Reflection

Reflection: You know every year we have a birthday, off with the old, on with the new. It is always a time of reflection for me. I found myself going back to the first chapter of Captivating, to renew what I have learned about myself. You know it is so easy for those old thoughts and feelings to crop back up, and it is important for us to remind ourselves what God is and has done in our life. There is a quote in the section called "A woman's journey" which is where I am right now and wanted to share it - maybe it will help others too:"Then the time came when the risk it took to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." Anais Nin Maybe I am a late bloomer, but no matter, I am blossoming nevertheless. It makes you very open and vulnerable, which is actually freedom. As I have blogged to you all before, and I do again here today; don't retreat from life! Live it to it's fullest everyday, experiencing everything God has created you to experience! You only get one life and a life without risk is no life at all. Love as if there is no tomorrow and if you are made fun of, laughed at, then that has to be their problem, not yours because you are not guaranteed tomorrow. I don't ever want to look back on my life and say "I wish I would have, I wish I could have, I should have done more of this or that, I should have not been afraid to share my heart, to laugh more, to be a greater blessing to others.............." Life is too short to have regrets. Cherish it, embrace it.Don't allow the enemy to revive those thoughts that you and God worked so hard to put under the blood "I am not enough, I am too much; I am not pretty enough, not thin enough, not kind enough, not gracious enough, not diciplined enough. I am too emotional, to needy, too sensitive, too strong, too opinionated, too messy." All that does is bring shame and the enemy tries to haunt us with that and play on our deepest fear that we will end up abandoned and alone. Don't allow him to make you feel unseen, unsought and uncertain. For the women reading this you are Captivating and God made you that way! With His attributes that He placed specifically in you - Woman. How amazing is that! You are amazing! We don't have everything figured out - life is one adventure after another, but we do know our God in whom we believe and we can do all things through Christ (the annointing) who strengthens us. Be a blessing to your husbands, to your friends and your family and love them as you want to be loved. I love you all - Tam