Podcast

Would You Like A Gift? (Podcast #128 & Transcript 5:09)

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I always ask God for a gift during this season. This year, why don’t you ask Him for a gift too? He just might surprise you.

Transcript

Would you like a free gift?!  I love a freebie!  Especially during Christmas season.  I’m learning to be generous this year.  At first, I felt like Golem from LOTR… holding my gold [ring] very tightly.  But I’m getting better at sharing now.  Whenever I give, it opens my heart in a way I didn’t expect.  Giving is interesting… the more you give, the easier it becomes, and giving has truly brought joy to my heart. 

Ah, but that’s not the key thing…Looking back, partly of why I was learning to be generous is because God has a generous heart and also loves to give.  And as I learned to give, I began to understand more about God’s heart as a Giver. 

There’s something about giving that brings joy to my heart.  It’s not really about the size of the gift or how expensive these gifts are. I find more satisfaction in giving someone the right gift at the right time.  Often, I’d pick up something at the store – because it was on sale –  just to give it to someone who needed it later that week!  It’s as if God prepared a gift for them at just the right time. As these “coincidence” happens more often, I began to see how God is so good at gift-giving!  He is like the best Santa!  

As I reflect on my journey with God this year, I am so grateful for what God has given our family.  But even more so, I’m amazed at how God has just been generous with everyone around me!   He’s been generous with my neighbors, friends I met online, and even at my favorite boba shop.  I’ve just seen God’s heart to want to bless people in so many ways. 

God truly has a generous heart.  He has always been so confident and encouraging whenever I ask or pray.  It didn’t matter how big the problems were or how little faith I had, He was always kind and ready to show me a path forward.  

In this special season, if you feel burdened about anything in your life, why not talk to God about it?  If anyone you know is sick, ask God to heal them.  If you have a financial need, go ahead and ask God to pay that bill.  If you need a job, tell Him about that too.   

This year has taught me how generous and creative God can be.  So don’t be afraid to pray or ask God about what you want. I used to wonder why we have to “ask” God or pray about things.  Doesn’t He know our needs already?  And if He knows about it, and hasn’t done anything, why would it matter if I prayed about it? 

Then God kind of showed me that there are a few things missing in my logic.  The first thing was that God actually takes our words very seriously.  He respects our decisions and boundaries. And when we pray, we’re actually inviting God to come into our situations.    

Also, God is very relational, and He loves to partner with us even when He can do everything Himself.  So the praying process is like our dialog with God.  We share our concerns with Him, and He can show us what He sees, and more importantly, how He plans to answer our prayers. 

Often, God wants to take me on a journey when I pray.  I’ve brought many problems to God this year, and I’ve been amazed every time at how He resolved things.   So this Christmas season, why not ask God for a gift?  No matter what you wish for, I know He can and will do something awesome for you. 

And that’s it for this episode.  I want to wish you a very merry Christmas and a very happy holiday!  Thank you so much for listening to us in 2023, and we will be back in 2024! 

For transcripts and more, please visit www.sabbathcafeblog.com 

Season of Breakthroughs (Podcast #127 and transcript 8:46)

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When I was little, I didn’t find the story of the hare and the turtle interesting. The turtle sounded slow and boring to me. Only when I grew up did I realize that little story actually holds the secret of getting breakthroughs.

Transcript

Hi Everyone! Thank you for listening to the Sabbath Café Podcast. This is Michele. It’s so good to see you again. Lately I’ve noticed many breakthroughs in the areas I’ve been focusing on. Some I’ve been working on for months, and some I’ve been planning for years. It’s so exciting to see these changes happening, and I’ve been very encouraged. I wanted to come on this space to share some of that encouragement with all of you. And here’s my story

This season, there’s been a lot of changes. We moved into our house 5 years ago. We haven’t been able to really get things set up, and just 2 weeks ago, we finally rearranged and set up our living space. Which is amazing because we had all these ideas and plans through out the years, and just nothing clicked… we didn’t have that synergy moment. Finally… we were able to get this project done over a weekend!

And so it’s just amazing to me. That seem to sum up a lot what I’ve been going through in this season. It’s that there are quite a few things that I’ve been involved in where we’re making slow progress… like snail paced… one step at a time… one step at a time… and just not really seeing much result, And yet suddenly… like in the last month or two…we just saw a lot of things starting to shift… whether it’s with my husband’s work, or with my father’s health.

I think some of you who’s been following the podcast know that I was care-taking for my father for the last couple of months… so a lot of things just feel like that old adage, right? The hare and the turtle. The race between the hare and the turtle – and slow and steady wins the race. And I really felt like it just so exciting to see breakthroughs.

