Beauty in your life- change your thoughts for a positive outlook
Where did your name come from?
My name is Kathrine, which is European, it originates from the Ancient Greek which translates directly to “pure” in English.
While my middle name is Erzsebet which is primarily name of Hungarian origin that means “God is My Oath.” in English is becomes Elizabeth.
This is not saying I’m perfect. But I have a lot to live up to, with that name.
Have you ever found yourself at rock bottom? Feeling abandoned? If you have you probably said to yourself, “I can do this alone,” or “I’m not going to depend and anyone but me!” While this s helpful, God made us with the need to live in a world where we need people.
One of God’s first recorded thoughts was about mankind was that it was not good for Adam to be alone. When we try to conquer the world on our own, we often lose perspective in three critical areas:
1. The Physical
2. The Emotional
3. The Spiritual
All three areas in our lives are connected. Science has proven a connection between our physical conditions and our ability to think through complex problems and sort out our emotions.
Notice how when we get tired, we are more irritable and less able to deal with stressful situations and to add fuel to the fire, when we get overwhelmed by emotions, it can hinder our spiritual life, as well as our physical ability to handle what life may throw at us.
When we read Genesis we see that God designed humanity to rest. Six days of work, but the seventh is for rest. Not because God needed a day of rest, but we do. God tells us that the day of rest was for us, not Him.
People need time to stop, rest, and realign our thoughts, minds, and hearts. Permitting ourselves to observe a day of rest helps us find a rhythm between work and rest.
Centuries ago, when there was no electricity, vehicles, or online communication, skipping a day of work was a act of faith. People only had so many hours in a day, so they worked hard for what they needed and let God take care of the rest.
What would it look like if you trusted God to care for you and allowed Him complete control over life? What would your life look like if you stressed less and rested more? In case you needed to hear this: you are not God. You cannot be everywhere all the time, with the ability to do everything. Because we are human, we are limited by time, space, energy, and location. Give yourself that one day of much needed rest.
A day of rest was not designed as a way to get out of work or not work because it wasn’t enjoyable. God created a day of rest to be a purposeful pause that should remind us that we are not in control of our life,
No amount of money can provide is with eternal security. Wealth tricks us into believing that it Carrie’s eternal promises and prosperity when I fact it’s a caricature of God’s eternal promises.
We tend to exhaust ourselves in search of wealth at the expense of most, If not all, areas in our lives, money is a false god many a worshiping. Money on earth is a necessity but our thoughts and attitude towards it determine whether we worship it or use it as a tool in worship to God.
When we’ve hit rock bottom, and feel abandoned we push ourselves to great lengths until we are physically exhausted and overwhelmed. We have to use all our reserve then we crash under the weight of our burnout.
When our activity exceeds our ability to recharge, there are severe consequences. We struggle in the ability to be quiet and still. (No one is immune to this struggle). Psalm 37:7 says, to “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him. Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who makes wicked plots happen.
Psalm 40, 10 God says, “Be still and know that I am God.” This should remind us that no matter hoe hard we try to be in control,
God is holy and the ruler of all nations. Being still for the Holy One, when you are at rock bottom, and you will find hope through quiet restful ness.
What Does The Bible Say?
Whether you believe it or not, generational curses exist and are mentioned in the Bible many times. A generational curse is passed down from one generation to another. They can continue into third and forth generations.
It’s easy to identify up to 5 types of generational curses mentioned in the Bible. It is preposterous to think that a child can be punished just because of something their ancestors might had done year ago.
Based on man’s law a person should be given punishment proportionate to the crime they committed. But, God works differently and discourages some of the most serious sins through generational curses.
Many people tend to blessings with earthly riches and possessions, but the notion of being rich and successful is a sign of blessing and being poor is a sign of cursing is wrong. To be blessed simply means one has been recognized and accepted by God. Being blessed may attract riches, but riches cannot be measured of God’s blessings.
Curses come when a person is a victim of evil judgments. They are also caused by people deliberately involving themselves in things that trigger curses. Some curses are not generational.
