UNGLUED CHAPTER 1

How often do you made decision based on your emotions?  When you feel pressured by the world and the anxiety builds up, or the deadline is approaching, or in the heat of anger, passion or hurt, you say or do something that you regret?

We all do and more often than we want to admit. Afterwards we feel “crappy”. And being a Christian we may become weighed down with feelings of guilt. We feel bad because we didn’t act like a Christian should act. But a Christian is not perfect. NO ONE IS PERFECT! NO ONE.

We need to remember that we are and will always be IMPERFECT Christians until God calls us home. We need to accept it, but still strive to do better. That is what our study is about. It will NOT make us perfect, but we will make imperfect changes. “Imperfect changes are SLOW STEPS of PROGRESS wrapped in GRACE”.  Imperfect Progress.

Our assignment this week is to read Chapters 1 & 2 and complete session 1 in the participant’s guide.

If you only got the participant guide, don’t fret, I will highlight the areas from the readings for you (they are also in the participant guide as well. I will be posting twice each week the highlights of the reading chapters, just in case someone didn’t get the book.  They will be on Wednesday and Saturday.

Remember to Pray for the study each Wednesday. Pray for yourself, that God would speak to you personally and more Important that you will listen and be open to His will in your life. Also pray that you will stay committed throughout the study with readings and assignment so that you can get the most out of this time as possible. Pray for other participants in the study, that each of them would gain more hope and draw closer to God through the study. Pray for each other’s homes, jobs, and families.

So let’s get started….Chapter 1

AN INVITATION TO IMPERFECT PROGRESS-Chapter 1

Sometime are emotions takeover is situations. And sometimes when that happens, we tend to mentally “beat ourselves up”. I have a tendency to do this on a regular basis, however, it usually it not witnessed by anyone other than me and the Lord. But the other week “IT” happened at work.  I had no excuse, but I am going to give you some any way. It had been a hard week for me. Tried to do things at Mother’s house, cleaning, packing up stuff to give away, stuff to save for my step-brother that was his dad’s. It seemed like an impossible week. I could FOCUS. I joked with some close friends and told them I felt like I had ADD, or ADHA or some other “attention deficit” abbreviations. I could stick with one task for 15 minutes before I thought of something else, I needed to do and I went to do that, thus the cycle began. By Friday when I went to work, I felt Like I had been on a stationary bicycle for days and had had not gotten anywhere.  I had already mental stated to beat myself up about it, then all those other feelings of loneliness, grief and sorrow poured over me like a damn had busted.

Any way, it really was a big thing that sent me over the edge that morning. It was just a simple statement and I blew it way out of proportion.. You have heard the saying “making a mountain out of a mole hill” well it was more like a “mountain out of a pimple”. If it happened at a different time, my emotions, negative emotions at that. Would not even had stirred.

I usually internalize my emotions, but they were leaking out. A little “squirt” here with a snide comment, a little “squirt” there with another. But I was trying my best not “explode into tears”. But the more I held it in, the more the pressure build and I did what many people do, I took it to social media!!! URGH…

Well I felt better once I posted it. I should have known it would, ‘cause in the past, I would WRITE all that stuff down on paper. Just let it out!! Then tear up the paper and threw it away. I was over it after I posted it.  Until one of my co-workers asked me about the post.

That night, I was “convicted” for my behavior. In fact, I was disappointed in myself for my actions and reaction. I had a long talk with the Lord that evening. For about a week or so, the relationship between me and this person, felt “strange”. To me it seemed like that were keeping their distance, even when we had to work or be at the same activity together.

Emotions that are not controlled, CAN hurt and even destroy relationships. And it always seems to happen with the people we care about the most.

When we do this, for no cause, we blame it on various things; hormones aka “that time of the month”, feeling tired, didn’t get any sleep, stressed out about another situation, just had an agreement with someone else, feeling of insecurity and unappreciated.  But these are just excuses and not the source of the problem.

I liked Lysa’s thought of Imperfect Progress.  She talks about “feeling unglued” is all she had ever known.  Are you like Lysa? Do you know anyone like her?  It doesn’t even have to be emotions that you are trying to overcome, whatever it is, we need to remember it is not a instant progress. What it is, is IMPERFECT PROGRESS.

Imperfect progress is imperfect changes of slow steps toward our goal. The best part is that it is wrapped in GRACE.  We just need to make progress. It’s ok to have “setbacks” and the need for do-overs. In fact for me, that is a guarantee in whatever I am trying to overcome. The thing is make sure you are moving FORWARD, even if they are baby steps. Baby steps keep you from getting stuck or idle. The change WILL COME if we remember and keep going forward.