tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73852503022793607572024-02-07T19:38:46.719-05:00Corner of the CanvasThe ramblings of a person whose perspective isn't perfected yet, and so my canvas isn't complete. This is blog of someone who's trusting every brushstroke of life to THE GREATEST ARTIST OF ALL.Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15788152868352185860noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7385250302279360757.post-20306372620708436982010-10-03T23:20:00.011-04:002010-10-03T23:57:43.009-04:00LaRue and Letting GoSo I've been cleaning old files from my computer. Not ancient files, mind you, but files that I would say were about five years old or newer. Mostly teacher stuff that I don't need anymore, or old Word documents of poems that I've never placed on <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">hard copy</span>.<br /><br />Of course, when rambling through old things, the past inevitably pops up. And in this case it was unsettling. I found old <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">IM</span> conversations and pictures from a person I dearly loved what seems a lifetime ago. A person that broke my heart and utterly disappeared off the face of the world with no explanation. As I perused the words of old <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">IM</span> conversations, I was brought back to a much different reality that exists presently only as a flickering dream. I could almost hear certain <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">Relient</span> K songs and Halo game sounds playing in the background as my heart started to crack.<br /><br />Yes, I am over this person. But the hurt and longing for a love that thank God was never meant to be came flooding in like a hurricane. This strong, independent woman was reduced to a mountain of crying and shaking shoulders. Pitiful, I know. However, I'm striving to be transparent. As I raised my head to gather myself in the truth that God has me in the palm of His hand, the "shuffle" function on my <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">iTunes</span> came to the song "Someday" by <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">LaRue</span>. Wow. How ironic. And as the song ended it's final progression into the last verse, I could sense God's presence reminding me that not all is lost. This is not the final chapter. What looks like an ending only ushers a beginning. God can not give you something new if you are hanging onto the dead things of yesterday.<br /><br />So, as I am reminded tonight, I am letting go of the past to allow God to work in my present-whatever, wherever, whenever, and with whomever- I close with one of my favorite places in Scripture-Isaiah 43:18-19: "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland".Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15788152868352185860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7385250302279360757.post-76051916040908874082009-11-09T22:57:00.009-05:002009-11-09T23:31:08.168-05:00Railroads and Relationships<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402324010680612018" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 244px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 162px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5HCzrvqwe8mX2R90c2EeDtaS7XpQl0oaExHlPbDZqvJ_mk-vgSI6nbXHCXpScM8bsqmYNFs_ORa7_iHcw57khFtJzV4ZKu54gwPXklfpmy9-7-vc1UXh82vW8FjqTL2wzwb__pp_oMFkA/s320/800px-1869-Golden_Spike.jpe" border="0" /> So I'm perusing through pictures on Facebook of people I know who've gotten married. It's so good to see life turn out so well for people with which I've graduated. And although I'm content where I am right now, I can't help but have a huge question flash through my study-weary head tonight: Why not me? I know that sounds so awful, and so discontented. Every time I hear of somebody getting married, it's like, "Whelp, somebody else has hit the dust!" As I'm taking a study break by blogging, I have a million things running in my head at fiber optic speeds. It's amazing what pursuing a master's degree will do-as if I wasn't thinking and talking in six-syllable words already, I've been doubling them in my speech, much to the chagrin of co-workers who just respond with "Do we need our dictionary again today or what?" Haha, oh well, I'm truly becoming myself and comfortable in my own "Mary-ness". Ha-or should I say "Mary-mess"?