The Causes Of Curses
Curses originate from evil deeds that provoke the wrath of God. Those who follow the teachings of Jesus have nothing to worry about because they will receive nothing but blessings.
Below are some of the most common causes of curses that are mentioned in the Bible:
Types of Curses
A curse is said ti be generational when passed down from one generation to the next. These curses can be avoided by reversing or breaking the curse with help of the Holy Spirit.
1.The curse of the law (Deuteronomy 28:15)
The laws curse is brought about when someone disobeys God’s laws. Spiritual generational curses of this kind were manifested in the lives of children of Israel during the Old Testament. Those who followed God’s commands are blessed, but those who didn’t were cursed.
The Remedy:
According to Galatians 3:13-14, those who are born again and have been set free from all curses of the law by Christ. Therefore seeking the path of salvation is the answer for people under the bondage of such a curse.
2. The Curse of God (Genesis 3:13-19)
This curse is the oldest curse on earth. It came about shortly after creation when Satan deceived Adam and Eve into sinning against the command of God. By disobeying God, Adam and Eve brought the curse of God to the earth.
God did not curse man directly, but He cursed the ground for man’s sake. The woman was not left behind as she was left with the curse of pain during childhood. Today, men struggle to get anything out of the ground, and women experience pain when giving birth.
The Remedy:
The only remedy for this curse comes through salvation. And become a new creature in the eyes of God. Entering heaven is the remedy.
3. The Curse of Idol Worship (Exodus 20:3-5)
This passage strongly warns against worshipping other gods because God is a jealous God. God explicitly says that for such a sin, He curses fathers and their children up to the fourth generation. Unfortunately, many people worship idols today without knowing the repercussions. The curse of idol worship brings suffering and calamities that can only end after returning to the true God.
The Remedy:
This curse if lifted when one denounces false gods and starts worshipping the only true God. To achieve this, one must repent, seek salvation and become steadfast in prayer.
4. The Curse of Man (Zachariah 5:4)
This is a self-inflicted curse. A sinful person causes this curse. It’s trigger is evil deeds. If a person has a cheating curse, it means he is under a curse. Zachariah says, that the curse of the Lord is in the house of a thief. It says that the curse destroys the family. Therefore, cheating is one of the many examples of generational sins.
The Remedy:
This curse can be lifted when an individual repents and is saved. By accepting Jesus, one commits to never sin again; hence he is cleansed. The Holy Spirit will guide that person to lead a righteous life.
5. The curse of Seed Time and Harvest (Galatians 6:7)
The curse of seed time and harvest starts when a person Sows a bad seed. Since life comprises sowing and reaping, we must sow the right seeds to reap the fruits. Doing evil deeds is sowing seeds of evil, which you will reap. Every action, whether good or bad, sows a seed that will bring its harvest.
The Remedy:
To avoid this curse, people are advised to plant seeds of good and avoid seeds of evil. The first step is breaking free from the curse is repentance and seeking Jesus’s salvation.
Many signs can be used to tell whether a person is under a generational curse or not. Such curses are easy to spot because they remain in a family for along time.
Here are some typical examples:
The above are 5 types of generational curses pointed out in the Bible. These curses emanate from specific sins, which bring curses to an individual and their entire family. Breaking generational curse is not easy because it requires one to know where it originated before seeking the solution.
What motivates you?
The fundamental thing the motivates me is meaningful work. Doing something that connects with my values, and piques my interest. Anything that engages my moral compass makes me feel fulfilled and valuable.
I am big on volunteering for what makes me feel appreciated and connected to my community. A big motivator for me is helping those who have gone to war and sacrificed many things for other people. Or it may be people who have had a difficult life. I enjoy the fact that simple things I can do will make their day better and put a smile on their face.
We live in a darkened world. It seems that wherever we go darkness is invading our nation and our world. Whether it’s violence, hatred, verbal abuse, greed, lying or stealing, evil is all to obvious and pervasive now-a-days. What as once called evil is now called good. What once was considered sinful is now being paraded around as virtue. Biblical truth is being blamed for many societal problems. Satan certainly appears to be having his hay-day in the world today.
