Red Wednesday's Wisdom - CHG #5, Part Two

Embrace Change and Set Goals Patiently

It started it my mind, and then, without warning, it started leaking from my mouth!  It was an organized scenario that went something like this:

♥ Great, another hour of driving, not to mention all of the traffic, and now I get to figure out how to navigate myself through downtown Chicago and a parking garage that could service 6 huge hospitals!  
♥ Instead of taking one hour out of the month to see the doctor, I am going to have to take an entire day! 
♥ And oh gee, I also get to spend more money on gas and parking!

Suffice it to say, that as I voiced these uncensored comments to my daughter, her surprised response to my irritated tone made me keenly aware of how my thoughts and words were void of any kind of joy.  I was not embracing the changes that had to do with my health!  It was such a great example of the emotional clutter I can create for myself when I do not make the conscious decision to embrace the changes that come into my life.   Consequently, anger can subtly sneak in and become the ultimate emotion that robs me of my peace. 

Last week’s SW was focused on asking the Holy Spirit to help us determine what meaning the words embrace and change held for us as we looked at our individual clutter. And then we were to patiently consider the one goal or boundary that God wanted us to set for ourselves as we asked for His plan regarding our clutter issue.

Here is how it went for me as I recognized the need to renew my thinking by embracing the picture that I described above:

♥ When I slowed myself down to patiently think before I spoke another word, I realized just how blessed I was to be only an hour’s drive from Chicago and be connected with a doctor who possessed the wisdom that I needed and had asked God for as we addressed the rarity of my medical situation.  Yes, this is a huge change from what use to be a non hassled 10 minute drive for me, but this change is going to be so advantageous when it comes to the overall care of my health.   
♥ How cool  is it to have one day a month where I can see my doctor and be just one street away from Michigan Avenue where I can enjoy sightseeing, shopping, or eating out in downtown Chicago?
♥ What a deal it is to park in Chicago for up to seven hours at the hosptial garage with an out of pocket expense of only $10.00. 
♥ I am making it a goal to embrace the changes that involve my health by being patient with what takes place in my present life compared to my past, and enjoy the process.

The clutter of chores has been replaced by a move that focuses on family and health.  And as I have shared in previous postings, I know this move was clearly God’s plan for me .The details of God’s plan continues to be revealed to me and especially when I look at them in light of the Scripture that supports CHG # 5 in Jeremiah 29:11. I know that God has His plan for me and they are plans for my good and not my disaster, to give me a future and a hope.

Some of the symbols that God has consistently used with me to get my attention and remind me to apply CHG # 5 is the:

♥ Yellow and black caution ribbon - It warns me to be aware of the potential danger when I do not apply this guideline.
♥ Yellow caution light – It too warns me, but to continue moving forward and at a  slower speed.
♥ Sunflower – Have you ever noticed how the face of a sunflower eventually bows its head?  It helps me to remember how I often need to be humbled, especially of my pride.  When I put myself in that same position of bowing or kneeling down before God, I am saying that I also recognize the position that God has in my life.  There is no debate.  God will always see and know more than I will ever be capable of seeing or knowing.

Confronting – I address this theme in my teaching of CHG # 5 because confronting is hard for most of us to do, and it causes us to actually increase the clutter of our relationships. I like how confront is defined in Webster’s as a face to face, especially in a challenge, it is a meeting together.  We often make the erroneous assumption in our thinking that to confront means this will bring about conflict.  Consequently, this kind of thinking often stirs up the feeling of fear.  The greater conflict is in staying silent about something that could bring about a desirable change. I would like to challenge you to change your thinking about the word confront and the feeling that it stirs in you.  The prefix con actually means “with” or “together” so think of confront as a coming together face to face, with the intention to do it in love and not judgment.

Go back to thinking about CHG # 4 where you actually confronted yourself in learning how to nurture love with yourself and others.  It can be very challenging to come face to face with yourself in front of a mirror and to eventually believe that you are worthy of being loved.  But this is what will equip you to genuinely love others in the way God loves you.  All the previous CHG’S have been challenging you to first confront yourself before confronting another.

Your SW this week is to see if any of the above symbols get your attention about what you are needing to patiently embrace, change, and set as a goal, and then write down the thoughts that come to you as these symbols speak to you. 

I hope the following song called “The Basics of Life” by 4 Him will touch your heart and move you to consider where God wants to bring about change in your life.