On January 2nd, I was on my way to the grocery store. My sweet baby girl in tote. We were listening to some new tunes I had downloaded from an artist that I love! Each and every song is heaping with truth! This particular song came on and cut straight to my heart. Nothing like driving with my babe in the back just chillin' out, and there I am, crying like a babe myself! ;)
January being the month of new beginnings, the words of this song seemed so fitting to the changes I am choosing to make in my life this year. I was so overwhelmed with His love for me and the choices I can make to change. I pray that this song blesses you as it has me.
"Take Back"
Will Reagan & United Pursuit
(these are just a few of the lyrics that I love)
With the wind at our backs
and in the strength of the Lord,
we will rise on the wings
of the dawn;
We're gonna take back
all the enemy has stolen
from us.
It's in the blood of the One
whose worthy.
I know God has not forgotten
all that's lost and broken.
So come and see the turning of
the tides and come and
see His sons and daughters rise.
For how could He
who did not spare His own son
not freely give us victory
against the darkest of nights!
I absolutely love that last part! I am claiming the victory because it is already mine!
I
am choosing to "take back" all the enemy has stolen from me. He has
stolen many things from me through this difficult season in my life and even before that. I'm done looking back and even looking forward had the hardships that may be ahead. It
is my choice to USE my experience for something MORE. Satan thought he
would use my disease to make me weak, but I refuse to let that happen! I'm not done and am not going to be anytime soon!
I mentioned the other day just how busy things were around here. I was quickly reminded of this article I wrote for our monthly MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) group at church.
As we head closer to CHRISTmas, I can’t help but think
of what this time of year is really all about? What am I making it all
about? We tend to get caught up in the gift buying, party attending, running
here there and everywhere. Is it all that important?
I am challenged this CHIRSTmas, and I challenge you as
well, to step back and take a look at how you perceive this time of the
year.It makes me wonder how one day a
year can be such a big deal. Why IS it such a big deal? Am I making it a big
deal with all the gifts, the parties, the food, and spending time with family
and friends? That’s all great, don’t get me wrong, but there’s gotta be
something more to December 25th…right?
YES! There is! That tiny babe, Jesus, born many years
ago came to give life! HE is the ultimate gift. He is life! THAT is what
December 25th is ALL about!
We prepare months in advance for this day; decorating,
baking, party attending, gift giving, etc. I am so challenged to change this
CHRISTmas. I want to share the love of Jesus with others as much, or more than
I do decorating, baking, attending parties, and gift giving. I want my daughter
to see me more concerned about sharing the love of Jesus to others than being
worried about having the house perfect for guests and having the gifts wrapped
to the T.
So as you spend these days going to and fro, frantically
trying to cross things off that never ending “To Do” list, and spending time
with family and friends who may not know the special gift of Jesus, remember; it is because of that babe, who gave us pure, unending grace when He
hung on that cross, that we can live life fully with purpose and fulfillment.
He has washed you and me of our sins, completely!Open yourself to that today and begin sharing it! There is nothing you can do to make him love you more or less!
My dear, sweet friend Rachel sent me this song back in April when I was going though some very difficult days. I remember lying in bed, (where I spent most of that month) when I received a message from her and she shared this song with me.
Last night, after I put Elin to bed, I needed to do the dishes and decided to scan through my playlist and find a something to listen to. This song caught my eye. That first note to my ears reminded me of that exact moment when I heard the song for the first time. The vision came to mind; me lying in bed, paralyzed with pain, shaking, wondering if morning would come, scared, and mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted. When I listened to the song for the first time the tears fell. Oh did they fall. In those moments, I let the words fill my soul and mind. I was overwhelmed with peace. As I am writing this now, I can taste that peace. And it is so good! HE, JESUS, IS SO GOOD!