However, we should realize that the world began in darkness -there was no light until God created it (Genesis 1:2-3). The physical light in our world comes from the sun, and as the world revolves around the sun we have alternate periods of light and darkness. But, in reality darkness is the absence of light. And anyone understands how dark it gets when there’s no light around. When stumble around at night in our homes until we can turn a light on. Darkness causes fear because we can not see what’s around that might harm us.
But there is also spiritual darkness. Before Jesus was born, spiritual darkness existed in the world. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God the world had become a place of darkness and evil. Even God’s people rebelled against Him over and over again. When the Romans began oppressing the Jewish people, the only hope left was the coming of the Messiah Jesus who had been prophesied in the Old Testament (Isaiah 9:6).
When Jesus was born as the promised Savior it was not a glorious beginning with lots fanfare and celebration, but with a humble birth in a cattle stall. He was only celebrated by some lowly shepherds. But it certainly was a world changing event. God had become man and entered the world to save us from darkness. Jesus was born to bring light to a darkened world.
1 John 1:9 says that, “God is light, in him there is no darkness at all..” So, in order to combat spiritual darkness , it was necessary for God to send his son to bring light into humanity. Sadly, there are people who reject that light and have chosen to live in darkness and evil instead. And most haven’t even realized they have done so.
“Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds are evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will exposed.“ -John 3:19-20
Over the past 2000 years people reject Jesus and his message of salvation and continue to live in darkness and perfect evil. Paul wrote in Romans 16:19 “be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. Today we all need discernment about what is evil and what is good in our nation and the world. “Hate evil and do what is good.”(Romans 12:9). In other words we should turn away from evil and see what is good. Paul’s advice to us in Romans 12:21 is “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
We should not despair about what’s going on in the world or lose hope because there is still light in the world, even though other people don’t think so. Jesus still reigns in our world, he hasn’t taken his light away yet.
Chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that we may declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light.
If we have the light of Jesus, we should be able to see the evil and darkness around us. That is what we need to be able to discern the evil and declare what is truly good.
Their are people who are very clever who make virtuous-sounding arguments that are harmful to us if we pursue or follow them. The best way to stand against that is to stand on God’s Word. The best weapon we have to stand against the evil in the world is God’s Word. The Bible has to become our armor to withstand Satan’s attacks.
We must accept God’s call to share his light with others so they can come out of the darkness. No one likes to be pressured into believing something. But, we can love people, and not spread hate for anyone.
We can share the light by loving people and not loving the darkness in them.
“Let us not become weary of doing good, for at the proper time we will real a harvest if we do not give up.“ -Galatians 6:9
Let’s overcome the evil in our world with God’s goodness. Love and not hate. Good and not repaying evil for evil.
Have you ever set a personal goal for yourself like, “I want a better job” or “I want to lose weight,” only to wake up 6 months later and you’re in the exact same situation?
Wow, I must be just terrible at accomplishing things. Or maybe it’s because my goals were terrible. Yes, they are desirable, but goals like that are vague and overly broad. They actually prevent you from getting what you want in life and let’s face it they make you feel defeated.
I tend to set goals like these. My goal-making process I have recovered is broken, and gets in the wayof achieving things I want in my life. So, I’ve decided instead of using goals so move toward a larger aspiration, that become impediments. I’m not going to let my goals use me.
There is a difference between goals and aspirations. If I think of the last few goals I’ve made the list goes like this,
These are not goals they are aspirations masquerading as goals. When I say some like I want to control my spending, what I really mean is I want to be financially secure,
The secret to everything I believe is starting to set short-term goals. Maybe many short term goals that build on each other. Maybe our personal goals need to stop being big, and non-defined and just be simple, measurable, attainable and relevant.
So, what’s a short-term goal? Short term goals should bridge the divide from where we are to where we want to be in a way you can actually achieve them. Short term goals are short for a reason, they should be things that can be accomplished within a quick period of time.
Sometimes it’s the short-term actions that help us discover what we want our long term goals should be.
Living your life without goals is like using you’re retirement to try and win the lottery. Without goals were just going through life hoping for improvements. Hope is important but not a strategy.
Goals are genius, they aren’t a magical ability that achieve great things. I used to think people who were good at achieving personal goals were born that way
In my reading I have found something called The Smart Goal Technique. What’s that?
Simple – Put into a few words and make it straightforward. More than that you will begin to feel overwhelmed.
Measurable – Your goal should be easily quantifiable. Find a way to tell whether you are doing it or not -something trackable.
Attainable – Be reasonable with yourself. Deciding to run every day when you haven’t ran since high school is a high bar to set. It’s great to be ambitious in the long term, but short term goals should be achievable.
Relevant – Ask yourself why this goal is important. Does it enhance or conflict with your larger goals? Does it align with your current physical, mental, and financial reality?
Time-based – Goals should have a time frame assigned to them. So, up you can adjust or improve on them as you go.
From my reading I learned that losing weight is not a goal. How will I know if I’m on track or not? Eating healthier is not a goal. How will I know at any given moment if I’m doing it?
If I do not try to be someone who can 3 miles a day.I can aspire to someone who lives a lifestyle that allows me to run 3 miles a day.
To lose weight I have to eat a healthy diet and exercise daily. Each of these things can be turned into a Smart Goal to reach the outcome of being a person who can run 3 miles a day.
What are your top ten favorite movies?
1. Wind River
2. The Apostle Paul
3. Gemini Man
4. I Believe
5. Mule
6. Max
7. I Am Legend
8. The Pacifier
9. Grand Torino
10. The Grey
What do you enjoy most about writing?
Writing down everything clears my mind and put some order to my thoughts. It helps my put some order to all the jumble in my mind. I read a lot so somethings things get cluttered up there.
Writing also helps me deal with stress. When my mind is busy it helps me understand what’s most important. It also helps solidify my thoughts and gives me a way to return to what I have written down and review.
Writing is also great therapy, It gets things out on paper, and gets the mental juices flowing to help solve some problems you may have.
“But You, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts my head.” -Psalm 3:3
God favor can cover every area of our lives. He can take care of everything we will ever need -spirit, soul, and body.
How would your life look if you were surrounded, all day every day, by God’s favor? Would your actions and attitude be different of you knew beyond any doubt that success is ahead? Would you find the courage to go of your anxieties and fears? Of course you would.
Having God’s favor can change your life. The question is how do we access that favor each and every day.
If you have chosen to follow God, you already have His favor. God saves you because of His favor towards us, you don’t have to earn it, you just had to chose it.
Ephesians 2:8 tells us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it isa gift of God.“
Simply put God’s grace is His favor. God’s favor is the power that changes things for us. You and I are saved by His favor, and it’s not just about reaching heaven when we die. Being saved means to be delivered, protected, preserved, healed and made whole.
His supernatural grace is so vast that it’s us in Ephesians 2:7 “that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches in His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
You may be thinking “I can’t wait to until I get to heaven to see the fullness of God’s favor.” The good news is we don’t have to wait God can pour His favor on us right here right now. Even if you have not chosen to follow God.
Before I chose to start following God, my life as in shambles. But, even then I knew I was being protected by something. I experienced to many “close calls” in my life for not being protected. Even when I was rebelling against Him, God was still protecting me.
It’s God’s grace at work in our lives that keeps us safe. It was God’s grace at work in my life that enabled me to be saved. From the moment I chose to live a new, different life in Christ. God’s favor on me increased. God began working in my behalf. I went from living a wretched life to living a God favored life.
Psalm 5:12 talks about the saved child of God who serves Him. Jesus made us righteous when He shed His blood for us. His bloodshed and righteousness became available for all, and it came with the favor of God.
“For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; with favor. You will surround him as with a shield.“ -Psalm 5:12
We should always see ourselves wrapped in God’s favor 24 hours a day. Every morning when you get up, and throw off the covers and jump out of bed we should be saying, “I am one of the righteous and God’s favor surrounds like a shield.”
You should begin to expect great things to happen. When you do, you’re life will be the same again.
What do you love about where you live?
I live in a small, rural area. Without exception my town retains its values of hard work, responsibility, faith, and family.
Everyone knows everyone. And if they don’t you’ll be sure to meet them at a weekly get together at the park or the local farm market during the summer. There are things you won’t see here anywhere else.
My old railroad town has amazing stories of the past. A few miles away you can actually visit a old coal mine town, that is left almost original. It’s like walking into the past.
My small town evokes a quiet, laid-back lifestyle in a close knit community where people know each other, and can rely on each other. It’s where the people are connected at the root of the old time railroad, and coal camps.
What Is Dissociation?
Many people experience disassociation during their life. If you disassociate, you may feel disconnected from yourself and the world around you. You may feel as though you are detached from your body. It’s all the world around you is unreal. But everyone’s experience of disassociation differs.
Disassociation is one with the mine copes with too much stress, such as during a traumatic event.
There are also common, every day experiences of disassociation that we may have. Like being absorbed in a book, or a movie, that you lose awareness of your surroundings. When you drive a familiar route and arrive at your destination, without any memory of how you get there.
Experiences of disassociation can last for a short time -hours or days Or for much larger amount of time, like weeks or months.
Disassociation maybe something that you experience for a short time while something traumatic is happening. Some have learned to disassociate as a way of coping with stress ball experiences. This may be something that you’ve done since you were in your childhood.
I have found that many people who have had traumatic childhood experiences disassociate as a coping mechanism. Disassociation is a natural response to trauma that cannot be controlled. It could be a response to one traumatic event or ongoing trauma and abuse.
Disassociation might be a way to cope with very stressful experiences. Or some experience, then as a symptom of a mental health problem. For example, post traumatic stress, stress disorder, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or borderline personality disorder.
Some people from different cultures disassociate as part of certain cultural or religious practices. People may even experience disassociation as a side effect from alcohol, medication, or when coming off of a medication.
Disassociation can be experienced in a lot of different ways. Many psychiatrists have tried to group the experience and give them names. This helps doctors make a diagnosis. But A diagnosis does not mean that you have a illness.
If you experience disassociation you may feel:
Triggers often remind us of something traumatic from the past, which can cause you to experience Disassociation or other reactions. It can be something you here, see, taste, smell, or touch. It can also be a specific situation, or way you move your body.
It’s like a flashback. Where are you? May suddenly experience, traumatic, sensations or feelings from the past. The flashback might make you feel like you are reliving at a traumatic event in the present.
A flashback is a sudden, involuntary reexperiencing of a past from our event, as if it’s happening in the here and now.
The symptoms of disassociation often go away on their own. But many have learned to dissociate as a way of coping with stressful experiences. Disassociation may be a normal phenomenon, but like everything in life, all in moderation. It’s the brains defense mode. I believe it is an about valuable gift our brains are able to give us when we endure trauma. It shows that people are able to live through and survive, extra ordinary circumstances that no one would ever be able to endure without the brains ability to disassociate.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned to accept, is that people come and people go.. Friends you may have made in the past may no longer be around. People you expected to hang around for a while go. Why?
I think it’s because we serve an orderly God. He doesn’t just allow things to happen. He always seeks the best interest for His children. He allows things to happen for a reason. God brings people into your life with a purpose, and He removes people in your life for the same reason. However, it is in most circumstances we have absolutely no idea what the purpose is. We don’t comprehend the why.
Sometimes we are confused, and overthink that God is trying to hurt us or punish us when someone departs from our life. In all actuality He’s likely giving us a great reward.
So what are the main reasons why God removed people from our lives? And why do we have to let go of these people?
There is nothing accidental about life. If it is God’s will, it was part of His grand plan. And God’s grand plan entails that we enter heaven and be with Him. When we give God the authority to carry out His will for our lives, when wee entrust our lives to Him. The result of whoever or whatever stands in the way of God’s plan will be removed.
Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you a hope and a future.” we should trust God’s divine plan, and the Holy Spirits guidance even though we do not understand it yet.
Throughout the Bible there are many scriptures that helps us understand why God removed people from our lives.
