I always seem to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time...

I happened to be sitting, minding my own business and:  Wham!! I get to overhear something that I really wish I had not overheard and I saw an expression; and, it made me really sad.  I thought to myself, "Whatever could they be thinking?"  The comment was that they were celebrating Christmas and with almost a gleeful expression on their face and a joyful skip to their step, they were NOT celebrating Hanukkah.  Not celebrating Hanukkah, I thought to myself.  In a moment, feelings of happiness and lightheartedness changed to depression, fleeting anger, and great sadness.  Do you not know, have you not heard?  Do you not know the celebration of Hanukkah?  The miracle that God did and the Jewish people remember and it seems most fitting to me that we Christians with our Judeo-Christian background should be celebrating more Hanukkah than Christmas.   

Since Jesus Christ is referred to as the "Light of the World", I cannot find a better tradition to follow than Hanukkah.  The remembrance of God for keeping the oil lamps lit in the temple for longer than His people had oil to keep the lamps lit.  A miracle of His provision and protection.  The Israelites were under seige and holed up in the temple.  They only had enough oil (oil is symbolic for the Holy Spirit by the way) to last a few days.  God made the oil last, and last, and last...think of the Energizer Bunny, it keeps going and going and going.  

I will celebrate Hanukkah over Christmas any day, and again, I am reminded of the Bible verse which says "the traditions of men that make void the word of God."  I'm paraphrasing and thinking, if you want to know more - Go look it up. Do your research, People!  It has to do with Joshua and "as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."  Christmas, most Christians think of as remembering the birth of Jesus except - Jesus wasn't born at this time of year.  If you do your research you will find that most Christmas traditions are steeped deep in pagan religion.  True, imagine my dismay when I learned that and wanted to find a way to honor God.   

Hanukkah is known as the "The Festival of Lights."  It fits.  Jesus is the light.  The light of Christmas.  The light of the world.  The all-sufficient one.  He is eternal. He lives, he reigns, there is no one or no thing greater or higher than Jesus Christ.  Hanukkah fits and fits very nicely.  Remembering my God who shall supply all my needs according to His riches in glory.  My God who does miracles still today. 
 

Why Every True Christian Will Admit 

They Are A Recovering Narcissist...

Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

As much as I have ranted, yes - Ranted! - about bullies, narcissistic people, when the Lord popped this thought in my head, I had to stop and say, "Yes, This is very true."  We are all at different points in our journeys to the Lord if we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  
The terms to define a narcissist float freely as in:  Self-Centered, they only think about themselves; Selfish, see self-centered.  They think only about themselves, see self-centered; They matter so much only to themselves that they will purposely try to control and manipulate others by lying, stealing, trying to set you up for other people to see you a certain way - not caring what harm it may cause to you, their victim, see self-centered.  If there is a control button, they have it.  They will not surrender it.  No matter the cost!  

Now this brings us to our learning points.  If you have had somewhat of a Catholic background, maybe Reformation, and have learned some of the catechisms you will remember your seven deadly sins.  If you have more a Protestant/Reformation, you will have lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life teachings.  

What Are You Catching???

2Co 6:16  And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
2Co 6:17  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 

This time of year always brings about hurts.  Someone always says something and their responses cause an offense, a wounding, and the enemy loves to play havoc with their emotions.  My answer is - We all must work out our OWN SALVATION with fear and trembling.  Meaning that what God has told me to lay down might be perfectly fine for you to pick up.  Please don't judge me and I won't judge you, okay?  However, I do have a life experience I would like to share with you.

Do you remember "The Joy" song?  The 'Joy Song?' you ask.  "Yes, the "Joy Song..." a memory from long ago comes to the forefront of my thoughts.  I remember a time sitting around the table, doing school, with my children.  They were being kind of grumpy and most likely, so was I.  I would do things at various time to break the monotony of  boring tasks that had to be finished to say 'we had done school.'  On this particular day, I broke out in to singing as I have known to do at times.  I started singing the "Joy" Song.  'If you want joy you must ask for it?, if you want joy you must ask for it....Remember?  The Joy Song??  Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha ha...by the third ha, we were all laughing.  We sang it together and again, by the third Ha, we were laughing.  Spontaneous laughter!  Joy!  Our cast-down countenances lightened by the moment.  

I watched a sermon-video recently and the speaker, Veronica Bean, was teaching on worship and the spontaneous that happens when you are praising and worshiping our Lord, Jesus Christ.  In this instance, prophecy, was the topic.  She made the statement that the Holy Spirit was 'catching.'  In other words, if you become thankful, others will catch on to that thankfulness.  If you become joyful, others will catch on to that joyfulness.  If you start prophesying, others will prophecy.  Likewise, if you are bitter and complaining (guilty, I admit it.) bitterness and complaining you will get. 

I don't know about you, but I need those others speaking in to my life.  Back to the topic at hand, whatever the Holy Spirit is doing is catching!  You start, others will follow.  May the day come when we are all bold to act without having to follow others and we are just obedient to obey our Lord, Jesus.

