Blessed (A Matter of Embrace II for III)

Hi

As you enjoy your Easter holiday, I hope you have taken inspiration from how Jesus Christ rose and Light up. This being a matter of faith, you really need to be full of embrace when you face storms in your life so that you can keep getting up when you do fall or get knock down, beaten and twisted with life's confusions and complications.

This is one right here is about growing one's self-compassion and self-regulation. This means it touches on Self-management during times that can be rather unwelcoming or unpleasant in your life. Yes, there are blessings in those seasons as well depending on which eyes you choose to focus with. They can either be spiritual or physical (human). And nothing builds character like seasons that retaliates against one's comfort zones. And this carries treasures (life changing moments /blessings / epiphanies) of its own. Yes, I am blessed. It is what I said one day and for some reason I was overusing the word like most people do as while interacting with then a colleague. And of cause, spiritually immature as I was(some good 6 years ago if not mistaken), I choose to challenge this and debate on it. Apparently, I could have used the word “lucky” instead. But to me, all that good luck consequently blesses me so I didn't quite get my colleague's argument but I really didn't have much to stand on because I did not know the word of God as much as I do now. This just came to my mind as I get into my state of being as I write, at this time/this season of my life. I am more mature now, so I know what I’m talking about when I declare I’m blessed. Deserving it is another topic on its own, but then again who would I be to turn my back on the Lord’s favor, His grace, in my life? This needs no argument.

2 Corinthians 9:8

And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

In reflecting, I went back to read about a Matter of Embrace and many more blogs about Matters of Growth, as shared on this platform before. I have lots to embrace and have grown much since then. Not only did my faith take flight in 2020 as I acted fully on Self-Care Investment matters, but there was more bestowed in 2021. As it is now 2022, I can surely attest that the Lord keeps on doing great things because I am accounting to my own preservation through his teachings. Thanks to the Pandemic (odd as maybe), I have learned to study the word and channel my faith into works without relying on just others who are spreading the Gospel. Now, how He(God) does it, is what makes me believe and feel blessed. And, in my story it took rumbling, tumbling and grumbling with no room to hide. It meant a lot of baggage to let go of no matter how familiar they had become in carrying them needed to be dropped. I’m talking about having to force myself to eat even though I had no appetite at times. Counting on other people for encouragement because even my own self-motivation wasn’t enough. Refusing to react with anger when it could finally have made sense or be understandable considering my predicaments. Staying when it felt much better to rather leave in some environments. Literally trusting the word(God) more than what I was being told no matter how degrading it was(reading the Bible with no choice but to act on it or else believing lies I'm being told could have taken me over). Seeing with eyes of faith and letting a lot just happen though very anxious. And of cause, praying when worrying enveloped the human in me so tightly. Sharing and caring, about Self-Care Matters even though I had no strength or enjoyment in doing it for myself anymore was life. Yes, I was blessed like so, in those not so ideal situations. I care to say, that this is what counting it all joy means, I have found. What a time it has been… I am humbled by the many connections I made only because of my pain throughout all this time. I get that it takes certain connections to connect more with the Lord. Yes, some relations we keep don't help us grow but I have a special appreciation for the relationships lost along the way. This is another blessing I discovered and embraced because there is just no way it feels now, that I could have made it without so many of my fellow prayer warriors whom most I've never even met while keeping some people close who never helped me see the need to grow. Honestly, much like the sermons most preachers all over the world were delivering and sharing virtually since the Covid-19 pandemic happened, is like those were some of the best they ever delivered because of the unusual. There is just no way you can still be who you were before 2020 spiritually, if you have been invested. The company I kept required more thought. Where I am now and how I am, I owe it to who the Lord directed me to when the ones I usually ran to couldn't make it to open their doors. And while those who showed up anyway they could because they are just consistent in that way, I will never thank you enough for as long as I live. It was not just luck, it was more than that. I can't help but feel blessed because I'm not such a good person to be around physically since I tend to dwell too much into my own thoughts literally removing myself from being present in most settings. So, to have had the support I had in my journey to a better, much warmer and friendlier being, it means I was really stripped the comfort out of me somewhere, somehow. It means I faced most of my fears socially and changed hence my circle transcended. No surprise, even my posts since December 2021 if you have been following, clearly shows that I had to make difficult choices, adjust and adapt to changes I dreaded all the way to taking with what can only help my character grow. This has been my blessing... I heard this one day going through one of the Elevation Church's online sermons that sometimes your greatest blessings come from the most uncomfortable experiences or time of your life. Lord, this has been my story coming together in the past nine months. Yes, that nine months should tell you, the fruit of the womb came to life. I have been gifted one more life to help nurture hence the picture giving content to this post. Glory to God for this, I trust His purpose was fulfilled. It has been the scariest, most demanding, damaging and defeating time carrying my third if we talk about my emotions, physic and social well-being. But, Lord how you showed up, the spirit was and is full. I am so grateful to have only had spiritual growth going well for I reaped contentment during the course . I finally tasted what it meant to trust you only because here in the world the surprises keep coming darkened by deceit and everyone seeking their own. You finally got me to live a life where my expectations on others no longer take precedence. I can only focus and control how I live and love. Once I overindulge on the reception from others like I use to, a life of pretending takes over.

