A 7 year reflection...disappointment doesn't define me!

I have been reflecting a lot over the past 7 years, as I have journeyed from Ames, IA to Iowa City, IA to Sheffield, England, and now to Pawleys Island, South Carolina.  

My time in each place has been relatively short, yet my experience in each place has been extremely rich and full.    

As I forge ahead, wondering what new beginnings God has in store for me, this word of disappointment has crept up in my heart. 

Disappointment actually means to be depressed or discouraged by the failure of one’s hopes or expectations. 

The problem is I am not sure what I expected these last 7 years to look like, which makes it hard to pin point what exactly I am disappointed about.  Regardless of my expectations or lack there of, the word that jumped out to me was failure.    

A word I try to avoid at all costs!  My tendency is to find my worth in my achievement and performance rather than who God says I am, so if I am not careful I might look back on my time and see it through a lens that says Mikaela = failed.   

As I am moving forward, I realize that equation can quickly stop me in my tracks and derail my confidence. 

I know my Father in Heaven says, Mikaela = amazing beautiful success, but the challenge is keeping that truth in my heart. 

Disappointment isn’t something I want to carry around, but the reality is it’s not “disappointment” I am carrying around, it’s a truth about who I believe I am.

I don’t want to carry around a mindset that says I am a failure, because I know that’s NOT true, and won’t help me to push me ahead to conquer the new adventures that God has for me. 

So, I spent some time asking God what He says to keep reminding myself that Mikaela = beautiful amazing success.  Feel free to receive these words as well!

He says to me and you:

You are not a failure.  I don’t look at your life and see moments of failure. 

I see YOU. 

I see you on a journey, a journey of love, of life, and passion. 

I see ups and downs, highs and lows, BUT failure isn’t in my vocabulary for you. 

I see you victorious, I see you as an overcomer.

I see YOU, my daughter, ready to fly and ready to soar. 

Believe me, for who I see you as today!

Are you carrying around disappointment?

Are you carrying around a belief that you are a failure?

What’s the mindset you carry?

Believe Him, for who He says you are today!

What song do you blast out in the shower?

What song do you sing in the shower?

An odd question I know, but what is it about the shower that you feel the freedom to belt it out?

Maybe it is something about the sound mechanics which make your voice more appealing than it really is? Maybe it's something about being naked? (yep I said that)  Maybe the convenience of the shampoo serving as your microphone?  Maybe it's the freedom that no one is watching and you can be completely yourself?

Whatever it is, there is a freedom.  A freedom to sing and a freedom to be you.

TO SING YOUR SONG IN THE SHOWER!

Even if it's more like a cover song for AC/DC, you are singing it like it's yours!

This poem below reminds me that we all have a song to sing.  We were made with a specific vision, purpose, and plan, with the intention of being completely free to be who God made us to be.

We have a destiny to be realized and released.  A song in our heart, that longs to be set free.

So whatever yours is, I pray that you would declare it today, in and out of the shower!

The world needs YOU to show you up today!

Your Song Released

He has your purpose and your plan, it’s all in align 

Trust your Father above, who was here before time 

As your heart starts to sing, let your longing begin,

Let the desires inside, press out from within

Stand and shout and follow your heart

He’s here, with you now, ready to start  

He’s given you a voice, a song to sing

He’s made you to fly, He’s given you wings

Today is the day, so why delay?

There’s only thing you know you must say

It’s yes, oh yes, one hundred times yes

I am ready, pick me, and I will not digress

I will not hold back, I will not be shy,

For I know my Dad wants me to fly

Let my destiny be released, as I fly off my feet

Let my dreams and my life finally meet 

For I have a song I must sing, a voice to be released

Today is the day, I will not taste defeat

So yes is my answer and yes is my cry

I will not delay, I will never say die

To my purpose and my plan and all that’s within

To know I am alive, destined to win

So I am ready, let’s go, My Dad and I

Ready to conquer, ready to fly! 

What does the enemy not want me to see?

Recently I have been thinking on this question,

What does the enemy not want me to see?

When fighting a war, you want to do your best to make sure your enemy doesn’t know your weaknesses.  It’s probably a given that your enemy knows your strengths, but even then they are looking for the wholes and cracks in the system that might allow them to take down the whole army. 

Lately I have been thinking about the gifts and wiring that God gave me which makes me come alive and gives me increased purpose each day.  As I begin to step into this, I can’t forget the enemy is at every open door and opportunity doing his best to sidetrack me, looking for those cracks in my infrastructure. 

At the same time I don’t want to give the enemy more time and attention he deserves because he’s not someone I need to fear, as know God is bigger and above anything he could ever try to do against me or anyone else.  Yet, it’s important to know our own weaknesses and where the enemy might try to take ground that’s rightfully ours. 

As I have thought specifically about what the enemy doesn’t want me to see, I think one of my weaknesses is to sink back into the luxury and ease of the American life.  The enemy wants me comfortable, content, and cozy and not ready for the assignments God has ready for me.  Probably some of my strengths are determination, hard work, and achievement, and obviously, any of these overextended will actually become a weakness but I would rather air on the side of pursuit than caution. 

All to say, I spent some time making a resolve list.  Resolve means to decide firmly on a course of action.  Also, Johnathan Edwards made a resolve list he read once a week, so I figure it might be a good idea! Click here to check out his list.  

I resolve to remind myself each day:

I am a force to be reckoned with.  I do not back down from challenge, discouragement, or disappointment.  I do not hesitate at the sound of my Father’s voice. 

I am not lazy spiritually, physically, or otherwise. 

I am a child of the living God, who has equipped me and will equip me for the battles I face and the opposition I encounter. 

I resolve to not sit back and settle into the comfy life the world promises me. 

I long to know God and know Him more with a daily passionate pursuit. 

When I need to recover from life’s challenges, I will rest in Him.

I resolve to push through the open doors of 2014.

When I don’t know what else to do I resolve to stand and wait for His single.

I resolve….because there’s ground to take and I want it to count.    

After I read through this, I thought geez Mikaela chill out, you aren’t in the Marines, but then I remembered the battle we fight in the spiritual carries more weight and power than any earthly structure and maybe it’s time I get even more serious and remind myself of the true reality.

 

So…what does the enemy not want you to see?