by Jill | May 2, 2013 | Uncategorized
I am currently going through some pretty significant changes in my life, and I never really stopped to allow it all to sink in. I just kept going along with working at full speed, even though these changes are impacting me physically and emotionally. I had this idea that I could just keep things going with no consequences until this week when i began waking up early all by myself, and thinking about work related things at times when I should be resting. That is usually a sign to me that I am in need of some type of change to balance out my life and relieve stress. I struggle with this battle of balance. How do I take care of myself, my family, and my clients to the fullest? Can I really be superwoman and have it all? A career? A family? and Enjoy it? So, I began praying and I asked God to show me how to navigate this path that I am on right now. I always find it interesting how he works. I pray for balance and for rest, and then all of a sudden I have a day (like today!) where all my clients cancelled and so I stayed home and spent time with my son all day, what a blessing it was. It was a reminder to me that if I just stop, and time to take care of myself, I can be refreshed and able to navigate these changes with more energy and clarity.
28 “Come to Me, all [a]who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is[b]easy and My burden is light.”
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by Jill | Jan 17, 2013 | Uncategorized
I’ve been contemplating some changes lately. I have had “Jill’s Writing and Play Therapy Page” for about four years now and have finally decided to move to a self-hosted site to expand the website more. I am excited and have been planning for about a year, but I look at it and I always feel a little afraid. Afraid that it will fall flat, or something won’t work, or that I’ll lose….fill in the blank. But at the same time I am truly excited to see where it goes from that change. So how will I deal with that change? Do I stay stuck in the same because of fear of change, or do I push through the fear to expand my website? I know I’m just writing about a website here, but there are many times we are faced with change for whatever reason. We move, we start a new career, we end a job, we make new friends, we move churches. Whatever the change, it helps to see what’s on the other side of it: New, Fresh start and how we get there: The process God leads us through.
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by Jill | Jan 1, 2013 | changes, counseling, Faith, family therapy, google, grief, mental health, relaxation, self esteem, self help, stress management, thinking, Uncategorized, writing
I don’t know about you, but for me the end of a year and the beginning of a new one always has a feeling of relief for me. I love the idea of a new, fresh start and starting over. The past year for me has been full of ups and downs, and a lot of personal stress. But at the same time, there are many blessings in my life. If I look back this year, I can see where God has really come through for me and my family. I love the hope that a new year brings. I believe that this year will be better than last year, and that God will continue to teach me how to trust Him in my life.
Here are 10 things that I am going to do this year to make life more stress free take these ideas and also add your own in the comments:
1. Say no to at least one project a week.
2. Reduce the amount of caffeine and sugar I consume.
3. Plan at least one date night a month with my husband.
4. Plan more time with my girlfriends.
5. Schedule in at least one morning a week for writing and business planning.
6. Pay down debt.
7. Say what I am thankful for everyday because God supplies all me needs and provides for me every day.
8. Read more for pleasure.
9. Read a good Bible study or join a Bible study group.
10. Give up trying to plan every little detail of my life and allow God to work things out.
Verses that Spoke to Me this Week:
This is what God says,
the God who builds a road right through the ocean,
who carves a path through pounding waves,
The God who summons horses and chariots and armies—
they lie down and then can’t get up;
they’re snuffed out like so many candles:
“Forget about what’s happened;
don’t keep going over old history.
Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.
It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?
There it is! I’m making a road through the desert,
rivers in the badlands.
Wild animals will say ‘Thank you!’
—the coyotes and the buzzards—
Because I provided water in the desert,
rivers through the sun-baked earth,
Drinking water for the people I chose,
the people I made especially for myself,
a people custom-made to praise me.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson
The Message (MSG)
5-12 Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he’s the one who will keep you on track.
Don’t assume that you know it all.
Run to God! Run from evil!
Your body will glow with health,
your very bones will vibrate with life!
Honor God with everything you own;
give him the first and the best.
Your barns will burst,
your wine vats will brim over.
But don’t, dear friend, resent God’s discipline;
don’t sulk under his loving correction.
It’s the child he loves that God corrects;
a father’s delight is behind all this.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson
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by Jill | Nov 3, 2012 | Blog, changes, counseling, Faith, fears, google, Jill Osborne, loss, mental health business, private practice, relaxation, scared, small business, stress management, thinking, trauma, Uncategorized
What’s chronic, repetitive, or inflamed in your inner or outer life?
This burning question is personal. There are many things I could say about it. The past year or so of my life have brought out a lot of hurt, joy, tears, laughter, many mixed emotions. Most recently I took on some opportunities in my life that reminded my of the things that I left, and inflamed a lot of mixed emotions, distrust and confusion. Confusion about what God’s will is for my life right now, how to decide if an opporunity is one that Is from God, or just a distraction from what His will actually is in my life. And me,being stubborn would rather take an opportunity and then stress about how to get out of it rather than saving myself the heartache and stress and trusting the path that I believe God has put me on. The repetitive is the constant battle to trust the process, and my practical mind, the need for certainty and to provide for my family financially vs. patience, trust and hearing the whispers of the Holy Spirit in my heart leading me, allowing God to unfold his will for my life openly without reservations. The balance between the “busy syndrome” that often accompanies the profession of counseling, the need to pour out compassion everywhere, and the need for self care and rejuvenation. It is a constant battle and conflict for me, and left unchecked can lead me to stubborn slips of faith. It reminds me of Peter, when he sees Jesus walking on the water towards the boat, he takes one step out, and begins walking towards His Savior, and then loses his focus off Jesus and focuses on the storm, then fear sets in and he falls into the stormy waters. There are several things that I love about this picture. One: Peter has the faith to get out of the boat, and two, Jesus is right there pulling Peter out of the water to bring him back to safety and into the boat. It reminds me that I don’t have to fear, that I can take the steps of faith that are presented to me, and that when I fail Jesus is there to rescue me and bring me back to safety, and showing me that I can Trust Him and His will and place in my life.
