Don’t Put Yourself in a Box.

As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

1 Corinthians 12:20

How are you doing today?  Feeling like you have things under control?  Rested?  Confident?  Empowered? Equipped?

If you said, “Yes!”, then it’s been great having these 5 seconds with you.  You are lovingly dismissed from reading any further.  Catch you next week!

To the rest of us…

You are most welcome here.  And the company is good – plentiful.  But THIS day is going to be about more than dragging to the finish line – i.e. BED.  We’re talking about breaking that mold we’ve been uncomfortably twisted and stuffed into, because it’s time to admit you don’t fit in that box anymore, and you probably never did.

Fighting to be something you’re not or fighting against being something people say you are… will suck the living life out of all the grandeur you are FULLY equipped to be.

People try to define us.  All. The. Time.  First impressions, last impressions, and all the impressions in between are really just–shockingly–Impressions.

im·pres·sion: (noun) an idea, feeling, or opinion about something or someone, especially one formed without conscious thought or on the basis of little evidence.

So forget who others say you are.  They have “little evidence” anyway.  Who do YOU say you are?

Figure that out, and everything you are NOT becomes the baggage you can FINALLY PUT DOWN.  When the weight of all that unnecessary load is gone, watch out… you’ll start skipping through the very life your feet were dragging through yesterday.

I got an 870 on my SAT’s.  For those of you who don’t know, that is very very (VERY!) poor.  Then I fought my way into a college that is extremely selective.  A school that prides itself on their students’ high test scores.  AND THEN, I worked as an admission counselor for my alma mater, interviewing and recruiting applicants upon graduation.

Imagine that.

Guess what.  I’m not terribly book smart.  My husband sits and shakes his head at me.  Thankfully, he finds my personality, and the crazy things I say, endearing.  I’m a girl that was genuinely not smart enough for the college from which she graduated.  The university to which my high school teachers discouraged me from even applying.

But I’m a fighter.  And if God tells me to do something, I do it.  THAT’s the badge I wear, not the one that failed Calculus (almost twice).

There’s lots of things you:

• Are Not.
• Wish You Were.
• Wish You Weren’t.

We live crippled by our misgivings and inadequacies.  But great people have great “issues”.  Yours are not an excuse.

“Abraham was old, Jacob was insecure, Leah was unattractive, Joseph was abused, Moses stuttered, Gideon was poor, Samson was codependent, Rahab was immoral, David had an affair and all kinds of family problems, Elijah was suicidal, Jeremiah was depressed, Jonah was reluctant, Naomi was a widow, John the Baptist was eccentric to say the least, Peter was impulsive and hot-tempered, Martha worried a lot, the Samaritan woman had several failed marriages, Zacheus was unpopular, Thomas had doubts, Paul had poor health and Timothy was timid.  That’s quite a group of misfits, but God used each of them in His service.  He will use you too.” – Pastor Rick Warren

Christians are good at forcing other Christians into a box.  “This is who you should be.”  “This is how you should act.”  “This is what’s acceptable.”

I don’t fit in your box.

And I finally figured out, I don’t want to.  That has been the single most life changing decision of my adult years.  It freed me to focus on the things I’m naturally equipped to be – and then do them even better.

Many people are drawn to me out of simple curiosity (including the morbid variety), and that’s how my witness almost always begins.  My “isms” are a part of my testimony.  I’m a girl who will prayer-walk around cities for hours while wearing designer boots, picking up trash, pressing on walls and then toast the accomplishment with champagne at the end of the day.  I don’t fit in your box.  I was never meant to.

And it’s OK that there are people who don’t particularly like/understand the way I do life.  But it’s not about them.  This is between me and my Maker.

Who are you?  What parts of your personality are treasured gifts to the Lord, but repressed “isms” to you?

Once you get over the shock of yourself, you’ll start having a blast living in the freedom of it.

I once met a girl who, within 10 minutes of talking to her, announced to me that she is “Awesome, and she’d want to be her own friend if given the chance.”  I liked her for it immediately.  And now, knowing her well, I can confirm she was right.

God created us uniquely.  If you fit in, you’re doing something wrong.  When wrestling with feeling like you are in control – Rested – Confident – Empowered – Equipped…  Try putting down the things you aren’t meant to carry, forgive your inadequacies, and have some fun shocking people with just how uncommon you really are.

This is a question for you and you alone.  I’ll bet there is at least one thing in your heart to do, but you don’t do it because you question it’s worth to everyone else.  That’s the perfect starting point.  Do what only you can, and then let God do what only He will.

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A shout out to Erin Miller a truly “Awesome” friend to have.

#beyou #breakthemold