"If I can just distract her, I can make her forget"

-My youngest child is wonderful in all of her ways and can even be a little dramatic. Years ago she fell down and scraped her knee....scraped....her....knee. She did not break anything and there were no need for stitches and there was hardly any blood but Miss Ava could not walk. She cried so hard and the idea of walking was to much for her little self. I am not joking when I tell you it took half a day to get her up and walking again. She was doing everything she could to avoid using the injured leg. By the end of the day it had gotten so ridiculous that I had to re-train her and distract her. We held hands and "walked" up and down our hall. When I say we walked...what I mean is I walked and she hopped the whole way. I showed her that bending the knee was ok and I had her standing on both legs to teach her that it in fact could work. We started out very slow where I was making her use both legs and by the end of our "training" I was running so that the only thing she could do was use both legs and run along side me or fall and get pulled behind me. She ran. She laughed at finally being healed and being able to use her full body again. Funny enough, this was not the only time we had to distract her, she had to do the running along side me a few more times to learn that a scraped knee was not the end of the world.

This was a good reason for distraction. 

-Gabi and I have this joke and any time one of the younger kids have any questions about drugs, where babies come from, or what does a word mean we always say "Who wants ice cream?" I always answer the question but the joke is all about distracting them so they think of something else.

This was a funny reason for distraction.

-Jerry and I love to surprise each other for our birthdays and special holidays. One year I invited lots of friends to come have dinner with us but not to tell Jerry because I wanted to surprise him. I told him part of the truth....because we all know the best lie has some truth to it. I told him that I invited one of his best friends to come into town for dinner and they were not able to make it and that just he and I were going out to dinner. I told this story with tons of conviction b/c it was truth and he believed. We got to the restaurant and walked to a side room near the bathrooms and lots of his other friends were there. The surprise worked b/c of the distraction with the half truth. He never thought to look for the real truths.

This was a sweet reason for distraction.

 -A girl was walking down the street and sees someone fall, she stops to help and gets jumped from behind. The person falling was a distraction.
-A car is broken down on the side of the road with a woman standing beside it. Someone stops to help and gets attacked by a person hiding in the woods. The lady was a distraction.
-I made a goal on Monday to not have sweets until the weekend but Ava wanted ice cream after her drs appt and Gabi wanted a starbucks after her appt. So did I. Those things were distractions.
-A person makes a decision on Sunday to do better and spend more time with God but this week was hard, they are exhausted and just want to watch the new episode of Scandal. These hangups are a distraction.
-You used to go to church but haven't in awhile. It is ok though, you still make good decisions and think about God. You don't feel bad, in fact, you feel pretty good about where you are in your walk.
Contentment is a distraction
-You started a new diet and this is the year for you to make changes that matter. But, you got yelled out today by a stranger, your car got a flat tire, and your job just cut back your hrs, and oh ya,  you have a cold. You only want comfort food now and so you tell you self it is ok, you deserve it, it was a hard day, except so was the weeks before. Life is a distraction.

These are derailing distractions.


-You are done, your spouse has ignored you one to many time. You vent to your co-worker and a friendship builds and you entertain the thought of a relationship with them. Maybe you married the wrong person and this is your true soul mate.
-You accidentally click on a link and it pulls up porn sites. You explore out of curiosity, until the next time.... when you explore bc you choose to. Now, you are looking at the sites daily and it is the only thing you think about. It is not a problem though b/c you get your work done, you are not cheating on your spouse with an actual person, and it is not hurting anyone.
-You are in charge of the petty cash at work and no one ever uses it. This week you spent your money on a new jacket and you are only borrowing the money until you get payed again so you can pay your water bill.
-Bills are so tight this month and when you have extra money you give some to God for tithing but now it just seems impossible. God understands, I mean you have to eat right?

These are the enemy's distractions.

