One of life's greatest secrets...

...forgiveness. I wont use many of my own words because Andrew Adams describes it more perfectly than anything I have ever heard. So I am going to just rewrite the small excerpt at the end of chapter 8 of 'The Traveler's Gift'. Someone I once told I had forgiven told me they didn't believe I could do that that easily. I learned long ago that the forgiveness is for me, not for the person who had wronged me. It truly is a gift that only works if given away.

The sixth the decision for success: I will greet this day with a forgiving spirit.

"For too long, every ounce of forgiveness I owned was locked away, hidden from view, waiting for me to bestow its precious presence upon some worthy person. Alas, I found most people to be singularly unworthy of my valuable forgiveness, and since they never asked for any, I kept it all for myself. Now, the forgiveness that I hoarded has sprouted inside my heart like a crippled seed yielding bitter fruit.

No more! At this moment, my life has taken on new hope and assurance. Of all the world's population, I am one of the few possessors of the secret to dissipating anger and resentment. I now understand that forgiveness has value only when it is given away. By the simple act of granting forgiveness, I release the demons of the past about which I can do nothing, and I create in myself a new heart, a new beginning.

I will greet this day with a forgiving spirit. I will forgive even those who do not ask for forgiveness.

Many are the times I have seethed in anger at a word or deed thrown into my life by an unthinking and uncaring person. I have wasted valuable hours imagining revenge or confrontation. Now I see the truth revealed about this psychological rock in my shoe. The rage I nurture is often one-sided, for my offender seldom gives thought to his offense.

I will now forevermore silently offer my forgiveness even to those who do not see that they need it. By the act of forgiving, I am no longer consumed by unproductive thoughts. I give up my bitterness. I am content and effective again with my fellowman.

I will greet this day with a forgiving spirit. I will forgive those who criticize me unjustly.

Knowing that slavery in any form is wrong, I also know that the person who lives a life according to the opinion of others is a slave. I am not a slave. I have chosen my counsel. I know the difference between right and wrong. I know what is best for the future of my family, and neither misguided opinion nor unjust criticism will alter my course.
those who are critical of my goals and dreams simply do not understand the higher purpose to which I have been called. Therefore, their scorn does does not affect my attitude or action. I forgive their lack of vision and I forge ahead. I now know that criticism is part of the price paid for leaping past mediocrity.

I will greet this day with a forgiving spirit. I will forgive myself.

For many years, my greatest enemy has been myself. Every mistake, every miscalculation, every stumble I made has been replayed again and again in my mind. Every broken promise, every day wasted, every goal not reached has compounded the disgust for the lack of achievement in my life. My dismay has developed a paralyzing grip. When I disappoint myself, I respond with inaction and become more disappointed.

I realize today that it is impossible to fight an enemy living in my head. By forgiving myself, I erase the doubts, fears and frustration that has kept my past in the present. From this day forward, my history will cease to control my destiny. I have forgiven myself. My life has just begun.

I will forgive even those who do not ask for forgiveness. I will forgive those who criticize me unjustly. I will forgive myself.
I will greet this day with a forgiving spirit."

what about them piggies?!?

"But you will never please everyone, nor should pleasing everyone be your goal. For example, to seek the approval of someone who is lazy or jealous is to cast your pearls before swine. You will find that God rarely uses a person whose main concern is what others are thinking."- The Travler's Gift

