Sunday, February 13, 2011

Sanity

Today was a beautiful day! God is good! I know, I started out with that last time but seriously today was so beautiful outside! I hope that you were able to enjoy it!

Are you sane? A question we ask ourselves almost all the time. In the Celebrate Recovery bible, todays devotional is on Sanity. It starts out by talking about how at first our coping techniques, when dealing with hardships, may affect our lives in only small ways. But, over time we can develop different hurts, habits and hang-ups that end up with a devastating consequences. In the devo, it goes on by telling different stories of people who have ended up with different consequences. One is about this woman who had just been divorced for the third time. Well, she felt lonely and started to meet men online, which lead to meeting them in person and it ended up in her almost being hurt and having to escape from a car in a deserted area. She realized that she could have been seriously hurt or even killed. Her level of insanity was a matter of life and death. Again, this is from the devo in the CR bible.

In Principle One, we finally faced our denial and admitted that we are powerless to control our tendency to do the wrong thing and that our lives have become unmanageable. It says that in order to gain the needed control we need to practice the second principle on our journey to recovery. And to refresh Principle Two is "Earnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to Him and that He has the power to help me recover." We begin to change by allowing Jesus Christ to restore our sanity, order and meaning to life. He gives us strength to change and set realistic expectations that we expect from ourselves.

As we get back to the Christ-centered 12 steps to recovery, step 2 helps us restore sanity. Step Two says, "We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." We do need to know what the word Sanity means in this step. But, first the word Insanity in this context is "doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result each time. While Sanity can be defined as "wholeness of mind; making decisions based on the truth."

Jesus is the only Higher Power who offers the truth, the way, the life, and the power.

The result for admitting to being powerless in Principle One, we can move from chaos to hope in Principle Two. This devotional says that Hope enters the picture when we come to believe that a power greater than ourselves, our Higher Power, Jesus Christ, can and will restore us. Christ alone can provide the needed power over our addictions and compulsive behaviors. he alone can restore order and meaning to our lives. He alone can restore us to sanity.

"It is God who works in you to will and to act according to him good purpose."
Philippians 2:13

Hope you all had a great day!
Raeann

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Hope

So today while I should have been doing homework, I decided to go to the park, because today is such a beautiful day! God is good! Today while at Hafer Park many different thoughts and memories went through my mind from being there in the past. Memories like doing a scavenger hunt there and having a surprise birthday party and even taking a nap and waking up to the ice cream man coming and getting a special treat! 
I have been through many different hurts and hang-ups and have struggled lately with having hope and faith in God. Going back to the daily devotional from my Celebrate Recovery bible, todays devo is talking about Hope. In this particular devo the examples used are people who are in prison. It says that they have found hope in God while in prison that everything will be okay. This is the same for any situation. We always need to find hope in God. This devo says that many of us are trapped inside our own walls. That sometimes we are afraid of hope to have a life free of hurt or pain. The devotional now takes us onto Principle 2. Principle 2 is when we come to believe that God exists and that we're important to him. We are to find access to the one true Higher Power, Jesus Christ with this principle. 
Hebrews 11:6 it says, "without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."
Psalms 62:5 shows us the source of our hope: "Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him."
We find hope in Jesus Christ and that is why Principle 2 is called the "hope principle." This devo also says that we find that eternal life doesn't begin with death but that it begins with faith. 
Hebrews 11:1 defines faith: "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."
All we need is faith, even the tiniest bit, to begin our journey of freedom from the hurts, hang-ups and habits. So the reason I brought up the memories is because things have been rough with some friends lately and this devo has helped me to have faith and hope that in time everything will be better with them. The other day I had a little talk with a friend and that friend really gave me comfort and hope  that it will all be better in its own time. I now have more hope in not only God but myself and friends that everything will work out. So to end todays blog I want to leave you with some lyrics from Pink's new song Perfect about how nobody is perfect and that things will be okay. 
Made a wrong turn, once or twice 
Dug my way out, blood and fire 
Bad decisions, that's alright 
Welcome to my silly life 
Mistreated, misplaced, misunderstood 
Miss 'No way, it's all good', it didn't slow me down 
Mistaken, always second guessing, underestimated 
Look, I'm still around 
Pretty pretty please, don't you ever ever feel 
Like you're less than perfect 
Pretty pretty please, if you ever ever feel like you're nothing 
You're perfect to me!
You're so mean, when you talk about yourself, you were wrong 
Change the voices in your head, make them like you instead 
So complicated, look happy, you'll make it! 
Filled with so much hatred... such a tired game 
It's enough! I've done all I can think of 
Chased down all my demons, I've seen you do the same 
This song, I feel ties into my life and how to have faith not only in God but also in myself. 

It is simply put, life without Christ is a hopeless end; but with Him it is an endless hope.

Have a great evening!
Raeann

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Got Friends?

Since today was another snow day it was filled with boredom but also with friends! The first half of the day was spent lounging around in my room and then went to lunch with my friend Jessica. Then sledding with Scotty, Shannon, and Miranda! We ended up having a snowball fight with our sleds (okay they were caf trays). That was so much fun! After that our whole dorm got together to eat pizza and play games! This too was so much fun! A great way to get out of the room! Later on I hung out with Jessica, Olivia, Abbey, and Ashley and we all enjoyed some great laughs! Then to top it off I went to the Pi Zeta Phi "C" team game and the other team ended up not showing up. So, the "A" and "B" teamers who were there ended up playing against them. It was great just to play with my Pi sisters! What a great way to end my night! :)

A prayer about friendship..

Dear Father,
Friendship is truly a gift from You.
Thank you for the friends You have already 
given me as well as the ones You will bring into my life in the future. May 
You be the center of all these relationships.
May we encourage on another to 
see You and grow in You. May our words
and actions honor Your.
Use me to be a friend to the friendless,
to speak encouraging words and point
them to You. You are the best friend any of 
us could ever have, and I love You for it.
In Jesus' name,
Amen

This is from the book that I have. 

A verse is..
Proverbs 17:17
"A friend loves you all the time."

Hope you had a great day!
Raeann

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Birthday and Snow!

Well, today is my birthday and it also snowed!

Last night I invited friends to help me celebrate my birthday with a dinner that I made. I am so thankful for each one of them that came last night to help me celebrate. There were a few who helped me tremendously last night. I want to thank each one of them, Brianna, Bonny, and Scotty! I am so thankful to have great friends in my life. God has truly blest me with them. It is really amazing that I have such great friends that care. Last night was a lot of fun!

It is also amazing to have such a great family support team. My parents and siblings came down on Sunday to celebrate my birthday and we had a great time. Also, I love seeing posts from my aunts and cousins and grandma on my wall! It is so cool! I received a message the other day from my aunt Jodie and it was a great way to end my evening by reading it. Really shows how much everyone cares. Also, my aunt Julie made a picture album on facebook just for me. Thanks aunt Julie! Then aunt Gerrie messaged me and said some great words! This is just a fourth of my aunts, ha, and I love them all! Oh, and my uncles! But like I said they are all a great support system that no matter what happens they have my back! I love you all!

Thanks to everyone who wished me a happy birthday! :)

Hope you had a great day!
Raeann