"Be Still"
The Fray
Be still and know that I'm with you
Be still and know that I am here Be still and know that I'm with you
Be still, be still, and know
When darkness comes upon you
And covers you with fear and shame
Be still and know that I'm with you
And I will say your name
If terror falls upon your bed
And sleep no longer comes Remember all the words I said
Be still, be still, and know
And when you go through the valley
And the shadow comes down from the hill
If morning never comes to be
Be still, be still, be still
If you forget the way to go
And lose where you came from
If no one is standing beside you
Be still and know I am
Be still and know that I'm with you
Be still and know I am
I washed those dishes last night, tears streaming down like they did that night months ago in my bed, I was praising him for his goodness to me as I remembered hearing those words for the first time.
Although I do not feel "normal" and am not sure if I will ever feel the
same as I did, young, healthy, active, I know that HE is here, living in me, and giving me just what I need. I cannot fear what the future holds and worry about if tomorrow will be a good day or bad. All I need to do is be still and know.
I've been thinking a lot these past couple months. I've actually had more time to think and ponder things because I've been busy healing. I think about my life and how I am only here for a very short time.
Quite easily, my life could have been cut short just a couple months ago. As I think about that, I wonder if it had been, would the life I had lived until then be worth it?
Did I let Christ use me. Like, REALLY use me? Did I share his love? Did I reflect his GRACE? So many things flood my mind, and then my heart begins to hurt. It hurts with past regrets. Not necessarily the many sins I have been caught up in over the years, but how I did not show enough or any of the pure and beautiful love of Christ to my family, friends, co-workers, and complete strangers.
Oh man, that hurts.
Just as Christ has washed me white as snow from those dirty, debilitating sins in my life. And also, I know he has forgiven me of those times that I did not choose to act and speak his love and grace.
I am still so tender to the thought.
I am a bit angry with myself to be honest.
I have these feelings for a reason. The reason is:
CHANGE.
I have a choice; to dwell in the past of an unloving and at times, judgmental attitude, or to shower others with the same love and grace that I have so generously received myself from the Almighty?
I heard a song recently that hit the nail on the head. I have to share it with you. Each and every time I hear it, it grabs a hold of those tender feelings. Each time I tear up and choke up.
The video is a bit different. If anything, don't watch the video, but listen to the words. Let them speak to you and change you.
At the bottom is part of the song that gets me.
I have a very long way to go. It makes me literally sick to think about living a mediocre life of love. It's a daily challenge. But, the choice is all up to me.
"The Proof Of Your Love"
For King And Country
If I sing but don't have love
I waste my breath with every song
I bring an empty voice, a hollow noise
If I speak with a silver tongue
Convince a crowd but don't have love
I leave a bitter taste with every word I say
So let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love
Let my love look like You and what You're made of
How You lived, how You died
Love is sacrifice
So let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love
If I give
To a needy soul but don't have love then who is poor?
It seems all the poverty is found in me
When it's all said and done
When we sing our final song
Only love remains
Only love remains
"If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love,
I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's Word
with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain
as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it
jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. If I give everything I own to the
poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I
don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I
believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love."
As I shared HERE last week, I had an amazing appointment with my kidney doctor! He really was quite shocked that I was improving on the meds and didn't need to undergo dialysis. Wow. I have been thinking of that news all week and can't help but go into a little more detail and share how GOD is the center of our healing. You see, we can say, "oh, sometimes things just happen like that," or, "you have good luck." But, I see it a little differently now and I pray that you do too. Think of what may be at stake for you.
There are any stories of healing in the Bible. Jesus was the HEALER. The blind were given sight (Mattew 9:27-31), the crippled walked (Luke 13:10-17), the deaf and mute were able to hear and speak (Mark
7:31-37), and so many more! Then to top it off, he goes and raises people from the dead (Luke
7:11-17, John 11:1-44)?!?! What the heck!?! :) AWESOME.
Sometimes I think those are really BIG things and God only chooses to do those really big things. But that's silly. I am so sure that there were many more moment of healing he did that were not published in the Bible. Maybe because, for one; he did not know about some of the people that were healed by him. Simply because, he traveled all over the place and people weren't able to track him down, possibly because their healing may have not happened right away; and two; because those stories published in the Bible were those chosen to captivate the audiance with their "shock and awe" capabilities. Just my thoughts.
I know I can testify to many stories of healing in myself and others. Not just because of good luck or "stuff JUST happens," but because;
JESUS IS STILL HEALING.
