Faith and ADHD

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Comment by Nanette on February 19, 2009 at 7:00pm

Sheila I wish I could take credit for this poem...but I can't, but I wanted to share it. It is written by an unknown author. I love it and sometimes when I read this it helps me through the day!

Comment by Sheila Wilkinson on February 19, 2009 at 4:17pm

Nanette,
This is just beautiful - you write really well! Thank you for sharing such an inspirational poem with all of us. It is really well done and I enjoyed it so much!!! There is volumes of wisdom in this short piece - I pray that I can do all of this as well.

Comment by Nanette on February 19, 2009 at 11:27am

Beginning Today
by Unknown

Beginning today I will no longer worry about yesterday.
It is in the past and will never change.
Only I can change by choosing to do so.

Beginning today I will no longer worry about tomorrow.
Tomorrow will always be there, waiting for me to make the most of it.
But I cannot make the most of tomorrow without first making the most of today.

Beginning today I will look in the mirror and I will see a person who is wothy of my respect and admiration.
This capable person looking back at me is someone I enjoy spending time with and someone I would like to get to know better.

Beginning today I will cherish each moment of my life.
I value his gift given to me in this world and I will unselfishly share this gift with others.

Beginning today I will take a moment to step off the beaten path and revel in the mysteries that I encounter.
I will face challenges with couage and determination.
I will overcome what barriers there may be which hinder my quest for growth and self-improvement.

Beginning today I will take life one day at a time, one step at a time.
Discouragement will not be allowed to cloud my positive self-image, my desire to succeed or my capacity to love.

Beginning today I walk with renewed faith inhuman kindness.
Regardless of what has gone before, I believe there is hope for a brighter future.

Beginning today I will open my mind and my heart.
I will welcome new experiences. I will meet new people.
I willnot expect perfection from myself nor anyone else.
Everyone is allowed to make mistakes and I will applaud the attempt in making amends with the past.

Beginning today I am responsible for my own happiness and I will do things that make me happy like listening to my favorite music, taking a warm shower, laughing with friends. Pleasure can be found in the most simple of gestures.

Beginning today I will learn something new.
I will try something different.
Iwill change what I can and the rest I will let go.
I will strive to be the best me I can possibly be.

Beginning today and everyday. Amen

Comment by DANA on February 9, 2009 at 3:23pm

Sheila, yes, all the people that you wrote about are so inspirational! I never heard of Dave Pelzer, though. I did hear about Corrie Ten Boom and what an amazing story that is! I suppose, everyone has their own story. God can use each and everyone of us in one way or another as long as we are willing to be used as His vessel.

Comment by Sheila Wilkinson on February 9, 2009 at 5:50am

Thanks Dana but I believe we're all overcomers on this site - some people just haven't learned to see themselves that way yet. It takes strength and faith and courage to live with ADD plus the many other issues that we all have as human beings.
God is the greatest inspiration for sure but reading everyone's information here makes me look at people even more strongly as heroes...To love when life has kicked you around is a miracle - to care about others when you weren't always cared about...is a miracle and so on.
Did you ever read about Dave Pelzer - He wrote several books but his first is astounding - "A Child Called It" He suffered unspeakable abuse - torture really - at the hands of his lunatic mother and a father who did nothing to stop it. He was starved, beaten, burned and forced to live in a garage while the rest of the family was treated normally...He grew up to become a Christian and a child advocate and a wonderful husband and father...How did he not hate, repeat the cycle of abuse or just become a nasty uncaring person?
All my life I've been fascinated by stories of people like this - Corrie ten Boom who lost every single family member in Nazi war camps but came out and served God as a minister and even had occasion to embrace the Nazi officer who was responsible for killing her family. All she spoke about was God's tremendous love and forgiveness. Wow! Why wasn't she angry and bitter and a basket case after what she saw and went through?
Viktor Frankl, Anne Frank, Richard Wurmbrand, Helen Keller, Bill Cosby - why didn't they turn out horrid? Statistics and psychology say they should have but they chose to take horror and make something beautiful out of it.
I think it's all the way you look at hardships - what is there to learn - what can you take from it to make you grow and become better? What can God do with a devastated human being who is willing to look to Him instead of his or her own pain?
I think that people have to choose to believe several things to overcome.
First, that no matter what they have suffered, God can make something beautiful out of it (I bring treasures out of darkness).
Next you have to believe that God can only truly use broken people (like David, Job, and everyone else in the Bible) who have messed up and been messed up by other people as well.
Then you have to know that when you look at your life and it is a horrid mess of hanging tangled threads instead of a thing of beauty--that you are looking at the back side of an incredibly beautiful tapestry that God is creating...
His children do not have their roots on earth but in heaven and our beauty is sprouting from there not here. Our lives make sense to God, they are going in a heavenward path to God and they can be greatly used by God here - if we trust His goodness and love of us.
I don't believe in accidents - God doesn't cause our pain but He is not surprised by it and He has long ago made a provision for it. (God says that He always has a means of escape for us).
That means of escape is not something we find or make but something we fall into when we let go, look up and refuse to look backwards. (Look not behind you - 'behold I am doing a new thing. now it springs forth - shall you not see it?'
So if I inspired you, everyone here inspires me. To forget yourself and forgive others is easier if you realize that when that person or that hardship beat you up it came to an end -- at some point it was (or will be over) -- and when we become bitter, angry and so on, we then decide to continue to abuse ourselves...perhaps it is all some people know.
Knowing that my anger - will poison my mind, devastate my health and accomplish what other people or circumstances (or Satan) wanted it to - it will destroy me and my life and make me unable to be a useful part of God's plans...this makes it easier to forgive.
It's crazy to think that my being angry at someone who hurt me will hurt them...did they really care that much about your feelings to begin with???
If you blame God for allowing you to be hurt...know that Jesus died not to give men heaven but to give them freedom of choice and He will not take that away from anyone (the gifts and redemption of God are without repentance)...Some people take this precious gift of choice and choose to hurt others...Look at how often we do that just be accident. I think it breaks God's heart when we are hurt but I know that He can use that for good.
My gosh I am writing a book here. Gotta take my friend to Jackson Miss to be okayed at another hospital for her transplant...Please pray for her - she is a loving wonderful person who life has beaten up very badly. She's one of my most amazing hero friends and she needs a kidney soon.
God bless you Dana and everybody else!

