A Season of Growth

As I'm sitting here on my back porch enjoying the warmth of the sun and the gentle breeze, I'm thanking God for all of this beauty that I am surrounded by.  I love hearing the birds and watching the squirrels chase each other up and down the trees in our yard.  I'm grateful in Tennessee we get to experience all four seasons.  Fall has always been my favorite, but right up there with fall is spring!  I love the sounds and smells that spring brings.  It may have just snowed but I can see growth springing up out of the ground.  Seriously, after our big snow storm here in January that shut everything down in our town for a week, I was outside walking around and I could see my daffodils and iris' coming out of the ground that had just been covered by snow and ice.  There is something so rewarding and refreshing about seeing growth happen after a long cold season.  

 In life, we all experience different seasons as well.  I would say for me right now I'm in a season of growth by retraining myself to think differently!  What I mean by that is for many years now I have been listening to the lies that the enemy has been whispering.  I know what you are thinking, but Sheila you are a pastors wife, don't you know the difference?  If only I knew that it was the enemy speaking, but honestly the voice I often hear sounds like my own.  The voice a person chooses to listen to can determine what they will experience.  Is it a life of peace and hope or a life filled with insecurity, fear, guilt, shame or pride.  What we feel is often a product of what we think.  The enemy is not creative he is just consistent.  I love what the message says in Philippians 4:8  "Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious - the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse."  We need to THINK it, BELIEVE it and DO it!!   This new way of thinking is a growing process.  Growth is not easy, but it is always good!  
The truth is the devil is vicious but he is NOT victorious! 

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