Focus. Understand. Vision.

So who am I to think that I am little miss perfect? Am I perfect? Oh my gosh - - NO! Far from it. Then why do I get so bent out of shape when someone or more than one person brings it to my attention? What about their attitude or their mistakes? Why am I the bad guy? Why is it that when one person reminds me of my imperfections - everybody and their brother has to be in on the gang-up fest?

Ok. Yes. I have had a dramatic week or two with plenty of drama. And its all my fault, apparently. But I will say this, I have learned a lot over the last week or two. The first major lesson learned: Focus on changing ME. Not what others need to change. Focus on simply loving with the love that God gives me every single day as well as what I need to improve upon and change to make the lives of others better and benefit from having crossed paths with me.  Second major lesson learned: identify the love/life languages of those I encounter often.... significant other, family, friends, co-workers, employer, etc. By understanding what makes these people feel appreciated and valued, it makes it so much easier to speak their language than our own - especially if they do not interpret what we may feel as value. God wired us each a bit differently. That's not a bad thing, we are all unique and all with our own special giftedness - areas that we are able to bless others.
Third major lesson learned: identify the 'picture' or vision that you want to see in your life and then identify the areas in your life that may need to be 'tweaked' in order to make that vision a reality. Then ask God to help you sort out these areas.

The third lesson is a key element to understanding who you are and how you became who you are. It is a process that involves asking yourself questions about your past - with your family history. History regarding your parents, their relationship- their love relationship, how they resolved conflict, your good memories, bad memories, family traditions, family addictions that have been passed down through the generations... there are numerous things that go into how you've become who you are. The best part is, once we work on the areas that could really use some fine tuning, the benefits far outweigh the hardship of dealing with the issues we discover. It becomes a part of getting to that reality of the vision we want for our lives and maybe even for our family.

As for my vision, its still a work in progress. But the process of getting there has been an eye opener. What will you discover about yourself and your family as you decide upon your vision? You never know until you decide to unwrap all the layers..... but I encourage you to begin. You won't be disappointed in the end result.

Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.

So what happens when you get a phone call and recieve alarming news on the other end? The initial response is sometimes confusion, fear, the need for answers and/or more information.... right? Or it can be the question, "why God? why me?" But truthfully, why anybody? Why does anyone have to recieve difficult news and sometimes even more difficult events in their lives? Does it make the world a terrible place? Does it make God a mean God? Is God out to get you for some reason or another? I'm going to tell you no, no, and NO it does not.  Let me explain.

About four weeks ago, my family recieved some interesting but difficult news. We didn't know what to make of it... because there were no concrete answers or solutions to the news. I myself, I was in bewilderment thinking, how does this happen to me of all people? How does this happen to us?? We love God with our lives, with our whole heart, what is a roadblock like this doing in our family? The truth is, as my husband and I have gathered with many, many family and friends to agree in prayer we've come to understand that our struggles are not against flesh and blood. No. Our struggle is against the enemy (the devil) who wants nothing more than to destroy our family, destroy our lives, and destroy our faith. The only problem with the enemy's plans...... our God is way BIGGER than any plan he can come up with to destroy us. We have our faith, we have prayer (which by the way is the strongest most powerful tool you possess to dominate any situation!), we have the Word of God (another incredibly powerful tool if it is verbally and prayerfully claimed in prayer), and we have a God that defeated death itself on the cross and resurrected to give life to us all if we believe.

"Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world."  1 John 4:4

God is greater than any situation or any person that causes you opposition because of your firm faith and trust in him as you pray consistantly about your circumstances and/or your opposition. Another verse that I've been faithfully keeping in constant prayer, Ephesians 6:15-18.

God is faithful and he is good. When your find yourself in struggle, chances are your faith is being stretched. Don't be afraid of it, embrace it with the Word of God and consistant prayer to Him for his favor in your life or in the lives of your loved ones.