We had good responses from last week’s article titled(Victorious Mindsets) so we decided to carry on with a similar theme this week.
A few years ago Jane and I had a difficult experience in church community; suffice it to say ~ it challenged everything in our life.
Experiences or situations that qualify as difficult obviously vary depending on our personality or perspective but each person has valid feelings. As I said everything seemed to be challenged in that season including our ~ Peace, Joy, Hope, Worship, Faith, Identity, Future, Vision, and the list could go on.
One of the shifts that has taken place in me has been how I view some of the… not so exciting or glorious experiences of life. For example, the one that has created a mind blender has been when I’ve stepped out and it doesn’t work out. This initially seems like a negative experience but I’ve realized something. We can celebrate failure and risk because the celebration is the substance of hope. ~ It’s the forfeiture of hope that causes heart sickness! Prov 13:12
Andddd…..
Celebration in the midst of difficulty is not the forfeit of reality, it’s a hope filled response in the midst of the struggle.
Why not join me as I salute the challenges of life? I’m going to laugh in the face of adversity, and mock discouragement, fear is going to be afraid of me! Courageous is who I am and no matter what, I’m going to celebrate where I am today and where I’m going tomorrow.
Jane and I are going to host some toasting parties at our house to put some of this into action. We are going to celebrate people in our lives. It’s a simple action of having friends and family over to love on, recognize gifting’s and celebrate people for who they are ~ I think it’s what we miss in the text of what happened when Jesus was hanging out around the campfire.
East Gate celebrates you and your beautiful mind and heart, if it’s possible to imagine ~ accept a great big cyber hug from us today.
Warmly
Chris Wiens