TOO Many voices!

I found myself snapping at my kids every time they spoke to me. I noticed that I felt overwhelmed, as if there were too many people talking to me at once. There was only one child, but there were others- the unseen. I had bunch of voices of worry, fear, control, resentment clouding up my mind and taking up my bandwidth. I have the tools to take care of this...but I had been telling myself I didn't have time to use them. Well, it was finally painful enough to make the time. I spent about an hour clearing them off and suddenly life was manageable and I was thinking clearly.

I finally got around to reading a book that has been on my list for a long time now "Feelings Buried Alive Never Die", by Karol K. Truman. Low and behold! In the pages of that book were the added insights and information I needed to take my healing and recovery to the next "level". "Pay attention to those little things that nag you, just ever so slightly, pay attention to the things you keep telling yourself you don't have time to do. " I already knew this, but this was a great reminder to me that I get to make my own personal development a priority, unless I do there is NO WAY I can help my kids, or anyone else I care about. Everything I do has a coating of sludge when I'm not clear in my heart, mind and spirit. If you don't take care of yourself it will not matter what else you do.-Another lesson relearned with deeper impact.

I had the great opportunity to travel a short distance to see my sister and my father who was visiting at her house. My van had been overheating and had been repaired by my husband and a friend the night before (new thermostat) in order for me to make the trip that day. At first, it seemed that all was right...but about half way through the trip I became aware that the temperature was higher than normal, although not in the danger zone. I kept my thoughts and feelings positive, turned on the heater when I had to slow down and stop frequently going through small towns, and arrived without incident. Once I got there and had a nice visit and got ready to leave I discovered that just in warming up the engine it was going into the red zone. On further inspection and after a phone call to my husband, I found that though he had drained much of the antifreeze from the system to clean it out, they had only replace a 1/2 gallon of it. It had appeared full, so they didn't put anymore in. What they didn't realize is that when you empty the system and refill it there can be air pockets that make it appear full. We added another 2 gallons which meant that I drove more than 120 miles on 1/2 the necessary antifreeze in the sweltering Georgia summer heat. It's a miracle I didn't burn up the engine, but all is well.

Miracles happen when you trust, have faith, and do your best. I was able to keep my thoughts and feelings focused on positive outcomes (exercise faith) because I had taken the time to clear away the negative influences in my heart, mind, and spirit. I am so grateful for God's hands in carrying me safely there and back and providing the necessary information and people to help me resolve this problem. I'm grateful that He provided me with the tools I needed in order to be prepared to face this challenge. I'm grateful that He sent people with the skills and prior-knowledge to help me.

Liz King Bradley