James 1:2 New Living Translation Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.

I have been blessed in appreciating the virtues that come with just doing to others what I wish done to me. This lesson stuck dearly so because it came painfully. I had no strength to be all smiles and pretense that all is well and perfect in my life as I use to. Believe it or not, I have lived that life for a long time, more than I would want to even share. Being vulnerable helped me for I wouldn't have unchained myself from falsehood and embraced the changes I've been going through the way I have been doing. I doubt I would have made as many deposits in my spiritual account as I have lately. I doubt I would have carried full term. I doubt I would have focused on healing and kept up with therapy if I didn't just give in to admitting I'm hurt, shamed, lonely and unhappy. So, it is a matter of embrace indeed, that being a weaker vessel doesn't stop anyone from breaking free some of the most precious gifts that life has to give. I have been humbled to a point that it no longer even matters to remain active socially unless it truly adds value to engage. I do not even have the time to even think of impressing anymore. If I don't feel like I can maintain something I started, I pause/unplug /rest just like that. It feels so liberating to have learned the value of not living under so much pressure exerted to self by wanting to be seen, heard or cared for. When you've found God the way that I did, in the lonely hours, uncertain and devastating times_ while trying to help a baby grow inside of you, you realize you only really need to focus on pleasing Him(God). This is why I feel blessed. Blessed to now wear more stretch marks and carry physical weight gained while so much of the unrealistic expectations, unhealthy habits, toxic relationships and secrets exposed that had so much room in my life were shed off. Needless to say, all my human defenses were down. And, I've noticed how more and more dirt that needs cleaning keeps showing so I can keep up with the clean up. Trust me, I'm blessed by this, it's about time.

Luke 11:28 Jesus replied, “But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.”

It matters so much to me that this post speaks to someone going through the most and help them refocus their attention to getting out from everything their best presentation of self rather than a bewildered one. I honestly would not wish any of the pain I've been exposed to, to anyone while pregnant for that matter. But, the lessons, discoveries and rewards will remain the most treasured in my life. I use to just think I'm strong before but now I know I am. I thought I knew what love is but now I live it. I thought faith flourished when all is managed well and is in place with family, marriage, career, etc... Instead, I found that it is also in the storm where dirt can be removed and swept away. That most skills to self-manage really only apply when shit go wrong. If you have yet to give into taking lessons out of every dreadful experience in your life, the most defeating or damaging in world sense and even deadly sometimes, trust me when I say, you don't know how much you are missing out on. You don't know who you are missing out on, the most attentive and purposeful-driven of them all, the spirit, God(His presence and ability to give an understanding that transcends all). May you be blessed by/in those encounters you least expect or even wish for. May you truly learn to embrace change and find value in choosing what is real from what you have settled to live with by/with rather than what is true, for the sake of maintaining expectations and expenses you know you can't afford any longer. May you sink not into real time death over keeping up pretenses as well as appearances and seek instead to dunk your heart and mind into better discernment. Learn to woo blessings to flow in all seasons of your life. It truly matters to your spirituality that you invest in counting it all joy when trials and tribulations come before you, for that's when Him, who is before you, shows off what he has and continues to work together for your good. Be blessed in self-regulating! Note: Everything that you are denying yourself because of the pain you've been through won't make any of it become undone or erase the experience. It is time to stand... You can have self-compassion about it as you dwell in the lessons it brought, but don't play victim any longer. Rise!

Be enriched, be blessed. Learn to admiring and having intentions to stand even with weak knees. If you drop down while trying, then pray more before you try again. Remember, some of the best setups to your growth and development are embedded in what sets you off, your fears and anxiety. While some fears you can succumb by facing them head on, some just require acknowledgement. Some enemies are weakened because they are revealed only, not because they are actively engaged. The opportunity for you to consider better ways come through when your ways have failed you at some point of your life. It is therefore important that you take notice your times of failure and disappointment as some of the most significant times to your evolution. Do not waste your experiences just because they came about in the most uncomfortable or difficult ways. This Matters and You Matter! Regards livhuwasha