A few years ago, my friend and I both had a baby within 2 weeks of each other.
Soon after, my friend started eating really healthy and took up running. Her extra pregnancy weight melted right off.
Me, on the other hand, not so much. :/
As I watched my friend lose pound after pound, I felt like a failure. And when my friend hit the ‘30 pound’ weight loss mark, I assumed her life must now be perfect.
How can she have stress when she was fitting in her old “pre-baby” pants again?
What could be wrong when she just ran a ½ marathon?
I even convinced myself she probably didn’t want to be friends with a Diet Coke drinking, latte loving, non-runner like me.
Imagine my surprise when I ran into my girlfriend "randomly" one day. After the small talk, I asked her she was doing….really. She shared through tears how painful the last few months had been. She lost her mom to cancer. Financially things were strained. Her husband recently moved out and had filed for divorce.
I felt like a heel.
During one of my friend's darkest times, I wasn’t a light or a beacon of hope. I didn’t see her pain right before my eyes. Why? Rather than reflecting Christ, I was blinded by my own selfish, self absorbed thinking.
Ugh.
Have you "blown it" lately?
Do you need a fresh measure of His grace, unconditional love, and forgiveness??
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on us... (Ephesians 1:7-8)
Maybe you've also hurt a close friend? A spouse? A loved one?
Perhaps the anger and frustration you've been stuffing has been "bubbling out" on those closest to you...and you've turned into a "mad mom" who is ready to lose it...
Or maybe the pain and suffering you've been experiencing is just too much for you to bear anymore...
Please remember...
"Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that you're beyond the need of God's grace.”
May we all experience the unconditional, unfailing love and grace that God desires to lavish on us today....
P.S. I'll share more tomorrow how I'm making changes so (Lord willing) I don't make this same mistake again....
8 comments:
i feel like i constantly blow it with the girl i am mentoring. i apologize a lot. but she keeps coming back to me....
Words in due season. Thank you.
I've been at this same place and for me it was really an issue of idolatry. I put someone so high up on a pedastal - some place where they didn't belong and then I measured myself according to her. I lived through a couple of years of self condemnation because I couldn't measure up. I focused so much on my failures that eventually all I focused on was how much of a dissapointment I must have been to God. Another form of idolatry. It has taken me awhile to understand that God ENJOYS me. He knows all about me and His grace and His mercy aren't limited that they don't reach over and cover me. Looking forward to reading tomorrow.
I am just sorta, kinda, maybe getting back into blogging. We'll see. ;-)
Bless you, Cindy.
I think we always know when we blow it, but we rarely know when we get it right. You've probably gotten it right more than you'll ever know...
I have not blown it....this week, but it's only Tuesday morning very early. I'm sure I will before the week is out. So thankful for grace and do-overs!!
Cindy,
I love reading your blog and today's post has absolutely hit me so hard! I am actually this same person that had a baby a year ago and hasnt lost any of the baby weight and have a friend with a child three weeks older than mine who is smaller than before! I often feel bitterness dwelling within me and I feel ashamed and often do not talk to my friends from before because I am too ashamed of what they will think of me - but I realize that I cannot do this. That I need to encourage them and love them and know that they dont care that I have become fluffy!
Thank you for this and reminding me that the Lord uses his children to help each other and for that to happen I need to be willing!
Bless you!
Hi! Cindy~ loved this post just a little reminder that we are so Human! and I just know that God so understands just waiting on "US" to get it together!LOL!! Just be Yourself and He will take care of the rest!! Lighten up! Let God Fix it! and Rejoice in the fact that We are forgiven!! have a blessed and happy:) day!
Um, yes, I have blown it big time. I can completely relate to how you felt like a heel.
So often my vision is clouded by comparisons and fear -- it makes me unable to step out of myself.
I want to be a different kind of person than that.
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