As I was doing my James, Beth Moore Bible study this week, the Lord was promting me to write about this in more detail. We are wrapping up our study of the book of James. The last few verses in a passage titled "The Prayer of Faith" states:
"Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."
James 5:13-16
I wrote HEREabout a healing service we had at church before Easter. Some of the elders, my family and friends, gathered around me, laying their hands on me, praying for me and agreeing for healing. At that point, we had no idea what was going on. I wept. And there, at that moment, I gave my uncertanties to Jesus. I remember giving him my kidneys that night. As if saying, "they are all yours! Do what you need to, because I cannot!" Pastor John anointed my head with oil. (Just a little swipe of oil across my forehead). Jesus began working on me in that moment and had continued.
The passage below, always sticks out to me when I think of the miraculous things God still does through US! Here, Jesus is speaking to his disciples, promising them the Holy Spirit after His death. When we turn our lives over to the Lord, asking him to take control, letting Jesus in as King of our lives, the Holy Spirit is given to us.
“I
tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I
have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the
Father. You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it! If you love me, obey my commandments.And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.He
is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive
him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you
know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you.Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you." John 14:12-20
Just this past Sunday, as in, November 11th, 2012, pastor John (my church pastor) spoke of a woman who was healed of a brain tumor. Let me explain a little. This is incredible!
The week prior, a woman who has been undergoing treatment for a cancerous brain tumor came to the alter during the service to pray (which she does every Sunday). Pastor J asked my mother-in-love, who was close by, to step in as an elder (because their were none around at that time) and pray for her healing as they anointed her with oil. My mother-in-love willingly prayed.
Ok, back to this Sunday! Pastor J explains that he got a call from this lady last Monday telling him that the tumor was G.O.N.E! Apparently, after my mother-in-love and Pastor J prayed for her and anointed her, she went back to her seat and felt this tingling sensation around her face and knew something was going on.
She went to the doctor, had an MRI and IT WAS NOT THERE!
OH. MY. WORD. :)
You see, if he lives in us, he gives us opportunities to experience his miracles just as the disciples did. The Holy Spirit here now, is the same Holy Spirit that was there then! Did I make sense? I hope so!
I also want to put this out there for any of you who may thinklike I did. Before I was diagnosed, I believed a lie. The lie wasthat I deserved sickness, pain, etc. because of the sin I had been caught up in. I remeber being so angry with God when my nephew was born with a cleft lip/palate. I didn't understand why that difficult situationwas given to my sister and not me. I thought, "she is not the "sinner" of the family,I am." I remember telling God that I deserved this because of my sin. Let me just tell you, that is messed up thinking! (although, I still wish God would have given me that hardship and not my sister, he knew what he was doing!)
This is why my thinking was messed up:
"We're
like those first disciples who, when they saw a man blind from birth,
asked: "Who sinned, this man or his parents? (John 9:2). To our great
relief Jesus answered "Neither this man nor his parents sinned. ... This came about so that God's works might be displayed in him." (v.3) James, Beth Moore
God does not CAUSE us pain and disease. Especially, not because of our sins.
There are times, like in my own healing, where quick healing does not take place. That does not mean God is not going to heal. Although, He may choose not too. In my case, it took a while, but part of the healing I asked for did happen!
I am still waiting and expecting a complete healing of my lupus. There are days where I am angry with God and I doubt his healing power. I honestly don't know if he will heal me totally, but I know that I am going to continue to expect it! He may choose not to and that hurts a little when I think that He may not. But that hurt does not last long because he ends up revealing something great to me!
As I was laying on my bed one evening, doing my James study, these words pierced through my heart resonating within:
"During His earthly life, He (Jesus) offered prayers and appeals with loud cries and tears to the One (God) who was able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence."
James 5:7
Beth Moore then states: "Hebrews 5:7 offers us the ultimate example. This was God's very Son. He cried out loudly, tears streaming, and God heard...yet He did not save Him from death. An infinitely greater work was accomplished through the cross.When we cry out, our God hears whether or not He heals. Something greater must be at stake. Something we may not know until we see him."
