So, yeah...

Why is it that some folks can tell you how you should act but when the time comes, they don't act the way they thought you should?  So, yeah...it's always easier to be on the telling side than the doing side.  A little saying that sums it up..."Practice what you preach."

Changes are brewing but won't be here as quickly as I had originally thought.  Which is a good thing but after not wanting a change to take place and knowing it's coming; getting yourself prepared for it and then having to put it off is just a little disconcerting.  I wonder if it's just God, laughing at me for being so silly. 

It's all up in the air...what to think about things and how to face the future.  Or is it?  Courage is the only way to face what's ahead because it's mostly unknown to us.  I don't really have the courage I need sometimes.  It's because I try to go it on my own.  I may do alright for a while but then it becomes too heavy for me and I either give up, have a melt down or get crushed under the load.  Not so good.  I should never try to go along on my own strength because it's not really worth being waylaid by having to stop and fix my mistakes and then go on with God's help anyway.  Why not just start with the help in the first place?  If I'm going to rest on God's help do I still need courage?  You'd better believe it.  The unknowns that lie ahead may take all the courage we can muster but we never have to face those unknowns alone.  I think if we really try...I mean REALLY try, not just think about trying, God will help us or maybe even reward us by giving us the blessings we asked  for.  I may not have said that correctly but it all goes back to my whole God is in control but He won't force us to live for Him thing.

Courage is when we want something and we aren't afraid to work for it.  Or when the plans we have don't work anymore and we need to reevaluate what we really want...maybe sacrificing one dream to realize another.  When we lose something or someone and have to go on.  When it's our own silly selves that we need to overcome so we can step outside our comfort zone to do what has to be done.  Courage is thinking about others before ourselves.  Or opening up our hearts to be vulnerable to hurt so that we can experience love...or allow someone love us.  Standing between those we love and danger.  Giving up things we want so we can make others happy.  (This one always comes with strings. We need to make sure we'll be happy with our decision in the future because regrets can create lots of problems of their own. That's the nature of true courage; making a decision and standing behind it.)  We have to have courage to do these things or else we'll just curl up inside a bubble all alone...protected, or so we think, from all the "bad" things that can happen to us.  In a bubble, we can't reach out to others, we can't allow God to use us and we can't accept the gifts He has in store for us, we can't be hurt and we can't be found.  But, can we really love from inside a bubble?  Only ourselves.