Tag: Galatians 6:9

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Focus Friday: Let’s Focus on Persevering

I recently discovered a new podcast called “Project Perseverance.” The host, Molly Ovenden, started it because she had lots of partially read books on her shelves and she wanted to practice perseverance and read a book from beginning to end and then share what she learned from it. Over time, she has become a writing coach for people who want to persevere and get their writing projects out into the world.

It’s been inspiring for me to listen to the episodes, especially the ones where she’s coaching someone through a specific aspect of their writing.

I’ve been listening, but I’ve also been trying to put what I’m hearing into practice as I finish my own book. (It’s so close!) I can’t procrastinate and run just because I’m nervous about some tricky aspects of formatting my book. I want to keep at it and figure those things out so I can get this project done and out into the hands of readers who need it.

If you’re new around here, let me explain. I went through a major depressive episode in 2014. It sent me to the hospital because I lost all hope. Since then I’ve been proactive about maintaining my mental health. I’ve written a book about my experience and how we can all stay healthy emotionally. I’m planning to publish it on Amazon when I finally finish.

If you aren’t new around here, I’m sure you’re tired of hearing about this book. Well, I hope you’ll indulge me as I keep talking about it. It’s been frustrating (for you and me!) to hear about the possibility of a resource like this but never see it get done. Once it is published, I’m going to keep talking about it, praying that it gets to the people who need it. I hope you’ll talk about it, too, and share it with people in your life with a mental health diagnosis. (Check back for more details once the book gets launched.)

Whatever you’re trying to accomplish, I hope you’ll decide to keep persevering. If you keep moving forward (even if you take tiny steps from time to time), eventually you’ll see the result of your hard work.

If you run from the labor because of fear and uncertainty, that project will never reach completion.

Let’s keep persevering and see what wonderful things we can do with the time and talents God has given us.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9 NIV)

Are you persevering or are you giving up too soon? How can focusing on God help you keep going and accomplish the tasks ahead of you?

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Focus Friday: Let’s Focus on Mental Health in May 2022 (Part 4: Keep Going)

Hopelessness is often one of the symptoms of mental illness.

It can hit some people out of the blue, overtake others gradually when they are going through a difficult experience, or cling stubbornly to certain individuals for a lifetime.

However it happens, hopelessness can tempt us to give up.

Life seems too hard. Evil seems too prevalent. Danger seems too scary. The future seems too uncertain.

It takes courage and determination to keep moving forward in spite of everything we dread.

But we can do it.

We may need to rest a while. We may need to reach out for help. We may need to borrow hope from other people. We may need to move very, very slowly.

But we need to keep going.

I love this quote from Pastor Brad Hoefs, founder of Fresh Hope support groups: “If you’re going through hell right now, don’t you dare stop. If you stop, you’re in hell. Keep going. Keep going. Keep going!”

When you start to feel hopeless, try to think about the positive things in your life. Remind yourself of all of the hard times you’ve come through before. Look for beautiful things, funny things, meaningful things. Put them where you can see them often or write things down and read them every day. You can get to better times.

Keep noticing. Keep talking. Keep working. Keep going.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9 NIV)

How often do you feel hopeless because of your mental health? How can focusing on God help you keep going?

Here’s the video of Pastor Brad Hoefs. (The whole video is good, but the quote mentioned is at about 8:53.)
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Focus Friday: Let’s Focus on Doing It Anyway

Is anyone else having trouble getting things done lately?*

We have lots of excuses, don’t we? Covid-19, political unrest, stressful family situations, gloomy winter weather, and a mountain of other obligations and distractions can get us down and keep us from accomplishing much of anything.

And then we can add the guilt that washes over us after we’ve snacked all day long and wasted way too much time scrolling through Facebook and watching YouTube videos. (Or so I’ve heard…from a friend.)

Truth is, I almost went to bed without writing this tonight. (I feel like I’ve written that before.) The easiest thing to do is go with our feelings, doing (or not doing) whatever sounds good to us (or doesn’t).

But that’s not what’s best for us. Living that way too often could lead to an undisciplined, lazy attitude that won’t help others and won’t get us where God wants us to go.

So I sat down and started writing. Maybe this week it’s just for me, writing to prove to myself that I can do something even if I don’t really feel like it.

Or maybe it’s for you, friends. Maybe you need someone to remind you that it’s good to do something you planned to do, even when everything inside you says “what’s the use?”

Get up! Do something! (I’m yelling at myself, not any of you.)

We can always go back to the ice cream and the scrolling later, but maybe we’ll feel a little better knowing we did something for a while.

As we push ahead and do things anyway, we’ll gain momentum and see progress toward our goals. We’ll also feel a sense of accomplishment that will help us keep going even when life is difficult.

That’s better than any tasty snack or funny cat video, don’t you think?

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9 NIV)

Are you good at doing things even when you don’t feel like it? Do you get weary and avoid doing what you planned to do? How can focusing on God help you to do things anyway?

*Keep in mind that sometimes a lack of interest in doing things you normally enjoy can be a sign of depression. Talk to your doctor if you go through more than two weeks of feeling down and unable to function well.

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Focus Friday: Let’s Focus on Effort

effort for blog

I listened to a webinar a while back by Eben Pagan, and he suggested that his listeners write a vision statement about what they want their life to look like a few years in the future. After that he said to write down the mindset it would take to accomplish that vision. The next step was to write out the vision and mindset every morning when you get up and every night before you go to bed for thirty days straight. 

