Why? Why?

I have been struggling with blog for the past few weeks.  I thought initially it was suppose to be getting to your Why! Why am I here? but it seems that it is deeper.  Lately, I have been asking the question Why? Why do some people die at such a young age? Why am I still single? Why would a person go in and kill innocent people?  Why did I make this decision over another?

I realize that life is about asking the question that begin with Why? so that we can figure out the How of life?  Sometimes God will reveal the answer to me about Why certain things are happening in my life or in the world.  Other times, He keeps me pondering the question so that I can stay closer to Him.

So one of my questions is Why am I here?  What is my purpose?  I gain glimpses of what my purpose on occasion and then I begin to question the How will this get done.  It is not for me to figure it all out at one time so I realize it continues to be about my faith walk and me being obedient to the call. 

I attended a training a couple of weeks ago.  The facilitator shared an exercise with us to help us to live in integrity with our authentic self.  The training was actually about a parenting program.  We were asked to take a sheet of paper and fold it in half. On one side of the paper, we listed people that we admired (alive, dead, and superhuman).  On the other side, we listed attributes and traits that we admired in each person.  Next, we circled common words that were found on the list.  After listing the common traits, the facilitator asked use to list them on a card because these qualities are who we are authentically next to I am........

The next part of the assignment was to list  what we would do if money and time was not a problem.  Then we had to look for themes and list these.  The next list was my intention to be....... The final question was ask...what is keep us from doing these things.

Begin to answer your WHY!

Living in Your Why

Yesterday while serving at a ministry fair, I had the opportunity to serve with a lady that blessed me with her story.  She shared with me how she lived in fear for so long in her life that she felt that she had missed her purpose in life.  As we continued to talked she share with me that she had worked for a major retail store for over 20 years at the customer service desk.  I was in awe about her commitment to serving the public in such a capacity.  She stated that she tries to encourage individuals that she comes in contact with and she may just pray with them. I can only imagine the impact that she is having on others even when they are coming in to complain about something or return something. 

This lady continued to share with me how she sets out to be a blessing to people at least twice a month.  She gets nominations from people about who they would like to receive a blessing and she will take a day to bless the individual.  She shared with me that recently she went to a nursing home to bless an 83 year old lady.  She took her flowers, candy, a prayer book, and just spent some quality time with the lady.  The lady was so blessed that she shared her blessing with others by sharing her gifts with others. 

At the end of our conversation, she said I am still trying to find out what I want to be when I grow up.  I was taken back for a moment because I could see that she was walking in her why by being a blessing to others. 

Sometimes our Why is not some big grand thing such as being a famous artist or millionaire but we can impact the people around us by living in our Why.

Life Lesson: When is Good Enough Really Enough

Have you ever had one of those life lessons that hit you right between the eye?  Well, on my morning commute on Thursday, I was listening to Peace on Broken Pieces by Iyanla Vanzant.  The life lesson that hit me was "when you do not believe that who you are and what you do is good enough, that message will contaminate everything you do." This statement really made me to think about the many times that I have compared myself to someone else or believed that I was not good enough.

How many times have you compared yourself to someone else or told yourself that you were not small enough, tall enough, smart enough, cute enough, good enough to be in that ultimate relationship? Okay maybe you have not said it to yourself but your actions have proven that you do not give yourself enough credit for being enough.  As a part of living an authentic life, it is important that we accept ourselves and understand that good enough is enough. 

I began to think about how many times I have not done something because I did not believe that I was good enough.  Or the many times that I have devalued my services because of my belief that I am not good enough or worth it.  I realized at that moment it is not how others perceive me it is how I perceive myself. 

I also continued to think about the many clients that I have worked with that struggle with the same pathology.  What do I tell my clients?  Also these clients seek out my service because of my journey.  I realize that I am good enough and the belief begins with me.

Our work:  Make a list of the things that you wish to change about yourself and your current life.  The write I am good enough......

