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Christina Cook Lee

Media Producer - Author - Blogger - Songwriter

Progress

Moving forward

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Topic: Progress

Focus: Moving forward

1 Timothy 4:15
 (NIV) Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.

I went to a gem show last Sunday. I like to make necklaces, earrings, and bracelets. It’s a hobby that gives me a lot of satisfaction because it doesn’t require a lot of time and the results can always be unique and fun.

The gem show was held at a large auditorium where many tables displayed thousands of strands of glass, metal, stone, shell, and pearl beads. I wandered through the aisles a few times before settling on what I would purchase. I ‘watch myself’ as I shop at events like gem shows. I wait to see what I am drawn to repeatedly and don’t just pick up the first thing that jumps out at me.

In the end, I went back to a vendor who had some irregular shaped, dark gray fresh water pearls. There were many vendors who had the same sort of pearls at the show, but I liked the pearls this merchant had because they were ‘less perfect’ than the rest. I will make a set of jewelry from these irregular pearls that remind me of myself.

Pearls are special to me because they come from something living and are produced as a result of an ‘irritation’. The oyster is capable of producing a number of pearls in its lifetime and doesn’t necessarily die when a pearl is harvested.

Wow, think about that. Are you irritated with stuff, people, work, responsibilities that you can’t get rid of? Maybe there is something here for you.

When something comes inside its shell, an oyster can’t just ‘eject’ it. As much as it would probably like to, it isn’t really possible. What happens to that little grain of sand or irritant–is that it begins to be coated with a substance called nacre–produced by the oyster. Layer after layer of nacre coats the irritant.

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The whole process of building up layers of nacre around the irritant, keeps it from becoming a contaminant and reduces the degree of irritation to the oyster. By covering the irritant with this shield of sorts, the oyster’s own life is saved and something good and valuable comes from the foreign object that entered the shell.

When I came back to God at age 26, I had a hard time forgetting about the nine years I thought I had ‘wasted’. I felt like I was already old. I had so many regrets about things I had done and my failed relationships. There was no going back and fixing a lot of the damage done. I could only give the mess to God and hope I would never sink that low again.

A lot of years have passed since then and now I see that life is a lot like pearl production. Stuff happens. Irritants come into our life and we can choose to let them be a disturbance—or we can make them into pearls. When things come at us that we can’t get away from—we don’t necessarily have to think that they are interruptions in the progress of our spiritual life. The irritant may be something sent from the Master’s hand for us to ‘work on’ and use as an opportunity to create something beautiful in the form of a lesson learned—that showed us more about the love and compassion of God.

In that sense, you can imagine each of your memories of failure as something that came in and took up residence for a while in your life. If you just live thinking that negative experience was a waste—that’s all it ever will be. But if you look at it as ‘hard won wisdom’ and something you will never do again—it is a pearl of great price.

Trials and irritants are a normal occurrence when you are trying to live a life that counts. The Word of God says that there will be many afflictions in a righteous person’s life. The important thing is to keep making progress and learn to see the beauty that can be produced from something that we could have allowed to kill us.

In your lifetime, you will no doubt accumulate a whole string of pearls. Individually the pearls, which represent lessons learned and wisdom won may not be perfect and beautiful to behold…but when you put them all together, the collection creates an amazing one of a kind ‘you’.

None of us are perfect. We’ve all made more mistakes than we care to recall, but day by day, as we continue to learn and grow from things we can’t necessarily change—we’re making progress and something beautiful is taking place in our life.

Declaration: I will find new strength by looking for value in past lessons learned and keep moving forward.

IF YOU SUBSCRIBE TO NEW STRENGTH DEVOTIONAL BELOW, A NEW SEGMENT WILL COME TO YOUR EMAIL EACH DAY.

For music selections that will help bring hope and encouragement during your recovery from depression and addiction, https://www.youtube.com/user/NewStrengthMusic/playlists?sort=dd&view=1

All NEW STRENGTH posts are Copyright by Christina Cook Lee 2012. Please request permission to re-post or re-blog.

Sharing your testimony

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Topic: Progress

Focus: Sharing your testimony

Hebrews 6:9-12 (NKJV) But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. 

Part of the beauty of a person who is walking in recovery is that they are not only a precious example of what God can do in the life of a broken individual who is completely surrendered to His hands—but they are also a beacon of light to the ones who are just starting on their own journey.

If you keep walking in victory, your life can have a tremendous impact on others.

If you are faithful, God will certainly give you opportunities to share what He has done in your life. It may be person to person, through divine appointments that could only have been arranged by Him—or it might be in front of a roomful of people. This might not sound appealing to you, but it’s an important part of your own healing…to tell your story in a way that will help and encourage others.

