Never Settle

A little background on why I wrote this: We are studying Romans in our Bible study this year.  Romans talks a lot about our sin and how much we need our Saviour, Jesus.  We are on Romans 5:11-21.  This week talked a lot about men:  Adam & Jesus…two men who have such an impact on our lives.  We talked about our heritage from Adam, physically we were born into Adams family, the line that leads to death.  We have his guilt, his sinful nature.  BUT we can trade judgment for forgiveness.  We can change our lineage by accepting a Spiritual birth with Christ.  Death through Adam, and Life through Jesus.  It seems for weeks that we’ve focused on us as sinners.  We’ve looked at all the horrible ways we sin.   Im going to share a bit about my lineage today.  I come from a lineage of Adam, a sinner.  I also come from a line of PMSers.   The fight and struggle are real ladies.    Im sure many o...

Rolling with the tide... While admiring the waves on the white sandy beaches this summer I couldn't help but compare my own waves with those in the ocean. I've had some pretty big waves in my life, waves any surfer would covet, but I'm not a surfer. If I was, my outlook would change; I'd be riding the waves rather than drowning in them. I love to watch the waves and listen to the clashing and crashing of the water hitting the shore, but my perspective drastically changes when those waves knock me down and leave me gasping for air. When life's waves knock me down I come up panicked and flailing, instead of practicing to ride the surf. I need to learn to watch the tide and roll with it, not drown in it. From ashore, the waves look huge and overwhelming, nearly paralyzing, I can feel the movement of even the smallest wave. The sand shifts as the water creeps up the shore. I got to see these same waves from a different perspective this summer. I watched the wa...

We all want to know that the home we're sleeping in is built on solid ground, that it has a strong and sturdy foundation.  When an earthquake hits, or rain come pouring down we want to say with certainty that our walls will hold firm. Just the other day as the sun hit a wall just right, it revealed hundreds of small cracks.  Im sure those cracks were from many of the mini earthquakes and shakes that this home has experienced.  Although  those cracks aren't visible all the time, in just the right light they look like the walls may crumble.  I have to trust the experts: the  architects , engineers,  and carpenters who built the walls. Despite all the planning and executing that takes place to build a home, without a solid foundation, those walls are capable of crumbling under the right circumstances.  Life brings surprises and challenges, but without a solid foundation the building is just a structure.  Sometimes our homes need a good sprin...

What shapes are  you? If you were to describe yourself as a shape what would you be, square, triangular,  octagonal, flat, etc?  Years ago, without hesitation I would have described myself as  "round." However, knowing what I know now, I was a VERY square. I thought inside the box, though my thinking didn't resemble much dimension...it was more of a one dimensional shape what might be referred to as flat. I probably had about four sides to me: mad, fearful/worry,sad, happy. Those emotions were big and didn't really cross each other.  In the corners of my world they may have been a mix of happy crossing to mad.  I kept my shape well---- sharpe corners and clean lines. Interestingly (ignorant) my square thoughts had me believing that anyone who didn't think like I did was "square." I believed I was, well...round! In the process of becoming a new and different shape, I've learned it was more me than "them" who was boxy. Everything, thought...

When it's okay to compare... I do it all the time, maybe not out loud but in the spaces of my mind and in the reflection of my mirror. What you see is not what you get. When I look on the mirror I see an insecure person who is far from perfect. What I see in others is what I want to see when I look at myself and my heart, but so often I only see the ugly mess that lies deep in my heart. I see the chains holding me back from the person God wants me to be.  I look at a heart that desires to do Gods will, but a mind and world that keep me caged up. I often look in the mirror and see a person staring back saying "you're not good enough, smart enough, strong enough." I see what I've convinced myself others must see. I spend time wondering how I could be be more fun, patient, loving, etc. I aspire to be better, but not in a way that I was designed to be better. My desires aren't always Godly and are more often driven from coveting what others have and wa...