COPING WITH A CHRONIC ILLNESS DURING THE HOLIDAYS By Bonnie Roof

Bonnie Roof, Our Newest Contributor to the Overcoming With God blog!

Welcome to our newest Angel, Bonnie Roof, who is sharing her first post of encouragement with us on the OWG blog!

The holidays are upon us again. For many people, they are some of the most joyous days of the year - for others, they bring added stress that complicates chronic health issues. Here are some tips that might alleviate some of the stress:

(1) Engage in 30 minutes of walking or related activities and 8 hours solid sleep daily.

(2) Make a list of the most important things and make them your priorities.

(3) Take care of your own needs first as it is easy to become overwhelmed with expectations and 

      demands, otherwise.

(4) Make time to take care of yourself.

(5) Unrealistic expectations add stress - as demands on your time increase, do more for yourself 

      instead of less.

(6) Conserve your energy and focus on your health, the most important thing.

(7) What special gifts and skills can you share with others? Do you paint, knit, bake, play/sing music, craft, write? Often, little is needed to create the perfect gift - many times, it truly is the thought that counts. Perhaps there is a home-bound friend for whom a visit and word of encouragement would be the perfect gift. 

(8) Make both verbalizing to God and writing down thoughts of gratefulness - a daily occurrence - 

      for blessings both large and small. There are blessings to be found even in the midst of 

      chronic pain - you may be surprised at the number when you make it a habit to daily list new blessings a gratefulness journal is good for this. Expressions of gratefulness promote good 

      feelings which can help take one's mind off his/her pain and feelings of despair and 

      hopelessness.

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble". Psalm 46:1 (ESV)

The holidays are about giving thanks, sharing with family and friends, spreading joy to others and finding peace and God's gift of love to us and sharing them with others!!

What tips have you found to ease the stress and amplify the holiday enjoyment for one who struggles with a chronic illness - whether it be yourself or a friend or family member? 

Giveaway: Box of several recent release books by best selling authors!!!        

Affirmations of God's Annointing: By Carrie Fancett Pagels

WORDS

Are

Powerful

Have you asked God to anoint you for your ministry in writing? Or any of your ministries.  Or any thing He has called YOU to do. Let’s say He has and you struggle with remembering that call. 

Here are a few affirmations (words of encouragement for yourself--spoken aloud) for you to try:

God has anointed my writing (or whatever it is: mothering, business, marriage.)

He has anointed:

My blogs

Marriage

Children

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

He has called me to do things He will enable me to do.

I can speak words that God has called me to say and I can do it with His power.

He has given me work that will bring glory to Him.

I will encourage others and lift them up daily.

He has called me according to His purpose for my life.

Power, ability, efficiency, and might have been given to me through the Holy Spirit because of the anointing he has given me.

Words are powerful—my words can help change others’ lives for the better and draw them closer to God.

I speak and write in accordance to God’s will.

I can speak blessings into the lives of others and myself.

When I pray about something, I leave it with God and trust Him to take care of the matter. 

My words are in agreement with my prayers.

Joyce Meyer has a new book about the power of words and is speaking on this topic. Her television show focused on her new book the week of Sept 10.

God had already been speaking to me, too, about the power of my words on my own walk.  In psychology we use affirmations to overcome negative self-talk. I pray that these affirmations, intended for Christians, will be helpful to your daily walk with God and in the resulting rewards you will reap for the Kingdom!

You will notice that many of my affirmations above include paraphrases of scripture.  Do you have any particular scriptures that speak to your heart, and if so, do you speak them aloud to yourself as a reminder?  Care to share?

Okay, I had to add this from Teresa Mathews, after her comment gave me Holy Ghost bumps:
This is a "reminder of the power of God's anointing in our lives. Isaiah 10:27 tells us "And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing." God's anointing will tear down any yoke of bondage in our life if we allow Him to do it!


And we also need to be mindful of the power of our words. Proverbs 18:21a "Death and life are in the power of the tongue..." What a great reminder to watch what we say. I am up there with everyone else that mumbles and complains, but I am going to try to do better with what I confess with my mouth. I want my words to be a blessing to others and to myself. "

Thank you Teresa!

Giveaway:  We are giving away three copies of Laura Frantz's new release (or any of her books) in paperback or ebook this week. (Ebook only for international winners.) Leave your email address with your comment.  

7 Ways to Support Christian Authors

Our Julie Lessman mid-week bonanza has wrapped up and we will be drawing our final two winners on Saturday night (announcing Sunday.)   Here's a link to Julie's Friday Journal Jots (click here.)

Do you love Julie's and other's books?  Here are some ways you can support their writing:

1) Buy their books!

2) Read their books!

3) Write great reviews. Don't post a review that isn't good. Better to say nothing.

4) Post your reviews on Amazon, CBD, Barnes and Noble, Good Reads, and other review sites.

5) Pray for them!

6) "Like" their Facebook Page.

7) Leave an encouraging comment for them on Facebook or elsewhere.

How about you?  What is something you have done to encourage an author?  

Giveaway: We will be giving away a copy of one of Julie's books to either our 190th follower or one of our current followers (if we don't get to 190) who leaves a comment or has left a comment this week.