A peak into my “quarantine” life. Feeding Faith & Starving Fear. Wk 1

The reality of this current Covid-19 life is that we are all in the grips of fear.

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We all have fear of disease, death, financial loss, job loss, etc. Life has changed in every possible way. Kids are home from school, all activities cancelled, stores have experienced shortages and lets not even get started about “distance learning” (that is painful for most parents and kids alike)

Spring!! Flowers make me so happy!

So, I thought that maybe you would like a glimpse into my personal life….. we all share similar fears and concerns. How am I feeding my faith to starve fear??  To learn more about me I recently wrote this post.

The Bible Study: God is BIGGER, Feed Faith, Starve Fear, is based on the 5 ways God taught me to feed faith in his power. He taught me these strategies over the nearly 7 years our son battled leukemia. I learned these in the trenches, with disease and death always staring us in the face. These same strategies work no matter what kind of HARD circumstance we are going through.

I’m going to share with you the things I am currently doing in each of these 5 ways to feed my faith to starve fear in the midst of this Covid-19 life we are all living.

Bible study bonus pages

Bible Study Cover. Click to get your own FREE copy!

1) Praise and Worship.

Praise gets our eyes off our circumstances and on our Savior! Battles are raged and victories are won as we stand in praise of our God. GOD is BIGGER than anything we face. We feed our faith by praising our BIG God. Praise keeps us centered with the proper perspective… GOD is GOD and we are not!

So, how have I been intentional about praising God? I have a Bluetooth speaker that is easily connected to my phone and I have Bluetooth earphones. On my phone I have the Klove radio app, the Moody Radio app, Faith Radio app, Pandora, Apple Music and the Tunein Radio app. I use Pandora the most, but have used all of those apps this week. I really like Pandora because I can search for specific songs.

Specific songs that I have listened to a lot this week:Waymaker” and “The Blessing”.

I make sure to turn on the music as I do housework. Praise helps keep my mind from wandering and centers my heart on truth!

The joy I find in hanging clothes on the clothes line is almost crazy!

We have had a few BEAUTIFUL spring days this week. I made sure that I went outside each day. I have been able to open the windows in the house. We live in the country and we have lots of birds. Our youngest son is a “birder”. He keeps our bird feeders full and over the years we have been intentional about planting trees and bushes and flowers that the birds like. We keep our eyes open for the return of the different species of birds. God’s creation worships him! Listening to the birds sing has been its own praise song.

As I type this I am sitting at the kitchen table in our 1911 Indiana farmhouse. I can look out the windows and see the clothes on the clothesline fluttering in the spring breeze. I can hear the song of several different types of birds. I can see my youngest son (Nate, age 15) shooting hoops out by the barn. The sun is shining. It is a gorgeous spring day and I choose to praise our God who created all this beauty!

We were blessed with a GORGEOUS sunset this week.  It felt like a love letter from God.  Even though the world

Love letter from God.

feels out of control right now, God is faithful.  He reminds us every morning as the sun comes up and every evening as the sunsets that HE is faithful!  His love for us never ends.  His grace and mercy are new everyday.  I took this picture of the sunset.  My view standing outside my back door.  I used the “Bible Lens” app to add the verse to my picture.  It is a fun app.  I like to add verses and text them to friends.  I have also printed them off.

2) Prayer

We have 3 sons and 1 daughter. Our daughter joined the Air Force and left for BMT (Basic Military Training) on March 17th just as the COVID-19 was really ramping up in the US. I told her when she left that I would be setting the alarm on my phone for 7am, noon and 5pm. These daily alarms are my “calls to prayer” for her. Now, I also include praying for our president and our nation.  Side note: I am one PROUD mama to have a daughter serving in the Air Force!!

My alarms are set! Calls to prayer.

I pray during other times of the day, too. However, these alarms help me to pause from my activities and to center myself before the Lord. I generally start out by saying the Lord’s Prayer and then follow with prayers for our daughter, Robyn, and other requests.

Because Robyn left for BMT right as our nation began to “shelter in place” her BMT experience has been a bit different so far. One difference is that she has been allowed to call home a few times. We do not have an address for her (at this time they are not allowing us to send them mail) so they are allowing them at least weekly phone calls. It has been so wonderful to be able to hear her voice. Equally wonderful is that we have been able to pray together over the phone! She can also share with me specific prayer requests.

Our Robyn as we dropped her off for Air Force!

