This little light of mine let it shine

Shiny lights, big balloons, scrumptious cake, a celebration of life, making memories, welcoming the new and signing off on the past year. Happy Birthday to me - oooh how precious it is this life I live!

What can I show for the past 46 years, what can I give as a gift on the day the gift of life was given to me?

These thoughts are ALL a work in progress and for some of these I have just begun to scratch the surface of my own journey, so come along with me.

 

Thanks to my Brother and Sister for keeping it real!

Why do we let others steal our joy? Still working on this one because I have a gift of compassion so I tend to let how others feel and act affect me negatively. I am working on separating how they feel from my personal joy. I have spent most of my adult life burdened for other people, its not wrong to feel sadness and pain for others but when it robs your joy and impacts your life negatively we may need a meter check. Find a happy medium.

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Don't wait to pray when your desperate. Prayer is a profound experience when it is a habit that becomes a sense of self, literally a part of your being. When I began to really dive into prayer I learned that my idealism of what prayer should be, stopped me from actually getting anything out of prayer. 
Talking to God will become part of you and a relationship between you and your Savior, it feels like a conversation with an intimate friend not a fiction super hero that becomes a stuffed animal.
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 Be real even when that means your not in the cool crowd, the popular circle, the super hip group or make the team. False advertising is exhausting and leads to misrepresentation of what and who God created you to be. Perfect in his image - you don't need someone else's image to fit in!  Many people don't want to be great because that takes work and sacrifice they just want to be perceived as great.

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Deal with reality HEAD ON. I know this sounds crazy and it will be hard, it is hard! Pain is a great teacher! You can pause or try to out run it and it will creep up on you when your not stable or scared and then it wins and brings defeat. Inhale, Pray, Exhale and boldly run forward into the eye of the storm and when the wind dies down you will be AMAZED at who you have become. Be enriched by adversity and challenges! 

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Force does not produce change. What? How can this be? I have been a force to be reckoned with my entire life! I can and will change you and myself.... NOT! I hate the fact that this is not true because I am so good at forcing but force when applied too strong breaks not changes people. 
Soften up, shut up and maybe speak up.

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People are more important then phones, _______________ insert whatever word you want but really think about how often we put __________________ in front of real, living, breathing people.

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Find your people. People say what they think but DO what they believe. Have a circle that matches your rhythm in all walks of life, they may not always go with you to the next season but they have fed your soul well during this time and place.

Discipline yourself - Can not say this loud enough. Self Control will serve you well in ALLL aspects of life. Be diligent in the small things and pursue greatness in all you do especially the things you don't want to do.

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Selfishness sparks the fire for us to look at what we don't have. Steer far away from focusing on what your missing. Transformation only happens when gratitude takes selfishness place in your head and heart.

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Take Initiative- Step up to the plate, not with force but boldness, confidence and spunk. (I have changed my initial reaction to force to spunk LOL)  If it doesn't work out OH WELL you tried, you lived and you learned. I heard this women say at a lecture that her dad asked her everyday after school "what did you fail at today?" He said if you haven't failed at something you haven't tried something new. I have thought about that many of times and ok failing everyday may be drastic but it does raise the question when is the last time I failed trying something new? 

Let some of your distractions GO. That overwhelming feeling that you can not possibly get it all done, the rush turns to panic - prioritize and let some distractions go.

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I have learned not to be dazzled by impressive resumes or fancy cars, ignite your soul with truth, fortitude and sacrificial people that do what they say and may not always say what you want to hear.

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Fear is useful but also can be very debilitating. We want to feel it because it protects us from danger however it can also be a liar when it takes our breath and stops us in our steps from the things we must do to grow. 
(Thanks Zach Williams)

 
Scars are stories to be told not spots to cover up or wish you could erase. Tell your story of grace and survival from the scars that led you hear. Ask others to tell you their story and hold on tight to wide eyes ready to share. Its a good day when someone gets to share a story!

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Say your sorry, confess and ask for forgiveness OFTEN. It is a gift and a sign of strength not the end of your life but the beginning. It is not a once in a lifetime proposal it is a life skill that produces freedom. 

Truth without love can be cruel.

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Laugh, no really just start laughing- my mom would stop us dead in our tracks and make us fake laugh until we all were laughing at each others fake laugh then laughing so hard most of the time we forgot what we were upset about. I am way tooo serious and I have been working on this -thanks to my son who reminds me to laugh.  

 

OOOOh how much sweeter God's plan if for us than any plan we could imagine, when things seem to keep falling apart they may be falling into place. We may have to stop putting humpty dumpty back together again with excess planning and fixing and let the fire produce something more beautiful then we could ever comprehend.  

It does not happen TO you, it happens FOR you!

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At times what we learn seems to contradict each other but when they are based in truth they fit like a puzzle to display at the end of our lives a portrait of his masterpiece. 

Thank you Mom for giving me life and teaching me how to Love!