Here are a few:
Solomon proclaims in Ecclesiastes 3:2 proclaims, “To everything, there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven.” Every event in our lives occurs for a reason. God enable pyto stay with us for some time, but after the season is done, He will take them away for our benefit. we may not know what’s going to happen tomorrow but God does.
Why Must We Let Go Of The People God Removed?
I’ve learned the hard way when God removes someone from our lives, that denying God’s will only results in His will failing. God is God for a reason -He sees and knows all. He determines what will and will not happen.
“I declare the end from the beginning and from ancient times things that are not yet done. I say My counsel will stand, and I will do all that I please.“ -Isaiah 46:10.
He writes the letters in our life story and flips through it’s pages. We have free will as characters in our story, but He knows the ending from the start.
We can spend time obsessing over the why? And we may even try to get the people back into our lives fora little while. But in all truth it will become clear that our only option is to embrace and accept the situation and move on.
Reasons why God Removes People From Your Life
1. God saves us from toxic people.
Remember that Jesus was betrayed by people (Matthew 26:23-25. People aren’t always as they seem, (friends and family). It’s easy to sometimes believe that people around us only have good intentions toward us. We believe they love us as much as we love them.
God sees heart and soul (Jeremiah 17:10), and anticipates what problems those people will cause us. He knows their deepest thoughts like He knows ours.
2. They have finished their mission in our life.
Sometimes people only emerge in our life to help us grow. Everyone imparts something valuable. Even though it can be a negative experience, we learn something from it.
3. God has better plans for us.
It’s our human nature to cling to things because we believe they are the greatest thing in the world. Yet, we have no clue what He has in store for us; all He needs from us is our willingness to trust Him so He can shower us with blessings.
1 Corinthians 2:9 declares it is written,
Things which an eye didn’t see, and an ear didn’t hear, which didn’t enter into the heart of man, these God has prepared for those who live him.
4. God sends people we need; not who we want.
I think God takes people out of our lives because we don’t always know what we want -we just believe we do. We are only human beings; no matter how intelligent or intuitive we think we are, we can’t know what’s best for us. But, God does (Psalm 118:9).
He sends us people we need rather than who we want. As a result He does not always grant our requests. Maybe that’s God’s way of sparing us a great deal of trouble without our even knowing it.
5. God always wants to teach us something.
Sometimes God has no option to make us learn things the difficult way. I know sometimes I’m just to set I my ways and want things to stay easy. Sometimes I have to learn the hard way. And God has to tune me up.
One day, all evil will be done away with. But until that day, we can rely on God’s grace. He doesn’t always prevent tragedy, but His grace will always see though it.
I think God sometimes causes us to lose someone in order for us to realize that we are the only people we require in our lives. My Father was a safety net for many years. He was my rock on earth. Perhaps his passing away was a horrible event to have me set higher expectations for myself. I don’t think I would be who I am today, if my father wouldn’t have passed away when he did. God needed to show me I was capable of making the right choices on my own. Whatever the reason God blesses us through it all.
6. God wants us to get closer to Him.
God longs for us to be with Him. He wants fellowship with us. When people get in the way of our connection with Him, He removes people from our lives. Our hearts are continuously yearning for assistance. When some people are around and we are having a bad day, or a horrible year, our hearts reach out to someone to comfort us. That being the closest person to us -someone or something to make us happy.
There’s nothing wrong with letting others make you happy. According to God’s Word in Galatians 6:2 it tells us to, “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way, we will fulfill the law of Christ.” But the threat comes when we use people to replace God in our hearts.
7. God always makes ways for us to experience something new.
Sometimes we are so busy hanging on to someone’s life because of our history. And as a result we can destroy our future by clinging to the past. If we want a new life, we must be willing to let go of the old one because the past will always be the past.
One of my favorite quotes says, “There’s a reason the windshield is bigger than the rear view mirror, because where we are going is more important than where we’ve been.”
Romans 8:28 declares, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who live Him; we have been called according to His purpose.
God always wants what’s best for us.
From Pity to Praise