<br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div>Okay, the coffee is talking now, so onto the subject at hand. Why not me? As I've been contemplating that same interrogative sentence all week, my mind goes to a place in Utah that saw something historical happen on May 10, 1869. It was the uniting of the transcontinental railroad. Never before had we as a country been able to cross the country in such a unified form. The boundaries of the Western frontier had been broken, and we were no longer separated by the mysterious fog of the West. We now had a connection. And the wait was over. As I look at the faces of the weary, tired, but excited workers who made this happen, I have to remember not to forget the tremendous work involved in the preparation for this moment. One moment with a million tears and beads of sweat standing behind it. A million sighs and cries that this day would never come because it seemed impossible. And yet, in one moment, all that everyone in the photograph seem to express was their delight that the lines of communication and transportation were now connected and joined. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Then I have to think. One day, all of the waiting, praying, and molding that God is doing in my life and the life of my future husband will come to fruition one day in a beautiful ceremony, during which we will choose to remain united and inseparable, just as the railroad. And just as the railroad had to have the right foundation, ties, and spikes laid down so trains could travel, God is laying down and molding me in exactly what my future husband is going to need me to be. Imagine if the railroad workers decided to skip some steps of the construction of the railroad because they were too tired! Or if they decided not to lay just a few ties down because they were getting bored of all this preparation! Imagine the derailment of the train and the casualties that would ensue as the train would make its final trip to the demise of many. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>No matter the cost, the preparation had to be thorough and right. And so does preparing one day to get married. Now, am I saying I want to get married and have those three boys and a girl right away? Um, I believe I'd better finish this semester. Ha-no. But, I've got to have the faith that as God guided the construction of the railroad to meet exactly in line with each other and meet at the precise place, He's also going to guide my heart to the man I will serve God with one day. Wow, I just can't wait somtimes. But I've got to prepare. And trust Him for the timing.</div>Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15788152868352185860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7385250302279360757.post-73230711931623216142009-09-30T00:24:00.004-04:002009-09-30T00:52:55.539-04:00Autumn....Such a Paradox<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ3FWyeMy1k9pJGWtqsTu19hbczj59TIhX_-cW5FfzDLEoCYYVIF2oJUz8UCXd0IcU8xxmnDYwR4D-RTOWDnMT_CW0sDzt6f0GepbwKCRNtYAR1-02YwQItoWl9Tn53f0G_NiGfcmV3G4E/s1600-h/mapleleaf.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387118890925434498" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ3FWyeMy1k9pJGWtqsTu19hbczj59TIhX_-cW5FfzDLEoCYYVIF2oJUz8UCXd0IcU8xxmnDYwR4D-RTOWDnMT_CW0sDzt6f0GepbwKCRNtYAR1-02YwQItoWl9Tn53f0G_NiGfcmV3G4E/s320/mapleleaf.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw-o9yidlld8gQ0zKgQcs67g1rfKCrFwKB_fk_3uzJwdnc_CtCcacUlPiqG8fOkiQAiEKLJ7t7w3ZlXAN5pye0HFE2M5EtzFzGMF2HU1IC_jFU6Q1kHV5cBXkYO-j7dMOAi6rMZFROMyag/s1600-h/autumnleaves5.jpg"></a><br />Crunchy leaves. Candy apples. Azure skies. A hint of hickory smoke in the air. These are the images that come to mind when I revel in the thought that autumn is here. Today I just simply feel so euphoric when the temperatures reach a certain 70s loveliness and the skies just seem to burst with a blue color that I can't even describe. Today was such a day. I was driving to work with a new teacher and I was just in awe of the weather on the way. I rolled down my windows and just enjoyed the quiet symphony of the work of God on this day. And as the days get cooler, the leaves will start their show of all types of imaginable hues. As I became excited at the very thought, I couldn't shake another one: the leaves are DYING, not living. They are absolutlely loosing life, and slowing deceasing until they are totally changed. Why would something be so beautiful, during a time when it should be gorgeous, be utterly depressing? I mean, what a paradox! They weren't that vibrant even when they were green. And to be vibrant is to be full of life. Then I was struck with another thought: when I die to myself, and totally surrender my way to God, it's in dying that I become truly alive. I become free. It's when I stop demanding my way, and take His instead, that I realize I've gotten a better deal. It's when I'm willing to trust His best that I'm experiencing something better than I had ever planned It's when I allow less of me and more of Him in my life that I finally "get it". And I wonder...what am I hanging onto that's preventing me from letting go and becoming transformed? Wow. I think I just had a God moment on a country road. Wow.