We all think nonstop, and our thoughts can take us deep into fear really fast. Turning those thoughts into conversations with God is powerful. We are transforming our bids by turning to God. Instead of letting our thoughts lead us into dark territory we turn to God and seek His light.

3) The Word of God

To feed our faith and starve fear we MUST be in the Word of God. We must know the Word. We must feed our spirits with the truth of God’s Word. We must fill our hearts with His truth otherwise we are filling our hearts with our human emotions.

The news on tv and the internet feeds fear in my heart. I choose to keep the news off most of the day. I have a couple of news sources I will check each day but otherwise I stay off and away. A little news goes a long way in kicking up the fear factor. While I don’t want to put my head in the sand and act like nothing is going on outside the four walls of my house, I also must be careful about what I allow into my heart and mind.

The Word of God, the sword of the spirit, is what we use to fight away fear. It is the only weapon in the armor of God. We speak the Word of God over our circumstances. We tell ourselves what to think and what to believe based on the Word of God, not our feelings. God’s word declares over and over again that God is BIGGER than any circumstance we can face!!

My current reads!

In addition to reading the Bible, I recently finished re-reading the book “Praying the Bible” by Donald Whitney, and am currently doing the lent devotional, “Uncovering the Love of Jesus”, by Asheritah Ciuciu. Both are excellent!! I highly recommend them both. These books help me to feed my faith and to help me learn the word of God.

I am a huge fan of audiobooks and podcasts. I really like them because I can listen and DO tasks around the house or while I’m driving (pre- “shelter at home”). This week I listened to a special dramatized series about Judas Iscariot created by Unlocking the Bible. WOW. Just WOW! I had to text it to some of my friends. It is so worth the time to listen to it!

4) Renewing my mind

What we think about ends up being what we say. What we say we believe! It is easy for one thought to follow another and suddenly our minds have taken us to all kinds of fear and wrong places. We can “worse case” scenario things in the blink of an eye. Panic and anxiety are often the result.

We have the POWER to choose our thoughts! It takes determination, awareness and perseverance, but we can control what our mind thinks. Feeding faith in God requires us telling ourselves what to think in accordance to the Word of God. Therefore it is so important for us to know the word of God.

I pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help me be aware of how I am thinking and to help me see when my thoughts are NOT truth and are taking me to bad places of fear and anxiety. I have to put the brakes on my thoughts and literally TELL myself what to think about. I tell myself the TRUTH that is based on God’s word, rather than the lies of fear that my brain wants to naturally go with.

I help myself direct my thoughts by giving my brain the truth to think about. I have to be intentional. Again, I really like audiobooks and podcasts for this reason. Since we can’t GO to church right now we can listen to lots of church services online. This past Sunday I “attended” 5 online church services. Throughout the week I have been able to “attend” a few more! There are blessings to be found and this is one of them.

These messages have helped give myself things to intentionally think about. The messages help me so much!

Last weekend the new movie about Jeremy Camp and his first wife, Mellissa, was released to rent online. WOW!! We watched it as a family. If you haven’t had a chance to watch it, please do! You will be encouraged by this story of faith. I will admit we were pretty emotional throughout the movie and even talked a lot about it the next day. There were several parallels between their story and our leukemia journey with our son, Wesley. The movie hit home in a way that was extremely personal to our own life, but I know it will also be encouraging to those who have not journeyed with cancer.

The “I still believe” movie was extra emotional for us because the Jeremy Camp album, Stay, that he wrote after his wife died, is the album Wesley listened to on repeat during his first bone marrow transplant. That album is all about the truth of God in spite of the hard we face in life. That album has had a huge influence on our life. Also, side note: Jeremy Camp is from our area. I have never met him. However, his Dad is a pastor and 19 years ago his Dad, Tom, baptized my husband and me! I’ll have to share more sometime about how that happened to be since we didn’t go to his church. Also, my sister was married by Tom 23 years ago. Her husband’s family knows them all, including Jeremy.

5) Speak Life

This one is so huge!! We are all stressed right now and the words we say to our people really matter. I have messed up this week. In my frustration of being WITH my family all the time I hurt my youngest son’s feelings by telling I’m “I just wish I could have a day alone!” UGH…. not helpful to speak those kinds of things!

I have also seen so many meme’s and Facebook posts of parents complaining about being home with their kids, about homeschooling, about the stress of dealing with children. I get it. We are stressed right now. However, our words have power and we can build up or tear down with our words.

