Vices, Virtues, and Values

Reflections of the Hague by Herman van den Berge

(Photo unrelated to this post - I stumbled onto it today and loved it!) ❤

Hey, everyone!  This is a break week from school for Memorial Day, and last week was a break from the courthouse.  I turned in my biggest project of the semester ahead of time last weekend, and I'm fully caught up at work and with my counseling progress notes and CEU credits - YAAAY - that feels amazing!  (A month with no TV is paying off in lots of ways).  So I figured why not write one more blog for this month!? lol

So I remember listening to a Bob Goff podcast a few years back where he encouraged people to speak up for their desires, saying the resources you need will show up for you.  At the time, it felt simplistic and a bit like 'name it and claim it' theology.  However, I understand it on a different level now...

When I seriously considered graduate school, I remember feeling nervous about the potential of rejection, the intense time commitment, the high cost, the required trips to Colorado, finding a good internship, navigating a move to freelance, and answering questions about my future plans.  When I applied to CCU and got accepted just weeks before their program started, I believed God was opening that door.  And it has been such a faith-building, confidence-building journey to watch God open door after door as I step toward them.  The encouragement and emotional support of friends, the backing and financial support from family, important new connections, finding new role models in my professors, favor at work, several great internship opportunities, the personal/professional growth, and absolutely loving the annual trip to Colorado... I can clearly see God's hand in ALL of that, and it infuses my desire to glorify Him!!

As an Enneagram 9, my type's "Vice" is Sloth, which means disengaging by ignoring my core values and desires to focus on keeping others happy.  The countering "Virtue" is Right Action, engaging with my core values and taking bold steps when I'm confident that something is right.  My recent decision to pursue surgery has come together quickly, reinforcing my sense that God is opening multiple doors for me.  I can feel His timing, peace, and grace at work in my life, and I'm incredibly grateful.

It's important to be clear about what you value and want in life.  It took me such a long time to figure that out, but right now, I have so many goals and dreams that feel exciting and meaningful to me!!  So I partially agree with Bob Goff that we should boldly speak up for our desires and expect good things to happen... God often works through people, and He is good at providing resources and opening doors we never thought possible, and He honors faith and rewards those who sincerely seek Him! ❤  However, I think we all learn the hard way that His timing often doesn't match ours, so wisdom and prayer are essential.  My action-steps toward adoption have felt blocked and delayed, but I trust that God has a future family for me (one way or another).  And my goal is to seek His direction and improve at walking in step with Him rather than running ahead or trying to force things.  Now that I've experienced it so tangibly in other areas, I want the unmistakable confidence and peace that come with walking in His will and anointing!

And now, let's talk about my core values, which I have recently redefined:

1. Courage: Speaking truth and taking bold steps of faith.
2. Hope: Positive expectation and God-centered purpose.
3. Abundance: Trusting God's anointing, living into the John 10:10 abundant life Jesus brings, and resisting scarcity thoughts.
4. Support: Prioritizing connection; Giving and receiving love and help.
5. Endurance: Resilience of spirit and knowing when to persevere.

I like the CHASE acronym to help me remember them. =)

I want to live with great courage, contagious hope, and an attitude of abundance (not prosperity-gospel thinking, but learned faith in the awe-inspiring, beautiful, abundant goodness of God).  I want healthy, mutually-supportive relationships and the fierce inner strength to endure in hard times as God continues to reveal His will to me step by step!

Song of the Week = The Goodness of God by CeCe Winans!

And now I'm really done for today.

Thank you for reading!! ❤