The Others

After the past couple of days, I can breathe a little easier. Candy Land definitely picked up my spirits but work is only becoming more difficult. Me needing to right my wrongs is also causing me slight depression. I'm not sure I can make it through VAL for another long, sad winter. If only...

Wednesday, after PDL (Purpose Driven Lunch), I was walking up the stairs to where I sit. I suddenly stopped and let the sun warm my face. I took some deep breaths in and out. I felt a little bit of peace and calming. I could feel God telling me it would be okay. I smiled back at Him. My drive home was not one of tears for the first time in several nights. I drove with that same smile. I went through some boxes of stuff to clean house and throw out some old memories...ones I needed to. I watched I Love the 80s and man, that show really brings up my spirits. During a commercial, I flipped around and passed Joyce Meyer talking. Something made me stop and go back.

Joyce was talking about how we need to allow each other to be more human. She talked about how she and her husband disappoint each other and fail each other...but they forgive and move on. She said we have to give people more room to be people. Say you're sorry and move on. Then she asked, slyly, "how many of you are married to God? No one? Then roll with the punches." Good point. Expectations....setting self up to be let down. I've been guilty of that my whole life. What if I did really take people for who they are? I mean, most of the time I do but people will always surprise you, make bad choices, see their mistakes and ask for your forgiveness. I, in turn, will screw up, too (by looking at my last posts, I've been doing it a lot). God loves us and forgives us. Not only does He forgive but He forgets and moves it from east to west. But its easy for us to know that, right? So what is our deal? Oh....right....it is what OTHER people are going to think. That whole acceptance thing....

Joyce said you have to get to a point where you don't care as much what "the others" will think because "the others" will always find something to think about you. We need to lighten up and learn who we are in Christ. So, do I find myself trying to do a good deed to make up for a wrong I've done? Do I do something extra to prove I'm not as bad as everyone might think...or as I think I am? We have to do good deeds with the right motive: living for Christ. Don't ever do them so people will think better of you.

When we have a problem we take it to God. If we get an answer, we believe He has spoken to us. But then we run and ask four other people what they think. The problem with running to others is that they haven't been assigned to hear from God for you. If you believe He has sent you a message, believe it. Besides, we don't really want to know what the others will think because they might tell us something we don't want to hear. I personally feel we do need close friends to help us through the "its" of life. I don't confide in everyone and I'm choosy with who knows what. Sometimes you can't make it on your own...

If you keep apologizing for something you keep bringing up the problem. Apologize. Forgive. Move on.

Joyce also asked something I could really relate to: when someone is not pleased with me, does it affect my mood? Even if I have followed my heart on something, do not believe I did anything wrong....do I still get upset? Not everyone is going to understand your decisions but we need to be God pleasers, not people pleasers. We will always fail if we live our lives to make everyone like us and make everyone happy. God is so much more easier to please than the fickle people we all know (I'm one of them for sure).

I found myself taking notes. I needed to hear this stuff. I'm guilty of a lot but I don't want to live my life feeling guilty when He forgives me. I hope you can forgive me but if you can't, that is something I have to live with, something that you have to live with, too. I need to let people be more human and I need to understand the humaness in me. Still, it doesn't help when some of your errors cost the company 35,000 bones.

How far is heaven?