I was actually taking him to his chiropractor today, and I noticed his fingers are moving a little bit more. And it’s amazing because that’s what was affected. I don’t even think my dad saw that, but I saw that. And it so encouraged me that we’re going down the right path. It so encouraged me. And it just made the last 6 months of countless hours of chauffeuring, of driving… just so worth it. It’s interesting because this is the accumulation of all those times, all those little pieces, little steps we took towards that.

And it just reminds me… because the world we live now, we love instant downloads. I used to joke around that we are the “microwave generation.” I like my water heated up in 30 seconds rather than boiling on the stove for minutes, right? We can have things cooked in seconds… we have downloads in seconds, milliseconds. We like to have things instantaneously, but I realize that… if you want change that lasts… if you want significant breakthrough or shifts. Or if you want to learn a craft… most of the time, it takes a long time. It requires a process of small steps to get there. The process takes a while. But if you continue to take small steps, you will get there. You’re just have to keep going… even when you don’t see anything changing. Even when you don’t see any encouragement.

And even with my podcast it’s similar. Many of you just started to tune into me probably in the last 6 months or so… but I’ve been working on this podcast, I was just looking at it, for 3 years. it took me at least 2 years of making episodes until it hit a stride.

Also some of you know that I’m an artist. I found my old sketchbook. And I realized I started a sketch book as just a pure novice – having no skills, no lessons, nothing. My first step, first venture into this creative realm was 10 years ago. 10 years ago. And just looking through my sketch book it really reminded me how far I’ve come.

And so I’m just looking at all of these things today, it took me 10 years… of just this consistent…taking steps toward that one goal. Consistently just taking steps. I think if there’s one expectation I had of myself… it’s to continue to engage.

Begin again. I learned that great phrase – to begin again. That has just helped me tremendously in my journey. To begin again is an idea of where you just pick up where you left off and you just continue forward.  You allow yourself that grace to just continue forward. And what I find is that you remember a lot of these past skills. The work you put into it, it has created a certain pattern – an imprint in you, so that when we begin again and move forward, we’re not moving forward from scratch. Most of the time, it’s actually good, because you’re moving forward, you’re remembering those old skills, but there’s something that’s just a little bit different than before, because you’re different now. And that’s how I feel… is that I’m different, after those breaks, and so my creativity projects, my creation, and even my podcasts and things… they’ll take on a different spin. They’ll take on a different light. And then I kind of run with that. Slow and steady. Just keep taking the next step. Begin again and take the next step.

And so it’s been a wonderful breakthrough season for me. And I just want to encourage you if you’re also in that journey where you feel like you keep taking that thousand-step journey, and you don’t know where you’re going, and you’re in the middle? You’re in the “messy middle” as we like to call it. I just want to encourage you that you’re on the right path. You’re on the right track. You may not see anything happening, but remember that inspiration that got you started. And just take the next step. Keep walking through that next door that opens up. .

Breakthrough are breakthroughs because they’re unexpected. They’re the suddenlies. But you won’t see it until the breakthroughs are right in front of you… which is like a split second. But breakthroughs happen because of a consistent journey… because of that slow and steady journey. All we have to do is to re-engage with the process. Re-engage with the process and take that next step. Keep taking that next step. And if you don’t know how, just begin again!

Eventually, you will see that breakthrough around the corner. Even if you feel like it’s the messy middle. I just want to encourage you… whatever journey you are on… If you felt discouraged, it’s okay. Take a break, take care of yourself, and then begin again

This is the season for me to see a lot of different breakthroughs. And I’ve been so encouraged, and I wanted to pass that encouragement to you. Keep going, keep walking. It’s okay if you’re in the messy middle. And slow and steady, you will win that race.

God bless you, thank you for listening to Sabbath Café, and we will see you next time.

Changing seasons and finding closure (Podcast #126 and transcript 6:31)

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I just finished a pretty busy season recently, and took a journaling break. What I discovered was unexpected, but exactly what I needed to finally have closure. Here’s my story.

Download the bonus guided journal worksheetDownload

Transcript

Hi everyone welcome to the Sabbath cafe podcast.  I hope you’re doing well.  

The last couple of months really felt like they flew by for me because since January I started helping out my parents. I helped them with some part time care-taking and I also drove them to their physical therapy appointments.     

Also, my husband started a new job.  And to make things work, we had to really make sure that we’re on a strict schedule so I can help with my parents and still make sure my family’s needs are met.  And that turned out to be a lot of work for me.  Thankfully, the therapy program finished recently and so my schedule is more flexible now. 

And just reaching this milestone and seeing how my parent’s condition have improved, I was so encouraged. Now you’d think that this would mean my stress level would come down.  But for some reason, my emotions were still wound up really tight.  And so I realized that I probably need to sit down and unwind my thoughts.  So one afternoon, I had some time, and I decided to journal.

