Awakening Greatness…2/14/2014
Last year I started a journey…. a journey to find my
mission. I took a class that after much examining, pondering, searching,
reviewing, asking, and reevaluating I determined that my mission was to Awaken
Greatness…this fit me. I EXIST TO SERVE BY AWAKENING GREATNESS FOR
THE GLORY OF GOD. I am a cheerleader, a proponent, and an encourager. I
have spent my entire life doing this. The puzzle pieces were fitting together,
and wherever I went I looked for opportunities to Awaken Greatness. My life verse is Psalm 100:1-4:
Shout for
joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship
the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he, who
made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
It’s not about
me, but about Him. We are his people, I am just His vessel sent to awaken and
encourage your journey. A light in this world that can be dark. I became
energized helping <mostly moms> feel good about what they were doing.
Moms have a life-changing job to do for someone. They give their all and expect
nothing in return. While it is one of the most important jobs of our time, it is
a job that is isolating, lonely, and scary. We live for our kids, am I right? BUT…
who do we call upon when we have had no significant amount of sleep in days, or
we have a question that we feel so stupid even asking…I mean, we are the mom,
we are supposed to know. Who do you have to commiserate with? If you have
support that is awesome, but so many moms don’t. I have a heart for them. Those
lonely women who are wondering how to do it, why they do it, and who they can
call when life is overwhelming. I want
to Awaken Greatness in them. Grab
them by their shoulders and let them know they are loved, and more importantly
they are not alone. This excites me; it has for the past year. My cry was use
me God. USE ME!
I have wanted
to start this blog for a year, but never had the time. Well, that is one reason
– the safe one. Other reasons I believe are lies, and will leave it at that. I have thought and prayed about my first post for
months. I have wondered, what will make a difference, how can my gift be used
for his glory…then at the kitchen sink…IT.HIT.ME…Humble yourself.
My blog: Making
Greatness. It starts with me. I am a
work in progress. Yes, he wants to awaken your greatness, but He also wants to
continue awakening mine. I wouldn’t say
I am at rock bottom, but it has been a hard few months. It has been glorious,
but it has been hard. Did you ever think God has a magic wand – he could wave
it and all your troubles would vanish? He is the alpha and the omega, the
beginning and the end, the almighty God. He definitely has this power, but would you want
him to do this if he could? At first, I would say yes, but experiencing life with its ups and downs is truly what it is all about. A sermon given by a great friend's husband, said if we never experience life in the valleys, the peaks wouldn't be so awesome (paraphrased).
We gave up a lot in our move. If I can be transparent, I thought that
would be the price. Once we were settled, “all our dreams would come true.”
Naïve, yes. Many have, but many haven’t. My one constant. God Loves Me, and he is
working all things together for my good. PERIOD. I can say this, because I have
had a few hard months, not because he “Fixed” everything according to my
wishes. We paid our rent with our last paycheck, and our mortgage with this
one. We have eaten top ramen, peanut butter sandwiches, and eggs for the past two weeks, and that is on the menu for the next two as well. Our choice of
beverage, well that’s water. It's a season. (Another great friend taught me this) Praise God we had the money for this and our
shelter. Is this how I want (and plan) to spend the rest of 2014? (Well it’s
not my will, but His.) In my plan the answer is no, but we will see how his
unfolds. I do know it will better our family. We are not destitute, just making
tough choices. I am doing it with someone I love dearly, which helps, and adds
humor. My husband is great for that!
My prayer is
that this experience will awaken HIS greatness in me. It will give me
compassion, humility, and most importantly love. The plus side is I can now say
I have fed my family of 5 for ONE BUCK…. 5 packs of top ramen, at .20 a piece.
You would have thought it was steak the way my kids hooted when I put it on the
table. There has to be a brightside, because it
is important to me that anyone who reads this knows I am not grumbling….when
the Israelites were in the wilderness for 40 years…it was documented over and
over that they grumbled. I don’t want to grumble. I want to be thankful for his
provision, and right now it is what it is.
I will leave
you with this. We have gotten into Little House on The Prairie. We all love the
Ingalls family, and most Americans think they are just the salt of this earth. Well in the movie premier, they moved and set
up a new homestead. Jeff and I looked and laughed, and praised God that after
three days of DRIVING to Oregon in a CAR we had an apartment to go to. The Ingalls
traveled by wagon, and once they arrived, had to cut down trees and build their
house. This mama would not have been up for that. Just sayin'. Then for Christmas that year,
she got sweet potatoes….SWEET POTATOES! And she rejoiced. She said it has been
a long time since her family had had a treat like that. Sometimes life calls you
to scale back. While some
people may think we are poor right now (by American standards that is), I am
here to say I have never felt richer. The only one that can awaken that feeling
is Jesus.