Comment by DANA on February 8, 2009 at 8:15pm

Sheila, I just read your testimony of Gods amazing love & grace. You are an inspiration! Thank you so much for sharing!

Hugs,
Dana

Comment by DANA on February 8, 2009 at 5:18pm

Wow! I have been busy this weekend and I have not had a chance to go on the computer, until now....... I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW MANY NEW MEMBERS WE HAVE ON OUR FAITH GROUP! WOO! HOO!

WELCOME ALL THE NEWCOMERS! I AM SO HAPPY TO SEE ALL OF YOU!

Comment by Sheila Wilkinson on February 7, 2009 at 3:44pm

Hi,
This is a great idea! Thanks for starting it...I am definitely an overcomer and I give all the credit to God. He has brought me though many medical issues that doctors said nothing would help... excruciating back pain from damaged nerves that several experts said they could do nothing about... and so many things it's amazing...I'm here to tell you nobody knows it all but God and He is absolutely on our side! I don't think I would be functional after car accidents (as a passenger in a stopped vehicle I've been rear ended four times - three times by speeding vehicles with drunk or stoned or both...drivers) and a flip in the air that ended in a nasty fall on my lower back. But I run a business selling books so I am lifting and stooping in thrift stores for hours on end and doing quite well. God has been so gracious to me and I am a truly thankful person. I can walk and move without pain nearly all of the time now - it keeps getting better and better. Somehow my nerves have rerouted when they said they could not do that. Doctors said I'd never drive or ride for more than ten minutes without spasms that would knock me to the ground and have me throwing up with pain for hours...Nor could I do anything that required lifting my arms overhead or pushing, pulling - you get the picture. I looked at one doctor - the one with the worst report who told me I would just have to accept that this pain would be my life -- and I told him that my Lord didn't die to give me that horrible pain for a life -- that I would get better and he could just watch me... and I did with God's help only - no therapy or pills worked and you can't do surgery on damaged nerves either. Only trusting God and acting as if I would get completely better did it. I know that faith in God brings results. He isn't a vending machine who gives us whatever we want but He has your best interests at heart. I waited 12 years for God to heal agoraphobia and a panic disorder - which, despite pushing myself daily, I could never beat. It's been gone for 12 years now and I have a full life. Thank You God!
"A person with an experience is never at the mercy of a person with an argument..." I'm a person with an experience so it doesn't matter if other people have their reasons for not believing...I know Him and what He can do. Faith keeps me strong and thankful and happy.

Comment by Bryan Hutchinson on February 6, 2009 at 12:19pm

Great song Dana! I never heard it before, now I am heading over to itunes to get it! lol Thanks!

Comment by Belle on February 5, 2009 at 10:40pm

Devin, everyone,
Thank you so much for what you wrote and all of you. It is truly a gift. To me miracles are so vast but can be summed up in one word, GOD. Afterall He is the giver of life and gifts. He, the Holy Spirit and Christ are beyond words... Lately a lot has been going on in the town in which I live. Upgoing job layoffs due to economic drop, possible industry closures, ect... this is really stressful if not down right scary but through it all I have to look to God for His comfort and peace. A miracle that is occuring during this time is the relaxing environment at the college I am attending. Another miracle is my little dog Parsnip. He and my big guy know when I need a cuddle. I am also thankful for people at the college being patient with my adhd and teacher's being firm when I get distracted. I am thankful and consider it a miracle to be able to pray with someone who needs a friend or give a hug or ask for a hug and willingly and lovingly recieve it. I am also thankful for the restored relationship with my father and look at that as a miracle. And all my unfinished projects are miracles to as they are able to keep my mind off things. I am so in awe of God.
M-miraculous
I- incredible
R- radiant
a- amazing
c- caring
l- loving
e- encouraging
s- simplicity

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