Some thoughts on thoughts... Part 2

I realize there are a lot of negative things in the world. Life can get really hard sometimes. It can get overwhelming! Watching the news, you see a lot of crazy awful things but rarely anything uplifting. Our televisions are filled with drama and crisis while there are very few shows about healthy relationships or happy families. It is really easy to see all the messed up stuff in our world and to focus on everything that is negative.

I have challenged myself to see the positive in whatever situation I find myself. I have a little necklace in the shape of a key that says “positivity is the key.” Sometimes this can be hard but it has definitely helped my everyday attitude and my stress level! I have become a much happier person. My anxiety level has lowered significantly. I am able to approach any situation more calmly than in the past when I let negativity rule my thoughts.

Do you know someone who is always negative - where everything they say is critical of things around them? They will always call out what is wrong in a situation before noticing what is right. It seems like they have the worst luck because bad things always happen to them. I’ve seen how this can affect people. It's exhausting focussing on the bad all the time. I do not want to live like that.  

I have a theory that you see what you are looking for. When you focus on the negative, you will find it. So it must be true that when you focus on the positive, you will find it. Your mind cannot focus on positive and negative at the same time - it's like trying to smile and frown at the same time - you can't.

A big part of keeping things positive is to not complain. Most things in life are not really a big deal. A lot of the things I worry and complain about are not life or death. If it is something I can change, I am learning to just do what I need to do instead of complaining about it first. If it is something that I can’t change, then there probably is not anything productive that will come out of my complaining anyway. In my brain, I try to catch myself before I complain out loud. That way I can filter my thoughts to only say things that are going to help a situation move forward in the right direction.

Living in a culture that wants to tell me that I should look different than I do, I have made a promise to myself to never say anything negative about my body out loud. I have heard so many people criticize themselves about the way they look. I look at these people and think they look awesome. It’s all about perspective. When I look in the mirror, I want to love the curves and freckles. Most people will never notice the small things I do not like about myself. I started writing positive things about myself on my mirror as a constant reminder of what I like about me. I only get one body in this life, so I might as well love it!

I'm also trying to focus positive vibes is in my relationships with others. I try to think about other people’s feelings in any situation. Many times, I find myself getting really upset about something and getting really mad at someone else without really even knowing how they feel. I could have taken their words in a way that they did not mean or they could be going through a lot and I am just the easiest target for emotions that have nothing to do with me. Most people do not know everything going on in my life, so I assume there is a ton that the people around me have going on of which I am unaware. Some of these things may be super stressful and hard for them to handle. I try to see the good in people, on their good days and their bad days. Also, when I treat people in a positive way, they tend to reciprocate. Positivity in interactions breeds more positivity.

I hope you will start to be grateful for the positive things in your life and see the good in everything. You can change the world by changing your world and having a positive impact on others. In the very least, you can help by not adding to the negativity. Start with your thoughts, and your whole life can change. 

It all starts with you. You can make the world a little brighter.

Brigid is a Texas girl living in Nashville, TN. She is a volunteer for MAM who loves laughing, Instagram, nachos and adventures.

Some thoughts on thoughts... Part 1

Words can make you smile, laugh, cry, and scream. Words have changed lives and will continue to do so forever. Words can build up and tear down relationships. Words have power.  

So what about the words in our minds: our thoughts. They have a lot of power too. Words come from our thoughts which come from our hearts. Our thoughts affect our whole lives. How are your thoughts affecting your life? Are you your biggest fan or your biggest critic? What are the things that go through your mind on a daily basis about yourself? How positive are the thoughts you have about yourself?

Here’s a crazy truth for you: not all of your thoughts are true.

If you were to think “I am the president of the United States,” doesn’t mean it is true. Just the same, thinking that you are unworthy of being loved does not mean that you actually are unworthy of love. For most of us the negative self-talk continually creeping through our brains is a lie. Sometimes lies come into our thoughts and take hold until we eventually forget reality. These messages can take root for so long. They can affect our self-esteem and the way we live our lives. It may be the words of others spoken over us, messages from the society around us, or even ourselves.

One example is a sentence that was said to me in a past relationship. “I wish you were taller and tanner and had bigger boobs.” One, that is not a nice thing to say to anyone ever. Two, these are all qualities about me that I cannot change. This translated into my brain as “I’m not good enough or attractive enough, and I never will be.” I know this is a crazy jump but I don’t think I’m the only one who has made those leaps. I embraced it as truth and it affected the way that I saw myself. It was a throw away sentence on their behalf but it shook my confidence in the relationship and other areas of my life. With this “I’m not good enough” idea floating through my head, it was easy to see the things that validated that thought and to disregard all the good things about myself.

So how do we change the patterns of negative thinking? I have been learning to sift through my thoughts and really evaluate where they are all coming from. One of the most freeing things I have done is to break off the lies that have taken hold and replace them with the truth about who I am. When I think about where some of these ideas in my head have come from, it seems crazy that I ever let them come into my brain at all. There are a lot of really awesome things about me! There are also a lot of really great people that love and support me. These are the things I want to focus on instead of the things that have been said by the people who have hurt me.