This book is probably the best book I have ever read. I have found it to be very encouraging and insightful for so many aspects of my life. The gyst of the story is a man is going through a terribly rough time in his life and then ends up in a car accident, when this happens it takes him to 7 different periods in time and he meets 7 historical figures from whom he learns 7 Decisions for success. Keyword: Decisions. I know many of us grow up being told that God made each one of us special and so on. To be honest, I BELIEVE IT. With everything I am, I believe it. I don't mean this in a cocky, arrogant way, I COMPLETELY give God ALL the credit. I guess where I am going with this is a good friend told me that I "stand by my convictions - no matter what" and that happens to irritate a lot of people. I don't have to do anything more than proclaim what I praise, believe in and hope to accomplish and it gets many people's feathers all ruffled. If you know me, then you know for the most part I don't really care what other people think. I do seek wisdom from those I believe to be wise and those I respect, but I don't take financial advice from broke people, I dont take marital advice from people who have been married 46 times etc. etc. One thing I have struggled with is trying to gain favor with a few whose favor shouldn't matter anyway. Isn't it funny how you can have a bold characteristic that happens to become putty when it comes to a handful of individuals?? WEIRD! And it's always those people who you could be the best of the best and they would still find a problem! You'll find yourself kissing the butt of one of them for some reason, when you're not even a typical BUTT-KISSER?!? Afterwards, you are like "ugh! why did I do that?" LOL! So, that's why this quote spoke volumes to me. Let me sum up all my messy nonsense: God made me awesome! He gave me this really great head on my shoulders that I think is brilliant enough to do great things in this life and to see things for WHAT THEY ARE and make intelligent decisions from the smallest things to the largest things. I do not need to seek the approval of one who is nowhere near the same arena of my life because I have been chosen by God to be his child and graciously been given talents and abilities I can use in positive ways. I was made in his image and I don't need to dull down who I am to make someone else feel better about themselves. Everything good I am, I give 100% credit to the Lord and every negative thing I give credit to my sinful nature. I hope to make a difference in other people's lives and serve others humbly.

One more quote for the road that I <3:>"I do not fear opinion, gossip, or the idle chatter of monkeys, for all are the same to me. I do not fear failure, for in my life, failure is a myth. Failure only exists for the person who quits. I do not quit. I am courageous. I am a leader. I seize this moment. I choose now. I am a person of action."

True story.

SO FRUSTRATING!

what the heck happened to chivalry? Ok, guys, are you dense or just plain rude? Taking a girl out and letting her pay for her own meal? Seriously, seriously?? Not buying her coffee when you meet up at starbucks? On mine and Josh's first date, the plan was not to go to starbucks later in the night, but I wanted one and COMPLETELY intended on paying for it myself, but Josh dug through all the change in his car because he didnt have his wallet on him. Also, girls do NOT, I repeat DO NOT want to hear any reference to your bowel movements or hear any gas expelled from your body. Girls dont want to hear vulgar language or see naked women as the back drop on your phone. (Girls note: you're probably dating the wrong guy anyway if you are experiencing any of the last few issues). Girls also dont want to hear about how hot you think other girls are, DUH!! If you go out with a girl and her family, don't be a mooch, still offer to pay for both of your meals. I'm honestly just flabberghasted about how BOYS behave when taking a girl out that they are supposedly pursuing. I could go on and on about BOYS, but I wont. Ladies, just find a man; a man that loves the Lord, one who makes a decent living or is at least heading in the direction of that because they are preparing for the future to take care of and provide for a wife and one day a family. Not one just waiting for a "mommy" to come along and mother them and is pissing away all their money and opportunities. Ok, I'll stop, otherwise this will get beyond lengthy.

It's been awhile...

....It's been a ridiculously long time since I've blogged which I LOVE to do, so I gave myself a swift kick in the pants and am going back at it. To catch you up we are living with my parents as we look for a house. It's been an interesting journey. January was a bust as far as business goes with all the rain which was a REALLLL downer, but February will hopefully prove to be much better and were praying a lot about it. Some things are in the works and will be more in the works later this week, but were just praying that God will open AND close doors. The kids have adjusted well to living with Grammy & Papa and enjoy seeing them often. We're getting ready to celebrate Haylie's 3rd Birthday. Were gonna do pretty big birthdays for all the kids this year, starting with Haylie's. Levi is 9 months and not too interested in walking which is COMPLETELY fine with me! I love having a little boy. He's definitely a momma's boy and I love it. I've pretty much lost alllll my baby weight from all 3 babies LOL...time to have another?? hmmmm...hahaha. Josh and I are doing fanflippintastic. He is such a blessing and a joy to my life and we are really excited to be celebrating 5 years of trials and triumphs together this June. Will definitely be posting more often so stay tuned...