The Battlefield

I just got back from Bible study, and I have to post right away because there are so many enlightening thoughts going through my mind! First of all, I just want to say that if you ever have the opportunity to join a women's Bible study, please don't pass it up! It has been so amazing. Tonight we laughed a lot and cried a lot, and just bonded as sisters in Christ. It was great!

As I've mentioned before, we are studying Joyce Meyer's "The Battlefield of the Mind" book. Tonight we discussed the book, and watched a clip of Joyce preaching. She is just such an amazing woman. I can really tell that God speaks directly through her. During the video, she talked a lot about how we, as women, let pity take over so much of our lives. Wallowing in our self-pity is somehow gratifying to a lot of us. Without realizing it, sometimes we want to just stay in that pity. I know I'm guilty of that a lot of the time! Joyce explained that pity is not of God...it comes from the devil. Because Satan knows that if we open the door to pity, we are basically opening the door to him to wreak havoc in our hearts, minds, and lives.

Wow. That hit me like a slap in the face. I am so guilty of wallowing in that emotion and just camping out there. I'm guilty of it with my job, and especially with Luke when I feel like he's not home enough or not paying enough attention to me. I'm guilty of it when I'm having a bad day or when things just plain aren't going my way.

Joyce says that we need to do something productive during those times. We need to speak out scriptures, because you're mind can't focus on one thing while your mouth says something totally different. We need to take the focus off of ourselves and see who we can help. And most importantly, we need to praise God for everything! That's one sure way to get our minds to focus on the good instead of the bad.

Tomorrow I challenge you to join me as I "stop thinking and thank." Joyce encourages us to thank God for every little blessing he gives us during our day: "Thank you that I got a good night's sleep," "Thank you that my refrigerator is full," "Thank you that I have a car to drive me to work," "Thank you that I got to work safely,"...You get the idea :-) I really think that by thinking these positive thoughts, we will change our actions, and our outlook.

I'm so glad for my change in perspective :-) And I can't wait until next Wednesday!!

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And just for fun before I go, here is a sneak peak of what I will be doing Saturday:
I have officially transformed this drawer into my cookie-decorating drawer. Luke made fun of me for spending $30 of my splurge money on all of this, but I just told him to leave me alone because this is my hobby. Kind of like PS3 is HIS hobby :-P I seriously can't wait until I can spend all day Saturday decorating! I think I'm going to bake all the cookies tomorrow or Friday if I can, just so all day can be dedicated to decorating on Saturday. I'm so excited!