Posted on by Dr. Tammi Love · 3 Comments

It’s Worth It

Emotional healing is a remarkable feat. Kudos to those living victoriously – no longer distracted by taunting triggers and stressors. For those still pursuing emotional healing, still wrestling with creative diversions, the path to overcoming can feel like repeated cycles of defeat. Traveling the unassuming terrain toward becoming healthy (again) proves to be an arduous journey. Yet it’s worth it.

Our human condition is dressed in feelings and emotions. We can’t escape the natural consequence of action and reaction. However, we can accept the challenge to secure a healthy pathway to healing, not succumbing to repeated feelings of hurt that mislead us to misery and bondage.

I’m leading a study on the prophets Elijah and Elisha in the Bible with a group of women at my church. During our study time, we discussed Elijah’s feelings of defeat while carrying out God’s plan for his life. Elijah’s emotional state led him to run away from the ensuing hurt pursuing him. Jezebel, that is. 

From an anguished heart Elijah told God in 1 Kings 19:4, “I have had enough, Lord.” Elijah felt he could no longer escape the taunting of Jezebel’s threats to kill him, nor could he escape his weariness. He felt alone and was giving up on any hope of rescue or healing. Then God responded. God released an angel to Elijah’s side to alert him to the resources right in front of him, resources God was providing as needed healing to carry Elijah through the rest of his journey. 

At Elijah’s lowest point, he recognized, through God’s reminders, that wholeness was within reach. Even though Elijah experienced unjustified hurt along his journey, Elijah also experienced healing by the permissive hand of God. It was worth it.

Along my journey I’ve learned that it’s okay to feel defeated in this life, even while having a relationship with God. The truth is, committing to live for God and not self will position us on a challenging journey that comes with feeling hurt sometimes. However, in the nick of time, God reveals Himself, alerting us to His resources and might. Those resources may include counseling services, rest, relocation, new friends, a new mindset, nourishment, visions, whispers of encouragement, an army of angels, a table of overflow prepared for us set before our enemies, revelations, and forgiveness. 

No matter the trigger or trauma we encounter, we don’t have to wallow in feelings of defeat. Wallowing will suffocate us. Our healing is in God – He is ours, and we are His.

It’s all worth it.

“but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” – Isaiah 40:31

Posted on by Dr. Tammi Love · 2 Comments

Be Still and Know

I live a pretty demanding life. It’s liberating to confess I don’t practice self-care well. That is, well enough not to feel like I’m moving about life with warnings from within that I’m a few miles to empty. I’ve failed at making myself a priority. Until I finally heard God. He said, be still and know.

Our callings to serve others, to work wholeheartedly in all we do as to the Lord and not man, are guiding principles of the heart. They are the beacons of light that direct us home when we question, become weary and wander. 

God’s might delivers us from our troubles. God’s love leads us beside still waters and refreshes our soul. God’s concern for us directs us to the beginning of time, amid the busyness of creation, God’s wisdom made room for rest (from His work) on the seventh day. Be still and know He is God.

We dream and pursue; we explore the unknown with great anticipation. Our creative minds and motives drive us to experiences that prove to be exhilarating, exhaustive, and hurtful. With all God allows for His creations, He whispers, be still and know I am God.

I started this writing expressing the freedom of confessing what was. I conclude with a confession of what is. I now carve out self-care moments in my life. 

  • I intentionally schedule my lunch break on my work calendar and lessen the number of times I eat lunch at my desk; 
  • I no longer stay hours in the office after business hours; 
  • I spend more time dreaming and strategizing our family’s legacy with my husband; 
  • I began meditating using visualization techniques and breathing exercises;
  • I have scheduled sessions with my awesome therapist (I love her!);
  • I started learning yoga at home; 
  • I avoid negative energy; 
  • I don’t engage with persons or things that trigger unhealed hurt; 
  • I cut off all appearances of evil; and 
  • I’m still when God tells me to be still.

Stillness has allowed me to see the work of God in my past, present, and future. Stillness has allowed me to experience the joy of living free, knowing who God is. God continues to save me from my foolish self. The Maker of heaven and earth, the Mastermind of creation, has proven He’s a promise keeper in the midnight hour and in the uncertainties of my “meanwhile”. 

Finally, I’m committed to trusting God when He reminds me to pay attention to “me”, to make myself a priority, knowing the world won’t crumble because of it. I can’t give 200% of me to others and devote nothing good to myself. I’m free of that!

I recently took a work trip out of the country. After completing full days of recruiting and networking, I gave myself permission to concentrate on me. I took walks on the beach, played in the rain, laughed with strangers, wrote passages in my journal, and stood under the promise of a complete rainbow. And I felt God smile.

Be still and know.

