Speak It Into Existence

"I AM made in the likeness and image of God. I AM created by Him, for Him, and to His Glory." ~Dr. Henry L. Porter


I am a person who is in love with words. I love to write them. I love to see how one word sitting next to another word can change a person's mind, change a person's perspective, and change everything about what you thought you knew. I love the different nuances in the written and spoken word. The way that spoken words activate something inside of us that is far more reaching than just what is experienced by the reading words from paper. The way the experience changes when you hear yourself speak the words for the first time.

I don't have trouble remembering the first time I experienced the words from My Confession of Profession. It begins "I AM made in the likeness and image of God. I AM created by Him, for Him, and to His Glory." To be honest, I read the words in the back of the church program and was unmoved. I didn't have a visual connection to seeing the words, but when we spoke them out loud the very hairs on my neck stood up. "I AM made in the likeness and image of God." Imagine a church full of people speaking that all at once.

I looked around to see girls and boys, men and women alike all speaking boldly. I looked around and knew that with each word we were activating each other's faith. "I AM made in the likeness and image of God. I AM created by Him, for Him, and to His Glory." As we spoke, we began activating what we do in the minutes after we stopped speaking and the days that were to come. "I AM made in the likeness and image of God. I AM created by Him, for Him, and to His Glory."

It was easy to say the words and even easier to believe that I was speaking over where I was in my life on that Sunday. I was speaking over the thoughts of what I used to be. I was speaking the very words that would help to usher in the new life that God had already prepared for me. "I AM made in the likeness and image of God. I AM created by Him, for Him, and to His Glory."

Adayinthelife :-)

Less Than Perfect

We teach children to believe in themselves and to make wise choices. Everyday for the past eight months I have been a part of those lessons. Make a better choice or make a different choice can be heard pretty much all day at my job. Our words are leading them and guiding them to one day be in complete control of their choices without the constant reminder of an adult's voice. When that day comes, when these little people become the ones in charge of their own choices, they will see how each choice determines whether or not they will be perfect.

Perfect little girls and boys exist because they're choices are guided by a need to please their parents. They know that if they exhibit a certain behavior their choices will please their parents and make them perfect in their sight. So little boys and girls everywhere learn to make the choices that if not perfect will at least make their parents view them as perfect.

These perfect little children somehow grow up to be less than perfect adults. Their choices no longer reflect a need to please or a desire for perfection. Their adult choices are self serving and completely devoid of the awareness of the watchful eye of a parent. Their less than perfect choices are as deliberate as the perfect ones that they made in their youth. The less than perfect choices receive the same forethought and the same degree of planning as the perfect choices, however less than perfect choices do not come with the same reward.

When a choice becomes less than perfect, it is coupled with less than perfect consequences. These consequences range from heartache to confusion and despair. We often find it difficult to sit with the aftermath of a less than perfect choice. We become defensive or withdrawn. Our character shifts to match the less than perfect threshold that we've become comfortable at. And over time, we forget that we were once innocent enough to try for and achieve perfection. 

Adayinthelife :-)

Is Holding On To The Grudge Worth Missing Out On God?

Over the years, I have written a great deal about how amazing my family and friends are. I've told stories of phone calls that lifted me, road trips that were too fun for words, and time spent that was indescribably priceless. Sometimes I read my own writing and I am utterly fascinated by the people who are found within my words. They are all extraordinary. They've all made invaluable contributions to my life. However, they have all also had moments where their words robbed me of my smile. Some have been left standing holding the knife that stabbed me in my back. Then too are the ones who have disappointed me in ways that are down right horrible. Many would say that I would be justified to hold a grudge if I told those stories. But, I made a choice about each one of these people and that choice was to love.

Choosing to love and let go of grudges has been a process for me. There have been times where I was so angry that I've wanted nothing more to do with a person. I even recall saying things like "I will NEVER speak to her again". Like many of you, I said those words without giving thought to all of the special times that I shared with the person. I said I would never speak to her without thinking how much had to broken before the person hurt me. 

You see we all like to think of our experiences in a way that places the focus squarely on what has been done to us. We don't think about what happened within the person to cause them to act in a hateful way in the first place. Instead, we nurse our wounds and give permanent residence to grudges that grow and fester.

Well, I choose everyday to let go of the reminder of the hurt and evict the grudge that threatens the love I have in my heart. I choose to focus on the time my best friend and I spent half the night talking instead of building a monument to the time he forgot to call. I make these choices deliberately because I know that holding on to a grudge will cause me to miss out on God. Besides, the love that we share is bigger than the hurt, bigger than the grudge, bigger than everything that there is...except God.  ;-)

So watch yourselves.

"If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them."

Luke 17:3

Adayinthelife :-)

Grudges

Going round and round in my head

Relishing the moment we argued

Unconsciously thinking of all that was said

Doing myself far more harm than letting 

Go ever would

Erasing the anger and forgiving

Seems impossible...but I wish I could

Adayinthelife :-)