Be the Change no. 45

"Everyone chooses their level of involvement. We might share the same place BUT that does not mean we share the same space. Not everyone in the congregation is Christian."

Be the Change.

I and these blog posts are not going anywhere. They are a part of my journey and my testimony. They are a road map of my change over the past fourteen days. Going from someone afraid and struggling to someone that is filling with joy and hope. I am not anywhere near where I want to be BUT I am working on that every single day. Waking up and getting my focus on making myself better in mind, body, and spirits is a path that I walk alone with God, however, it is a walk I will continue to share because I think it needs be shared. I am not going to hide the change and the journey.

I am making some more progress through the book of Exodus and reading about the Israelites struggling with getting free. I think I struggle with getting free just like them. It is so easy to want to go back to the familiar ruts of routine that allow you to be a prisoner. The Israelites complained that they would have just stayed in Egypt as slaves rather than be free with Moses because life was a struggle in the wilderness. Life is always a struggle whether we are in bondage or in the wilderness struggling to get free. Getting free takes a lot of faith in the process, getting free takes changing your routine, getting free takes changing your life, and that is not easy for me and it wasn’t easy for the Israelites either. Their struggle, my struggle, your struggle is not unique. Getting free is a lot of work.

The great joy in getting free is knowing that it can happen. Through reading the Bible and trusting in God’s plan, I am seeing that freedom is not only a possibility BUT a requirement for my life. And I am working every day on maintaining that freedom. It’s not a one and done sort of thing. It’s a process that I have to work on daily. I get up every day and commit myself to the journey and I have to pause during the day to make sure I am still on the path and recommit myself throughout the day. The journey is a struggle BUT it is worth the change. The change is where I want to be.

So, I am not going anywhere in this space. I will be here as always posting about my journey and sharing the good news. I am here for your fellowship, your questions, your concerns, your kind words, your instruction, and all that you have to offer in return. I am going to keep giving what I can as I journey along with my change.

Have the day you want. I hope you find whatever you’re looking for.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #MyBodyMyChoice #MakeYourselfGreatAgain #BeTheChange

Be the Change no. 44

"Everyone chooses their level of involvement. We might share the same place BUT that does not mean we share the same space. Not everyone in the congregation is Christian."

Be the Change.

My testimony is all about choices. Fourteen days ago I made a conscious decision to stop living the life of mediocrity and embrace abundance and joy. That choice led to a lot of other choices about what mattered to me in this life I was given. I had to choose whether I was going to get burdened with all the things that the world wanted to yoke to me. I had to decide whether the news was important, whether government was important, whether my family was important, whether my work was important, whether my friends were important, whether my community was important, whether my health was important, there were a lot of choices that sprung from that one decision of deciding on what I wanted. And it began with not wanting to be afraid.

Fear is a great motivator of folks. Fear can get folks to do a lot of morally questionable things. Fear can get folks to turn on their brother and sister. Fear can get folks to act irrationally and vulgarly. Fear can make people ordinary.

What I should have been afraid of losing was not my ability to feed my family. What I should have been afraid of was not being able to make money. What I should have been afraid of was not infection from a biological weapon. What I should have focused on fearing was where my journey was leading. What I should have focused on was fearing the awesomeness of God. That fear comes with a deal of respect and admiration. That fear comes with hope and joy and abundance. That fear comes with a plan.

And that is what separates the fear of the eternal from the fear of the temporal. Fear of the eternal makes you into a better person while fear of the temporal brings about some of the worst character traits in humanity. And we all get to make that choice. As I said, my testimony is all about choices. I can talk for hours about choice and the importance of self ownership and personal responsibility and liberty. And I will gladly light up when people talk about making better choices because that is where my journey lies.

I struggled for those fourteen days and those fourteen days lasted a long time. And now that I am coming out the other end of those days and folks are starting to see that some of their choices during that time were none too helpful for their mind, their body, their spirit, I am hopeful that folks that didn’t change back then are looking to change their minds about things now. All we can do is pray about that because there is nothing you or I can do to change that. You got to leave that all up to God. And there used to be a part of me that found that as a cop out or backing down from doing something meaningful BUT I now understand there is a lot beyond my control, beyond your control, beyond anyone’s control and that all goes on God’s control. Nothing lies outside that control.

So, sometimes when you need to think about choices and making better ones just know that I am out there daily talking about choices. It is my journey to get out there and make better choices each day and talk about making better choices each day. And all of those choices tell the story of who you want to become. All those choices tell the story of what matters the most to you now and in the future. You can’t make temporary choices and expect an eternal solution. Eternal solutions require eternal choices. Have the day you want. I hope you find whatever you’re looking for.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #MyBodyMyChoice #MakeYourselfGreatAgain #BeTheChange