(Week 1) Women of the Bible Series : Huldah

Huldah Free PDF

See you next week!

Shawna and Syneka!

5 Reasons I Quit Taking My RA & Fibromyalgia Medication

I get this question asked a lot “why don’t you take your meds?” they ask if there is medication for your diagnosis why aren’t you utilizing it? Honestly, I’ve always been someone to take up on a challenge, but this is not the reason I quit taking my meds. Some days my meds helped me and some days it caused me to feel much worse than I already was. I just got tired of taking so many meds a day and being so isolated life just felt numb to me and no reason to live in it. So I got the courage 4 years ago to grab all my meds and toss them for good! Here are 5 reasons why;

 

1. Steroids- I started taking prednisone at 14 and even though it made me feel better it was still covering up the root cause. It caused me to gain so much weight, I hated it. It was a temporary fix, I was tired of the temporary.
2. Consistency-  I was prescribed a lot of meds that were both for cancer and autoimmune diseases so my hair will grow to fall out. If I caught a cold or the flu I would have to stop the meds until it passed. For some reason all the side effects of the meds that only show in a few people, I was always that few! So doctors’ were always switching my meds trying new things.
3. Sleepiness- It’s already tough being a mother, it’s so much harder when you can’t even stay awake. I would be so out of it and by the time I would wake up the sun was down and the day escaped me. So, how did I keep a job? Caffeine! it was my BFF I drunk about 10 cups a day just to get me by, but I would only end up sicker than I was because caffeine is a big trigger when I’m having a flare-up. There was nothing I could do because my body became so immune to the meds so quickly they would have to bump it up to a higher dosage.
4. Addiction- I became addicted to Xanax, I found myself popping pills when I wasn’t even having anxiety just because they made me feel a little alive. I could smile on days I really didn’t have it in me. I drank a lot because it made me numb and in that moment took me away from that person I hated most (Sick Shawna).
5. Family- I was missing out on family, I avoided family gatherings because I would be so nervous of questions (Wow, Shawna you gained weight or Wow, you have gotten so skinny) yea…yea.. if only you knew my struggles. I couldn’t stand loud noises and I didn’t want them to see me have an anxiety attack because I was afraid to be around a big crowd. I just go tired of explaining myself.

I got tired of living this way, and I couldn’t stand another day of it. So I prayed to God…well more liked screamed, hollered and sobbed. I said enough is enough, I won’t continue to live my life this way and gave myself away to God so he could use me. That’s when I tried my first Daniel fast, started detoxing and doing so much research. God started to overflow my mind with things that needed to be done and they work for me. Some days get tough but I press on because God is greater than my illness. See my illness had me bound on the verge to committing suicide and ending it all but God said otherwise. I feel so free and full of life, this is my why. I have now found my purpose in life. I wasn’t created to be sick my whole life, but to find God and fulfill the purpose he created me for.  I was just a person that the medication didn’t work out for. I’m just glad to be medication free and living life with a purpose.

 

 

Meditation: I, Forgive Myself

I, Forgive Myself

Many of us are always forgiving others for what they do but we end up neglecting one person that needs the most forgiving yourself.  We carry life’s scars and battles on our shoulders and never notice how much they weigh us down until we are stressed out and ready to tap out. Some believe they have forgiven themselves but yet they still talk negatively to themselves. Negative talk holds us back and causes us to be bound. God said he forgives you and forgets it so why don’t we do the same also? I get that this world is harsh and it will constantly bring up your past as a reminder of who you were, how you were and what you did but one thing it can’t control is your future. 

God holds your future and there is so much to gain from releasing all the baggage that continues to hold you back. You can’t go back to change what happened, but you can start the healing process now. Each of us has a testimony to tell and a life story to share that can help the next person going through a similar situation. Your past is someone’s present, forgive yourself today and allow your healing process to begin.

How can I work on forgiving myself:

 

1. Remember: You can’t change the Past– We can’t re-do our past but we can re-create a new journey, it’s our life we made mistakes and things happened that we couldn’t control. We are still our own director we have the power to change it and control what happens now.
2. Love who you are now– Sometimes we find it hard to love ourselves at this moment because the past is still lingering on us. You may not be where you want to be yet, but love who and where you are today.
3. Fill your life with positive energy-  Learn to get rid of the negative self-talk, put post-its all over your house of positive affirmations. Fill your squad circle with positive people, go positive places and continue to do positive things that bring love and joy into your life.

 

What positive things have you done to overcome something?

 

He Fights For You

I was driving home from work a few nights ago and was thinking to myself about how sometimes we may feel like we are getting tugged back and forth. We are getting tossed and torn because it’s a battle going on for us. We could be in a wonderful place in our lives and within seconds get torn down and back into a slump.

