Secret Weapon for Busy Women
By Laurette Willis, Director of PraiseMoves, LLC
www.PraiseMoves.com

"I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live" Deuteronomy 30:19

"Choose Life" = Spiritual Shorthand for the Busy Christian

What’s one of the quickest ways to experience positive change in our lives? Choose life. How about for weight management, fitness and vibrant health? Yes, the "choose life" decision can be made in a minute and lived moment-by-moment one day at-a-time. Choose life.

How can a scripture and spiritual directive to "choose life" assist us in our goals to be fit witnesses spiritually and physically? As busy people, we need some practical, proactive tools we can use at a moment’s notice to help us handle decisions, challenges and temptations.

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Scars are Beautiful
by Sharon Ewell Foster

In many cultures scars are beautiful—they denote honor and standing. Through intricate patterns, man-made scars share the story, the timeline, and history of the one who bears them.

But I didn’t grow up in one of those places. I was born in Texas and grew up in Illinois . And though some people may consider Texas wild and the Midwest no man’s land, in both those places scars are not considered a good thing. Growing up with four brothers, I always seemed to be falling down—on my knees, my elbows, my chin, and I even gashed my ankle up pretty good. My mother invested in a lot of cocoa butter, rubbing that chocolate-smelling hard fat on my wounds, hoping that her only daughter wouldn’t be a scarred up mess that would bring shame on the family. “Be careful now.” Pain and worry made her frown. “You don’t want to wear stockings and have scars showing through.”

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Why self-esteem and what is it exactly?

Self esteem is the extent to which we like, respect and accept ourselves. It reflects our overall evaluation or appraisal of our self worth. It encompasses our beliefs, emotions and behavior. However, many people operate from the perspective of what others think of them and it fuels a cycle of dissatisfaction and discontentment. Instead of finding peace within themselves and being the unique and distinct person God created them to be, they live a life based on who they think others want them to be. As a result then of achieving high self esteem they find their self esteem constantly under attack.

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Suggestions for when
Disturbing Memories Surface
By Reneau Peurifoy
From Why Did God Give Us Emotions?

A taboo emotion often arises from childhood events which made the emotions dangerous or unacceptable. Because the events associated with taboo emotions are painful, they are also often suppressed. Because of this, it is a common experience to recall painful childhood events when taboo emotions are first experienced consciously. As you take time to reexperience these childhood events and emotions and reinterpret them from an adult perspective, they cease to be a threat. Once you have done this, the taboo emotions will be triggered less often by present situations that resemble the past in some way.

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A Hungry Heart and Aching Spirit Make a Battered Body  by Rhonda McKnight

“…it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” ~1 Peter 1:16

What does holy mean? I did some research and found that it is defined as having a moral standard of living, Christ-like in character, separate, pure, set apart. It was defined in spiritual terms, as a spiritual position or state of being. And while I agree with those definitions, I think too often we think that holiness is merely a spiritual thing. Meaning, if we attend church, read our bibles, serve in ministry, don’t cuss or drink, or commit other sins (that we’re aware of), we believe we have achieved holiness. Today I’d like to discuss another side to holy living; the reality that to be like Christ, we have to attend to not just the spiritual, but the physical.

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The Mystery of Emotions
By Reneau Peurifoy

Jerry and Kathy had only been married for a year when they heard the news that Kathy was pregnant. The doctor’s report of Kathy’s pregnancy brought them both a joy they had never before experienced. A short time later, their joy was multiplied when they learned that Kathy would be giving birth to twins. They constantly thanked God as they decorated the nursery that would soon cradle their new arrivals. Then, on the day that Jerry and Kathy went to the hospital for the delivery, tragedy struck. The first baby, a girl, struggled to live but died after only an hour. The second twin girl was delivered still born. As Kathy wept, Jerry sat too stunned to respond to the stabbing pain that had so suddenly overtaken him.

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Q&A with author Shirl Hoffman

Q:  You borrow a term, “sportianity,” from Sports Illustrated writer Frank Deford to describe the unique theology that characterizes American evangelical notions of faith and sport. What is “sportianity,” and how has it affected the evangelical community?

A:  “Sportianity” is a concoction of triumphal evangelism blended with worldly Darwinian competition and crafted to appeal to those for whom a love of athletics frames their lives. It combines locker room slogans, Old Testament allusions to religious wars, athletically slanted doctrines of assertiveness and sacrifice and a cult of masculinity, backed up by cherry-picked Bible verses pre-screened to ensure they don’t conflict with sport’s reigning orthodoxies.

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