GPS to Success?

I am in an exciting time in my life. My kids are transitioning to young adulthood. They have so many thoughts cycling through their head that sometimes when they are in the room with me; it is obvious they are not truly in the room with me. As a society, we put so much pressure on this precious time of life. I guess that is just the way life works. For those of you that are in your 40s and beyond, don’t you wish you could go back and tell your late teens, early 20s self a couple of things!

This one is for them.

Dear child,

1. You have CHRIST IN YOU through the Holy Spirit. He created the Heavens and the Earth. There is nothing you can’t do with Him and nothing you can do successfully without Him.

2. When you look in the mirror, you should see the image of Christ. Your hands are His hands, your feet are His feet, your mouth is His mouth, your eyes are His eyes. Sin in this life looks awkward on you because you are the image of Christ. It is not who you are. You will mess up, but if you remember you are HIS vessel on Earth, you will always get back on track.

3. Success is a journey, not a destination. SLOW DOWN. Anything you love will require sacrifice for a long time. It will be worth it, but it will not be easy. If you are looking to graduate from high school or college and instantly be rich, you are missing the point. Money is nothing without character and all the lessons learned through the process. God says that trials build character. Wouldn’t it be sad for you to be a rich person with no depth? Look at how God teaches us so many things in nature. Some of the most beautiful creations are the mountains and the redwood trees in the redwood forest. They are “rich” in beauty, but have seen fires, tornado, disease, and have learned to adapt and overcome. Life truly is the journey, not the destinations.

4. Be a joy and be grateful. Can you imagine your witness if you are a Christian and you are constantly stressed out, worried, frustrated and mad. If that is what Jesus is about, who would want it? Christians should be the most joyful, stress free people in the world. GOD HAS THIS! I have told my girls over and over, find a husband that finds joy in the small things. When you open your eyes, you were blessed to sleep and wake up…Thank God. When you say your morning prayers, you were blessed to get to praise God…Thank God. When you put your feet on the floor, you were blessed with a shelter and floor to land them on…Thank God. When you take a shower, you were blessed with warm water…Thank God. When you get breakfast, you were blessed with food to nourish your body…Thank God! You get the point! Don’t you love that friend that is just joyful. Find a spouse that doesn’t need the best of everything and to be the best of everything to be happy. You already have the best of everything…JESUS!

5. Trust GOD! God is usually not going to answer your prayers right away. He knows what is best for you. When Katie was little, she loved to pick out her own clothes. She was my third child so generally I would let her. However, when she wanted to wear a bathing suit in the snow with her froggy rainboots, I did not let her. She threw a fit, cried, refused to wear clothes for the day… she did it all, but obviously I still didn’t let her go in the snow in a bathing suit!! (She is the baby of course.) We laugh, but we do the same thing to God. WE have to go through things to build who God plans for us to be. Rather than throwing a fit, figure it out and thank God for bringing you through it.

6. Just thrive in Gods presence. Make time for Him. It will ALWAYS pay off. It is such a sweet place to be. My last blog I wrote about thriving and not striving. That is so hard to do. We have to put in work, but God never meant for us to work without resting in Him and enjoying His works. Look around. Why did God make mountains, beaches, hilarious animals, nature in general? For us! Isn’t that crazy! See his lessons in the trees that lift their branches to Him. See his lessons in the wild flower that grows between the sidewalk path. Open your eyes and thrive. Rest. Meditate. Eat well. Exercise. Fellowship. Take care of His temple…you. You can’t do it all, you were never meant to. God will not let you. You will breakdown. You are not supergirl/boy! You were always meant to let God lead. Don’t wait until you have tried everything and are in crisis mode. Don’t get in crisis mode, just thrive.

7. Serve others. When you are struggling, go find someone to help. God loves to use His people to humble us and bring us life lessons.

8. Love. When people are jerks, love them. When people don’t deserve love, love them. Your goal should never be to “put someone in their place.” You have no idea their story, so just love them. “Our cup runneth over.” Get that picture in your mind, it is like God is pouring liquid love into our body to hand out and it NEVER RUNS OUT. EVER! There are going to people we do not like, but God says the church is the body and we are each a part. It takes many different type of people to make a successful church. The creative, analytical, administrators, helpers, financial, and hospitable people are all required. Introverts and extroverts; they are all part of his people. God could have equipped us with everything, but He didn’t. We have to work together to be successful.

9. Prayer is real! Prayer works. If you are struggling with prayer, you may be struggling with your belief in general. Get that right first. Remember, you are not saved because you were raised by believing parents, raised your hand in an “invitation”, or are a good person. You are saved because Jesus died for you. Now pray and believe. When a prayer is not being answered, meditate and read the bible. Jesus says, yes, no or not right now…but he does answer prayer.

10. You are loved. If you are lonely, know that you are loved by Jesus more than anyone on this Earth can love you. You are so loved that Jesus died for you and wants a relationship with you. He even wants to spend eternity with you. So smile!

Lay down your worries and stop fretting. The job will come. The relationship will come. If you are in God’s will, the success is happening. There is not a longitude and latitude destination to success. If you keep looking for it, you are going to miss it. Be present and know God and he will lead you.

Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Psalm 119:105

Love you! Have a great week!

Crystal