And journaling is my go to tool to try and process my thoughts anytime I feel like I have a lot of emotions jumbled together or I feel like my thoughts are going way too fast and I’m not quite sure how to change or shift them… I would purposely spend some time journaling. All I’m doing is just to write out my internal thoughts on paper.  And then, when I’m able to see what my real concerns and perhaps even uncover underlying fears,  then I’m able to actually deal with these issues and move forward.  

And what’s interesting was that as I was writing down my thoughts, I started to see how much of my heart and my thoughts still revolved around my parents and my caretaking role. I discovered that emotionally, I wasn’t quite ready to let go yet. 

Actually, their recovery process is only about half finished.  But, over and over again, I sense the Holy Spirit speaking to me that this is a good time for me to take a step back.  And God reminded me about the things I’ve put on hold, and that includes my own family’s needs. And even though I am still helping out with my parents,  it’s actually a good time for me to shift my focus back to my own life and continue down my path.  

And I find myself asking… “But they’re still in the middle of this healing journey.  If I let go, then who will help them?”  And that’s when God reminded me about what things looked like back in January… and it was pretty difficult.  And to see how far we’ve come, and how much things have improved. It just really hit me how faithful God has been through the whole process.  He was  the one who started us down this path of healing.  He was the one who took care of my family, and answered my prayers. And that He will be faithful even in the next season.  And it’s time now for me to let go of the responsibilities I took up in the last season, and to entrust my family to God so I can start my new season too.

After I had processed though these thoughts with God, I felt much more at Peace.  Even though my family’s healing process is not finished yet, I feel much more ready to release them into God’s hands.  In a sense, through this time of journaling and reflection, God was teaching me how to have closure.  Even when my emotions may not be ready to let go, but when I took the time to reflect and think back on this last six months, and how faithful God has been.  I was more ready to trust God with all of the questions I still had. 

After I went though this exercise, it really helped with my attitude. I find myself having an easier time trusting God about my family, and becoming more excited to see what new things God has in store for me. 

Often, we’d go through life changes without spending time to reflect on what happened before or to dialog with God about any questions we still have.  Even if we move into the next season, these lingering thoughts may open doors to doubts or regrets in the future. I’m grateful that God didn’t ignore any of my concerns and He helped me work though them, so I can be at peace moving forward.  

If there are any questions or thoughts from your past that often pop up, I would encourage you to not ignore those thoughts and to dialog with God about them.  Maybe you can find closure and peace in those areas too.   

And to help with that process, I’ve created a guided journal PDF.  You can find the PDF and transcript for this podcast at www.sabbathcafeblog.com.  

Thank you so much for listening and we’ll see you next time!             

Demystifying AI (Podcast #125 & transcript – 8:16)

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“AI” is the trending topic all around me. From engineers to artists, everyone is amazed at what AIs have been able to accomplish, and wonders if we will truly be replaced by AI. I was curious too, and did some research. Here are some of my thoughts.

Reference Videos

Transcript

You’re listening to Sabbath Café Podcast Episode 125 – Demystifying AI.   

This is a very complex topic. I’m only touching on the basics  here. I’ll include helpful videos links along with the transcript at www.sabbathcafeblog.com.  Now on to the podcast. 

Hi everyone welcome to the Sabbath cafe podcast. in this episode I’m going to talk about something that is the hottest topic around. We’re going to talk about AI. 

Recently a lot of people around me have been all over this topic. The academia and general public love ChatGPT. They’re very impressed by it. Wow. You type in this descriptor of what you’re looking for, and in a second or two, ChatGPT will put together this paper for you. So the academia world have been very impressed and also very alarmed – understandably.   

And it’s also a trending topic with the artists and creators. People want to know if AI can really take our place in making “art.”   And just how using AI will affect us as content creators in general.  Since I have  a tech background, and I’m also an artist, I thought I’d share some thoughts on this topic.    

So first, let’s take a quick look at what AI really is. AI stands for “artificial intelligence.”  I know AI seem very impressive to everyone…. But, “Artificial intelligence” is simply a sophisticated computer program that combines the power of a huge database with statistics and probabilities. So it can come up with the most likely answer or behavior that matches your request.  AI doesn’t create out of thin air. It doesn’t “create” the way that we do.  Because at it core, AI programs are still just machines that process data – lots of data – and putting them together in a pattern that is most likely to fit your goal. 

Now don’t get me wrong, these AI programs are amazingly complex, and what they’re able to do, is really impressive. And that’s why it often gives the people the wrong idea that  programs like ChatGPT  must be really smart or experienced because a real person would have to be smart and experienced to do the same thing.   

