Dr. Death, Games and Good Thoughts

Hello, Friends!

What do Dr. Death, Games and Good Thoughts have in common you may be asking yourself? Let me explain.

My boyfriend and I (that would be Brad!) spent several hours in the car yesterday.

Sidebar: Can I just encourage you a minute about your marriage? It isn’t easy to be in a committed relationship, to work through your problems, to learn to compromise, to work together, to get over yourself and seek the good of both of you. Right? But it is soooo worth it. Now that Brad and I are working on year 45, I am sooooo glad that we didn’t give up when things got tough and annoying. He is my PERSON now more than ever and I treasure our relationship. So thankful for every hard discussion and for the decision to fight for each other!

Dr. Death

Did you know there is a podcast called Dr. Death? It is all about a neurosurgeon who did more harm than good for his patients and how the system failed those whom it should have protected. My takeaway from the episodes we have listened to so far is to VET YOUR DOCTOR, for goodness sake. Being a Pollyanna, like I have been for most of my life, assuming that people are who their credentials present them to be can be a huge, life altering mistake.

Sidebar: I love podcasts and listen to several and am happy to share my favorites with you if you are interested. Let me know if you want me to send you a list of them.

Anyhoo, Dr. Death is very professionally produced and has several commercials interspersed throughout.

Games

That brings me to “Games”. One of the ads is for a new game app for your phone. I don’t remember the name of it, but I do remember the story used to sell it. The guy says that he has already binge-watched everything but uninteresting documentaries on Netflix and needs another way to stop his “boredom”. Enter this game that he is now playing for hours and hours on his phone.

Gulp. and Yuck. and Wait a minute.

How are we choosing to spend our ONE PRECIOUS LIFE on this earth?

Now just in case you think I’m letting myself off the hook. I am NOT. Brad and I have enjoyed happy hours together watching our new favorite show Heartland, and we know our relationship has been strengthened by the time we have spent together engrossed in the lives of Jack Fleming and his granddaughters.

I am NOT saying it is wrong to watch Netflix.

The connection between Dr. Death and a life spent on our devices isn’t lost on me though.

There is an enemy of our souls who is the king of death who would love us to focus inward, binge watch one Netflix show after another and then become addicted to a game on our phone. An enemy who is honored if we stay in the basement tweeting and posting ugliness all day long, consuming media and the  wisdom of man.

That is a doctor who needs to be very carefully avoided. His office is always open and the door is HUGE and looks so easy and inviting.

However, his treatments are so appealing and easy to take, but they will leave you in a very, very, very, very bad place.

Buffering boredom his way leads nowhere good and it takes us there, fast. Can you relate, too? Our brain wants a hit of dopamine and it doesn’t really care where it comes from. I think that is why we are so prone to addiction of all kinds-perhaps me most of all.

Good Thoughts

One lesson for me in all of this is to BE READY TO FIGHT and BE CAREFUL who and what I allow to take up my brain space. What are some life-giving things I can do instead? What do I need to practice instead?

We are told in Proverbs to guard our hearts and our minds.

Now more than ever before in my life, I am hyper aware of the battle of good and evil raging all around us. The foundational truths of scripture have been set aside by the majority and we see where it has gotten us?

Divided. Canceled. Dismissed. Angry. Depressed.

What is happening to us?

It all turns my mind into mush.

Even Better Thoughts

Until I remind myself….

Christ is still inviting us to live a new way.

The Proverbs and other scriptures still give insight into true wisdom.

The Life of Love is still the answer.

Holy Spirit still lives in believers.

Christ is still our Living Hope.

Those are good thought from the Good Physician, and we CAN put our TRUST in HIM!

Let’s gear up today, friends, remember the battle belongs to the Lord, he is fighting for us. Let’s be filled with gratitude and praise and LOOK UP!

Sidebar: More thoughts about thoughts….How I Manage My Thoughts