November 12 2015

November 12 2015 Greetings My Friend Serving others is a precious gift God has laid upon my heart. To be honest I have always wanted to please people thus I felt this was serving people. I continue to learn there is a huge difference in “seeking their best” and “seeking to please”. The more I study my Bible the clearer I understand the difference and I strive to seek another person’s highest good. I have a tendency to want to do all kinds of acts of kindness not to help others to achieve their fullest potential but to be liked. God keeps teaching me the difference between being a “yes” person and a person who is willing to do the uncomfortable for their best. I am also learning that I won’t be liked by everyone and that is okay too. Being loved by God is enough and the more I learn to walk in His ways the more content my life is. Most of the people in my life prior to giving my heart to Jesus taught me that I am worthless and not good for much of anything. So I kept trying to find the right formula to be accepted, looked up to and loved. God teaches me He loves me even when I don’t understand or I make a huge mistake. He will let me know that what I did is wrong but He also comforts me for a time before He sends me out into the world again. Some of the best conversations I have with God are ones where I keep questioning what I did wrong, how do I know etc. Piece by piece He gives me the information I need to proceed to the next step. As I attempt to do what I am being taught I find a sense of accomplishment. At that point I am learning to do God’s will not my will. I also see the different types of people and how to relate better to them. I had a friend who did not drive so I was taking her around town as she needed. I was taking her when I was exhausted beyond words. One day I found myself being discussed online and it was not nice. I realized at that point that she liked me as long as I could give her a ride. When I was not able to keep up with the rides then there was not much likeable about me. Another friend is a hoarder. I tell her often and I insist she does her part to keep our home in order when she stays overnight. She continues to visit me, calls me and we work through our differences. She often points out that she likes the up front way I talk to her. She has finally had to admit the fact she is a hoarder. She knows that I will be her friend regardless and in this she feels safe. She has made attempts at getting her life under control, she stops and Junior and I love her until her next burst of working on her problem. Junior has stopped by to help her and has now told her he can’t be there every week. If she gets the porch cleaned off or a room empty he will be back to help her get some repairs done. He has learned that if she is not working at cleaning up her mess she will not keep her home in order. It would be easy to go in and totally empty the house of all its piles of junk. We have also learned unless she invests her own energy into the process she will go back to her hoarding. I don’t know if she will overcome this disorder or not. I also know doing the work she needs to do won’t help her either. I must say that I find myself asking God often how to proceed with this friend. On my own I would have walked away a long time ago. Most people have but God shows me the longing heart in her as well so I keep trying until I am told to let it go. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet