Forgiveness. Food. Freedom. The 3 F- words we have a love hate relationship with. Agree? Well,
Last Night at our table the discussion was a very interested
one. I had made a meal that all three girls were less than thrilled to eat.
Salmon, creamed garlic cauliflower and steam broccoli. Instead, hearing the praises of the meal I
slaved over. My beautiful meal was
greeted with comments of YUCK what is this? Do we have to eat this? I want
something else.
Cort and I have been on a journey together we had decided
back in July of 2012, after we got in the new house we would be getting
ourselves back in shape. I had heard this phrase several times. If
nothing changes nothing changes.
So in January we kicked of a 24 Day Challenge with some of
our friends. I have done several 24 day Challenges already alone, but this
journey together has been both wonderful, but also in a weird way a spiritual
experiences. While we are both very very
competitive with each other and well just in general like to win! So we
all set up a little wager. Whatever couple loses less has to sing Karaoke. Well, let’s just say singing on stage is not
my talent and no way are Cort and I going to lose. Just to give you a little
insight on The Bethmann competitiveness when we have family game nights we
divided up and let’s just say we have TEAM NAMES. Chaise and I are normally
teamed together. We dubbed ourselves and have the team name of “TEAM WINNERS”! While,
normally Rielly, Kailee and Daddy join forces and well… that is that. Who is really
counting if they tend to beat us more than we beat them? I am not I take the
stance what you speak you will become!
However, today Cort and I finished our herbal cleanse
together. I am proud to announce that we are both seeing HUGE results, but that
the results go pass weight lost for me. I have already dropped 10 pounds, but I will
tell you that God has done more than that and I want to share what I truly feel
God wants to do for several people.
With those 10 pounds that have come off, in a strange way
each pound represented a pain that I have dealt with. It was if I was hiding
under the weight and trying to hide from dealing with the hurt. While physically, I had a pressure washing
experience going on in my digestive track. In the heaven God was ready to take
me to a new level of healing. While healing for some comes in a miracle form
all done at once. God is having me walk it out.
While most couples get their first year as what they call a
Honeymoon phase, we both were faced as newlyweds, and on the third day of our
Honeymoon. We were both at a young age
of 20 with a baby girl caught up in a tornado experiences. If you have ever had
to deal with Betrayal you will know and be able to relate to the feelings that
come from that experiences, but manifest themselves years down the road. I can’t tell you how many times I would hear
people say, “Tiffany, you have to forgive them.” I wanted to scream at them. Seriously, do you
think I don’t know that. I can’t tell you how many times I have written in my
journal healing for them, forgiveness, even asking God to bless them with a 100
folds, but with that being said. Forgiveness is a process for so many people,
and I am amazed how so many times we as Christians do not show grace to those
walking through it. Seriously, I mean
think about this…. Jesus was ultimately betrayed by me. He took on my sins, and
yours. Do you know that with the story of redemption and the cross I have not
once heard one preacher ever say forgiveness even for our Messiah was a process.
The weight of Betrayal and hurts are overwhelming. He knew what he was going to
be facing in the garden. He asked His Heavenly Father, begged him please take
this, is there anyother way. He understands the weight of betrayal and the process
that it takes to forgive. While we can
never put ourselves in the place of Jesus on the cross, in a weird way I have
peace knowing that God is not bound by time and that he allowed his son that
time in his human nature to walk through the process off forgiving each one of
us for how we betrayed him.
While we might deal with years of taking the layers and pain
off. I believe God in flesh (JESUS) was not bound in time was walking through
the process. It gives me Hope that He was able to raise His weak Head and cry
out.FATHER, FORGIVE THEM THEY DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY HAVE DONE!
So many times when we deal with hurts, we long for that
call, and letter of asking for forgiveness, but our own savior did not get that
letter. He has to journey on the path of forgiveness. The journey of
forgiveness is a dark, bitter lonely path, BUT GLORY TO GOD! Jesus has given us
the secrets to forgiveness in HIS WORD.
I don’t know all of
your pains and hurts you are dealing with. We each deal with our own, and
forgiveness comes in bits in pieces, and sometimes all at once. I heard this on
the radio this morning. A father called in and said, If I could ask God one
thing I would ask Him why my 10 year old
son was killed in a car wreck driving with his mom. He said you know the
hardest thing is when people say “God is in control and will use this.” While, yes that is the truth, but we have to
walk through the forgiveness. Forgiveness for some comes in a big BOOM. Others
depending on how deep the hurt goes I truly believe God pulls it off in layers.
Why? Because we serve a GRACIOUS GOD, and he knows how deep the Betrayal, tragedies
and even circumstances we bring on ourselves affects each one of us.
The one thing I have discovered on this journey of
forgiveness is that it a process. A process that you walk out daily. When you take one step forward towards your
healing you have an enemy ready to launch an attack only to push you back.
There comes a point when you want your Freedom! Because in a
weird way when you have a betrayal on such a deep level that I experienced you
somehow are hit with not only the betrayal, but that of shame, anger,
bitterness, and guilt all wrapped up and launched. It is like being in the
snowball fight with a baseball practice machine. As fast as you can hit one
ball you are back up having to swing to hit the next pitch.
