Tag: your

YOUR STORY

Every life is truly a special gift from God.

What you do with it, and how you live it, is YOUR gift to God.

Have you viewed YOUR life as such?

Do the things you busy yourself with reflect that view? How about the decisions you make, the places you go, the people you interact with?

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Your life is a story that only YOU can write to our Creator, God Almighty. No two people have the same story; each and every story is unique!

Your life is made up of some circumstances you have control over, and some things you do not have control over. Every day brings many decisions. The choices you make shape and mold YOUR life’s story.

Your story is made up of many chapters–it could be based on the stages of life–infancy, childhood, teenager, young adult, adult, elderly person.

The chapters could also be represented by significant events in your life.

When you start out as an infant, you depend solely on your caregiver to meet all of your needs, but as you begin to grow, you have some control over YOUR gift to God.

As you become a teenager, you have even more options in deciding how YOUR story will be written.

**Will you stand up for your beliefs or will you follow the crowd and compromise your faith?

When you are a young adult, you have even greater control over writing YOUR story to God. The opportunities are endless and you have more freedom.

Probably as an adult, you have the greatest potential for writing YOUR story to God. You are now on your own and responsible for yourself.

How you react to the various situations in your life is a big part of YOUR story.

**Are you going to choose to be happy despite possible “bad” circumstances or will you let sadness and loss of hope overtake YOUR story?

**Will you let Jesus guide your path?

With God’s help, you have the power and freedom to write YOUR personal story–your gift to Him.

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Photo credit by BK under Creative Commons License (CC BY-SA 2.0)

It is never too late to begin anew if YOUR story is not what you want it to be.

**If there is a chapter in your life that you don’t like, you can seek God’s forgiveness and move on to bigger and better things.

God is always there waiting for us and waiting to guide us.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if, when you are an elderly person, or at the end of every chapter in YOUR story, you can look back and say that you are satisfied with YOUR story?

YOUR story is YOUR gift to God!

You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts.  –2 Corinthians 3:2-3 (NIV)

CELEBRATE YOUR LIFE

I can’t help but share these thoughts today….as this is the day I get to celebrate ME!

 

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                                                      One year old!
When you think about your birthday rolling around, what kind of feelings does that elicit?
Feelings of happiness or feelings of dread?
As I’ve gotten older, I find that it is easier to think about the negative aspect of birthdays. Like the part of the  aging body having more aches and pains and not working as well as it used to.  And then there’s definitely more gray hair to color! Thankfully, I still feel young at heart…now if only the body would realize that too!
But, I think it’s good to shift our focus to celebrating US!

 

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                               Nice crooked bow for Kindergarten!
Think about when you hear of someone expecting a child, especially maybe as a first time parent. Isn’t there so much joy and happiness to celebrate this new life?  One thinks of all the hopes and dreams you have for this child and what the future will be like.

I guess it seems almost like God wants us to rejoice in those same ways once a year when our birthday rolls around.  There are so many things to celebrate.

After all, we are God’s child…a great reason to celebrate!

 

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                                                                8th grade
Over the years, I have grown to appreciate the specialness of birthdays.
They remind me that I am special to the Lord, and that He is Lord of ALL creation.

 

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                                         High school graduation

 

Birthdays make me think about the reasons to celebrate in the Lord…
…to celebrate the fact that our life is a GIFT from God.
…to celebrate the MIRACLE of OUR life.
…to celebrate how SPECIAL and UNIQUE the Lord made each of us.
…to celebrate the fact that the Lord knew us even while we were in our mother’s WOMB.
…to celebrate the fact that the Lord has a divine PURPOSE for our life.

 

Birthdays are also a great time to take inventory of how far we’ve come in our walk with the Lord and the direction we’re heading.
 
                                                    The current ME!
So, when your birthday rolls around this year, don’t worry about getting older, but rather…
REJOICE & CELEBRATE the fact that YOU are a special part of God’s creation!

When I think of celebrating ME, I can’t help but think of my favorite, what I call “life song,” Offering by Third Day. I know I’ve shared it before, but take a moment to click the link below and really listen to the message of the song.

For me, in my heart and soul, this song holds such special meaning and truly summarizes that

MY life is my OFFERING to Him for all He has done for ME.

This song is an older song of Third Day’s, so it was such a blessing to hear them play it live at the last concert I went to! Such a wonderful song!!

 

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  –Psalm 139: 13-14  (NIV)

WHEN YOUR BEST ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH

Have you ever been in a situation when you tried so hard to succeed at something but in the end, your best just wasn’t good enough for you to reach that ultimate goal?

My son had that experience this week and as a mom I think that was probably harder on me. We always want the best for our kids, and especially when we see them work so hard for something, it is heart-breaking if they don’t quite achieve that.

This son especially has a great love for the sport of baseball. Years ago he played soccer which was cut short his last year by a broken arm. (From jumping off a swing at a classmate’s birthday party!) At that time in his life, he was also plagued by asthma so it was harder on him running back and forth down the field. Through the years, he has also been involved with the sport of basketball. It used to be when he was in basketball, we would find him saying that was his favorite sport and during baseball, baseball was definitely his favorite sport.

That mentality seemed to change this past year. Baseball became HIS sport! In fact, he didn’t want to play basketball anymore so he could just do baseball all the time. The problem is it seems rare to be able to do baseball year round (due to our snowy winters), so he did continue to play basketball to keep more active.

This past fall, my son played fall baseball at an indoor complex so they didn’t have to worry about the weather interfering with play time. This is when it seemed like the spark in him became even stronger to pursue baseball and when he started saying baseball was his life!

