My Blog List is not cooperating...

Just a reminder that "My Blog List", to the right of this main blog, is not always being updated correctly for some reason.  For example, there has been a new teaching posted under "Growing as a Disciple of Christ", but it is not showing it here.  If you are following either of my other blogs, you may want to check directly with that blog, itself, to see if a new teaching has been posted. And computers are supposed to make life easier??

Explanation of new blogs...

As of today, there are now three new blogs that cover the material that was previously written on this blog.

Each blog covers separate topics:

The blog "Growing as a Disciple of Christ" can now be found here or at http://growingasadiscipleofchrist-fionab.blogspot.com/

The blog "Growing Beyond your Painful Past" can now be found here or at http://fionab-growingbeyondyourpainfulpast.blogspot.com/

The blog "Living with Chronic Pain and Illness" can now be found here or at http://fionab-livingwithpainandillness.blogspot.com/

These new blogs are also listed on the right side of this blog for your convenience.  You can find them under the heading "My Blog List".  It is supposed to automatically update whenever I have posted something new to a blog, but I've noticed that sometimes it does not.  So, you may want to just go to the blog and see if there has been any new material added to it.  All you need do is click on the blog you want to see and you will be taken to it (hopefully!).

Again, thank you for your patience and I hope that the cohesive nature of the separate blogs will make up for any inconvenience this has caused.

Changing my blog...again!

Now that I've had time to observe how the other blogs are cohesive and talk about the same topic, I feel it is time to do the same for the rest of the teachings: "Living with Chronic Illness" "Living with Severe, Chronic Pain", Living with Primary Immune Deficiency" and the "Inspirational Readings".  So as of today, you can find these teachings under my fourth new blog here   or at: http://fionab-livingwithpainandillness.blogspot.com/

Again, sorry for the inconvenience but I believe this is best for all teachings involved.  I am disappointed I won't be able to incorporate the cute comics or funnies anymore as I really enjoyed that part of blogging, but I do feel that it's best to have all material on a certain topic in one place.

I will keep this blog up for as long as Google will allow, in order for those who want to still look at the cartoons and funnies.

How this blog is changing...

As you know I have been in the process of moving some of the material from this blog to their own blogs, given the amount of material/teachings that have been generated since the blog began.  I thank you for your patience, and I believe it will be better to have all teachings on a particular subject in one place.

So, as of tonight, all the teachings on "Growing Beyond your Painful Past" can be found here  or at: http://fionab-growingbeyondyourpainfulpast.blogspot.com/.     All future teachings on this subject can be found on this new, third blog.

Also, as of tonight, all the teachings on "Growing as a Disciple of Christ" can be found here  or at: http://growingasadiscipleofchrist-fionab.blogspot.com/.    All future teachings on this subject can be found on this new, second blog.

My plan it to keep the teachings on  "Living with Chronic Illness"; "Living with Severe, Chronic Pain";  "Living with Primary Immune Deficiency" and "Inspirational Readings"  on this, my first blog, as these are inter-related topics, dealing with health and pain issues.

We're to learn about God from our family...

Today I'm finishing the teaching on "So, What is Normal?" under the heading "Growing Beyond Your Painful Past: Part Five".  Today's subject is on how God intended our family to teach us about Him, and to lay the groundwork for our having a personal relationship with Him.  You can find the teaching under today's date, July 18 at http://fionab-growingbeyondyourpainfulpast.blogspot.com.  .

Do you take responsibility for your actions?

In today's society, we have learned that it is easier to blame others than take responsibility for our own actions.  I'm continuing writing on "So, What is Normal?" under the section "Growing Beyond your Painful Past: Part Five."   I believe strongly that how we were raised, the morals and values we were taught, go a long way in how we act as adults, especially in the area of personal responsibility.  You can find this  teaching at http://fionab-growingbeyondyourpainfulpast.blogspot.com/ 

Beginning a third blog soon...

As some of my teachings are becoming rather long (the reason I decided to give "Growing as a Disciple of Christ" it's own blog) , I have decided to do the same with "Growing beyond Your Painful Past."

I feel that people interested in certain topics will find it easier and beneficial to have all the teachings located in one place.  So, I will begin transferring the teachings from "Growing beyond Your Painful Past" to it's own blog here.

