You

"As you become more clear about who you really are, you'll be better able to decide what is best for you - the first time around."

Oprah Winfrey

The decisions we make, hopefully come from a place of knowing what's best for us. If you struggle with your identity; you'll find that your decisions and actions are always surrounded by other people's perception, their happiness, their needs and their conditions. 

If this is regular for you, it's unfortunate because you may find that you are unhappy often, satisfied momentarily until reality hits again, constantly trying to please people, always living up to others' expectations & standards.....etc. 

Knowing who you are eliminates all that.... You make fewer mistakes; and when you do, the guilt isn't so strong. 

Determine in your heart from here on out how you will approach life. Before any decision is made, seek counsel, think of yourself, your now, your future, your long term goals, your desires, your place of security, your needs etc; and if your next move is going to add to and benefit you (not just for now) but for the future as well....then by all means, make it! 

It's important to have a plan and weigh out all the scenarios; so you aren't spending time later doing damage control. 

Growing pains.... 

Compassion

The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen - Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

We've all gone through something that made us stronger; and it's in those moments that life's challenges shape our perspectives on everything!
How you respond to people is based on your journey. How you engage in their lives is another challenge in itself.

Being somewhat involved in others' lives is a sense of maturity in yours. There are so many things that you can offer to someone who may be in a situation similar to what you went through. If you would only try....

The great person that you are today is a result of the combination of your life journey, the person(s) who helped you build a defense against its negativity, your tenacity to become whole, and your fight to win strong!
Since we know that no one was born this way...you are perfectly positioned to help another fellow reach their own height of victory!

You can do it ;).
Happy Sunday!

Risk, and Reward

Have you ever thought of taking a risk?  Doing something entirely different from the way you are used to? A little change here and there....might actually bring you a greater reward.

We think of something different as a catalyst for stress. Taking risks does not have to be stressful.  If we go into it trusting and hoping for good results, we'll get it!  Just as Ruth (in the book of Ruth) took a huge risk, stepped out of her comfort zone and traveled with Naomi, it strategically put her in a lineage of blessings.

We have that part of us that wants to hold on to tradition, to the safe, to the norm, to the comfortable, the way its always been.  But like Ruth, I want to trust that change - even unwanted change - can be the threshold to a new dimension of growth. 

I pray this for you too ladies! :)

Risk-Taking Builders:

• Are there any unsettling changes that you are currently facing?
• Despite the risk of change, how can you look forward to new areas of growth?

Comfort in times of trouble

2 Corinthians 1:4-5 (New International Version) Who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. A lot of times, we are quick to pass judgement or quick to react to people and situations based on our past experiences and hurts .... But are we really exercising the extended grace of God? Or are we so caught up in ourselves that we truly forget to BE what we are really supposed to be? Sometimes it's not about what you have been through, it's about what you can do for someone else. That's the good gospel, right? God is the God of all comfort and if we are truly striving to be like Him, then we MUST exercise this gift....w/ absolutely no excuses I am guilty of this too myself...so, you are not alone :) Although tough love is needed, we have to be careful that we do not become a barrier for someone else's growth. Empathy is not always about proving to the other person know that you and only you, have the remedy for their situation. It's ALWAYS about praying, and comforting, and seeing them come through and out of the mess they are currently in....and hopefully, with your prayers and counsel, they'll walk towards greatness and not catastrophe. Why? Because someday, you'll need the same favor :) SELAH