#229 - Cut Yourself Some Slack!

Proverbs 31:10 - A capable, intelligent, and virtuous woman--who is he who can find her? She is far more precious than jewels and her value is far above rubies or pearls.

Let me just be honest, is that OK with you? This morning as my alarm went off at 6:30, I hit snooze. At 6:35 I hit snooze again, then again at 6:40, 6:45.... and so on until after 7:00 I heard Tyler downstairs and jumped out of bed just because I didn't want him to leave with my Bible still in the car (I accidentally left it at church Sunday so I had to pick it up yesterday.) 


Why do I say all of that? Well, to be transparent, because I've felt as of lately I've been in a bit of a funk. As I sat down this morning to begin journaling and talking to the Lord... the first 10 lines or so of my journal was equivalent to a whining session to the Lord. Really just telling Him all the areas I feel I've maybe dropped the ball, or felt 'dry' in certain areas, lacked motivation in others. One clue that quickly revealed my state to myself has been the 'snooze' button. Where at one time, even not too long ago, my alarm went off, and I looked forward to jumping up, getting out of bed, beginning my morning routine of writing in one of my books, spending time with the Lord, talking, fellow-shipping, then writing a daily devotion from the insights the Lord gave me. I enjoyed delighting in getting up. I enjoyed the fact that I looked forward to getting up to spend time with the Lord. I anticipated that I would hear from Him. I looked forward to what He was going to say to me. Would He direct me in a certain way? Give me insight into something? Reveal a break-through revelation in the Word? Or maybe just pour hope & belief into my heart?

After my brief whining session, the Holy Spirit cut in. Well... I actually took a brief moment to stop whining and decided I would focus on listening. What did He have to say? Was I off-base in my frustration? My failed attempts to be the super woman of productivity, would He give me some insight into how, why & where I failed? Would He give me a 3-step solution to being better, more productive, more accomplished in my days? Being a stay-at home mom, I am the one in control of my daily calendar. "If only I was a 'female version' of Tyler," I've often thought, "I'm sure I would get more done. Have a system of execution. Be better. Be more. Be SUPER!" You see, I am married to a 'self-starter,' someone who constantly is working on improving himself. When he is not diligently (& consistently) reading in one of the 3-4 books he's reading at the current moment, he is planning, watching some amazing leader or minister on-line, listening to a pod-cast or audio about 'improvement'.... since he was 17, he has been a walking, living, breathing reflection of someone always getting better. Indeed, amazing! You may also be able to see where it COULD be easy to compare myself to him? :) Praise the Lord I'm married to such an amazing man.

Well... as I stopped this morning, and chose to stop & listen to give the Holy Spirit a moment to maybe give me some insight, He did. Praise the Lord. Here are just a few of the nuggets He shared with me in the 3 pages that I journaled....

You will have seasons of what seem like great productivity. You will also have seasons of rest, preparation. During this time, don't get discouraged or be despaired. Take this time to enjoy Me. To sit & drink in from My well, from living waters, to get refreshed daily in My communion. Amy, I don't want you to feel pressure from Tyler about being "productive." I don't even want you to feel "pressure" from Me. My intentions are not to push. My intentions Amy, are to mold & make you, through TIME, into the woman I have created you to become. The key is - TIME. It's a process to develop & does not, can not be done overnight! Trying to do it overnight causes burnout & frustration. 

His Words led me to flipping open to Proverbs 31, verse 10, like I have done countless mornings. What more could be hidden in this Word? What more could He have here? As I read the first verse that talks about this amazing godly woman, I realized, like it jumped off the page to me, it coincided exactly with what the Holy Spirit said to me. One word, TIME.