I wrote my vision statement, including points about my relationship with God, my husband, and children. I mentioned my future success as a writer and editor, and I threw in an optimistic sentence about going down one pants size.

Then I wrote my mindset statement: I am responsible for my results and I am going to create the success I want in my future.

I showed my statements to Gary a few days after I started this practice, so excited to share what my vision was and how committed I was to making it happen.

He looked a bit skeptical. And why shouldn’t he? This was just a different version of all the other times I announced some big plan: “I’m going to write a book!” “I’m going to lose some weight!” “I’m going to be the best wife you’ve ever had!” (Since I’m his only wife, I guess I’ve really pulled that one off at least)

He humored me, but he really couldn’t see the benefit of doing this thirty day routine.

I haven’t written those statements every single day, but I have written them many times over the last month. I almost believe what I’m saying about my future. Maybe I need to do it for another month to really make it stick.

The one thing I’ve really noticed is that my mindset hasn’t changed enough to get me the results I’m after.

I write “I am responsible for my results” and I feel a twinge of guilt because I see what I’m doing/not doing and how that keeps me from realizing my dreams.

Going to the cupboard for a snack when I’m not hungry does not get me the result of going down a pants size.

Scrolling through Facebook too much does not get me the result of becoming a published writer.

Writing down my vision and my mindset does not magically make those things happen. It takes effort to accomplish the things I want to see happen in the future.

So, don’t give up on me yet, dear readers. Most importantly, don’t give up on yourself. I bet there are things you’ve said you want to do, but you haven’t seen forward motion. There can be, if you don’t give up. If we don’t give up.

Magic quote
(I didn’t write this quote, but I can’t find the source anywhere online.)

Keep going. Keep working hard and putting as much effort as you can into the things you want to do. Eventually we’ll get there, if we don’t stop trying. 

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9 NIV)

Are you doing what you need to do in order to create the future you want for yourself? How can focusing on God help you to keep making an effort to move ahead?

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Focus Friday: Let’s Focus on Cream Puff Dessert

I made two pans of Cream Puff Dessert earlier this week. (I’ve included the recipe after this post.)

It’s one of my favorite things to take to our family get-togethers. It’s not too difficult to make and it tastes delicious.

It is kind of a weird process to make the cream puff base, though.

First you boil some water and butter, then add a cup of flour and mix until it’s smooth.

You let it cool a bit, and then add four eggs, one at a time.

This is where it gets a little weird. As you begin to stir, your nice smooth batter seems to fall apart.

You find yourself thinking “This can’t be right! It looks disgusting and slimy. Maybe I did something wrong.”

You stir and stir and stir some more…and finally the batter comes back together and looks a little more normal.

Then you add the next egg and the process starts all over again. Separation. Slime. Stirring, stirring, stirring until you feel like your hand is going to fall off.

Then it finally gets better.

After four eggs, you have a nice smooth batter.

You spread it into a pan and bake for a half hour.

You end up with a puffy base that gets a pudding layer and a whipped cream layer added to it after it cools.

Finally you drizzle some chocolate syrup on right before serving…and enjoy!

(This is not mine…mine is not this fancy and we ate it all before I thought of taking a picture.)

Now, I found myself thinking as I stirred this time.

Sometimes we add something to our life and it doesn’t feel good right away. It doesn’t seem like things are coming together right and we think we’ve ruined everything. We feel like giving up and starting over, or worse, not trying that again.

Maybe we try a new method of discipline with our children. We know they need it, but they resist. Loudly.

It’s tempting to give up and just go back to the way things were before, but if we persist and keep at it we just might get to a new, more pleasant, way of relating to our kids.

Perhaps we want to learn a new skill. We watch videos and read articles and books about painting, or writing, or finances, or underwater basket weaving. We begin our attempts, but it’s harder than we expected. The painting is not a Picasso, the writing project stinks, the bank account stays empty, and the basket sinks.

It’s tempting to give up and stick with what we already can do, but if we keep trying we may surprise ourselves with what we accomplish. A painting good enough to frame. A book with our name on it. A nice little nest egg. A cute little soggy basket.

When I’m making a Cream Puff Dessert, I have to remind myself that the stirring is important. I can’t stop while the mixture is still a slimy mess or the dessert won’t turn out right. I have to keep going. I have to remember that something good will come from my hard work.

I have to do that in life, too. I have to remember that something good will come from my hard work.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest [or a Cream Puff Dessert] if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9 NIV)

Do you get tired of trying sometimes? How can focusing on God help you to persevere and keep going until you get to something good?

*Cream Puff Dessert (recipe from Sharon Tilstra, many years ago)
1/2 C. butter or margarine
1 C. water
1 C. flour
4 eggs
– Combine butter and water on stove in pan. When it starts to boil, add flour and mix ’til mixture forms a ball. Let cool a while, then add eggs one at a time.
– Spread in greased 9×13 pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
– Cool.

Topping:
8 oz. cream cheese
2 small pkgs. instant french vanilla pudding
3 C. milk
– Beat cream cheese. Mix all together and spread over crust. Spread 8 oz. whipped topping over all and drizzle with chocolate syrup shortly before serving.