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Just When I Thought I Was OK
June 20, 2023
by Tracie Miles

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT)

The conversation was going along fine. Laughing. Poking fun. Making plans for a vacation. Just having a good time until we weren’t.  I said something in a joking manner, but my friend didn’t hear it that way, and the tables suddenly turned. My friend responded with instant anger and annoyance, which caught me off guard, and I felt misunderstood. Then the friend made some hurtful remarks and walked away.   Instantly, I shut down and my walls came up, which has become my involuntary response to these types of situations. Anxiety rolled in, my thoughts plummeted, and flashback visions of the past played before my eyes as if they were actually happening as if I was reliving traumatic events all over again. The emotions and hurt I routinely felt in past, similar circumstances with someone else felt just as strong in the present moment.  Just when I thought I was doing OK something triggered a past memory of a trauma that occurred. Feelings crashed down, fears flared up and walls erected.  Triggers from emotional wounds are real. They leave us feeling vulnerable, unsafe, unable to trust others, and at times unable to move forward with a healthy state of mind, peace or joy. Fear seeps into our souls, and it can be hard to shake.  Although the Bible doesn’t specifically address the phrase “emotional triggers,” we can still glean so much wisdom and comfort from many passages in Scripture as we cope and heal. Today’s key verse is merely one of those. Second Timothy 1:7 says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”

God’s Word tells us countless times not to fear because He’s got us covered (Isaiah 41:10). We have the power, through Him, to control our feelings, though that’s not always easy (Proverbs 16:32).  God's Word also helps us find freedom from our thoughts by capturing them and turning them around (2 Corinthians 10:5). His comfort can soothe our emotions as we breathe in His love (2 Corinthians 1:4).  As we lay our burdens at His feet, God ushers peace into our hearts (Matthew 11:28). We can learn to practice forgiveness of the ones who hurt us and to release the bondage of traumatic memories and anger (Ephesians 4:31).  We can lean into trusting God, believing He has our past and our future in His hands because of the love He has for us (Jeremiah 29:11). We can have faith that we will overcome adversity in His strength and power, just like David, Peter, Paul and even Jesus did in Scripture (2 Corinthians 4:8-9).  All of these biblical truths and practices can slowly heal us from the inside out, alongside the God-given blessings of counseling, therapy and medication if needed.  Over the years, I’ve finally learned that the hurt I endured during my marriage left scabs on my heart that can be all too easily ripped open. And when that happens, it only compounds other traumatic experiences earlier in life where emotional scars run deep. Yet if I remember all the countless holy truths and promises woven throughout God’s Word, I can learn to feel empowered to see life through His lens instead of mine and you can do the same.  A lot of people experience triggers from any form of emotional, mental or physical trauma every single day maybe even you. But regardless of what caused your wounds, healing is possible for all believers with God’s help. There are many beneficial avenues of healing that modern medicine provides, yet our faith is the core foundation that will get us through.  Because of our Lord, we don’t have to let fears, hurts from the past or triggers in the present dictate who we are or if we are happy. They don’t have to have control over us if we put God in control instead.  Healing is a process, not a destination, and God will be with us every step of the way.

A pastor assured his congregation he was their servant and that they should feel free to call him anytime they had a problem.  That night the pastor's phone rang at 3 a.m. On the other end was a dear elderly lady who said, "Pastor, I can't sleep."

"I'm so sorry to hear that," he comforted her. "But what can I do about it?" the pastor asked.

She sweetly replied, "Preach to me a while, pastor."

The horrible woman doesn't deserve any sympathy for what she did and who she chooses to live with.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/royals/article-13176811/How-young-Queen-foiled-cynical-campaign-Edward-Mrs-Simpson-gatecrash-early-years-reign-ALEXANDER-LARMANs-new-book-reveals-exiled-couple-formidable-foe-saw-like-shed-Harry-Meghan.html?login&param_code=tn1k5iuclyy255wqgd6h&param_state=eyJyZW1lbWJlck1lIjpmYWxzZSwicmFuZG9tU3RhdGUiOiI1MDVhYjY3ZC04MmYwLTRkYTctOGI1Mi02NzU2ZWRlNWQ4NGMifQ%3D%3D&param__host=www.dailymail.co.uk&param_geolocation=row&base_fe_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymail.co.uk%2F&validation_fe_uri=%2Fregistration%2Fp%2Fapi%2Ffield%2Fvalidation%2F&check_user_fe_uri=registration%2Fp%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fuser_check%2F&isMobile=false

