Thank you SO MUCH for all of your prayers, promises and notes to Kim. Her appointment went well and another CT scan was done today. For a detailed update, visit her CaringBridge page at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/kimwhisenant
Okay, I’m switching gears and I have some very important questions for you: Have you noticed any changes God has made in your life – recently or in the past? Do you ever doubt that you will change?
Why do I ask? Well, I’m working on my book proposal, outlining the final chapters which are focused on the promise of what is possible when we live beyond the shadows of our doubts and find confidence in Christ!
I need to finish my “I can” chapters and I really, really want your input!!
I’m working on a chapter focused on the promise: I can change. In it, I share that when we become Christians – we become new creations. We live in Christ and Christ lives in us. Because He lives in us through the Holy Spirit, we have the hope of being transformed into His likeness. Therefore, we have hope for change! We don’t have to stay the same.
I think it’s easy to get bogged down in bad habits and day-to-day frustrations with ourselves and what we wish were different. Sometimes I don’t even notice what has changed about me. But God’s been encouraging me to see the difference He’s made in my life and celebrate the changes – even as little as they may seem, even if they only last for a day or a minute.
Like today when my Diet Dr.Pepper fell off the table and exploded in my kitchen – spraying dark brown, sugar-coated foam across the wall, chairs, table and floor. Without Christ, I would have exploded with it! I would have been so mad at myself a for making such a mess and frustrated that it was going to make me late as I tried to get ready to leave town.
But something in me, the Holy Spirit, reminded me that He’s in control and that the fruit of His Spirit in me is joy, patience and self-control. My natural response would have ruined all that fruit!
In that moment, I allowed Christ in me to come alive by submitting to His prompting to simply give myself some grace, get paper towels and wet rags and clean it up. The whole time I smiled and thanked God for the progress He’s made with my “inner control freak” not freaking out so much anymore.
I am also a different wife and mom than I was 10 years ago. I am more content with who I am, and I never thought that would happen. Oh, the list goes on and on.
So, I am wondering…
- What difference has Jesus (in you) made in your life? What changes have you noticed (in your heart or in someone else)?
- If you were describing to a friend the promise and possibility of change because of God’s transforming power available to those who believe, what examples of “hope-for-change” would you share from your own life?
- In what areas do you think women long for change the most?
I don’t want only my story in this book; I want yours! So just in case you need some incentive, I’m going to bribe you :->. I’ll be drawing names from the comments under today’s post, and giving away 2 copies of The Uncommon Woman: Making an Ordinary Life Extraordinary by Susie Larson. One for you and one for a friend. You will both love it!
Ps. Leah and I are driving to Lavonia, Ga for an event tomorrow morning and then to Stony Point, NC for a Mother’s and Others Dinner tomorrow night. Would treasure your prayers for these eventes, the messages, the women coming and all our traveling adventures!
Happy weekend and Happy Mother’s Day to all my favorite moms!
Discover more from Renee Swope
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Dear Renee,
I’m humbled by the wonderful women who have openly and honestly posted the burdens and delights of their hearts and how God has interceeded in their lives. What a blessing we can be to each other when we remove the masks we wear to reveal our most genuine, even though flawed, selves. That is true beauty.
In my late 40’s I gained an unhealthy amount of weight after a lifetime of being slim. I’d given up on ever marrying and decided that I might as well do as I pleased, so I ate and ate and ATE! Food became my comfort and my refuge.
As I neared 50 I came to a point where I’d reached the “end of myself” … I realized I needed to change, but didn’t know how or where to start. So as a last resort, I prayed to the God I knew from childhood, the God I believed loved me … that loved the little girl who hid herself and only showed people who she thought they wanted her to be so she would be loved and accepted and have her needs met. The little girl who thought if she were just pretty enough or as pretty as so-and-so, she would be loved.
And He answered.
That was several years ago. I’m so different today than I was then. Yes, I’m still a work-in-progress, but He has made me aware of my own worth and value independent of the people in my life.
Smiles,
Stella
[email protected]
P.S.–As of my last checkup, I’ve lost a little over 100 pounds.
I’ve been a “Christian” since I was 7, but when my parents divorced 3 years ago, I couldn’t do anything but cry out to God. Why did He let this happen? Why did my mom leave the church 20 years ago (around the time my father started his affair), so that she had limited support and wouldn’t turn to God? What is reality, if not what I grew up knowing?
The answer was what changed me. I was given a promise in a P31 Devotional- “When my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will take me up.” When I realized that every human being in my life will eventually let me down, whether on purpose or by accident, and the only One I can rely on all the time for every need is God, I quit crying out to Him. He was there all along, holding me until I quit struggling to figure everything out and just be His.
Since I have become a true follower of Christ, He has given me amazing witnessing opportunities, including taking my nephew to Sabbath School and then taking over the class. He has healed me from the pain of infertility (His will for us is to be childless for now). I see less of me and pray for more of Him every day, and others see Him in me!
I think most women just want to be what God wants them to be, when you “bottom line” it. As long as I surrender my will for His plan, I know I will eventually be just exactly who He had in mind when He created me.
God bless your ministry!
Jenn
([email protected])
Renee…
this was such a good question…and it was eye-opening to me how hard I found it to answer. I tend to always focus on where I still haven’t changed. Disappointment in myself is a constant battle…which shows that it’s really probably me trying to change me instead of fully surrendering myself to God. This life is a pilgrimage…but I seem to want to just “arrive.” I need to trust Him more as He brings about changes in me in His ways and in His timing…I just need to keep surrendering.
Thanks for making me think. 🙂 I need to praise Him for where I HAVE changed and trust Him and praise Him now for where I WILL change. He has promised He will complete the good work He began in me. What a relief! 😉
Love to you! Praying for you as you write,
K