Daily Archives: November 14, 2011

Proven Path Ministries

>Thankful To Be Different

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It’s getting close to Thanksgiving… what are you thankful for?
 
 
I have grown up around dogs my whole life and my girls are following suit. I can remember that with every litter the first thing that I would begin to do is look for the differences in each little pup. I looked for the differences so that I could discover what made each puppy unique and special in its own right. Then I would seek to name that puppy according to its individuality.
Its difference was what made it special. I looked for the differences on purpose so that I could showcase it and know this individual puppy and appreciate this individual puppy for what made it different from all the rest.
Never one time did I try to force any of these puppies to look or act like all the rest of the litter. I did not discover the difference so I could hide it or change it. I was thankful for the uniqueness of each puppy.
Therefore, one thing that I greatly desire for my children to be thankful for is differences. I do not ever want them to fear their own uniqueness or fear another person because they are different.
We should be thankful for the differences among us. We should be thankful for the uniqueness of each of God’s children. We should indeed celebrate it, especially in the body of Christ.
For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now there are many members, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.
(1 Corinthians 12:14-25)
There are only two divisions in the eyes of God; those who know Him and those who know Him not, those in the kingdom of light and those in the kingdom of darkness. This is the only divisions that should be in our eyes as well.
I want my children to be thankful for the sea of colors, and shapes, and sizes around them. I want them to embrace all the beauty of the uniqueness of God’s creation. I don’t want them to so fear someone that is different that they refuse to reach out and share the gospel of Christ and even fear loving them as they love themselves.
I also do not want my children to fear the things that make them unique and different. I want them to embrace the things that make them who they are and be thankful for them. I want to rejoice always in the truth of Psalm 139.
For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
(Psalm 139:13-15)
 
Thankful Challenge: Spend today helping your children discover the things that make them different from everyone else and show them that they can celebrate their uniqueness. It’s fall, so go to a pumpkin patch and let them pick out a pumpkin and ask them why they chose that particular pumpkin. What made it different from all the rest? 
 
 
For more thankful challenges check out Becoming A Strong Woman of God
Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries

>Baggage

>Your baggage is the sum total of your life experiences, good and bad. It includes personality traits, ways of thinking, emotional states, habits, hang-ups, feelings about yourself, personal preferences, vices. You can dress up your baggage or disguise it, but somehow, someway, sometime it’s going to be exposed. And if you are not prepared to deal with it- or if you don’t deal with it- you’re going to be in big trouble… Even if you try to keep it out of sight and out of mind, inevitably you or your spouse will trip over it, and someone may get hurt
~ Betty Robison

I am currently reading a book by James & Betty Robison, Living in Love so far it has been a great read and filled with wonderful and helpful information for those in marriage or those who plan one day to be married.

I read this quote yesterday and it made me wonder how many marriages have ended simply because someone did not want to deal with their own baggage?

I think we have misconstrued “baggage” as the things we can only see with our eyes.
You know out-of wedlock children, past failed marriages, rough family, prison records, drug alcohol abuse, past sexual abuse, and so on.
But we seem to want to deny the rest of the “baggage” and call it, “hey that’s just me, get over it”
Or we want to convince our spouse that they really just did not trip over our “baggage” and get hurt because our “baggage” was not big enough to be that hurt by, so it must have been a result of tripping over their own “baggage”… not ours. 

James goes on in this chapter to say “If you want to live in love with your mate, you can’t be held captive by past pain or present problems, and you can’t live your life in denial.”

Have you ever been in the airport and been the one who got chosen out of all those in line to have your baggage opened and rummaged through and dumped out for all to see?
It is not a pleasant experience. And this was baggage that you were not trying to hide…

Having our baggage exposed can feel humiliating and even more so when our hidden baggage peaks out and is tripped over by someone else… so we live trying to keep it hidden… And in the process of doing this we just keep adding to our baggage.

I truly believe that one of the reasons God ordained marriage was so that we would have another person in this life who loved us and truly knew us. That’s one of the things that causes me to fall deeper and deeper in love with my Jesus… He knows all my baggage and yet He loves me anyway.

How awesome would it be in your marriage if you could say my spouse knows all my baggage… and they love me anyway.
How secure would that relationship be?  

I am still learning to get there with my spouse.

I am the person who says the sun never goes down on my anger, because I can go to bed on it and wake up and pretend it never happened… that’s my coping mechanism… but the thing is it did happen and all the pretending and blocking in the world is not going to change that.

I am also the person who would rather run, or say, it’s fine, than let someone know they hurt me. I had rather wipe the slate clean and “start over”… however, the slate is only wiped clean in Christ and Christ only cleanses what He first exposes…

So how about you…?

Have you ever considered that “baggage” is made up of “the sum total of your life experiences, good and bad. It includes personality traits, ways of thinking, emotional states, habits, hang-ups, feelings about yourself, personal preferences, vices.”?

Think about it and see if maybe you have been tripping over more baggage than you even realized was there hidden…