Unglued

My best friend Meggan gave me a book called Unglued by Lysa TerKeurst probably 3 years ago. I am not certain of the time frame, but that is my guess. Honestly, I am not sure why I never read the book. Maybe I was little offended that she thought I needed the book? I started reading it at some point because I had a spot marked where I left off, but hadn't gotten very far. Blah, blah, blah. Haha. The point is that I am finally reading it.

So far, it has been super interesting. I am learning so much about myself and the way that I respond to others in situations. She has you take this little quiz to determine what kind of reaction type you are and with who. The who makes a difference in how you respond. So for me, when it comes to Adam, most family, and probably friends, I tend to internally process and internally suppress which makes me a stuffer that builds barriers. However, with my girls, I am the exact opposite. I externally process and externally express which makes me an exploder that blames others. With Adam, I tend to keep my frustrations to myself and with my girls I tend to get so frustrated that I explode. I yell. And I hate both reactions.

This book was/is definitely something I needed. (Good call, Meggan.)

One thing that I love about it so far is her thought of "imperfect progress" because when you are trying to change something about yourself it is difficult to see that you actually are changing. It's such a slow a grueling process and it is not perfect in any way. But at least it is progress.

Take her assessment online. It's not the same as the one in the book, but it gave me the same result.

What kind of reaction type are you and who do you react that way to?

Want to make imperfect progress? Read the book.

Spring

Just finished a book called Empty Arms. It was a very good book that helped me process some things and gave me wisdom on how to work through my grief. In the last pages of the book there was one particular thought that stuck out to me.

Winter will end. Spring will come.

When my Momma was diagnosed with breast cancer last year it felt like winter had come and was here to stay. For months I felt grey and dead even when the sun was shining and warm. Then winter truly was arriving and I felt as though spring had just come to some extent and now I had to settle in for true winter?!? I was not ready for it. Needless to say, winter has been really long for me. And I am ready for it to end. PRAISE GOD IT WILL END!

Yesterday I noticed a group of birds on our tree. Spring is coming. I heard them singing. And got giddy with excitement. Our tree out front is beautiful in the spring. It buds and then flowers. Even as the flowers begin to fall after a few weeks, it is a beautiful sight. The leaves make their grand appearance right after. It reminds me that God makes ugly things beautiful.

New Blooms

First Flowers

Flowers Falling

Really old pic of Kaylee, but you can see the tree 

All of life's hardships that come my way because of our fallen nature are made beautiful in time. The hardships end. They may come again. But they will end.

God is so gracious and merciful to us.

Praise the Lord, spring is on it's way!

Heaven Is For Real

Have you read it?

It is a pretty quick read. And a very interesting story.

There were lots of things that made me believe that it was a true story. And a few things that made me think that maybe this family was just a little crazy.

Either way, I found it to be very comforting.  Specifically the chapter where the little boy, Colton, talks about meeting his sister that his parents had miscarried. In the story he talks about how this little girl ran up to him and just kept hugging him. He described to his parents the details of what she looks liked.  And how she told him she died in his Mommy's tummy.

Whether or not it is true, I found comfort in the mental image that it gave me. My sweet baby is in Heaven with Jesus and I firmly believe that. But before this chapter of this book I hadn't given much thought to what that meant.

My sweet baby got to avoid a life of heartache and pain and have a full life of joy and peace. Already with Jesus, I never have to worry about his or her spiritual walk. I picture him or her walking with Jesus and holding His hand along the way.

In this book, Colton had issues with every picture of Jesus until he saw one painted by another little girl that claims to have seen Heaven in visions. She painted this picture of Jesus at age 8. It is truly remarkable. If you want to see more art by this little girl, check it out here.

I recommend this book to anyone facing loss of any kind. Not for the truth that it holds necessarily, but for the comfort that it brings the heart through thinking through the possibilities that Heaven holds.