My hope for you is that you can distinguish truth from the lies. If there are any lies that you have turned into truth, I hope you will dig deep and cut them out. It might hurt a little to talk about them and deal with them but you will be able to move forward. Replace the lies and see the truth.  

Here are some positive true words about you to help replace any lies you have been believing. Write them on your mirror, put them on sticky notes around your house, and build others up with them because the world needs some more encouragement. 

You are enough.

You are loved.

You are valuable.

You have a story to tell.

Your life matters.

You are beyond compare.

Now go out and live your life with these running through your brain and I bet some things will start to change for the better.

Brigid is a Texas girl living in Nashville, TN. She is a volunteer for MAM who loves laughing, Instagram, nachos and adventures.

Tales from the Road... Unity Festival

This trip was the biggest event of our festival season which meant a whole bunch of stuff to cram into our minivan - there were only three of us driving up and we nearly had to leave someone behind!

Unity happens in Muskegon, MI, on the shore of Lake Michigan - yes, it's a hard life for the MAM team! This year over 60,000 people attended to hear some great music and get stuck into the various activities run by the huge team of Unity volunteers.

As for MAM, we had a lot going on! We took our regular booth with all our information, t-shirts and Banded headbands. We ran two photo booths continuing our #beyondcompare campaign asking people to share with us what makes them unique.

Then, on top of that and most excitingly for us, we ran our first girls lounge - a space for girls and young women to come and hang out, talk about their issues, get prayed for and get involved with some of our craft activities.

On the Friday and Saturday we had the opportunity to share our documentary, Through My Heart's Eyes, and to share something of what MAM is all about. These sessions are always a highlight as it led to great conversations with individuals who were able to share their own stories with MAM team. 

Then it was time to go home - so we said a big thank you to Ashley, Michael, Jimmy, Shane and the Take Hold team who helped us make everything happen and packed up the van again for the drive back to Nashville. George, Corinne and Jimmy did a superb job of packing Jimmy's van - don't worry it was only going round the corner!!

The journey home was fairly uneventful - so we made a list of things we like for you....

Cold War Kids

Toast and Marmite

Sleep

Coffee

Soft t-shirts

Redbull

Crisp clean air

Boys with black hair and lip rings

Candles that smell of the coast

Being in water

Fuzzy blankets

2014 corvettes

Chicken and salad in all forms (especially with avocado and without mayo)

Pandora and pickled okra

Praying with strangers

Batman and all villains in batman

Reading positive psychology books

Horror movies

Craft nights

Corinne's driving commentary

Food samples at Costco and Publix

Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now by Starship

Bikes with baskets

Hoodies

Accents

Metal (the material and the music)

All things fall

Pianos

Not having let it go in my head

Stargazing and cloud gazing on a trampoline

The ocean and surfing

Meet Virginia by Train

Through My Heart's Eyes

This documentary chronicles the lives, struggles and choices of two girls, one in Nashville TN and one in London, England. They openly and honestly share the difficulties they have faced and how they are seeking to overcome those things. This is a frank and moving look at issues that girls are facing today - click the image below and take the time to watch.

Through My Heart's Eyes from Morning After Ministries on Vimeo.

Tales from the Road... Wachinyeya Fest

After all the fun we had at Audiofeed the MAM team were keen to get back on the road and add a few more states to our list of places we have been this summer. We were a little apprehensive approaching this trip as we really didn't know what we were heading into. The majority of our team (Jenna, Emma, Gabriel, Neal and Corinne) got packed into the van early in the morning to take on the epic drive to North Dakota.

Nearly 2000 miles, much coffee, several redbulls, one Super 8 and a lot of cornfields we arrived on the reservation at Fort Yates where Christy and Alex joined the team. We arrived in the dark to take residence in a church and a tiny house but looking around in the morning what we saw was fairly bleak. We had travelled through all the hype and advertising of majority America and arrived in this small town that was reminiscent of the developing world in many ways.

The next two days were spent hanging out with the young people attending the festival - there weren't lots of them so we were able to really get to know those we met despite the short amount of time. We had several opportunities to share our stories and the heart of MAM and lots of the people there got involved in our #beyondcompare campaign too.

In the midst of some great music, swimming in the river and games of frisbee we heard stories of abuse, addiction, self harm, suicide, rape and more. MAM's message of love and value in the eyes of our Father had never felt more relevant or powerful when faced with the reality of life for so many of the young people of the reservation. Please read Alex's blog to read more about the reality of life on the reservation.

We met some amazing people who are living there sharing God's message of hope who inspired us with their determination to bring love and a sense of belonging where so many families were broken and separated. But the workers are few. MAM is working on ways we can support them and we are hoping to return to Fort Yates later in the year.

It was an extraordinary time for each of us on the team and our very long journey back (including a night by a bonfire while visiting Mount Rushmore) gave us plenty of time to reflect on what was a very challenging experience in many ways. God gave us amazing opportunities, lots of fun with the youngsters and a real sense of his heart for the people of the reservation. It won't be an experience we forget quickly, that's for sure.

