Meeting No Limit, Encouragement, etc.

Hiya folks! Hope you week has been going great so far. And happy new month- it's already September! Does that mean the year 2009 is almost over? Wow, now that's a scary thought! Where does the time go nowadays?

I've had an interesting couple of days since last week. Last Saturday I attended a friend's (she's a fellow blogger) baby shower and I was introduced to Ms No Limit! It was really great to meet her. She's as bubbly and friendly in person as she sounds on her blog. She's also a great stepper o, don't mess with her on the dance floor, lol. There isn't a dull moment with her, and by the end of the evening, we were chatting away like old friends! It's always nice to put a face to the blog persona and I definitely hope we meet up again! What do you say girl?

Then on Sunday, hubby and I continued with our church-hunting. We have tried five churches so far. I know that sounds weird, but I'm actually enjoying it! It feels nice to be warmly welcomed at the end of every service, given special attention and the ministers try to recruit you to stay with them, all the while saying "Nice to meet you, hope to see you again next Sunday!"

Hubby and I smile politely but make no promises. I was telling my friend the other day that eventually we would settle somewhere, a place where "the Spirit leads us to" but for now, we just haven't decided yet.

I had cranky Bank Holiday Monday, didn't do much at all, even though it was the day everyone else in the UK set aside to have some fun. I tried to get some work done, but I was battling writer's block and raging hormones, so I shut off my laptop and went to read a book under my covers for the most part. But thanks to a good friend, Dr Icepick who encouraged me to get my writing flowing again, even if it didn't make sense at first. He has said he is willing to help other blocked writers, for a small fee (I kid, I kid).

Which leads me on to what I want to say about encouragement. Sometimes we are full of zing and energy and we can take on the world. But there are also times when the burden becomes to heavy, the pressure is mounting, or strength is failing, and you just need someone to get alongside you to encourage you to keep going. I'm very grateful

for friends, bloggers and family members who have been a great source of encouragement to me over the years. Sometimes I need a word of encouragement to lift me up when I'm down, sometimes I need a sharp word to prod me out of my despair.

Simple words like "You can do it!" "Keep Going!" "I believe in you!" are really great for motivating someone, and you never know if it was something you said that gave someone the courage to pursue a dream or fulfil a lifelong ambition! So I would like to say a big big THANK YOU to all of you, my friends and fellow bloggers for your kind words of encouragement. I treasure them, and I pray that God will reward you abundantly in return!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

FG

Reflections

I've been MIA from blogville a bit in the last few weeks. Usual reasons would be because I've been busy. But it would be untrue for me to claim that. In fact I've just had my least productive month ever. It's a long story and I don't even know if everything really makes sense to me at the moment.

Has anyone ever had a "wilderness experience"? Have you ever felt so disappointed and disillusioned with yourself and with God? Have you ever gotten tired of the Christian race? Do you feel sometimes like you are losing your faith and God seems far away? I have been feeling like that for some time. Towards the end of September, I hit a brick wall in some areas of my life. At first I was angry with God for a really annoying weekend that hubby and I had. Then everything went downhill from there. The anger slowly disappeared but was replaced by a feeling of gloom that nothing could shake. It felt like there was a huge dark cloud hanging over my head. Probably because by that time I was so far away from God that I couldn't even function properly.

So of course what happened next? I developed a severe case of writer's block and my brain went into meltdown. I lost the motivation to do most things I usually enjoy, even reading a good book. I felt like I couldn't do anything useful with myself. I couldn't pray and I couldn't write. When I wrote that "Totally Random" post, I was trying to force myself to do something I normally enjoy but it wasn't the same. So I just scrambled the words together and gave up. I began to operate on auto-pilot because it was like something had sucked out all my joy and enthusiasm for life. The funny thing was that all this was an internal battle and I seemed perfectly fine on the outside. Even when I was in church I would sing, clap, smile and do everything else, but inside I felt like a fraud.

About ten days ago, I actually started to get tired and fed up with feeling this way. In church last Sunday, the speaker said that sometimes he too got tired of the Christian race and felt like he had no strength to go on. I totally understood what he meant and I hoped that I would finally regain some hope, faith and strength. During the week I told a good friend of mine how I had been feeling. She really encouraged me with her words:

Our Lord is so loving that He won't let you go. He is faithful and even though it looks like nothing seems to be working out, there is no question He loves us. Keep reminding yourself that. Lord knows we may go through times like this and ...... He never forgets that we are human, we grow tired, weary and frustrated with issues.
Gradually I was able to draw some hope and strength from her and finally I was able to get on my knees again and talk to my heavenly Father. I actually read my bible and devotional again after ignoring them for more than a month. One of the readings even said that when God brings you out of a wilderness experience, it's because He is preparing you for the next level. I really hope so! I'm glad to report that I'm feeling much better now. Actually the fact that I'm able to type this is a good sign. Last week I couldn't have strung words together that made sense.

I'm still not sure what God is trying to teach me through this experience though. Sometimes we may get the full picture and sometimes we may never know why God takes us through some situations. I guess it's a test of faith or endurance and I failed woefully. Hmmm.

One thing I now appreciate more, is the joy and blessing of having a good Christian friend around. And I have to thank you too, Believer.

Sorry if this post makes no sense whatsoever. Have a blessed week :^)