New Beginnings...

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
2 Corinthians 5:17

I am trying for a new beginning. I have "hired" a personal trainer to spend 4 weeks to help my get my focus on a healthy life and am taking the steps necessary (both in exercise and diet) to get there. After I finished exercising this morning I started thinking about new beginnings and how each day is a new beginning. What brought this to mind was the reminder that last Friday and Saturday I didn't do so well on the eating part- and the exercise on those two days was pretty much non-existent. The end result was that I felt horrible- like a blob. Then Sunday came and with it the chance to make new choices- and since then I have done okay- on the eating and exercising part. But what about the rest of my life- am I making the choices daily? Am I focusing on filling my hunger with the Word? Am I exercising my faith through prayer, sharing about HIM? Or, am I becoming sedentary like my "former" self? If I had to be honest- I would say no- not as often as I should- my goal for a "fit" lifestyle should not stop with just my diet and exercise habits.

I want to live as Jeremiah did:

"When your words came, I ate them;
they were my joy and my heart's delight,
for I bear your name,
O LORD God Almighty"

-Jeremiah 15:16


Just some rambling thoughts for this Tuesday morning :)

Words

"Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be." James 3:5-8

Today I learned a valuable lesson about the power of words. On my status on facebook I made a simple comment about the plans for the day. In response someone I trusted made a comment that affected my entire morning, most of my afternoon, and most of all allowed satan to attack me in a very vulnerable area. She later apologized and tried to explain that she wasn't trying to hurt me and while that apology was accepted- the damage was already done. The fire had raged and left a trail of a hurting heart.

So, that lesson I learned- to always keep a watch on my words. Even words said as an aside- or meant to "encourage" could actually do just the opposite.

On the flip side- Proverbs 12:18 says: "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." I went to a trusted person requesting prayer for my heart and attitude (but I didn't provide her with details). That person figured out what happened and made the contact herself and through that plus the words she shared with me gave me great encouragement and provided the healing my heart needed.

In other "words" :) remember the power a word can have...

Reality

**This is also a repeat of a post from my card blog

Many of you may have read THIS post on Monday. Well, today a very dear friend of mine, who I had shared a little with on Sunday sent me THIS link. Very timely and much appreciated- so- I am asking for help- help in living here:

"And I’m sure if I were able to untangle all the emotion wrapped in and around these questions, somewhere deep inside I would find this girl doubting God’s love for her.

I did. I remember being single, the only one of my friends without a boyfriend, and wondering why. I would see these nice boys and think God could make one of them fall in love with me but He doesn’t. And that hurt.

But here’s the thing I wish I had known then… I must process this through the filter of God’s love not through the tangled places of my heart.

When I process things through the tangled places of my heart, often the outcome is, “If God loves me so much, why would He allow this happen?”

Instead when I process things through the filter of the absolute assurance of God’s love, the outcome is, “God loves me so much therefore I have to trust why He is allowing this to happen.”

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, God’s love for us is fiercely tender and He will go to great lengths to protect us, provide for us, and put us in positions that allow us to grow. We may not understand it. We may not like it. But we can rest in the absolute assurance of His love.

I took the mom’s hand who was asking for advice and told her to help her daughter rewrite the way she is processing this. It is okay to feel hurt, lonely and sad. But these feelings shouldn’t be a trigger to doubt God’s love for her. They should be a trigger to look for God’s protection, provision and possible growth opportunities."

(this was excerpted from the blog entry that I linked up above). How can you help? By just encouraging/reminding me to rewrite my process! I don't generally post things like this on this blog (I actually have another one where i could so but am choosing to put it here because your comments the other night were so encouraging and uplifting)

Trust (and then WAIT)

*This is a repeat of a post over on my card blog

Many of you know that I grew as a PK (Pastor's Kid) and I don't regret ANY of that- I have GREAT parents who live their lives and their marriage as a model that I pray that I can emulate one day. However, for whatever reason, I hit walls and Saturday (and even Sunday- even at the point I am typing this up) I hit that wall. I spent most of both days in tears (and I'm not sure why I was even crying). Sometimes I think I try so hard that I feel like I have failed and let God down. It's kind of funny though- we hear the first part of this verse so many times but a lot of people leave off the second part and THAT is where the trust comes in. I don't necessarily have an issue with trust- it's the waiting that I struggle with. It's the giving thanks in the midst of the trusting. It's trusting with ALL (not just part but ALL) of my heart- not holding anything back (which I know that I do for a fear of getting hurt).

So, in light of that- this card came together easily and was very meaningful for today- I needed to reread and believe. If you have stuck with this long post- thank you and I'm sorry it was so long :)

Recipe:
Stamps- {ippity} Devoted
Ink- Chocolate Chip
Paper- Chocolate chip, baja breeze, white, unknown dp
Accessories- buttons, twine