The Battle of the Fur and the Battle of the Mind: How Similar!

Our dog is shedding. Now that is not unusual, as he sheds year-round. However, something is going crazy right now, and there is black fur literally everywhere. I no sooner vacuum the white carpet in the living room, when within minutes more tufts of black fur have blanketed the room once again. It’s exhausting.

I have brushed him, I have given him supplements, I have done all that I know to do, and yet the relentless fur seems to be winning the battle.

Trying to make sense of this never-ending fight, I couldn’t help but recall the number of times I have had to clean up the continual mess from my often-unfruitful thoughts.

The dog’s letting go of his unneeded coat reminds me of the many things swarming in my brain that I thought were gone but are not.

I need to shed my feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness. The truth is: I am made in the image of Almighty God. He has made me worthy, so any thinking to the contrary needs to be brushed away.

I need to clear away the lies that I am not good-enough, that others can do a better job, even though I know my calling. The truth is: I was chosen before the foundation of the world into a purpose and a destiny. Any other thought is rubbish.

Thoughts of being over-bearing and too much also are stuck in a repeat-cycle. More there for the cleansing of truth over lies.

Just as the dog is letting go of his coat—hair by miserable hair, I need to let go of the chaff from the enemy’s lies that get in the way of my identity in Christ.

I’m not sure how many more times I’ll have to lug out the sweeper to suck up the ridiculous fur-storm in my living room, and neither do I know how more many times I’ll have to renew my mind to only the truth of who I am, but I’m guessing the numbers will be similar.

Until Christ returns.

It’s exhausting to think about, so I’ve decided to not think about it. I’ll just do whatever it takes to restore the carpet and my thoughts to be in line with truth.

Each time I have to vacuum (which has been more than once daily), I will be reminded that the process of renewing my mind is not a one-and-done either. It is a day by day, moment by moment decision to choose life over death.  I can sweep away the lies as I put in their place truth. And while it likely only will last for a short time, I can be assured that the war is already won.

Assignment

Our county hosted Revive Ohio last month. Through this ministry, I have been assigned to disciple a woman who lives in a nursing home. I’m not much of a caretaker for the infirm, so it’s been a bit of stretch for me.

This sweet woman is actually four years younger than I am. She’s totally stuck in grief with the loss of her husband four years ago. She has a son who is a drug addict and stole her Social Security checks until she became a resident in the nursing home. When he could no longer steal her money, he left and hasn’t had the decency to even call her.

Besides these tragic losses in her life, my disciple is stuck in helplessness. She needs reminded to use the restroom and needs assistance for even the very basic self-care things.

When I’m able to pull some things from her, I notice that she has a heart for the Lord, and she actually knows quite a bit of scripture.

So, I’m not really discipling as much as walking along side.

I don’t have much stamina though.

Last week, I lasted a mere 20 minutes.  This week, I made it to 35 minutes.

The lessons in our book are very short, and we fly through them because she is really not a new believer.

Since I started visiting her, I’ve encouraged her to meet with other believers. She has been praying with the lady across the hall, and today we talked about some scripture reading together too.

I have no idea if she looks forward to my visits or not.

I feel like I’m a bolt of lightning.

I blast in there, go through a lesson, read some scripture and pray, and then we’re done.

Trying to encourage her to look for joy has been an on-going theme.

I’m really not sure if I’m making a difference in her life at all, but I’m going through the curriculum as I promised I would.

Waiting to see where Papa will take us together.

Oh To Be Found

            I’m finishing up my second novel. I thought I would complete it with fifty chapters, but the story isn’t over yet as I am beginning chapter fifty-one. I’ve been working on this novel for about a year now. I’m not really sure why I’m having such trouble ending the book, but I’m pretty sure there are several factors here.

           

First, I don’t have a real publisher. I have tried four different publishing places, all of which are pretty much vanity presses. This means, I front the money, so they take no risk. They also don’t care how long it takes for my investment to actually become a product.

My latest book should have been completed months ago, but every time they send the document back for final proofing, I find a few more minor corrections. And each time, it takes them more than a month to make those corrections that would take me about 10 minutes to do.

I was so hopeful that this publisher would be the one.  Yet, when the priority for my work to be produced is so much at their obvious bottom of the barrel, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out they don’t really intend to promote my work.

The second reason I seem to be stalling on finishing my book is that I don’t really know how to end it. I keep writing, and more unfolds. I guess I’m just supposed to see where it leads me.

The publisher who did my last book was the worst ever. They took months and months to make minor corrections and didn’t make the corrections that I asked for. I hate the way the book looks. The layout is nothing like I wanted, but I got sick of waiting for them and just wanted it over. They also don’t seem to care at all about promoting my work. I received an email a few weeks ago that said they found a little time to devote to my book and would try marketing it again. Thanks so much for remembering you haven’t helped me recoup one cent of my work after two years!

I’m pretty frustrated.

I have lots more books stirring inside of me to write.

I have another children’s book waiting on the last few illustrations, and then there’s this novel, plus a bunch more on my mind.

I need a fairy godmother to just wave a wand and turn me into the princess writer I want to be.

I’m smiling as I read those words, because they are beyond silly.

What does it take to find the right person to know that I am a gold mine waiting to be uncovered?