Friday (Re) Focus - What's Your Story?

My older brother is a web designer. He is super good at picking up on words that will drive traffic to my blog.  I am pretty sure that he will frown on my choice of "Friday (re)Focus" for Friday's segment. Oh well, won't be the first time he's stood shaking his head at something I've done. (and won't be the last)

I like the name. It satisfies my strange need for alliteration while speaking to the desire of my heart.  I do want this to be a moment to pause and refocus.... for me more than for you really. I mean, I don't know where you are in your spiritual journey. I don't know if you need to refocus on Christ and what he is doing in and thru you or not.

I just know that I do...

And, since this is the only place I have any power in this world, I'm going with it.

Okay, now that's settled...

I wonder what your faith journey looks like. Are you on a steady path leading you ever closer to heaven? Is your story full of starts and stops, detours and road blocks? Maybe you met Jesus as a young child, and now, in your old age, your path is long and winding over the course of most of your life. Maybe you just met Jesus and your path has hardly started.

Where ever you are, I would LOVE to hear your story. I really would. Who did God place in your life to draw your attention to your need for Christ? Who are the players in your story? What circumstances did God allow that made you see your need for a Savior? How did you meet the Creator of the universe? Who in your life encourages you to know more of Jesus? Who has God placed in your life to remind you that HE loves you? How is He growing you in your faith today?

It brings me more joy than I can express to hear how God works in the lives of people.

It seems that I "should" say that my story is not remarkable but the truth is, my story is absolutely freakin amazing to me. God paid attention to every detail of my life and orchestrated people and situations to bring me to Him....and back to him... and back to him again... and again (and again).  It still blows my mind that He would care enough about ME to go through the trouble of putting people in my life to draw me close to him. It's CRAZY!

Over the next few weeks, I think I'll share my story. I would LOVE for you to share yours. Please do. If you only want to share with me, you can email me and I won't share unless you give me permission. I promise.... but I really do hope that you will share in the comments. I believe that it is such an encouragement to others when we share how Jesus made Himself known to us!

Next week, I'll share how God was active and present all through my life; how He revealed himself to me as a child and how he plucked me out of  the pit of anorexia and self-hatred as a very young woman; and how He guided me through these past 26 years of my adult life. His fingerprints are EVERYWHERE I look!

It is my most earnest prayer that you too will look over your life and see His fingerprints all over YOURS!!!!

Much love and big hugs!
K

Thursday's Thoughts on Surviving Suicide

I found this website shortly after my failed suicide attempt. I stumbled on an article discussing the phrase "suicide survivor" and who exactly it refers to. In my experience, more often than not, the term is used to describe someone who has lost a loved one to suicide. I suppose this makes sense, being that the definition of suicide negates the possibility a person who commits suicide surviving it.

So, the term "suicide attempt survivor" is more accurate and needs less explanation for someone like me who has attempted to take their own life but did not succeed in doing so.

From time to time, someone will comment on some post that interested me back at the beginning of my journey and I get an email about it. This process reminds me that, while I have come very far and am in a MUCH better place than I was a year ago, there are many others who are just starting the journey of what to do after you try to die and fail. Such is the case today.

I want to share the following from this post (link here) about suicide attempt survivors. It gave me hope many months ago. A suicide attempt is not a death sentence. You CAN recover. Many people do.

Please take a moment to read the entire article. I will leave you with this....

There are different possible reasons why people who attempt suicide, or try to make such an attempt, might choose afterward to stay alive. The most intuitive reason is that suicidal crises are, by their nature, temporary. 

More often than not, the crisis passes.

Too, people who attempt suicide may receive the help they need afterwards. Friends and family may rally to their side. Therapists and doctors may help provide relief. The person’s reasons for dying may begin to fade.

Another possibility is that the instinct to live kicks in once someone comes close to dying. Until then, that instinct may have been obscured by depression, stress, hopelessness or despair.

Again, please take a moment to read the entire article. 

I am proof that this is true. If you are struggling with depression and thoughts of suicide, please please please seek out help. Seek out help just as you would if you had cancer.  If someone you love is struggling with depression and or suicide ideation, please please please help that person get the help they need, just as you would if the person you love had cancer or some other disease.

I have not posted the suicide hotline in a while... I think i will post it in the side of this blog, but until then, here it is...

Call 1-800-273-8255

Available 24 hours everyday

Tuesday's Tips and Tricks

Well, I did it anyway.

I tried to get all planned out and here I am in December having a melt down because there is just too much to do between now and the end of the year.

Jingle Bell market was a huge success. We learned a lot and had many many laughs. I so enjoy spending time with the ladies who are now part of Southern Breezes! They fill my heart! This was also a wonderful opportunity to see SO many people I know! All  in all it was great.

