FOCUSED

2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  

3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 

6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

- Philippians 1:2-6

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A few months ago, I embarked on a journey that really put my faith to the test.  And as I settle into my new season, I see God's grace and kindness working wonders in my life as He blesses me with wisdom and opens doors for me to stroll through.  More than anything, I understand now what all of my exhaustion, tears and frustration has been about... He has led me to a time such as this.  

Over the past few months, whether you realize it or not, I have poured out my heart to all of you via e-mail as I felt inspired to reach out and put words to some of the frustrations that you all may have been feeling as well.  And I appreciated all of the feedback and blessings I received in return, although that was simply icing on the cake.  Through these e-mails, my desire was to encourage everyone to acknowledge their flaws, challenges and struggles in hope that by bringing them to the forefront, you can let them go and step into whatever new season God has for you.  Some of you may have got that, some of you may not.  Either way, I at least hoped for peace in realizing our struggles are a commonality instead of a differentiating factor among us.

For those of you who don't know, the e-mail "Walking on Water" (sent on February 3, 2012) marked my last day at my full-time, good paying job (with benefits)... because I quit.  I have a husband, four children, a mortgage and bills.  BUT I also have dreams and I have a vision.  And I knew I couldn't follow God's plan for my life trying to balance everything.  I was drowning and I knew something had to give.  I'm not telling everyone to go and quit their jobs, definitely not, because the last few months haven't been easy.  But by His grace, we have ridden out the storm and now I'm FOCUSED.  More than ever in my life.  And I know God NEVER would have brought me this far to leave me.

So what am I saying?  Firstly, I may be MIA (missing in action) for a while.  For those of you who look forward to getting these e-mails weekly, I apologize, but I have to live on purpose.  I will attempt to share my thoughts, challenges, successes and set-backs as the days go by but if you don't hear from me... know that I'm FOCUSED.  I have a job to do and if I have learned nothing else over the last few months, it's this: the passions in my heart deserve my full attention - my kids, my husband, my home and my dreams.  And though it may seem like divided attention, I have learned to give each of them my full attention at the right and proper times... and it has brought me joy and peace.

Secondly, don't be scared of the desires God has put in your heart.  Ask Him for guidance.  Seek godly counsel and most of all, pray.  He will show you the way and make your paths clear.  The only time we struggle is when we go off course.  Psalm 16:11 says "[He] has made known to [you] the path of life; [He] will fill [you] with joy in [His] presence, with eternal pleasures at [His] right hand."  Trust in Him in ALL you do and NEVER lean on your own understanding, thoughts and feelings.  He already knows where you're going to end up... and it's ALL good.  Trust Him.  He will ALWAYS make a way out of no way.  Just trust Him and STAY FOCUSED.

Be Blessed in TRUSTING GOD

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. - Psalm 37:4

P.S. I still use my e-mail often enough that if anyone wants to chat or just say 'hello' I could respond... and I would love that :)

God is Love. Love is Life. Life is in The Word.

Structurally Sound

24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

- Matthew 7:24-27

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I love the above scripture because it can be related to every life situation.  Everyday we make choices and decisions.  Everyday we have to think about what we were are doing, what we plan to do and how we plan to do it.  Everyday we deal with LIFE and all it throws at us.  No one is exempt from the trials, tribulations, ups and downs of life - the poor, the rich, the beautiful, the disabled, the able - EVERYONE is faced with challenges.  What can make life easier, joyful and peaceful is the foundation from which you approach life.

The fact of the matter is regardless of where or how you grew up or were raised, along with who your parents are and what bloodline you belong to, your foundation is structured based on your experiences, lessons, observations, perspective and memories.  Even if we all witnessed an event that was catastrophic and tragic, that does not mean that we will all take away the same feelings and memories from the event because we are all structured and wired differently.  This is how and why four children can grow up in the same household and enter into adulthood with different perspectives on life.

The issue is not about being different or having different perspectives, the issue is whether your perception and how you interpret life is structurally sound.  A person (and their thoughts, feelings, perspectives etc.) can only be as strong (or sound) as their foundation.  Therefore, if you are standing/moving through life on a faulty, distorted, corrupted foundation, your choices, decisions and perception of life will reflect that.  This is one of the main reasons relationships can be so complicated.  When you put two people together with their own unique experiences, perspectives, opinions etc., you are bound to have disagreements and/or conflict.  However, what is important to understand is that the differences are not the issues, it is the foundation.  And more times than not, when you are faced with a difficult person/situation, it is not the person/situation that is creating the issue, it is the foundation.  (For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. - Ephesians 6:12 KJV)

For example, you and a friend are at the mall and you see a mother struggling with a child who is throwing a temper tantrum.  Immediately, your friend begins to judge the situation and making comments like 'that child is out of control.... what a bad mother... that is so embarrassing... I would never stand for that etc.'  Where as, you look at the situation and feel empathy because, based on your experiences, you can see that the child has special needs and what appears to be a temper tantrum is actually a symptom of her condition.  Is you friend wrong for her reaction?  Do you judge her for stating what seemed to be the obvious?  Or do you recognize that you just have different foundations/experiences to fuel your thoughts and feelings?  Do you hold it against her?

Another example, you're in a relationship and you feel that your partner is not spending enough time with you.  He/she is always working and then he/she is always sleeping.  You're starting to feel that maybe they are not the one for you.  You are feeling unwanted, rejected and ignored.  You try to explain your feelings but their response is not to your liking so you start pulling away from the relationship.  Is this a communication issue?  Maybe in part, but realistically (and more than likely) it's a foundation issue.  For you to automatically co-relate your partners busyness to their feelings towards you and the relationship shows that you have some root issues of self-worth and a distorted perception (ie. maybe you saw your dad do the same thing to your mom and your mom always complained about it and was never happy.  It turned out you dad was actually cheating on your mom and now that's a crack you have embedded in your foundation.)  On the flip side, your partner is possibly working so hard because they grew up in a household where there was never enough money and they vowed to never live like that again.  Their working hard is a genuine desire to provide for you, not neglect you.  (It always helps, especially with 'matters of the heart', to question your thoughts and motives... put your hurt and anger aside and ask yourself 'why' you are thinking or feeling that way.  What are you basing your feelings on?  A past relationship?  A movie?  Are you being rational/realistic?  Why or why not?  It can help to get a better understanding of yourself.)

Being structurally sound begins with being rooted and grounded in love (1 Corinthians 13:4-8, Ephesians 3:17) and the Word so that when the winds, rain and storm comes, your foundation does not crumble under the pressure.  There is strength and integrity in a structurally sound foundation.  It can be trusted, depended on, there is peace, no fear and anxiety, just LIFE in having a structurally sound foundation.  But you have to dig deep.  You ALWAYS have to dig deep to create a strong foundation.  Dig out all the dirt, rocks, debris, trash and junk hiding down there and fill it with the unshakable, immovable, unwavering, unfailing concrete faith of the Holy Spirit.  It will give you peace of mind, joy, love and laughter because Jesus is the Rock on which you should stand, ALL else is sinking sand.

Be Blessed in STANDING ON A STRUCTURALLY SOUND FOUNDATION

7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control. (2 Timothy 1:7 AMP)