As
Only Your Mama Can…. January 1, 2014
Sis, for this year’s blog, you have requested I share with
you 52 weeks of “Life Lessons” which I have learned in hopes that you might
learn from them as well. And, thus, I will
change my original plans (or add them in as well) and do as you have
requested. It is a humbling request you
make of me….but, share with you I will.
Just remember, these words are simply my personal perspective. That does not guarantee their rightness or
their worthiness, merely their mama-ness.
I love you. As only
your Mama Can. ILYAOYMC. Always have.
Always will.
Life Lesson Number 1: Finish
Strong
Easy it is to start things.
The excitement of a New Year, a new baptism, a new marriage, a new
house, a new baby, a new way of getting healthy….I have experienced these and
many other firsts and with each one came an unbelievable and almost
other-worldly joy to my heart, my soul, my life. And, I think I started each of these
experiences very strongly and very well.
I love the beginnings of most things….I really do.
I typically start things with great vision and great heart. I am actually quite good at starting things.
But, where I struggle (and, in this I am not alone) is
finishing what I start. The reasons for
this are varied….days in the year pass by in boring repetition, I lose heart in
trying to live a Godly life because it is HARD and I fail, I end a marriage
because I did not know how else to address my serious marital issues, I forget
the miracle of 112 Gatewood and how it really is a gift from God that we live
here. I promise God to keep Him in the
center only to fail in that over and over and over. I start out a year promising to be a
healthier individual only to give up after
a few weeks because I do not have the ability to…
Finish strong.
Madison…..read these words and heed them now….
Learn to finish strong.
And, let me be clear.
That does not mean you will finish perfectly. Nor does it will mean you will be perfect as
you finish.
That is where I get tripped up…..I have long held the notion
that I am unworthy unless I am perfect. Some
of that comes from my upbringing, some from others’ expectations of me, but
most of it comes from me…myself…I
I am to blame for this perception. And, I am the only one who can change my
perception.
Thus, I do. I have. I will.
It is a process.
And, I am succeeding.
Because, at the end of the day…and, frankly, at the
beginning of the day, there is no perfection to be found in me.
Or, in you.
Only in HIM
I read something from Uncle Bruce right before Facebook
fasting started which he forwarded from a friend.
“Retweeted Tim Keller Wisdom (@DailyKeller):
"The determining factor in your relationship to God is not your past but Christ’s past; not your record, but Christ’s record."
"The determining factor in your relationship to God is not your past but Christ’s past; not your record, but Christ’s record."
Baby, this is powerful. Read it again.
When you realize that the whole purpose of our
existence is to give glory to God and to bring others to Him….
When you realize that nothing you can do is ever
perfect enough, good enough, Godly enough…
When you understand that that is “okay”….because….
At the END of your day….your year….your life….
Jesus stands in front of you, beside you and behind
you, making pristine your life because when God looks at you….
He sees you through HIM…..
Jesus
And, in the so-doing…..and only in the so-doing, you
become perfect.
Knowing this is freeing….because you can remove
perfection from your life’s expectations….and simply do your very best to…
Finish Strong…
Doing your current best, living your current best,
loving your current best…and continually striving and growing and leaning on
Him…
Walk Daughter….walk His direction….and do your best
to…
Finish Strong.
ILYAOYMC,
Mama
