Hi Reader,

The email below was first sent on November 21, 2021. It's funny because it's about control and when I sent it I thought I had given up control and gave it to God.

But...I actually didn't... haha-

The information is still good & I'll share a little more wisdom I learned at the bottom of the email.

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Happy Tuesday!

Do you want to know one of the most important commitments I made to find lasting healing from anxiety? It might be different than you would expect...

It was the beginning of the pandemic, and my anxiety was more horrible than usual. I think we all felt it. Not only was there so much uncertainty about the economy, illness, getting our basic needs met for food, water, toilet paper, 🤭 but we all had to go through it isolated from friends, family, and our churches.

For the first time in a long time for many of us, we were alone with God.

When they say God's timing is perfect, I can vouch for that! I had a book lying around that I meant to read for a while, and since there wasn't much going on, I picked it up and got started.

In the book, Brokenness: How God Redeems Pain and Suffering, Lon Solomon explains how the very trials that we feel will crush us, when given over to God willingly, actually bring us to a place of peace that we would never have gotten without the suffering.

Kind of how it's said in James1:2-4

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,

knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete,

lacking nothing."

​Looking around at the world and seeing that I had very little control brought me to a place of panic, but then also knowing that God was the only one that was stable in all of this gave me comfort.

​What finally broke me gave me peace.

​I submitted to God and gave Him complete control of my life, health, kids, and plans.

It's funny, though, because I avoided submitting to God for years out of fear that something terrible would happen as soon as I did.

But then God's timing was perfect again (always) because I stumbled across a sermon by Charles Stanley, and he said something along the lines of 'people think that if they submit their life to God, He is just waiting to hurt them. Like, oooh, they trust me, so I'm gonna take their kids away.'

I laughed out loud because that's exactly what I was thinking. Like God was going to pounce on me because I gave up control of something in my life and gave it over to Him.

I brought that fear to God in prayer and asked Him to help me give my life over to Him, entirely without holding back.

He did. ♥️

👉 Here's an important question to ask yourself: Have I given complete control of my life over to God yet?

If the answer is no 👉What are you afraid of losing if you give over control?

👉So if you're struggling to let go of something in your life that you know is in the place of God, just talk to God. Ask Him for help. He loves you and He is there for you.

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My 2023 take on this email 1 year into emotional coaching...

I look back at this email and still have the same fears I claimed to have been healed of.

But I'm not judging myself; I'm grateful I've found help.

I couldn't realize how bad things were back then because I had to live outside reality to get through each day.

And since I couldn't face reality- I couldn't really ask God for help. Of course, God knows what we need- yes-always.

But, I, myself, could not surrender my life because I was disconnected from who Donna Bartos, Donna Dixson, even was.

I also learned that it is nearly impossible to heal on your own

We just have too many blind spots.

I always talk about 'sitting with it' and have unknowingly been running from certain fears.

I had no clue I was doing it until my coach pointed it out. (0ver and over again actually) It's easy to forget what we need to do because change isn't fun for us or our brains.

And pain feels like shit no matter how much we learn to tolerate those uncomfortable sensations.

If you're struggling- please get help. There's no shame in taking care of yourself. Really caring for yourself.

Thanks for growing alongside me,

💕Donna Bartos | Anxiety Recovery Blogger