Monday, March 30, 2015

How God Changed My Heart

Just for the record and as a forewarning, this is not a pretty post.  It is an honest one.  Hard to write but laid on my heart to share.  Many people in the blogging community complain that bloggers are not honest and real.  I am.  And sometimes, it is not pretty.


A month or so ago I was pretty sure I was coming unglued.  Really.

The loneliness, the fear, the confusion and the anger all built up and just about consumed me.  I spent two weeks in a black hole.  I cried hourly, nothing in particular set me off.  There were days that I simply did not want to get out of bed and face life.  I could not wait for the day to be over so I could crawl back into the bed and ignore reality.  I wanted to run away and I tried desperately to figure out how I could pack up my kids and just go home to our family, knowing that was not really a good option.  There were times when I felt like I could not catch my breathe as panic set in.  Bitterness had taken root in my heart.  The reality of my current life situation compounded with the many unknowns in our future set me into a tail spin.   Well meaning friends would ask how they could help us and all I wanted to do was scream to them, "I do not want your help, I want my husband home!" I am pretty sure there were times that my children thought about the phone-a-friend option!  I am pretty sure that if anyone on the outside had seen our reality they would have questioned my stability.

None of that is exaggerated.  That is the honest truth, maybe even watered down a bit.  It was ugly.

So what changed?

Me.

Certainly not God.  He was and is always the same.  I imagine Him at the time with His arms folded across His chest looking at me with a stern look, you know, like when your mom or dad were waiting for you to fess up, listen to them, or just stop talking.

I am pretty sure God was waiting for me to just stop - stop talking, pouting, crying, and basically living like a crazy person.  To just be quiet!

And then He spoke to my heart.

For weeks I had been praying in not so nice ways.  Seriously.  Things like, "let the next assignment be so bad my husband will see the light and retire."  "See the light" really meant "see things my way."  I wont even tell you some of the other things I prayed.

I know, I know.  I am sure God was shaking His head just like you are now.  It is not something I am proud of, it is just honest truth.  I wanted to scream at any person who wanted to talk to me about God and His plans and "working all things good" stuff.

I KNOW those things. I am a believer, despite my times of panic, and more importantly, I believe those promises from God.  But just as I do not think we should tell people who have recently lost someone close to them that those people are in a better place, I did not want to hear scripture spouted at me.  I just needed to hear I am sorry.  I needed someone to validate my feelings.

Guess who finally did?

God.

Imagine that.

Through a military spouse-specific devotion book I purchased and His perfect timing, I found the reassurance that I needed. God cares, and He was just as sad as I was.  And maybe even angry as well.  He does not desire to see His people hurt, but He does desire to see them grow.

Through the course of the last month or so my prayers have changed.

I no longer am praying ugly, bitter things, but instead simply asking God to change my heart.  Begging, really. To allow me to let go of fear and bitterness and be the wife and mother He desires me to be.  To soften my heart so that when our next assignment comes I will handle it with grace and dignity.  That I will honor my husband in my reaction.

I can't tell you I will love it, but I can tell you that I will survive it.

Because God is indeed changing my heart.

He always does when you ask him!

How is He changing YOUR heart, my friends?

Blessings,

Linking up today with some friends!

Photobucket

My Joy-Filled Life

I Choose Joy!

A Divine Encounter

10 comments:

  1. I am sorry for all you have struggled through and continue to struggle with. May you continue to seek God in it all and continue to feel the love and peace He has for you through all of it. You are such a sweet lady and I am grateful to you for always sharing truth. May you be blessed! - Lori

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  2. Thank you for sharing this Michele! YouI have been where you were and its not fun. I am glad you have found your way out through God, he is always faithful. You are a special lady and friend, I wish I was close enough to give you a big hug. Hang in there, God has your back and he hears your prayers!

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  3. Thank you for sharing this, Michele. I have been praying for you and your family. I know it can't be easy.

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  4. Praying for you, Michele. Continue to lean on the One who can hold you up.

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  5. Other than the part about being a military wife, Michele, I feel like I could have written this post too. Thank you so much for your honesty. I really needed to read this this morning. I am praying for you.

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  6. Absolutely loved this moment of Realness. Thank you for sharing!!! I have been in ugly places before. I am so thankful that God lets us be us without condemnation.

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  7. how is God changing my heart? that's a hard question to answer.... By forcing me to see how my normal reactions affect the people around me and ergo forcing me to change how I live as I don't like what I see.

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  8. Hi, Michele! I thank you for being so honest with us. It's embarrassing, isn't it that we can't hold it together even as children of the Light? Yes, I've felt that before. But I don't think He expects us to keep it together as much as we ourselves expect that. I'm so thankful that Jesus experienced life as a human - all of its glory and pain and beauty and difficulty - so that He might understand our struggles. I appreciate your words here! And thank you for sharing this with us at Grace and Truth, too!
    Jen @ Being Confident of This

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  9. Thank you for honestly sharing your struggles. God really does know exactly what we need and He listens to our prayers. Hopping over from Grace & Truth.

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  10. Being real and honest when life isn't pretty isn't easy. Thank you for being willing to share how God is working on you. Isn't it amazing how he cleans up our ugly messes. I'll be praying for you as you wait for what is next.

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