Everyone Can’t Be In Your Front Row

This was an email I got from my boy D back in September. He knows I was starting my "house cleaning project around that time & this email represents the reason for my cause & helps me stay focused when I'm conflicted. I know others can relate so enjoy:

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Life is a theater – invite your audience carefully.
Not everyone is spiritually healthy and mature enough to have a front row seat in our lives. There are some people in your life that need to be loved from a distance.

It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you LET GO, or at least minimize your time with draining, negative, incompatible, not-going-anywhere relationships/friendships/fellowships.

Observe the relationships around you. Pay attention to:
-Which ones encourage & which ones discourage?
-Which ones are on a path of growth uphill and which ones are going downhill?
-When you leave certain people, do you feel better or feel worse?
-Which ones always have DRAMA or don’t really understand, know, and appreciate you and the gift that lies within you?

When you seek growth, peace of mind, love, and truth, the easier it will become for you to decide who gets to sit in the FRONT ROW and who should be moved to the balcony of your life.
You cannot change the people around you.., but you can change the people YOU ARE AROUND!!! Ask the Lord for Godly wisdom and discernment; and choose wisely the people who sit in the front row of your life. Just because no one has shown up on your level doesn’t mean you have to sink to theirs!

Introducing......Me!

Friends, relatives, mere acquaintances:

I've finally joined the blogger community & I'm excited! You might be wondering "Why- I mean, this is just a blog! Who really cares what you have to say"...lol
I'm a thinker.. constantly THINKING, THINKING, THINKING- about my life & my purpose, my family, my friends, my enemies, this economy, this WORLD AS A WHOLE! The devil is busier than ever right now but I'm trying my best to stay on my "A" game & strengthen my relationship with God so I can be who he's called me to be. With saying that this goes into my first blog: I wrote this note to myself when I was about..oh..20-21 years old. I just found this last night & didn't realize the power in it! Let me share....

Sometimes I wonder why life is the way that it is. People in my life have made me realize the truth is a necessity in MY LIFE to be right. People are fake & hateful, greedy & spiteful, envious & ungrateful, liars & just EVIL! But I view all this as many of life's obstacles & tests to overcome. The closer I remain to the Lord, the better I'll be.
Often, I fail to realize that others wont treat me like I treat me like I treat them. They also fail to realize that I am a good person & will try my best to keep my word so that they know I refuse to fail- to fail in life, and to fail in THEM. I'm not a gullible person, I'm a kind-hearted person that believes in second chances (sometimes thirds..lol) I like to please others. Pleasing others, pleases me because I know that I have made a statement to them that I am reliable & worthy. Unfortunately, there will be those who are blind to my personality and character. They will betray me and take advantage of me. I also know one day they'll realize they have made a mistake.

My question is: Will THEY know when the time has come for them to right their wrongdoings - whether it was a wrongdoing against me or anyone else? Some will do the right thing, others will stay closed in with pride, shame or guilt.

I dislike drama, I use the word "Dislike" because I learned in church that I shouldn't hate. "Love God, Hate Evil" Drama is EVERYWHERE!! In gossip, to friendships, to families, to relationships. Confrontations are everywhere I turn. I've had my share of drama, but as the years have gone by I've learned that the best thing for ME to do is remove my status from it. Even if it is mine, I remove myself from the situation and let it become a burden for the Lord to handle. God can get rid of my pain and sorrows and is willing to do the same for everyone else but most fail to take him up on the offer. Well I won't because I believe in him and know He'll make everything better.

As I sit and wonder why life is the way it is I just remember that I'm not alone in this world of chaos nor am I alone where I sit at this very moment, where I write some of my deepest thoughts.