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” – Psalm 46:10

Posted on by Dr. Tammi Love · 2 Comments

Live In Your Healing!

Have worry and pain ever pushed you to exhaustion? No matter how hard we try to disguise it, exhaustion is difficult to hide. And silence is inevitable. When we finally succumb to our worry and pain, and there are no more tears to cry, silence becomes our offering to God. Our silent offering is much like a soldier waving the white flag in surrender on a battlefield in plain sight of our heavenly Father. 

Our moments of surrender are no surprise to God. He knows we will finally get tired of trying to figure everything out on our own and yield to the Creator of heaven and earth. God is patient like that.

God provides illustrations in His Word of those who surrendered their exhausted and crippled conditions to Jesus. These persons had tried everything, were rejected by family and friends, and were ridiculed and shamed by hypocrites. Yet they had strong confidence in a man whose reputation preceded him. Jesus was known as being a healer, and those who desired to surrender and lay all that ailed them at Jesus’ feet were healed – not just by His touch; but by the exercise of their faith.

Activate your faith and present your exhausted self to God. Don’t throw in the towel! Tell the Lord you’re weary. Open your heart to the Lord and confess to Him that you’re tired of living life in your own strength, and you surrender to Him who is able to turn your weariness to joy. Ask your Waymaker to heal you and make you whole. And as God is healing you, praise His name with your mouth. And live out your healing so that it points others to Christ. Remember, healing is about more than professing it or working towards it. The evidence of healing is living it.

“Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.” – Jeremiah 17:14

Walk down the road less traveled – live in your healing.

Be well. Live well.

Posted on by Dr. Tammi Love

Cut the Cord

I remember the day I felt the freedom of flight as a toddler, soaring down a rocky hill on my big green bicycle – without the guiding hand of my big brother. It was a moment when he and my younger brother convinced me I was ready to tackle the hill alone. I remember them cheering me on as they gave my bike a gentle push and told me to pedal. I was terrified at first. But as I began to experience the freedom of the wind blowing through my pigtails, I started to believe I could actually do this. I took a deep breath, and my heart leaped with each shift of the handlebars as I tried to master pedaling and steering downhill. I couldn’t believe it. 

But what was so energizing quickly turned to terror as I realized the bike was moving faster and faster, and all I knew to do was to pedal. I was frantic! I could hear laughter at the top of the hill as my body jerked from side to side as my speed increased. The laughter became faint as I observed my legs swing helplessly alongside the bike after the bike made contact with the rocks on the path. I tried steering into the grass but encountered small dips and holes. I felt completely out of control. As I neared the bottom of the hill, I could hear my brothers again, but this time they were screaming for me to “Brake!” Miraculously, my feet found the pedals, and I forced them in reverse, causing the bike to stop immediately, throwing me to the ground. My brothers raced down the hill to my side to help me up, making sure I was okay. After checking out the bruises on my knees and elbows, they became convinced I would survive. They walked my bike up the hill for me and, through laughter, insisted I was an expert bike rider after enduring such an experience.

I didn’t understand the importance of appreciating bumpy journeys in my life until I took a deep breath and cut the cord from what was familiar and comfortable. If I’m truthful about it, God was instrumental in helping me arrive at such a realization. God positioned me on a journey where I had to make the critical decision to resist everything He revealed as bondage. For years, I allowed the enemy to distort the image of what God sees me to be. For years, I held my breath as I went from one experience to the next, doing what others expected of me, not fully embracing the adventure God was beckoning me to. When things got out of control, I often tried to keep steering when God was near, ready to take the wheel. I recognize now I did not give myself permission to take a deep breath. I did not allow God to lead. Once I did, I experienced freedom on levels I did not know existed, which gave me the confidence to cut the cord from anyone and anything that jeopardized that freedom. The truth is – anyone who doesn’t want you free wants you in chains. 

Galatians 5:1 states, “Christ has set us free for freedom. Therefore, stand firm and don’t submit to the bondage of slavery again.”

Walk down the road less traveled – take a deep breath and cut the cord! 

Surrender to God! Resist the devil, and he will run from you. Come near to God, and he will come near to you… (James 4:7-8)” 

Be well. Live well.

Posted on by Dr. Tammi Love

Change Your Story

Monday Motivation: “It’s not easy trying to please everybody. Nor is it possible. It’s exhausting and wasteful. The truth? You’ve spent too much time jumping hurdles and turning backflips for those who drain the promises living in you. Coworkers, family members, and friend circles have held your purpose hostage for far too long. Change your story. Escape your weary mindset. Walk away from harmful spaces. Dare to chase after and clinch the determination God is stirring up in you. It’s a new season, a new day. A new beginning fixed on pleasing God, the Almighty. Change your story. God is your help. You Shall Live!”

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