Remove Excuses

This past weekend Michael and I traveled to Dallas, Texas for AdvoCares' success school.  I learned so many incredible principles that I wish I could just blog for days to share it all.  One of the most powerful transformational moments in life is when you realize that life is not all about you.  This sounds kind of backwards, but I think thats why so many women's lives change when they have a child.  All of a sudden the world is no longer about us. And even though this is very physically and emotionally demanding. WE LOVE IT.  Our hearts are fuller and we find much deeper significance in life once we have a child.  Why- part of me really thinks it may be because ITS NOT ABOUT US anymore. The self sacrificing that is required to love& raise a child demands you to deny yourself for the better good of the family.  

Ok so that was a little side note..but i guess all of that to say, we all know deep down inside that we are made for something more than what we see or know currently.  We have half decent marriages at best, but know deep down that we really WANT to have a great marriage and LOVE our husbands like the books describe.   We are have decent mommies- but we know deep down that we can be better, more intentional with our time with them.  We have friends, but deep down we long to be THAT friend that cares deeply and carries the burdens of friends and walks the hard road.  We want to be physically in shape and feel good about ourselves for once in a long time.  BUT ITS HARD.  We want it to be easy. We want to take a magic potion, or class, or read a magic book. 

JUST DO SOMETHING. ANYTHING.

Michael is a visionary- by which i mean that he sees things big picture. I dont- AT ALL. As my dad used to say to help me understand that I was wasting so much energy on things that dont matter "quit worrying about the ant in the corner who has a broken ankle and trying to fix that."  Dont know if that makes sense but the point is this-  I used to spend ridiculous amounts  of time and energy & emotions into all of the hard things I was going through.  I love motivational speakers because they get me out of my little funk- and negative mindset and help me see that there is more to life than the silly stuff I waste so much energy on.

SO, this weekend the motivational speakers were AMAZING. I could literally go on and on about so many different things. Michael and I spent a few extra days in Dallas and our conversation revolved around this- ultimately all that AWESOMENESS- and it was very awesome- means NOTHING if you do nothing with it.  IF you took one small thing from the worst speaker and actually ACTED on it- it would probably change your life.

The problem with our generation is we want it now. INSTANT GRATIFICATION. 
We want brilliant obedient kids- but we dont wanna do the hard work to teach & discipline. DISCIPLINE is HARD WORK!! If its easy, you  are probably not doing something right! :) or else my kids are crazy horrible!! haha :) but seriously.
We want good marriages- but we dont want to confront our reality and fight for our husbands and learn how to love them crazy boys...and by golly learn to communicate. And not just scream and yell- but speak their love language and love them well. Make them fall in love with us all over again.  Be the woman he fell in love with. FIGHT for HIM!
We want purpose, security & fulfillment- but we look in ALL the wrong places. Ultimately that deep need we all have can ONLY be satisfied by Christ. When we see God for the HOLY God he is, we see our unholiness and our desperate need for a savior. Only at that point do we realize we are all sinners in need of GRACE and its easier to love the unlovable.

So... to take a few ideas from a speaker I heard that can apply to many areas of life its this:

REMOVE EXCUSES
CREATE DISCIPLINES

Here is a quote she kept using:
"Consistant Results are because of  Consistant Effort over time."

Physically-
  Remove excuses- im too tired, too heavy, not enough time, 
  Create Disciplines- GET UP & MOVE. Do a video, go for a walk, jog, dance for 30 minutes with your kids, go to the gym, start eating health, drink more water. small steps.

Marriage-
  Remove excuses- I dont love him, he does not care, its been over for a while, we have drifted apart, I do all the work, he wont help around the house/with the kids.
  Create Disciplines- GO ON DATES. like book a sitter, take a shower, get cute, and take him to dinner. then talk, if there is lots of a tension- it obviously needs to be addressed, but maybe tonight just HAVE FUN...like the good ole days. Choose to sit down as a family and have dinner- quality family time (or chaos with kids) but just do it.

Relationship with God-
  Remove excuses- I dont understand it all, I dont like my church, I dont know where to start.
   Create Disciplines- Pray, dont look for answers, just lay your burdens at the cross and pray for wisdom and peace and direction.  Find a church- any church- get under the teaching of the bible.

OK- so im starting to preach now, but here is the conclusion Michael and I came to as we attempted to solve the worlds problems....

JUST DO SOMETHING.  Take something small and do that. Start there. This is where REAL CHANGE begins. Step out in faith and do something to improve some area of your life. 

We are who we are because of the battles. Things that stretch us make us better.

As John Maxwell says in his book Be All You Can Be, 
"Success is due to our stretching to the challenges of life. Failure comes when you shrink from them."