Day 248 - Fire and water

We went through fire and water. 
But you brought us to a place 
where we have everything we need. 
-Psalm 66:12 (NIRV)


 

Day 247 - Run with endurance

I came across this verse on a t-shirt last night and it makes me feel especially inspired for my half marathon coming up in 10 weeks.

And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. -Hebrews 12:1(NLT)

I am not a born runner. I have asthma and little legs that don't go very fast. But somehow God has turned me into this woman who runs. It's not easy and my training has gotten off to a slow start, but I believe that I can do it. That I can finish the race. That I can do anything that I put my mind to. That through hope and faith, God will help get me there.

I'm not alone in my challenges and neither are you.

 

Day 246 - Imperfect

This week I have been reminded, more than once, of how imperfect I am. Of how I can make bad choices. Of how selfish I can be. I mean I obviously know that all of the time, but this week felt like an extra special reminder.

You know what I told myself when the going got tough.... this too shall pass.

I mess up, I do it again, and yet every time I learn something new and take it with me. I leave excuses behind. I strive to be a better person and to love others more than myself. And then I forgive myself for what I did and thank God that He gave me another day to learn from my mistakes. I thank Him for giving me wisdom and strength. I thank Him for loving me enough that He makes good things come from the bad.


But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. -Job 23:10 (TNIV)


 

Day 245 - Is good

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
-Lamentations 3:25-26 (TNIV)


 

Day 244 - Cure

The cure for our problems comes in a strange form: it comes through admitting weakness and through a humble heart. -Life's Healing Choices


 

Day 243 - A little more

A little more about our purpose... some of us are born with these amazing God-given talents and we know our purpose. Some of us go through crazy life-changing events that mold our purpose. And, some of us just aren't sure what our purpose is. That's okay; God just hasn't revealed them to us yet. So what do we do? We live with a servant's heart in everything we do. We use what we have to give to others. We volunteer, we help, and we love. And in God's time, through our serving heart or a life-changing event, God will reveal His purpose for our life. We need to open our heart to Him.

God put you where you are for a purpose, even if you feel unknown and unappreciated. Don't give up. keep on serving God. -The Purpose Driven Life



 

Day 242 - Purpose

I know I am talking a lot about finding who I am right now... but it's not how I act, why I do things, my likes, etc. I know that woman. It's finding myself in God's eyes. Understanding that the vision for my life that I have always had, is not the reality of who God made me to be. I am being confronted with the truth that God may not use me to do big things, at least not the big I have dreamed of. My vision and God's vision is not the same and I need to embrace that. I need to let go of the way I have always identified myself, and keep moving and trusting in God's plans for my life - no matter how big or small. I have felt lost in my purpose for so long... but by having faith, living for today, and trying to be more Christ like, I can feel joy and confidence in who I am.

I imagine people spend their whole lives trying to find their purpose and end up lost and defeated. I see how that happens; they are trying to fill a void that they have put inside themselves. They are trying to amount to something valuable in the eyes of the world. They want to be someone. They are desperate to feel important. That could be me. 

Slowly I am starting to understand that God molded each of us to have a purpose. If I spend my life trying to be the person I think I should be, I am completely blindsiding myself. I am missing all of the reasons God created me. I am running past the things I should be focusing on. What if my entire purpose in life is to be the mother to my three children? If I am blindly reaching for myself, how can I nurture them? Why isn't it enough to have that purpose, then say be a writer, speaker, and known woman of God? It is enough. It's more than enough and I should spend every minute embracing the talents God gave me to be the best mother I can be. And along the way use all of my talents and my heart to serve and love others. To be more Christ like. At the end of my life that purpose would be just as fulfilling, if not more, than any that I would have chosen for myself. 

I am tired of being lost. I am weary from wanting my own desires instead of listening to God's. He created me and I want to be worth my full value in His eyes by seeking out His purposes in my life, not my own. I want His will. Because now I see that a person's worth is not measured by how important they are, how much money they have, how big of a Christian they are, or which far corners of the earth they are changing... a person's worth can be found in how they love others, how they use their God-given talents, how firmly they plant their faith, and how much they trust God's working in their life.