Second to none… Well, okay… maybe I’m 3rd or 4th or even further down the line!

I am amazed at my spirit of competition sometimes. As a young singer, I learned that the best way to get over my feelings of jealousy when other singers got a part I wanted, was to become their friend, and then I loved them & didn’t care so much if they got something I wanted. I learned to see that for certain parts & roles, they were just better suited than I was! And now I find that old Rascal Jealousy coming back, in a simple online game called Design Home. If one of my designs falls short of the mark, it still upsets me – sometimes more than others. Why? Is it an assault on my ability, or my value as a human? Sometimes, I have to accept still, other people’s work is just better than mine! Maybe they spent more money on it (or any money, as I play for free), or more time, or just simply had better taste than I did in that situation :-). Learning to accept a secondary role or place in life can be hard for some of us. And learning that just because we took second place (or 3rd or 4th) doesn’t mean that we aren’t valuable, or our opinions and viewpoints aren’t valuable… This is another lesson I am still needing to learn. So silly, how these things keep popping up throughout our lives. “Tis a gift to be simple, tis a gift to be free, tis a gift to come down where we ought to be.” A wonderful old song, a wonderful old truth!

Tethered

Tethered. My heart felt tethered, tied down, like it just couldn’t forgive this one time. But I knew it shouldn’t be tethered, I should let it go. But again, did I really want to put my heart out there, at the risk of it being tossed around like a tetherball and being hit back and forth, struck again, blow by blow, beat up on? Then another thought struck me. My heart was already tethered, indeed. But it was tethered to something else, or rather to Someone – else. It was not tied down, it was tied TO… Christ, and He would want me to let it go, free, to put it out there. He has forgiven me, I absolutely must forgive others. That is what love does. That is what being faithful means. That is what growing into the image of our Lord and Savior means. Untethered. I am untethered. But tied to the one I love. My heart is safe in Him.