As it will take some time to make this transition, and since I don't want to stop writing new teachings on the subject, you will find the new posts here as I go through the transition over the next couple of days of moving the old posts to this new blog site.  After that is complete, all new blog postings will be done on this new site.  Sorry for the inconvenience, but in the end I think it will be best to keep all the subject matter together.

Can anything good come out of being ill?

For those of us who live with chronic illness, it can be very challenging.  We often feel like we don't belong or feel like life is passing us by.  Today's teaching looks at how we can try to find positive things in the midst of being ill.  You can find it under "Living with Chronic Illness: Part Two" at http://fionab-livingwithpainandillness.blogspot.com/

How do you handle problems in life?

Often how we respond to life's challenges go back to what we learned by watching how our parents coped with life's difficulties.  Today's I continue the teaching "So, What is Normal?" that I've been doing, now on "Growing Beyond your Painful Past: Part Five".  You can find it under July 14 at  http://fionab-growingbeyondyourpainfulpast.blogspot.com/

How to keep working when ill...

We can especially feel this way if we're dealing with a chronic illness or pain and trying to hold on to our job.  Today's teaching is on how you can try to keep working even if you're dealing with a chronic illness or pain.  You can find it at http://fionab-livingwithpainandillness.blogspot.com/

Leaving the nest...

A few weeks ago, I noticed a robin sitting on a nest on a wreath by our front door.  She must have built it pretty quickly and then laid her eggs.  She flew off before I could take her photo but here's the nest that has 4 eggs in it

So, she sat on the eggs for a couple of weeks and before you know it you see several hungry mouths sticking their heads out of the nest, waiting to be fed.  Then, almost overnight, they grew too big for their nest...can you see all four birds here?

When I went out yesterday, there were only three birds left and the mother robin was chirping at me, warning me to get away.  This morning, when I looked out of the kitchen window I saw mother robin with one of the babies, trying to teach it to fly.  So, I decided to go back out to the nest and see how many were left.  I was surprised to see that three had left.  Here's a photo of the last one waiting for his flying lesson and to become independent.

I could hear mother Robin chirping off in the distance, probably concerned between protecting her last baby and teaching her other ones how to fly.  It reminded me of how as humans we can be concerned between having two things to take care of, and being at a loss as to which one to focus on.  But, our Heavenly Father, is omnipotent so He can focus on all of us at the same time.  Think about that for a minute...being able to focus on every single human being on the planet at the same time and know what's going on in each of our lives...WOW!!  So, don't ever think that you are insignificant or forgotten by God...He is the only one in the universe that has the ability to be concerned about you and everyone else at the same time.  Now that's being loved and cared for!

How were you disciplined as a child?

Today's teaching continues the theme of "So, What is Normal?" that I've been doing on "Growing Beyond your Painful Past: Part Four".  How a family handles discipline can have a strong impact on not only how we view ourselves and the world, but also how we, in turn, will discipline our own children.  You can find this latest teaching under the teachings on July 13  at http://fionab-growingbeyondyourpainfulpast.blogspot.com/

Creating a second blog..

In hindsight, had I known from the beginning that my blog would become what it has (several teaching subjects and many postings), I would have made it simpler.  With this in mind, I have decided to move the Discipleship teachings (past teachings and future ones) to it's own separate blog entitled, "Growing as a Disciple of Christ".  You can find it here.  I will gradually be deleting the past postings on Discipleship from this blog and moving them to my new, second blog.  I'm sorry if this causes problems, but I think that in the end it will be better for it to have it's own separate place.  Thank you for your patience and I hope that you enjoy both of my blogs!  As always, feel free to comment.

How our chronic illness affects others...

It can be difficult for us to live with our chronic illness or pain without it affecting those around us.  It can be especially challenging if we don't have an obvious physical problem...the cartoon above humorously shows that you can't always trust what you see.   To read more about this, go to "Living with Chronic Illness: Part Two" http://fionab-growingbeyondyourpainfulpast.blogspot.com/

How did your childhood affect you?...

Today I'm continuing the teaching on "So, What is Normal?" that I've been doing on "Growing Beyond your Painful Past: Part Four" .  It looks at how a family's ability to show love and intimacy affects one's own ability to interact with others in a healthy manner. It also describes what can happen when one is raised in a family that is unhealthy or dysfunctional.   You can find it under July 13 at http://fionab-growingbeyondyourpainfulpast.blogspot.com/