The Essence of Christmas (2018 Christmas Blog)

The Christmas season has come upon us and the year of 2018 is soon to be the newest installment of memories from the past; children are excitedly anticipating opening their presents while adults scramble to purchase last minute stocking stuffers & seemingly forgotten dinner menu items. The world these days chooses to commercialize Christmas so much so that the majority of people seem to overlook the true essence and reason for the season: the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the most important reason for the Christmas holiday; He died on the cross for our sins and will save whosoever calls upon Him, acknowledges that they are a sinner and in need of a Savior, and will accept Him into their heart and trust in Him for salvation. I am so grateful for my salvation, because I know my life would be nothing without His watchful eye and loving care. I am thankful that anyone can have that personal relationship with Him if they so choose.

Family time is another special aspect of Christmas; we should all indulge in creating priceless memories, new traditions, and basking in the presence of one another. Lay aside daily life for even just a day and enjoy the moment. Cherish the people that God placed into your life. Have a ridiculous amount of fun! Laugh! Don't let anything get in the way of your Christmas spirit!


I just wanted to tell everyone Merry Christmas and give the sincerest of thank yous to all who have been following my blog since the beginning. I am coming around to enjoying writing more again & I think for a while I lost sight of who I was really writing for: Jesus. Expect much more from me in the coming year.  I can't wait to see what adventures unfold. I am taking a week or so off and will be back to work on new material December 27th. Merry Christmas everyone!

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6 King James Version)

Remember Your Roots

I want to shed light on a recurring thought in passing that I've had recently in regards to living out faith and residing in these current times. Societal nature is endlessly filled with trees that exude an energy of nothing but darkness, greed, and selfishness. The metaphor of trees can also be likened to that of the human race, as I'm meaning to do in the writing of these words today

Everyone has roots. We all withhold unique stories that tell of our past experiences and present attitudes. The way we live our lives and conduct ourselves often imply our backgrounds without us speaking a syllable. Silence is remarkably powerful.

The question I have for everyone today is simple: What are your roots made up of? As each day passes, do you strive to remember what's most important in your life?

We all tend to set our sights on 'climbing to the top' however the world allows us to from time to time, whether it be at our workplace, in our aspirations, our marriages, or our friendships. We all want to be better than the other person; so often what we have is never enough. Any dynamic can turn in favor of dissatisfaction. Our flesh tells us that all the attention being on us is a great thing; notoriety is great, all while neglecting to inform us that the happiness we feel from said notoriety is short lived without God being at the center of our conquest.

A personal example of this very happening would be myself with writing and the lack of enthusiasm and passion that it has given off recently; not a pleasant, joyful vibe.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote on Facebook about becoming burnt out from writing and disability advocacy. My passion seemingly dissipated with no return in sight. I had the wrong goal in mind; I longed to be a famous writer and advocate. My greed in both areas became so strong that eventually those desires sadly replaced the humility of my heart and my genuine love for the cause. Being a part of disability advocacy and being a writer should never be about fame. You take part in something because you love it, because you want to help souls be a little happier. I became worldly...not so noticeable to the outside world, but just enough to make me lose faith in my calling and to make me miserable.

One reason we get in that situation is because we don't always allow God to lead us at all times. Another reason is simply because we forget to remember our roots in Christ.

Whatever you decide to do in life, please remember to let your heart remain pure and your faith to keep its strength. Wear your shield of armor. Serving the Lord is big time business and is not something to be taken lightly. Don't let Satan put out your fire. Remember, little is much.

Let Him Lead You

Molly's Zone has always held a special significance in my heart & the creation of the blog itself has always been my favorite blessing story to tell to anyone who will listen. A month has passed since my last entry, and that truly bothers me. The last few postings I feel were not done with true power or true heavenly light in mind. Writing became a chore that I eventually stopped doing because of the ugly demon that has consumed me for the longest year of my life.

Anxiety.

I have battled this monster for over ten years, and I have to say this year has been the hardest fall. Luckily, depression was not mixed into it this time. I just became this tangled web of health anxiety, overwhelming stress, and OCD thoughts. A psychologically toxic mix.

You know what always has the power to pull me out of such times?

Jesus.

Through prayer, I was led to watch a past church service that truthfully spoke to my heart; I found myself wanting to ask my readers this question?

How many of us let God lead our lives 100% of the time? How often do we turn to worldly pleasures or our friends to try to help us through something we know deep down they can't possibly fix?

I don't know about you, but I do it ALL THE TIME.

Let me tell you friend, that strategy does nothing but make the initial problem ten times worse. Trust me, I know.

We so often let God be our last resort instead of our solid anchor. We might let Him lead us somewhere, but then we trust in ourselves to do all the work. I became that way with my writing. Molly's Zone was the result of an answered prayer, but I trusted my ability to get me to where I needed to go. My words lacked passion and grit. I lost the motivation I needed.

Jesus has and always will be my motivation. We all slip. We all believe we can control our minds & feelings. First of all, emotions are fleeting and should never be fully trusted & if we do not cling to the shield that is Jesus, the devil will pollute our heads with so much nonsense we won't know what to do on our own. Our light will go out and we will feel defeated. Burnt. Tired. A true hot mess. We will give in to negative thoughts & make careless decisions.

Remember, God is not the author of distress. He doesn't want us to be anxious, and He sure doesn't want us to endure it. Satan will do anything to stop you in your tracks if you are truly serving the Lord.

The only way to defeat him & to gain the peace that passeth all understanding is to pray with all your might.

Write out a prayer list & a praise list. Write down what's bothering you & even include prayers in regards to others' tribulations and trials. Write down times of remembrance that show how He has worked in your life. The change in your outlook will be amazing.

Buy a day planner & write out a weekly schedule. This one is HUGE for me. I stay on task so much better! Wherever you live, I'm sure there are plenty of things to do to keep your mind occupied. That is a big component in my anxiety; letting go of the routine reins. Without them, I slip quickly. I believe that part of it is a cerebral palsy effect.

Bottom line, if your mind craves structure...please give your brain what it needs. Even if you're not motivated to take that step, pray about it and do it! It will help ease the chaos in your head. I know with me if I have so much to do & its not planned out and I just fly by the seat of my pants...nothing gets done in the end..I spend all my time obsessing over how stressed it makes me + a ton of other pointless nonsense. The pointless nonsense falls into it like a domino; that stress is added to the initial issue & it evolves into the aforementioned hot mess of a situation.

Lastly, reintroduce yourself to long lost hobbies. Our minds need a healthy distraction away from the mess of this world. Get back into church. Get involved. Exercise. Don't quit on God. Writing has always been a form of therapy for me. I have tried therapy twice & each time I felt like it just didn't work for me. I'm not knocking it, it's just not my cup of tea. I have started praying a lot and today has been my first official day back to work on the blog & in the writing world.

Let Him Lead You.

To end this, I want to challenge all my readers to do the very same thing someone asked me to try:

Give God 10% of your day. That's 2 hours. To start out, try sharing 1 with him. Get in your Bible. Yes, medication is a help. But that's only part of the equation. You have to put in effort to fight this battle. I would like to share the verse that was also shared with me that same night:

" For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind"  (2 Timothy 1:7 King James Version)