Making the hard choices

Life comes out of nowhere sometimes. You can be trucking right along with everything going your way and out of know where comes a curve ball. You can try to dodge it, it won't help. You can try to catch it but, that isn't going to happen. It's not meant to. It's meant to shake you out of your comfort zone to bring you to something better. Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded thee? Be Strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed; for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest."

God is asking you to get out of the day to day. To trust him. To have a little faith and a lot of courage and go with him. AND you know something that is the hardest thing in the world to do.

We have a massive personality conflict happening here. You want me to step out and get stronger and #1 I already feel strong enough, #2 I'm good right now, personal growth and development not exactly on the agenda, and #3 I'm a type A, OCD, planner and you want me to just trust you?? What now? Well, some might try to ignore that curve ball and just by sometime. Bad idea. It's like a radiator with a leak. Sooner or later that whole radiator is going to crack and you're going to have an eruption the size of Mt Saint Helens straight out the bottom of it. Others might try to smooth it over. Fix it but, not really. You know the type it's the put a Band-Aid on the broken arm kind. Not that I haven't tried it, it just doesn't work either. Eventually if you don't do what you're supposed to and step out and follow God he's going to shake you up and bring you around. (It's happened to me.)

On the bright side.... God is always with you. He's there with you to carry you through that storm. If you ask him, he will lead the whole way. If you repent, he'll show you that you're a child of God and no weapon formed against you will prosper. If you talk to him, he will listen, and if you listen, he will answer. You just have to be prepared for him to be a parent and say no sometimes.

I'm not good at that. I'm not a fan of no. A little bit spoiled I supposed but, I know what I want, I want it, so it must be ok. WRONG again. God never says just because you want it you can have it. He also doesn't like for us to tell him what to do. You might be asking for the mailman down the street, and he may want to send you the physics teacher across town, cause he knows your kids are going to need the help when they get in AP Physics next year. He still answered you just not the way you wanted or expected.

Back to the topic. Hard decisions and choices.

You can't go it alone all the time. When you have those curve balls that force you to make a call, you have to know that you're doing the best thing for yourself. The best way to do that is to talk to God. To ask him what he wants for your life. For me I had to let go of someone I love. People change. Sometimes they don't change so much as they reveal themselves. Sometimes you see good in someone in fleeting moments, and you want them to be that way all the time so badly that you try and force it and eventually their true nature overrides you both. What I learned; people will tell you who they are if you listen. They will show you if you watch. You just can't ignore the flags because you're hoping for the best. God will reveal things to you and he will force you to move.

When you're a single parent those hard choices are even harder. You're not just making them for you, you're making them for your kids too. That guy you bring home, he might not be good to them. That vacation you want to go on it might not be kid appropriate. That job you want may have you traveling or working long hours. It's not just you anymore. They will grow up. These years of being a kid, they don't last forever. Some things can wait. I can't get back the years I lost distracted because of another person but, I can focus on them now and for the rest of their lives I can be a better mom than I was yesterday and not as good as I will be tomorrow.

Don't regret your decisions, reap what you sowed and own what you did. Next time, do better.

I can do this. You can do this. We're not alone!