Nuggets for 2022

2021 was truly a year of stretching for me. My patience was stretched. My love was stretched. My forgiveness was stretched. My endurance was stretched. My emotions were stretched. My sleep time was stretched. My "me time" was stretched. My trust in God was stretched. Everything in between, was stretched. I learned some hard and valuable lessons though, which yielded greater knowledge and understanding of relationships, capacity and reciprocity.

In my times of reflection and journaling, I came away with little nuggets of light that didn't always feel good, but certainly helped to ground me through the tough times and kept me moving forward on the better path. I'm sharing some of them with you here and invite you to share your enlightenment with me!

Photo credit

Sharon McCutcheon - Unsplash

Wanda Nuggets

• Reserve my energy for what really matters.

• People will prostitute your intelligence. Make folk use their own brains!

• Personal transformation occurs in the wrestling; tension, clashes, coming to grips. Don’t run away from it.

• I must know my own Achilles heel. Otherwise, I'll trip over it every time.

• You can move faster if you would just change lanes.

• Embrace solitude. It is good for the soul to just BE still.

• I must take responsibility for what is important to me.

• Humility; seeing the truth in myself and admitting it.

• You don’t have to have all the answers in order to move forward.

• You can’t experience the beauty of the deep if you stay close to the shore. (see post at conversationswithmydad.net)

• Our society will always see women through patriarchal lens. It’s on me to see myself through God’s lens.

• I will never have a "bad day." I may have bad moments, but I will always have a good day.

Relationship Nuggets

• Don’t take for granted the people who love you.

• Control will sometimes dress up as support. Discernment is much needed.

• Don’t let grief make you bitter. Bitterness steals your joy, your health and your money.

• I can’t grow in my love for God while growing in hatred of my fellow man.

• I will let go of who I have been, to become who I am intended to be.

• Who is my neighbor…all those Christ died for.

• Do ordinary things with extraordinary love.

• It’s okay to admit that some people are not easy to love. There may be those who feel the same way about me.

• It’s not how many scriptures I know, do the scriptures live through me?

• I can hold onto my convictions without the pressure to impose my convictions onto others.

• "Your generosity never makes someone grateful. Their character does." Dr. Dharius Daniels

• What bothers me the most, is most likely my prayer assignment.

• I can include or exclude myself by my own choices.

• Love is not always convenient.

• I do not like being an after-thought. I will not treat others that way.

• Sometimes, there is no blue M&M. (see post at conversationswithmedad.net)

• Be sure that my choices are choices and not acts of revenge.

• You paint your own portrait by the way you live your life and interact with others.( see post at conversationswithmydad.net)

Spirit Life Nuggets

• I no longer get stuck on how God will answer, I appreciate him answering.

• When you’re in a storm, pray for the Spirit to take you to the eye, for there, it is calm.

• It is so easy to get attached to this world. "Rededication" can’t be left for Sunday morning altar call. Always give space for the Spirit to check for idols. We erect them sometimes without realizing it.

• I will never factor God out of the equation.

• "I talk to God and God talks to _________." Dr. Dharius Daniels

• Just because I've never seen it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. (1 Cor. 2:9)

• Light may not always feel good, but it is always good. Don’t reject the Spirit’s enlightening. Ecclesiastes 2:13

• I am not afraid to ask God any question. He can handle them all.

• When I ask God what he wants from me, I'd better be ready for HIS answer. Seriously!

• With God, something good is always happening. So, I always have something to appreciate and celebrate.

• Trust the process. In the time God decides, it will happen. In the way God decides, it will happen.

• When I am angry, short tempered, restless, anxious and worried, I must ask myself, "Where have I not relinquished control to God? What do I fear?" These are my interior signs of my lack of trust in God and they make me aware that I have become an idol of control in my own life.

• God sees my life in ways I do not. I must be open to his perspective.

• Out of pain I have had the ugliest thoughts and feelings. I was surprised, but God was not.

• In a conversation with God, I sensed him saying, “I am not upset with you for being afraid, but that you are okay with being afraid. I have told you to fear not. Is my track record with your life not good enough for you to be at peace?”

• Even though I've done some things that I'm not proud of, God still loves me. I will love and forgive myself, no matter what.

As you can see, I had some very fruitful tête-à-têtes with my Dad! So, why don't you get yourself a writing instrument that feels good to your fingers, pull out your journal in 2022 and grow in the conversations!

Always encouraging reflection,

~WandaP