Anxiety, Hope and (finally) Asking for Help

August 3, 2018 by

It was a year ago this week that I finally had the courage to say something.

I will never forget it. My battle with anxiety was at an all-time high. Our then-five-month-old son had just been diagnosed with bronchitis, my infantryman husband had to have surgery on a torn ligament in his wrist and I had just started working on my doctorate two months earlier.

That night, after listening to our little son cough and snot his (eventual) way to sleep, I stood over my husband’s recliner. As he looked up at me, I started to sob. My breathing increased and I started to shake.

I had my first (and thankfully only) true panic attack. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: fear, health Tagged With: , , , ,

Spiritual Duct Tape

July 13, 2015 by

I am relatively certain we have about twelve rolls of duct tape lying around the house.

Our rolls go by several different names and appearances, like the classic silver duct tape, colored duct tape, Gorilla tape, and my personal favorite, the military version “100 mile-per-hour tape.”

But all serve essentially the same purpose– put things back together or hold something into place.

I love duct tape. I love it so much in fact, that I wore a duct tape outfit to senior prom. 

Over the years, I have used duct tape for a variety of quick-fixes, and my husband will attest the same. But with that strategy, I have also learned that duct tape is only a temporary fix. [Read more…]

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Junk Food of Life

June 6, 2012 by

It’s everywhere you look. On TV, in the newspaper, throughout the aisles of the grocery store, by the checkout register. Colorful packages beckon you to reach out and take them home. We love it. We sometimes think we need it. Oh baby, we gotta have it.

Such is the junk food of life. Cookies, chips, soda, candy, anything deep-fried and covered in chocolate. Now that’s tasty right there. Talk about instant gratification.

For the general American population, we tend to take a things for granted. We can have a bag of Cheetos and 32 oz ThirstBuster of Coke in our hands before you can say “$2.53, please.” We can get a full meal in our hands via drive-thru in about 4 minutes or less. And we can eat pretty much whatever we want. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: chocolates, Christ, food, God, health Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

He Forgave You– Now Forgive Yourself Too.

May 9, 2012 by

“If only I hadn’t… I wish I didn’t… Why can’t I go back… It’s all my fault.”

Regrets. Mistakes. We all have ’em. We’ve all made ’em.

So what are we supposed to do?

This week,  we have been working through reasons why our hearts can be blocked and how we grow apart from Christ. (Click to read the original post here.) Yesterday was all about forgiving others… a hard but necessary topic. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: attitude, Christ, cross, faith, forgiveness, freedom, God, health, heart, Love, peace, promises, release Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Unblock Your Heart

May 7, 2012 by

I will never forget that phone call. It was March, my senior year of high school. I was “supposed” to be in English class, but of course was spending my time ever-so-wisely in the library. The secretary tracked down my location and transferred the call to the library. It was announced: “Sharita… You have a phone call.”

The chorus of “Oooooooo, I wonder if she’s in trouble?” echoed in the room from my schoolmates as I rolled my eyes and made my way over to the phone.

“Hello?”

“Sharita.” My mom’s voice sounded… weird. “Um, your Daddy is sick.” [Read more…]

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Filed Under: blessing, Christ, faith, Family, fear, God, health, hope, Love Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Operation: Fortitude Fitness Update (Month #1)

February 1, 2012 by
Happy February Folks!!Hopefully this post finds you still moving strong towards your “Getting SMART with 2012” goals… We are heading into month #2 and I’m hopeful that you are still hanging on to your goals and have not already fallen off track like a 6-year-old trying to use their dog to pull their Red Rider Wagon. [Read more…]
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Filed Under: faith, fitness, goals, growth, health

Christ in a Cow Pasture: The REST of the Story…

December 9, 2011 by
Seventeen days ago, I had the opportunity to lead my beloved Dad to Christ (In case you missed it, get the whole story here. It’s a pretty awesome recount of God’s love and power!)

So today, in the words of the late Paul Harvey… Here is the REST of the story.

First, a little background: since October of 2008, my Dad has been struggling with his health. Up until that point, he had been in ok physical condition, minus the extremely random heart attack at age 45 when I was a senior in high school (but again, that is another post.) Anyway, on Halloween night 2008, I got a call from my mom that they were taking my Dad to the ER for “nerve issues.” I can’t remember all of the symptoms, but we were concerned. [Read more…]

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