I am going to insert the usual disclaimers here:
1. Jesus. Yes. Need Him. Have Him.
2. Grace. Grace for you, grace for me, graciousness.
3. I ain’t mad at you. I got nothin’ but love for you.

Sometimes, we know if we open a certain can of worms, there will be all kinds of squishy, slimy, squirmy hell to pay.

I’ve been dealing with that for a few months.

Once again, I blame turning 40, reading The Emotionally Healthy Woman, and I guess, changing the voices in my head. Because sometimes we have an epiphany, we emote, and nothing changes. That’s not the case for me this time.

• I have really quit doing certain things that had toxic results for me (working on others).
• I have really quit on relationships that I was chasing or forcing for naught.
• I have really started taking stock of myself – strengths and weaknesses – and adjusting my priorities, boundaries, and goals based on that knowledge, and not what I imagined, wished, or used to be.

As we prepared for this week’s Refreshed Life Show – and I am talking about the last-minute, o-crap-my-mic-doesn’t work-prep, I had a moment with the Holy Spirit.

I was stressed and irritated and just plain mad about some things, and in my head, I heard a voice saying, They don’t listen to me. They’re not really with me.

And that is when I had an answer hit me even harder.

If people do not show up for you… do not retreat.
{ – I always do. I was just telling someone this… }
If people don’t show up for you, SHOW UP FOR YOURSELF.

This speaks to my tendency to allow others to purposely, manipulatively, or even unknowingly change my direction. I have given other people the power to change my mind simply by not showing support for the things I do or not listening to the things I say. No more. That is not mature or wise behavior, and you know what? I am a grown, wise woman. I have experience. I have value. And I have a voice that doesn’t need validation from anyone else.

If I work and rest, love and listen, learn, lead, and follow in the rhythm ordained for me by my Father… I will be validated.

And I am.

I will show up where I am needed with what I have to give. But I will not tiptoe across borders into places where I am not invited, and I will not hit heads with clubs and drag people along who do not want to come on my journey.

I will show up for me.

For more, you can listen along right here:

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