So whatever you are doing, be sure it is something you want to catch.  Might I encourage you tonight, around the family table, sing the 'Joy' Song and tell me what you caught. 

   

Here I sit, 

Churning thoughts in my head.

Plans I make, I'm going to do,

And I hear you say, "Come my Child, wait on me.

My Yoke is easy.  My burden is light."

The enemy presses, thoughts surging -

I'm going to make this happen

And I hear you say, "Wait, My Child.  Wait on me.

My thoughts fly back, 

'But, I must be about my  Father's business.'

All while My Father is saying, "Wait, My Child.  Come rest in me." 

Autumn Flowers

 

 

So 

 

Beautiful!!!

What is Love?

I saw another posting today which brought about the usual response of myself answering, "What do they think is love?"  Quite literally, I have been feeling the craziness of this world lately.  Things are moving so fast.  The merry-go-round has sped up and at a time when life really should be a little easier.  Don't let anybody kid you, kid.  It doesn't get easier when you get older.  So you young people, enjoy your young lives because guess what?  Yep, you are going to get older too.  

I have always pondered the Bible verse -

(Mat 11:12)  And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

Every time I read this Bible verse, I sense the battle we are in as believers in Jesus Christ. And, I always ask myself, "What is Love?"  That question comes about as people always speak of love as being soft, fluffy, non-violent.  Yet, my Bible clearly states that the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and who receives the Kingdom of Heaven, those who take it by force.  Take it by force seems to speak to me of someone grappling (fighting, contending) not sitting idly by and watching events happen.  Maybe it is in the realm of prayer as we know prayer is a powerful tool but so easily, prayer is forgotten.  

As a parent I heard the analogy of love demonstrated in the scenario of a child playing with a ball.  The ball gets away from the child and rolls in to the street.  The child runs after the ball in to the street.  Thankfully, no car was coming, but the parent is moved to discipline the child to make sure what the child just did will never happen again.  Never!  Talking will not do it, most likely the child receives a spanking.  After all, Love is not going to let them continue to behave in this manner, right?  NO! True love is going to stop them - No matter the cost!  

Maybe part of this is understanding what the Kingdom of Heaven entails - Walking in the Kingdom involves your identity in Christ.  When you are part of the Kingdom of Christ, you are part of His body.  The Bible speaks very clearly of promises given to His body.  We have no lack.  We are victorious.  All of our needs will be met.  We can obtain healing.  This always brings us back to a conundrum of why did the person not receive their healing.  I honestly cannot answer why.  Only God can answer that and He will in his time.  However, I do not see where He says in His Word to quit, to lay down your armor and not contend for the faith.  Maybe part of it has to do with the above verse that those who receive the Kingdom of Heaven do so by taking it with force.  

I want to clarify that this verse does not say go out and do violence to others in payment for what they have done to you.  No, God does not want us to repay evil for evil.  However, I do not think it means sit on your rear-end and do nothing.  We all know it takes much more discipline and inner strength to not react than to react when someone has wronged you. 

So let me ask, how are taking the Kingdom of Heaven by force? and - What is Love to you?    

Multiple Chemical Sensitivities...

As I learn, I attempt to share so that I might help others...

I received a phone call from a friend and she asked if I could come and see her.  I did so, and received the news that she was facing several major life situations, none of which the outcome was for the good.  But, you see, she is a Believer in Christ Jesus.  She knows her identity in Christ and she is confident of her outcome.  When we know who we are in Jesus Christ we can be confident that He has our back.  He is not going to let one thing happen to us that He does not know will happen and He knows as long as we trust and believe in Him, we will have the victory. We might pass to the other side, but that means we have still won!  I believe I will see her healed.  I am choosing to join in with her belief in Jesus that He is going to heal her and that her story will bring honor and glory to the Lord.  

For my part of the story, as the Bible says, "My people perish for a lack of knowledge..."  paraphrased...go look it up... :)  Part of my healing journey has been to change my diet, stay away from certain foods, and now, stay away from certain chemicals.  I just wanted to share that I have found another part of the puzzle.  

You see, my friend's story fits in as I was called up to come visit her.  I went and the next day I was asked to take her somewhere which I had not been in a while, the hospital.  As we entered the building, I could feel my face go numb and tingling...Within 15 minutes of being in the building, my throat was burning.  Within one-half hour, my nose was completely stopped up.  I developed lung congestion and a cough by that evening.  By the next day, I sounded like I had the worst case of some respiratory illness, but oddly enough, no fever.  My sinus drainage, sorry for the grossness of context, was showing all signs of an infection:  bloody, not clear, purulent mucous drainage, etc, etc...Oddly enough, my friend's nose stopped up too....hmmmm putting together pieces of the puzzle. 

