Opinions, Agendas and Truth

 Some of you may or may not know our journey the last 10 years of our lives.  You may or may not have an opinion about the last 2 years of our lives.  Our lives have been hard, ugly and raw.  Life had us questioning everything, from our purpose to our existence.  Who could we trust, turn to or confide in.  It seemed as though everyone had an opinion and an agenda.  We as people are generally afraid to be ugly with the truth.  Ugly with our feelings and what we are going through for fear of what people are going to say, think or do.  We lived that fear.  We trusted family and church that let us down.  There will never be an apology nor admission that they misjudged the situation and didn't fully understand the facts.  They took a perspective and ran with it.  In a world full of opinion being truth it makes people isolated, and in my opinion that is where Satan wants us.  

Satan hates those who overcome, those who proclaim that God is on their side and that God has a purpose for everything.  We have gone through what we have and I believe at some point in our journey we will be able to be used for His glory.  

Government, people, churches and family may let you down at some point in your life.  God goes beyond four walls, family is more than genetics and people are just outsiders looking in.  God has been forming you from the inside out and the only one that knows who you are, where you came from and what you're made for.  

Steps of Growth

 One foot goes in front of the other.  This is how we learn to walk.  But before we walk we need to learn to crawl.  We cannot bypass the natural steps of growth.  Not only do we crawl before we walk but everyone gets there at different times.  Some of us are naturals, some of us are late bloomers and some of us need a little extra help.  

Where did we as a society go wrong with thinking everyone has to do everything the same?  When did it become an expectation that we have to do the same thing as everyone else? Parenting, thinking, reacting to situations and living our lives?  

We have to admit that there is beauty in all milestones in someone's life.  When a baby learns to crawl they fall over.  When a baby learns to walk they fall down.  Once you learn these skills there are still times we trip, we fall, and sometimes we get hurt.  This is so relevant to life.  Even if we know how to do something that doesn't mean we will not fail.  Does not mean we will not "overstep" or take a wrong turn.  

In life, we are so focused on how to critique someone's journey we forget that we have our own growth journey.  Remember, we all walk and talk differently and that is the beauty of life's journey.

Building on our Differences

Grace. Empathy. Support.  These are three small words that seem invisible, non-existent.  Three small words that can turn everything around.  

Grace; Undeserved favor not earned but freely given.  If you ponder that for a second what stirs in you?  Do you feel anything when you think of grace?  Are you guilty of not giving grace freely when it isn't deserved?  

Empathy; the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.  Do you try and put yourself in positions where you try and understand someone?  Truly understand who they are and what they are made of?  

Support; bear all or part of the weight. When you think of a bridge you would hope it has proper support. A system built to withstand multiple tons of weight at any given moment.  One piece of the bridge could not withhold that amount of weight on its own.  If we see a need for multiple pieces to build a bridge then why is it that we leave people on their own to carry their own heavy loads?  

With these three things actively practiced in our lives, we will see the weight lessen, understanding increase and connections happening.  Our world is so lost that we have gotten to a point where if we do not have the same opinions and do things the same that we are deemed undeserving.  Last I checked, we were not built to be robots and to all be the same.  We have come to see differences as a weakness instead of a potential to make things even better.  We all have our own paths we walk and our own life experiences.  These experiences are what mold us and get us to where we belong.  

Yeah, You got this!!!

           Have you ever participated in an activity that was draining and exhausting?  Lets say a 5k, a triathlon, or a marathon?  It's definitely a big accomplishment to do something like that.  I for one have not done any of these things for the reason as to I am more of a couch potato than a Rabbit.   Lets be real, no one wants to see all this running lol.  I know, I know, I am a little harsh on myself and people would "be supportive" thinking look at her trying to better herself.

