Let Go of Labels and Choose Your Life
From the Monday Mission, February 28, 2020
When I was a kid I was an intense day dreamer. And that also meant I was incredibly forgetful. I once rode my brand new bike to the neighborhood pond, set it down, roamed around looking at ducks and thinking about my future and the Backstreet Boys and cutting bangs, and then walked all the way home.
Because my parents really loved me and wanted to teach me a lesson, they refused to get me another bike. The only redeeming part of the story is that it was a navy 3-speed. And what I had most wanted was a glittery purple 12-speed like the girl down the street with the cute bangs. Showed them!
After this incident I was known as a "forgetful kid." And like the sad kid with the 3-speed, we often allow negative labels to stick to us.
For example, we think of ourselves as being glass half full or half empty people. "Morning people" or NOT morning people. These labels determine how we will behave most of the time. But here, for our Monday Mission, we are going to put them aside and recognize the autonomy we have in how our lives proceed.
We don't get to choose all of our circumstances but we do get to choose our response to them. Our mission today is decide now that we will make the most of the week, no matter how it goes. (Eph 5:16)
Let's take a moment for self inventory...
Are there negative thoughts or emotions lingering that might keep me from being who I want to be, and doing what I want to do today?
Start with this simple prayer...
"God, thank you for the grace to be my imperfect self today and to love that self anyway. Help me to let go of negative thoughts and emotions that are not from you, and fill me up with a new understanding of your love for me. Amen."
POSTED...
My guest post on For Every Mom:
A Virus Doesn't Determine My Peace - Finding Confidence in Uncertainty
This is for anyone feeling nervous about the news lately and wanting to feel steady when everyone is telling us to be afraid.
"I remembered that the bottom line for me is not whether or not the odds are in my favor. The bottom line is that I choose not to be afraid because I choose to trust that God is in control of it all, including my life."
From fellow writer, Anna Kettle:
"It's a pretty scary thing to realize that the future you had always mapped out in your head and your heart may not actually be the future God has for you at all. And it's a pretty courageous thing to decide that you will keep on trusting God for that future anyway."
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