5-9-5 Run and Other Things

Yesterday, Nicole and I took turns watching kiddos again so we could also alternate running. It was a good run. I did have a particularly hard time up a steep hill, but I made it, and the rest of the running was good. I could have kept going--I was in the rhythm.

Dave is on call this weekend, so he's tired. I'm tired. Kids are tired. :) But, we are going to make the most of our call weekend. I'm almost finished with one sewing gift! Hurray! Our taxes are finished! Slushies are in our future.

Can I just take a little break from the monotony of my life and share something God is teaching me?

I am prideful. A lot. I accuse others of their sins. I fail to recognize my own. But God is gracious. He is reaching into these dark cavities in my heart that I didn't know existed. He's showing me the ickiness that is hiding in there, and He is getting in there with a toothbrush to get every little bit out. He is a neat freak, you know.

I'm seeing that so many of the hard things I have to deal with in my life are often rooted in my own selfishness. I forget that others may be struggling, and I absorb internally anything they do or don't do and somehow direct it at myself. I've become a VICTIM.

But Jesus says I'm not a victim.

He says I am MORE THAN a conqueror. I am free! I am victorious. I am not a VICTIM. I am a VICTOR.

I don't have to bow to my selfishness. I don't have to cower beneath insecurity. I don't have to give in to wayward thoughts of "poor, pitiful me".

I am loved.

I am cherished.

I am desired.

I am delivered.

I am free.

I am hopeful.

I am faithful.

I am HIS. HE is mine.

This is what His blood bought for me--not a life of surrender to worry or fear--but a life surrendered to His goodness and grace!!! This is good news!!!

I pray today you will see not just who you are in Him but who HE is and how faithful HE will be to complete the good work He started in you.