Kitty Crenshaw's Blog, page 23
November 8, 2018
November 9
The more you make the choice to believe that God knows and wants what is best for you, the easier it becomes to trust that everything is exactly as it should be. ~Betty
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November 6, 2018
Pain is the Voice of Love Calling Us Home
Betty Skinner, the inspiration for The Hidden Life Awakened, discusses embracing pain as part of the path we walk toward love:
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November 4, 2018
November 5
Your choice is this; to hold on to your illusion of control by fighting the reality you find yourself in, or to trust God’s goodness and desire to move you to a new place of freedom. ~Betty
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November 1, 2018
On Retreat: November 2018
Our prayer is that On Retreat will help you break from habituated patterns of mind and frantic activity, make more space for God, and step into a new way of seeing, believing, and abiding.The descending way of humility is a movement towards our true self-realization. Each retreat will focus on a healthy body, a serene mind, and a powerful spirit. Your devoted guide will be modern day Christian mystic, Betty Skinner.
Affirming the Hope Hidden Within You ~Cathy and Kitty
Gratefulness
A Healthy Body
Hydrate: Drink a little water with lemon or green tea to begin.
Move: Do a few simple stretching exercises to energize your body.
Rest: Silently integrate the inner peace of your stretching practice for a few minutes.
A Serene Mind
Begin this portion of your time with God by sitting with a warm cup of coffee, tea, or water with lemon in a comfortable chair in a quiet place with your Bible close. Light a candle as a symbol of God’s presence with you.
Opening Prayer
Let Betty’s lovely Centering Prayer video help quiet and refocus your mind or read it on page 53 of our book, The Hidden Life Awakened. Listen for His voice in silence for a few minutes.
Reflections from Betty
The green has turned to golden.
Some branches bare, their leaves have fallen.
And I, His chosen, come again to ponder,
Within the changing pattern of creation
The beauty in the dying,
The forgiving face of God.
Oh, Good Jesus,
In Your redeeming power,
Liberate my broken, crushed self-image,
Worn, tired, abused and torn.
Refine within me Your kiss of peace
That I might extend to others
Your hand, Your word, Your heart of love.
This unity of forgiveness,
The beauty in the dying.
BWS
Further Reflection
I often wonder… Lord, giver of everything, what can I bring to you my King? I am gently reminded that a grateful heart is my humble offering. Whether joy or pain, gratitude helps me not forget the truth of who He is, His faithful presence that forever remains.
God wants you to be healthy and happy as much as you want that. So take care of yourself by taking care of your cells. What one good thing will you give your genome today? Will you go outside and walk a little? Will you feed your cells a meal of delicious, mainly plant-based foods? Will you think of things you can be grateful for, trusting that your brain is turbocharged to re-create itself when you are in a state of gratitude? If you will do these things, you will one day wake to find yourself in new and joyful places you never dreamed possible. The Hidden Life Awakened
May we surrender today to gratitude, thanking the Lord for the purposeful coming and going of each unique season of our lives as we observe changes in the natural world as well as the deep workings in our own hearts. All the while grounded in the One who remains, who wraps himself up and in and through the beauty of it all with us, whether summer breeze or golden leaves or barren trees.
A Powerful Spirit
Spend a little time now, letting the Living Word speak to your heart.
Divine Reading
Psalm 136
Rest Quietly with God
Use your imagination to visualize Jesus walking with you on a path through the many events of your life, starting as a young child all the way up until the present. Whether they are joyful, painful, or sorrowful memories, simply picture Christ by your side through it all. May this simple practice transform your heart to a place of gratitude as you remember that in all things, He “is with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:20
Reflective Writing
Journal every thought that arises without censoring as a child would. This is the indwelling Spirit speaking truth to you. Trust this for now.
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October 30, 2018
October 31
Try and remember Whose and who you are. ~Betty
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October 28, 2018
October 29
To access the beauty and peace within you, you must first be able to access the beauty and peace around you. ~Betty
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October 25, 2018
October 26
If you will refuse negativity and keep your focus on gratefulness, you will finally awaken to the marvelous truth that God has already given you everything you need. ~ Betty
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October 23, 2018
Neurosculpting Gratitude
86,400 seconds in a day, with upwards of 70,000 thoughts filling those seconds! I can hardly wrap my head around this concept. 70,000 micro-choices, embedded within 86,400 seconds, physically neuro-sculpting my mind, body and spirit every day. How we pay attention and where we put our focus really matters! Advances in neuroscience can now document that what we focus our attention on builds into the very fabric of our brain.
So, I was out walking on my favorite trail yesterday, and noticed a deep disturbance in my mind and heart. I noticed the brain ruminating over a perceived offense. I noticed other inner programs (neural networks) engaged in defending the offense. Step by step, on and on it went. I slowed my pace to really watch this happen in real time; my stomach was contracting, my jaw was clenching, my back felt more tight, the joy of walking my sacred trails was obliterated by the neuro-sculpting of misery I was engaged in. I took a breath, laughed at myself and started again. Breathing. Noticing the deep green of a rain-drenched August in Tallahassee, the explosion of dappled light deep within the forest trail. Ahhhhhhh, noticing peace. Slower breathing. Quieting. What emerges on its own? Gratitude. The soul’s place of peace. Gratitude for skills, knowledge, tools, and the practice of how to work with my mind, my focus, my emotions and feelings. Pure and simple. Gratitude always, always brings me back to my true self, where all shall be well, all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well.
Scientists now affirm that how and where we focus our attention dictates the content of the brain structure we create. By choosing to focus our attention (mindfulness and prayer) on uplifting emotional content (positivity and hope), and sustaining that moment for twenty-five seconds (installation), we little by little change our brain structure, which changes mental activity, which changes biochemical communication in the body, which epigenetically changes gene expression and thus our physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
Think of it this way: the act of replacing negative thoughts with good thoughts physically impacts the synapses in our brain, causing them to disconnect and make brand new connections, creating new pathways and cells devoted to right thinking. We turbocharge the process by engaging in positive lifestyle choices such as exercising, adding nutrient-rich foods into our diet, sleeping and resting well, and cultivating positive relationships. These combine synergistically to provide critical nutrients to grow healthy brain structure. Literally, in a process scientifically described as neuroplasticity, a new brain can be created to replace the old brain!
The effects of this self-directed neuroplasticity are cumulative, so every time we make a choice for hope, we are turning the part of us that chooses into something different than it was before. Just as it takes more than one footstep, though, to create a new path in the ground, it takes more than one thought to make a new pathway in our mind. We have to choose to cultivate the good we want in our mind over and over again. Somehow, the Apostle Paul understood this when he said to be ‘transformed by the renewing of your mind.” The Hidden Life Awakened
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October 21, 2018
October 22
Don’t wait until you see the good to trust; trust now and it will surely come. ~Betty
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October 18, 2018
October 19
If you will choose to see your waiting as a time of pregnant expectation rather than of fearsome discouragement, it will enlarge you and give you hope. ~Betty
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