How the young Queen foiled a cynical campaign by Edward and Mrs Simpson to gatecrash the early years of her reign, ALEXANDER LARMAN's new book reveals. The exiled couple found a formidable foe who saw them off like she'd see off Harry and Meghan

By Alexander Larman

Published: 12:10, 9 March 2024 | Updated: 12:10, 9 March 2024

Had the Duke of Windsor wished to portray himself as a king-in-exile, he could not have done so more ostentatiously than at La Croe, the chateau in the south of France which he and his wife had moved to following his abdication.  With a staff of 28 and guests of the calibre of Noel Coward and Winston Churchill, they indulged in self-aggrandising theatricality, as if in compensation for all that he who ruled so briefly as King Edward VIII had given up to marry Wallis Simpson, the American divorcee who was now the Duchess.  'A tiny little white table for us four was set on the huge lawn,' recalled one visitor. 'There were rows of footmen the night was furiously hot but the Duke was in full Scottish regalia. I thought he was staging a production of some sort.'

Another observer was similarly dismissive about the relationship between the Duke and Duchess. Describing their presence at a Monte Carlo gala, he wrote: 'She had on every jewel. He wore a kilt. It was like watching a couple in pantomime the studied gestures, the automatic smiles.'

The Duke was no more subtle when he returned to England in February 1952 for the funeral of his younger brother, King George VI, who had so reluctantly come to the throne following his abdication.

One observer remarked on Edward's 'swaggering' manner, and described how he was 'talking and looking around, gesticulating and almost waving to the huge and completely silent crowd'.

As the late King himself had written to their mother Queen Mary, the Duke 'seems to think that when he gave up his work for which he was trained, he could "live" it down and return here as a private individual and all would be well. He has to consider others beside himself, and I doubt whether even now he realises the irrevocable step he took and the ghastly shock he gave this country.'

Among the biggest upsets caused by the Duke was one all too familiar to today's Royal Family following the publication of Prince Harry's autobiography Spare in January 2023. This came seven decades after the release of the Duke of Windsor's memoirs, his revenge on those he believed had wronged him in the years since his decision to give up the throne had left him jobless, stateless and rootless.  Much given to self-pity, he never admitted to being the author of his own misfortunes, instead blaming his brother for just about everything, including his inability to find a job that suited him.  His tenure as governor to the Bahamas between 1940 and 1945 had been dogged by endless controversy, including his friendship with the Nazi-sympathising mogul Axel Wenner-Gren, who had an estate there and no doubt agreed with the Duke's privately expressed view that 'Hitler was not such a bad chap'.

After leaving the Bahamas in May 1945, the Duke and Duchess based themselves at the Waldorf Towers in New York where their suite was decorated in suitably regal if garish style. One visitor noted that it contained everything from full-length portraits of George III and George IV the latter being the ruler the Duke had often explicitly compared himself to to two liveried footmen, and even napkins embossed with the Royal arms.  Shortly afterwards the Duke suggested to the King that he should become an ambassador-at-large to the United States, leaving the official ambassador, Lord Halifax, to attend to the drudgery and official business while he travelled the world first class, naturally and the bill was picked up by someone else.  Halifax, a former Foreign Secretary who had dealt with the Duke during his governorship of the Bahamas, remembered his arrogance, lack of consideration to his fellow man and general inability to do his work to the required standards. When asked to comment on the Duke's proposal, he wrote: 'I cannot but think that anything of this sort would lead to inevitable trouble.'

In March 1946 the King wrote to his brother to tell him that the appointment would not be possible, and the Duke's anger was exacerbated by his brother's continued refusal to give his wife the recognition he believed was her due. Although the terms of the abdication entitled him to use the title of His Royal Highness, this was denied to the Duchess and he considered this insulting and wrong.  Within two months he had written to his lawyer, Sir Walter Monckton, outlining his plans to write 'my side of the abdication story'. He claimed he wanted to explode the 'considerable doubt and conjecture' that existed in people's minds. But as he confided in former courtier Godfrey Thomas, he had noted the lucrative deal secured for Winston Churchill's six-volume history of the Second World War and didn't see why he shouldn't be similarly rewarded.  Edward may have airily compared himself to Churchill, but there was a key difference between the two men. The former Prime Minister was a talented writer with an ear for a killer phrase, while the former monarch was an adequate, if verbose, correspondent given to unjustified self-regard.  A ghostwriter was needed, and his American publisher appointed journalist Charles Murphy, a former China correspondent for Fortune magazine and an expert on global intelligence matters.  When they began work at La Croe in the summer of 1947, Murphy discovered that the then 54-year-old Duke was spending most of his nocturnal hours in various nightclubs, often remaining out until dawn. He later wrote: 'His span of attention was two and a half minutes maximum, and when the story of the preceding night was plainly written in his trembling hands and bloodshot eyes, I knew that another workday would have to be scrubbed.'

