Have you read Flooded?  What are your thoughts?

 I am thankful that I write down my thoughts in my journal.  When you look back at past entries you are able to zoom out on your life and see the broader picture.  When you are in the middle of living your day to day, your focus is too blurry.  Being able to see more of how your journey is unfolding helps you see a little bit clearer.  

Years ago when my husband and I left the first church we were pastoring, I remember going through a time of mourning, which led to counselling and a journey of healing.  At the beginning of this journey I remember Dustin holding me while I was crying and we were talking through life and what our future could hold.  I remember saying that I wish I could see 10 years down the road, and be able to say what a great learning experience that was.  

Well that was 22 years ago, I don't know if I can say that it was a great learning experience but it was something that we learned to work through together and brought Dustin and I closer in the early stages of our marriage.

As I have been coming through the hurt from my experience in 2018 and moving into the healing stage I have been reading through past entries in my journal.  Here is an excerpt from May 2019:

How often we get in the spiral of confusion and we don't know how to move forward.  Sitting in confusion gets comfortable and then we feel that there is no way to make a decision so we choose not to make a decision.  Then we get stuck and then we just don't know how to move forward.

I can remember writing this journal entry.  I was suffering in silence at this point.  I didn't want to admit my struggle to anyone because I didn't want to feel shame or to be judged.  I chose to continue to suffer for months with so much inner turmoil.  I didn't pray because I thought God didn't care, when I did speak to Him there was so much anger in my voice, and hatred in my words.

The inner turmoil was that I felt like something was missing, that there was more going on in this situation and I didn't understand.  I longed to return to the scriptures and to listen for that still small voice but I couldn't get the thought that this "message from God" I received - told me that I wasn't wanted by God and I had no place teaching in His name.

I carried this feeling of rejection for a long time.  We are all searching to understand who we are and how we fit into this world.  I had lost my place and I started to change.  I must have so many people confused on my Instagram account because I keep changing my name and the content so much.  Sorry about that.  I have been trying to find my way.

The title of this post is hurting to healing.  I have been hurting for a long time.  My thoughts have been so negative and the deep wound of hurt is going to take time to heal.  But I am starting to heal.  I am starting to find my way back.  I am starting to feel more like myself again.

I am thankful for friends that I was able to have a safe place to share, they support me in prayer, and encourage me to open my Bible everyday.  My healing is found in the scriptures.

I will continue to share my journey here.  I know when I was struggling I didn't know where to go for help.  I hope that I am able to give support to those that don't know where to go or who to talk to.  

Seriously why did I not know about this! 

It took a trip to the ER because I thought my uterus was falling out to find out what was happening to me!  Perimenopause no joke and so many deal with this without knowing it is coming in order to prepare themselves.  Seriously start stocking up on personal supplies now because you will use the whole supply in one day.

I don't want to freak anyone out but I have talked to so many women my age and have found out this is so common. 

You should have seen the poor male triage nurses' face when I ended up in the ER.  He looks at me and says, "You are here because you are having your period?"  I look at him like the young naïve man that he is and tell him that my uterus is falling out and I have been having my period for over three weeks and I have gone through a six month supply of pads and tampons.  He still doesn't understand and I end up waiting in the ER for five hours.  Finally, I was brought in and put in a room and my female doctor comes in and I tell her my tale and she starts an IV immediately, orders blood tests, and started a magnesium drip.  Thank God for Canadian health care.  My test results come back showing that I was incredibly anemic.  Which would be why I was sleeping all - the - time. 

One of the first questions my Doctor asked was how my Mother experienced menopause - not really a subject that ever came up.  This was all new territory for me, I had no idea what my body was going through.  But if you have experienced this than you know if you know - if you know what I mean.

Honestly I don't understand how it works - it just does. It ​contains pure frankincense, bergamot, and peppermint essential oils.  It's all natural - from plants!
​
I don't sell Young Living, I just have an account to purchase products for myself.  If you know someone that sells Young Living contact them about this miracle oil and order it.  If you want a link to purchase it you can click below to my link.  I just signed up to get the diffuser and some beginner oils and then added the progessence oil.  I have been using it for two months now and I have only used a 1/3 of the bottle.  Honestly, how effective it has been for me, I would buy it monthly if I had to.  Best investment ever!

So there it is, probably more than you want to know about me.  But is a something that needs to be shared - I'm all about helping others.  Enjoy!​

What are you searching for?  Are you searching for approval?  For agreement for the choices you are making?  Are you searching for truth?

