Wednesday, December 28, 2011

People get ready ...

When life seems “just wrong,” what can you do to make it “right”? 

Remedy offers biblical principles for hope, healing, and freedom
from substance abuse and
other destructive behaviors. 

Remedy meets every Thursday from 6.30 to 8.30
in the Well @ Element.

Our first gathering of the broken, abused, and hurting
is February 2nd. 


Friday, December 23, 2011

A Gift


A collection of pithy sayings
in a book called “Daily Reprieve”

A note from a role model
saying “post these on Remedy’s Facebook page”

A brief salutation on the first page signed
 “Continuing the journey,
Dayle Eastman”

A deep sense of sincere appreciation
for a gift from a wise man’s  heart.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Dry Drunk

A “dry drunk” is someone who has given up drinking and drugging
but has not made any internal or emotional changes –
 they stay the same but the substance is gone.
Or it can be someone who is abstinent and on a progressive path of recovery but has slowly returned to chaotic and unrealistic thinking.
If this is you, you have entered the “Extreme Danger Zone.”  
 Don’t wait for someone to come to you –
 be proactive and seek help
from someone you know and trust! 

Monday, December 19, 2011

Happiness

Another one of my favorite movies is Tombstone.  After settling in Tombstone, Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) takes his stud for a ride in the hills outside of town.  By chance, he encounters the beautiful Josephine Marcus (Dana Delany) riding her mare through the same hills.  Together, they ride the hills and plains for a while then stop to rest.  As they sit resting, Josephine looks into Wyatt’s eyes and asked, “Are you happy?”  He responds, with a snort, “What kind of a question is that?” 

I think that is one of the questions we all ask of ourselves and to those we care about in life.  So, let me ask you – are YOU happy?  What would make you happy? 

Martin Seligman, known as the founder of positive psychology, in his work entitled Authentic Happiness: Using Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment, offers his thoughts on eight factors of happiness.
                        Money – materialistic people are not happy.
                        Marriage – married people are happier than single individuals.
                        Sociability – happy people tend to lead a “rich and fulfilling social life.”
                        Gender – “Women are both sadder and happier than men.” (what?! J )
Religion – “Religious people are consistently shown to be happier and satisfied with life   than nonreligious…”
Illness“Illness does not affect satisfaction or happiness…”
Climate – climate has no effect  on happiness
All the above factors account for 8 to 15 percent of our happiness.  What makes up the other 85 to 92 percent?  According to Seligman, it is
Character! -  “happiness has little to do with pleasure, and much to do with developing personal strengths and character.”

Character is made up of universal virtues found in every culture past and present – and I might add, future!  Character includes the qualities of wisdom, knowledge, courage, love, humility, and spirituality.  We achieve these characteristics cultivating and nurturing personal strengths such as valor, integrity, sharing, kindness, sacrifice, and patience.

The apostle Paul says this about character development:

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.   And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us (Romans 5.3-5, NIV).



Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Out of control!

Two confessions:  One.  I’m a bit of a control freak.  (Many of you who know me are saying, “Seriously?!!?” and laughing.)  Two, I get a little ‘tweaked’ when I acknowledge that I am not in control of many of the circumstances I experience in life.  When I get out of the “driver’s seat” and turn over control to someone else, it makes me extremely uncomfortable and, yes, frightened.   My typical response when asked to “slide over,” is “What??!!!??”  


Am I the only one with this problem or are you with me in this? 

So, here’s the truth we must embrace and accept:  We can’t control our circumstances.  The only thing we can control is how we respond to our circumstances!

This morning when I read Mary’s story in the Gospel of Luke 1.26-56, I was amazed at her trust in God and His word! 

Mary was a teenager when the angel Gabriel told her to get out of the driver’s seat because God was going to do an amazing thing with and through her. 

“Slide over, Mary.  You will conceive and give birth to a son .. a son conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit.” 

What!!???!!

She found herself pregnant even though she was a virgin! 

What??!!??

She experienced the disappointment, dismay and disbelief of her family, friends, and fiancé.

What??!!??

This child whom the angels told her would be “holy and called the Son of God.” 

What??!!??

She would find herself in a smelly stable giving birth to this “Son of God, Son of the Most High”! 

What??!!??

What control did Mary have over her circumstances?  None.  She could not control God’s plan to send a Savior for all of humanity.  She could not control her financial poverty.  She could not control her family’s response to her “unexpected pregnancy.”  She could not control Joseph’s response to her apparent “disgrace.” 

In the midst of her circumstances, Mary held tight to the promises of God she received through the angel Gabriel.  She found serenity and gave birth to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

When life seems out of control and we want to shout, “What!!??!!,”  we need to find serenity by holding tightly to God’s promises found in His word.  When we do this, we, too, will find serenity “in the passenger’s seat!”  

Monday, December 5, 2011

Leftovers

A long time ago, I used a team of horses pulling a wagon piled high with hay to feed cattle during the winter months in Montana.  The two horses were named Tiny and Tom.  Tom weighed 2,005 pounds and Tiny weighed in at an even 2,000.   Every winter morning, I would roll out of bed about 4am and stumble out to the horse barn to get them ready for the day with several pounds of rolled oats and ½ bale of grass hay each.   You know what happens to that much roughage, don’t you?  About every three to four weeks, I would shovel the “leftovers” out the door into a large pile!




There is one lesson I learned from all this – stables stink! 

Luke 2.6&7And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.
    
Jesus was born in a stable.  Historians tell us that the stable was not like what we see on our Christmas cards!  It was probably more like a cave – dark, damp, and filled with the stench of “leftovers.”  It was in the midst of all of this that Jesus came to us. 

He comes to us in the same way today.  He comes in the midst of the “darkness and stench” of our lives.  He doesn’t wait until we get “cleaned up.”    

Here’s an amazing truth.  It is when we turn our lives over to God that the real “house cleaning” begins!! 

Merry Christmas!