Coping Skills

The journey in to work this morning wasn’t a fun one. The first snow of the season had finally hit. Driver’s not yet prepared with their winter driving gear slowly crept along the snow covered roads. Taking my time to get where I needed to be safely I began to think about being prepared and how things in life show up and we need to be ready to deal with them.

Over the years as I tried to cope with life's difficulties I did all sort of things to cope with life. Some of the tricks I pulled out of my hat worked well while others turned into dangerous paths that led to even more trouble.

Trying to cope with life is where we get into a great deal of our trouble. We do it all wrong when we try to do it without Christ. The tricks we pull out of our magical hat to survive are skills we dreamed up. No wonder they fail.

The biggest thing we can do for ourselves in coping with life is to remain strong is Jesus. We can’t give up on Him or ourselves. Just because we keep our Bible close at hand and pray frequently doesn’t mean life isn’t going to be a challenge for us.

As hard as it may be we can’t allow the emotions of the moment to take over our senses. We can’t turn to false hopes and temporary comforts like drugs, food, alcohol, or other people in order to survive. These are not the permanent solutions we need to survive.

Once when my sister fought with her husband she left the house to think things over. Her first reaction was to run to the grocery store and buy herself a candy bar before going some place to have a good cry. It didn’t solve anything but boy that taste of chocolate was her temporary comfort.

Storms in life are going to hit. Unfortunately some appear to get them more than others but everyone has their storms. We just need to prepare ahead of time for when they do hit. We do this by reading our Bible, develop our relationship with God, and practice fighting against Satan’s lies and his tricks.

For the next few journal notes I’m going to talk about things I did to try to deal with life. Tiny little things I used to get me through life. After that we will talk about the good skills that will make a longer lasting difference.

Merry Christmas my fellow Paulette’s. The other day I was thinking maybe I should have referred to us as Petterette’s. Now there is a word for you. Peter, because of the things in life he dealt with, his insecurities, his mistakes and struggles. Both men in the Bible finally overcame their flukes and flaws and were powerful witnesses for God. We will too. It takes time, effort, and the willingness to finish well.

Merry Christmas everyone. Happy Birthday Jesus!