As you verbalize what has taken place in your heart, God will multiply His blessings on you. As you hear your own voice making declarations about your progress and recovery, you will become even more strengthened in your commitment to keep moving forward and stay clean.

Most likely, someone was a role model to you, as you began your own journey. At times when you’ve been discouraged and tempted to fall back, you might have remembered that person and how they were also tempted, but made it through tough times, too. Knowing other people have struggled as you have helps give you determination to press on when it would be so much easier to just slack off.

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If you haven’t had another person you could turn to during this time—that’s all the more reason you should make yourself available to someone who might be needing the kind of support you could have benefited from.

You might be wondering what kind of role model you could possibly be to someone else, when you still feel barely able to get through a day. Don’t be too concerned about the amount of experience you have under your belt. If you are a day or two ahead of someone else, that’s enough encouragement for them to keep trying—just like you have. It’s a day by day effort.

God is very much in favor of giving a person like you the help you need to become a minister of hope. If you tell Him you’re willing, He will give you the right opportunities.

If you worry that you might fail and be a stumbling block, try to remember that it isn’t your power—it’s God’s power that has sustained you this far. His power is the only thing that will get you through today, tomorrow, and the next day. If it’s His power that you’re trusting in—then you have nothing to fear, because He cannot fail. It’s looking at our own strength that makes us start to worry we might not make it.

Thoughts and fears that you can’t succeed are from the devil, who is the author of lies and the accuser of those who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus.

Remember what Isaiah 54:17 (NIV) says. “No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from Me,” declares the Lord.

Walking in victory includes yielding yourself for the Master’s use. Your own personal testimony is the most powerful story you can ever share. You are a sinner saved by the grace of God through Jesus Christ, and your experience is unique and beautiful to the ears of someone who is suffering from the insecurity and weakness associated with depression and dependency.

Being an able minister of the gospel is really very simple. All you have to do is share the truth of what has happened in your own life, which is something no one can dispute…since it’s your story.

Declaration: I will find new strength by verbalizing my progress in recovery whenever I am given the opportunity, as a labor of love. As I hear my own words and make positive declarations, I will be blessed…and I will be a blessing.

IF YOU SUBSCRIBE TO NEW STRENGTH DEVOTIONAL BELOW, A NEW SEGMENT WILL COME TO YOUR EMAIL EACH DAY.

For music selections that will help bring hope and encouragement during your recovery from depression and addiction, https://www.youtube.com/user/NewStrengthMusic/playlists?sort=dd&view=1

All NEW STRENGTH posts are Copyright by Christina Cook Lee 2012. Please request permission to re-post or re-blog.

Redeeming the time

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Topic: Progress

Focus: Redeeming the time

Ephesians 5:15-17 (NKJV) See then that you walk circumspectly (heedful of circumstances and potential consequences), not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

These are difficult days to live in, if you have battled with depression and dependency. Ephesians 5:16 makes an honest statement; ‘the days are evil’. They are at least as evil now as they were in the first century, A.D.

Evil times oppose a person who is trying to make progress in their recovery, which is why you need to be especially heedful of your circumstances and the potential consequences, by not being careless about your own vulnerability at this point.

In Matthew chapter 12, Jesus told a short story in verses 43-45 (NKJV) , known as, ‘The Parable of the Swept House’.

“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”

As I was researching this parable, I wanted to learn more about how Bible scholars would interpret the story. I was particularly looking for more insight on ‘the swept house’, when I came across an essay called, ‘The Empty House’, written by George Lyons. As I was reading what he wrote, I felt like I had ‘struck gold’, when I came across the phrase, ‘moral reformation without spiritual regeneration’.

Think about that. In other words, ‘the empty house’ could represent a person who had a problem with depression and dependency, and decided to ‘reform’. They turned from their habit, or evil spirit—but they didn’t do a proper job of filling the empty house with the Holy Spirit and with an ongoing healthy diet of spiritual nourishment.

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So, while the initial effort of sweeping the house clean was a good thing to do—the house was left ‘empty’ and the door was open, so there was room enough for even more evil to return and take up residence.

The concept of being seven times worse than you have ever been is frightening to say the least—but it need not happen to you, if you are wise and understand what the will of the Lord is. 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 (KJV) says, “Pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

It’s not enough to turn from our wicked ways. According to 2 Chronicles 7:14, we need to humble ourselves and pray and seek the face of God without ceasing if we want to be forgiven and experience true healing.

