Wow has it been over a week...

I had not realized that it has been that long since I've posted. I felt I needed to take some time and let everything settle in and get a little calmer. It has been a trying and good week. I have been throwing away so much old stuff that I have been hanging onto just for fear of throwing away. Old letters and papers, clothes, books... It has been really good. This is really a big thing , or at least I thought it was a big thing. There is so much old baggage that I have held onto that needs to be thrown away! So many memories and hurts tied to old relationships and long ago events. But I know I cannot let fear rob me of happiness. So toss, toss, toss!

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Yesterday it was a pretty wild day around here... arguments, yelling, general craziness... but it opened my eyes to how I act or react to things. I realized that as long as I believe I am incompetent so will others. I am competent, very competent. But I have let people and their negative feelings and actions toward me color who I thought I was. I am so happy the Lord is beside me and telling me that I am His child and he has created me just as I was meant to be, for good or for my flaws, it is all me wrapped around the Love he has put in me. I am standing taller these days. :)

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My granddaughter and her beautiful mother have come to visit us for 3 weeks. They arrived late last night and I am so happy. Lil miss has gotten so big and friendly! :)

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The devotions I subscribed to are so enriching. I have not read all of them, cuz I went a little crazy and signed up for all of them (about 10, I think), but the ones I have read... wow... they are right on.

Here is a devotion that was sent on 10/10:

Be Who You Are

1 CORINTHIANS 15:10 NIV
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am....

ROMANS 12:2  Wuest, An Expanded Translation
2 And stop assuming an outward expression that does not come
from within you and is not representative of what you are in
your inner being but is patterned after this age; but change
your outward expression to one that comes from within and is
representative of your inner being, by the renewing of your
mind, resulting in your putting to the test what is the will of
God, the good and well-pleasing and complete will, and having
found that it meets specifications, place your approval upon it.

God is a brilliant Creator. He only makes originals -- not
copies. According to Ephesians 2:10, you are God's work of
art.

God made you unique. So be all that God created you to be.

Don't try to be someone else. Don't try to be an ear in the
Body of Christ, if God made you a foot. Just be yourself.

This does not mean that you cannot improve, or grow. Growth is
part of God's plan. And we can certainly learn from others, and
imitate excellent actions and attitudes.

But too many people are insecure and hope to gain acceptance
from others by conforming to what they think will make them
popular or successful -- even though they hate it and know they
are not being real.

ROMANS 12:2 Phillips
2 Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own
mould....

Don't let the world pressure you into conforming.

Express the originality that God put within you. God made you
the way you are for a purpose -- His purpose.

This is not to encourage rebellion, of course. But it is not
God's plan for us all to be identical and do everything in the
same way.

I am not saying you have to try to be different. Just be who
God made you -- without fear.

Not everyone may like you, or what you do. But that is normal.
You can't always please everyone. Make it your aim to please
God by expressing what He made you.

ROMANS 12:2 NLT
2 Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let
God transform you into a new person by changing the way you
think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you
will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.

The Bible reveals many truths about who we are once we receive
Jesus Christ. We actually receive new life, a new standing with
God, and new ability. As you feed the Word of God into your
thinking, that new life will be able to manifest  more and
more.

SAY THIS: I am what I am by the grace of God. I will be what
God made me and fulfil His plan for me.

From http://adevotion.org/