Almost 7 years ago, when I first had the vision for our Transformations course, I heard the words “Transformations: Becoming Who You Are”.  Little did I know then the significance of this phrase.  Transformations is not primarily about “fixing” someone, but about who God created them to be being revealed and restored.  Trauma may have distorted.  Wounds may have infected.  Lack of nurture may have stunted.  But we are believing in the restoration power of God to bring the real “you” into focus.

I was recently reading a blog by Michael Sullivant and I really appreciated these paragraphs and wanted to share them with you:  “…Even spiritual disciplines can become another form of self-protection. I can use solitude to avoid people, Bible study to avoid my emotions, ministry to avoid my family, or fasting to feel spiritually superior. A practice intended to open me to grace can subtly become another project of self-management.

All prayer should be good, shouldn’t it?  Yes, in the aspect of prayer as a relational connection with God.  However, many survivors look to written prayers to help them.  I am really grateful for Jo Getzinger’s prayer books (Prayer Warriors and Prayer Warriors 2).  The prayers feel more personable and include our parts.  Written prayers can be helpful as a prompt or to cover things we hadn't thought of. She is clear in the introduction that just because you pray these prayers doesn’t mean things are “fixed” because parts may not be in agreement, etc.  I really appreciated that, although I admit, I didn’t like it.  We’d all like the “magic” prayer that fixes everything!

There have been some recent stirrings of controversies regarding some healing ministries.  It really is nothing new.  But how do we deal with these things when it seems to come down to what one person says or another? 

A few years ago, a young woman was referred to me who struggled with judgment verses in Scripture.  I only saw her once, but all she could see was condemnation in the Bible.  I would talk about the love of God and His heart for her, but she would always loop back around to a Scripture that sounded like she was doomed.  She genuinely wanted God’s love, but couldn’t believe it was for her because she wasn’t good enough.

But they are well worth it!  I’m grateful to be in a community that values relational connection and that we can work through things (most of the time) when we are triggered.  It isn’t easy and often our impulse is to run, but I love to see how God works when we stay in the pain and work through it with True Jesus. 

All of us are in different ways.  Church programming.  Family programming.  Entertainment programming.  Educational programming.  A lot of it is unconscious.  The powers that be want it that way.  They don’t want us to know that we are being manipulated and controlled by media, entertainment, social media, etc. 

I read a blog recently by Michael Sullivant that really touched my heart and I want to share it with you.  It is about permission given to experience joy and playfulness.  So much of our lives is spent in survival and waiting for the next “shoe to drop”.  But God created us for joy.  I’m including and excerpt with a link to the full blog. It is worth the read! “Many believers assume joy is the reward for a faithful life. Scripture suggests something different. Joy is not merely the fruit at the end of the journey. It is part of the fuel that carries us along the way.

Last night we did an “overnight” with our grandkids, Eden and Edison.  Edison is just 4 months old, so this was a new experience to get and keep him asleep at night, not always successful!  Even though I’m exhausted, I love the time I have with them!

This week concludes our series with the right prefrontal cortex region or our identity/action center.  This is where we decide how to respond based on our identity.

Today had some challenges.  Some things came up that were bad and scary.  We talked about this in the last blog about our amygdala and how it functions.  The third level in our brain is the attunement center.  This is where God intended for us to be met with His love and community who can be “Jesus with skin on”.  When something is bad and scary and our amygdala is going off like crazy, if we have someone we can attune with then we find out that we can survive and it isn’t so bad.  It can actually turn into something good.  This can help calm our amygdala down and help us regulate our emotions, as well as help to build secure attachments.

While the first level of the brain deals with our attachments, the second level is the assessment center and is our amygdala.  Most people are aware of this important part of our brain that assesses threats to us so very quickly we are not conscious of it.  It is also non-verbal.  Any stimulus is immediately assessed as good, bad or scary.