If you have struggled with temptation and failed in the past but want to stay clean, you may not have the same options as other people. In order to keep your house clean, you may have to close the door and bolt it to keep the evil from coming back inside. Meanwhile, you are locked safely inside the house communing with the Holy Spirit, nurturing yourself with the life-giving Word of God, and becoming spiritually regenerated.

Some people think they can open the door to all kinds of evil influences and invite them to come in while they are filled with the Holy Spirit. They are fooling themselves. The Holy Spirit is Holy. Light and darkness can’t dwell together. When you invite evil to come on in—you are dismissing the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit will not stand in the doorway of your house and refuse to let evil come in. You have to be the guard of your own gate. The Holy Spirit is a guest in your home. When you allow offensive influences to pollute the atmosphere—the Holy Spirit will step aside. 2 Corinthians 6:14 says, “Do not be unequally yolked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?”

I look at it this way, I’ve already wasted enough of my life by compromising. I want to spend whatever I have left, redeeming the time. Not that I can fix the past by living right—only the blood of Jesus can blot out my sin—I just don’t want to compromise any more of the present and future by being careless.

Declaration: I will find new strength by resisting evil. I will make progress by not wasting any more of my life than I already have. I will not leave my clean house ‘empty and vulnerable’. I will nurture myself with the Word of God and stay filled with the Holy Spirit. By doing these things, I will experience moral reformation and spiritual regeneration.

IF YOU SUBSCRIBE TO NEW STRENGTH DEVOTIONAL BELOW, A NEW SEGMENT WILL COME TO YOUR EMAIL EACH DAY.

For music selections that will help bring hope and encouragement during your recovery from depression and addiction, https://www.youtube.com/user/NewStrengthMusic/playlists?sort=dd&view=1

All NEW STRENGTH posts are Copyright by Christina Cook Lee 2012. Please request permission to re-post or re-blog.

Hard work and consistency

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Topic: Progress

Focus: Hard work and consistency

Philippians 3:13-14 (NIV) Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

There is something comforting about knowing that ‘trash day’ is on Tuesday and Friday in our neighborhood. The garbage and other junk begins to pile up in our trash cans after only a couple of days. It’s a good feeling, when we’re able to take it to the street and have it picked up and carried away on regular days. Sure, the cycle starts all over again right after the truck hauls the load away, and in a few more days, there will be more stuff to dispose of.

Recovery is a lot like that, too. Some of the things you are working through can’t be done all at once and will require your consistent, ongoing attention. It’s a process that will keep you busy for the rest of your life.

Of course, you wish there was a graduation day, when somebody in authority would say to you, “You’re all done recovering now. You don’t have to work at it anymore.” That would be great in some ways, but truthfully, anything you pursue—hoping for excellence—is going to require hard work and consistency.

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Jascha Heifetz, is recognized as one of the most important and influential violinists of the twentieth century, who believed in maintaining a rigid practice schedule. Besides his perfectionist style of playing the violin, Heifetz is also remembered for saying, “If I don’t practice one day, I know it; two days, the critics know it; three days, the public knows it.”

Recovery isn’t exactly like playing the violin, but some parallels can be drawn. Heifetz was very particular about many things concerning his musical skills. In addition to practicing, he paid close attention to the care of his instruments. He preferred to use certain kinds of strings to produce a sound that was his own trademark. The strings he used weren’t purchased as a ‘set’. Heifetz believed in using a combination of different kinds of strings that were known for producing unique qualities.

As you progress in recovery, getting the ‘right results’ doesn’t come about by accident. Just like Heifetz, you have to be committed to maintain the things that will assure your continued success. You may learn to recognize the importance of avoiding some places and people which could cause you to regress, and you may also have to institute some healthy ‘practices’ that will help you stay encouraged and result in progress.

Now and then, you may have a landmark achievement, but most days of your recovery journey will not necessarily be characterized by major triumphs—just hard work and consistency.

During one period of time when I was struggling for my sanity, I made it a point to log the things I did throughout my days. I was having a hard time seeing any progress in my recovery, and writing down the simplest details was an effort—but it gave me a sense of satisfaction, when I was able to look over my notes in the evening and realize that I made a conscious effort to survive another day.

When your mind is preoccupied with anxiety and you’re having trouble staying encouraged, something as basic as a journal of ‘what you did’ during a day could help you feel like it wasn’t a complete waste.

My dad kept journals during the years he was disabled. They didn’t contain much material that was contemplative, but as time went by, the pages represented days he had ‘lived through’. The number of volumes increased as the years went by, and my dad’s collection of journals gave him a sense of accomplishment. He rarely went to bed at night without making notes on what he had read that day, or who had come to visit, and so on.

