My Status of Accepted Never Comes from THEY

ACCEPTED

The affirmation came from an unexpected location. As I checked out at the local Walgreens, the screen revealed one word.

I didn’t know how much I needed to see that one word until I spoke it. “I’ve been accepted.”

Earlier in that day, I encountered a man that reminded me I was not accepted. He didn’t say it. He didn’t even act like it. But his words told me everything.

I had already had one bad encounter that day, so words he shared crushed my heart and threatened to drag me down into the darkness of discouragement.

“Why him and not me?” I pondered the words for longer than I ever need to ponder a negative idea. Pondering a negative idea is like feeding the wild animals – eventurally they will stop being cute and timid and they will devour you if you don’t comply.

If I am honest, the words stirred up the same feeling I have been carrying around since I was fourteen, at the local mall, awaiting the approval of the “king” of the mall and his court after being summoned before them.

His words were anything but accepted.

If I am honest, the words hit me with the same doubts I felt hen one of my closest friends called to tell me she never wanted to speak to me again. We had come to a place in our relationship that just couldn’t be forgiven . . . at least by her.

Her words were anything but accepted.

If I am honest, the words shattered the snarky rainbow armor I had managed to forge over the years. They exposed the vulnerable heart that wanted to be a part of something but always seemed to be the one whose invitation never arrived.

The words the others shared the following Monday were anything but accepted.

Back in Walgreens, I was accepted. I had just been talking earlier about how God puts up signs all the time but sometimes we choose not to look or to ignore those signs.

Today, I saw the sign.

I am accepted.

They don’t have to invite me. They don’t have to like me. They most definitely do not have to accept me.

I was not created for what they have determined. I was crafted on purpose and for a purpose so much more than they could ever begin to understand.

Knowing that the One who crafted me cares so much He would send the message through the checkout line was enough to give me the courage to push on.

Live today in the status of Accepted – because you are!

Be blessed,

UPDATE:

I would like to say I finished this post and wiped my hands of the comparison syndrome. I would like to say that, but it wouldn’t be true. I did press on – a little more focused and a little more determined.

The nagging feeling kept rising up and demanding attention. “Why him and not me.”

I finished what I needed to do, even going a little farther than I had planned so that I would have one more thing out of the way for tomorrow. It was time for a dinner break, but instead, I checked my messages one more time.

Did you know when you do what you know to do and you keep doing even when you are struggling, God steps up? And God stepped up in a mighty way through my friend Stephen. He sent me a message thanking me for being who I am and doing what I do.

I was ACCEPTED yet again.

God wants you to know that He is proud of you being who He designed you to be. Now go and have a blessed day knowing that you are ACCEPTED!

Find Your Focus

When you have the unique focus that is for you (and that is you) then it can be a little easier to block out the noise of they. I can help you push back the clutter and unlock the power of your focus.

Are you ready?