But that’s simply not true.  ChatGPT is not an expert of Shakespeare literature simply because it can give you a paper in Shakespeare’s style.  It simply analyzed Shakespearean text, found common words and patterns, and generated a paper that matched those patterns.  Ultimately, it couldn’t understand the love between Romeo and Juliet…it has no idea what love feels like.  Similarly, an AI “art” generator may be able to put out an image that looks pretty to some, but AI doesn’t understand what beauty is – until someone defined it in their database.  Computers are excellent at finding patterns and copying them… but it doesn’t think, process or feel like a real person.  

The artificial intelligence program cannot make anything new. It needs information or data that someone else has already created… so they can analyze it and learn the pattern.  So mainly I think of an AI program like a fancy tool.  And the “AI art” engines are really image generators.  And I feel like they’re kind of an automated Photoshop program… a “smart” Photoshop program. 

And the tool to me is simply a tool.  The problem comes up when we as people start to depend on the tool to do the work  that we are supposed to do. 

I recently saw a short video where this little boy – probably in elementary school- went to his room to do math homework.  And when his mom went to check in on him, she found out that he was secretly asking Alexa for the answers to his math homework.  So he was whispering to Alexa: “what is 54 – 27” (or something like that) and Alexa would whisper back the answer to the math problem.  And when I saw it, it just dawned on me… this was the perfect illustration.  

I’m sure this little boy was thinking… why does he need to learn math and do these stupid math problems when he can simply ask Alexa for the answer.  I’m sure we all wondered when we were young why we needed to learn math when we have calculators. But what he didn’t realize was that the purpose of his homework was not about getting the right answer.  It was to help him understand and learn the basics skills in math and problem solving.  Ironically, these simple skills are the basic building blocks to making a complex machine like Alexa. 

In a similar way, as we start to engage these AI tools all around us, I feel like we also have to be careful why and how we use them.  What are we trying to accomplish?  We have to be careful not to sacrifice and give up our own learning and creative process along the way.  

Lately I’ve been learning to focus more on my creative process instead of focusing on the end result.  And in my studio time, I often start just by playing around and experimenting colors and styles, and mediums. In the process, I’ve learned so much just about technique and styles.  And most importantly, this play time has done wonders to stir up creative new ideas. The result of these experiments weren’t always pretty.  But I’ve been learning so much just from this organic process.    

Learning and creating anything is hard work.  And it can be very tempting to use AI as a short cut. But as we move forward, I think we have to be careful to guard our own learning process and not to “contract” that out to a computer program.  At the end of the day we have to remember that there’s no substitute for work… there’s no substitute for going through the learning process… in putting paint to paper… or putting words on a page.  And no amount of AI can replace the good old creative process. 

So I’m curious about some of your experiences with AI… with ChatGPT.  And with some of these AI art generators. How has AI affected you? I love to hear about it.  

And that’s it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. You can find resources and transcript for this episode at sabbathcafeblog.com.  If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to Sabbath Cafe Podcast on Apple or Spotify. Have a wonderful week, and we’ll see you next time. 

Podcast #124 – (updated)Fasting From Negativity (8:36)(Live – Lent update)

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Many join the fasting tradition 40 days before Easter to prepare for Easter Sunday. This year, I’m also joining them in fasting… but in a different way. Transcripts and more are available at http://www.sabbathcafeblog.com

Hi everyone, happy 2023.  I hope everyone is doing well.  I can’t believe we’re already almost March. I took a few weeks off and I am working on the next podcast, but I did want to just jump in here and give everyone a quick update because it’s Lent season.  And it’s kind of funny because I have not fasted in a very long time and the Lord didn’t  put on my heart to fast either. But this year, somehow, he is bringing it back into my attention. 

And I guess it started because my YouTube feeds, I started to get these videos about  Lent and about fasting. And after a few times I got the message.  So I started to ask the Lord, okay, is this something that I want to be doing?  And how does he want me to do it this year?  Because I don’t want to just follow the traditions. I kind of want to see what God has in store for that, how God wants to lead me in that area.  And it’s funny because the pastor that I’ve been following, he also had an invitation to do fasting and prayer for the Lent season. 

And I was like, oh, okay.  So that kind of took me down a different path.  So I started to ask the Lord. And so the day after, I was kind of having my tea and suddenly this idea just popped up.  And I just felt like the Lord is asking, how about you fast from the thoughts of negativity?  And I was like, huh? Now that’s a novel idea. 

Actually this year, God has been challenging me to change my mindset, to upgrade my mindset and to learn to shift it from a negative mindset to a more hopeful outlook.  And so when he talked about “Oh, why don’t you fast from negative thoughts?”  I thought… Perfect. That’s something that is in line with what I’m learning right now, so I just feel like it will work much better. And so I said okay. 

