I hope no one finds this offensive.....my grandmother would probably think it "crass", but have you ever heard the statement....."Get your panties out of a wad"?  I have a teenage son who thinks this is a very funny statement.  It has come to my attention lately that I probably do "get my panties in a wad" all too often.  I am concerned with appearances of our family, my feelings being hurt, my husband paying attention to me, my kids behaving the way good boys should, etc. 

Recently, I've felt the need to chill out!  When I get uptight and upset about things I can not control.  I repeat, I can not control!  I have an adverse affect on myself, and my family.  It can ruin an afternoon of family time that was meant to be fun, or a school day for my kids, or just make me feel terrible inside.

One day when I was upset about a phone call from a family member, I suddenly imagined the Lord taking my actual heart in his hands and smoothing out the wrinkles!  Jesus was massaging those wrinkles and "wads" out of my heart.  It helped!  I have used this picture so many more times to make myself chill out! 

I just can't tell you the effect it has had on my outlook, demeanor, attitude and responses to others!  Jesus is physically molding me and making me into a new creation everyday.  A new creation that needs some smoothing and massaging on her heart everyday.

Stuck?

I just read another blog post about a DVD study called Stuck. It resonated with me. Am I stuck? Stuck in what? I do feel like I'm still waiting at 41 to know what my real purpose and place is in this life. I am currently a stay at home mom. However my boys are in middle school and high school. They need me, but not like toddlers or infants. Sometimes I feel like I have no identity. My identity needs to come from Christ alone. I'm praying and searching. I also read a tweet from someone (I honestly can't remember from whom) that said quit searching for your purpose but search more for God and he will show it to you. That's where I am. Searching and drawing closer to God with faith that he's going to lead me to my purpose.

I just went for my morning walk this morning.  I was listening to a podcast about receiving a makeover from God.  I don't know about you, but I've always wanted a makeover.  It doesn't really matter what kind....it could be a physical makeover, home makeover, etc.  But a makeover for your life and heart from God...Wow.  It was actually about discovering your spiritual gift and purpose for your life.  This is near and dear to my heart and I'm listening and trying to learn.  The track my life has taken in the last few years is not what I viewed many years ago, and I need this message to discover my purpose.  I'm praying that I discover a lot about my purpose from God and what I should be doing with my life.  I'm pretty sure that my immediate purpose is what I'm doing; taking care of my kids and husband.  However, I see my kids not needing me near as much in the very near future.  I need to have a purpose after they're gone and I'm searching and looking for that now so I'm not lost when they're gone. 

My first post...my first attempt at sharing. This is not very comfortable for me, but I want to stretch myself into new territories and I really feel God has put it in my heart to try this. I am a very blessed woman but I have all the same worries, and concerns that all my friends talk about, and all my blogging friends write about. I'm ready to share my journey with others. Thanks for reading.