Recovery is hard work. Yes, it’s difficult imagining that you may have to keep working at it for the rest of your life and that you may never see a real ‘end’ to it. But something you can take comfort in, is the fact that God is with you every step of the way. He doesn’t give up on you and His love will always be there for you. You can talk to Him and He will listen. He’s always waiting to hear from you. He has promised you strength for each day and mercy that is new every morning. You can face this day and every day with the knowledge that God cares about everything that concerns you. He sees when the sparrow falls and you are much more precious to Him than a sparrow.

Declaration: I will find new strength by developing some good habits that will help me stay encouraged. Even if my steps are small—I’m still moving forward. With hard work and consistency, I will keep ‘getting through’ each day and making progress.

IF YOU SUBSCRIBE TO NEW STRENGTH DEVOTIONAL BELOW, A NEW SEGMENT WILL COME TO YOUR EMAIL EACH DAY.

For music selections that will help bring hope and encouragement during your recovery from depression and addiction, https://www.youtube.com/user/NewStrengthMusic/playlists?sort=dd&view=1

All NEW STRENGTH posts are Copyright by Christina Cook Lee 2012. Please request permission to re-post or re-blog.

The long-term plan of God

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Topic: Progress

Focus: The long-term plan of God

Exodus 15:13 (NKJV) In Your unfailing love You will lead the people You have redeemed. In Your strength You will guide them to Your holy dwelling.

In order to make progress, you have to want something better. You have to be tired of where you’ve been—tired enough to want change. When you’re tired, it’s not easy to find the energy to do anything. You can keep going along in the same paths, repeating the same actions, in a dull and monotonous force of habit. If your emotions are battered, you might not have the courage to take any kind of action. Some days you might have more energy and courage than others…but in a weakened state, people often just don’t try to break free.

God had been in the process of freeing His chosen people from slavery for a very long time. Long ago, when Moses was a tiny baby, God arranged for him to be discovered by pharaoh’s daughter, as he floated in a handmade waterproof basket in the river where the princess always went to bathe.

Moses was such a cute and helpless little guy that the princess couldn’t resist wanting him for her own. She arranged for him to be nursed by an Israelite woman, through the offer of a young girl who happened to be nearby when the princess found him. Of course, the princess didn’t know the young girl was Moses’ sister, Miriam. And she had no idea that the Israelite woman the young girl recommended to care for Moses, was his own mother.

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But why was Moses floating in a basket in the first place? What kind of mother would put her child in a river? Something as strange as that would only be done by a mother who was desperate. You see, Israelite baby boys were being murdered during the time of Moses’ birth. The Egyptians thought the Israelites were multiplying too fast and wanted to control their population. So, rather than have her baby killed, Moses’ mother took a valiant risk. She decided to make a basket and hide the baby in the river.

So it was, that Moses was nursed in the arms of his very own mother. She must have cherished those precious days. As hard as it would be to have to hand her baby son over to someone else, at least she knew Moses would live. After Moses was weaned, he went to live in the palace, where he was raised as the son of the princess. He was fed, clothed, and educated on a level he could have never received in his own family.

Years later, as a young adult, Moses witnessed an Israelite being beaten by an Egyptian. He went to the defense of the Israelite and ended up killing the Egyptian in the process. As a result, Moses ran for his life. For 40 years, Moses experienced a totally different existence in a place far away. One day, God spoke to him from a burning bush and asked him to return to Egypt and lead His people to freedom and a new life. When all of this happened, Moses was minding his own business and tending the sheep of his father-in-law.

Moses had a few weaknesses, and definitely lacked courage, but God wanted to use him anyway. Moses had legitimate reasons to be afraid of the job God was offering him—and he said so. Moses wasn’t a very good talker and he didn’t think the pharaoh would listen to him.

Moses was right. Pharaoh was very controlling and resisted all of the attempts of Moses, as he asked pharaoh to let his people go. After many different plagues and a considerable loss of life, pharaoh finally gave in, sort of, and the Israelites were able to leave Egypt. But the

story doesn’t end there. Because of ingratitude and disobedience, the trip to the promised land was long. Most of the ones who were ‘set free’, never reached their reward because they continued to grumble and make the wrong choices. Being set free was not the end of their problems.

As you have been set free from your own bondage, you must realize there are ongoing responsibilities to be met ‘by you’.  God will do His part—and you have to do your part, too. God has called you out of a lifestyle that was apart from His will. You have to be willing to keep moving forward by making the right decisions on a daily basis…it’s not a part time job.