So, I am praying that the Holy Spirit makes me very aware of my words and to help me be extremely intentional about speaking encouraging, life building words. Also, apologizing for any hurtful words… so important for me to repent to both God and my family!

Robyn before she left for Air Force BMT

Right now we are NOT allowed to mail letters to our daughter at basic training. So when she calls I have to fill her up with words of truth. Strong encouragement doses. Truth from God’s word. I pray over her and remind her that God is our daily bread, and that through Christ we can do all things! Build her up in the few minutes I get to speak with her.

Whew! If you are still reading you deserve a virtual high five!

Here are some other things happening in my life and ways we can use this “shelter in place” intentionally to feed our faith!

I have been choosing people to reach out to every day. A text, an email or a phone call can go a long way to be a mutual encouragement. This is another opportunity to speak life.

I’m using this time to learn some new things! I have my first sourdough starter going! This is something that has been on my “bucket list” for a long time. Now is the chance.

Bucket list: Starting Sourdough!

Since we have had some beautiful spring days I have been getting outside each day. Fresh air and “dirt therapy” (working in my flour beds) is so good for my soul! Even deep cleaning our screened in porch was wonderful.  I LOVE hanging clothes on the clothesline.

Country Girl Date Night!

Yesterday evening my husband and I went on a “date”.  You know you are a country girl when you so enjoy an outside date more than going to any restaurant.  What did we do?  We went for a two hour hike in the woods to scout for the upcoming Turkey hunting season.

I received the SWEETEST letter from my

Nate’s girlfriend, Corrie. I couldn’t have picked a better girlfriend for him if I could have been the one doing the choosing! He has good taste! Anyway, she sent me the most encouraging, life building letter and also sent my a key chain. She set a HUGE example to me about the power kindness can have. She is inspiring me!

Family dinners have always been so important to me, but with busy sports

Corrie’s gift to me. She speaks life.

schedules they were fewer and farther between. However, dinner every night around the kitchen table has been a wonderful thing the last few weeks. I’m glad I like to cook, but even if you don’t, frozen pizzas and sandwiches are extra special being enjoyed together! It is the relationship part of family dinner that is the most important thing.

I want you to all know that I am praying for you all. I do not believe it was by coincidence that God led me to write this Bible study and I believe he wrote it for YOU! We need to all feed our faith and starve fear. Our GOD is SO BIG and he is definitely BIGGER than Covid-19.

I would be more than happy to pray specifically for you…. so please comment below or send an email to heatherfoxcorbin (at) gmail.com. I will pray for you!!  Also, share how you are being intentional about FEEDING Faith to starve fear!  GOD is BIGGER!!!

 

Until next time….  Stand on the truth…. GOD is BIGGER than any hard we can face in this life!!

Again, If you haven’t gotten your own FREE copy of the Bible Study: God is BIGGER, Feed Faith, Starve Fear, go grab it now!

 

My motto for S.I.M.P.L.E living

Choosing Simplicity…. breaking it down to the basics. I am CHOOSING simplicity by focusing on SIMPLE!

Right now, more than ever, we need to be focused on keeping life simple.  As we currently endure Covid-19 “stay home” social distancing, life is complicated.  However, we get to choose our personal focus!  We have so much power over the tone of our home and have the privilege of giving our family our nurturing care during this time.  Let’s keep things simple, it will help us through this time!!

S = Surrendering pre-conceived expectations. There are so many to let go of.
I = Identify the basics of day to day life and focus on them.
M = Map it out! A plan, a goal!
P = Purge! Less is More!
L = Leadership – being a home manager does not mean that I do it all myself!
E = Enjoy the moment! Live in TODAY…”If’s” and “When’s” never bring joy.

Simplicity is not relying on the things of the world to bring me peace and joy!!!!!!! The thing of this world (possessions, accomplishments, beauty, fame, popularity, wealth) never give lasting joy. Only through JESUS can I experience true and lasting peace, joy and abundant life! Cry out to HIM, He will be there! HE will fill you with His love, his forgiveness, his joy!! Life is HARD, but with Christ life has real and lasting meaning. Our time here on earth is so short, eternity with Him is going to be wonderful!!

FEED Faith and starve fear!!  Our GOD is BIGGER than the coronavirus!!!  Our GOD is BIGGER than any hard we can face in this life!!

Have a BLESSED day, BE a BLESSING!
Heather

Have you downloaded your own FREE copy of the “GOD is BIGGER, Feed Faith & Starve Fear” E-book Bible Study??

Discover what your love language is….

