How to Clear Congestion of the Mind

Used to be when I skied my chest and head cold would clear like the parting clouds of a storm. Sun would enter into my heart through my eyes, and fresh air would invade my lungs thanks to the cold, fresh, thin air. The exhilaration of a mogul run would spring my body into action and into healing. By day's end my cold would almost be gone!
No doctor would prescribe that. I broke the rules and it worked.
So how, today, can I apply that to the congestion of my mind...a mind that needs to kick in to creativity...to write...to solve problems...to relate to people? What rules can I break that don't make sense, but ultimately will bring me into new clarity? Rather than sit at my blank screen, today I will play my guitar, paint a picture, run instead of walk, call a crazy friend, read good fiction, and dance in the living room. 
I'll dance and laugh at writing rules until that inkling of brightness breaks open in my line of vision and inspiration explodes.

Psalm 45:1 - "Like a river bursting its banks, I'm overflowing with words, spilling out into the sacred story." (The Passion Translation)

Check out my new book: The Art of Writing - An Intimate Devotional For Writers!

The Goodness of Love

I'm reflecting today on the goodness of my Papa God. He's kind, with a sense of humor, and astounding amount of grace. He sees me. He's for me. He cheers for me. He likes my ideas and he loves my dreams. I have his DNA. He loves others through me. He gives me favor, provides, and protects. He heals and lifts me up and he is my hope of life here and hereafter. I love him with all my heart. And the good ending is: he loves me more.

How precious is your unfailing love, O God! - Psalm 36:7

The Giver's Blessing

One of the hardest things I have ever had to do was to accept help when I really needed it. I had always been a giver, and then...I couldn't give. I had need. And people knew it. And they gave to me. And it was humbling to say the least.

Though grateful, at first I felt ashamed. I really hated to accept the help. But then I realized that if I didn't receive the help, I would be depriving the givers their blessing from God.

So what may have looked like a weakness in my life - ended up being a blessing in someone else's life.

The generosity on the part of friends was rewarded with a release to them of the abundance of heaven - financially and spiritually.

Someone needs to read this today. God is so good! And kind! I have been humbled many times in my life - and I am thankful for that.

2 Corinthians 9:6-7 - God loves it when the giver delights in the giving. (The Message)

Acts 20:35 - "Giving brings a far greater blessing than receiving." (The Passion Translation)

Art by my friend, Gary Rowell.

Find out more about Chris and her writing, teaching, books, and author coaching at www.christinetracy.com.

You Are a Gift!

Have you ever considered that we were given the gift of life in order to give it away?

Gifts like compassion, personality, faith, love, wisdom, experience, and knowledge...they're all part of the life we've been granted. So what do we do with all of this?

Sure, we need to work to pay the bills. But the fun comes when we can work from passion, create from strategic and brilliant ideas, and then give, give, give of our heart to others who are hungry for what we carry.

We actually become a gift!

I feel like I have been given so much. How can I release it to change the world around me?

1 Timothy 4:14 - Don't minimize the powerful gift that operates in your life, for it was imparted to you by the laying on of hands of the elders and was activated through the prophecy they spoke over you. (TPT)

2 Timothy 1:6 - Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

Tell Them!

"Tell them I'm no longer coming. I'm already there.
They've been waiting. The wait is over. It's time.
Release the word.
Relate to people.
Redeem the time.
Restore the foundations.
Repair the walls.
Report the good news.
Recognize My voice."
- What I felt God asked me to tell you on Nov. 5, 2019

"Grace" for Healing

Do you ever beg and plead with God for help, feeling sorry for yourself and wondering why He won't answer? I didn't know how desperate I was getting until recently a horse named Grace corrected me and set me on a new course of partnering with God instead of begging. I now understand how God wants to join us in a journey toward answering our prayers.

It's not always about Him giving to me (although He does this too), but also about Him teaching me to trust and work with Him. Once I started changing the way I think about this - healing came astonishingly fast. I'm talking healing of something I have suffered with since a baby.

Oh my. I'm just sharing because I'm hoping this might help someone else out there.

If we're not getting answers - perhaps we need to change the questions.

Could this help with other things I have prayed a long time for? What if He is waiting for us to trust Him, to let him take our hand, and to let Him step with us into the answers.

Yes - I got all this wisdom through His grace toward me...and a sweet Rocky Mountain Horse named Grace.

John 1:16 - And now out of his fullness we are fulfilled! And from him we receive grace heaped upon more grace!

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The Happy Gauge

When you move a lot, you tend to have an array of emotions, tempered by a wisdom to know that time will help as you try to find community and happiness in every new place.

We have lived in Texas now for one year - having left our beautiful and beloved Colorado with hearts for new adventure and family.

The first time I came to Colorado as a young woman, I knew it was "home." But as the years went by, I realized those feelings of settling and happiness can come from even deeper places than what we see, smell, taste, and feel.

Happy comes from within even when things don't look great in our lives. It is a place that trusts the strength of God, and the new beginnings of each day. It finds itself in the hug of a child and the devotion of a dog; the gratefulness for a car that works and a home that warms. Happy can be found in the community at the local coffee shop or the new church. Happy is always the heart of family doing life together. And no matter where you live, you can find happy if you look for beauty in creation. Change, progress, and answered prayers keep the happy gauge rising as you realize that "yes," God is in this adventure with you.

So...I'm happy to report my happy gauge is at an all-time high in my new home of Brownwood, Texas. Who would have thought????

Psalm 16:9 - My heart and soul explode with joy - full of glory! Even my body will rest confident and secure.