October 17 Look at the Margins

Affirmation: I enjoy being creative.

Embrace your creativity…musically, artistically, written word, cooking or baking, sewing, building, gardening, designing, decorating, developing…
How does creativity show up for you? 
I enjoy writing, painting, drawing and gardening. 

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Ponder, Personalize, Practice: Today, continue to ponder and memorize Proverbs 4:23. But make this personal. Talk to God about your heart and how to guard it. Ask Him to show you your heart. Pay attention to what flows from your mouth, flows through your mind.

Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

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Wholehearted Guidepost from Brené Brown

Guidepost 2: Cultivating Self-Compassion and Letting Go of Perfectionism

If you can’t give compassion to yourself, you won’t be able to give it to others.

Self-compassion has three main elements (as identified by Kristin Neff, a leading researcher in the field.)

First, it’s self-kindness. This means being as nice to yourself as you would be to others when you make a mistake.

Second, it’s recognizing our common humanity. No matter what you’re going through in life, you aren’t alone. Anytime you’re struggling with something, know that there are other people out there who share in that challenge.

Look for #3 tomorrow…

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Mastering the 7 Decisions from Andy Andrews

The Responsible Decision for Personal Success represents the beginning. Taking responsibility for your past will segue you into an extraordinary future of your choosing.

My thoughts will be constructive---NEVER destructive.

Responsibility is about HOPE and Control. Make better choices.

The Buck Stops Here!

“Each of you must be responsible to do your creative best with your life.” Gal. 6:4

If decisions are choices…and our thinking dictates our decisions—then I am where I am because of my thinking.

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Reading for Today

Walk in Grace. Live in Love. by Bob Goff

Don’t Just Focus on The Page. Remember to Get Into The Margins. 

“The Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal.” Luke 11:38

Jesus didn’t do things by the book. He wasn’t beholden to the playbook the rest of humanity seemed to be living by. Whenever I’m reading, or writing on occasion, I’m trying to stay inside the lines. I mean, the rule for writing and reading is to stay inside the margins where all the words are. The words somebody poured over getting their point across or their poem in perfect meter with clever rhymes. We don’t really notice the space on the edges.

When I say Jesus didn’t go by the book, I mean that he pretty much spent all his time in the margins. Instead of being enamored by the fanfare and the well formed arguments of the Pharisees and the religious people, He went to the places everyone else seemed to forget. What if we decided to fill up the margins with our love instead? What would it look like for you to share a meal with someone who genuinely creeps you out? Or give them hope and a listening ear? That’s the stuff we do in the margins.

When I feel a little listless or restless, it’s tempting to go straight for the words I know, the ones in the middle of the page that are comfortable and reassuring. But when I look at Jesus, I see someone going outside the lines to the poor, the orphans, the widows, and the prisoners. Those are the ones Jesus set his sights on. Sometimes we need to trade the words we’ve known for the margins were God calls us.

What rules or expectations can you break to love people in the margins?