life: acoustic & amplified
poetry, quotes & thoughts about life
Archive for the category “power”
It is what it is
I believe this statement above is true, and when you really get the importance and the impact of that statement it truly changes your mindset about the growth and evolving nature of people and how we change our lives – or not.
I remember when I began to realize this truth – in 1995, I had been struggling with my weight since 1987-88, I had 2 babies in 2 years and was in a very unhappy, abusive relationship. Food was my friend, and the joy of my day. Yet also a source of imprisonment and shame. I would diet/fail and then feel worse about myself than ever. That all changed for me one day. I decided I had enough and I was going to lose that 90 pounds.
This was five years into my life-changing experience with God. I had been reading every self-help idea that I could find, and following the words of Jesus from Matthew 5-7, and, as I look back, this was my first big test of faith and endurance. Could I discipline myself, could I change myself, change the way I thought about food? Could I really change my life so openly and begin to become who I wanted to be?
Six months later I had lost 90 pounds, but that wasn’t all that had changed. I had a new confidence in myself. I had many new ideas about my own strength, my value, my ability to accomplish what I wanted in the face of adversity, and a new concept of change. My faith was stronger and my resolve was more firmly established! I remembered trying before and failing – what made this time different? I was ready. This truth has followed me since, and I have begun to understand myself and others better because of this truth. This is why ‘motivation’ and ‘resolutions’ don’t last. It has to be an embracing of a new way. A readiness to let go of the old in order to go higher and arrive at a new and better place. This usually makes life uncomfortable – sometimes for a long time, and so we have to be ready and willing to make that move.
Some people never do.
It is each persons responsibility to decide how they want to live their lives, and that means their choices and their changes are up to them. When we stand at the end of life and look back, what do we want to have left behind us? What do we want our lives to look like? Who have we crafted ourselves into? Have we settled, or have we prepared ourselves and then embraced the changes to become our highest selves?
That’s my goal! I keep getting preparing myself to be ready to grow in grace, knowledge and love! We must be willing to change – we must be prepared to make choices which reflect our desires!
even so…come quickly
For seeing that something always comes
to fill the empty places.
For making spaces,
and not being afraid of
the empty places —
for letting all the moments be
these empty containers
sure of the filling of God.
– Ann Voskamp
http://www.aholyexperience.com/
I have waited a lot over the years, for many different reasons. In 1997 I stepped out in a leap of faith, and my life exploded in ways I certainly never expected and I began a walk of faith that has been quite an incredible journey with God. It certainly was not what I would have picked for myself, yet, I do not question the way. As the song, Heal the Wound says, ‘I have not lived a life that boasts of anything, and I don’t take pride in what I’ve done, But I’ll build an alter with the rubble that you found me in, and every stone will sing of what you can redeem.’
In 2008 I waited on God for 52 days. It was an indescribably difficult time, in so many ways, and it changed me. It took my relationship with God and my faith to a new level. It was a time of learning and trusting God way beyond anything I had ever done before, and it set incredible things in motion over these next years. It took me to places of growth and healing that I did not expect, yet and so grateful for.
As you can probably tell by this blog over the past week or so – I am at another place of waiting, and, as I walk thorough it I am so thankful I have the prior experiences to encourage me as I walk through this time. Yes, patience is a virtue because it’s HARD!!! haha Certainly doesn’t come naturally for me…how about you? I want to make things happen! Shake up the people involved! Get something resolved – RIGHT NOW!!!! And yet I know, if I wait on God, if I am patient, it will be the right resolution, not just an end, or a beginning. Living with faith, having patience, putting life’s tough issues into God’s hands – then not worrying about them, and just waiting for Him is a practice of strength, discipline and courage – it is a choice which adds maturity, peace, joy, abundance, and so many other great benefits to our lives. It also allows us to grow in intimacy with God in ways that are like nothing else we experience.
As I read Ann’s words above, I, too, am sure (and eager) of the filling…and so I wait…
It’s all about me!
Yes, it’s true, life truly begins when we decide to take personal responsibility for our lives. That decision changes everything! Doesn’t make life easy – in many ways it makes it harder – but the benefits are so wonderful, profound, even extraordinary you will never want to allow anyone else to control your life again.
As with all of life, this is s process, but it all starts with a choice. Your choice! That choice must be followed through with awareness and determination!
Good stuff will follow! Not saying it will all be easy…just saying it will bring you to a place of peace and joy which is the best way to live life!
Every choice matters! I want mine to be strong!
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid,
but gives us
power,
love and
self-discipline.
– 2 Timothy 1:17
I’m convinced that God, who began this good work in you, will carry it through to completion – Phil 1:6
Confidence… thrives on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection and on unselfish performance. Without them it cannot live.
– Franklin D. Roosevelt
So many of us believe who we have been created to be just isn’t good enough. I know the feeling, I understand it fully. I have had it most of my life – I still struggle with it in some areas of my living, which is why I am always aware! I want to be the BEST I can be. I want to reach my highest potential for happiness. I want to be who God created me to be and do what I was created to accomplish!
Someone recently told me that they ‘liked my confidence’. That it gave them ‘hope.’ Somehow it kinda hit me weird, I immediately heard the old voices telling me I was ‘talking too much’, ‘I just wanted attention’, that I was ‘vain’ – I felt like maybe I was being ‘too much’ and I felt myself pull back and not speak as much as I wanted to.
So, of course, I have thought it over for the past few weeks and processed the comment, why I felt that way and, I gotta tell you, the more I ’roll around’ in her comment – the more I am really liking it! Ha! I want people to have hope, I want to be the instrument of hope and peace! My confidence comes from the faithfulness, healing and miracles, which I have experienced over a difficult and broken life! It is not about self confidence – it is Christ-confidence!
I know this is much, much bigger than me! I have confidence because I have discovered the truth of the unconditional love of God! I am beloved, you are beloved! Every soul on earth has this vast value and this beloved status!!!!! Wooo hoooo! Now that’s something important to share!!!!!!!
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. Maryann Williamson – Used by Nelson Mandela in his 1994 inaugural Speech
http://songsfromthevalley.com/April-10-3.7-Beauty.pdf
life: acoustic & amplified 