And so I think today is probably the third or fourth day that I’m doing this.  And let me tell you, it’s a lot harder than fasting from food. And so the fasting that I used to do is fasting from meat.  And what’s funny is when you do food fasting or that kind of fasting, you just really think  about it pretty much three, four times a day. So every time you eat, you will stop and think, okay, I’m going to fast.  So I have to make a decision to let go of meat or what I decide to give up.  So that’s like three, four times a day. 

And when I started to fast from negative thoughts, oh my goodness, now it went from three times  a day of me working through my fast. Now it’s about 30 times, more like 30 times a day of me fasting because I didn’t realize how often negative thoughts come up in my mind.  When I was just thinking about it, I thought, okay, so I’ll just be mindful of when I’m worrying about things or when I’m stressed out or when I’m frustrated. So that’s okay.  Fine, I’m being mindful of those now. And then one day, I realized I had made a mistake. It was some decisions I made, I was kind of like, ah, dang it, I think  God was recommending me to do something different and I probably should have done that.  And that just would have made my day so much easier. And I was beating myself up. 

And all of a sudden, I just felt the Lord went “ahem,” tapped on my shoulder: “Don’t beat yourself  up.  That’s negative thoughts.”  And I was like, oh, I did not realize… I guess beating yourself up does count as negativity because you’re trying to berate yourself.  And I was like, oh, that’s a good point.  So I stopped and go, “Thank you, Lord, I give that to You” and move on. 

And shortly after that, I was helping my parents take care of some stuff.  And all of a sudden, I just started to be worried about their needs and their health. And I just went on this downward spiral. And I didn’t realize how naturally my thoughts just went there.  And again, the Holy Spirit went, “Tap, tap. Just so you know, you need to stop that because we are fasting from negativity.”  

And so I had not realized how much of my mindset and how much of my thought patterns… I’m so used to giving into these thoughts. And so I guess that’s what God is challenging me… to let go of those things and to, learn to have a new mindset.  Because after all, Easter is really symbolic of hope and new beginnings. And so I really feel like maybe that is something that God is wanting to give me too… just this breakthrough in this old way of thinking and this old habits of mine that tend to be gray.  And that just is not very helpful. So starting the Lenten season this year, that’s what I’m doing. I’m fasting from negative thoughts.  I’m fasting from negativity.  And maybe later in the year when I’m all done, I’ll do another follow up and maybe gather my thoughts and share another update on how that went. 

So I just wanted to share this with you.  And you know, I want to just encourage you, for those of you that also are doing that  you feel like you want to do something for the Lenten season. I just want to applaud you and say, hey, encourage you just do what the Lord’s laid on your heart to do.  And it may be food, it may be drinks, just whatever He’s put on your heart.  It’ll be a great journey for the next 40 or 30 some days for this whole season. If you like, send me a comment to let me know what you may be fasting from during this Lenten season.  And so I hope you’re all having a wonderful year.  

And I am working on the next podcast. So hopefully I will get that out to you really soon. And have a wonderful week.  Thank you so much for listening to Sabbath Cafe podcast. I’m Michele and I’ll see you next time. 

Podcast #123 – Small Steps Lead To Big Changes (5:26)

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I’ve been watching lots of 15 second mini videos lately. It’s easy to forget how much time it actually takes to bake a cake or cook a meal. Real life moves at a much slower pace. The road to success often starts with small and ordinary steps and takes much longer than 15 seconds.

Welcome to the Sabbath Cafe Podcast. This is episode 123: Small steps lead to big changes 

When I was younger, I used to want to do “big and great things” that can influence a lot of people. But as I get older, I’m learning that in order to do the “big things”, I need to start taking small steps because it’s these small steps that will help build up the skills and experiences that I need to eventually tackle something bigger and more significant.  

I lived next to a piano teacher when I grew up.  Everyday, I’d listen to the beautiful piano music that flowed out of her house.  And after a lot of begging, my mom finally agreed to let me take piano lessons.  However, when I started taking piano lessons, it was nothing like the beautiful music I’ve heard her play… Instead, I was only doing beginner exercises that sounded a lot like chopsticks, and I felt like I was fighting with my small and stiff fingers all the time. 

Like everyone who’s ever learned an instrument can tell you, these early lessons are repetitive and very easy.  But, even though these basic exercises feels simple and maybe a bit boring, it’s actually very important to practice them every day, and do them correctly.  Because they build muscle memory and muscle strength that your fingers need to play the piano well. And eventually, one small exercise after another, I could finally play those beautiful and sophisticated piano pieces like my teacher.   

Now a days, we’re so used to seeing a project competed in 15 second videos that we tend for forget that real learning takes time. And real change takes time too. And the process of learning and doing the work often don’t come with the “instant gratifications” that we get from scrolling on our phones. But, when we are persistent, and we continue to take small steps in the right direction. and that we take the time to do work of learning and growing, we get the ultimate satisfaction of finally having real and meaningful growth, and accomplish changes that will last. 