About a week or so before Christmas, I started praying
asking God. Why did I have to experience such deep betrayal not just me, but
why do I have to watch my child at the age of 15 deal with these same emotions
I have struggled with for some time. See it was not until my own child began to
cry out and write songs, and poems of the pain she had to endure from the lies
of others, and how they had put into her a seed of distrust at such a young age,
and caused her to be traumatized. That did I know God was about to pull one
more layer off. This layer is dealing with letting anger go. Probably one of
the more difficult ones I have dealt with.
I mean honestly, as the Mom the natural thing you want to do is call them
up and say, let’s go you think you are so big and bad and really give them a
good kick in the butt for their actions that destroyed so many lives and you
watch stretch to a whole a family. To seat with them and say, “Do you truly, not
see the division you have brought? I
mean that conversation could be a whole novel in itself. SO I will spare you
from that. LOL
While I would love to say that I have all the answers for
you, me, anyone who goes through pain and betrayal. I don’t! I do know this. I
believe with my ever fiber that if we want to see true healing not only in our
emotional, physical, financial, relationships, even spiritually. I truly
believe it begins with this…
Growing up I heard the story of Joseph and his brothers. I
love love love that story! Growing up my grandmother jokingly called me the “Joseph
of the family”. Oddly enough she and my aunt are the very ones who took on the
role of the brothers and sold me into slavery.
Not a real slavery, but a slavery of what I would call un- forgiveness
through they betrayal they brought on Cort and I. Just as Joseph’s brothers
sold him off to be a slave.
The neat thing about this story is that Joseph went through
several things. It was not a walk in the
park for this man. He was imprisoned on false accessions, but it was through
this journey that he was walking to fulfill his destiny. A destiny that would
touch many lives, it was a destiny that would save a nation. He was raised up
to protect the food and help provide the people and help them get the nutrition
they needed while the famine was in the land. So they could stay strong.
Now you might be saying, Girl! Please you have fallen off
your rocker, but hear me out! What if
the answer of true freedom starts with the most basic principles? What if it goes back to some of the old ideas
and patterns? We all talk about being organized, feeling great. Well I would
say, for my life I truly believe freedom is on its way not just for me but for
others. For us to truly be healed we have to be willing to look at our lives in
a new way.
I think we have to be the strongest we can to fight a very
strong enemy. In Genesis, God said to the serpent he would put ENIMITY between
the woman and snake. That snake was the devil. I am doing a bible study called FIGHT LIKE A
GIRL by Lisa Bevere. It is wonderful, but there have been some sentences that have totally rocked me to my core. I
cannot let go of. I want to share these with you.
1.
What would happen if women used their powers of
insight and influences for healing and nurture?
2.
We long for restoration of our lost paradise.
3.
Have we learned anything in all the years of
pain? How many parents have lost their hearts of their children because they
forgot why they had the? It was never to control them but to provide an environment
in which they will flourish.
Maybe
those will impact you as they did me. What I feel God is asking me to do is
teach my girls and provide our family with the foundations. In a weird way, I had this thought. What if
our body was like a field or a foundation, and what if we as women teach our
kids to put in the good stuff. When our
kids were babies we would go the distance to make sure they were getting well balance nutrients for their body to ensure they would grow. Then it hit me: Like being ran over by a
train! For me to grow spiritual and have those seeds and words truly be
digested into my very fiber I have to have my temple prepared to receive. I
want ever fiber of my being and my families to absorb the word, the truth and
not be crowed or too busy stuffing our faces on the sofa with chips and sodas.
All those do is zap our energy. I know we are in a new year and what better
time to take on our role as women. What if we go back to the basics the foundations?
We do what we were called to do nurture! What if start to raise a generation
equipped to fight the Good Fight. Fueled on Good Foods, and the LIVING WORD OF
GOD I truly believe that would be a generation that would do Great and Mighty
things for God.
So I
encourage every mom, and future mom that is reading this blog. Ask yourself
this question? Are you teaching your kids how to properly fuel their bodies
with good nutrition? America has a epidemic of obesity. It is time as women to
stand up and teach our families how to overcome and use our insight and God-given role to nurture and care for our families.
I
mean, this is not easy! Trust me! Remember how my dinner started out last night,
had a table of kids complaining, but it is our part. We can’t let a little
crying and complaining knock us back! Our health our families Health and the
Health of God’s people will be vital for the future.
God
put us in a natural role and gave us the ability to nurture. If your child was
sick with a sinus infection there is not one Momma I know that would not go the
distances to get them that health they needed. Same thing! For your child to
get the best and be their best we must teach them and make it a priority
to put those whole and living foods in
them and us.
If
there is one thing I have learned during this 10 day cleanse is that for me to
get to the deep stuff, God has to pull the layers of pain off. I truly
believe that our bodies are the temple of the Lord and He wants the best for
us. So how about we stand and fight in
our correct roles as women. What if we took this Generation we call X, and we
marked it for the KINGDOM.
I
am not a tree huger. I truly am trying to make some huge changes in my family
in the things we put in our bodies, and feel lead to bring my friends and
girlfriends along and us do it together. Food can no more be a way to cover the
pain for us! For us to be strong for the battle the Lord has us in, it is going
to take more than just reading the scriptures, fasting and praying. He is
calling us as women to bring back the community around the table, and teach our
girl that what we feed our bodies is important!
My
two cents of the day:
If Nothing Changes. Nothing will Change! How
about join me on this journey of healing. I believe in this year 2013. God wants to pour out healing in so many areas of our lives, and on a
deep level. I am here to help you. Please if you want to learn more about the 24 Day Challenge call me 817-897-0023.
Blessings to all you CHICKS!
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