Wednesday, January 16, 2013

What's Next From Here?

One chapter to go in Greater; as soon as I get off this blog I'll go finish it up and make my last notes on it in my journal. This is one I'll be thinking on for a while, though, even after my ink pen makes that final stroke.

Chapter 11 was all about God opening our eyes.  I've always liked the story of Elisha's servant. When surrounded, he was full of panic. He thought they were goners, but then Elisha prayed for God to open his eyes so he could see... and he saw they were surrounded by an awesome army of angels and chariots.  I think one of the reasons I've always liked this story is because when I was four, I rolled a car over a cliff.  I should have been hurt seriously... should have died, if the truth was told.  I know that I didn't because I had angel wings covering me...

And I know that God has a greater purpose for me.  I've learned through this book, though, that my greater may not be some bold act or something that changes the world.  It may just be a matter of making a change in those in my sphere of influence, of raising a Godly manchild who will go on to love and serve God.  (Lord, help me...) As one of the moms on Dance Moms said (I know, probably  not the best influence, but who am I to judge?  and on a side note, Dance Moms totally gets me through 45 minutes on the treadmill... so don't judge me), "It's not up to me to just raise a child that I love... it's up to me to raise a child that I like, too."  If that's my greater... or if my greater is to influence my students positively, or make someone's day a little brighter... well, I'll just have to settle for that.  And it's not really settling...

I wrote in my journal after chapter 11, "Lord, open my eyes so that I may see.  That I may see me as you do, beautiful and unique and chosen and worthy. That I may see all the blessings You have given me and all of the opportunities in front of me.  That I may remember all the times You've rescued me. That I may see Your protection around me.  Open my eyes so that I can know Your purpose for me."... so that I can become greater.

What's next?  Tonight, finish the book.  Finish Not a Fan... another excellent read.  I'm looking forward to Let It Go.  I'm going to keep in the Word and keeping pursuing greater, one day at a time, being intentional about my decision making one day at a time, every day, moment by moment.  And that's how I'm going to become Greater ;-)

6 comments:

  1. Lauren,

    Thank you for sharing! i loved the prayer you prayed....beautiful! I pray that God will open both our eyes so that we may see what He does and so that we can pursue the Greater he has for us!

    Love and blessings!

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  2. Thanks for your comments, and thanks for visiting my blog. Praying for God to use all of us in the study so we can be Greater for Him!

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  3. Hi Lauren. First, I just want to tell you that you ARE beautiful and unique and chosen and worthy! So much more so than you could possibly know. I love how you want to raise a child you like and not just love. So true. I know God will continue to give you wisdom and insight into raising your son and becoming all He created you to be. You are precious, chosen, worthy and deeply loved by the Creator of the Universe and He will continue to guide you daily to your Greater purpose in Him. Great post! Thank you so much for sharing! Love, Sue (OBS Leader)

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  4. Yes, Lauren, I pray that God opens all of our eyes to see ourselves as He sees us. I also pray that He will enlarge our sphere of influence as we learn to trust in Him instead of ourselves. I have a feeling you are going to influence many people.

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  5. Greatness - His glory - defined as you step out, with trust and obedience!

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  6. I am totally copying your prayer and praying it out every day over my life.
    Oh, to be able to believe that we are seen by God as beautiful, unique, chosen and worthy. Oh that we would see all the blessings and opportunities He has given us. Oh that we would remember all the times He has protected us and rescued us.
    Yes Lord, open MY eyes so that I can know Your purpose for my life...and so that I can become greater.
    Great blog post - I got a lot out of it. Thank you
    God bless
    Love
    Nicki

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