After reading this, with tears streaming down my face, I started to sob. I began to picture Jesus, beaten and bleeding to death on the cross. Jesus knew why he was there; for ME and YOU! It was the plan all along. "An infinitely greater work was accomplished through the cross." WOW. It sure was. For Jesus, in that moment, I am sure it was so hard for him to see exactly what that plan was through the pain he was experiencing.
Thank you God for allowing your son Jesus to be sacrificed for us. We don't deserve it.
Oh what GRACE. Amazing GRACE.
I think about my life now, the healing I pray will happen and thanksgiving for the healing that has already happened. I think about how something greater than anything I could expect or imagine may be at stake. Someones life perhaps? Something I may not know until I see Jesus face to face. Am I ok with that? Is it worth it?
As I pondered that statement, while laying on my bed, sobbing, a peace came over me. I felt Jesus holding me in that moment saying, "I got this, and by the way, it's amazing!"
If you need a healing of your own, please don't hesitate to call on the Lord. Ask people who you know, that will stand in faith with you for healing! Seek a pastor who believes in the healing power of Jesusjust as it was in those amazing Bible stories! Feel free to contact me as well. I would love to pray for you and stand with you!
For 5 days, I was running on an average of 2 hours of sleep each night. Not
fun with a spunky 18 month old taking every ounce of my energy. I am
so grateful for my amazing family and friends who stepped up to help and
encouraged me so that satan could not have His way in me! I had people praying for me to sleep, to have the strength I needed, and my God heard my cry and the cries of my family.
Oh, so badly did I want to give up on myself. I was so close some days and nights.
Christ and his delivering power, reminded me, through little glimpses of hope that came through the exhaustion and pain, that this will not take me!
I need to be honest here. I need to share the truth of my hurt. Maybe not for any one else but myself. You see, I feel that people have these ideas that when your a follower of Christ, and He lives in you, you have it all together. No. I don't have it all together, that is exactly why I need Him living in me:
because I can't do it myself!
When you go that long without getting adequate sleep, your mind goes places that it has never gone before. At times, I literally thought I was going insane. I could sugar coat how it was for me during that time, but I am choosing to be honest so you get a feel for what it is like for someone who may be suffering with insomnia. Also, because I want you to know just how God can take such a desparate person and bring them out of overwhelming despair.
During these nights I was tempted was tempted to end it all. Tempted to ingest my whole bottle of ambien. Tempted to hurt myself, and tempted to leave those I knew. No one deserved to "deal" with me.
Feelings of, "my family doesn't deserve this," "I just want to go away." The voice of satan was taking over my thoughts. I was feeling helpless and hopeless.
My days and nights were so incredibly long and exhausting.
Jared, the wonderful husband he is, spent about a month (or longer) on the couch, giving me a better chance to sleep without being disturbed.
You see, I have always had trouble sleeping. But this, this was beyond that. I tried to pin it on my meds, but I was only on 10mg of prednisone and was sleeping worse than I had on 60mg! What was going on?
I remember telling my mother-in-love that I felt like I had this block in my brain. It was blocking me from getting to that wonderful place; sleep.
No matter what I did I couldn't get past it. My nights usually consisted of falling asleep between 10 and 11 and waking up around 1 or 2am. Some nights, I would take a bath, try reading my bible, I would put soft praise music on and sometimes try singing myself to sleep. The list goes on and on. Nothing was working.
After looking at the clock every hour and getting so frustrated, I would cry out to God. Oh, and I was pretty angry with Him. I would sit up in bed, and cry, "why, why, why!?!" I remember a couple nights becoming hysterical.
I was out of control. I would make my way downstairs some nights because I started to hate my bed. The thought of being in it any longer, awake, made me sick. I would sprawl out face down on the living room floor and sob. The numbing feeling that was taking over my mind and body seemed irreversible. I felt like I was losing it. Well, I was.
Jared would lay down with me during these times or just hold me, as I curled up into the fetal position with uncontrollable emotion. When I was finally able to speak, I would tell him
how this was going to kill me. I couldn't do it anymore. He comforted me
and prayed over me. And that was all he needed to do.
