pain and make a conscious decision to make life more than that. We cannot change the past – but we can influence the present and the future. In letting go, we are healed from the wounding.
While this book has been around for awhile, it is one of those books I believe each home library should have as well as a church library. It is that powerful.
We organize, establish routines and schedules so that we can maximize our time and achieve our goals. You may think that routines are boring and stifling, but they actually give us the freedom to become decisive and productive. They also allow us freedom to be spontaneous when we want to.
Time is relative and schedules and routines are for our benefit. They are there to serve us – not dictate our life. If they are too rigid or unrealistic, we will become frustrated and tired.
Remember to schedule “down” times, when we turn off the hassles of the day and allow ourselves time to spend doing pleasant, relaxing and fun things.
Once in place productive, routines become unconscious daily habits that streamline our days. Our routines and schedule do not rule us – they are tools that allow us to live life to the fullest.
Different Work Styles
We all have different styles of working and organizing our time. Some people can function in what looks like chaos, while others find it very stressful to have anything out of place around them.
For example, I have a large home office. I work on many projects every day: writing blogs, articles, developing workshops, editing a manuscript and keeping notes for future books. At first glance, my office may appear messy and cluttered as I often have many files, books and materials spread around me for easy and quick reference. Eventually, however, my “organized” clutter becomes confusion and disorder, and I need to schedule an organizational day to file things away.
Disorder or “organized clutter”
If the rest of my house becomes cluttered, however, it soon becomes a source of irritation and discomfort. When I leave my office, I want to step into a place that is restful and tranquil. If I allow my home to remain cluttered, it is hard to relax and enjoy my surroundings. So routines I establish require keeping my home space as clutter free as possible.
Clutter and disorder will eventually create distress. Establishing a system of organizing your life is worth the time spent in setting it up and pays off in huge dividends. It is part of time management. The time we spend looking for misplaced items or things that haven’t been put away create ongoing frustration and irritation.
The following 3 websites give additional information about time management, work and balance in today’s world and may be of interest to you.
Website #1: Jones Loflin writes about the “Two most critical challenges in today’s world: Time management and Work Life Balance.”
Website #2: Sue W. Chapman and Michael from the University of Georgia have put together a downloadable pdf entitled “10 Strategies for Better Time Management”.
We have 24 hours every day. How you organize your time and activities within those twenty-four hours is for your benefit!
The Benefits of a Time Log
Years ago, when I was just starting out in life, I moved from my small town to the city after high school and shared an apartment with my brother and sister.
My first job paid a minimum salary and I had enrolled in night school to continue my education. I was taught the importance of putting 10% of whatever was earned into a savings account.
But I struggled just to survive, let alone save money. I felt I was prudent with my spending, but there was little money left over from each paycheck. Where was I spending my money? I wasn’t making any large purchases.
I decided to keep a money log for one month. I marked down every item I spent money on no matter how small – whether it was an inexpensive lipstick at the five and dime store, or a quick lunch at a cheap deli, to the bus ticket to get to work. It was marked down.
I was amazed at the end of the month to discover that it was the small ticket items that were eating up my money – the nickel and dime items I purchased. When I changed my spending habits, I was able to save a $1,000 within a year – a large amount of money in those days.
Keeping a time log for a short period of time can also reveal to you how you “spend” your time. Those wasted minutes begin to add up. Is that really how you want to spend your time? Are there other things you would rather do?
A log helps identify how you use your time. It doesn’t dictate what you must do. It gives you the information needed to make different choices.
Additional Benefits
Your family also benefits. When you create order from disorder everybody benefits. As you establish family rules and family chores, children learn responsibility for how they spend their time. As they observe what you do, they see the results of order rather than disorder. If you live a chaotic lifestyle, your children will have difficulty developing the important time management skills they will need as adults.
It’s for You
When we shift our internal mindsets from what we “must do” to “what I want to do”, we operate from a position of choice. When we make choices based on what we want to do, we become motivated and inspired. It doesn’t mean you live a rigid lifestyle. It simply allows for different options. It also allows you to schedule those rest and relaxation times.
You have 24 hours every day. There are many ways to maximize what you accomplish within those minutes. It’s up to you.
“Accidental Pharisees: – AVOIDING PRIDE, EXCLUSIVITY AND the other dangers of overzealous faith”, by Larry Osborne
Accidental Pharisees are people like you and me who really have a desire to honor God, want to share the good news of Christ with the world, but run the risk of becoming overzealous in their faith putting a guilt trip on people.
In our desire to follow God and live a holy life, we can become so zealous that we run the risk of elevating ourselves, looking down on those who aren’t following as diligently a path as we are.
We tend to equate the Pharisees in the bible with being the bad guys who are puffed up with their own righteousness and are arrogant and contemptuous of others. Larry Osborne suggests that we too can become so zealous that we can become a full-fledged Pharisee.
In Jesus time, the Pharisees were revered. To be a Pharisee was a “badge of honor”, a compliment; excelling in everything. They were zealous for God, committed to their belief, theologically astute and knew the scriptures inside and out. They obeyed all the laws and created more to cover any obscure commands they might have missed. They had a spiritual commitment second to none. So isn’t such a devotion and dedication to God’s laws a good thing? If it isn’t, when does it become a hindrance to the gospel?
Jesus used the example of the Pharisees in his Sermon on the Mount to illustrate the difference between trying to earn your way to heaven and accepting the free gift of grace and redemption through God. The Apostle Paul himself was a zealot committed to killing the early Christians until Jesus met him on the road and changed his life forever.
Why is this important for us today? The Pharisees were very powerful. Becoming an accidental Pharisee can be dangerous for us and for others. According to Larry Osborne, if we simply condemn the Pharisees, we can easily become one of them.
This was a book I read some time ago and found it very enlightening. Larry Osborne describes some of the common traps that we as Christians face and helps us to become aware of not turning our faith into a new form of legalism. His book helps us understand how easy it is to fall into the trap of “pride, exclusivity, legalism and hypocrisy.” Sharing the gospel of Christ requires love and humility.
The bible study group I currently attend is studying Paul’s book to the Romans – a rich book that speaks to law and grace. Romans 7 and 8 clearly distinguish how we need the law but cannot be saved by it or earn our salvation through it. It is a gift from a loving and awesome God. While the law is necessary to guide us, following the law does not earn our salvation.
I hope you have the opportunity to read Accidental Pharisee and enjoy it as much as I did. It is available in both book form and kindle.
Marlene Anderson
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Forgiveness is for you
