Kara

Before you start another week….

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Before you start another week, I needed to remind you of something. 

Your weight does not determine your worth. 

Your salary does not determine your worth. 

Your marital status does not determine your worth. 

Your kids performance in sports or school does not determine you worth. 

Neither does:

-your clothing label

-the size of your home

-the vehicle that you drive

-what college you went to

-your six pack abs or body fat percentage

-your lack of six pack abs

-your talents or abiltities

-your clean home or lack therof

-your ability to manage your home well

-your inability to manage your home well

-your clothing size

-the number of “followers” or “friends” you have. 

None of these things determine your worth. 

God does. 

And guess what?

 He says you’re valuable. (His TREASURED POSSESSION Deut. 7:6)

He says you’re loved.  (Romans 5:8)

He says you’re worth it. (Luke 12:6-7)

He calls you friend (John 15:15)

He CHOSE you (Ephesians 1:4)

He says you’re accepted (Romans 15:7)

He says that you have been SET FREE (Galatians 5:1)

He says He’s with you. (Romans 8:35-39)

And that is more than ENOUGH to outweigh anything else that you may face. 

Praying for each person that reads this and for whatever you may be facing this week.

Final Day: Losing the Masks Challenge

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This week we have been tackling our masks. You can catch up on the previous posts here:

Intro Post

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Today we wrap things up.

I want you to reflect (either just to yourself or by posting/emailing/commenting) on these questions:

-What is your biggest takeaway?

-How has the way that you view your own masks changed?

-How has the way that you view OTHERS masks changed?

-How has the way that you view OTHERS ‘perfection’ changed?

-What do you want to tell yourself moving forward?

Know this, friends: If you have accepted Jesus, then no mask is necessary. Ever. When God looks at you He no longer sees all of your mess, He just sees Jesus.

You are saved.

Set apart.

Renewed.

Restored.

Whole.

Redeemed.

Rest in that today. I love you all and cannot tell you how much your emails and messages this week have meant to me. I’m honored to be walking through this with you and will be praying for all those that sent me requests. You are beautiful, friends.

Losing the Mask Challenge Day #4

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Welcome back!
Here’s a recap if you’re just joining us:
Intro
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3

I have LOVED hearing from you this week and celebrating with you the masks that you are beginning to take off. It is powerful, friends!

Today will be a bit tougher for many of us. 

As we have already talked about, ALL of us are a bit of a mess. Some of us are a whole lot of mess. But because of Jesus and God’s grace, we don’t have to stay in that place- our messes can be used to point others straight to Him. 

Today I want you to begin considering something: How can you take your MESS and make it your MESSAGE? 

Each of us have walked through situations and trials that shape who we are. Sometimes we’ve made mistakes- BIG ONES. We tend to hide these things, to bury them deep under our masks and to keep from others discovering them. Today, I want you to begin considering what MESS God has given you that He is waiting for you to turn into your Message. 

Recently, I read a post by Alisa Keeton (www.revelationwellness.com) where she encouraged us to be a Promotor of People. She listed things that God had delivered her from and how it had impacted her life and her message. She wrote:

“A few things I know He has delivered me from:

  • Divorce: And now my husband and I are more in love than ever. That’s Jesus!
  • Eating
    disorders & body image dysmorphia: And now I eat/drink to the glory of God and know I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
  • Unworthiness: I know that I am enough, forever and always…in Christ alone.
  • Approval
    of man: If God called me, no one can stop me, and if they are not
    against me they are for me. Jesus himself was rejected. I’m in good
    company when I am.
  • Anger:
    I used to be scared and afraid, so anger was my weapon. And now
    nothing is worth forfeiting my peace. If I lose it, I am quick to get
    that sucker back! Asap!
  • Rebellion: See above.
  • Emotional
    manipulation: I am no longer my emotions and someone else does not
    have to pay for my emotions. I have the mind of Christ. My feelings and
    thoughts come under the authority of my faith in a Savior who is able
    to
    save.
  • An orphan spirit: I am His and oh how He loves me. His love makes me bold and sets me free.”

——————————————————————————-
These are GREAT examples of how God has taken what was once her MESS and transformed it into her MESSAGE to the world. 

Today, consider what He has delivered you from. 

Reflect on the places where you have been healed, redeemed, set free, or freed. 

And then for those who are bold enough, I want you to share it with someone. You may choose to do this privately in an email or message, you may choose to message or email me to share it with me, or you may choose to publicly post it so that all can see how you’ve been changed. 

For me, it’s scary to think about revealing the mess I have worked through, but God is good and faithful and I want to practice what I preach. So here goes:

-I struggled greatly with postpartum depression and particularly anxiety. Anxiety is STILL a battle I face daily, but Jesus is teaching me day by day how to trust and to walk with Him. I am forever grateful that when I was brave enough to finally share with others what I was dealing with that I had a small group of ladies that showed up and said to me: “It’s okay. You are not broken. You will get through this”. And they were right, I did. I now try to take any opportunity that I have to reach out to new Moms. I say to them, “this will probably be the most amazing, exciting, incredibly wonderful time of your life. But if it’s not, please call me. I’ve been there and I can walk you through.” Most women look at my like I am CRAZY because they are not experiencing the same things that I did, but there are some that I am able to help and I now consider this an amazing way to minister to those who need it. 

-I wore the mask of perfectionism and legalism. I believed that if I ‘earned’ enough points through being “a good girl” that it was all that mattered. I thought appearing as if I have everything together helped others. God has rescued me from that way of thinking and I now revel in GRACE. 

-I struggled with anger. Serious anger. This started the day I had my first child. I have had some ugly moments. I’m talking U-G-L-Y moments where I’ve said and done terrible things. God’s healing me of this. It’s not yet complete, but this MESS in my life is part of the MESSAGE that He can make ALL things new and that He is ready to heal us of whatever we will bring to Him.

-Food Addict/Emotional Eater: Although it wasn’t obvious to others, I had MAJOR issues with food. I self medicated with food and used it to fill a void only meant for God. Once I got this under control, God birthed in my heart the vision and dream for Wellness Witness and the ministry that I hope to one day launch through it. My MESS has pushed me into a whole new MESSAGE of trying to learn and teach Biblical wellness. 

There are many other messes I could name, but wanted to share a few with you so that you would know I’m putting my MESS out there, too. 

Whether you decide to participate in today’s challenge or not, hear me on this: The battles that you have faced and conquered help to form a beautiful story and testimony that God has given you. Hiding these things from others doesn’t serve anyone. By sharing with others how you were rescued, you may be exactly the encouragement that someone else so desperately needs.

Tricia Goyer wrote a great post on How to turn your Mess into your Message that you can read here. Her insight is far better than I can offer you and will benefit you in this challenge. I am SO SO proud of y’all! I can’t wait to see what MESSages you have to share! Keep going, friends!

Losing the Mask Challenge Day #3

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Day 1 post
Day 2 post:

The past two days have been SO much fun! I’m thrilled that so many of you have chosen to participate in sharing your messes with me, and in opening up yourself to doing yesterday’s challenge which was a bit uncomfortable.

I cannot get over the emails and messages that I have received, and I am so honored that many of you chose to open up about your very real struggles with the masks that you wear. I promise to pray for the requests that you sent me, and I’m also praying for those masks to shatter and fall!

Okay…Day 3. Today’s Challenge. 

Part of the reason that we wear our masks we have already talked about.

But there is another reason that I thought was worth covering. Sometimes, we wear masks not to hide our ‘messes’, but to hide our victories.

Because of our nature, sometimes even the most well meaning friends (and myself included) struggle with feelings of discontentment, jealousy, or judgement when someone that we love experiences success.

This is sin- plain and simple and I have to battle in my own ugly heart with this, often. Instead of celebrating the amazing things that may be taking place in the life of someone that we love, we may belittle it, choose to not mention it, refuse to comment, made snide jokes or remarks, or even talk about that person in a judgmental way.

Oh how I wish that I could write right now and tell you that this is not an area that I struggle with- that it’s not something that I have done. But as hard as it is to sit and type this, that isn’t true.

I DO struggle with feelings of jealousy at times, even with people that I love. I struggle with not wanting to cheer someone else on when I am sometimes left wondering why I haven’t experienced the same outcomes as they have. It can be easy to say “that’s not fair” or to make an excuse for why they were given something that I wasn’t. (Much like my three year old whining because his sister got the bigger piece of banana).

It’s a battle that I must face often. I can CHOOSE to take those thoughts captive, to repent and to ask God to help me respond in a way that reflects my love and support, or I CHOOSE to sit and wallow in the same old cycle of sin that threatens to keep me trapped.