I recently found my old sketch book. To be honest, the pictures looked like kindergarten art projects. Back then, I was simply curious about drawing and sketching, and I made all sorts of mistakes. But when I looked through the pages, it was amazing to see how far I’ve come and how much I’ve grown in the last 10 years. When I started, I had never imagined that my skills can grow to where they are today.   And all I did was simply to keep drawing, keep sketching, and keep creating. Some of my sketches went straight to the waste basket, and a few eventually made it into art shows.  Now looking back, I can see that I learned something from every project whether they looked good or not. Every project taught me something, and they all helped me get to where I am today. 

And I seem to follow the same learning process in the other areas of my life too… When I was working through my anxiety issues, I also started with simple daily habits that eventually helped me to manage my anxiety much better.  

And through these things, I’ve learned the value of making small changes, and the value of doing the little things consistently. These little steps is what it takes for me to accomplish the final goal.  I’ve learned not to despise my small beginnings, and to be patient with the process even when I don’t see the results yet.  

Maybe you also feel discouraged about some of your projects, but don’t give up.  Be persistent and do the next thing.  Our journeys are all different.  Take your next step, and do it well.  Before you know it, you too will reach your destination.  Real learning and real change takes time. Don’t despise these small beginnings because small beginnings can and will lead to big changes. 

And that’s it for this episode.  Did anything specific come to mind as you were listening to today’s podcast?  What are some small steps you can maybe take in those areas?  I hope you can take a few minutes and just write them down.    

Thank you so much for listening, and I hope today’s podcast has encouraged you.  Have a wonderful week, and we’ll see you next  time. 

Podcast #122- Turning A Problem Into An Upgrade (5:20)

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Whether it’s a hotel room or a plane seat, I love getting upgrades. Wouldn’t it be great if life is full of upgrades? Here is my recent “upgrade” story.

Ever since the pandemic, I often hear about shortages of many things.  I’m glad that I haven’t ran out of toilet paper.  I’ve always been able to find exactly what we needed when we needed it. However, recently, I did run into my own “empty shelf” experience. 

One weekend, I needed to get a health supplement for my husband. It’s a natural remedy that works really well for his  medical condition. I used to get them from my local grocery store. But when I got there, what I saw was the dreaded empty shelf.  In fact, it’s not just an inventory issue.  It looked like the store simply stopped carrying it.  It was really frustrating because I had a hard time finding it before.  And now, it seems like the only store that was carrying it is not an option anymore. And I have to start the search all over again. 

And of course my first reaction was panic. It was Sunday morning and we really needed it.  And when my only option didn’t pan out, I felt frustrated.  When I run into an problem, I often feel panic and my mind just blanks out.  Frustration and panic aren’t very helpful emotions.  They make me feel like I want to curl up into a ball and just hide in a corner… which doesn’t help at all to solve the problem. 

Thankfully, I know my own tendencies well. I took a deep breath, and waited for all these feelings to pass.  Deep down, I knew God has a solution.  Even though I felt overwhelmed emotionally, they are just temporary.   And when I calmed down, God reminded me that we actually had another store really close by that offered more organic products.  Sure enough, a quick search confirmed it.  When I got to that store, there wasn’t just one item like my old store had. There was a whole isle full of organic supplements.  And many of these were even on sale!  I never have to worry about finding these again!  

Suddenly, I understood what this lesson was all about. I don’t know why, but when I run into problems, instead of asking for help, I tend to feel like I have to solve it all on my own.  And for a while now, God’s been reminding me to learn to ask Him for help.   But I’ve been hesitant because I don’t like to change the way I do things.  So I’ve been resisting him.  I know, right?  Why do we resist the goodness of God?  Well, change is inevitable in life.  And God’s solution often is so much better and easier than I could ever dream of. When I run into problems, He really is always my best bet. 

Walking with God isn’t just about changing the way I do things.  It’s often about changing the way I think about things. Over and over again, God reminds me that He is ready and willing to help me through any challenge.  If only I would invite Him into my situation, He is happy to work with me to resolve any problem I have.  And this “empty shelf” situation was yet another learning opportunity for me.  As soon as I asked God to show me what He has planned, I found an even better option.  God has upgraded my supplier situation.   And at the same time, He also upgraded my experience of Him as my provider. 

When we run into an obstacle, because of our own perception, we often only see the problem itself.  I’m starting to realize that what first looks like a “problem” often ends up being God’s way of showing me a different and better solution. The key is if I’m willing put aside my initial frustrations and my own perceptions and simply ask Him to show me what He sees instead. 

