Getting Off On the Right Foot

Getting Off On the Right Foot

By Angie Ketcham

So maybe I’m a little bit of a procrastinator, or maybe just say yes to too many things, but I’m just getting around to “taking care of business” for this new year.  I try not to make New Year’s resolutions because it just reminds me at the end of the year what I was unsuccessful at accomplishing, but I always have this nagging feeling, like it is time to make a change.  That is all good and well, until I dig my heels in and face the music to where I’m at in all my mess, and become overwhelmed with everything that needs to be done to make me a better person.  Usually around this time of the year I just want to sleep.  Haha.  It doesn’t take a genius to understand why!  I’m in over my head and negativity comes swooping in with reality about my human frailty and my lack of ability to measure up to my own standards.

Maybe you can relate?  I’m betting I’m not the only one that feels this way.  With the transition of the role of women in society, greater expectations have been placed on us, as women, to do more.  Now, not only are we expected to care for our homes and family, but we are expected to take on a role outside of the home, be active in the community and church, and maintain a level of perfection with our bodies and relationships.  Then, when that’s done, we should be back in the home and be everything to our husbands with excitement and enthusiasm in the bedroom.  It doesn’t take much to find that we can not do it all.  Someone, somewhere is going to be let down or forgotten and then we have a tendency to take that out on ourselves.  Am I right?  Are you there sister?  This is reality for most of us.

I can’t say that I can tell you in 500 words how to change this crazy pattern that we find ourselves in daily.  But, what I do have to offer you are some basic words of encouragement as we journey this road together.  Above all else, we need to know who we are in Christ.  Above all else, we must make time, whether it’s in the morning or night, or maybe just small snippets of time throughout the day, to get to know who we are BECAUSE God loves us.  And friend, I’m afraid this can only be found in one source:  God’s Holy Word!  Give yourself grace as you begin to discover who you are in Christ.  Make it a priority, as you begin this new year, to forgive yourself for your imperfections and lack of accomplishments, and remember who you are in Christ.  I know you can do this, even if it means one baby step at a time!  Know that you have other sisters in Christ praying for you and rooting you on every day!  What do you say?  Will you give up your expectations of yourself and trust that God orders our every step?  I’m praying that you do.  I’m praying that I do too, as I delve into the stacks of papers sitting in my to-do pile:)

Because God Loves Me

*Because God loves me, He is slow to lose patience with me.

*Because God loves me, He takes the circumstances of my life and uses them in a constructive way for my growth.

*Because God loves me, He does not treat me as an object to be possessed and manipulated.

*Because God loves me, He has no need to impress me with how great and powerful He is because He is God.  Nor does He belittle me as His child in order to show me how important He is.

*Because God loves me, He is for me.  He wants me to mature and develop in His love.

*Because God loves me, He does not send down His wrath on every little mistake I make, of which there are many.

*Because God loves me, He does not keep score of all my sins and then beat me over the head with them whenever He gets a chance.

*Because God loves me, He is deeply grieved when I do not walk in the ways that please Him because He sees this as evidence that I don’t trust Him and love Him as I should.

*Because God loves me, He rejoices when I experience His power and strength and stand up under the pressure of life for His name’s sake.

*Because God loves me, He keeps working patiently with me even when I feel like giving up and can’t see why He doesn’t give up with me, too.

*Because God loves me, He keeps on trusting me when at times I don’t even trust myself.

*Because God loves me, He never says there is no hope for me, rather, He patiently works with me, loves me and disciplines me in such a way that it is hard for me to understand the depth of His concern for me.

*Because God loves me, He never forsakes me even though many of my friends might.

-by Dr. Richard J Krejcir, edited for space