Next, it took four to five days for me to clear this '___________' ( I hesitate to call it an illness, or an infection, or _____________fill in whatever medical word..)  I did clear and was feeling a lot better only to have another exposure to fresh paint and hot glue being used.  Within five minutes, I had a headache.  My sinuses upon waking the next morning were full of 'GUNK'  and within two to three hours upon being awake, I am starting to feel like myself again.  

I share hoping that people will learn that what they do does affect others.  That there are some things they might attribute to an illness when in the reality it is not an illness but an exposure to some chemical.  You may or may not be aware of what is going on with your body, but hopefully you will WAKE UP!  There are reasons you are to wear a mask when you paint.  You might even need a mask when using hot glue sticks...You woke up feeling tired and drained this morning, check out what you ate or what you might have been doing or like me, remember - you walked in and there was some overpowering odor in the air.  It is having more of an affect than you would like to think.   

Beatiful Creation

Momma Turkey and her babies and Flying down the Road at 70 mph...

Roses 2018

Redo!!!

Edited some more...

Versus

Happy Bunny...

I Love Hummingbirds!!!

 

Birthday Kitty

Link to the other articles on Unemployed, Over Fifty, and Grumpy ...

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/unemployed-over-fifty-grumpy-debra-egleston/

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/unemployed-over-fifty-grumpy-part-2-debra-egleston/

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/flashbacks-debra-egleston/

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/i-dont-know-why-did-debra-egleston/

 

Unemployed, Over Fifty, and Sharing How Trauma Affects A Person...

So, if you have followed my articles at all, you will see I have had to deal with some bullies in my life.  I want to tell you how the other part of me, the personal, at home me has had all of this trauma, drama bull)(*^ affect my life.  As a former victim of sexual molestation at a very young age, 4-6 years old, which caused me to go in to what they term a Reverse T3 hypothyroidism, it has to do with the fight or flight phenomenon, which caused me to pack on weight.  Seriously, I was skinny until I was 7 years of age.  Then I packed on the weight and it refused to come off.  I then was called names in school for being FAT!  This continued on along with the side effects of an untreated hypothyroid issue.  I ended up having gallbladder issues and had to have my gallbladder taken out when I was 17 years of age.  This surgery had complications.  I wound up with an incisional wound which infected which required the doctor to go back in and clean up the wound and leave it open for a period of almost nine months.  God bless my mother.  She would daily clean that wound out, at first twice a day, and then later on as it healed, once a day.  I had to go in once a week and have the scab scrubbed off with what looked like and most certainly felt like 'sandpaper'.  The surgeon would then burn the inside edges with silver nitrate to facilitate healing.  It was not a fun process and it most certainly was not pain-free.  This was how I spent my 18th year of life. 

I have had people comment on my weight so many times.  I wish people could understand that not all obesity comes from overeating.  I was training in TKD for tournaments some at state level with the participants going on to Olympic trials.  I never got below 200 lbs.  I did, however, have a size 34-36 waist.  I low-carbed for years which added to my hypothyroidism issues.  All I ever manged to lose on a low-carb diet was 10-20 lbs.  No matter how many times I tried, I could never lose more than 20 lbs.  I have been called names my whole life, add this to the workplace bullying.  I guess my body finally said it had enough.  It added to this boiling pot a condition known Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.  On top of allergies that I had such as hay-fever or sinus issues, I started reacting to those wonderful anti-bacterial sprays, wipes, etc., etc. 

My coworker at work loved those things.  She would spray right before I got to work and within 15 minutes of me arriving at work feeling fine, I would get a headache.  The reaction was feeling like someone had buried a hatchet in my forehead, blurry vision, foggy brain syndrome, general disorientation, sometimes an almost alcoholic 'drunk' type feeling, dizzy, wheezing, and nausea.  Even after seeing me go in to an asthma attack when the manager sprayed the aerosol spray, she would still do this; although, she was asked not to spray it so heavily. 

Part of the reason I wanted to get in to medical coding was to work remotely at home so I would not have to deal with the triggers of this wonderful new condition I found myself dealing with at this point in my life.  This was also an issue at the workplace where I started to train for a very short six weeks.  The bathroom air freshener was automatic.  It would spray every time someone went in to the bathroom.  Guess how many times that was a day?  Go ahead, guess?  Lots!  There also was a coworker who slathered on hand lotion that smelled...UGH!! I can't even begin to tell you how smelly the hand lotion was; the aroma was as if I had stuck my face in to the tube of lotion she was applying.  Instant nausea, instant headache on top of the headache from the bathroom air freshener, and all the other above-mentioned symptoms.  This along with the bullying trauma and even though you asked and management supposedly talked with coworkers about people having allergies, it was generally the "I don't give a damn about you!" attitude that also contributed to my I do not want to return to healthcare as my career. 
I was so hurt over all of this.  People can say 'get over it'; it happens everywhere, but really?  Where have we lost our compassion for things people have no control over?Like I purposely went out and chose to have a chemical reaction to disinfectants...  Really? ??  

Not My Circus...

The Challenge to Make Spheres....

Queen Turkey and others....