Sunday, April 7, 2024

Not Everything Is Equal

 


We seem to live in a time in life where everyone wants things to be “equal.” Whether or not someone’s efforts are excellent, people seem to want to achieve the same level as someone who has given sweat and soul day in and day out to get to where they are.


I was the little sister. I got a lot of hand-me-downs growing up. I didn’t always get “new.” But that’s what happens to siblings who come after the first-born. Should our parents not be wise with their finances and discard perfectly good items just because we want what our eldest sibling had? 


No. Life is not fair. It is not equal.


The youngest sibling often has more relaxed standards in the family because the parents “learned” that thing would be okay if they adjusted and picked their battles. This is something the oldest sibling often has to learn the hard way and with more responsibility on their shoulders.


It’s not wrong. It’s just not equal.


And that’s the way it should be in society and in our lives.


Race, religion, the sexes - none of that should play as great a role as “are you qualified?” “Are you excellent in your work?” “Are you honest?” “Have you worked for it?” 


Not everything is equal. 


But it still can be good. Because the people that deserve to be promoted, should get promoted. The people who deserve to be heard over the airwaves, are heard. The people who deserve to get benefits, get them.


We need to have something to hope for. Work for. Believe in.  THAT is what makes us grow. THAT is what makes us better.

Monday, January 1, 2024

Perfection Comes In Many Different Forms




Have you ever felt so thankful to be in a spot that you know was of God’s choosing and not your own?

I have.


I have closed my eyes, felt tears come to my throat and eyes, and just thanked God as I sat in the moment of knowing I was in God’s “here.” Not my “here.” Not a place of MY choosing. Or a time of MY choosing. But one that I was allowed to see… was clearly His.


Footsteps orchestrated by God alone. 


A place picked out by Him.


Details maneuvered and navigated by my Lord. Personalized and tailored just for me.


And it was all perfect.


When I say “perfect” - I don’t mean that each time I saw I was sitting in the place He’d picked for me that everything was beautiful. Sometimes, indeed, it was beautiful. Other times, it was perfect in the way of renewal. Or sifting that I didn’t know I needed. Healing. Refining. Answered prayers of deliverance.


Perfection often comes in many different forms.


But still, I sit in those moments - deeply indebted and thankful. Humbled. And feeling so very loved and reminded that I have a God who sees my deepest hurts and needs. I have a Lord, who WANTS what is the best for me. 


Those moments are everything to me. 


When was the last time you looked at the threads in your life and realized God placed you where you are for a reason? Sometimes we don’t see because we simply don’t look. Or maybe we forgot our long ago prayer to have what now sits in the palm of our hands.


But He didn’t forget.


He didn’t stop loving.


And so here we sit. In God’s “here.” In the “here” we longed for and needed. The one that we didn’t even see on the agenda. And yet it fits us so perfectly.


Because again. Perfection comes in many different forms.