I decided to check into how long it takes a precious gem to form. You'll notice some of my "inserts" in parenthesis. Here is what I found (www.SmithsonianMag.com):

There have been attempts to try to date inclusions in different parts of diamonds, and those have largely been unsuccessful. It may be that diamonds (Godly Women) form over periods as short a time as days, weeks, months to millions of years. Typically, as with many crystals that grow on the Earth, it's not a continuous process. The diamonds (godly woman) may start to grow and then there may be an interruption for some reason – a change in conditions (marriage), temperature  (job change), pressure (having a baby), source of carbon (moving), whatever—and they could sit for millions, hundreds of million of years, and then start growing again. That's part of the problem of trying to put some sort of a growth period on them; things don't always occur continuously...

I found similar information about the formation of a pearl. The one common thread between diamonds and pearls is this, TIME. It takes TIME.

What can we conclude? We are a work in progress. We take time to develop. This woman of God, this Proverbs 31 woman, is said to be more valuable than rubies or pearls. We can conclude, she does not become this woman overnight. She isn't just born with all of these qualities & attributes. It has taken her time. And maybe, just maybe, like the formation of the diamond, there are interruptions at times. The growth process is halted, or may even temporarily stop for a season of rest or change. Ultimately though, it is ALL part of the creation of this beautiful gem. Ultimately the pressure, the pauses, the time, the growth, is all part of the process of this rare & beautiful woman forming into who we know as the Proverbs 31 woman.

So.... today.... cut yourself some slack! Allow time to be on your side. Allow time to do it's work. Relax in the TIME. Relax in the process of becoming. Let God do His work in you! Because we know according to Philippians 1:6, I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you.


God is not going to leave you! He is going to COMPLETE the work that He has begun in you! So... cut yourself some slack! Rest in the Lord. Enjoy the process. But mostly, cut yourself slack! You are becoming. You are in the process. Love yourself where you are. You are a process!

Xoxo! Have a blessed day! :) 

Amy

#185 - You are Valuable!

Good morning! Woke up hungry... so, guess what?! I put some cinnamon rolls in the oven! Yum! Not an every day or every week occurrence, but it sure is yummy to have a treat like that every once and awhile. :)  If you are not following me on twitter (@amyjmccart) or Facebook... you may not have the update from our appointment yesterday. We had a great ultrasound and enjoyed watching baby kick and move... drum roll please.... the news is, we are having a baby girl! :) Our Trin-Trin is on her way! Trinity Faith is her name. We are so excited to meet her. We've talked about her for so long, in many ways we feel like we already know her... along with her younger brother & sister (Timothy & Taylor). About 9 years ago, shortly after Tyler & I got married, for some reason we decided to begin praying for our "yet to be conceived" children. We began praying, and even went ahead and named them. Tyler Junior, Trinity Faith, Timothy Isaac-Josiah & Taylor Liberty. Over the last 9-10 years as we have prayed for them (and their spouses), it's as if we have gotten to know them, like their personalities & gifts have even taken shape...well, at least become known to us. The amazing thing is, they have always been, before we even prayed, they were. If you remember in Jeremiah 1:5, it says, "Before I formed you in your mothers womb, I knew you." Our children are already meant to be, God already has a plan for them, they were predestined to be on this earth. God said, before He even formed them, HE knew them! He already has put giftings inside them, He already has a plan & calling for their life, He has already placed a sense of humor or strong personality inside them. God already knows them and they have been created for GREATNESS! Anyways... we are excited to meet Trinity and excited to watch her blossom into an awesome woman of God. A long enough intro!?! :) Let's get into some Word!

Proverbs 31:10 (KJV) - Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

When I study the Bible, I have a parallel Bible. It reads the King James Version (KJV) in one column and the Amplified Bible in the other. In most devotions, I quote scripture out of the Amplified Bible. I feel like it typically gives a broader idea of the full context of the verse. It often puts in parenthesis meanings of words in their original Greek or Hebrew, and to me, it just gives me a fuller picture. I've read Proverbs 31:10 so many times in the amplified, that today I decided to just begin again reading down through the KJV.  One word caught my attention. Price. Price. Price. It is talking about a person here. It is talking about "HER" price. The "Price" of the Proverbs 31 woman. Her price! The word "price" just really caught my attention.

