Accept the Truth and the Truth with Set Your Free

This is a Five Minute Friday "word of the week" post. The word this week is Accept.

I've had a struggle with pride for years. I go round and round with it, some days I can set is aside but on others it just has me. It brings pain, anxiety, and a multitude of other emotions that control me...until I finally realize that it's back again. 

I'm learning to recognize it sooner than I used to, but not soon enough. I recover quicker, but I wish I would have to recover at all.

I've accepted that I have a pride problem. I've accepted that it's something God hates, even though he loves me. I've accepted that I need His help to change and that I have to participate in the work of it.

I've accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior.

You can find FMF here - http://fiveminutefriday.com/community/

Time to punch in!

This is a Five Minute Friday post and the word this week is Work. FMF is a website for writers, we write on the word of the week for five minutes and post without editing.
You can find FMF here - http://fiveminutefriday.com/community/

I can’t wait to retire…hmmm….I know I’m not supposed to say that. I am so grateful for my job, but what a challenge! Maybe that’s why God put me there. I have to remember that HE PUT ME THERE FOR A REASON, right? I’m coming to realize that overcoming my pride problem might just be one of the reasons. Another is idolatry. You see, for years all I did was work hard, work long hours, and just work. My job was my focus.

I went to school full time to complete a BBA and then on to an MBA, all while working full time and with a toddler who turned into a second grader before I was done. I'm not complaining. Getting a degree was always my plan, but that took a left turn in my senior year of high school. God still provided it through my work. 

All that time away from family for the job and school, it was all about overcoming that left turn. In the effort I made the job too important. Now I have to work hard not to put the job first. I consciously work to put God first, and in Him my reward. It’s not in anything I can do on my own.

I am grateful for the education I never could have attained on my own, or by working for a different employer. I’m grateful for the income my work provides for my family, but I’m choosing to put God first today. I’m choosing to focus on the Him, not to be prideful over what I’ve accomplished because, guess what, I could only do it through Him. I'm just not that smart. He is accomplishing something in me for his good pleasure. 

I choose that work, His work. I pray it comes in the form of words I write and others read, and maybe even pay for someday. If that doesn’t happen, I will still grateful for the work he provides.

My five minutes are up. Time to punch out!

Neighbors - Ya gotta love 'em!

This is a Five Minute Friday Post - FMF is a website for writers, we write on the word of the week for five minutes and post without editing. It's good practice!
The word this week is Neighbor

Proverbs 3:27-28
27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, When it is in you power to do it. 
28 Do not say to your neighbor, "Go, and com back, and tomorrow I will give it," when you have it with you. 
29 Do not devise harm against your neighbor, while he lives securely beside you.

We do have to love them, but I confess that I'm not always successful. Oh, it isn't that I intentionally devise harm against them, but I don't intentionally love them either. My husband, doesn't know it, but he is the complete opposite. He seeks to help them, to love them. He is intentional about it. 

This morning in my devotional time I read this passage from Proverbs, then I found Neighbor as the word week. God works that way, giving me what I need when I need it. Verse 27 says "Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, When it is in you power to do it." Aren't we called, then, to love our neighbors intentionally? He doesn't withhold His love from us, nor should we from our others. 

So, how do I do that? Well, it's got to be more than sharing the passing wave as I come and go from work. I'm going to rely on God to, again, provide what I need. What I should notice and to what He wants me to pay attention. 
Today I will seek to be intentional, to model Jesus and the husband God gave me for life. I will seek to love my neighbors.

That's my five minutes this week.

You can find FMF here - http://fiveminutefriday.com/community/

Five Minute Friday Post - The word this week is GUIDE

Jumping In

Five Minute Friday Post - The word this week is GUIDE.
The is my first time posting for FMF and I'm excited to join a community of Christian writers. I'm also scared. I joined because need encouragement and "guidance" as I jump into the writing world more seriously than ever.

When I think about a guide, I naturally go to the Holy Spirit. Daily, I ask for His guidance. I also also ask Him to make it real clear for me, because I don't want to miss it. I don't want to miss anything anymore. Time is just too short and the older I get the faster it passes. So I'm seeking Him and making myself available.

I've wanted to write for years and I believe God put that desire in my heart. Back then I wanted to write steamy, summer beach reads. Now, I want to write what He wants to tell someone. I may never know who that is or how they might be affected, but that doesn't matter. I have only to obey my guide, God will take it from there.

My five minutes are up.

You can find FMF at http://katemotaung.com/five-minute-friday/

Being Comfortable in Obedience

     
Matthew 5:40-41 

40 If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too. 41If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles. 

     I missed this, writing this blog. I think I stopped writing because no one else sees it. Like it doesn't matter. That's how I feel about most of what I do, especially at work, that it just doesn't matter. Why do I feel this way?
     I recently listened to Your Move, a podcast from Andy Stanley (www.yourmove.is/ the Work It episode), about why what we do at work really does matter. He said it, what I do -- what we do, it matters because God's people matter. The people at work matter to God and how I represent Him to them matters to God. I got that right away, so I paid attention to the rest of the podcast.
     I was listening while taking a walk after a tough day at work, one with some drama surrounding implementation of a customer requirement. It's not new, just new to our organization. The customer describes it as a Manufacturing-led process, but I felt they didn't want to do it. It was never said but there really wasn't what I would call forward motion. I feared it would be come another thing for the Quality department to do, but I wanted to allow Manufacturing time to take responsibility and follow-through. It wasn't happening and we were on a deadline. 
     You see, assuming responsibility for things like this is something I typically do, I've always done it. For that reason sometimes it's hard for me to let go. The truth is, operating like that doesn't really help the organization for the long term. It doesn't teach anyone anything. I'm going to retire in a few years and I feel obligated to teach people how to do the things I've always done. Better yet, give them the confidence to figure out on their own. I want to leave with a strong team in place. 
     While listening to the podcast, I just knew that God was telling me to help them. To set aside any preconceived notions about their intent. To help them by showing them how to do it. The challenge was that I had no experience with this new process either. 
     Mr. Stanley was telling a story about going the extra mile, specifically when the Roman soldier could have anyone carry his gear one mile. Matthew tells us that we should go two miles and give our coat along with our shirt...you know the story. Thinking in those terms changed my outlook. 
     In my mind, the hand-off was made in that moment. I knew God wanted me to take it back from Manufacturing, to drive this implementation as an example of cooperation. There wasn't an argument from me. I've never had clarity like that before, it was very ...hmmm...comfortable. I remember chuckling about how God just snuck up on me with the idea.
     Here's the thing - I had to accept the responsibility happily, congenially, humbly. No finger-pointing or "I told you so's" allowed either. Simply accept the responsibility, one that was not mine, and do it with a smile. 
     Now, how was I going to explain that to my Quality team? It turns out that I didn't have to. I obeyed, it's God's responsibility to take care of the rest.  It's been a couple of weeks now and ... so far so good. We're getting comfortable.