Tag: prayer

Prayer for Peace of Mind

FROM MY SPIRIT
Photo by RF._.studio on Pexels.com

We ask YOU to give us peace that surrounds our minds, body, spirit, and soul. Heal and remove anything causing stress, sorrow, and grief. And what you do not remove, give us the strength to remove. Give us the strength to grow and to go through our trials and tribulations for we know that joy is on the other side. Joy is not what we feel but what we know and we know that knowledge is on the other side. Knowledge to help us understand and wisdom to help us grow. Give us the courage we need to set boundaries, enforce them, and to dole out the necessary consequences. Give us the fortitude to protect our peace of mind. Guide our path through life and make our opponents to be at peace with us.

Let the peace you willed to us reign in our hearts and minds no matter what approaches the hedge around our lives. May peace reign on our jobs, in our homes, in our families, and in our relationships. May peace reign within us. Peace goes before us and peace is always beside us. Peace, be still. We be still and we know that you are our protector and our guide.

So be it unto you as I have said.

~Nikki

Get On With It

FROM MY SPIRIT, Uncategorized

IMG_20181227_162721_431

Pray, Meditate, Coffee-nate. Yes, emotions are temporary BUT at that moment you’re feeling every bit of whatever you’re feeling. You’re struggling to overcome them means YOU’RE FIGHTING, PUSHING, PRESSING and sometimes you just have to float because you’re tired. Float or Fight but once you get through, put your big girl panties on or your big boy boxers, Hell, go commando and get back to work, life, love, living. Trust, I fought yesterday and I’m floating today. I’m working as well. These dreams are not going to come true on their own.

~Nikki

Morning Routines: Mind & Spirit

FROM MY SPIRIT, Uncategorized

37272449_10157631259588266_5092975329153122304_n

It started Wednesday with excruciating foot pain, but if we want to be honest it started way before that. It started with taking on Vocational Bible School when I really didn’t want to and doing most of it on my own with the nitpicking, complaining, and subtle “bitching” of others. Yes, I did use the word bitching and I could have used barking, but IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU AND YOUR COMFORTABILITY right now. I also had little sleep due to the oven light going out which we usually leave on. I discovered it has a shortage. Then the smoke detector went out. There was a power outage in the wee hours one morning on top of a night I was already tossing and turning. I didn’t want to take a sleep aid because…what if the house caught on fire and the smoke detector doesn’t work? (I have anxiety and this how the anxious mind goes into overdrive). I was thinking about all that I had to do. Major issues with my mother and minor ones with my sister. Drama and trauma.

So, I try to sleep better last night and I was irritable before I went to bed. Oh, and someone stole my bank card from church! I tossed most of the night and when I finally woke up it was from a terrible dream.

What am I doing wrong? What is going on here? Good things are happening and all of these inconveniences are also happening like the gnats that seem to have invaded our area. Small and irritating as hell. I had a great therapy session last week. What am I missing?

I am not centered at all. I am not thinking clearly and it is showing up. I have been fearful, angry, and peace-less. Fearful of the future, fearful of walking in purpose and marrying my authentic self to my purpose. Angry at the things said and done by family. Peace-less about a future relationship.  I am overwhelmed by household chores (tired body, achy body, little to no help, and a teen with lazy summer bones) and wanting to have a gathering, but not really wanting to be bothered. I  am missing intentional and thoughtful prayer. Meditation. A morning reading. Yoga. Either one or all of these things would do me a world of good because I need centering every day and sometimes several times during the day. I am missing the voice of Spirit and Self. I am ignoring it. And my body, my mind, is fatigued.

This morning I pulled myself up. Opened to a passage in the book: God’s Healing Power: Finding Your True Self Through Meditation where the above excerpt was pulled. I had breakfast. I watched a food documentary. I still don’t feel well. I wanted an instant fix. I still feel overwhelmed. I wanted energy. This is the beginning, Nikki. The RE-establishing of routine. It’s going to take some time and patience and effort. I think I will read this same passage every morning until…

~Nikki

 

 

Sunday Morning Coffee Musing: God’s Protection

FROM MY SPIRIT, Uncategorized

cf33cb0ec5160dc6b2011e78e1be3b91

“Father, protect us as we travel to and fro on this day. Protect my family as they travel back and forth on this Thanksgiving. Protect friends and all who are on the roads. Cover us with the blood of Jesus.” That was my prayer as we got on the expressway Thanksgiving Day. When I arrived at my parents house, I dropped off the lasagna and green beans and then I got back in the car to pick up sodas from the nearest store. My daughter came out and got in the car with me.

On our way back to my parents house, a red mustang came over a hill as we were starting to cross the light which turned green for us. He was so coming so fast I slammed on my breaks and he turned which he turned as we were crossing and it was not until then he hit his breaks. Smoke was coming from his tires and it seem as if an invisible force was keeping his sports car from tailspinning. He came literally within inches of hitting my car on the passenger side where my teenage daughter was. A car was behind us as well and hit his breaks.

It seemed as everything was happening so fast and at the same time in slowmotion. When I came to a stop, my right hand had my daughter’s jacket in it as I must have been pulling her close to me and the other hand on the wheel. I had broken nails on my hand. It was nothing short of a miracle, God’s invisible hand and the assistance of angels.

We all slowly started to move and all I could do was thank God and yes, I had some “colorful words” as I ranted about the driver. I told my daughter as we were driving earlier, holidays are wonderful but, there is always some tragedy looming with some families or some innocent person as people drive in a rush, drunk, distracted, and on drugs.