Hope in the darkest of places...

I watched the Avengers movie last week, and I loved it. I loved it partly because I love jam-packed action adventure stories, but mainly because I love the journey all superheroes go on: a journey from being ordinary people to becoming extraordinary superheroes. They go on a journey of transformation where they realize the fullness of all they were created to be; despite all the hopeless circumstances they find themselves in and have to battle against.

I've spent the last few days in a Native Indian reservation called Fort Yates in North Dakota. A place where 79% of the population are unemployed. Where 5 young people have hanged themselves in the last 6 months from within one community. Where a frightening amount of girls and women are raped. Where children are molested, neglected and physically abused. Where teenagers turn to drugs and alcohol because that's what their parents did before them.  It is a place with endless battles. A place where hope has been lost.

I had the privilege of joining with a team of 7 from MAM, volunteering at festival called Wachinyeya, meaning 'Hope' in Lakota (one of the Native Indian tribal languages).  For two days we spent time with

teenagers, kids, and some older members of the community; chatting, playing, swimming in rivers and endless piggy-backs while bands from across the USA played music and shared their stories. It seems simple but there is a lot of power in being open and simply spending time with people. It all happened to communicate a simple message to the people living in this bleak environment - they are loved and valued by God just as they are, despite whatever mistakes they have made or any hopelessness, struggles and sadness they might be going through. And not just that but because of his love and by his Spirit they are empowered to seek a different path, one that gives their lives purpose.

Wachinyeya. Hope. That’s exactly what Fort Yates needs more of; because right now there are so many hopeless situations and those young people have so little to live for. Hope comes alive in the person of Jesus Christ - even in the most desperate situations he transforms lives. He takes people on a journey from being ordinary to becoming extraordinary. Despite negative life circumstances and everything we have to battle against, Jesus empowers us by His Spirit so that we know the fullness of who we are created to be.

Tony Stark was made to be ‘IronMan’. Steve Rogers was made to be ‘Captain America’. Bruce Banner was made to be ‘The Hulk’. But if IronMan tried to be The Hulk, or The Hulk tried to be Captain America, they wouldn’t be embracing the fullness of their identities. Those superheroes have inherent value just the way they are and when they accept that - it's then they become the heroes that are so desperately needed. Jesus created you and I with inherent value, and when we recognize that we are loved and valuable – we step into the fullness of all we were created to be and we are empowered us to live a life full of purpose.

And Jesus is bringing transformation to the reservation - Lance, Line, their family and some other amazing people are living their lives right there in the reservation - in the midst of the struggles and darkness - letting their lamps shine out, bringing Jesus' hope.

My prayer for us all, but particularly for those I met at Wachinyeya, is that we’d all be transforming into the fullness of life we’ve been made for through Jesus. My favorite verse in the bible is John 10:10  

A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy; but [Jesus] came so [you] can have real and eternal life, more and better life than [you] ever dreamed (MSG). 

I love this verse because it tells the story of transformation that Jesus takes us on. Although life has been stolen, joy killed, and peace destroyed; through Jesus we have hope and can know the fullness of life we were created for. 

It was depressing to see such bleakness and desperation in a country of extraordinary wealth and opportunity but Jesus is there. Through a handful of dedicated people he is bringing his love, light and hope and little by little, lives are being transformed.

Alex Perkin

Alex is from the UK and is a student studying global ‘Development Studies & Geography' at SOAS university in London. After working for a youth organization (Soul Survivor UK) for 3 years, he wanted to engage more with God's heart for justice and social action so is pursuing a career in development. He loves time with family, friends and cooking stir-fries!

Tales from the Road... Audiofeed 2014

Here at MAM we love the summer as it our opportunity to get out on the road and head to some festivals. This year we are taking our #beyondcompare campaign with us to try and challenge our culture of comparing ourselves to others and to start seeing ourselves as God does. First stop this year was Audiofeed in Illinois...

Audiofeed is a small festival but with an awesome sense of community. We had a booth where we were giving out information and selling our new #beyondcompare t-shirts and Banded headbands too. We ran a seminar on some of the issues that we look at and had a good few shout outs from the stage giving us lots of opportunity to share what MAM is all about. 

The highlight for us was seeing everyone getting on board with the new campaign and sharing what makes them #beyondcompare. Here is just a taster but you can all the photos from the event on our Flickr page... 

We were really humbled by the statements that people made and how open and willing people were to get involved. If you want to join in the fun you can post a photo on our facebook wall, instagram or twitter (@MAMministries) telling us something about you with the hashtag #beyondcompare - go on, get involved!

As well as really enjoying the festival we managed to enjoy our road trip to get there and back - visiting a variety of very large things (including Superman, a peach, Uncle Sam) and a very tiny chapel too...

If you think it looks like fun - it is! We still have a couple of places to volunteer with us this summer so let us know if you are interested.  

Next stop Wachinyeya, North Dakota...