So... I am a firm believer that life is all about choices. I live it, I believe it, I even teach it. I'm constantly trying to explain to my students.... You make the choice... to have a good day or a bad day.... you make the choice to do the right thing or the wrong thing... You make the choice to get in trouble or to get a sticker. Sometimes they understand... sometimes the don't, lol It's an ongoing lesson.
Well, Like I said I try to apply that to my life in pretty much every situation. I have been on a mission to make myself a better person. Well... really I have been trying to make myself who I want my children to be. We are wanting to start a family sometime in the near future and I want to be prepared. I believe that you should never expect anything out of your children that you can't be yourself. So... Thus starts my refining process.
I have been slowly deciding to change things one by one...
start watching my language ... check
start cleaning up after myself more..... check
start looking for the best in everyone..... check check...
But what about the hard stuff???
Idols. ( dun dun dun ) Not like American Idol or a celebrity "Idol" Idols as in... Something that you place infront of or before God.
Now when I would hear something about having no other idols before God I would always think... well I don't put anyone over God... So I'm Golden.... How could someone put a celebrity over our savior.. thats dumb... but Idols aren't always people and thats something that has been a new revelation for me. An Idol can be the coffee in the morning that you rely on to get through the day. It can be the snicker bar that calls to you after your meal. It could be the really cute pair of shoes that has occupied your brain for weeks and weeks and you just can't stop thinking about. So once I realized that Idols come in every shape and form I started to try to seek out just what my idols were. And Boy are there a bunch of them.
1. Energy Drinks. -- I really feel as though I have become addicted to them. Not only are they bad for your health.. they are bad bad bad all around. ( for me anyway) I went through a time last school year and the beginning of this year where I would have a Monster at least every other day. I Loved it. I could have one in the morning and be good to go all day. I would even have a hard time getting to sleep at night. But it started getting to where I didn't just want them for work days. Need to clean the house? Get a Monster.. want to stay up late and watch a movie with the hubby? How about a monster? So on and so forth.. till I finally decided I had a problem... so what comes next? The CHOICE to stop drinking them and to start relying on God for my energy. Dragging this morning? Pray about it... Want to get a certain amount of things done today? Pray about it.. Pray about it , Pray about it, PRAY ABOUT IT!!! and badabing badaboom... It Works!!! God is our source for everything. He is our provider. We need energy? He will provide. We need rest so we can have the energy? He gives us rest. Problem solved. So even though I have made the choice to do without my beloved energy drink.. ( Three months clean.. woot woot!! haha!! ) I still have to live with the bad choices that I made.... Every time I pass that gas station in the morning I think... Man it would be nice to have that extra pick me up... but what do I do??
PRAY ABOUT IT :)
2. And the very hard to admit Idol number two (Which should probably have been number one because Its probably my biggest problem)..... My cell phone. Well more specifically my iphone.
Ahhh.. technology. I still can't quite decide if the invention of the t.v, computers so on and so forth has been good for our world or set us back ..... I could probably argue both ways.. so I just try not to think about it. I Love me my iphone. Instant internet access.... unlimited games.... An app for everything imaginable .. It is great! My phone and I were just about inseparable. Where ever I was, there was my phone in my pocket or sitting quite close to me. If I had a free time.. what was I doing? Playing a game or surfing facebook... ( ahh facebook.. thats a whole other thing to be conquered, just not today ) As sad and embarrassed as I am to admit it, I even started to question why anyone else would have any other phone other than my amazing Iphone... It is the best after all. Well.. Just like every other idol. God started tugging on my heart telling me.. Jennifer... you are spending way too much time on this little gadget... and I would think.. yea... your right... but I just don't think I can get rid of it. Everytime I would go to BSF my leader would talk to us about idols and would think.. yep.. there it is.. thats my phone... and every time I would leave I would say... well... it just doesn't make a lot of sense to get rid of it... until one day.... It finally stuck. I just imagine God flicking me in the head and saying "It's about time Woman!!" Good thing he is patient. Because I certainly tried dragging my feet.
Anyway, To make a long story a little less long. I finally took the plunge and sold my iphone and God sure has blessed me and helped me to realize that it was exactly what he wanted me to do. First we decided to sell it on ebay..and it literally sold in One minute. like literally! I was so shocked. Plus! We sold it for $250 Heck yea!! AND as if all that wasn't conformation enough I called good ole' Wally World to check the price for the new phone I was going to get and it was on sale for $30 bucks!!! So now I am iphoneless and not necessarily loving it.. but pleased that I am following God's will. I still have a smart phone but I made the CHOICE not to add all the apps to it. I am slowly but surely learning to simplify my life one step at a time. Have I conquered all my idols? No.. but I'm trying to one by one get rid of them and slowly I will succeed!!
So Whats up with the title of this ridiculously long post?
Last week during discussion group at BSF ( Get used to it, you will hear me talking about this A LOT! I LOVE LOVE LOVE Bible Study Fellowship! Not know what it is?? PLEASE Ask! I would love to tell you about it!!) It was brought up that we felt kind of silly going to God about the little things... almost as if we felt it was waisting his time. But boy is that the wrong way of thinking. God desires our interaction. He WANTS us to come to him for everything.. Even something as trivial as deciding what type of cereal to buy. He enjoys the fact that we want to please him and have a personal relationship with him. I mean imagine the depth of that relationship. If you are going to him about cereal.. then of course your going to him with all of the important and Big stuff!
So the CHOICE that i am deciding to make today... to Go to God for EVERYTHING. Even the small stuff.
He is my provider and WILL provide everything.
My Challenge for you?? Start looking for your idols... It's a painful process but so totally worth the blessings it brings :)
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