Rose with a Mission

  God brought a lot of things to a head this week and helped me identify lies that I had been believing. Through the classes this week and spending time seeking Him, I found answers.  The lies I had been believing were these: I'm not valuable. I need to get it right all the time. How did these lies play out? I tried to do all the right things so that I would have intimacy with God and other people. But simply checking off a checklist and doing "all the right" things didn't get me the intimacy I so desired. The best times that I had with Jesus happened when I was the most real, open, and vulnerable. Many times it wasn't when I was doing some spiritual activity, but in the normal flow of life He would come in and show me more of Himself. Sometimes it was when I was least put together that I felt like His presence was the strongest. This revelation hurt. I realized that for so long I've been striving to get it right so that I could have intimacy, never realizing ...

  Sit back and relax. I have so much to tell you. At the beginning of the week I was a little nervous because this week's topic was relationships. In recent years when this subject has come up my insides start to turn. Why? Growing up I had a great Godly example of marriage from my parents. It's something that from an early age I wanted to duplicate. I wanted a life partner and home of my own. Sadly that desire got twisted into an idol that led me to make some very bad decisions. I thank God that He saved me from what would have been a terrible marriage and that He healed me from the pain. However the scars still remain. This week as I sat in class I had such mixed emotions. Monday and Tuesday we talked about the value of human life and how we are image bearers of the King. While not new information, it's changing the way I approach people. I get to approach them as having value and draw out the image of God in them.  Wednesday and Thursday we talked about marriage and sexu...