Staying the Course

Here lately I have been spending a lot of time in my car.  I have been commuting back and forth to Clarksville.  The drive gives me time to really do some thinking and also to listen to my music and/or audio tapes.  This time with self is teaching me lessons that I am learning about life and about who I am as a person and profession.

One lesson that I learned this week is that I must stay the course or find alternate routes home.  On Tuesday, there was a sink hole at Exit 8 which means that traffic was backed up to Exit 4.  This is really something because I get on the interstate at Exit 1 and I was rolling along until traffic came to a halt.  I realized then that I did not know an alternate route outside of staying on the interstate.  It may me think about the many times that I have started out on a journey and I got detoured because of an accident or traffic jam.  I could have gotten off the interstate and tried to navigate myself through Clarksville until I found my way or I could have stayed the course realizing that the interstate would open up soon and I could get back to the flow of things. 

How many times have you gotten off the interstate of life trying to find a different route instead of staying the course?  When we have set the course to reach a specific goal in life, we have to stay the course and not get side track by traffic delays.

Faith Dare: Day 17

I started the Faith Dare on August 1st and I really did not know what the dare was about. I knew that I would be reading devotionals everyday and journaling.  One of the major challenges is to fast from "self". My first thought was  how do you fast from "self".  I have fasted from television, food, social media, etc.  So how do you fast from "self"- it is truly about submission and trust in God.

I have learned more lessons about who I am.  I formulate plans in my head about how a situation should work out and then hope that God will bless my plans.  Well when I decided to go into business full time, my belief was that things would go one way.  I thought that my business would be one way but God has orchestrated me to do something different for a while.  I am working with a population that I have not worked with before and it is enjoyable even though I have a commute. 

How many times have you set up plans and they change and you realize that it was for the best?  In fasting from "self", I have learned that it is about trusting God in all things even when it is not working out the way that I expected.  Another thing has shifted, I will not be teaching both sessions this Fall as intended and I accept it as God opening up my schedule for something else.  What keeps playing in my spirit is "It is all God".

Faith Dare Day 2:Get Out of the Way

I have been blogging about the lessons that I have been learning during this season of my life.  The message that I have been hearing is "Get Out of Your Own Way".  How many times have you blamed someone or something else on the reason why you have not completed something?  For me it is many times because I get in my own way.  This clarity came to me when someone ask me when was I going to graduate. My goal is to graduate in December 2013 but if I do not it will be because I got in my own way.

I realized the other day that I was blocking myself from writing because of procrastination and self sabotage.  I go through the motions like I am writing something or doing research by reading things over and over again.  I realize that the negative self talk blocks me also.  When I set goals for myself, I get in my own way by not confronting the problem or follow through because I allow distractions to get in the way. 

Well the Faith Dare is about getting myself out of the way and allowing God's will to prevail in my life.  I am fasting myself through focusing on God and walking by faith.

So in the words of Ludacris  " MOVE GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!!!"

FAITH

I wanted to share with you something that I will be participating in over the next 30 days.  It is called a Faith Dare.  I participate in different women bible studies with a group called the Women Bible Study Café.  It is an online bible study group.  We are about to embark on a new adventure starting this week called the Faith Dare.  We are following a book called Faith Dare: The 30Days to Live Your Life to the Fullest by Debbie Alsdorf. 

This study could not have came at a better time.  I must confess that I have moments when my faith wavers and I work in my own self to solve the problem.  I have been listening to a booked called Life Without Limbs by Nick Vuljicic.  He is the guy that was born without arms and legs.  This book shares his story of faith and finding his purpose.  Nick shares his acronym for FAITH....Full Assurance In the Heart.  Although things may not look like the seem we must have faith in God that all things will work for our good. 

You still have time to join in the study if you would like...order the book from Amazon through Kindle and check out the Women Bible Study Café website for the different groups.

Let's take the Faith Dare together.