Remember when you were a kid and you had this special toy that you really admired. Think how you felt when your older or younger sibling or cousin began to play with it. You would step us against them and begin to play a game of tug of war and you may say “It’s mine or I had it first. I began to wonder if that’s how God feels about us.

God created us in his image, we all were his first since birth. Since we were born in sin it immediately became a game of tug of war. God has this plan to prosper you and not to harm you when satan has the plan to deceive you and destroy you.

There are so many things happening in our lives right now that we are feeling torn and worn out and ready to throw in the towel because of the tugging is greater than we ever imagined it would be. The enemy wants to hold onto you like a leech for as long as he can because if he let’s go he knows what’s at stake. You know those cops that get into blind spots and hurry up and cut off their lights so they can catch you when you least expect it. That’s just like your enemy, he wants to hide in the dark and catch you slipping.

Where there is evil there is good, sorrow there is joy, pain there is a comfort, the enemy there is God and he is fighting for you much more than the enemy is because he knows the plans he has for you, he knows your potential, nothing good can come from evil. He knows that if you surrendered all how much he can do in your life, but he is aware that the enemy is on his job as well. So he tugs even harder because he is jealous for you!

Life’s challenges won’t stop, but God provides you with tools to help you get through them. He wants you all to himself, just like you wanted your favorite toy all to yourself. You are his favorite so if you can feel the tug know that God is fighting for you. He doesn’t want to see you give up, he doesn’t want you to feel alone. He’s saying “I’m right here, my child”. The voice is there, you just have to listen and let him guide you on the right path.

Always Shawna

 

Daily Planner: By His Stripes

Daily Planner PDF: By His Stripes

Meditation of the Week

Achieving Stability & Productivity

I want to brush on psalm 1:3  this week because it’s something that we all can use to continue to grow. Now in psalm 1:3 it talks about a tree that’s planted, so this means this tree started out as a seed, developed roots and began to blossom into a tree that later on became fruitful. Now this tree couldn’t grow without the proper necessities it needed water to maintain it’s growth which was provided by the river.  

This tree was special to me because the water never ran dry, it had a constant flow of water because it was so close to the supplier.  The tree became stronger every day and produced fruit that was heaven sent. For us to achieve this stability and productivity just like this tree we must stay close to our supplier. We can’t stray too far from it or our fruitfulness will begin to wither away. God is our connection to becoming stable, and once we become stable we will begin to see things prosper. The day you were born God planted a seed in you, he is just waiting for you to find your way to stability so he can begin a mighty work in you. 

Brush up on your word daily ( continue to water your tree), do what you know to do to stay close to him and watch your tree grow. The Bible says “whatever he/she does shall prosper”.

Blessings

Shawna

30 Day Chronic Illness Bible Reading Plan

I wanted to create a Bible reading plan that can be used for Chronic Illness warriors that just need a little extra push. Sometimes we get discouraged and feel all hope is lost but just remember God will never leave you nor forsake you!

I pray this reading plan will uplift your spirits and draw you closer to God. You can also download a copy for yourself in pdf format below.

Be  Blessed

Download your Free Copy

DEVOTION THROUGH PSALMS #5

Hear Me O, God

4 Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.² O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah.³ But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the Lord will hear when I call unto him.⁴ Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.⁵ Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord.⁶ There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.⁷ Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.⁸ I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.  Pslam 4:1-8

When I was younger at church we always had services were the saints would pray and pray for hours. This wasn’t any type of prayer some yelling, some weeping and all some could do was hum. At that age, I didn’t really understand the purpose of that kind of prayer, but now that I am older and have experienced some things I understand. I understand that sometimes there is a need to pour out our hearts to God with a loud cry ” letting God know, I put all my trust in you Father”.

With everything that is occurring in our lives we sometimes have to let God know “I know you got me and please continue to speak Lord”. So many things are coming against us and we never want to let God down, but remember God will take care of his faithful ones. He see’s your pain, he knows your desires and he hears your cries that you cry when you are all alone.

So keep fighting, praying, fasting and spreading God’s love. Trust God and know that he is the same God as he was back in the day of Moses, Daniel, Saul and all the others that he blessed. Hold on to your faith and keep all your trust in God.

Be Blessed

Always Shawna

Meditation of the Week

Worry-LESS

Every day when we rise there is always something that needs to be done. You know that one thing you were thinking about all night long while you laid down in bed. You were thinking how would I pay my bill, how am I going to get to work. We ask ourselves so many how questions that we don’t even notice that we start to worry all day long. Worrying leads to stress and stress leads to sickness. We never think stress can go that far but it will, your mind doesn’t get a break and it is constantly speeding until it gets burnt out.

This week I challenge you to cast all your cares upon God, he already knows everything that you need before you even think of it. All you need is faith that’s the size of a mustard seed, right? So, go ahead plant a seed and watch God work for you this week. Just know God will provide your needs right on time.

Stay Blessed,

Always Shawna

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