Taking a step back...

How many times do we get in the middle of something and keep praying for God to move and change something? Only to get still and hear Him go...take a step back. I have this standing prayer with God where I am comfortable with what He says(we'll call it the ocean), but every now and then I keep asking Him for the fish bowl. Why oh why I'll never know, but apparently I think my fish bowl prayers are more important. It's only when I stop and take a step back that I see the ocean He has given me to swim in. If I stayed in that fish bowl and He had honored that request, I never would have realized there was an ocean out here. I often times think of Nemo when he is in the fish tank starring back at the ocean. I'm thankful He didn't answer my fish bowl prayers. I really am, I just forget about it some days, because the fish bowl is what I can see with my eyes. The ocean requires using His eyes.

We get so caught up in the immediate and the here and now that we sometimes miss the big picture. We get so focused on what we want from God that we sometimes forget about what we need. We get caught up in what others say or what we even think about ourselves, that we forget about what God says. Lesson learned this year(the hard way I might add): When God gives you a gift, He will provide you with opportunities to use it. Those opportunities may not come in ways you expect, anticipate, or even ask for necessarily. Take them as they come and know that when it is a God thing He will take care of the details.  God takes the playdough of our lives and molds it into a creation that only He could do. He loves what we can do, but He knows when we will put the playdough in His hands, it can turn into so much more. You may be asking Him for permission to swim in the fish bowl, when He says why not the ocean. Don't settle for the fish bowl when the ocean is in view. Don't get discouraged when in the world you can see it seems like you may not be making a difference, for the difference is felt and seen in a world you cannot always see.

Take a step back and take care of you as well. I've realized over the last couple of weeks that I've pushed myself way too hard over the last year. God didn't design our bodies to go at a fast pace all of the time. He made us for rest, for reflection, and for recharge time. He made us to do what He has called us to do. When we push ourselves past the point of where He has called us we end up hurting ourselves. I've put myself at the end of my to-do list for way too long. You can't give from an empty tank, even fumes only go so long.

Conference season starts tomorrow.....It doesn't matter how many times I present whether webinars or at a conference, I still get nervous. Thursday is the first of seven presentations this summer. (First of ten if you count the three webinars I have scheduled). This conference season is dedicated to the balcony people in my life. Thank you for always cheering me on, for telling me I could do it(when I was sure I couldn't), and most of all for pushing me off to show me I could fly.

Taking a step back...I am very thankful. God can truly do more than we could ever ask or imagine. I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Focused on the journey,
~Melissa