you do not have the luxury of a breakdown

i came across amy's blog recently. one of her posts was probably one of the most convicting & inspiring things i have read in a long time. when you read through, replace amy with your own name. here is the post; i hope Jesus uses amy's words of wisdom to touch you today:

The time has come for me to reference a saying handed down to me from my mom.

"You do not have the luxury of a breakdown."

You can't flip out.

You really do have to make use of those "every spiritual blessings" that Christ has given you.

Yes, Amy, you really are expected to be patient when you don't feel like it.

No, you cannot look to others to make you feel good, loved, accepted, comfortable.

Every day is a new challenge in the lengthening of your fuse, set the record.

Irritability is fleshly and proud.

Selfish feelings must be shot down the second you hear their footsteps creeping up.

Demands and expectations of others, for your happiness, amount to idolatry. IDOLATRY!

The fortitude and reliability of a wife, mom, daughter, sister and friend in whatever capacity God the Almighty requires of you is your responsibility. Do not shirk it.

You will love in all these ways and repent when you don't:

Patience,

Kindness,

You will not brag,

You will not be jealous,

You will not have a high view of yourself,

You will not lash out, demand your rights or tell people off,

You will be happy for others to get their way, and sacrifice to make that happen,

You will not snap when you're tired,

You will not resent others for anything, they do not exist for your fulfillment,

You will believe the very best about everyone in your life and attribute right motives to them,

You will be hopeful, thankful and optimistic,

Preach the Gospel to yourself, see your need and set your feet right.

Bask in the love of God and be deeply satisfied and warmly grateful.

Keep your eyes on heaven, not on this fading life.

You will make it to the end, by the power of the Holy Spirit living in you.

You will apologize.........again.

May God give me victory in this. May I be a blessing to everyone who knows me. Pray for me.

Eph 1

1Cor 13

grace, grace, grace

know that our believing & having faith is never once a result of our own resources or ability. it is grace, grace, grace. // john piper

Jesus, thank you for empowering us to trust You & have faith. our hearts are so sinful as seen in jeremiah 17.9 where it says 'the human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked...'
we can't do it without You, without your incredible grace. it's so nice knowing we don't have to do it alone, by our own feeble power.
thank you, Lord.

reminder

i recently bought this ring:



it symbolizes the journey i am currently on.
i wear it as a daily reminder about several truths. the first truth is that my chains of slavery are gone. Jesus broke all of my chains & my bondage to slavery with the cross. the heart reminds me of the second truth, to fight against idols & keep Him on the throne always. the third and fourth truths the heart reminds me of are to align my heart with His heart, and to not give up the battle of fighting for His kingdom instead of my tiny, selfish kingdom of self. the fifth and sixth truths are to remember where my allegiance lies, how i am a daughter of the Most High King, and how i need to show this daily in my actions, thoughts, and words.

sweatfree

hubby & i try to shop sweatfree, buying from companies that do not promote sweatshops. i have visited sweat shops in LA & they are absolutely awful. thinking about my experience there disgusts me so much that i never want to buy products from companies that use sweatshops. some companies that use them are target, charlotte russe, forever21, & old navy.

h&m is one of my favourite places to shop that is sweatfree. they have fantastic prices & beautiful clothes. here is information about their company's commitment to workers & their supply chain working conditions. make sure to watch the inspirational video.

remember, your consumer choices have such an impact on our neighbors around the world. join me in standing for justice for all.

ballerina

i had this passion for music and i used to want to become that music & the only way i knew was by dancing. // alessandra ferri

i love being a ballerina. one of my dreams is to teach ballet to underprivileged children. to open their eyes to the world of ballet and introduce them to the beauty, strength, and grace found in ballet. watch my favourite ballerina alessandra ferri as juliet.

little children

And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. // Matthew 18.3
this reminds me of how we are called to become like little children:



carefree & playing under the radiance of our great King, our Abba Father.

the white sheep

There's a little girl and she's looking at a white sheep as it ate green grass.
And she thought how nice and white the sheep looked as it ate the green grass.
And then it began to snow.
And she thought how dirty the sheep looked against the white snow
See it was the same sheep but it was a different background.
So when we compare our sin to the standard of the world, we all come up reasonably clean, but when we compare our sin to the snow white righteousness of God's law we'll see that we are in fact filthy dirty.




i love this analogy. candace cameron bure shared this in her testimony.