After Jingle Bell, we went to my friend's Christmas Open House. Oh goodness! It was wonderful! She was surprised and so happy to see us... it made my heart even fuller!

Monday was my Izzy's band concert. They did great, it was a nice time with Calvin, and Iz was super proud of their performance. Again, we saw lots of people we know and some of our former youth that we haven't seen in a long time. I left feeling filled and whole and happy. 

You may wonder what this has to do with Tuesday's Tips and Tricks.

It's quite simple really. 

December is CRAZY busy, so do the things that fill your heart with Joy.

This isn't a nudge to be selfish. Selfish people are quite Scrooge-y.

There are so many things that fill my heart with Joy... Like taking the time to go to my friend's Christmas Open House, sending Christmas Cards (haven't don't that yet..... grrrrr), baking with my girls, giving gifts, and spending time worshiping with my church family, going with the littles from church to look at Christmas lights, spending Christmas Eve looking at lights with my people, taking goodies to the ICU waiting rooms, and visiting my family and friends. I think that this year I may share cookies with my neighbors. I have lived in my home for almost 14 years and have never done this. I think I would enjoy it.

There are SO many things that scream for our attention between Thanksgiving and the New Year. 

I am learning to say no to the things I feel I "should" do but that leave me feeling spent. i dont mind being busy or being tired... but some things suck the life out of me and leave me... spent. So i am learning to say no to those things. This leaves room for the things that fill my heart with joy.

I hope you will do the same.

Much love and big hugs!

K

Wednesday's Weekly Recipes - Sausage Balls

Here's another quick and easy something to add to your Christmas goody list! You can make them ahead of time, they package well and are a nice "salty" to balance out all the sweets!

Ingredients
1 pound ground sausage
3 cups biscuit baking mix, such as Bisquik
1 pound sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
Salt and pepper, to taste


Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Mix well with hands.

Form mixture in to bite-sized balls, about 1 inch in diameter.

Put formed sausage balls on a baking sheet sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.

Bake in the oven for 15–20 minutes, or until golden brown.



Enjoy!
K

Tuesday's Tips and Tricks... Making Memories

I get it. Christmas is about gifts. Whether you hold to the idea that Jesus is the greatest Gift, that The Wise Men gave Jesus gifts or that Santa is the greatest dude alive, gifts are a huge part of Christmas. Here's the thing tho... it's not ALL about the gifts.

I mean, presents are great. We all like receiving gifts. The greatest gift I ever received was the gift of Jesus Christ. His sacrifice paid the price for my sin and acknowledging Him as Savior and Lord secures my place in heaven for eternity. I want to share that with everyone I know. I want my life to reflect my love for and gratitude to Him. Woven in with this, I want the hearts of the people I love filled with memories of laughter and goodness and kindness and love. I do think that there are many ways to make Christmas about more than opening presents.

There are a few obvious traditions that will keep you and your family focused on Christ at Christmas. Among these are having a Nativity set prominent in your home. Even the smallest children enjoy unpacking the Nativity and discussing the characters and reading the story of Jesus's birth. Perhaps you can visit a living Nativity.  You can invite someone who is without family to eat Christmas dinner with yours. You can participate in Toys for Tots, Operation Christmas Child, Angel Tree or any other organization that provides for children. One year, a friend and I took our children out in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve and left gifts on the porch of a family consisting of a young mom and her 4 little kids. It brought all of us SUCH joy!

My family has a "tradidtion" that happened completely by accident. One Christmas Eve, when Izzy was really little, I took her, Brian and a lady I'd just met to look at Christmas lights. The lady had no car, so I used "looking at Christmas Lights" as an excuse to have some time with her (so that I could share the message of Jesus with her). We went to Waffle House afterward and talked a bit more about Jesus and the difference He made in my life. The next year on Christmas Eve, my family and our then Youth Pastor's family went and looked at Christmas lights and then went to Waffle House (because nothing else was open)... and a tradition was born. Now it's a "thing" with my kids. They invite their friends and their friends' families. We end the evening with Waffle House. They love it and I love them.

I tried giving my kids an ornament every year. That's been hit and miss. Maybe I'll do better with them as adults. We'll see.

My friend Tashia has her kids put hand prints on her Christmas tree skirt each year.

I saw a neat idea on Pinterest (imagine that) where you have all the people present at your Thanksgiving dinner sign the table cloth. Use the same cloth each year. In time, those signatures will be a treasure! Same could be done for Christmas.

I like the idea of writing a letter to the people I love. I suppose this is a given for me being that I am such a lover of words. Surprisingly, though I have considered this many times, I don't think I have ever done it. I do think that Christmas is a nice time to tell the people God has given me that I am thankful to Him for them. Maybe this is something I'll start.

That's all I've got for today....
K