</div>Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15788152868352185860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7385250302279360757.post-38756929649364200242008-09-02T01:58:00.003-04:002008-09-02T02:17:49.056-04:00My Personal New YearSo my birthday is coming up. A new year of school is starting today. It's amazing how time passes. At once it seems as if things will never end, and then before you know it, it's gone. So many things have been running through my mind lately as I come to my 28th birthday. Not so much about what I haven't accomplished yet, but what I will accomplish. My biggest fear is that I will miss God-ordained opportunities because of my stubborness or unnwillingness to see past my perspective. I think one of the benefits of worship is all about a great exchange--my can'ts for His cans, my finite for His infinite, my weakness for His strength, my will for His. While I've always been a person who usually does things all the way, I've been thinking about how I'll follow God this coming year. Will I follow Him with everything, or will I follow Him just when I feel like it? I know I'm not even 30 yet, but my perspective on time on earth has greatly changed in the past four years. I'm starting to think about things in the light of eternity more than I ever have. I'm starting to think about how I'm affecting the people I love and even the people I don't know that well. How am I making a dent in the world for the Kingdom of Heaven? Am I just out to have a good time, or am I spending my life building relationships with people which will count long after I've breathed my last breath? <br /><br />Over this great precipice, I am reminded that success or utter failure is possible. I am reminded that I could throw all of this away and run from God, or I could live unashamedly in love with Him. It's comforting to know that God will walk with me through everything I will encounter this year. Even when I feel inadequate. <br /><br />One Sunday morning, right before our worship team prayed, I was drawn to Psalm 18. What an incredibe psalm! In the midst of being delivered from Saul, David remembered all the things that God saw Him through. It encouraged me so much that when I feel I am inadequate for the task at hand, God is going to make me "more than a conqueror" and help me to be the "mighty [wo]man of God" that I am. It reminds me that as I look forward to my personal new year that I don't have to fear what's coming ahead. I'm praising God for the grace, the provision, the healing, the fullness of what is coming around the corner. I praise Him for the ways of how He's going to show me how to love people better. I praise Him for the ways He's going to deepen my love for Him. <br /><br />So am I nervous about turning 28? A little, but bring it on, because I'm excited about the places God is going to take me in the next year!Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15788152868352185860noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7385250302279360757.post-57068665250521766752008-07-22T15:41:00.000-04:002008-07-22T15:43:52.872-04:00Web 2.0...Something to think about<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6gmP4nk0EOE&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6gmP4nk0EOE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15788152868352185860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7385250302279360757.post-75015137567615074572008-07-09T21:50:00.005-04:002008-07-09T22:11:54.312-04:00Goodwill Boxes and Other Things That Weigh Me Down<span style="font-family:georgia;">Dude, its been so long since I've blogged. I've been doing so much living, and not much reflecting. I can only go so long without dissecting life into its theoretical and practical parts. So today, I've been knee deep in a pool of boxes, belongings, and stuff that I am attempting to organize. As much as I love to organize, its a bit overwhelming to cast my gaze upon such an incongruous state of disorder. Where do ya start? And once you start, where do you really know where to end? </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">So I began organizing according to my stuff''s destination: Goodwill, regifting (hopefully none of my friends will get their own stuff back ;), and back to the pile. As I get ready for the carpet guys to measure one of my rooms, I ask myself, how did I come to keep all of this stuff? There were things I looked through that I had had all my life; others an expression of someone who bought something during her first year in the real world. And I think that's the problem with stuff--it accumulates little by little, and before you know it, you don't know where to start in organizing it all. </span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br />It's funny, as I look at these things, I think of a Caedmon's call song that mentions looking through Goodwill bags of things that you received long ago, and realizing that the same things that plagued you a when you first got those things still plague you now.<br />I was recently reading an old high school newspaper article in which I wrote about trusting God for the future. I was 17 then, about to graduate and go to Liberty. And even though I've graduated and have become somewhat established, I'm still facing those same questions. Am I doing everything I am called to do? Am I moving in the direction God had for all along?