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Thankfully, a friend of his suggested to a coach of a travel baseball team that he should check him out. Well, the rest is history. My son has been practicing and playing indoor games ever since and can’t wait for the outside travel tournaments to begin. He loved the day he had practice, helped with another team, and had a double header! His passion is definitely with baseball.

This past week they had school, modified baseball tryouts. He so wanted to make the team this year. He tried out and didn’t make the team last year as they only took three players from his grade level. This year they took more players and sadly he was not one they picked.  We’ve heard our school sports are pretty political in nature and as in most things, it seems to depend on who you know. That is definitely a disadvantage for us as he came into the school district as a 6th grader, and because of where we live, we usually go to another town for the recreational sports so he is not really on their “radar.”

A bit after we came home from finding out the results from the baseball try-outs, my son comes out with two white boards that he wrote on. One was listing some goals and one was a workout routine for everyday to help get him more physically fit and stronger. That made my heart so proud, and made me rethink the heart-break I was feeling.
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He had risen above the disappointment to make some positive changes in his life. He is more determined than ever to be the best player he can be for the Broome Bandits, his travel baseball team, and to hopefully make the school baseball team next year. Getting in shape physically can only help those goals, make him stronger, and hopefully also help with the mental, positive aspect involved with sports too.
Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.  –Romans 5:3-5 
I think so often in our society, there is so much pressure to be #1 …whether it be to climb the corporate ladder and be the top dog, or to be the #1 athlete in the state for a particular sport. It is definitely great to be one of those elite ones, but in most cases, there can only be one of those, so most people don’t achieve that status.
What is even more important I think is that along the way, we put forth our best effort in all we do. We all can’t be #1, but we can all put forth our best effort. It reminds me of a blog, entitled Perfect Effort, I read about the movie When the Game Stands Tall, one I definitely recommend viewing.
A major theme of the movie is that you can’t always have a perfect “game,” but what is most important is to put forth the perfect “effort.”
As I reflect, I am so proud of my son for putting forth his best effort in the sport of baseball.  Through the years, all of his coaches have said that he is such a likable, teachable kid who wants to improve. He will listen to the coach and try to incorporate whatever suggestion they have.  He is determined to be better through his list of goals. Thankfully, his travel coach has been so understanding and supportive of what my son is experiencing, so he has let him come down to the complex and practice with his son every day that he wants. My son always wants to get there early, and ends up closing up the place most of the time.  I’d say all those things contribute to him putting forth his perfect effort.
Maybe you will be able to relate to some instances in your life when your best wasn’t quite good enough, but hopefully you were able to make the best of the situation and turn it around for the positive. And, I think more importantly, hopefully realizing you put forth your best effort will bring you comfort!
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.  –Colossians 3:23-24

YOUR WORDS ARE INFLUENTIAL

Have you ever thought about the influence your words have on others? Your words have the ability to build others up in a positive way or tear them down in a negative way.

One weekend this summer, I was trying to decide whether to go on a long trip to a family reunion by myself or just stay home. The first night of the reunion, one of my sister-in-laws at the reunion called to jokingly ask what kind of toppings I wanted on the pizza, as they were ordering some.  It was a joke because they were five hours away!  But, it made me smile to think that she thought of me and called me.  She asked if I was coming the next day.

Truthfully, I was still feeling overwhelmed with finishing a long day of work with pressing deadlines, taking care of two kids who had wisdom teeth out, running to the store to get them more varieties of food they could eat and the list goes on. I told her I would wait and decide the next morning.

The next morning came, and I was still unsure what to do…whether to go or just stay home. Once again, this same sister-in-law texted me to say she thought I should come. Her words inspired me to really get ready and start on my journey. I felt she really wanted me  to be present and join in the festivities.

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So, I started to pack up for the long ride. It was suppose to rain along the way, but thankfully the weather was just fine the whole way, I got to play lots of good music, and the traffic was not bad at all. It turns out I was very thankful to go, and everyone was very happy to see me.

At times, our words can have an adverse reaction on a person. Can you think of a time when someone said something to you that maybe was very cutting and hurtful? Maybe the comments even made you feel incompetent in some area of your life.  In many cases, it is very likely that the person did not even realize their comment hurt you.  It might be possible that now you totally alienate yourself from the person, but hopefully, you either told the person how  the comments made you feel, or you chose to forgive them and move on.

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Living Waters by Len Matthews under Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

It is important to remember that your words have the power to built someone up or tear them down. Try to think before you speak in the hopes of not tearing someone down, but rather encouraging them along this journey.

A simple statement or two can have a big influence on how someone views themselves or a situation.

“Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.”  –Proverbs 16:24

FOLLOW YOUR HEART

Are you aware of that still, small voice deep inside of you that helps direct your path?  Do you try to listen to it and follow where it leads? The Holy Spirit is within us helping us to follow God’s leading.

I think it is important to follow your heart, that still, small voice, not necessarily what society thinks is right or correct. We might have to endure hardship because of our choices but that is better than going against where God is leading.

There was one major time in my life when after much prayer, and weighing pros & cons, I ended up following my heart rather than do what was expected. It was a difficult thing to do as I am not one to go against what is expected, but I had to follow my heart and trust God that it was the “right” decision for my life.

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Photo credit by pocketful of perspective under Creative Commons License (by-nc-nd/2.0)

Recently a conversation with a friend made me think about how I followed my heart in another life choice I made. The friend believes there was a choice in my past that was not the “correct” one.  The choice was a difficult one but one that I still stand by. In my heart, I feel it was the “right” decision for my life. Yes, it still had some repercussions but it was more important to follow God’s leading.

Can you think of some incidents in your life where you followed the Holy Spirit’s prompting? Try to be more aware of that small, still voice in your life and follow it. It is so worth the hardships you may endure for going against the norm.

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness.”  –Hebrews 3:7-8