So what obstacles have you run into lately?  Maybe God also has a better solution waiting for you.  Let’s invite Him into your situation and see what upgrades He has in mind for you. 

Podcast #121- Finding Peace & Hope in the Storm (5:49)

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Life is a great adventure with sunny days and stormy days. How do we connect with God’s Peace and Hope in every situation? That’s my “homework” right now, and here’s what I learned.

My husband has been recovering from a medical condition, and the process will take over a year at least.  While we’re on this path, there are ups and downs.  Some days are rougher than others.  Recently, he just went through some complications that took 2 weeks for him to recover.  I’m grateful that he’s doing quite well now, almost back to 100%.  But when we’re in the middle of this downturn, I was often exhausted, both physically and spiritually.   

Honestly, when you’re dealing with a serious life issue, any amount of self-reliance goes out the window.  We come face to face with our own limitations, and it hits you just how much of life is really out of our control. Faith and hope can feel very elusive during these times.   

So when we face hardships, how do we find our bearings?  How do we connect spiritually? How do we find encouragement?  These are the questions that came up for me, and I’ll share some things I learned this time around.  

Taking things one day at a time 

It’s very easy to feel discouraged in a season like this. Especially if the situation drags into weeks or months with no end in sight.  One night, I was lying on my bed simply exhausted. The Lord reminded me of Matthew chapter 11 where Jesus invited all who are tired and weary to come to him… That He is gentle and humble. As we give our burdens and cares to Him, we will find rest for our souls.  At that time, I was internalizing a lot of worry and concern, but I wasn’t conscious of it. I was kind of in a “survival mode” sort to speak… And when God reminded me of what Jesus said, I started to tell Him about what was troubling me. And one by one, I gave my burdens to Jesus in prayer.   And in return, I accepted and received His burden that is light.  At the end of my prayer, I felt much lighter, and had one of the best night sleep in a while.     

There is so much wisdom in not carrying stress or anything negative into the next day.  I found that taking things one day at a time was what really helped me not get burned out. In the morning, I rested in God’s mercies that are new every morning.  And at night, I gave my cares and negativity that have accumulating all day to Jesus.  As I received His peace, I slept better, felt more hopeful, and was refreshed next morning. 

Giving thanks for every step forward

And another key lesson I learned was to Give thanks for every step forward… no matter big or small. 

Our recovery process really felt like a roller coaster ride with lots of ups and downs. After a while, I felt kind of disappointed in the process because it took longer than I expected.  That was when God reminded me to give thanks through out my day. 

Thanksgiving has shifted me out of negativity and depression before.  And it was also a gamer changer for me this time. I started to thank God for every small signs of healing and restoration even when I felt down. Right away, I sensed a glimmer of hope and faith rise up in my heart. I started to feel hopeful again.   

Because we’re in the middle of this process, it’s easy to get too focused on the current problem, and forget the many things God has already done.  Thanksgiving not only helped me shift my focus onto the positive things God is doing, it also reminded me of how God took care of us in the past, and that He will continue to help us in this process. 

Looking back, I can see how God was leading me every step of the way.  There was always an encouraging word or promise everywhere I turned.  In my prayers, He was trying to help me change my focus… to shift from a grey and negative outlook to His perspective that is full of hope and joy.  And as I found out, hope and joy are powerful things. I felt more positive and hopeful throughout the day even though the circumstances still looked the same to me. Focusing on one day at a time, giving thanks, and learning to have a positive outlook really helped me not to only survive this season, but to come out feeling more encouraged. 

And that’s my podcast for this week. Working on this episode was really helpful for me to look back and remember what I learned.  I hope it’s also encouraging for all of you out there.  

Podcast #120- Receiving prayer and love for yourself (4:21)

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God reminded me lately that I also need to drink in the love of God as I pray for others. And this is the perfect season to take a pause and just remember His deep love for us. Happy Easter!

I happened to finish this episode on Easter week.  This is the perfect season to open our hearts to receive the deep love of God. Here’s a quick update on what God showed me this week. Enjoy and have a blessed Easter. 

Recently, I’ve been praying for my parents. I have this crafted prayer written out for them, and I was praying for them pretty regularly.  And today when I was praying for them, God sort of reminded me that I can pray for myself in the same way.  And I thought that’s a pretty good idea.  Because I was praying for God to release peace and joy in my parents lives. And I certain can use a lot of peace and joy in my day too.  

And so I started to pray over myself “Michele, I just pray that the Lord will pour out joy and peace into your life today.”  And as soon as I said those words, I just totally choked up. I was so surprised.  That’s not the reaction I expected.  I had no idea how tired I’ve been, and how much I really needed that prayer for myself.  

