I put this old family picture on here to display how different one can become as they mature. I'm the one in the pink dress.... no, the blond one in the pink dress. Anyhoo, I am very different than I used to be. I am still me, but different for one very good Reason. Read on...This weekend was really challenging. I went to the Spring Retreat with John and Helen Crawford, and I wish all of my friends could have gone. God was there! He showed me a lot of this about myself that I really like to change. The Crawfords talked about renewing our thought patterns and what the Word of God can do for you.
This blog is called "I am so different" for many reasons. The first being that I am not who I was anymore! When I accepted Christ, He took up His home in me. Why He wanted to do that, I don't know. I have nothing to offer Him, but I have something to offer the world now, and that is the knowledge of the saving grace of Jesus Christ! He has called me to set my mind and heart on things above, to renew my mind, to put off the old and put on the new, to yield to God. I was never like that before I became a Christian.
Anyways, have you ever walked away from a conversation or situation wondering, "Why on earth did I say that?!" or "Man, what I did was really stupid!"? I didn't know if that was a sanguine thing or not. Sometimes I get caught up in trying to be fun that I can say some stupid/sarcastic/mean things and walk away regretting that or thinking that people noticed and think differently of me. I can relate to some John Mayer right about now:
"One more thing
Why is it my fault?
So maybe I try too hard
But it's all because of this desire
I just wanna be liked
I just wanna be funny
Looks like the jokes on me
So call me captain backfire."
Well for a couple of years now I have been trying to watch the things that I say. Last year it was gossip. Proverbs 26: 20 says, "Without wood a fire goes out;
without gossip a quarrel dies down." This year it was sarcasm. Proverbs 26: 18-19 says, "Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death, so is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, 'Was I not joking?'"
I went to the Ladies workshop about being clothed in righteousness. Cindy and Lindsay did a great job! I came away with that with the resolve that I want to be a woman who understands that her words can give life or they can give death. Research shows that women speak on average 30,000 words a day (compare that to men at 15,000!), so I need to choose my words wisely! I want Joshua 1:8 to be true in my life, that the Word of God does not depart from my mouth. I want all the words I want to say to be filtered through the Word of God that is on my mouth! Neat!
This post is titled as so because I was perusing through some old blog archives. These things date back to my sophomore year! Reading them, I couldn't believe some of the things I said, not that I cussed or anything, but the way and what I've talked about has changed a lot to me. At times I couldn't fathom me saying some things! I realized that this prayer I've had for years to change my mouth, that I thought I hadn't changed or worked hard enough at changing and was failing at, was really being answered! Thanks to God, my mouth is steadily changing to glorify Him. I am nowhere near perfect, but He is perfecting the good work He started in me (Check out Philippians 4:6!).
Welp, this has been a long one, and I learned so much more this weekend, but I'll save that for later. And I'm sure that nobody blogs anymore or even reads this, but if you do, holler!