So I choose to battle to love. I choose to battle to encourage and support. I choose to battle to build up, even when it’s not my first response.  To be honest, I don’t always succeed, but I keep trying. And the more I work towards this, the more aware I become of the ugliness in my heart and my desperate need for Jesus.

One of the best ways to encourage others to shed the mask they may be wearing to cover up their successes, is to CHOOSE to cheer them on. To send them a message or a phone call and to say “I am so amazed by how you…. You are really great at …. You encourage me by the way that you ….” .

This not only gives them the encouragement they may need to walk boldly into whatever calling they’ve been given, but it helps you to step back and to re-frame and to stop the cycle of jealousy, discontentment and judgement. If we can look for the GOOD that someone is doing, and to applaud them in their efforts, it leaves little room for us to sit back and judge.

I say all that to say this: It’s time to encourage one another in the tasks that we are attempting.  I believe that it is CRITICAL that we consciously make an effort to build up the people we are around.

So your task today: you are to call, message, email or text someone that has experienced a success or a victory and I want you to CELEBRATE it. Know someone that really stepped out in faith and went for something? Tell them how much their example meant to you. Have you witnessed someone that persevered in the face of difficulty and came out ahead? Speak to them and let them know that you are proud to know them- that their example gives you renewed motivation and helps you persevere when things are hard.

Right now, you may have someone coming your your mind. You are probably trying to talk yourself out of it and think that if you were to message them, they might think you’re crazy. DO IT ANYWAY. The person that came to your mind was brought there for a reason. Be obedient and do it.

Amy Poehler had a quote and part of it said this, “When you can wish good things for people and rejoice when they get it, so many gifts and blessings come to you that you cannot even imagine”.

My prayer is that as we are taking off our own masks this week, we’re also enabling others to do the same by the words of encouragement that we are going to speak.

If you complete this challenge, click LIKE on the Facebook status with today’s post, or send me a message and let me know how it goes. Cheering you on and praying you through!

Losing the Mask Challenge Day #2

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I was blown away by some of the responses I got last night on the Facebook page for the first day of the Wellness Witness #losingthemasks Challenge .

Many people posted pictures with areas of their house that they had never before shown to anyone such as junky garages, messy closets or unfinished renovations that never happened. Some shared projects that they never started that have been taking up space in their homes, or their huge piles of laundry waiting to be washed, dryed, or folded and put away.

Some people sent private messages with deeper, harder to remove masks..some that are struggling with anger towards their family members, feeling trapped by an addiction, not knowing how to turn away from a bad relationship. Some admitted to stacks of clothes that they hold onto from years ago hoping to some day wear them again, or how trash flies out of their car door when they open it. One person wrote of how they want to host people in their home but don’t feel like they can until their home is picture perfect. A friend said that she constantly feels smothered by the need to perform all the roles that she is expected to each day and is tired of trying to keep up with what others say she should do.

Hear me on this— no matter what you feel like you are alone in struggling through, YOU’RE NOT. 

There is NOTHING that you are dealing with that someone else isn’t dealing with, also. And you know what else? No matter what it is that you may be feeling the need to hide from with your mask, THAT DEBT HAS ALREADY BEEN PAID.

For those of us that are in Christ, we have already been freed from whatever it is that binds us because of HIS power, not our own. We don’t have to perform, or earn it, or try to keep His favor…He freely gives it to us.

Whether you’re struggling with the pressure of trying to meet all the demands that are being thrown at you at home and work and church and life in general or if you’re struggling with coming to grips with the person you were created to be- hear me on this…YOU ARE OKAY, because He’s has made you Okay.  Period. When you start to doubt that, start speaking truth to yourself. Sometimes I have to write it down- I write out the promises that God has made about me. And then I speak it OUT LOUD. Sometimes this takes me doing it over and over and over.

Today, your homework challenge is a bit different.

Today, I want you to look deeper into the mask you wear and think about what it is that you really need. See, part of the reason why we all keep wearing our masks is the fear of letting someone else know that we don’t have it all together and that we are not always okay. As we’ve already covered, no one is always okay, and it’s OKAY to not be okay. 😉

Today, I want you to reach out to someone and to let them know an area that you’re struggling with. As scary as it may be, i want you to be bold enough to tell them that you’re struggling with this specific area/issue/topic and then ASK THEM TO PRAY FOR YOU.

