Posts Tagged ‘love others’

Anger Landlord

Monday, January 7th, 2019

I’ve been renting out space in my heart to anger. I’m embarrassed admitting it, but it’s true. I have a whole room full of bitter rage towards people who have no single thought of me at all. I catch myself crying out to God to take my hurt away and some days, I feel like I’m okay. Then, my circumstances or what feels like a result of all that’s happened sneak back up and remind me of all the scars I have from the whole experience.

The trouble for me is that my anger doesn’t hurt them at all. They’re fine. Happy, even. Fulfilled and satisfied. Meanwhile, I’m bathing in a hot boiling poisonous tub of anger! I want to lash out and hurt back. Which in truth, I am doing that….only it’s me feeling all the pain. They are free.

What is it about anger that literally consumes us and fills us with such a dark ugly pain? Is it the “what if” of our situation? What if the thing that hurts so much didn’t happen? Would we be okay then? Would my heart not burn with frustration or bitterness? Could I wake up and not think of what happened as a personal act against me? Maybe I’m just not the person I should be. Maybe my heart is just a dirty black hole of unforgiveness.

I woke up this morning with chest pains. I had been dreaming about an argument I was having with a stranger at a church I’d never attended. She was scolding me for the way I treated another employee there. I tried everything to defend myself and with every explanation, she shut me right back down. I felt helpless. When I woke up, I could see my anger right in front of my face as if it were an ugly photograph of my insides.

I felt all the pain of the last 850 days pressing me down as if it were a heavy monster pinning me to the bed.

Anger is poisonous. It’s destructive and it robs us of peace. It steals our joy and as if it were rubbing salt into our wounds, it hurts inside and out. Anger changes us and replaces who we once were with a bitter version of who we never intended to be.

My rental space is coming up on the market. I’m only interested in tenants of joy, peace and forgiveness. Like cleaning out the garbage and slapping on fresh paint to the walls, my heart space has no room for the destructive vice of anger. Only love.

Love for the ones who’ve hurt me.
Love for the pain and living through it.
Love for the opportunity to see what needs to go from my heart & mind.
Love for all that God has secured and protected while I was mad as hell.
Love for those who never ever deserve it.
Love for a life that has been given even when I squandered it.
Love for all the new in my life.
Love for what was.
Love for what will be.
Love for learning the hard way to snap the heck out of it.
Love for myself.
Love for a God who sees, hears and still loves when I’m most unlovable.
Love for a heart that is human and frail but still chases God.
Love for reminding me, I will be okay.

So, here I am….doing a total flip job on my heart.

Dear Lord,

How ever do you love a servant like me? Angry, vicious and miserable? I have stood at heavens doors screaming and complaining about every misdeed done against me. When all the while, you stood strong listening and loving me. Why? I confess my anger and my resentment towards those who in my own mind I see as cruel and heartless. Forgive me for feeling so bitter towards them. I have been wrong. Help me to clear out the space I’ve been filling with the hottest anger and replace it with only love.

Amen

I Am So Good

Wednesday, August 22nd, 2018

You know what I’m good at?

I’m good at pointing out the faults in others.

I’m good at finding someone to blame for my unhappiness.

I’m good at wearing my feelings on my shirtsleeve.

I’m good at hiding out when I’m angry or sad.

I’m good at being a real jerk.

I’m good at wishing for things I don’t deserve.

I’m good at feeling sorry for myself.

I’m good at ignoring the needs around me.

I’m good at thinking life is all about me.

I’m good at forgetting all my blessings.

I’m good at letting people down.

I’m good at making myself shine while shadowing others.

I’m good at snarky. Oh, I am so good at snarky.

I’m good at talking the talk and NOT walking the walk.

I’m good at focusing like a laser on my own issues.

I’m good at mishandling love & relationships & lost people.

I’m good.

Stay clear of my kind of good. It will drag you down in a pit of yuck where no person needs to be.

God is so good, too.

He sees the gack in me and He loves me anyway. That doesn’t mean I have a license to be my kind of good. It means HE IS MERCIFUL & LOVING & FORGIVING! I don’t have to be good at anything but obeying HIM and following His call on my life.

