I am changing

Change is all around us…It is in the leaves falling from the trees, it is in the shorter days of approaching winter, it is in the economy, it is part of your job and it is in the heart of every believer who wants to be more like Jesus. This weekend I painted a room at friends house. As I walked into the empty room with the patched walls and primer it got me thinking about the changes that are happening in my life.

As you know I signed up to be part of the Joyce Meyer Ministries Love Revolution a few weeks ago. Each day as I wake up and start my day I am constantly having to change my prayers, my attitude and my outlook. In the past my prayers were about what I needed or what I wanted to see change in other people or my situation. Learning to pray for God to put opportunities in your path where you can be a blessing to others is not so easy.

This week my focus has been on finding three people every day and complimenting them on their hair, clothes, job well done or anything else that would be a blessing. It sounds easy right? I must be honest and say it has really been harder than I thought! One thing I have definitely learned is I am must be less concerned with being uncomfortable or being rejected and more concerned about building good relationships!

My commitment is strong and my desire is to be a blessing to others. I don’t know where this journey is going to take me and I don’t know how long it will take before this becomes a natural reaction for me but I will continue to actively pursue walking in love.

The Love Challenge

I have been reading Love Revolution by Joyce Meyer and decided to accept her challenge this week of starting my own Love Revolution. Since I am a woman and you know we love to have company for just about anything we do, I decided to ask my friend Nichole to join me.

So to begin the challenge I needed to re-read what Love is according to Jesus and find a way to get myself off my mind. Hmm, now I am singing "You were always on my mind", not off to a good start!

I Corinthians 13:4-7 Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not want what belongs to others. It does not brag. It is not proud. It is not rude. It does not look out for its own interests. It does not easily become angry. It does not keep track of other people's wrongs. Love is not happy with evil. But it is full of joy when the truth is spoken. It always protects. It always trusts. It always hopes. It never gives up.

It does not want what belongs to others...That really hits home with me. I often have myself on my mind. The moment my eyes open in the morning I start thinking of my day. How I want it to go, what I need to accomplish, what I want to happen, what I would like to buy, how I wish I had what she had, how great her life must be, if only I had that opportunity...Okay, you get the picture.

I found my Love walk needed to begin in my current relationships. As I have been reading and studying on love I would be reminded of times in my closest relationships where I did not respond in love and I was certainly not willing to do more than was necessary. I think I often take those closest to me for granted and think they already like and love me so I don't need to do anything more. Didn’t they enter this relationship knowing how selfish I could be? Yet those were the people that I needed to begin with. How can I profess to love someone else when I can’t even show love to those closest to me. So my love revolution begins at home. This week I made some homemade soup for my boyfriend, did an errand for him, treated a friend to a concert, and sent a card to an old friend.

I know it may not seem like much but for me and my closed off heart these were monumental. And as I found my flesh screaming and slowly dying it felt good. I don’t want to keep my heart closed off anymore. I want to open it up and give it away. The more love I give away; the more love I will receive in return. I am renewed and determined. And as Joyce says "Nothing good happens accidentally”.

Humility

I don't know about you but I struggle with pride, there I said it. I get so focused on myself sometimes thinking what about me and what about what I want? I have had some opportunities over the past two weeks to really reflect and take a closer look at myself.

To be truly humble means "a lack of false pride", wow. Think about that for a minute. Humbling ourselves and thinking more of others than ourselves. Seems pretty simple right? Yet, everyday we put ourselves above others, we think we know the answer, we have a certain way we want things and when it does not turn out how we thought or how we planned then how do we respond.

I had an opportunity to humble myself before my staff a few weeks ago. Being the new kid on the block in my office I came in with a job to do and that required changes. I had to put measures in place that required the staff to buckle down; productivity, attendance and quality. I was so gung ho to make the changes and ensure that I did a good job that I did not stop to consider my delivery or approach. I wanted to be sure that we were the best, we were successful and we hit our goals. All great qualities for a leader and all what I was being paid to do, but I did not have the right attitude or approach.

After hearing several concerns and complaints being brought up I was at a crossroads....I took several days to cry and pray about the things I had heard. After some great Godly counsel I decided the best way to handle the situation was to meet with my staff and address the "white elephant" that was now a constant companion in our work environment.

I have to tell you I prayed all weekend that God would give me the words to speak, that my heart would be pure, my motives would be right, that I would listen with an open heart and not be defensive or feel like I needed to defend myself. That Monday morning I don't think I had ever been as nervous as I was to lead a meeting. As always, God never fails. He gave me the words to speak, he opened my ears to hear, and he gave me favor with my enemies.

That step of humbling myself and being vulnerable was the best thing for me. It not only has helped me with my staff but it has opened a place in my heart that has been closed; my eyes have been opened. I know we as leaders think we must always be strong, never show any weaknesses, never let them see you sweat mentality of the world is right, but I know from experience it is wrong.

So today, I have a post it note stuck on my computer that says HUMILITY. May this always be a reminder to me that we must never think we are above others and that we can never learn or admit we are wrong.

Thankful

I have been blessed...this week I was able to see the FOG (favor of God) in multiple areas. It is hard to describe to others but it is a knowing in your heart and spirit that God read the desires of your heart, a need you had whether spoken or not, or just a random act of kindness.

So many people chalk these up to coincidence, karma or fate but I believe these are little moments where God is trying to show us just how much He cares and loves us.

I am thankful that I am learning to recognize them!