Sunday, June 21, 2015

Fresh Perspective

Well, well, well....we meet again. I must admit, I love it. I love the blog-world. I love the snippets of life I get from others when I open my computer. And more than anything I love to share - everything from pictures to life. 

So today I am sharing with you from a completely different perspective than I had yesterday - because last night my eyes were opened.

If you recall, in my last post I quoted one of my favorite pastors saying: "Get your eyes off you." 

You see....most of my life I have been concerned with what people think about me. Friends. Family. Acquaintances. Total Strangers. And God....definitely God. I have no idea where this huge sense of insecurity comes from (I could speculate, but in reality it probably stems from a bunch of different places), and although I am completely aware that it's there, it's still hard to shake. 

If you know my story, you know that I am a ministry wife who just moved to a completely new state with two kids under two and a dog that thinks she's a human (she gets it honestly). Now... this creates a breeding ground for insecurity because every person I meet is having a first impression of me. And holy moly can that mess with someone who struggles with insecurity in most every aspect of their life. 

But God is good. So good. And He knew that moving to a new place would be hard for me, so I believe he provided this phrase for me as a reminder: Get your eyes off you.

You see...too often I keep my eyes on myself. I am constantly evaluating myself, measuring my results; did I get the laundry done, is the floor swept, is the house dusted (well...ok, may not that one - I avoid dusting like the plague), judging how good of a mom I think I am based on my child's behavior at Walmart - oh yeah...it's that bad. 

Here's the thing with that kind of behavior - it's exhausting. You see, we can think of our lives as mirrors - in the sense that they reflect whatever we are looking at. The more I look at me (focus on me, think about me, worry about me), the more I reflect a life of selfish living. And of course I never measure up. How could I? My standards of myself are way too high. The more I think about me, the more I worry. But when I get my eyes off of me and onto Jesus, what I reflect changes. I reflect grace and goodness. And that is easier to handle than anything. 

So how did this all change last night? Well....we were blessed to be a part of a fundraiser for OrphaNetwork. And although I could have easily spent the entire night worrying about what people thought of me and if I was "fitting in", I didn't. And even better...I could have walked away from that very swanky party feeling disappointed with my lot in life, but I didn't. If anything, I walked away happier than ever that I am who I am and I have what I have. Contentment was bursting out of my heart. And I truly believe that the reason I am so full of joy today is because I tried desperately hard last night to keep my eyes off of me and keep them on Jesus. 

So today I am praising God not only for my husband (as it is Fathers Day and he is one killer dad), but also for everything that He has lavishly blessed me with. Even the details. Especially the details.

In case you're interested, here are a few pics from the super swanky party that I spoke of earlier:





It was a fun time...and now I'm glad to be home snuggling my babies. Until next time!

Much Love,
Susan

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Not What I Expected

Well hey there friends! It has been just over 2 years since I have posted on this blog. My son is just over 2 years old. Hmmmm... I wonder.

At any rate, my mind has been racing with things to say but the days have been so full that they just seem to fly by. Well, tonight I was bound and determined to throw some of my thoughts out there for the world wide web to soak in. One problem. When I went to sign into my blog, I realized that I had no idea what my username (let alone my password) for this blog are. It took me 45 minutes, but here we are.In case you ever need it, here is what I typed into google to help me end the frustration: “forgot how to sign into blogspot”.

Now that I am even more sleep deprived, let me just give you one nugget to chew on while I get a little shut-eye and explain more deeply when I've slept...

Get your eyes off you.

This little phrase has been rolling around my head for weeks. That's a long time for any phrase to stay in a mother-of-two-under-two's head. But I heard Matt Chandler say it during a message a few weeks back and it rocked my world. Get your eyes off you. Because what you look at, you will reflect. Don't worry so much about yourself. Worry about Jesus.

For now...let that phrase roll around your brain. And we will talk more in detail.

G'night all!