<br />Then I stop and realize that I'm using the wrong verb-do.<br /><br />Lately I've been learning that so much of what we learn is not so much by <strong>doing,</strong> but by <em><strong>being.</strong></em> <em><strong>Being </strong></em>in God's presence, <em><strong>being</strong></em> in an attitude of worship, <em><strong>being</strong></em> in a state of surrender, and even <em><strong>being</strong></em> in an attitude of not having that "5 year plan." I've been challenged lately by a friend to stop planning. It's a disease I think. I'm such a planner by heart, and I've gotten worse and set in my ways the older I'm getting. And yet I'm learning right now that the only thing I need to plan is for the surprises God is going bring my way, because His way is certainly better than mine.<br /><br />So as I try to sort out the boxes in my study, I'm going to stop trying to sort the plans in my life....and let the Master finally have a try at it. M2 </span><br /></span>Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15788152868352185860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7385250302279360757.post-41400853042401485132008-03-21T23:29:00.000-04:002008-03-21T23:42:51.458-04:00Journeys and TravelsSo as I write this new entry, I am reeling with excitement for tomorrow. I'm going out of town to see a dear friend. And I'm getting out of town. That's the beauty of holidays. They give you time to stop and actually notice the color of the sky above you. I am so blessed to have friends that I can visit and share my life with. And if I didn't already mention it......I'm getting out of town. Yes, I am a bit elated, but I haven't gone away for so long my luggage is getting tired of merely taking up a 2 x 2 space in my closet. I'm actually looking forward to the long drive, too. It can be very rewarding, given favorable circumstances that is. And as I pack tonight, I'm reminded of all the changes that have happened to my friends and I. All the struggles, the victories, the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">disappointments</span>, the crazy nights staying up studying, even the practice jokes I played on my former college <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">roomie</span>. And you know what? She has never gotten me back! Oh well, she might when I visit her this weekend! It's amazing to step back and see how God has led me over so many roads. Sometimes we get so focused on grasping His blessings, that we don't take time to count them. It's been an amazing journey, and I look forward to making more memories with my friends. But even though we may become a little more mature, a little more knowledgeable of the world around us, when we sit around just <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">chillin</span>, a little bit of our former selves comes back to revisit, and I find myself being the gregarious college junior who's a little nervous about the future. Then I find that nothing really has changed. And I've gotta laugh at myself. What have I learned since then? Oh the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">camaraderie</span> of memories that culminate in the presence of true friends. Ah, can't wait until tomorrow!Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15788152868352185860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7385250302279360757.post-49663956146314438332008-03-21T23:27:00.000-04:002008-03-21T23:28:45.440-04:00SacrificeBring down the idols that I’ve built<br />The little shrines that litter my past<br />Break the chains that surround my dreams<br />Show me the other half<br /><br />Tear down my idols and my pride<br />Interrupt my world<br />Throw down anything I have<br />That I hold more dear than I should<br /><br />Shine through the cracks<br />Blast through my façade<br />Take off the mask of my charade<br />Until You are my only God<br /><br />Emblazon me with compassion<br />Tear my eyes away from myself<br />Burden me with what affects You<br />Allow me to rage battle against hell<br /><br />Use me up like a candle<br />Burning at both ends<br />Make my life count for You<br />Until I have nothing left to give<br /><br />Flush out the hidden motives<br />That bring shame to what I do<br />And tear the lagging stagnance<br />Out of my prayers I lift to You<br /><br />Heighten my sense of Your presence<br />My touch of who You are<br />Until all the world fades away<br />Until I truly know Your heart<br /><br /><br /><br />Shift my focus into gear<br />Placing my eyes on You<br />No longer am I drifting<br />For I’m planted in Your truth<br /><br /><br />Change my world and its entirety<br />Rearrange my destiny<br />Make things never seem the same<br />Until I’m what you want me to be<br /><br />Launch me into an unknown<br />Stretch my faith as never before<br />Challenge the faith I claim to have<br />And open all the right doors<br /><br /><br />I lay down my dreams<br />I lay down my plans<br />Knowing that You’ll guide me<br />When I just don’t understand<br /><br />My future do I give<br />My present and my past<br />I give to You my everything<br />As long as I may last<br />Because I’m holding back<br />I’m holding nothing back<br />From You.