I ended up
calling my doctor to see about getting something to help me sleep. He
prescribed Ambien 5-10mg for me to take. I was excited, but frustrated
that I was resorting to sleeping meds. I was so desperate at this
point. I took the 10mg,
hoping to sleep for a good 8 hours, (like the bottle says), only to find
out that the stuff didn't touch me!! WHAT?!? Now THAT was a bad night.
After taking the pills and then waking up after 2 hours of sleep! I was
mad. Mad at myself, mad at God. How was this not working?!? If this wasn't, would anything? There were days when my mom would come over and take Elin to her house so I could sleep. Even with a quite house, nothing to interrupt me and going on one or two hours of sleep, I STILL DID NOT SLEEP. How does that happen you may ask? I have no idea. I was beyond mad at myself (and God).
I decided to try going somewhere else to try and sleep. So I called my mother-in-love and asked her if I could try sleeping in their basement for the day. I went over around 10:00am and went down into the nice, dark, completely quite, comfortable basement. I laid in that bed until 3:00pm, never falling asleep. Are you kidding me!? That was on a Friday. We always go over to my parents for Friday pizza night and I didn't want to go. I remember not wanting to go anywhere that week. I hated the fact that I felt so miserable and I knew that I could not hide it. I didn't want my family to hurt how I was hurting. I knew I had to go. (That was God). I was scared of myself and what I may do. That weekend, after that horrific week,
sleep finally came.
Just enough. But it came. Thank you Jesus!
Last week, when I started writing this post, I was on my way to my doctors appointment. I was listening to the radio and a song by Green Day came on. Ok, I'll be honest, I like Green Day :X It kind of takes me back to my "high-school-wanna-be-rebellious" days.
Anyway, I was jammin' along to this song and actually heard what they were saying. You know, back then, I would say to my mom, "common' mom, I'm not listening to the words, I just like the beat!" Well, it must have been true because, I have heard this song many times and just now have I realized what the song is about!
As I heard the words being sung, it was a true reflection of those awful, sleepless nights. By the way, I really hate this song now! :)
"Brain Stew"
by Green Day
I'm having trouble trying to sleep
I'm counting sheep but running out
As time ticks by
And still I try
No rest for crosstops in my mind
On my own... here we go
My eyes feel like they're gonna bleed
Dried up and bulging out my skull
My mouth is dry
My face is numb
Messed up and spun out in my room
On my own... here we go
My mind is set on overdrive
The clock is laughing in my face
A crooked spine
My sense's dulled
Passed the point of delirium
On my own... here we go
I still don't quite understand why I went through that time. But praise God I am no longer there. He DID answer my prayer. At that time, I may not have seen it, but He did. For starters, I didn't up and leave my family, I am still alive, and my husband didn't need to take me to a psychiatric facility. He gave me the strength I needed to make it through.
One of the things that helped me sleep was that I decided I was just going to stop TRYING to sleep. I almost expected not to sleep each night and nap time. Call it reverse psychology I guess. It started working. I'll be honest, I kind of had an attitude with God. You probably shouldn't have an attitude with God, but I was pretty frustrated with Him. I looked at Him a bit like I do with my earthly dad. There are times when I'm mad at my dad,
but ultimately, I know he has what's best for me in mind and that he loves me regardless.
I basically said to Him, "Fine, don't let me sleep, I am so sick of trying. But...you have to give me the energy I need to get through the day and take care of Elin!"
A friend of mine, who has been a strong mentor for me sent me a note that helped support my change in thinking. Here is a bit of what she wrote:
As
I had those sleepless times, God reminded me that just as He doesn't
need money (the obvious) to provide for our needs - sometimes He uses
people or many other ways; He didn't need to give me sleep to give me
the strength and rest I needed. He wanted me to surrender to the fact
that He could give me stamina, strength, sanity, energy and sustain me
with or without sleep.
It was an amazing time, albeit difficult time,
of learning to lean on Him and surrender more and more to Him. But as I
surrendered to the fact that I didn't need sleep to sustain
(understanding that with a human body we need sleep, but understanding
that our God is so much bigger and can sustain us either way), an
amazing peace came, and eventually a stronghold was broken.
