faith – Ginger Simpson White

an unexpected message…

For various reasons, the almost-ever-present anxiety has been especially high lately and the struggle has seemed even more difficult. I’ve been turning to my usual helpers: prayer, creativity, painting, distracting, watching “comfort” shows and movies, spending time outside, talking with loved ones, working on genealogy and local hometown history, doing brain retraining and breathing exercises and relaxation techniques.

But still. There’s been one stressful thing after another and…very high anxiety.

Sunday evening, I had my weekly phone call with my cousin, and I asked her what she did that helped her not be afraid all the time. We’ve talked about this sort of thing before, and I know she has a deep faith, and I was fairly certain she would talk about God and faith and trust. And she did.

Her words and her reminders were helpful for me, and one of the things she reminded me about was how God already knows what’s ahead for us. That’s something I remind myself of quite often, but sometimes it helps to hear things from someone else. It can help to hear a thing phrased in a different way or hear it at a specific time when it connects with us on a different level. That’s how it was for me to hear my cousin’s words.

The next day I was texting this same cousin, and my phone added something I hadn’t typed. I ended up taking a screenshot of part of the text and highlighting the phrase added by my phone:

I had intended to type “God already knows all about the car(s) and the finances and what’s ahead” but before I even started on the word what, my phone inserted everything is good.

So it ended up as: “God already knows all about the car(s) and the finances and everything is good.”

Everything is good.

Everything is good.

My phone will sometimes put or change a word it thinks I mean instead of what I actually write, but never has my phone inserted an entire phrase before. I wasn’t touching anything on the screen at all when the words appeared. I hadn’t even put the first letter of the next word I planned to write.

But what a perfect ending to the sentence.

“God already knows all about the car(s) and the finances and everything is good.”

What a perfect message for me during a time of high anxiety.

Everything is good.

And I did take it as a message, a message to me from God. God, who knows my fears and anxieties. God, who knows exactly what’s going on and what’s to come. God, who loves me and wants me to fear not.

I took it as a message and a reminder that God’s got me. Even when hard things are happening.

❤

the Lord is my Shepherd {printable}…

Something I’ve been enjoying lately is playing with my dip pen and Inktense blocks with words, phrases, Bible verses, and general doodles and swirls.

This is one of them – the Lord is my Shepherd – from the 23rd Psalm. It’s a 4″ x 6″ image, and I’ve turned it into a printable for you to download and print if you’d like to have it.

As with the other printables on my blog (you can find those here – be sure to keep choosing “older posts” to go back to see them all) there’s no charge, nothing to sign up for, no strings attached. Just download and print as you wish.

I only wrote the opening words of Psalm 23 – the Lord is my shepherd – but I hope these words will bring to mind this entire Psalm, which I’ve included below the image. The 23rd Psalm is a Bible passage that can provide immense comfort.

The .jpg file is here.

For .png format, the link is here.

And if you’d like it in .pdf format, you can get it here.

The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever.

{Psalm 23 – New King James Version}

♥

and now it’s March…

Time still feels strange to me, passing fast and slow all at once. I’ll think about posting something here, and then…more time passes.

Anxiety is still a problem for me, in a big way. It’s been a bit over 18 months since my taper off xanax ended and I still have times of flare-ups of various symptoms, and my central nervous system is still super-sensitive. I continue to try to take things day by day, even moment by moment, and get through as best as I can. As to be expected (since this is the way life is) some days are better than others.

Here are some of what’s currently helping me through what continues to be a difficult time…

Painting.

Even though I can’t really explain the why behind it, holding a brush and moving paint (on a page or a canvas) helps me calm. I don’t worry about how it looks. I’m not doing anything fancy. I even call what I do “paint play” because I’m just playing, simply moving the paint wherever.

It’s okay if I don’t know the why of it working – what matters is that I know painting helps me, and I’ve been spending time doing it. It’s grounding, and relaxing, and calming. It’s one of my joy connections – and whenever we can connect with joy, it helps.

Writing and research.

I’m putting these two together because, for now, they’re overlapping for me a bit.

As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been working again on genealogy research.

I’ve also been doing research for my current fiction project.

But. I’ve been having trouble getting back to a regular, consistent, routine with writing. To try to shift this for myself, I decided to try having a writing schedule even though, historically, writing schedules haven’t worked out too well for me. I’m willing to try it again, though, so…I’m giving it a go.

What I know is that my life is better, in general, when I’m writing consistently (especially, when I’m writing fiction). Even when life is difficult, it’s better when I’m writing.

That’s a big reason I’m giving the writing schedule a try again. I really-really-really want to get back to writing consistently again.

Walking.

Because of various physical things, I’m not always able to take nice long walks. But taking walks is something else that really helps me. It helps the anxiety, it lifts my mood, it just makes me feel better.

My husband and I have been walking in the neighborhood, as well as taking walks some days near his workplace on his lunch hour.

Getting out in the fresh air is something else that really helps me.

Reading. And watching shows.

Reading fiction takes me to another place, putting me in the lives of imaginary characters far away from whatever is happening in my own world.

Spending time reading on the front porch has become a grounding routine of the past months, and it helps calm me. I also generally read for a while in the evenings.

Watching shows does a similar thing for me, putting me into another place and time. I have a variety of what I call “comfort shows” and I’ll often watch complete series multiple times.

Prayer and Bible study.

Time with Jesus just helps me in so many ways. It brings comfort and clarity.

It helps me remember that I’m not alone.

It helps me deal with life.

Connection with loved ones.

Hanging out with my husband… taking walks with him, watching “our shows” together, sharing meals, cooking our usual breakfast-for-supper on Sunday evenings… I’m so grateful for him, and for our time together.

And there are the phone calls and texts and messages and voxes with friends and family.

And also…

Our girl.

And this sweet kitty continues to bring joy and love to our household. We love her to bits.

These are some of the things helping me through.

Simple things, but oh so helpful and valuable.

Find what helps you get through, what helps you cope and deal… and what helps you connect with joy.

I’d love to hear what helps you (if you’d like to share your thoughts) – just get in touch with me anytime.

♥