Deanna Doss Shrodes

Doing the same exact thing day after day (especially without proper rest) can cause any of us to get a case of the fuzzies. I hate fuzzies. This is where I go to write a blog post or a song or a message to preach, and everything in my head just feels fuzzy. Nothing's springing up. Even though I pray. Even though I worship. Even though I read my bible.  For me the cure for fuzzies is to rest, and also to shake things up in some way. There are many things I have to do each day that are routine and other things that are unique. But sometimes it helps to do something different. Today we went tubing with the youth of our church to Rainbow River .  I slept in the car almost all the way there. Having a few hours out there with nothing to do but sit and float downstream was good for me. It was good for me as well to sleep almost all the way back home!  My inbox was full this morning when I left, but ya know what...I left it behind. Some days that's what needs to be on...

Right now you may have a dream and it seems unattainable.The fulfillment of your desire feels like a huge mountain that is in your way. Achieving it seems so big, you don't even know where to start on the majority of days when you wake up. Permission to speak into your life today? Thank you. [If you said yes, you're still reading. If not, you've already clicked the "x" in the corner... bye-bye] Yesterday I wrote a post about the danger of assuming.   People waste a ton of time assuming something is going to happen that may never will. Just because you're thinking about something 90% of the day doesn't mean anyone else is. Something happens when you take a step. Even when you just move an inch, or tackle one small 15 minute item, you have taken a step forward. A friend of mine who is a fitness coach says that even if you do just a 30 minute walk you're still beating everyone who's laying on the couch!  I beg you...take a step. Wh...

Assuming can kill you physically. For instance, you might assume taking several pills instead of just one as prescribed will not kill you. You may assume the drivers in the intersection will give you the right of way even though you are running a red light. Although assuming can technically kill you physically, it's not the main type of killing I speak of in this post.  Assuming can kill you emotionally. It can kill your productivity. It can kill your career. It can kill your marriage and all your other close relationships too.  It can kill your enthusiasm, your motivation, your happiness. I beg you to stop assuming. For your own health. For the good of others too. Assuming leads to so much stress and it will catch up with you in the way of headaches, neck aches, high blood pressure and so much more. Some people don't realize how much they assume. We can readily see how others assume. Us? Not so much. The truth is, we all assume more than we should. And for our...

I believe Mondays are a mindset. Many people in America have weekends off. They look forward to the rest the weekend brings and it's back to work on Mondays. Because some people don't like their work, they dread Mondays. Others love their work, but they love rest more. I'm among the folks that don't have the weekend off. Sunday is an exhausting day for me. Even when we have a great day, which we do most Sundays, it's still the most tiring day of the week for me.  Usually on Monday morning I feel like I've been run over by a truck. Although I've tried in the past to give myself easy tasks to do on this day and relegate the rest of the week to more difficult things, I tend to also want to attack the challenges and get them out of the way as soon as possible. Whether you work on the weekend or not, I believe Mondays can be a challenge for all of us because we begin to think about change. At least I know I do. And even good changes take work to wrap...

Today was a really great day at Celebration Church . We were at Ft. DeSoto Park all day after service for our beach day, picnic and water baptism. We are so blessed to be part of seeing lives changed for God. In addition to sharing the spiritually momentous occasion in the lives of some of our members, we had a lot of fun in the sun and sand. It's rained daily in Tampa the past week or so and we were so blessed to have an absolutely beautiful day!! I stayed in the water for hours and hours with friends. We take "noodles" out there and just relax and float until the sun goes down. Definitely one of my favorite things to do. Larry and I are also grateful to be the pastors of such a generous and loving church family. This morning they announced that in a few weeks they will have a celebration on Sunday for our 25th anniversary of marriage & ministry, and then they are sending us to...[drumroll please] Club Med! They will have the anniversary celebration at ch...

I woke up this morning...and went back to sleep until noon. One of the best decisions I made all day. :) There was plenty of time to get projects done later in the day. I've learned one of the most important principles of time management is adequate rest.  There are times our bodies just let us know they need it -- and if we're wise, we'll give a response that is good for us.

The other day I was going through a mental list of  everyone I know, in an effort to consider who has the most Godly character traits. I was thinking, who is most consistent? Who displays the fruits of the spirit, in most every circumstance? Who is always loving? Kind? Peaceful? Joyful? Long suffering? Good? I kept coming back to one... To see who displays Godly character traits most consistently in my world, keep scrolling... Keep going... Just a little further... Have you already guessed who? It is none other than... Is it any wonder why normal human beings love animals so much? They display so much of God's character. To read a post I wrote about my "fruit of the spirit" friend, go here . I love you Max. Thank you for loving me. For loving everyone.