Each day I
would get up and say Ok, God, You know You have to sustain me, I didn't
sleep and I know You can do it and You are the only way I'm going to
even begin to be able to function today - so it's all on You, please do
this thing! And I would start getting to the end of the days and be
like, wow, how did He do that. And in that surrender the peace that
came, and the supernatural sustaining amazed me. I've never looked at
it the same. I'm not trying to make light of your struggle at all -
trust me - it's aweful (and I don't know about you, but typically my
body requires a good amt of sleep-but God used this as one more
realization for me that the physical always facilitates the spiritual -
and God is not bound by our humanness- praise His name for that- He can
do whatever He wants, however He wants!) And I know as hard as this
is right now, you WILL see blessings that came through this time. He IS working and loves you more than you can imagine!
I feel that would be the EXACT note I would send to someone else struggling with insomnia right now!
GOD IS GOOD!
That horrific time was about 2 months ago. I am still struggling with my sleep. However, I am now able to get anywhere from 5-7 hours. Which is GREAT! I long for the day when I can sleep a straight 5 or 6 hours and not wake up. I know it will come. Just as God healed my kidneys, I know He can heal me from my sleep issues. He kinda already has if you think about it! I could still be in that dark place right now.
As for that silly Green Day song? I don't think I EVER want to hear that song again! Nothing needs to take me back to that place where I was, "past the point of delirium."
I can't even begin to think about having to go through what I did without Him. He is my only source of strength and stability. That was a dark, hurtful place where I was. I was stuck and He pulled me out, just as He always does.
Give Him your hurts. Let Him pull you out. He loves you regardless, and wants you to be free!
As you know, I have been participating in the James bible study by Beth Moore at church.
I am LOVING it!
Each week during our corporate study, we watch a video of Beth Moore teaching on some major points we learned that week during our private study.
Each week, we are to complete 5 days of intense study.
This study is life changing.
During one of the weeks video lesson, I was challenged to change. (Well, they all challenge me. But this one was very convicting)
James 3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.
The question she asks at the beginning is:
What is the good life?
When I think about a good life, I begin to think of a life without lupus. One free of pain, fatigue, uncertainty of the disease and oh so much more. I think of a life of no financial difficulties or burdens. Where things are EASY and I am living with a purpose.
Here are 4 things that Beth Moore shares about what God's definition of the good life is.
1. One that saves us from ourselves.
The good life saves me from who? Myself. I am usually the most detrimental person I have to deal with each day. It's not others who get in my head. It's ME.
I also feel that saving us from ourselves takes the focus off US and puts it on THEM. When I take the focus off me and ask God to send people my way to love on, my life feels so much more worth living.
Get the focus off me.
Be ultra aware of the people he brings into our lives and how I can show Christ to them.
2. One with a track record of yielding.
Forgivness = Yielding up.
Yielding up is saying to someone who has done me wrong, "I commit the betrayal to You (God), the abuse, the hurt so THAT person can go ahead of ME."
Not so easy. But worth it.
3. One that is full of mercy.
Sometimes we need to FEEL mercy. And it can hurt. Bad. There are times when I don't want to get into a situation because I don't want to feel it.
Then I must think: Is it going to kill me? NO! "Mercy morphs into depression when we take God’s responsibility instead of our possibility"
For some reason, there are moments when I feel I can do things better than God. Or quicker. HA. I am not letting him go ahead of me, but trying to take it all upon myself. How exhausting and depressing.
4. One that is full of good fruit.
What am I producing?
"Fruit is both an end and a beginning, the crown of one process and the germ of the next being present in the seed" -Dr. James B. Adamson
During the study I drew this picture to help me understand how the good fruit I choose to produce continues and grows.
Lately, and because of this study, I am really recognizing how it is God who brings different people into our lives. He puts us in the exact families we are in for a purpose. He has us come into contact with people daily. And for what reason? Ultimately, for HIS purpose.
I am choosing today, to pay close attention to those interactions and relationships. Acknowledging my purpose to others.
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