            Anyway, got a little off topic there, I do the other side of things like the cheering them on and hopefully giving them a little more momentum to finish the last leg of the race.  Go get 'em, you got this, almost there, and you're doing great are of course the go to comments.  I decided to add a little bit more pizzazz, my children, more so my daughter, and I decided we were going to add some dance moves! The neighbors living around that area were probably watching thinking i get free entertainment! Hey the more the smiling faces the better the world is right :D. 

             Then you bring my husband into the mix, who needs to cheer on the cheer squad to keep up the momentum of excitement for these participants.  My middle child decided he is going to motivate the runners by running with them on the small strip of road between the turn and where we direct them.  My oldest decided his job was to stand there and clap in the back.  Looking at my children you can definitely see their personalities coming through just by the different things they did while volunteering at the event.  

Relationships

Here's the definition of relationship:
re·la·tion·ship
rəˈlāSH(ə)nˌSHip/Submit
noun
noun: relationship; plural noun: relationships
the way in which two or more concepts, objects, or people are connected, or the state of being connected

Now there can be all sorts of relationships. We have good ones and bad one's, weird ones and "normal" ones, we even have strong ones and strained ones. As a parent I am not here to shield my children from every experience they have; however I am here to help guide them through those strained, bad relationships. Whether it be by blood or not. I need to help enrich my children's self worth and if someone out there isn't going to make them feel worthy of love and acceptance then I will be there to teach them those people need to be loved but they don't get the power to take their happiness. 

My children have been through so much in their lives of rejection they shouldn't have to feel like an obligation or choice number 20. My children will know they are worth it and are loved and anyone who makes them feel any different can have the side of the road. They will be taught to love those who hate them. They will be taught that life isn't always nice but what we can control is how we treat others.

If we have a tumor that is affecting you in a negative way what do we do? We take it out, we dispose of the item that's causing us internal harm. We look at it and realize that something so small can cause a big scare. We appreciate the tumor for what it is a lump of something hard and something that was once apart of us. However just because it was once there doesn't mean it needs to stay. We can move on past the lump and still be grateful for life up until the time it was removed. A negative experience will be in our past but will no longer be able to define us.

bubbles of happiness

        Bubbles of happiness sounds a little funny I suppose.  It isn't a fully formed sentence it isn't something that has grave meaning to most people over the age of 5.  What are bubbles really besides something that floats in the air that resulted in a mixture of soap suds and water. Well to a child it can be whatever they need it to be.  Have you ever looked at a child who was just so over joyed to have bubbles to play with outside?  These bubbles to these kids make them so happy it's like seeing a long lost friend after being apart for years. Getting the one you love to propose to you or walking down the aisle to say I Do.  It's like Christmas, 4th of July and birthday all wrapped up into one. 

       When did we lose our pure joy of simple happiness?  Where did the joy of just seeing something so simple?  Where did the amazement of wonder go?  When kids see the bubbles pop they don't get down they just look for the next one.  Lets live our lives as though a bubble pops in our lives we keep looking up.  We keep looking for the next bubble to pass by and we follow it.  Our dreams shouldn't lessen just because our lives grow longer.  Lets enjoy the simple things in life and just sit back in amazement of life.

          

Environmental

Let us pretend for a moment that we are plants. We start as a seedling. Someone comes along and hand picks us out of all different varieties of beautiful flowers. We were chosen purchased and brought back home. They put us in a small pot to start us out to establish our roots and blossom to who were we meant to be. With their love, sunshine and water we do just that!

So as we grow we get bigger, and more full of beautiful color and scent. You are so happy being there in your safe place. The place that has never let you down. A place that was always there for you. So the bigger you grow the more you realize the pot isn't growing with you. You then realize that its okay I will stop growing and just stay here, instead of going to a new strange place and expanding our roots we would rather stay where we are comfortable.

God is calling us to get out of our comfort zone and trust Him that He has our best interest at heart! He knows that we thrived at one spot but we may be thriving better in a new location where His light can shine on and through us! We just need to trust that his location for us to move to is what's best!