Have you heard of “Love Languages”?  According to Dr. Gary Chapman, Author of The Five Love Languages, love languages are the ways we give and receive love.

Taking this 5 Love Language assessment from Dr. Gary Chapman is easy and fun!

They have one for husbands, wives, singles, teenagers and children.

My husband and I took it a couple of years ago and I learned that his love languages are NOT what I thought they were!! Man, and after all that effort that could have been spent more wisely and effectively….. Oh, well… any effort to show love is good, but hitting the mark with their love language is much better.

We found that we actually have the same primary love language: Words of affirmation. Learning this has helped me focus on SPEAKING and writing words of respect and encouragement to him. It is also easier for me to express this love language because I know how much I love it.

Anyway, I’m going to have my kids take the assessment….. I wonder if I have them figured out correctly! I’m all for learning how to better love my family.

Have you taken this assessment??

What did you discover was your primary love language??

Have a BLESSED day,
BE a BLESSING!
Heather


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Want to get to know me better??

old-school-stlye_edited_editedWhen blogging first came out blogs were mostly online journals where people shared their lives.  I really loved reading blogs and “met” some great people along the way.  I used to have a blog that is now completely “vintage”!  Oh, my how fast the online world changes.  If you want to check out my old blog feel free to hop over to “Choosing Simplicity” (I haven’t really kept it up since before our son was sick with leukemia).

ANYWAY… now blogs are very polished, fancy and much like online magazines.  Everyone is an “expert” and sharing their knowledge with us.  I enjoy learning and I enjoy teaching so this current style of blogging can work for me, too.  However, I MISS getting to “know” bloggers since fewer and fewer share their real life.  While I want to learn….. I also want to connect with a blogger.  I miss the VINTAGE blog style.

When I was working (both is social work and as a teacher) my professional motto was “No one cares what I know until they KNOW that I CARE”!  I think this holds true in personal life and in blog life.  I want you to know me and know I care about you.  I don’t just want to blog to create an online name or presence for myself…. I want to be an encouragement, a light, a living example that Jesus is our savior and that God is BIG (and wants to be BIG in our every day life)! I want you to know that I care…. I want to be real and transparent.  I know life is HARD, I know that life is a struggle and I know that through all this hard life in Christ is Victorious.

Every week I want to write a “VINTAGE” Style blog post that is personal and more old school blogging online journal style.  Share some real life living!  Life is messy…. not all picture perfect…. but that is OK!  Life is good, not perfect!!

Soooo….. What is going on in my life this week???

I am feeling so much better as I recover from the flu I had last week.  Wow, did that knock me on my tush for a few days!  I literally spent 2 days in bed.  Thankfully, Wes (our oldest son who is a leukemia survivor) did not get it!  His body is still re-building from the second bone marrow transplant he had last fall.  He landed in the hospital this summer with the Para Influenza #3!  We want NO repeats!!

While I was down with the flu I did get some of the fall pictures I took of our kids edited.  I also got Wes and Robyn’s senior pictures edited.  I have loved taking pictures of the kids every fall and this year we just took some extra for senior pictures.  It has been bittersweet.  I am THRILLED that they will be graduating and moving on in the next season of their life.  We are especially thrilled that Wes is ALIVE and here with us to do all these things.  Before leukemia changed Wes’ life he was a year ahead of Robyn in school, but now they will graduate together.  However, it was tinged with sadness for this Mama Heart knowing that this is the LAST fall I will take pictures with all my kids still living at home.  Transitions can be hard on a mama heart! Can you relate to that??

Here are my four kiddos: From Right to Left: Robyn (17), Nate (12), Ethan (13) and Wes (19)

all-4-2

Now that I am feeling all better I have been in a CLEANING frenzy!  I know that a lot of this is the mama bear in me coming out to destroy any germs in our house!  I also have been feeling like our house is too cluttered and needs not only a deep cleaning be some stuff purging.  So far I have deep cleaned and purged the Master Bedroom, Master Bath and the living room.  I cleaned from top to bottom.  Curtains washed, walls wiped down, everything cleaned, stuff purged!  Ahhhh it feels SO good!  I will continue tackling one room each day until the whole house is done!  Just in time for the Holidays.