Have you ever had the opportunity to do some work, but the amount you were going to get paid did not seem worth your time? Maybe you had the opportunity to "make money" or spend time with your grandchildren, or spend time with your husband. Maybe it was even "make money" or take a nap! Sometimes a nap is something we could all use! "Price" jumped out at me because I just recently had that opportunity. I could do some work for "x" price. I'm always for a few extra dollars, and I wouldn't call me lazy.... but I must say, finding out the "price" made me look at my time and evaluate it. Is the "price" worth my "time?" What is my "price"? What am I worth?

Here in Proverbs 31:10, we see that the Proverbs 31 woman is valued HIGH above rubies. FAR above rubies! Her worth is much greater! In a world where material possessions are looked upon as "great value" and keeping up with the "Joneses" has been the motto for most people as they chase down success, I heard a story recently that put things more in perspective. A now successful business woman told of what it was like when she got started. Her business floundering, little success, but she continued in the pursuit. She would see a nice car, a BMW or Mercedes, and not wanting to be what she classified as "materialistic", she determined that she didn't want to own one of those. She would see a big, nice house, 4000-5000 square feet. She determined, it was too big, she did not want to be materialistic. She would see nice jewelry, and determine she didn't need it, she did not want to be materialistic. Only later to realize that all the while she was being materialistic. Here she would walk into a car dealership, and she would see her own self worth or value as LESSER than the value of that $50,000 car. She would see the nice house, and see herself as LESSER value than the house. She would see the jewelry, and see herself as LESSER value than the jewelry. It wasn't about being materialistic, it was about the small value she was placing on her own worth. Her "price" on herself was very small. She did not see herself as worth much, of great value.

Here, in Proverbs 31:10, we see that this Proverbs 31 woman, her VALUE, her PRICE is FAR above that of rubies! Her worth is FAR GREATER than those precious stones. I found some interesting information. The worlds largest ruby has been found weighing over 8.2 pounds and is 18, 696 carats. A little bigger than the traditional 1 carat "diamond" ring. No price has been put on this stone, but the highest "priced" ruby coming in at 302 carats has a price-tag attached of $500,000.* Look at our Proverbs 31 friend, her price is FAR ABOVE that of rubies! Her value is far greater!

Friend, YOU are also worth FAR greater than rubies & precious gems! Do you realize that YOU are God's most prized possession!?! YOU! That you are greater than the value of ANY gem, stone, diamond. Your value is GREATER than the largest house or castle. Your value is greater than the BMW or the Mercedes AMG that you see driving down the road. YOU! YOUR VALUE is much greater than ANY of those things! YOU are worth MORE than ALL of those things combined! YOU, wherever you are sitting right now are such a great investment to God, He sees such great potential in you that He was willing to give up His most precious gift for YOU! He gave up that which was closest to Him so that YOU would have a chance at life. So that YOU would be able to pursue your dreams. YOU would be able to have children & laugh with them. Watch them ride a bike or be silly at the dinner table. He wanted YOU to have a chance to pursue those things which make you happy, see you succeed as a seamstress or business owner,  teacher, actor, model, writer, cook, inventor, public speaker. He sees so much in YOU that He gave up everything so that you would have a chance to live. Your value is so great! Your value, like the Proverbs 31 woman, exceeds that of rubies. Your value is priceless.

Today, know that a love runs deep for you. Today, pursue those dreams you have knowing that YOUR VALUE is greater than all the possessions available. See yourself in the house or car. You are of greater value than it! The house on the river with the quiet trickling sound, the big kitchen, the large family room to entertain, it's value is not greater than YOU. Dream again! Let your dreams come back alive! Dream again! God is no respecter of persons. It's His desire to bless you and see you succeed. You are Valuable!

* Gem info