Intro: Getting off the Roller Coaster
Life is like a roller coaster. We all face times that send our hearts to the heights of Mt. Everest and to the depths of the Dead Sea. One day we are experiencing laughter with friends and family, feeling love and joy in abundance. The next day something happens that shatters our world. We lose someone we love. Our job is terminated. A friend hurts us deeply. A child makes choices that are life changing. Betrayal has taken place. Financial security has been lost.
When our world is turned upside down, what do we do? Sometimes even that question can cause our minds to spin. We may become immobilized with fear, angry at the circumstance, or sometimes just plain stuck. We may feel like we are in the ocean barely treading water, with no way to make it safely to shore.
This blog is about finding ways out of those emotions and living in the joy God has for us in all the circumstances of life. Jesus told us that he came to bring life in abundance, overflowing in joy and peace. How do we find that abundant joy when everything we know has been turned upside down, when we are sinking in the salt of tears? I invite you to join with me as we ride the rollercoaster with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Together we will be encouraged as we discover the abundant joy God has promised!
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Thank you so much Jan for sharing this on Facebook. I was so inspired to use the 5 step prayer and are encouraging others to use it in their daily prayers. I’ll join you and ride on the roller coaster to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!!😘
It has been shown that cultivating an attitude of gratitude, appreciating life, thanking and affirming others, counting our blessings, and just breathing in deeply while we listen for the Holy Spirit’s presence is one of the best ways to modify our outlook and uplift our spirits. A famous preacher was accustomed to greeting his congregation every Sunday by saying something positive about the day, the opportunities, and the weather. However, on one particularly rainy, cold, and dreary day, when sickness and illness had reduced the normal crowd significantly, and when the world news was not very encouraging, the congregation waited to see what the preacher would say. That Sunday, he greeted the crowd by saying, “O Lord, we give you praise and thank you from deep within our hearts that it is not always like this!”