Where is Christine?

By now you’re asking…where is Christine! I am behind on posting updates for the current study, and I am catching up this weekend. My family has faced some challenges and I’m working around these priorities.

• The biggest challenge has been my husband’s job loss-his second one this year. With the job loss he has been home 24/7 and I’ve experienced numerous interruptions to my schedule and my intimacy with God. Maybe this is Satan’s attempt to keep me off track…I’ll admit it has been a diversion, and it will not pull me away from Breaking Free.
• Another diversion has been my children, as one struggles with OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) and winter depression (seasonal affective disorder) and has needed extra attention at home. She is slowing getting back into her school routine and I have been here to support her with her struggles. When the weather changes or when the school has a long winter break, her routine changes and she becomes depressed as she adjusts to these changes. In the matter of weeks, her grades fall from straight A’s to straight F’s as her routines change. We’re working with her doctors and teachers to get her back on her schedule.
• Another diversion has been my Christian business, thankfully busy during the Christmas season and also very time consuming since I needed to make 500 bracelets during this time. With the end of Christmas, Valentines Day is now approaching and will still keep me busy with orders. During this time I’m also working on business taxes and inventory….translation…I need to physically count almost 10,000 beads! Ick!
• Another diversion has been my health…somehow I managed to get a “frozen shoulder” and I now find myself in physical therapy for shoulder manipulation, heat, ice, and some pending procedures for healing. Apparently I have another 6  months until a full recovery. The darn shoulder slows me down….takes twice as long to grocery shop, clean the house, or do anything.
• Another diversion has been using Twitter too much during the week….and I really focused on the words of Oswald Chambers “Beware of any work for God which enables you to evade concentration on Him” which I recently retweeted. My work with family, my shoulder injury and my business are distracting me from my intimacy with God.

Remember the beginning of this 10 week study when Beth Moore warned that the enemy would try to distract us? He’s working hard on me!

Despite the diversions, I have felt a deep connection with God during this study and surprisingly…the connection comes while I’m sleeping, in my dreams. I do NOT want to be that distant from Him that I only have time for Him while resting….I want to be physically in His Presence throughout my day.

As I begin the new year, I am facing new challenges. My first and most important challenge is finding time for God in a home filled with chaos. I ask for your prayers in keeping God the center of my life, keeping my commitments to Bible study and on-time posts. And I sincerely thank you for your patience and understanding as I manage my diversions.

How You Can Help Christine

• Please post comments at the Bible Cafe, knowing you are participating motivates me. We have 400+ daily readers on this blog…just say hello every now and then!
• If you see me on Twitter and it seems I’m spending too much time there, remind me with a tweet that I should keep focused
• Send me an email to encourage me
• Pray for healing in my shoulder
  
• Pray for consistent employment for my husband
• Pray for healing and God’s protection over my daughter
  
• Tell me what Bible Study you’d like to read when we finish Breaking Free
  

Thank you for your prayers and your blessings,