If you post in this thread I will bless or encourage you

[sgt.null]

BAM!!Be blessed!!

OUCH!!! me head!

[Linna Heartbooger]

Apparently I having trouble working up the nerve to call a friend... I told myself I'd call a friend or two over the weekend; but didn't!

Also, tired of the daily grind.... still tempted by the illusion that I could somehow get out of the work that is "boring" or "difficult."

[deer of the dawn]

Ah, Linna. May you find readiness to face fear, and find in it a friend. For it will walk with you through valleys too dark, and leave you in sunlight. And may at least one of many people you reach out to respond with their heart, for true friends are few, and treasures.

May you find meaning in the mundane. We can love others through work, and love is what we are made to do; and re-made in the image of the Lover that we may do. The difficult is challenging enough for us to realize that God respects us enough to dare us; He laughs when we overcome and rejoices over us with singing when we are tired, having done it.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-- kept in heaven for you,
who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
These have come so that your faith-- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,
for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

[sgt.null]

i need my leg to get better faster. it is ok for about six hours at work, but i work a ten hour shift.

[deer of the dawn]

Null, I pray you will be healed in your body, and find the endurance you need for the work you do. Even as your body wondrously knits together, may your heart find the strength to stand firm, to walk tall, and to run well.

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

[sgt.null]

thank you deer. good days, bad days. i keep rolling along...

[deer of the dawn]

thank you deer. good days, bad days. i keep rolling along...

That's just how to roll.

[sgt.null]

not rolling today...

[Linna Heartbooger]

Been feeling lousy lately.
It's like I'm afraid to attempt to work on the work I need to work on.
I've been thinking "burn-out" and "why is my strength so small?"
I feel like a dried-out shell.

sought you out for an encouragement this morning, deer, and you were good for one...
Looking for another hit!

[deer of the dawn]

Been feeling lousy lately.
It's like I'm afraid to attempt to work on the work I need to work on.
I've been thinking "burn-out" and "why is my strength so small?"
I feel like a dried-out shell.

sought you out for an encouragement this morning, deer, and you were good for one...
Looking for another hit!

Thanks for bumping this! I need encouragement and when I give it, I get it back.

Your fear means there is something there to be learned, so dive in to the work. There is a gift in it.

I have been learning that burnout is also a gift. It is an amazing place to reassess and reevaluate what I am doing and how I am doing it. Don't be afraid to ask why your spirit is drying up even when doing something you believe in, and ask God what is the next step. It could be small changes or great ones!

If your strength is small, it is still strength. I love that quote in Lord of the Rings that says the small are doing the really needed stuff while the eyes of the great are elsewhere. Small strength means you need to rely on the One whose strength is limitless. Small strength means you will reach the end of your own sooner rather than later, and ask for help.

Trust me, I need to hear this as much as say it. May you be blessed.

[sgt.null]

I went to my ortho a year or more ago. right knee kept giving out. doc said he had gtood news, my knee
was ok. but I was missing part of the bone in my right ankle.
they do not know why.

[deer of the dawn]

I went to my ortho a year or more ago. right knee kept giving out. doc said he had gtood news, my knee
was ok. but I was missing part of the bone in my right ankle.
they do not know why.

Ah, the mysteries of health and the human body. I am pretty certain that one day if they do an autopsy, they will discover that part of my brain has been missing all along and they won't have any idea why.

Still, there is good news, and that is something to give thanks for.

As well, I have learned that our bodies are amazing healers-- although it does take longer, the older we get. 8 months ago, I could barely get myself dressed without help; exercises have restores all functionality to my shoulders. I trust you can find the right way to heal.

I keep coming back to "they do not know why". Sarge, the One that made you made you mysterious and unique, not to be figured out by modern science. Your ankle bone is null. It is part of what makes you unique and unexplainable. And that is one of the best things about being on this planet.

[aTOMiC]

I'm feeling today like I'll never be the last poster on every thread in Mallory's. I feel like a failure.

[deer of the dawn]

I'm feeling today like I'll never be the last poster on every thread in Mallory's. I feel like a failure.

There are better things you can do with your time. Be free, soul!!

OR, if this is what you want out of life, then persist. Don't give up. You could be the millionth poster!!

[aTOMiC]

Deer I feel much better. Thanks.

[Linna Heartbooger]

I'm full of pride.
I was disturbed to notice the scripture says "Never be wise in your own eyes."
Never? Oh my. That rattled me.
"Do not" seems that it would be more bearable, somehow less pointed.
I am so full of myself... (gonna just say it.) always thinking myself better than everyone else.

I'm so obsessed with my own role on this earth, not the great God who gave and gives so much and who can order all things to His own way.

I'm anxious and frightened often.
I worry especially about the tasks that seem appointed to me* and do not do them.
I don't do what I ought.


* and I still fantasize at "how awesome I would be" at tasks may or may not ever be appointed to me

[deer of the dawn]

Note: heavy Christian content in this post because that's something Linna and I share. Feel free to scroll...

I'm full of pride.
I was disturbed to notice the scripture says "Never be wise in your own eyes."
Never? Oh my. That rattled me.
"Do not" seems that it would be more bearable, somehow less pointed.
I am so full of myself... (gonna just say it.) always thinking myself better than everyone else.

Dear Linna, welcome to the human race. Each one of us thinks we are better than everyone else, and that we could do it better, and that we are right. We are a prideful species. Pride goes before a fall, and very likely played a role in The Fall. So we are all infected.

I'm so obsessed with my own role on this earth, not the great God who gave and gives so much and who can order all things to His own way.

I'm anxious and frightened often.

Do not fear, little flock, it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

I worry especially about the tasks that seem appointed to me* and do not do them.
I don't do what I ought.

* and I still fantasize at "how awesome I would be" at tasks may or may not ever be appointed to me

Anxiety is an opportunity to ask, who or what am I trusting in right now?

No one can ever "do" enough. The people asked Jesus, What must we do to do the works of God? and he totally reframed it: "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent." Stop trying to do, and believe. Release your death grip on life and trust him. Do the next thing and don't worry about the thing after that, or the thing someone else is doing, or the thing that just isn't your thing.

Now, get up and dance to this song!

[aTOMiC]

I feel as though whatever I'm trying to accomplish is fruitless. Like running on a treadmill with a goal just in sight, up ahead, but I'm never able to reach it.

[Linna Heartbooger]

I share about my struggles with sins, and I get... this?
lol, wut?

Now, get up and dance to this song!

...Feel free to scroll...

This always makes me think... scrrollll-a-ba-tonnes!

No one can ever "do" enough. The people asked Jesus, What must we do to do the works of God? and he totally reframed it: "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent."

This! Also, I totally didn't think of that.

[deer of the dawn]

I feel as though whatever I'm trying to accomplish is fruitless. Like running on a treadmill with a goal just in sight, up ahead, but I'm never able to reach it.

Haven't we all felt this way at times?

I want to encourage you to be grateful because you can still "run". So many give up hope, but you are pressing on.

The goal is just up ahead, is it? Or is it a deceptively great mountain range? Since none of us can see the future, we just don't know. Nor can we judge our efforts "fruitless". No one can see all ends.

aTOMic, enjoy the run. Do any of us really "arrive"? But you have somewhere to go, you have a direction and the strength to move in it. Appreciate this. You are here, and you are moving. Life is today. The "goal" will be there when you get there. Until then, enjoy the effort and the desire and the passion.