If Nicki’s {inspirational entry} really hit you, listen to Shannon offer up some things you can do if you’re in a similar situation.

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We all knew something was wrong.

He was angry a lot. Disappearing acts were to be expected every time we were together. And his eyes were constantly blood-shot. Slowly his body was dissolving into virtually nothing. A once strong football player and straight-A student was now a lost and hopeless spirit in this world.

Mike’s few wrong turns soon caught up with him as we discovered his undeniable drug and alcohol use. He was an addict. He was a crack-head. He was an alcoholic. He was a liar.

And yet he…was my big brother.

Our roles reversed one day as he sat on the cold wooden floors of my home. I fought back tears as I looked at him slumped over, words slurred and hands shaking. How did this happen? How did he get to this low point?

I had nothing to say.

When someone you love is that far gone, you feel as though you will never be able to make them see what they have done to their life. It would have been much easier that day to have written him off — to push him out of my house and forbid him to come back. But to walk with him down that path was a completely different story.

I wasn’t so convinced.

When the disgrace of an addiction takes over someone’s life they don’t see it right away. All too often it begins with miniature, simple, guiltless steps that lead to the sightlessness of an addiction. They often think they have fooled everyone, yet they don’t see the pain they cause.

An embarrassed daughter sinks in her seat in a church service while her drunken father shouts out profanity. A mother painstakingly cries through disbelief as she cleans up straws from under a bed, used to snort crack up her son’s nose. A friend that watched her friend take those pills now looks at her, lying in a casket, overseen by eyes filled with mourning.

The addict fools no one; but the addict hurts everyone.

As a girl who likes to see value in everyone, it was hard to look past all those hurtful experiences and see a broken-down boy on my floor that needed to be rescued. Mike didn’t need me or my parents. He needed a man who had overcome all, rescued many before and promised to never let go. He required Jesus.

I believe that God sends people our way to be the hands and feet of Jesus himself: nurses, doctors, specialists and counselors. They are the ones who pour endless hours into research, support groups and programs to help addicts conquer their blindness. Guidance is given to the addict to see what they have done — who they have wounded and how they can change.

And in the right place, they lead the addict to the cross. The same cross that bears grace for all the imperfections of life — even addictions.

Mike’s journey has been no easy road. But thankfully he saw the need for help and reached his way to a life of restoration. He now looks at life in a highly honorable way: one moment, one day and one step at a time.

It is a way of living for those of us on the other side to consider: worthy, life-changing and hopeful.

Resources…

Verse: 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Resources for treatment: http://www.christianrehabfacilities.com

The Celebrate Recovery Bible: http://www.lifeway.com/e4/shop/?id=005098271

Alcoholics Anonymous: http://www.aa.org

Something Else…

Click here to be further renewed in your thinking of what you can take to the cross.

Nicki Koziarz is a girl who loves sand between her toes, a fun night out and would describe herself as nothing more than a once broken-down Jesus girl. You can read more about her imperfect life and an update on her brother, Mike this week at: www.threegirlygirlz.blogspot.com.

Have you yourself or someone you know ever struggled with an addiction? Click here to leave a comment and tell us your story, request prayer or to encourage others. And please, if you are struggling with an addiction, seek help.

Three words stuck out in Nicki’s {inspirational entry} this week …

HE REQUIRED JESUS

We all have issues. They may or may not be flat out addictions. But…

WE ALL REQUIRE JESUS

Soak in this song and meditate on the lyrics below.

You will notice in the lyrics the words, Lead me to the Cross. Jesus took all of your addictions, the times you failed, the times you hurt others to the Cross and died to wipe away all your sins in God’s eyes. This is a very tough concept to grasp, but it is ABSOLUTE TRUTH.

Twentysomething, Kate Carlson sings Lead Me To the Cross by Hillsong

Lyrics by Hillsong

Savior I come
Quiet my soul remember
Redemptions hill
Where Your blood was spilled
For my ransom
Everything I once held dear
I count it all as lost

Lead me to the cross
Where Your love poured out
Bring me to my knees
Lord I lay me down
Rid me of myself
I belong to You
Lead me, lead me to the cross

You were as I
Tempted and tried
You are
The word became flesh
Bore my sin and death
Now you’re risen

To your heart
To your heart
Lead me to your heart
Lead me to your heart

~ Why is it so hard to face up to the things you know you need to take to Jesus and to the Cross?

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Join Nicki in the bathroom for some honest confessions.

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Last week, I sat in a funeral.

In the middle of his eulogy of the beautiful woman we were remembering, a large suited preacher man with a tie as red as my nephew’s toy fire engine said something I’ll never forget. He was talking about how God can use even the most inadequate people to serve Him, of which category he included himself in. As this once young, red-tied preacher man felt God calling him to preach back in the day, he argued his inadequacies to God. The following is the answer he shared that in that moment, God spoke to his heart…

“Son…I can draw a straight line with a crooked stick.”

Rarely have I heard a line more impactful. As I sat and heard that phrase spoken, I couldn’t help but think about my own status as a crooked stick. I thought about how ill equipped I am — how unqualified I am to do anything more significant than breathe.

And then I thought about how wise God is to already know that fact. I thought about how kind He is to see the inadequacy, yet not change His mind about my potential. I thought about how able He is to take something crooked and draw something straight.