Tuesday started the month of November.  Thanksgiving is my FAVORITE holiday.  I love food and I love being thankful (so much power in a thankful heart)…. I also love that there are no HUGE expectations that surround the holiday…. so we can just ENJOY family, friends and food!  I came across a Scripture Writing resource to be used during the month of November.  I posted it on my personal Facebook  a week ago asking if anyone wanted to join me.  As of today there are 50 people doing this with me!!  How BIG is our GOD??? So BIG!!  This month we are coming together to focus on developing a heart of thanksgiving and praise!  We would LOVE to have you join us and jump in!!  (see picture below for the daily verses) My middle son, Ethan, is also joining me…. Perks of being the only home schooled kid!

thanksgiving-prayer-list

What am I reading right now??  I always have 2 books going.  I have a fun fiction book and I keep a non fiction (spiritual or personal growth focused) book going.  Right now I am reading “A Home in Drayton Valley” by Kim Vogel Sawyer as my “fun” book.  I’m over half done and am really enjoying it.  The characters have both captured my heart and the story line is keeping me reading.

I am reading “Driven By Eternity” by John Bevere as my growth book.  I just started it this week and it won’t be a book I move through quickly.  I am reading a few pages at a time with my Bible by my side.  I read, and then I have to take time to meditate and let it really sink deep into my Spirit.  I don’t just want to read a book to check it off my goal list…. I want books to be tools that help me GROW in Christ!  Speed is not the issue, growth is my goal.

This week marks another “First” for our youngest son, Nate.  He is in 6th grade and is playing on a “real” basketball team for the first time.  He LOVES basketball and has been practicing hard.  This week he will have his first game.  One EXCITED kid!!  I have been fully enjoying having 2 older kids with driver’s license.  They have been helping me with transportation to and from practices.  One more thing I will miss when Wes and Robyn go off to college next year.

Speaking of college…. Robyn submitted her application to Purdue last night and Wes is finishing his.  Tonight we go to Ivy Tech to learn more about their community college option.  They have both been working on scholarships and we filed the FAFSA form.  It is a big job (LOTS of hours) to get all this stuff done!  I’m kind of glad we are doing it all for 2 at once!  We are working as a team helping each other!

Well…. I think that sums up my week and hopefully gives you a peek into my life and helps you to get to know me better.  I’ll be back next week with another “Vintage style, old-school” Blog post!

Last week I shared with you the “BLESSINGS” acronym I use to pray for my husband, ChrisPrayer is SO POWERFUL!!!  I hope you find this acronym as helpful as I have. I’m praying some BIG things right now for Chris and for the kids and for others.  To help you pray using scripture I have put together a simple e-book full of Bible verses that go along with each of the letters in BLESSSINGS.  Praying the WORD of God is the most powerful prayers you can pray.  GOD’S word is always lined up with God’s will!!!  Have you seen the movie War Room?? If not, I highly recommend it!  It will inspire you to pray the word of God!!


 

(Note: some links in this post are affiliate links. I will earn a small percentage if purchase through the links)

 

 

 

Be your husband’s PRAYER WARRIOR!

blessingsThere is SO much power in prayer!!!  One thing we have learned over and over the last 4 years as we have traveled with our oldest son down the path of leukemia is that prayer is powerful!!  Time after time we have seen the hand of God move!!  God doesn’t always answer prayers in the way we WANT, but always in the way that is BEST!!

Praying for my HUSBAND is one of the greatest things I can do for him.  Several years ago I heard on the radio someone sharing using the acronym “BLESSINGS” to pray for our husband.  I have tried to find who shared this, but I haven’t been successful.  However, I have USED this to pray for my husband ever since!

Sometimes we get stuck in a rut praying for our husband.  I get that and want to share with you this tool that has empowered me to pray BOLDLY and SPECIFICALLY for my husband!

 

Have you watched the movie, War Room??  If you haven’t I highly encourage it!  This movie shows the power of prayer, specifically praying scripture.  God’s word does not return void and He is so faithful!

Over the years I have seen God answer my prayers for my husband time and time again.  I am so thankful for that day I heard this acronym on the radio, it has been such a helpful tool.

daily-_blessings_-prayer-for-your-husband

Click HERE to download  a set of bookmarks with the “BLESSINGS” prayer.  Place one in your Bible, hang one on the bathroom mirror, put one in your car and share one with a friend!

Praying SCRIPTURE is the most powerful way to effectively pray.  I have put together a e-book with Bible verses for each of the letters in “BLESSINGS”.  Sign up below to receive this in-depth resource.

My life motto is GOD is BIGGER (than anything we face here on earth).  Join me in praying some BIG prayers!  Our husbands will be BLESSED!!