I think for the last 2 years or so, I’ve been in this mode where I’m so focused on taking care of everybody else around me… that I forgot that I needed to take time out and take care of my own needs too. I’ve been in this task oriented mode. It’s funny because when I prayed over myself, suddenly, I stopped focusing on what I have to do.  I stopped being a “Martha” – if you know what I mean.  I opened up my heart to receive the prayers and all of these pent up frustrations just came pouring out.  

I think for many of us who are care takers by nature, we tend to focus a lot on other people.  So often times, we will ignore our own needs. And I’m grateful that today, God reminded me to just take a pause and pray over me. And that I deserve the kind of attention and care that I usually give to others. And that God also wants to give me His love and peace and joy. And that it’s important for me to stop doing, and just receive His loving kindness. 

And that reminds me of that great verse that we should love others as we love ourselves.  It’s not one or the other.  But that even as we love on other people, we should remember to also love ourselves too… To pour out and receive the love of God for ourselves.  

So I just wanted to share that quick note.  To share with all my listeners. To share with everybody out there today, in this season, please take some time for yourself.  Please do something nice for yourself. And if you’re used to caring for others or praying for others, please say a prayer for yourself, and embrace and enjoy and soak up that loving kindness of God. 

So I just wanted to say that and share it with everyone.  Just something that I learned and received from the Lord today.  And that’s just a quick update from me! 

As I mentioned before, I’ve been feeling a little worn out, so I took a little personal retreat earlier this year.  I am working the next series which hopefully will be coming out soon.  Thank you so much for listening.  Have a wonderful week, and we’ll chat with you next time. 

Podcast #119 – The Power of Our History With God (5:04)

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Newer isn’t always better. Our spiritual history may actually help us get the breakthrough we’re looking for.

Welcome to the Sabbath Café Podcast.  You’re listening to episode #119 – the power of our history with God. 
 
I was sorting through some old notebooks the other day, and a note card fell out.  It was a crafted prayer I wrote about 5 years ago for my family.  I had tucked it away, and totally forgot it.   
 
 It was a small card, and filled up front and back with a prayer I wrote about a broken relationship.  At that time, it felt like the situation was never going to change. These relationships have been broken for years. Honestly, I didn’t know if my prayers were going to make any difference at that point.  Still, I remembered that no request is too small or insignificant to God. And sure enough, after praying this crafted prayer for about a year, a breakthrough happened!  God answered my prayers and reunited a family!  It was nothing short of a miracle.   
 
As I read it, I was amazed that most of my requests have been answered.  Changes didn’t happen overnight, but they did happen.  As I remembered how God made possible what I thought was impossible, my faith rose up.  Suddenly, all of the negativity I felt that week vanished. 
 
In our social media world, we’re always looking for the latest news and trends.  We rarely take the time to reflect on our past.  To be honest, I feel that my generation, me included, don’t really understand the value and purpose of history. I think that’s why I didn’t recognize the value and power of my own history with God. Our history with God is made up of all of the interactions and experiences between us and God. Every prayer He answers adds to that history.  When it comes to building up our faith and spiritual maturity, our history with God can be a powerful tool. 
 
History gives us perspective.  It shows us the big picture and reminds us that real change takes time.  It helps us to be patient and wait for God’s timing.  When we can’t see the hand of God at work, our history reminds us that God is indeed still working.  When we feel discouraged in the middle of the storm, it reminds us that our journey is not finished yet.  Every experience we have with God, whether big or small, adds to our faith. And every interaction we have with God brings our faith to the next step.  
 
When I feel anxious and fearful, these negative emotions can be so overwhelming that I feel paralyzed.  My mind jumps to the worst case scenario and I sink into a pit of negativity.  And that’s exactly what happened to me recently.  I felt the challenges I had were so big… so beyond me that I couldn’t muster up any faith to pray.  But when I found that prayer card, and remembered how God answered the prayers that I thought were impossible, my faith rose up.  I remembered that God is bigger than my challenges.  I remembered that despite my limitations, and my lack of faith, God really can do above and beyond what I can ask, think or imagine.  
 
Are you also facing a difficult situation lately?  Do you feel like you’re dealing with a giant in your life?  Maybe it’s time for you to take a break and remember how God has showed up for you in the past.   Push the pause button on your worries, and think about your own history with God.   If you keep a journal, this is the perfect time to take it out and read a few pages.  Not only will you remember God’s faithfulness to you, you’ll also be encouraged by how far you’ve come and how much you’ve grown in your own journey.  And you may even see that your current challenge is not as big as you thought.  God can and He will help you walk through it, just like He did before.  And you will come out of the storm amazed and transformed. 
 
And that’s our podcast for this week.  I’d like to wish everyone a very happy holiday season.  Thank you so much for listening.  Merry Christmas and we’ll see you in the new year!