I am the first to admit that I am a broken, not very usable, woman. My journey has not exactly been smooth sailing. And in case you ever get the idea that I have, for one second, had it all together, let me just say that I am really glad you don’t have the eyes of God or you would have by now seen different.

But what I do know is that God doesn’t need me to be perfect so He can do what He wants to do through me.

At some point in all of our lives, we have to get over the idea that we need to do anything other than surrender our lives to God to be used by Him. We can’t will our way into being usable. We can’t work our way into being good or capable enough.

There is great comfort in not focusing on how crooked my stick really is. Instead, when I am tempted to disqualify myself in the Jesus cause, I think about that straight line He is able to draw, despite my bent self.

For it is in those realizations of our inadequacy that we learn how usable we really are.

Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. 
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. — Prov. 3:5-6 (MSG)

Resources…

Behind Those Eyes: What’s Really Going on Inside the Souls of Women by Lisa Whittle

Something else…

Click here to brainstorm how you can use your gifts that God gave you!

Lisa Whittle is a woman in dire need of either a nanny or a serious calendar-savvy friend. Most days, she can’t keep anything straight. Good thing she broke up with perfection a while back. Check out Lisa’s website at www.lisawhittle.com.

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Check out Lisa’s inspirational entry and read it as a pep talk to step out of your perceived imperfections that keep your from glowing for God. No amount of makeup could give you the glow that shines from you when you are living your God-given purpose.

This song by Britt Nicole will get you pumped up to {glow}!

~ Tell us why it is so hard to step out and be who you were made to be.

Leave us a comment and encourage other women to {glow}…

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This quiz might inspire you to step out of your imperfections and {glow}…

Instead of using the normal glitz and glam of a She Seeks video, things are really simple today. This subject, controlling yourself in anger, is really important to Annie.

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It was not my finest moment. I drove home from work that day in heaving sobs with my fingers gripped so tightly around the steering wheel that my knuckles turned white. Sure, I’d been harsh but he had just made me so angry.

My boisterous (and somewhat obnoxious) co-worker, whom I shared cubicle space with, had taken a conversation about politics too far–and had even wound up mocking Jesus and grossly misquoting Scripture while he was at it. When I took an opposing stance he insinuated that I was stupid. That was the bomb that lit the fuse that caused me to explode. I unloaded on him that day. There are few times in my life I’ve ever been so upset. The conversation left us both needing fresh air. Unfortunately he beat me to the patio so I was stuck at my desk trying to calm down.

The girl at the desk next to me came to tell me I was right to say the things I did because she sat there silently thinking them. Great, I thought to myself, I put myself on the line and you silently applaud me. A lot of good that does. When my cubicle-mate returned to his desk he quickly slipped his headphones on and refused to even look at me for the rest of the day.

In the days and weeks that followed things were never the same in the office. The air was icy, our relationship was strained. I hated work so much that I used to cry before going into the office, but I needed the money so I was stuck. Everyday, as I sat at my desk (that was pressed up against the desk of a guy who had somehow become my enemy) I asked myself the same question over and over again: why had that conversation made me so mad?

My mind drifted back to a sermon I once heard on the topic of anger. The pastor said anger is a red flag signaling that we are feeling another emotion that we don’t know how to deal with. “When you’re angry,” he said, “find a feeling.”

In the case of my co-worker I felt threatened. He was raising a rally cry for a way of life I found unbiblical. He was standing for things that would infringe upon my freedoms. If he won the argument, his issues might win on the ballot and my way of living would be changed against my will.

Really, I got so angry in that moment because I didn’t trust God. I didn’t trust God with the upcoming election, I didn’t trust God with my freedoms that could be infringed upon, and I really didn’t trust God to protect me from people like my co-worker who made decisions based upon instant gratification and not the biblical definition of right and wrong.

That was an eye-opening experience for me. Now, when I’m angry, I try to identify the emotion beneath the anger and deal with it before I explode. If there’s any indication that I’m not trusting God, I confess it and look up verses that will help me in that area. And you know what? It works.

There is a great sense of freedom in being honest before the Lord with our emotions. Next time you find yourself getting angry, stop for a second and reevaluate your heart. What are you really feeling? What does that feeling tell you about your current relationship with God? Deal with the source of the problem and the anger will take care of itself.

As Christians we are to become more and more like God the longer we walk with Him. So how should we act? “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love” (Psalm 103:8).

Find a feeling. Be slow to anger. Trust God.

Resources…

The Bible – The Fruit of the Spirit Galatians 5:22-24

When Godly People Do Ungodly Things by Beth Moore

Something Else…

Check out this crazy video about anger management. Very funny, but very true!

Shannon Primicerio likes country music, chai lattes and gift cards to almost any store. Check out Shannon’s blog where she regularly writes about life, faith and the pursuit of the perfect hairstyle.

Do you struggle with anger? Leave a comment.

This video makes light of an anger episode. But, we all know how we feel when we have had an “anger management” moment. Embarrassment takes over and that pit in our stomach is hard to ignore.

~ What typically triggers an “anger management” moment for you?

~ Share with us how you have overcome these moments and kept the anger at bay.

Please leave your thoughts here…

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Sarah shares her heart on how to let Jesus be your Valentine every day of the year.

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