6/26/2023 0 Comments Relax relate release picsI did not know any of them personally but I’m incredibly proud of each of them and was honored to have been in their presence. The point: they made it to this point, they achieved that goal and by God, they will continue to soar and achieve more. Among them were scholarship recipients to well-known colleges, husbands and wives who’d already started families, teen business owners, singers, artists, and those who are still trying to figure out the next step. My fellow readers, some of these young people have faced horrors from which a lot of us were spared, but they chose to become focused and finish school. To my current memory, Stephen Covey referred to it as “our own internal weather.” That attitude is important…the attitude we choose to adopt and daily live by affects us.A reminder that all things (good and bad) work together to our ultimate good, to our ultimate shaping.A spoken word artist’s encouragement to embrace and share your story, no matter what it is.Not only were graduates honored, but so were their caregivers (foster parents, program supervisors, social workers, counselors, etc).Here are some of the things I observed and appreciated: I only knew that I wanted to be a part of the celebration that honored these young people. I was completely unsure that I would see anyone there that I knew (and sure enough, I knew NONE of the graduates) and I had no significant emotional ties to any of the staff and guests. On yesterday evening, I paused action on my “productivity” list and decided to attend a graduation program that celebrates youth in foster care. #perspective #gratitude #responsibility #jobs O, and I’ve already decided that I’ll also celebrate its completion! I am already looking forward to that day. So, I’ll take my new perspective and apply it with fervency to this project. Plus, I must believe that the end analytics (an outsourced responsibility) will be beneficial for multiple reasons. I then decided to view this project as an opportunity for growth, for strengthening, and a break from the norm. Thankfully, during my quiet time this morning, while reading a prayer, I was reminded of the blessings of responsibility. Such work is simply not my gifting, it does not bring the joy or excitement it might to others who love to work with data compilation and computation. I want to pull my hair out (mind you, I have a REALLY close cut, so that’s not possible). Further, It’s both quantitative and qualitative. It involves reviewing and transferring multiple data points for 2,000 lines of data that don’t match up evenly, which means I have to view each line carefully, multiple times. So, I have a project that I need to complete. #emotions #pain #healing #prayer #inspiration ![]() In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.” From Body and Soul Publishing LLC. Help me to open my heart to you and allow you to bring healing and freedom. I thank you that you can turn my brokenness into something beautiful even when I cannot see it. Lord, thank you that you never waste anything that has happened in our lives. Many times what we see as our biggest mistakes and failures can become what God uses the most. However, the enemy in our minds often tells us we are worthless and no longer useful for God’s kingdom. Little do we know that God is using our brokenness to create something more beautiful than we could ever imagine. And just like that broken crayon, God is always able to use our brokenness to create something beautiful. Many times we compare our blooper reel to someone else’s highlight reel. The truth is no one has a perfect life. The truth is, we all have brokenness in our lives. Someone with less brokenness and baggage. Just like that broken worn-out crayon, we can also feel useless to God because of the mistakes we have made or the things that have been done to us. We feel broken and ugly and useless. We think God would rather have someone else do His work. That it needed to be replaced with a brand-new crayon instead. However, as I began to color with this broken worn-out crayon, my nieces looked at me and told me my coloring page was beautiful.īecause, you see, broken crayons still color. In our throwaway society, it would be easy to think that the work of this crayon was done. ![]() When we opened their container of crayons, a burst of colors greeted us. These were well-worn crayons that had been used to color dozens of pictures. I chose a broken and worn-out green crayon. They love the Disney princesses, and so we were coloring a picture of Cinderella. “Recently, when visiting my nieces in Florida, I got down on the floor to color with them. I love it, it’s still relevant, and therefore I thought I’d share it. Today, I came across the devotional, perhaps from where the phrase originated. I heard this phrase years ago and wrote a poem based on it.
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