Linda Newton: BLOG

I just spent the most amazing weekend with some dedicated people attending my Healing the Hurts That Are Holding You Back Workshop. It was obvious throughout the weekend that God was on the job. One of the awesome attendees asked for this insight that I shared from an article in Psychology Today, so I am posting it here. Fear of Failure and Fear of SuccessFear of failure will make you try to fit into a standard, but fear of success will make you do anything to avoid reaching that standard. While fear of failure is out there and everybody knows about it, fear of success is hidden so deep in our identity we may not recognize it, but it can be much worse for us. Fear of failure is associated with making mistakes and not getting approval, while fear of success is the fear of doing things right and therefore not being accepted, not being appreciated and not being able to maintain the level of achievement and success. While fear of failure results in avoidance, fear of success results in [...]

This week I attended the funeral of an 86 year-old-lady who lived her life to love Jesus and her family, and so many of the people she cared for attested to that. Everyone there received a program, and in it were excerpts from her journal, insights into a life well-lived. This was one of those insights that she practiced because the results were evidenced in her life~
 
8 Essentials to Be More Like Our Lord
1. Intimacy—Deepening our lives
2. Simplicity—Uncluttering our mind
3. Silence & Solitude—Slowing our pace
4. Surrender—Releasing our grip
5. Prayer—Calling out
6. Humility—Bowing down
7. Self-Control—Holding back
8. Sacrifice—Giving over
 
These words inspire me and provide a template for me to review each day as I seek to embrace more of God in my life. I pray it will help you too.
 

I read this recently and I thought it was the perfect focus on the first day of a brand new year! Happy 2012! May you be inspired~“You are in God’s place at God’s perfect time. Your hands are in His hands, and He is your future. He has gifted you and placed you and placed His hand upon you to bless you and make you a blessing. The burden of your ministry is not yours to carry—as you rest, He will work; as you abide, He will bring fruit; as you sow, he will give the increase. He is your shield and your exceeding great reward.”

Last night we had an awesome Eve of Christmas Eve service at church, two of them, in fact, because we had so many folks attend. It was wonderful to see peeps who have grown up as kids in the church come back home to visit family, many of them with kids of their own! We sang my favorite, Silent Night and as the words played over in my head, I heard: Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright… and I thought of all the peace and all the light the Baby Jesus has brought into my life.Even in times of greatest stress growing up in an abusive home, I felt His calm in the midst of the chaos. In times of fear and darkness when I didn’t know if my youngest daughter would live through another heart surgery, I felt His bright light penetrate the dark gloom that threatened to consume me.On this Christmas Eve, I pray that no matter what you are going through, you will allow His calm and his bright light to surround you so that you can draw up strength from His. Merry Christmas!Lovin’ [...]

I found this Christmas Parable in my file. It’s probably been there for years. It’s so worth sharing now…
Once upon a time, there was a man who looked upon Christmas as a lot of humbug.He wasn’t a Scrooge. He was a very kind and decent person, generous to his family, upright in all his dealings with others.But he didn’t believe all the stuff about an incarnation which churches proclaim at Christmas, and he was too honest to pretend that he did.When his wife asked if he would go to church with her and the kids to the midnight Christmas Eve service, he told her, “I’d feel like a hypocrite. I simply can’t understand this claim that God became a man. But I’ll wait up for you.”Shortly after his family left, snow began to fall. He went to the window and watched the flurries getting heavier and heavier.“If we must have Christmas,” he reflected, “it’s nice to have a white one.”He went back to his chair by [...]