We are ready for a big fight. If someone takes our child, we fight. If someone tries to kidnap you, the natural thing to do is fight back. If someone steals your money, you work at getting it back. If someone stole your identity, you get the authorities involved and clear your name. We are quick on our toes for the -bold, in our face- fights. The enemy knows this and for many situations he doesn't do that. He is slick and a master of distraction.
My last blog was about setting goals, even if they are baby goals. We sometimes need tiny steps to keep us moving in the right direction. There will always be distraction and many times even with our eyes wide open we fail to see it but the good news is you can start new each day. Each morning wake up with a thankful heart that you woke up and get to try again.

DO NOT LET THE ENEMY WIN.

Jesus died for you so we have already won 

The enemy of this world will distract you with every trick of the trade so that you do not know or your forget that we win.  If you do not start each day with the mind set to keep your eyes on Jesus and the goals you have for your life than you will always be swayed by life's distractions and never get from point A to point B.

Do not let distractions prevent you from having victory in your life. 

When did we give up?

Every year most people start out with goals for their lives. We make big plans to get things back on track and do things better. Many people reevaluate their lives at the start of a new season and even the start of each month or week. We all have big dreams of doing more and doing it better than the year before. So, I ask the question, When did we give up?  Why did we quit?
For so many people this thing called LIFE gets in the way. That pesky little thing, it does that from time to time.
How many of you set a goal to work out more? What about the goal of spending more time with family and friends? Did you set a goal to eat better, make more money, be happier, travel more, read your bible and pray more?
How is that going for you? We are almost done with this year and for so many of us we are back in the same loop as the year before. The same habits that we have done year after year after year we are doing now and our dreams, our goals, are a major thing of the past.
Why?
 Maybe you know this and can skip this part but maybe you don't know this...you are worth it, you are strong enough to change, and you matter. No matter how crappy you feel b/c another day went by and you didn't do your to-list and no matter how defeated you feel b/c someone keeps telling you that you are a waste, you are worthless, you need to know that it is a lie. You might have even laughed at that but it is true. If you feel anything less than valuable, worthy, amazing, and wanted, than you are believing a lie.
You set goals and have dreams b/c you want more for your life and everything in the entire world will feel like it gets in the way to keep you from those dreams coming true but keep at it. Don't stop my friend. A baby step in the right direction is better then sitting on your butt moving in no direction. 

My youngest parked her self on the sidewalk the other day and was done walking. She was mad about something and tired from the long day and was done. She was not going to walk another step. But, just like life does with us, I kept on moving leaving her behind. She eventually got up bc the idea of staying there all alone was not something she wanted to try out.

How many of you stay there though? How many of you get tired from the long day, the long season? You get mad about how things are going or maybe hurt or scared and you just want to give up, you are done. Life keeps moving though and you have let your emotions stop you in your tracks.
It is ok to pause for a moment to catch your breath, to get your barrens, but DO NOT STOP!

This fall break we went to Gatlingburg and did the hike Cling man's dome. Once again, this little lady, the smallest of the crew, did not have the strength to hike up this huge hill in one swift walk. Many people around her were giving it their all and reaching their goal way before her. We all had the same goal, get to the top, but for all of us it looked different. Caden, kori, and my self got to the top with little trouble but Ava had to make many, many stops along her journey. The key to her victory is that she DID NOT STOP.

She made big strides and rested, she made little strides and rested. She stopped all together and had to get motivated  by her peers (aka daddy and siblings) and she got back up again and took baby steps. She kept moving and rested when needed but finished her goal.

What are some goals or dreams that you have set to the side that need to be picked back up again?
Did you want to exercise more, eat better, have coffee dates with more friends, read more books, or just rest more? If setting a huge goal is not working it is ok to set baby goals and hit those. If you are not exercising at all than set a goal of 3 times in a month..it is better then nothing. If you goal is to eat better and you eat out every meal then pick once a mth to plan, prepare, and cook a meal at home.
You can do this with any goal you have. Give yourself the chance to have some victories and don't you dare tell your self that you cant do it. Even if you believe you will fail, don't tell your self that. We all get concerned about what others will think of us but really the opinion that speaks the loudest is our own thoughts. Tell your self you can do it, even if you failed. Get up and keep walking bc you are worth it.