​I have been searching.  I have shared briefly over the past few years that I have really been struggling.  I have wrote a lot of journal pages and wasted a lot of time scrolling on social media trying to figure out how to heal from the hurt.

​My husband and I have dedicated our Saturday mornings to coffee and "discussion".  My husband and I met on a missions program where we toured across Canada speaking in high schools.  When you are travelling all the time stuffed inside mini vans you learn a lot about each other really quickly.  After the tour we both went home to our different Provinces, thousands of kilometers apart.  Our long distance phone bills were outrageous and many emails were exchanged.  Our only form of building our relationship was with communication.  At the time I resented it, but now I really appreciate that time because it built our relationship firmly on our ability to communicate well with each other and to express our thoughts and emotions through our words - there was no Facetime - it was a receiver, attached to a cord, that attached to the phone on the wall.  Yes I am that old.  I still remember the party line we shared with two of our neighbours.  Don't judge. 

Anyway, back to our Saturday morning coffee - we have always been able to communicate well but we weren't always making the time for it.  Now we do.  I have been doing a lot of journaling and reading and self exploration over the past year.  I was tired of struggling and it was time to move forward.  I wasn't sure how but I took the first step on the journey.  Last Saturday I was sharing with Dustin about what I have learned about myself over the past few months, about the people who have come into my life at the perfect time and how I am feeling lighter.  I told him that I feel like sharing about what I am learning with others but I don't feel like I have the answers yet.  Dustin then told me to start sharing.  He said normal people don't share publicly about their struggles as much as I do (I think that was a compliment 😁), that many struggle through things alone.  He gave me example after example of times I have stepped forward to share, and how it has helped others.  We talked about a time in high school english class that my class was asked to write a page about ourselves.  I was so honest in that page that I ended up in weeks of appointments in the student counselling centre.  😂  Dustin then told me that I was most likely the only one to write how I honestly felt, most would have written either what they felt like should write or what the teacher was expecting of them.  I chose to be honest in my writing and that has never changed because it is who I am.  My book became another example of that.

In my journaling workshops I ask people to write in their journal about who they are in the dark.  Who are you when you are sitting in your room in the dark, with the door closed and your phone is in another room.  No one is around, no one can see you - who are you?

The last few years have been a struggle for me.  I do not have the answers but I know that my healing comes from me sharing and teaching.  The hurt that I experienced went deep.  It hurt to the core of my being.  When you are hurt by something that is tied so close to who you are, it shakes everything.

I experienced a hurt that I still haven't been able to define.  I was trying to figure out how to deal with it and I didn't even know the words to search on google.

It has been largely described as "being hurt by the church", or when "Christians attack their own". 

It has been a long time since I have made time to write.  I have been walking quite the journey over the past two years and I haven't taken the time to process it all. 

So, last night I made myself a cup of tea and sat with my journal - it has been a long time.  I turned to a blank page and it just sometimes that blank page just stares back at you - you have so much to write but you don't know where to begin or how to start. 

When I teach my journaling workshops I always ask the group to start with the date.  It is always a good place to start.

​So with the date in the top right corner, the words began to flow. 

​Finally after four pages I felt like I had made a good start.  There has been a lot going on and my heart needs a lot of healing.  I have always found writing to be a form of healing for me.  When I wrote my book it caused me to deal with a lot of issues from my past so that I was free to move forward in my life.  

With all that is going on with the COVID-19 I have been found myself coaching people again.  One of the main things that I tell people is that they need to start writing about this experience.  As we write it is incredible to see the awakenings and healing that can emerge.

I have always felt that my life experiences and character building exercises are for me to share.  As with my book and my journey over the past two years, I heal by writing and sharing.  And hopefully through my sharing I can help others on their journeys.

​Finally, keep the following in mind while you are journaling:

• It’s okay to write only a few words, and it’s okay to write several pages – just write at your own pace.
• Don’t worry so much about what to write about, just focus on taking the time to write and giving it your full attention.
• Don’t worry about how well you write – the important thing is to write down what makes sense to you and what comes naturally to you.
• Write as if no one else will read it – this will help you avoid “putting on a show” rather than writing authentically

Find a notebook and just start writing.  It's where you will find me - and I will be blogging more over the coming weeks as well.  I have a lot to work through - it's time to start the healing.