When God called Moses, Moses was insecure. God told him that if he would co-operate, He would provide help. God also demonstrated His miracle working power to Moses…letting him know that it was not Moses’ power that would save His people, it was His.

Declaration: I will find new strength by cooperating with God and His long-term plan to help me make progress and stay free.

IF YOU SUBSCRIBE TO NEW STRENGTH DEVOTIONAL BELOW, A NEW SEGMENT WILL COME TO YOUR EMAIL EACH DAY.

For music selections that will help bring hope and encouragement during your recovery from depression and addiction, https://www.youtube.com/user/NewStrengthMusic/playlists?sort=dd&view=1

All NEW STRENGTH posts are Copyright by Christina Cook Lee 2012. Please request permission to re-post or re-blog.

Being transformed

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Topic: Progress

Focus: Being transformed

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (NKJV) Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Sprit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

As you continue to move forward, you will keep changing. You will not stay the same. Your life will be a constant process of newness. There was a time when you wondered how you would ever be able to change, but you don’t have to wonder anymore because the changing has already begun. You have changed more than you know—just by your decision to come out of bondage.

It’s a terrible thing to be bound in shackles…wanting things to be different, but not knowing how or where to begin to find freedom. In that condition, you continue to do what you have always done because you can’t imagine there could be another way. You live in a dull unawareness, going through mechanical motions—trying to accomplish what you think people expect you to do—without much thought about the fact that there could be another way.

Then one day the Spirit of the Lord reveals the chains that have been holding you back. You see that what you thought was freedom was really a myth.

Bondage causes us to see ourselves as through a ‘veil’. What we think we see is not the total truth. The bondage we bought into, gave us a promise that it didn’t deliver. We thought we were free to do what we wanted to do, but the freedom we thought we had—wasn’t actually freedom at all. When we come out from under bondage, the veil is removed and we’re able to see clearly.

Besides not seeing ourselves clearly, bondage also keeps us from being able to see the Lord clearly. Again, the veil has distorted our vision. How can we be transformed into the likeness of the Lord when things stand in the way of our seeing Him face to face? In order to become like Him—we have to be able to see Him…with nothing between Him and us. To see Him clearly, we have to get rid of the bondage that has veiled true clarity.

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You can’t really be free and under bondage at the same time. Galatians 5:1 (NKJV) says, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”  John 8:36 (NKJV) tell us, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

There are many kinds of bondage. Some kinds are obvious and others are almost invisible. Some kinds of bondage can seem like they’re not really bondage—until we choose to step into the light. When you have stepped out of the light and things have become ‘shadowed’ it’s hard to tell anything has changed at all. You go along in numbness, as though everything is fine—because you think it is.

When the day comes that you realize you are really not free and you have the tiniest fleeting memory or vision of what freedom was—or could be—you are faced with a choice to make. Will you continue to habitually and mechanically perform what you have come to accept? Or will you leap at the possibility for new life?

When the titanic was sinking, there were people who were trapped inside the vessel with no way out. There were others who were given an opportunity to step off the doomed ship into a comparatively small boat in the middle of dark, uncertain waters.

Some people undoubtedly felt guilty leaving those who weren’t being given the option of deliverance. Some probably stepped off the shuttering, groaning ‘unsinkable’ ship—that was indeed sinking—wondering if they were trading one kind of death for another. While others, made no hesitation.

The ones who seized the opportunity as it was offered, believed that abandoning ship was the only possible hope for life and a future. They were willing to take the risk—and they lived.

Still others, continued to believe it would be impossible for the gigantic, powerful ocean liner to actually disappear beneath the icy surface. They imagined staying on board would be much safer than launching out in a tiny lifeboat.

Depression and dependency are like a sinking ship on a dark night. You made the choice to take the lifeboat. You are alive. You made the right decision. Don’t look back…ever. Keep moving toward Jesus and stay free.

Declaration: I will find new strength daily as I remember I am no longer under bondage. I have been given a new life that will keep getting better and better as I keep moving toward Jesus and don’t allow anything to veil His image.

IF YOU SUBSCRIBE TO NEW STRENGTH DEVOTIONAL BELOW, A NEW SEGMENT WILL COME TO YOUR EMAIL EACH DAY.

For music selections that will help bring hope and encouragement during your recovery from depression and addiction, https://www.youtube.com/user/NewStrengthMusic/playlists?sort=dd&view=1

All NEW STRENGTH posts are Copyright by Christina Cook Lee 2012. Please request permission to re-post or re-blog.