We are blessed to be here. And so are the others almost involved. My daughter and my family is my world. God is the center.

~Nikki

RA Blog: All Eyes on Me (Thee)

FROM MY SPIRIT, RAFibroOAEtc., Uncategorized

f1d71a2e7af99d1fae646b924d78a3dd

It seems as if everyone else is whizzing right past you as you “mosey” along or perhaps you are not moving at all. Maybe, you are stuck. Well, I have goals because I set goals. I have dreams and new dreams, new visions, things I want to see happen in the face of Rheumatoid Arthritis, Fibromyalgia and all of that other noise that seems to slow me down and sometimes get the best of me.

In the effort to lose weight, to achieve my other goals as well, it seems as if the well abled bodied people are just flying right past me. Soaring to their goals, and I, I am left behind in their dust. Me? I’m struggling to stay motivated. I can’t walk that fast, like I use to. I can’t use my hands very well today, I can’t stand as long as I use to, the fatigue…it’s what some call excuses, but it’s a reality for many of us. We are not who we use to be and oh if we would have known this was coming, we may have did the 5K or went back to school sooner.

Q: Dear God, Universe, Creator, Self, Spirit, how do I deal with all the feels of being left behind?

A: Take your eyes off others and put your eyes on me. Keep your eyes on “your” prize. Stop the comparison. It’s unfair and foolish to compare yourself with well abled bodied people and it’s unfair to compare yourself to the old self. You can’t be in the past and present at the same time. This is why you are not progressing as fast or at all.

So, with that revelation, I invite you to meditation and prayer. Center yourself during the times when you are “feeling” so much despair and disappointment. If I keep watching others I will fall. If I keep comparing myself to others, I will fail. If I keep living in the past, I can’t work in the present to prepare for my future. All eyes on the Creator. All eyes on the scriptures, affirmations, practices, that center your heart and mind.

~Nikki

Prayer, the City, and Nature

FROM MY SPIRIT, RAFibroOAEtc., Uncategorized

3660a9a1a15178ab5ecd91313bce95cf

Yesterday,  I prayed. I sat outside on a unseasonably warm winter day and I prayed without words. I heard cars driving by, large trucks making loud noises, a motorcycle taking off down the street. I leaned back in my deck chair and kept my eyes on the blue sky and wispy clouds moving above. I heard car doors slamming, people talking loudly on their phones, and shouting loudly across the way. I watch the birds fly high, chirping amongst each other in the swaying trees. I saw man made birds taking people to their destination. I felt the cool breeze blow and felt the warmth of the sun on my face. Sometimes I closed my eyes, but most of the time they were open.

Communing with God, I always escaped to a quiet place. I like it better. I am learning to pray in places I cannot escape so easily physically, pray in the space of chaos. Pray in the space of noise. Hear the noise and mentally turn it down by using your senses. Bring your focus back to nature…back to me (God within). Listen, speak or not, or just be. I felt peaceful. I believe God was teaching me a very valuable lesson. We often think we can pray anywhere. We often think prayer is asking, words, thanking, etc. We hardly think it’s just listening or meditating. We only think of prayer and meditation in limited ways. I believe God wants to expand my mind and thoughts in prayer.

My body has RA, Fibromyalgia, and Osteoarthritis. I experience noise and chaos in my body. Something’s  hurting, something’s achy, anxiety, depression, frustrations, etc and that is the door slamming, a large truck beeping, loud conversations, honking horns, jets overhead….that is noise! Chaos. The city in my body. But I can still use my senses to turn on peace, to focus. Getting to calm so I can commune. I need these things to do what I was sent here to do.

~Nikki

 

Would That You Might Pray?

FROM MY SPIRIT, Relationship Energy, Uncategorized, Woman Power Up

happy-black-woman

“You pray in your distress and in your need. Would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance?”- Kahlil Gibran.

As I slept last night a pain woke me up. It was like a shock through my left foot moving upward and landed in my left shoulder. I knew it was fibromyalgia. Still half asleep I felt pain in my shoulder blades and in my wrists. I realized they had gone numb and I reached for my braces for the carpel tunnel. I wanted to take some pain medicine, but I just couldn’t seem to get out of bed. I dozed off and on until the wee hours of the morning. I knew if I would have taken the pain medication, plus I’d already taken a sleep aid, I would be no good in the morning. When I did get up….I was still no good this morning. I could not push through the tiredness like I did yesterday.

After breakfast I sat down on my bed and when I woke up it was almost noon. I felt so bad about needing rest and so guilty the Holy Spirit must have felt it necessary to whisper “It is okay to need the rest. It is okay to rest. You are not lazy. You are tired from the pain.” I prayed and I thanked God for strength, energy, rest, for my body. I thanked God for my creativity and for the ability to write my first two novels.

I got up from my nap and I read the next chapter in the book I am using to help me excavate my authentic self:

“You pray in your distress and in your need. Would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance?”- Kahlil Gibran.

I wondered if I had prayed the right thing as my mind went immediately to “I don’t feel joy and now is not a time of abundance.” Then I thought wait, let me think. Oh!  Yes it is! I don’t have to wait until money rolls in to know I have abundance or for my books to become best sellers or movies to have joy. I already have these things. So yes! Yes I can pray in the fullness of my joy that I once almost died on an operating table and I am still alive! I can pray with thankfulness and gratitude in the fullness of the joy that I have shelter, food, and clothing. I have family. I have friends that care. I have creativity and I love it sooooooooo much! I have a beautiful daughter and I love her soooooo much! So yes…I might pray also in the fullness of my joy and in my days of abundance…right now.

~Nikki