<br /><br /><br /> 2008 by Mary E. MathiasMaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15788152868352185860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7385250302279360757.post-15612471161434958982008-03-18T23:27:00.001-04:002008-03-18T23:50:46.622-04:00Disappointment + Redirection + Total Surrender = Serious SacrificeSo I've been pretty quiet lately, but that doesn't mean things have been quiet in my life. As the winter passes, the daffodils start to blossom, and the trees start to produce little green buds, a season is changing in my life. The last month has been oh so difficult, yet amazingly necessary and wonderful. It's been up and down. A total Apollo's Chariot experience. And although I knew the drops would be coming, it caught me off guard. I've been dying little deaths. Little reminders that this was not the way my heart was supposed to feel. A direction my love was not supposed to go, especially not for three years. A devotion that I was never supposed to possess. A dream that has died, but never has been given a proper funeral. Something that I thought I was quite over, but not quite yet. <br /> <br />It's really funny when we kid ourselves and say that our hearts are in total surrender to God. But is <strong>everything</strong> surrendered? Sometimes its quite upsetting to think that what I want, or at least what I think I want, is not what God has been planning for me all this time. We may pray that His will be done, we may pray that He bless it, but was this <strong>HIS</strong> idea in the first place? <br /><br />Accepting that something is really not going to happen the way you hoped, and to have to stand by and experience it, requires a lot of faith. Faith that God really does have our best interests at heart sees disappointments as new beginnings, not endings. A movie I recently saw centered around the main character who was afraid to take an important position in a magical toy shop. She was afraid of taking it because it was the end of all the things she had known. However, someone told her that she could not continue her story if she didn't turn the page. If you don't turn the page, you'll never find out how the book ends.<br /><br />Tonight I'm tempted to put the book down. I'm tempted to simply say that I'll never love again. I'm tempted to give up. To never want to go on the next chapter. But I know that if I want to finish the book, I must pick myself up again and read on. Who knows, maybe the book will turn out better than I had ever hoped, dreamed, or expected. I think I'll turn the page and keep reading.Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15788152868352185860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7385250302279360757.post-17479913631700066882008-02-12T22:33:00.001-05:002008-02-12T22:33:53.537-05:00Taking the LeadSo I recently learned how to rhumba and saumba....and I'm probably spelling that wrong, so I'll just chalk it up to showing my humanity. It was soooo much fun! However, it's a very humbling experience to learn to dance. I'm not a terrible dancer or anything. I've got pretty good rhythm for a white girl. I don't look like Elaine from Seinfeld. But I've got one main problem. I subconscious end up trying to lead. Yes, I'm the girl, I'm supposed to follow. But it's so hard when I think I know how the steps go, that I try to lean into my partner, and nugdge him in the direction I think he ought to go. Not such a good idea. Usually, it ends up looking like wrestling more than dancing. How much is my dancing like my journey with the Lord. I think I know where I should be going, so I take matters into my own hands, and I forget the rhythm. And when I forget the rhythm, I'm totally out of time with the song. And when I'm out of time with the song, the dance is not as beautiful as it was intended to be. My prayer is that I would wait long enough to listen for the rhythm before I step out of the dance God designed for me. Wow, what one can learn from one dance lesson!Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15788152868352185860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7385250302279360757.post-78638585433443949582008-02-03T02:00:00.000-05:002008-02-03T02:20:45.337-05:00When is God Gonna Buy a Watch?With it being almost 2 a.m., and I'm still thinking deep thoughts, it seems that I'm the one that needs to buy a watch. But deep ramblings I am apt to do, especially when something is on my subconscious. However, right now, its very much on my conscious. <br /> I've just picked up Streams in the Desert, and read the following verse for today: "In the shadow of His hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver." Isaiah 49:2 Lately, I've been wrestling with God about something. Knowing I should do one thing, all the while tempted to accept something that may be less than His best. As I read that verse it makes me wonder why after polishing an arrow that one would want to conceal it. And while this verse has a context all its own, it challenges me in a way that really hits home with me now. God is continually working on me, polishing me into the woman He wants me to be. And sometimes I wonder when He's gonna use me. I feel as if I'm being put back into the quiver. Yikes. Sometimes I have some nerve. But then, that's me. And I always have some type of contrary thought about the way things should be. <br /> It's amazing to realize that just because something seems good, we should have it, or it should happen right now. My timing is not God's timing. Just when I think I have it all figured out, God again challenges my logic. And while I think He's challenging my logic, He's actually challenging my faith. And my faith in Him that He really knows what He's doing. As I pray about this gut wrenching topic that haunts me to the core, God is always there to listen, to console, and yet always challenges me with the question: how much do you really trust Me? <br /> There are times when I absolutely say, "Alot!" and there are times when I know I'm not exercising faith. Faith I need when things seem not go the way I want them too. Faith when my eyes fall from the only Man I need to have my eyes on. A friend once told me "Keep your eyes on Jesus, He is worthy of your gaze." It's when I get my eyes on what I may never have, or may not have yet, instead of the One Who is my everything. <br /> So, as I go to sleep with questions, one answer still reverberates through my mind, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen..." Because many times it's not that we don't have the faith to receive what seems impossible at the moment, but faith in the One Who's gonna do it Do I have faith like that? I have no choice but to trust in Someone Who knows what's gonna happen next, because I surely do not.Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15788152868352185860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7385250302279360757.post-48520258463803283722007-01-28T22:08:00.000-05:002007-01-28T22:30:06.993-05:00New Year, Now WHAT?<span style="font-family:verdana;color:#006600;"> So, it's 2007...wow...hard to believe. Many people have made their resolutions. Some are relishing the victory of maintaining these goals, while I'm sure some are realizing defeat. Being the goal-oriented, "type A", sometimes driven person that I am, I, too have made these infamous lists, only to realize that I just can't seem to accomplish everything. So, is all truly lost? Not at all. Learning is a part of the journey. If we succeeded in everything, would there exist real growth? </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;color:#006600;"> I've found that much of life is a complex paradox. It's in moments of failure that we find the strength to rise again, the strength to attempt to finish one more thing of the list. But is a list the "be all" to our existence? Or is it our purpose? A wiser woman once taught me that in order to succeed, you must have a purpose, or else, all priorities are out of wack. </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;color:#006600;"> Once I realize my purpose is in order, it gives my vision focus. My focus? Jesus Christ. If it wasn't for Him, I'd have no reason to get up in the morning, or feel as if I have a place in this story we call "life". It is my personal relationship with the Lord that gives me vision for my life, a vision that has not yet commenced, and one that I can't wait to see it realized in a tangible way one day.</span><br /><span style="color:#006600;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"> So, some of my goals for 2007 haven't been realized...yet. But, my eyes aren't focused on my</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;">problems,</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;">but the promises of God. One verse that God has used greatly in my life is the following: "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly all that we ask or imagine according to His purpose in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 3:20) It is in dying to my dreams that I realize my destiny, and it is in dying to myself that I find real life. I know the only way for 2007 to be a true success is trading my plans for His, and in this, I have already found the key to accomplishing my purpose in 2007. How are you going to accomplish yours this year?</span></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;color:#006600;"></span>Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15788152868352185860noreply@blogger.com0