The book still wasn't finished by the end of 1949, by which time the King had learned that rumours of its intended publication were not mere gossip. According to the Conservative politician Harold Nicolson, he was 'very distressed at the news'.  Although fully aware that the King was recovering from an operation to address vascular problems caused by his heavy smoking, Edward came to London that December to raise with him once again the increasingly vexed situation of the Duchess's HRH title.  Their meeting did not go well. In a letter to Princess Elizabeth, the Queen described how Edward 'came & had one of his violent yelling conversations, stamping up and down the room, & very unfairly saying that because Papa wouldn't (& couldn't) do a certain thing, that Papa must hate him'.

The book was eventually published in September 1951 just five months before the King's death from a coronary thrombosis. Although there are no letters detailing the King or Queen's reaction, it is a safe assumption that their opinion did not stray far from that of his private secretary Sir Alan 'Tommy' Lascelles. Writing to a colleague, he expressed disgust at 'a former King of England selling for money his recollections of his family life, in a form that is indecent and for a motive that is squalid'.

The reviews were mixed. The Times Literary Supplement talked of how 'it is the Duke's own book his own personality, his likes and strong dislikes, spring to life as well as his keen sense of humour'.

Had they known of the extent of Charles Murphy's involvement, the praise may have been more lukewarm, like that of The Observer which sighed: 'The wisdom of publication is arguable the hero emerges as rather a pathetic figure.'

Such criticism did not harm sales. Charles Murphy estimated that the Duke earned close to £357,000 the equivalent of about £10million today from A King's Story. But the couple's expensive tastes meant that sums of money that would have kept most people happy for a lifetime were spent in a matter of months.  The book also estranged the Duke from his family for ever, as became clear following the King's death on February 6, 1952.  During a press conference given aboard the Queen Mary as he sailed from New York, the Duke hinted that his visit to London for the funeral was not a purely selfless one, pointing out to American newspaper reporters: 'Queen Elizabeth is only 25 how young to assume the responsibilities of a great throne in these precarious times?'

Backing away from the clear implication that he might step in as regent for 'the girl' as he and his wife referred to her in private he concluded: 'She has the good wishes and support of us all.'

But it was clear that he and Wallis had discussed the likelihood that they stood to gain preferment if they played their cards right.  While the Duke was in London for the funeral, Wallis wrote to remind him to ingratiate himself with the new Queen and her husband, adding: 'I know how you hate being there but this is a golden opportunity and it may only knock but once.'

Whatever their plans, they had underestimated their implacable opponent in the Queen Mother who, for all her public and private proclamations that she would be taking on a supporting role now that her daughter was on the throne, remained a powerful figure who was not yet ready to shuffle off into her dotage.  The first indication that she was prepared to flash steel concerned not the Duke but Prince Philip.  Having spent a considerable amount of time and money refurbishing Clarence House as a home for Princess Elizabeth and their young children Charles and Anne, Philip objected to moving to Buckingham Palace, insisting there was no need for the expense and bother of uprooting the new Royal Family.  His mother-in-law did not agree. 'I have been feeling very unhappy all today, and I suppose that talking about leaving Buckingham Palace just finished me off,' she wrote in a letter to Elizabeth.

But although she was clearly still coming to terms with her altered status, she knew that every monarch since Queen Victoria had lived at the palace, and nobody believed more strongly in upholding protocol than she.  'Naturally you must move back to B.P. in the spring,' she insisted and eventually Philip had to accept the monarchy was a greater institution than four people. He gave in.

