Kitty Crenshaw's Blog, page 28
July 15, 2018
July 16
In every moment you are choosing the trajectory of your health and happiness, moving it in one direction or the other by the choices you make. ~ Betty
The post July 16 appeared first on The Hidden Life Awakened.
July 12, 2018
July 13
The deepest mystery about you is that your physical body, no matter how broken, is in reality the temple of the Holy Spirit and a bearer of Christ to the world. ~Betty
The post July 13 appeared first on The Hidden Life Awakened.
July 10, 2018
Let Go. Dare to Change.
Betty Skinner, the inspiration for The Hidden Life Awakened, discusses letting go, daring to release our grip on the past, and moving toward change.
The post Let Go. Dare to Change. appeared first on The Hidden Life Awakened.
July 8, 2018
July 9
Claim for yourself more love from God, which is the key to all freedom. ~ Betty
The post July 9 appeared first on The Hidden Life Awakened.
July 5, 2018
On Retreat: July 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. 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
Change and Growth
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 ten minutes.
For Reflection
There is within us all this strong desire for the freedom to live and be whole, but it takes enormous courage and discipline to make the choice to trust God and do the difficult work this requires. We must be willing to look at our entrenched behavior patterns that we innocently created from our self protective fears and perceptions of life. Once we are aware of them we can name them, so we can begin to tame them. These habitual ways of being are so hard to break because they are deeply rooted in our childhood wounds. Taking those initial steps toward change can be frightening and painful.The old voices in our head tell us it won’t work, things will only get worse, and we’re wasting our time. But the new Voice in our heart tells us that if we don’t change, we won’t grow. Change and growth are synonymous. Gradually as we develop new patterns, the work becomes easier, and we will slowly begin to see our life bear fruit. Failure to dare to change will keep us trapped, so dare to let go, trust God, and make the choice to change, regardless of how hard it is. The Hidden Life Awakened
A Reflection from Betty
I had to be open to everything if I wanted to grow in the love and knowledge of God. Fear kept me clinging to old habits and old ways of doing things. I had to continually turn off the head tapes that had programmed me for so long and return to my First Love. That required trust and faith—not knowing where I was going but with Whom I was going. Faith brought me to love. Faith brought me to joy. Faith brought me to wholeness. I had to let go of the old trapeze, float through that never-never land, trust God, and grab for the new one. I had to remind myself that God is a God of love and His timing is perfect, so He would not let me fall. That’s growth, and all of this led me to the deep, deep joy that comes from the freedom to love purely.
A Powerful Spirit
Spend a little time now, letting the Living Word speak to your heart.
Divine Reading
Psalm 91 Good News Translation
Rest Quietly with God
Use your imagination to visualize Jesus sitting there with you or in any other setting that brings you peace. Will you tell Him about that one behavior or way you are with others that you have been afraid to look at and ask Him to help you change it? You might also watch Betty’s short video entitled Name it, Claim it and Tame it on the website.
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.
The post On Retreat: July 2018 appeared first on The Hidden Life Awakened.
July 3, 2018
July 4
Remember and be encouraged; darkness can never overwhelm the Light. ~Betty
The post July 4 appeared first on The Hidden Life Awakened.
July 1, 2018
July 2
There is always joy hidden in your sorrows. ~Betty
The post July 2 appeared first on The Hidden Life Awakened.
June 28, 2018
June 29
Your suffering has been great, but it has broken your heart open and filled it with compassion for the world. It is enough. ~Betty
The post June 29 appeared first on The Hidden Life Awakened.
June 26, 2018
Even-Souledness
How are we to maintain love and gratitude, equanimity and even-souledness in the midst of the myriad disappointments, pains and losses life brings to us all? How are we to persevere in hope in things not seen rather than constantly falling into discouragement and despair with every up and down of our finite emotions and expectations?
The fight is not against our circumstances but against our negative thinking. The tyranny of fear and worry has been imposed on us by the world, not by God. Nothing in our lives is wasted or beyond His healing touch. Everything has divine purpose. God’s ways are a mystery, but they are always good. We must get comfortable with that mystery. Mystery is that place beyond rational knowing and beyond our capacity to control; therefore, its acceptance feels like a fundamental assault on our way of protecting ourselves in the world.
“We must let go of every wound that has pierced us and the sin we so easily fall into. Then we will be able to run life’s marathon with passion and determination, for the path has already been marked out before us. We look away from the natural realm and we fasten our gaze onto Jesus who birthed faith within us and who leads us forward into faith’s perfection.”
Hebrews 12:1-2 (The Passion Translation)
Choosing to trust God’s mystery and practice this new way of seeing with gratitude and even-souledness will take time, and it will take desire, but it will happen, creating in us a transcendent joy that is no longer dependent on external happiness. Such trust is an expression of the gift of ourselves in deepest gratitude for the gift of God’s unspeakable love. The Hidden Life Awakened
The post Even-Souledness appeared first on The Hidden Life Awakened.
June 24, 2018
June 25
The freedom to love and be loved is often discovered in the darkness, so it is important to befriend it. ~Betty
The post June 25 appeared first on The Hidden Life Awakened.
