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Vision Problems

1/25/2018

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I learned something about myself in 2017.
It was something I think I was vaguely aware of.
It was something I thought was not a big deal.
It was something I thought I was beyond.
But I wasn’t. And it was.
I have a fear problem.​​
Have you ever noticed that some of your best traits also flip over to your worst traits? The same part of me that makes me cautious, careful, and escape trouble and pain also became the source of my biggest struggle over 2017 as I struggled with fear and anxiety.

When I was younger, my parents taught me a lot about trust. I learned to trust them, to believe them. They also taught me the importance of trusting God. Surrendering. Not having to have it all figured it out. They taught me how to balance caution and planning with my faith in God and the sometimes blind obedience that he requires me.

All of this was tested when God did something totally unexpected and completely beyond my understanding: he took my best friend, mentor, and father to Heaven.

The roller-coaster of emotions I experienced during 2017 is beyond description, and even thinking about what I went through, especially those first few months, exhausts me. I went back and forth between supernatural confidence and faith in God, to crushing fear, anxiety, and an overwhelming, oppressing sense of despair. One moment I had hope; the next I felt like I’d never have hope again.

Why? What was happening? How could I so quickly falter?

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REAL LOVE IN REAL LIFE

1/23/2018

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I’m sure you’ve heard of the “Love Chapter,” but have you heard of the “True Love Test?” I discovered this when I was compiling some premarital counseling resources for my dad a few years ago, and it’s lingered with me ever since
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The True Love Test is very simple and very profound. All you have to do is take the things
1 Corinthians tells us about love, and insert your name. Then ask yourself, is this true of me?
In premarital counseling, it goes further – you insert your fiance’s name, as well, questioning
​if he or she is exhibiting that brand of love toward you, as well.

Here’s what mine would look like:

Bethany is patient.

Bethany is kind.

Bethany does not envy.

Bethany does not boast.

Bethany is not proud. 

Bethany does not dishonor others.

Bethany is not self-seeking.

​Bethany is not easily angered.
Bethany keeps no record of wrongs. 

Bethany does not delight in evil.

Bethany rejoices with the truth. 

Bethany always protects.

Bethany always trusts.

Bethany always hopes.

​Bethany always perseveres.
​


​When I personalize scripture, it makes it much more real, direct, and applicable to my life.
It’s one thing to read about what agape (sacrificial) love looks like; it’s another thing to hold yourself to the standard. As I read through the passage inserting my name, it’s easy to see where I fail and where I need to make adjustments in the way I love the people God has
​placed in my life.

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The Power of Gratitude

1/2/2018

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I’m not one to keep a diary or journal. I’ve found that it’s too easy for me to slip in to negativity, so I avoid writing regularly unless it’s in a very disciplined format. For example, writing about what God is speaking to me about through my blog. I also have a 5-year Q&A a day journal that’s been a lot of fun to use.
But there’s one another tool that has been huge in my life — it’s so simple, but so challenging. It’s something I recommend for homework with many of my counselees and students. However, because it’s so simple, and also so challenging, not many follow through long enough to see the benefit. And to be totally honest with you, there are many times when I myself didn’t see the benefit. Times when I stopped for a while. In fact, there was a period of over a year where I failed to do this. And I noticed the effect most profoundly when I found my notebook from 2014 just a few months ago.

​I don’t remember a lot of the details, but I do remember that 2014 had a lot of ups and downs, as tends to happen in life. But as I flipped through this notebook, all I saw were the highlights; and all I remembered was the closeness I had with the Lord during that time; the answers to prayer I was receiving; the joy and the peace I felt. It was my gratitude notebook. 

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    bethany HARRIS

    In a word: passionate.
    About Jesus, church, ministry, music, reading, family, friends, and sometimes even
    iced skinny soy mochas. 

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