If you aren’t used to asking for prayer, this may seem weird to you. But friends, there is POWER in prayer. If you don’t have friends that will pray you through, then private message or email me. I would be honored to pray for whatever it is that you’re struggling with. You can also contact a Pastor or a counselor in your area.

You see, friends, the devil wants us to keep our issues hidden, to keep them in the dark where we feel ashamed and alone. But once we bring these things to the light, there is FREEDOM. Nothing and no one is too far from God’s reach.

Will you trust me on this one? Step out today and be willing to be a little more transparent than normal. Ask someone to pray you through and then once you’ve done that, click LIKE, or comment below or on the facebook page.

I love y’all and am so proud of you! I’m praying for you and that God can use this challenge to shine His light on things that have been hiding for too long. You are not alone and YOU ARE OKAY!

Losing the Mask Challenge Day #1

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If
you haven’t yet read this post, go do it now.

Welcome
to Day 1 of our Challenge Week- Removing the Masks!

I
had someone ask me, “What do you mean by mask?” For our purposes, we will use
this definition: Masks- The version of ourselves or our lives that we choose to
show to the world. This can be through social media outlets, phone
conversations, or even face to face interactions. We do this for many reasons-
to name a few: pride, survival, privacy and fear. 

From
a young age we are taught to do this. Even my five year old daughter knows how
to quickly slip on her ‘mask’ when her friends or teachers are around, and at
times, I’ve encouraged this behavior. To be transparent, masks are not always
bad. There are absolutely situations where we must put on our mask to function
and to get through certain events/days/situations. 

But
then there is the other extreme: when we begin to wear our mask permanently. Or
worse, when we begin to think that the masked version of who we are is preferred
and must be the only version of our self that we show. See, friends, God
created you uniquely for a specific purpose. Out of all the
billions and billions of people who have lived before and those that will be born in the
years to come, no one has been created and gifted just like you. The way your
brain functions, the talents you have, the personality traits, and skill set
that you have acquired- ALL of it
was designed for you to use to fulfill your specific calling. This
INCLUDES areas where you may be a bit of a mess; the areas where you struggle,
the places where you’ve seen God work, and the victories you’ve achieved
through by working through some of your weaknesses. 

When
we only let those around us see our ‘highlight reels’ or our victories, we lose
a valuable opportunity to show transparency, genuineness and the transforming
work of Christ in our struggles.

To
be honest with you, I struggle with this, too. I see the lives that others live
around me and sometimes feel pressured to do
or be or act in a certain way. At times I am tempted to try to fit the mold
that was designed only for someone else. If left unchecked, this can plant
seeds of doubt, or jealousy, or discontent. Feelings like that try to steal our
joy and to ruin whatever work God is doing in our hearts and lives, and can
derail the beautiful plan that He is putting together even now. 

Here’s
the good news: there is freedom in REMOVING YOUR MASK. There is freedom in
throwing your hands up and saying, “You know what? I don’t have it all
together. I’m a mess at times, and sometimes I’m not okay.” And it’s at that
moment, when we admit that we can’t do things on our own, that we aren’t able
to achieve some preconceived notion of perfection, that we realize our need for
Grace. And our need for God. 

I
am a mess. And often times, I am not okay. Truth is, neither are you. 
But
because I’ve met Jesus, He steps in and takes up any of the slack. He tells me
that I’m loved and cherished and valued exactly as I am. And friend, you are
too.

So
today we start with our first challenge. 
This one should be pretty easy. I want you to
snap a photo of something in your life/home/car that shows a glimpse into your
real life messes. This may be a physical mess, or it may be something different.
I want you to share it with me on the Wellness Witness facebook page, share it
on your Facebook account, Instagram or Twitter, or email it to me at
osborne_kara AT yahoo <dot> com. If you don’t have a photo but want to post a comment or status, that works, too! 

For some of you this may be scary, and
for others of us, it’s a bit freeing. Make sure that you tag the page so that I
can see it,  and feel free to use the
hashtag  #wellness witness #losingthemask
. I would love to share some of these on the page for those that are willing to
let me. 

Invite
friends to participate and spread the message that it is OKAY to not be okay all the time.

I’ll
be posting pics, too, so feel free to like and comment. When you see the pic
that someone else shares, comment and let them know that they’re not alone! 

Once
you’ve completed day #1, comment or message me and let me know! Tomorrow, we
move on to Assignment #2. 

Love
y’all…with or without your masks!!

Get Day #2 Challenge here