Month: December 2020

What Kind Of Tree Are You?

There are so many different trees in the world. We need trees but then are all trees good trees? Just to mention a few there are pine, maple, oak, walnut, weeping willows, birch trees. Some of these are stronger than others, some supply food for animals and some their roots are not deep. As I think of an analogy of trees and people, I asked what kind of tree are you?

In Ezekiel 47:12 “Along the bank of the river, on this side and that will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.”  This scripture refers to the trees that are along the riverbank that produces leaves for medicine (healing). As I pondered this vision Ezekiel had I sensed this question. What kind of tree are you? Life has ups and downs but through each season we can continue to grow deep healthy roots that produce health and wellbeing. As we abide in Christ, we receive from him streams of living water.

The river in the vision comes from the throne of God which stands for the Holy Spirit flowing in our lives. Wholeness and healing come from God. The trees along the bank of the river are receiving nourishment from the river of life. Rev 22:1-2 “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2)In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”

We also can receive healing and wholeness from God and live in the river of life. In the vision of Ezekiel 47:7 “When I returned, there, along the bank of the river, were very many trees on one side and the other.” The practical application of this verse is abiding in Christ. Living in his stream of love for you and others, produces fruit in our lives. Christmas is fast approaching a time of celebration of Jesus birth. A time to reflect on the love of God towards mankind.

Living in God’s flow brings peace, joy and righteousness. What type of tree are you? Can be determined by what type of fruit we are producing. The fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 is “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” This is the fruit which matters this is what is generated when we abide in Christ and live in the Spirit. This is the gauge of our flow. It is wisdom to take a close look at our fruit.

Our fruit is a sign of whether we are in the flesh or the Spirit. What kind of tree are you? Are you a tree that abides or one that does its own thing? Are you one who drinks from the river of life or are you drinking from your own cistern.

Ask yourself what kind of fruit am I producing? The answer will tell you were you have been living. If you do not really like the answer the solution is repentance and forgiveness. Ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins and allow him to change your fruit as you abide (live) in him. Receive from the tree of life and live.  

Life is Short

I saw this on Facebook and wanted to share with you all.

Holding grudges only hurts you. Forgive and move on. This doesn’t always mean the relationship is restored but it frees you to live again.

Happiness does not come from something or someone it is a byproduct of your well-being.

Allow your heart to heal. Explore new things and give and watch happiness grow. Sow a seed of kindness.

Life truly is to short for grudges.

Are You Stressed Out?

What does it mean to be stressed? How do you deal with stress? In my blog post How To Handle Stress And Anxiety I discussed the meaning of stress and anxiety in a practical way.  But are you feeling stressed out? These are some of the questions I have been pondering for days. I’m normally not stressed out but if you add enough stress to anyone you can become stressed out. It’s how we deal with stress and what we do to prevent it from consuming us is exactly what we will be discussing.

I have like everybody else been affected one way or another by Covid19. It has changed our routine, caused hesitation and at times isolation. Any one of these three items can cause a person to feel stress but adding all three can cause high anxiety, fear and feelings of overwhelming uncertainty.

As I write this, we had a high stressed week of dealing with a medical provider who no longer accepts our insurance. This caused us a lot of stress. Since my husband just had open-heart surgery and six days later a pacemaker put in it is not the time to change medical insurance. I have told you this so that when you are reading this you will understand I am speaking from my experiences too.

Let us only add to this week’s stress Saturday evening at nine pm we discovered our furnace was not working. And the company we usually call was not answering but in their defense I did not have their emergency number. Thankfully my daughter knew of Petit Home Services which came out to work on our furnace.

Life is funny no matter how you look at it, life throws curve balls, such as the insurance, furnace etc. Stress isn’t always a bad thing it can motivate us to get things done. How you look, think or feel about your situations can increase or decrease your stress levels.

We can help ourselves when situations are stressful by practicing breathing techniques such as breathe in deeply and slowly releasing the air through your mouth. This gives your brain, body and emotions time to calm when you are feeling overwhelmed.

I wrote in the article ‘How to handle stress and anxiety’ about knowing your anxiety and stress symptoms. If your heart is racing calming yourself through breathing and helpful self-talk will decrease your symptoms in a stressful situation.

I hope by using our weeks stresses it will be beneficial to you. In the first place just getting a major operation is one of life’s biggest stressors. So being in stress now and getting the news about the provider no longer accepts our insurance proved to be a major stressor for us. Our first reply was shock and anger that the heart doctor’s office (owned by a corporation network) is now refusing our insurance.

But then I decided to stop and think ok who should I talk to? I called and asked questions. Note: Stopping to think through options of who, what and where helps to collect your thoughts. I believe I did take a few deep breaths. Because there was conflicting information coming from the Dr. office and the physicians billing department. I did back and forth calling for three days to get correct information.

Plus, I called our insurance company. Then I called Northwestern Memorial and we switched my husband’s care back with them until we can find a new cardiologist in our area. This is just a brief example of how I dealt with a stressful situation this week.

For some people that would not be stressful for us it was since my husband is still on restrictions from surgery. Why am I telling the world our situation because I know that how I have learned to handle and go through stressful situations can help someone else.

I started this article with are you stressed out. This is an important question. Our bodies system has been designed to cope with stress if stress is not managed our physical body goes into overload and eventually other health symptoms will occur. Dealing with stress means you actively recognize your stress symptoms and are coping with your stress in healthy ways i.e., prayer, journaling, releasing emotions, breathing techniques, mediation, humor, exercise etc.

Repressing stress is not dealing with it and that causes more stress. So, if you’re under a lot of stress and we all are with covid19 restrictions do yourself a favor and find healthy ways to release your stress. Peace in the storm…