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by Jill | Sep 10, 2012 | Uncategorized
What would you be more of if you let go of the past?
This is a timely question for me, as I go through the month of September I have been thinking and praying a lot about this past year and the transition from agency work (that ended traumatically for me) and going into private practice. There have been ups and downs, and there are still some leftover emotions and fears from last year. To top it off our office is moving at the end of this month and it will be exactly a year from when I left my last job.
So what do I need to let go of? And what would I be more of if I let go of the things from this past year? I let go of the fear that I had about speaking up when I needed help. I let go of the fear of not doing, being, providing, working, giving in, bending to the demands of my job no matter what, even when it meant sometimes fudging boundaries I never should have fudged or moral and ethical attitudes that weren’t the standards I want to uphold. Letting go of feeling like I’m not enough, or like others could succeed at the cost of my success. What I am more of now is more of myself. More of what I believe God has created me to be. Free to succeed by doing His will for my life. Serving my clients with compassion, mercy, support, ethical boundaries, and confidence that I am the right person to help them. Free to expand and explore other areas of my career that I now have the courage to try. I would be so much more joyful if I didn’t have to think about how I was put down, shut out, and worked in a schizophrenic environment, or held on to the fear that somehow I would have to experience that again.
The best part of this whole experience is that I have experienced the true compassion, support, and love of God as He has provided for my family during a time of financial and emotional re-building. I am so thankful to have had this experience, and my faith is fuller, stronger and closer to my God than ever. This is one of those trust and faith building times that has changed my life forever for the better.
A Few Verses for your Soul:
“Even to your old age I will be the same, And even to your graying years I will bear you! I have done it, and I will carry you; And I will bear you and I will deliver you.”
Isaiah 46:4NASB
Jeremiah 29:11-14
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
11 For I know the plans that I [a]have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.13 You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will restore your [b]fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’
25 “For this reason I say to you, [a]do not be worried about your [b]life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the [c]air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27 And who of you by being worried can add a single [d]hour to his [e]life? 28 And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31 Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But [f]seek first [g]His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be [h]added to you.
34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will [i]care for itself. [j]Each day has enough trouble of its own.
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by Jill | Jun 4, 2012 | Uncategorized
I have been exploring the book, “Spiritual Journaling: Recording Your Journey Toward God,” by Richard Peace. Today I was exploring parts of my recent past that led me to where I am now, which is at Eagles Landing Christian Counseling Center. About a year ago I attempted to open my own office by myself in order to delve into the world of private practice. After much prayer, seeking God, crying, and changes at my job at the time I decided instead to stop going that route, hince ending up at Eagles Landing. But I asked myself today, what if I never tried to open that office? Where would that have taken me? Was it God’s will or my own stubbornness to try to make things happen myself? And, is that door completely closed to me?
I imagined myself back at that place. I had just turned down an offer to join another group, and began to feel some courage that I could begin making the move towards private practice. I have felt this pull for a while, and while I enjoyed my co-workers the job I was init was no longer working with the rest of my life, and my growth as a therapist had begun to feel stifled. I needed something new, a risk, something fresh. I remember dragging my playroom toys upstairs and starting to make the move, and beginning to feel like I was disconnecting from the job then, and connecting to something new.
I think if I stayed in the job I was in I would have continued to feel stress from not spending enough time with my family, and more pressure to give precious hours away. I think I would have continued to feel that I wasn’t growing as a therapist anymore. I think I would have continued to feel like I couldn’t try anything new.
Or, I could have made a move to Eagles Landing earlier than I planned.What If I had done that? After watching a massive change at my job, and some painful things I experienced and saw people I care about experience, I think it would have saved me a lot of heart ache, and probably saved me from the trauma that I experienced from that time period.
During that time I learned courage. Courage that God gave me to make a change and take a risk in my life. Courage and faith that God is leading me closer to His will and closer to the desires for my career that He has placed in me. Courage that if I am unhappy that there is a reason for it, and that God is speaking to me about change.
Today I accept the decision I made to try things on my own, and I can look back and see how God lead me to the decision to leave that job I was in and move to Eagles Landing Christian Counseling Center. If you think about it, it wasn’t really a wrong choice, it was God leading me the whole time, and showing me that I can trust Him and have Courage to move on when it is time.
My prayer today is is that God will show you how to have Courage to make changes in your own life, and that He will show you how He is really there with you all along, no matter what direction your life is taking. Peace.
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