Ah Ha moments....

I fall down, I get up...I fall down, I get up....I fall down, I get up....I fall down, He gets me up
Anyone else have this pattern before? The hard lessons seem to come when He has to help me get up. Those are usually the moments when I would sit and stay down if I could. The moments when you feel broken for whatever reason and only He can rebuild and put the pieces back together. The moment you realize that little whisper you didn't listen to which could have lead to this broken part on your side. I digress.

When God says to do something, take time for something, you have two choices. Do it His way or Do it His way after you try it your way. I missed one whisper(well let me preface saying, I didn't MISS it...but I didn't fight to stay with it(self-control and I not friends at times), and only after falling down hard this past week, did I find that whisper I tried to do my way. So after some serious seeking time, some seeking forgiveness time, and letting Him pick me back up am I ready to move forward.

So lessons learned from this falling down time:

• Words hurt period. Regardless of how they are meant to come across, sometimes words are painful. Be careful what you say and always be willing to ask for forgiveness later.
• Someone may need you to listen, not to try and do. Just listen. They will let you know when they need more than that.
• Treat everyone with respect the way you want to be treated. The hardest thin to do sometimes is to smile, say yes mam, and walk away. Then you go to your room and have a good cry. Everyone has an opinion and everyone has a voice. Don't let titles keep you from missing out on the talent right under your nose.
• You are responsible for you. Do what you can while you can, and trust that for the others taking the "easy" road, there is a harvest time for them as well.
• Believe in yourself even if others don't. You know what God has placed inside of you. Do what you can to grow it, cultivate it, and let Him water it in His time.
• Don't get back in the box God is done with and don't let others put you back in that box. Put the lid on it and move on. Don't let others put you back in it either.
• Let God's word be the positive that helps you forget that negative someone else says.
• Never forget to love on  yourself, otherwise you won't be able to love on others.

It's a new week and I am ready to move forward. You can't always forget, but you can forgive and move on. Don't let what others say about you be the words you remember, let them be what HE says about you. God called us to love others, He didn't call us to be a doormat. Sometimes standing up for yourself means staying quiet and moving on, trusting that when the opportunity arises to speak, He will give you the words to say.

Have a great week!
Until next time
~Melissa

She loved........

I have done WAY too much thinking over the last couple of days. My brain is full, and I am so ready to write. I'll do my best to stay focused. The question was posed in a training session this week about what would we want our legacy to be after we are no longer here. Well I got two words out and then I just couldn't go there any more. Why couldn't I go there? because that's me. I knew in my head what I wanted to say, but there was a block that couldn't write any further. I also knew if I went there there was no amount of chocolate that could get me back to a happy place that day. It was just one of those days. The verse and song at the bottom of the blog were the inspiration of what started the writing. The two words I got out were She loved. In essence that encompasses so much. Too many times we live our lives for other people. Understand, that's different than serving. Living your life for other people the way I'm talking about means living to meet others expectations. Living a life of service means doing what you can to meet the needs of others. You are responsible for you. That means, how you react(regardless of what others do or say), what you do with the time you have, and the mark you leave on this earth. Living in your gift means doing what you love(and are good at!), regardless of what anyone thinks, what you feel, or what others do. God didn't call you to make a difference at the expense of losing yourself. I've been in the woodshed so to speak over the last couple of weeks on beating myself up. (Some of you are reading this going, she would never beat herself up, and others are just smiling). Yes I am harder on myself than ANYONE else, and I know it doesn't make Him happy. He made me the way I am and He is so tired of my apologizing for things that He considers gifts. Here's the visual I was given: Imagine you give someone a gift, one you find pretty special. You are over at their house one day, and you hear them complaining about that gift. Oh they like it, but they get frustrated using for one reason or another and apologize because it doesn't work like it should(in their eyes, because in reality it does). Follow me? How would you feel? God gave us gifts, He wired us a certain way, and has plans for us that only we can do. There are doors He wants to open for just YOU, but you have to start walking first. Quit apologizing for the gifts He gave you, open them up, and use them. NO they may not always work like you think they should, but ALL things work according to His plan. You are a piece to this puzzle called life and the puzzle is not complete with your piece. Live your life that way. Live Him each and every day, and He will take care of the rest. 1 Timothy 4:12, is a verse I have loved for years. Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young(that means YOU). You have ideas and gifts to offer at any age. God will take care of the words, but first you have to be willing to open your mouth.
Live it for Him,
Until next time,
~Melissa

 

1 Timothy 4:12

New International Version (NIV)

¹² Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.

Shadows

It has been an amazing summer(a crazy busy one and down right chaotic at times), but an amazing summer nonetheless. I haven't accomplished everything I had on my summer to-do list, but I don't think any teacher reaches the end of summer and says, yep I finished everything I had planned to do. I've done some things that were not on the list, and others will get finished as I walk into this new school year. I was reminded yet again this morning, that if we will listen, He will show us things about ourselves that we didn't know were there. He whispered something, that just made me smile. I didn't set out to accomplish it this summer, but through the course of the events He worked it out through me. I know some of you are sitting there wondering okay what's she talking about and why is the title labeled shadows. See I am a firm believer that God knows my heart better than anyone else. He knows my innate desires, those things that I'm too scared to tell anyone else, and He knows those weaknesses that I refuse to let show to others. (Yes you can hide your weaknesses with fake, but you can never hide them from Him.) He knows how He wired you and He knows what He has made you to be. He knew I needed to believe in myself like He believes in me. It's not about what others think, its about what I think and do. My actions speak louder than my words is such a powerful quote, but it applies to yourself as well. If you believe in yourself, it's not a pride thing, its a knowing who you are in Him and knowing that regardless of public opinion, you are called to live Him. Believing in yourself like He does, releases you from looking to others for approval and knowing that He will take care of that part as well. Through the course of events this summer and something a friend told me, I've realized some things about myself that I had hid for too long. I've played the part and stayed in the shadows, but there is more to me than that. There comes a time when you truly grasp what He says about you and realize that what others think does not make a difference. You are accountable for what you do, how you act, and what you say. You are responsible for how you react to what comes at you, regardless of how you feel. Life is not always going to feel good on the outside, you are going to get hurt and people are going to play mean, BUT that doesn't need to/have to affect how you see yourself. It is God's job to understand and figure out why others think the way they do and act that way, not yours. You may not understand why someone did something, that's okay. Confess it/Speak it and move on....knowing that you will never truly understand so why let it continue to eat away at you. Don't put God in a box and don't put yourself in one either. Too many times we have in our minds what we want to have happen, where we want to go and God has so much bigger in store. The thing you may be seeking, may in God's plan just be a stepping stone. Don't set your eyes on the here and now. Okay this blog is getting long enough...It's really my heart on paper without getting specific. Last thing on the title, the only shadow you should be seeking to follow is God's. When you step where He steps and go where He goes life will be good. Don't follow(or let someone else direct you to follow), another person's shadows. You are YOU and God made YOU to do things that only you can.
Until next time,
Melissa

Blog to come:
Live your heart, make your time count, and take the time  you need to invest in those who need you. There is a difference in need and use. Spend time with God and He'll show you the difference between the two.