My friend Lindsey from “A New Life” posted this as her Facebook status today and it halted me for a moment.
“If you depend on other people approving or supporting everything you say or do, you will end up doing and saying nothing.”- Pete Wilson
And it made me think of…
Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. – Galatians 1:10
And I then had to wonder…
Are you erecting a billboard in my front yard?
Sometimes discernment is a mystery and I’m not entirely sure where He wants me to go so I take a leap.
And other times, it’s so clear it’s almost chilling and I forge ahead in certainty despite the calamity it may bring.
Obedience.
My word for the year.
Be on-guard when you feel led to go there because there are “friends” that come with that one, simple word.
Pride.
Humility.
Self-Control.
The lessons surrounding obedience, pride, humility, and self-control are not a good time.
And yet.
Like when I get my eyebrows waxed and peel-off a new layer, the skin is so very sensitive. It’s irritated and red for a day or two. Angry. Upset.
I stripped away what was the norm when really all along it was a layer of wayward hairs and dead skin.
But I didn’t even know it was there.
So if you do indeed find yourself led to the word “obedience” for the year, know that it will also entail a peeling away of a new layer, a waxing that quickly removes the junk you didn’t even know was there in the first place.
And it stings and it’s red but eventually, it looks groomed and stunning.
Ashes to beauty.
Joining in for the first time with my sweet friend Michelle at Some Girl’s Website for “Thought-Provoking Thursday”
Natalie, this was gripping to me this morning because as we prepare for our Haiti adoption, we are encountering a lack of support from my immediate family. We know we are in the center of God’s will but it is difficult to do this without their support. Thank you for the encouragement.
By the way, we had several messages from God as we were trying to decide if this adoption was his idea and one of them, for me, was a post you did on your Ghana series, where you put a picture of your friend walking down the street with her new son she had just met. That picture touched my heart.
Gaby, thank you for your encouraging words. It is a beautiful picture, isn’t it? You know what’s neat? I was sitting next to that same friend at the park when I read your comment. God is so good, isn’t He? Praying for your Haiti adoption and absolutely adoring who you are.
I hear ya sister. What a journey this year.
My word for the year as He has whispered it in my ear over and over again…forbearance. Feels like a body wax…:)
Hmmm…Another good one. We must chat about this, my friend.
so so so (so) visual and true! How we dread that peeling away – but the end result is always what we *should* be after !! love it !