Neither do you.

The reward in that is you and I will be given so many people to love and grow with while we are here on this earth. We can waste it or we can vamp up our fleshy badness and learn to love outside of ourselves. That’s what I want to be good at….loving others MORE THAN MYSELF!

If you really think on it, why would anyone want to be my friend? If I’m good at all those janked up things above?

I’ll tell you, because I’m not just those messed up things.

I’m good at good stuff too. So are you.

Remember that when the enemy flashes all your weak spots in your face.

Grace Hoarder

Wednesday, April 4th, 2018

Confession: I withhold grace from people I love.

I’ve always known this about myself and I’ve worked on being better a million times but yesterday as I walking to the mailbox, I felt God whisper to me my inability to extend grace. At first, I wondered where that thought came from then….I realized God was nudging me, reminding me to snap out of it.

So much has happened this year. I’ve had time to reflect on my life and how I’ve lived it. Maybe more than I really needed. Nothing is wasted with God so, I’ll take all of the looking back as a lesson in becoming better.

My children experienced my graceless mothering over the years and I know they love me and even forgive me…but, I can see how that has crippled much of my relationship with them. They feel as if they can’t please me and I blame it on my wielding the sword of perfectionism over them. Each of them are beautiful, unique and wonderful people. I’ve always known it and I’ll always believe it. It’s me that pushed too hard, blazed over them when they made mistakes and left them hurting by my angry silence.

That grace, the holding it so tightly….hurts everyone.

My kids are all grown and gone but I can see the effects of my grace hoarding in their lives. I can tell that they handle me with caution. I don’t think they do it to hurt me but I know it is just a consequence of my own doing. I grew up with a mom who couldn’t give grace. There was no moment in my life where she said, “Hey, that’s okay!” “Don’t worry about it!”. She was the opposite. She lauded her fury over me, beat me down physically & spiritually. I never received the grace I needed from her.

No one has ever been given more grace (BY GOD) than me. He has gone over-board loving me fully and unconditionally. My life, many times has been like a trainwreck! Still, G R A C E was plentiful and even sweet over my foolishness.

Why? Why have I lived hoarding my own grace?

I can’t answer. I won’t blame. I’ll just make it my priority to offer it out every chance I get.

Grace for you.
Grace for me.
Grace for everyone.
Amen.

Am I Generous?

Friday, June 16th, 2017

gener 1

Many long years ago when my hubby was about to graduate from Bible college, a friend of a friend gave our family a generous gift of $500. Back then, money was tight. Seminary families are not living the high life if you’ve ever been curious. Matter of fact, to us…that $500 was more like $5000 to us in today’s money. It was a huge blessing and we were blown away by his generosity. He had no reason to gift us that money but he did and it taught me a huge lesson in generosity.

Give…. even if it costs you something.

For most of our married life we’ve been on a strict budget with our money. That’s probably normal for most folks living out the American dream. Still, we’ve tried to be generous with what God has given us. You’ve probably heard of or been the recipient by now of someone PAYING IT FORWARD. One of my daughter’s has this gift and loves to pay it forward every chance she gets. It’s a wonderful way to love on someone and show generosity for no reason at all other than your heart is over-flowing with kindness for those outside of yourself.

Being generous doesn’t always involve paying for someone’s coffee or hamburger in a drive-thru. We can be generous with our time, words, actions, attitudes and more.

gener 2

God reminded me this morning to be more generous in how I love the people He has put in my life. I pondered over it for a few minutes and came to the conclusion that I could use to be a little more giving when it comes to loving people. It’s easy to say you love someone when all is right in the relationship….but when you feel slighted or overhear a snarky comment it can be a challenge. Still, God expects us to love on in spite of how the other folks behave. Always. It’s important to remember to be a generous FORGIVER!

A good lesson for me who loves to love with abandon.

The truth of the matter is this — life is tough. Don’t make it harder on yourself or others when you can be a cushion of generosity. Love when it stings a little, give when it costs ya and spread generosity around like you’re a millionaire!

gener 3

Now go on, be generous! Give it all away!