The Write 31 Days Challenge – 31 Days,Every Day,One Topic
Day 25
(day 1 starts here)
In this 31 day series I’ve shared how God entered into my story of brokenness and walked along with me on a custom designed healing journey. Even after we began directing Freedom Session the healing continued as we learned and grew from the very words we were allowed to teach each week. Isn’t that just like God? My husband said this last night in our life group: The more we pour ourselves into the lives of others the more He fills us up again. Click To Tweet
So one random day, after we’d been directing Freedom Session for a good while, I was at home and intent on mopping my floors when I had a sudden epiphany.
Stunned and overwhelmed at my discovery I declared out loud, Look God, I'm the Patti You created me to be! Click To Tweet The little girl Patti who’d once looked wide-eyed at the world before her had, over time, become withdrawn, fearful and filled with shame, but in that moment I came to realize that He’d restored me to my true self.
JOY overwhelmed me and I wanted to shout it out to everyone so that they too, could become who God created them to be. Honestly y’all, I’m getting excited right here in my chair as I think about it!
I’m not the person I once was because I’ve become the person God created me to be! Click To Tweet
The change God made on my inside made all the difference in how I am on the outside and in my interactions with others.
Way back when, people might’ve been surprised to know how much self-hatred I carried. They might’ve been surprised to know that I often felt like slumping down in my chair when I sat in church, because I felt like all eyes were on me in judgement. They probably didn’t notice that I didn’t speak up much in ladies Bible studies and I’m sure they never guessed that I kept silent so no one would find out that I had nothing of value to say or that I was stupid.
Lies, all lies from the enemy. Satan doesn't play fair and he uses trauma to try to rob us of the life and the plan God has for us. Click To Tweet
So that day in my kitchen, when I saw the full “before” and “after” picture of my life open up before me it was, well, amazing! Have I used that word too much?
Those who know me now laugh when I try to tell them that I’m an introvert, and they tell me I’m anything but! On current personality tests I’ve taken I fall right in the middle of the two ranges between introvert and extrovert so it just may be that I’ll have to stop using the shy label. As I said on Day 1 though, I still love my alone time.
My point in telling you all this is that God doesn’t want us living broken. When we’re broken we’re scared and fear is not from God. God's desire is to set us free to become all He created us to be, and when you become that you'll likely find that you're in for an awesome surprise! Click To Tweet
God desires your freedom so that you can live a full and abundant life. He wants to strip off the old labels, whatever they might be, and tell who you are in Him. He desires to remove those dirty old robes of shame and replace them with a robe of righteousness (Isa. 61:10) and crown you with His unfailing love (Ps. 103:4). Did you see that? Both robed AND crowned. GLORY! He longs to replace your fear with a confidence that He is able to accomplish that which concerns you (Ps. 138:8) and He can hardly wait to show you the good and perfect plan He has for your life (Jer. 29:11).
Maybe you too tend to be on the introverted side but I wholeheartedly believe that once Christ sets you free, no matter your personality bent, you’ll find yourself a complete extrovert when it comes to sharing your God story. Y’all it’s hard to keep something inside that we’re passionate about.
This series that I’ve been writing over these past few weeks isn’t meant to give you all the answers but it is meant to offer you hope in knowing that with God all things are possible (Matt. 19:26). If you aren’t walking in the fullness of all He has for you I hope you’ll take the steps to find a good group of people to walk beside you on your own healing journey. We really aren’t meant to go it alone.
Please come back and join me tomorrow for Day 26: When the Enemy Comes to Steal our Freedom
If you’re just joining in on this 31 day series you can go back to the beginning to start at Day 1.
Share away friends, share away. I always appreciate new readers 😉
I’ve been known to link up to the following great parties!!!
Sunday:
SundaysAtHome, LifeOnLakeshoreDrive, SilverPenniesSundays, RusticAndRefined, Spiritual Sundays
Monday:
IShouldBeMoppingTheFloor, TheDedicatedHouse, Dwellings, ProjectInspired, InspireMeMonday, CelebrateYourStory, What Joy is Mine/Monday Musings, Darling Downs Diaries, The Art of Homemaking, MomentsOfHope, Glimpses, SittingAmongFriends, InspireMeMonday, GodSizedDreams
Tuesday:
TalkOfTheTown, HomeStoriesAtoZ, AStrollThruLife, CoastalCharm, CedarHillFarmhouse, TuesdaysAtOurHome, TheWinthropChronicles, Rich Faith Rising Unite Linky, Testimony Tuesday,Cheerleaders of Faith,Tell His Story
Wednesday:
SavvySouthernStyle, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, Woman to Woman Word Filled Wednesdays, Coffee for Your Heart, MessyMarriage, ThreeWordWednesday, WriterWednesday
Thursday:
ShareYourStyle, ImpartingGrace, EmbracingChange, HaveADailyCupOfMrsOlson, MyRepurposedLife, ADelightsomeLife, KatherinesCorner, Thought Provoking Thursday, SincerelyPaulas, ThoughtfulThursday, Tune-inThursday
Friday:
FrenchCountryCottage, TheCharmOfHome, TheDedicatedHouseAnythingBlueFriday, ShabbyliciousFriday, Faith’nFriends, Dance With Jesus FreshMarketFriday
Saturday:
FunkyJunkInteriors, SaturdaySparks, TheInspirationGallery, Make My Saturday Sweet
I was an introvert, bashful, quite shy….but the Lord in His Wisdom has led me down a road that has had all kinds of twists and turns and obstacles as well as resting places. Along this journey, He has placed me in situations where I had no choice but to grow and stretch myself, right out of my comfort zone, until one day I realized I was no longer that shy, bashful introvert I thought I was. Once again, He is causing me to grow and stretch beyond my current comfort zone….and, surprisingly, I’m good at it. Not because “I’m” good. But because HE is Good. And I’m learning more and more how to lean on and depend on Him to take me to the place where He wants me to be. And like you, nobody believes me when I say that deep down inside me lives a shy person. “You don’t have a shy bone in your body!”, is something I hear all the time. Truth be told, I do. But in His Grace, Wisdom, Love and Encouragement, He has shown me how to overcome that….to escape that forlorn place, and to be transformed yet again! Transformation is a daily activity with God.
Love you, Miz Patti!
“You don’t have a shy bone in your body!” Yes, I’ve heard that too Sharon. Like you, God has put me in places and situations where I’ve had to step out of my comfort zone and through that He has shown me that I can do it! Knowing we can, we can, we REALLY ca,n makes us a lot more confident doncha’ think? I also believe that another part of the transformation comes when we start seeing into the hearts of others and reaching out to them with words of encouragement. You are an encourager and I believe God uses you to speak life into the lives of those around you. In giving a piece of God’s heart to others we have to come out of ourselves, and the end result is that WE are blessed for being obedient. I’m rambling here this morning as I have my first cuppa’ Joe but I’m just trying to say that in the blessing comes joy, and with the joy comes the desire to reach out more, and with the reaching out comes increased confidence, until we realize we’ve changed a whole dang lot:) Maybe we’re even extroverts now! No, probably not, but we sure do have an increased ability to share God’s goodness with others. Thanks again my friend.