The Queen Mother was more unyielding still when it came to dealing with her brother-in-law, reserving continued contempt for the man whose actions she believed had affected her husband's health irreparably in the years leading up to his death.  Shortly before the funeral, the Duke learned that the £10,000 he had been receiving as an annual allowance since his abdication was to be stopped, as it had been purely in his brother's gift.  Lingering in Britain after the ceremony, he wrote a letter to 'Cookie' the insulting sobriquet he and the Duchess used for the Queen Mother to request a private appointment.  'I can well understand your not wanting to be bothered by people at this terribly sad moment in your life,' he said. 'But I would very much like to have a talk with you alone.' 

His request was granted, but if he had hoped to bring his brother's widow to his side over the vexed question of money he was to be disappointed, as he was over his plan to attend his niece's Coronation.  Following a conversation with the young woman about to take up the mantle of majesty, Geoffrey Fisher, the Archbishop of Canterbury, recorded in his notes that 'the Queen would be less willing than anyone to have him there'.

In this she may have been influenced by her mother, but the new Queen was also discovering confidence in adversity, commenting to one friend: 'I no longer feel anxious or worried. I don't know what it is, but I have lost all my timidity somehow becoming the sovereign.'

Her uncle had been an appalling, selfish king; her father a dutiful and serviceable one. But Elizabeth II was someone quite different.  Her reign would not be without controversy, incident or upset, but never would she be regarded by her loyal and adoring subjects as anything other than an inspiration. She was the longest-serving monarch in British history, and in many regards the greatest.

© Alexander Larman, 2024

Adapted from Power And Glory by Alexander Larman, to be published by Orion on March 28 at £25. To order a copy for £22.50 (offer valid to 23/2/24; UK p&p free on orders over £25) go to mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937.

That council shouldn't have done that, it starts up hatred towards Jewish who shouldn't be made to feel hatred.

black sky

fire

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God Doesn’t Work by Coincidence
February 7, 2023
by Tracie Miles

“He has made everything beautiful in its time.” Ecclesiastes 3:11a (NLV)

I nervously typed up the email and reviewed it a few more times for accuracy.  For more than a year, I had been working on this new project. But now I knew it was time to trust God, move forward and spread the word rather than continue to let fear and procrastination keep me stuck.  As my fingers hovered hesitantly over the keyboard, I finally hit the “send” button. And off it went. A sense of anxiousness came over me but was quickly interrupted by a quiet voice stirring in my spirit.  What is today’s date, Tracie?

God whispered.  Perplexed, I glanced at the calendar and was instantly taken aback. It was not until that very moment that my eyes were opened and I realized the significance of the date.  It had been exactly seven years, to the day, since my 26-year marriage imploded and my entire life turned upside down. My thoughts were instantly drawn back to the painful memories, overwhelming emotions and crippling fears that had brought me to my knees on that unforgettable, traumatic day seven years ago.  But God quickly shifted my thoughts and helped me refocus. I certainly hadn’t planned on kicking off my new business project on this particular day, and at first I thought, It's just a coincidence. But was it?

As I pondered this, God calmed my anxiousness and gently reminded me that over the past seven years, He had turned my life around completely, exchanged my sadness for joy, and transformed my pain into purpose. In His perfect timing, He had brought me to a place where I never thought I would find myself healed, restored and filled with passion for a purpose I never even imagined.  I immediately recalled how, in Scripture, the number seven often symbolizes a sense of fullness or completeness. In fact, throughout the Bible, the number seven appears 735 times, and it often references the holy works of God, repeatedly serving as proof of the perfection and beauty God orchestrates.  In today’s key verse, we read that “[God] has made everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

This verse reminds us that all things are crafted by God including time. He is behind all things and the way they will turn out. It also reminds us that everything happens exactly when it should. Not by chance or irony but by a divine plan beyond our comprehension.  On this day ordained by God, after experiencing a devastating heartbreak I thought I’d never recover from, I stepped out in faith, pushed past my insecurities and pursued a dream God laid on my heart. I had no idea this was the day God had appointed for me to take this leap of faith. But it was. Certainly not a coincidence, this had been planned long before my time on earth even began.  My faith soared, and this evidence of God’s sovereignty reminded me to put all my trust in Him for all things. Always. Why?

Because nothing is random with God.  He had been divinely orchestrating behind the scenes to turn my ashes into beauty, in His perfect timing, exactly seven years later.  God is in the process of perfectly planning out your life as well, in a way only He can. Trust that He is in the details, and believe with all your heart that one day you’ll see His perfect plan for you fall into place.  I promise it will cause your heart and your faith to soar.