Month: June 2013

Categories
life

Changes will come…

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I thought I knew, kind of, what my fall would look like. I told God that I trusted Him to lead me. My plans pail in importance and comparison to His will. Yesterday, I received a phone call that may have altered my year. Today was part two of that confirmation. Part three will be solidified by Friday. God, it is well with me. 

Keep Reading… This weekend will be full of updates! 

(Oh and to respond to the recent political happenings: My example is Jesus. i love everyone, I don’t agree with everything.) 😉 

Ivy Out

Categories
life

TEST

Let me tell you something, I AM NOT AS STRONG AS PEOPLE THINK!

This weekend, I cried and threw a fit in front of Jesus, hear me?

No, really,I cut up. In my truck, my study, my living room, on the way to “sleep”, I cried and mumbled some grumbling to the Father. Some confusion came up that was reminiscent of my past. I wanted to do something stupid, that AIN’T God. Luckily, two ladies in my inner circle kept me grounded. They reminded me who my God IS. How, powerful is great counsel?!?

My Pastor teaches against isolation when you are under attack. What is my old pattern? Seclusion and sulking. My girls kept me from doing that. Progress made me call them. Sometimes, I am pseudo paralyzed by the issues that have come up in the past. One is: “not being good enough”. Pastor Jamaal Bryant came to my church and preached that sermon, my Pastor- Terence H. Johnson – mentioned it on Sunday, and it appeared in Saturday’s devotion via Joyce Meyer. The enemy is slick… He attempts to cloud you with memories to divert you from the future. YOU (I AM) ARE GOOD ENOUGH!!

If you have experienced this, or know someone who is, be Godly counsel for them. Remind them of how BIG God is. The same God who (insert previous victories) came through before. It helps. Yes, I threw my fit, but when I surrendered to the Father…He answered swiftly. How sweet is that?

You can’t change anyone but yourself. Pray that God reveals areas of improvement in YOU. He can change us all. He’s working on me.

IVY OUT

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Categories
life

Relationships: students, tutors, and teachers

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Yesterday in my car, as I often do, I began some heavy thinking. The forty-five minute drive that I make calls for some good music and lots of heavy concepts. 

I was in somewhat of an introspective mood when the following analogy came to me:

  • A student can’t teach because they are occupied with learning.
  • A tutor can assist because they have grasped the concepts, but they aren’t solely responsible for disseminating new information.
  • A teacher is responsible for seeding and planting new information into students and tutors. They are given this responsibility because they have the curriculum.

Now it can be translated and inserted into several scenarios, but I was thinking about relationships. Two people who are learning the same lesson can neither teach nor tutor each other. They are two blind people walking closely together for protection and safety. Some of us have learned from certain lessons, and now they don’t repeat in our lives. From this standpoint, you might be able to tutor someone in a lesson you’ve already learned. You do this with caution and understanding if you are humble enough to remember how it felt to grow through that lesson. The teacher, is the only one who knows exactly how, what, and when. The teacher in a relationship is GOD. If you attempt to teach what you don’t know, you are just talking a lot of crap. People have learned, through creative writing and flowery analogies, to dress up crap. I don’t care how bad you want to be the expert in your personal relationship, God knows more than you. Now yes, I am studying marriage. Yes, as an occupation I will help fortify marriages and couples. Yes, I read books, but GOD is the ultimate teacher. He gives increase to what we plant. 

So don’t confuse tutoring with teaching. That Holy Spirit nudging in your spirit is the guide that is warranted. No, you don’t always get your way, what teacher does that? Not one. Teachers have autonomy in their classrooms, they control the ebb and flow. 

Puts a different spin on learning, doesn’t it? 

Categories
life

The calm in change…

How special your view is. The frame in which you take something in. Transitions, and seasons of change, often usher in a spirit of …uncertainty. A certain nervousness can come over you because you can’t see around the corner.  Newsflash, we don’t see grown children the moment they are born, we don’t know what we will be like when we get older, and although we have a calendar – we don’t know that tomorrow is coming until it arrives.  

 

With that being said, In four days, my life will officially change again. God is up to something, and while I have front row seats – I’ll be sure to share. 

Don’t loose sleep over change, amp up dreams!

Ivy Out