Life is like this...don't you think?

"Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be broken"

 ~ Author Unknown

Just when you get used to the warm weather, 

another cold front makes it's way through.

And when I say cold, I mean COOOLD!  Biting cold.

Just when you think everything is running smoothly,

*BADA-BOOM*... a bump in the road.

Just when you think you've got a handle on things,

plans change. Health wanes. Children go rogue.

Life is like this, don't you think? It's part of the human experience.

Yet unexpected twists and turns are what keep the story alive.

One day they love you, the next you're their target.  

One day a situation is chillax and under control, 

the next day chaos reigns. 

One day you feel like you're on top of the world, 

the next day you feel like it's crashing down on you. 

Circumstances are always in flux,

but how we choose to perceive these experiences 

can make all the difference.

God says we can build our "house" on the sand 

or we can build it on The Rock. 

When our "house" is built on the sand, 

then the winds and the rain can tear it down. 

When our "house" is built on The Rock, 

then it's sturdy and strong and the storms can't destroy it.

I like to think of our "house" as our emotional stability.

When our emotional stability is built on the sand, 

that means our sense of well-being is based on 

fleeting things and passing moods.

One disappointing conversation and we crumble - 

one fierce trial and the house falls down.  

When our emotional stability is built on The Rock - 
we're depending on God.

 I never used to do so well with the unexpected.

Fear of the unknown was a burden to say the least.

I had what I like to call "white knuckle syndrome,"
holding on so tight,

 desperately trying to control each outcome,

as if I ever could.

I'm learning and RE-learning what it means to let go.

I've come to embrace and even relish the understanding

that TRUE surrender means giving up attachment to results.

That no matter how it plays out...good, bad or indifferent...

that you know that you KNOW that you are going to be ok,

and even if everything falls apart, 

being confident that HE WILL do something NEW, 

and that HE will use every last detail 
to bring us into HIS sweet sweet presence.

On a side note, 

don't these flowers on my apple tree personify SPRING?

And to think that only a week ago, this tree was just a skeleton.

Stripped bare from a season of wintery cold.

A few days later, tiny green leaves pushed their way 

through dormant branches.

And now, fragrant soft petals screaming "LIFE!" have emerged.

As surely as the sun rises, the fruit isn't far behind.

*smile*

Life is like this...don't you think?

Courage...

"To be nobody but myself - in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make me somebody else - 

means to fight the hardest battle any human can fight, and never stop fighting." 

~ e.e. cummings 

Are you consumed with living up to other people's expectations? 

Trying to win their approval?

If the answer is yes, are you exhausted yet?

Mind if I intervene? 

A complete, idle, fruitless waste of time.

Trust me on this.

John Eldredge said "Without a deep and burning desire of our own, 

we will be ruled by the desire of others." 

I concur.

It's easy to let the opinions of others dictate our course, isn't it?

To succumb to the pressure.

Allow ourselves to be persuaded against our gut instinct.

Even at some level allow ourselves to be manipulated.

And why... because we dare to be unconventional?

Because we choose to go against the flow?

"The truth is, we will exhaust ourselves by performing for a world that does not want to praise us.

Let us choose to live for God's approval, and find freedom from others controlling our confidence!" ~ Sheri Rose Shepard

Yes! 

My dear friend said that quote is front of the fridge material....I couldn't agree more.....*print*

It will take courage sweet bellas, to be who you are destined to be. 

It will upset the comfort zones of those around you.

And it will cause a ripple effect.

I'll close by sharing a story that Max Lucado recounts in his book "Grace for the Moment." He tells it like this: "There is a legend from India that tells of a mouse who was terrified of cats until a magician agreed to transform him into a cat. That resolved his fear...until he met a dog, so the magician turned him into a dog. The mouse-turned-cat-turned-dog was content until he met a tiger - so, once again, the magician changed him into what he feared. But when the tiger came complaining that he had met a hunter, the magician refused to help. "I will make you into a mouse again, for though you have the body of a tiger, you still have the heart of a mouse."

I looked up the definition of courage...it is defined as: 

"a quality of spirit that enables you to face danger or pain with confidence and resolution."

The definition of resolution: "1. The state or quality of being resolute; firm determination. 2. A resolving to do something."

"Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord." Psalm 31:24

Let us resolve to walk through the rest of this day with courage and receive the strength that comes from Him.

That is my hope for myself today.

And for all of you...

Thistle and Weeds...

"There are no limits. There are only plateaus,

and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them."

~Bruce Lee

Sometimes the shower is the only place I can hear myself think.

As the hot water ran down my back,

with eyes closed and a few deeeep exhales,

I could feel the longing.

My weariness was palpable.

The longing to downshift.

To feel the warmth of a new season wrap around my soul.

The longing for all of the "colds" and viruses to be done with already...

To stop turning on the heater at night or first thing in the morning. 

I'm ready for the windows and back door to be open all day long, 

with no more than the ceiling fan on to gently circulate the air.

Longing for new life, new growth, new blossoms, new beginnings...

I rarely do phone calls. Purely circumstantial.

But today I had the chance to talk to a friend.

My thoughts have been so foggy lately, I've been stumbling through my days.

Her words stabbed me into breathless clarity.

Lord, how I needed that. 

The fog is lifting....

 It's not all rainbows and butterflies,

But you already knew that.

Sometimes it's thistle and weeds.

Just keepin' it real.

Occasionally we need to take a step back.

Get our footing again. REST.

Re-examine our surroundings. Take inventory. Assess.

And then.....proceed thoughtfully. Prayerfully.

"Finish each day and be done with it.

You have done what you could.

Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in;

forget them as soon as you can.

Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely

and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson