Living a Servant Life...

Loved these expectations/goals/aspirations of living a servant life.  I'm definitely not even close to meeting or exceeding all of these, but that's what the journey of life is all about.  Every day I can try to do better, be better and hopefully become the best version of myself that I can be...living a servant life.

Paradoxes of a Passionate Servant of Christ

Strong enough to be weak;

Successful enough to fail;

Busy enough to take time;

Wise enough to say, “I don’t know”;

Serious enough to laugh;

Rich enough to be poor;

Right enough to say, “I’m wrong”;

Compassionate enough to discipline;

Conservative enough to give freely;

Mature enough to be childlike;

Righteous enough to be a sinner;

Important enough to be last;

Courageous enough to fear God;

Planned enough to be spontaneous;

Controlled enough to be flexible;

Free enough to endure captivity;

Knowledgeable enough to ask questions;

Loving enough to be angry;

Great enough to be anonymous;

Responsible enough to play;

Assured enough to be rejected;

Stable enough to cry;

Victorious enough to lose;

Industrious enough to relax;

Leading enough to serve.

— Philip C. Brewer

Many blessings to you this last week of October!  Happy Halloween!!

On The Verge...

The leaves on my red oak tree in front of my house hasn't started to turn colors yet.  It's been a warm fall so far, but hopefully in a few more weeks the leaves will start to turn a beautiful shade of red.  And then, it will shed all of it's leaves and be bare through the winter.  I recently saw a couple posts on Instagram about how trees shed their leaves in the fall and come back more beautiful every spring.  Basically, we all need to shed something or let go of something so that we can grow and come back even stronger, even more beautiful than we were before!

It's the cycle of life.  Learning how to let go of things that are holding us back or hurting us, moving on from the past, seeking a new direction or a new dream, and some times it's even a death that propels us forward with new motivation or inspiration.  The ups and downs of life that we all face, that we all grapple with in different ways, that knock us down, that bring us to our knees, that rebuild us, that renew us, that we conquer, and that make us the person we are in this moment.  Life is a journey.  And, it's not always pretty.  Most of the time it feels like one prolonged struggle of some kind with flashes of goodness mixed in for good measure.  So, how do we get through it all?

For me, through God's grace and mercy given each and every day.  I've looked to, leaned on and prayed to God more in the last few years than I ever have before in my life.  It's through his ever-present and steady presence in my life that I know I can get through anything and be OK.  Truly.  Life is hard.  Life is unfair.  Life can break us.  But, God can lift us up.  God can sustain us.  God can and will provide.  Yes.  Yes, I believe this is true for me and for you!

So, with growing faith and hope I trust in the Lord with a renewed spirit.  Throughout the past several years I've felt like the dirt in my flowerbeds covered by mulch just sitting and waiting for renewal.  Waiting for a rebirth of sorts...or maybe it's been the dreaded mid-life crisis that's been plaguing me.  Whatever it's been, it's been hard and frustrating, disappointing and sad, and it's also been exactly what I needed.  Sadly, I know all the pain that I've gone through is God working in and through me.  It's God shaping and molding me into the person that He created me to be and I finally feel like I'm brushing away the mulch, shedding my leaves and coming back into the Light...His everlasting Light.

I'm not quite all the way there yet, but I feel the Light, the Hope, and the promise of abundant blessings.  I'm on the verge of whatever the future holds for me.  And, I'm grateful for being in this moment...for not letting all the negative feelings defeat me, for learning how to just sit with all those feelings and feel them, for not giving up, for getting up every morning and facing the day, for building a closer relationship with God, and for surviving.  I don't know what the future holds, but I know I'm a better person, a stronger person than I was before through God's grace and mercy.  All glory and honor go to God!

So, if there's something you need to shed or you're going through one of life's trials right now, just know you can get through it.  You can survive.  You can do it!  And, just know it's part of your journey towards a better you...a better tomorrow...a better life!  Trust.  Have hope.  Pray!  Wishing you blessings of self-renewal, growth, and peace!

Cold & Cold

It finally felt like fall here in Texas when I cold front swept through late in the week.  It was actually cold!  It was in the 40's in the mornings and only in the 60's for a couple days!  It felt great!  

The colder weather made me crave comfort food, though.  Something warm, satisfying or just simply a nice warm bowl of soup!  But, it's going to warm back up into the 80's this week so I guess we'll have to wait a little longer for some sustained cooler weather.  

And, I know last week there were snow storms up north and through Colorado while there were fire storms out in California.  Hoping everyone stays safe wherever you are!

And, I'm also just now recovering from my first (and hopefully only) cold so far this season.  It started off as a sore throat two Saturday's ago.  Luckily the sore throat only lasted a day because I really despise sore throats.  Then, it seems like I got another symptom the following few days...a cough, a runny nose, and sneezing.  Honestly, the cold itself wasn't horribly bad, thankfully.  But, I also pulled a muscle or something in my chest and side at the same time.  So, all the coughing, sneezing and blowing my nose killed whatever I pulled every time!  Pain!  Pain for two weeks now!  It's been a complete drag, but finally today I feel like the pain is actually dissipating.  Finally!!  It's definitely been a slow process.  Along with the fact that I also strained my knee last week, my body has obviously been screaming out that I need a little break.  So, I took that last two days off from working out.  I'm letting my body rest and recover, but I'll be back at it tomorrow.  

If we're worn down or pushing too hard our bodies will let us know.  And if we don't listen, it will scream out in different ways until we do listen.  So, make sure you're taking care of yourself this cold/flu season and listening to all the cues your body is giving you so you don't get too sick.  Self-care!

So, one cold I actually do like and the other cold I don't.  I'm hoping the rest of this month is much healthier than the beginning of the month.  May blessings keep you healthy in the week ahead!  And, hopefully you are enjoying a 3-day weekend!

Patience