oh yeah...i said I'd be ready...

So I've written a couple times of how I said I wanted to be READY for anything in 2013.  And then I confessed that I had originally meant ready for the good stuff.  And I was really convicted by that and have been telling the Lord that I want to REALLY be READY for anything He puts in my life...the good, the bad, and the ugly.  I guess I just wasn't prepared for the bad to come so quick, and that I would be the ugly!!

The last few days have been tough.  Nothing terrible has happened...in fact...some great things happened...Steve and I celebrated our 11 year dating anniversary, we signed a lease on a home with my in-laws, I had a super productive day off on Monday...but my days were still hard. 

Sometimes dealing with people can be the most difficult thing, especially when they're people you're around a lot, you know...your people...the ones who on supposed to be on your team.  Communication doesn't happen well, or doesn't happen at all, tension starts to build, then tension turns into a bad attitude.  Yes, I am guilty of all these things.  Today actually.  And I'm so frustrated at myself for it.  I've let myself give in to temptation and disobey the Lord.

I was venting to Steve about my frustrations...telling him all the bad things that had happened...and then I felt like the Lord spoke to me..."Are you still READY, Amy?  Like really ready?  You asked to be, so now I want to see how ready you are when I send a trial your way."

Yikes...apparently not ready at all.  As I prayed for the Lord to renew my thoughts and the attitude of my heart, this verse kept popping in my head:

throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.  Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.  Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. Ephesians 4:22-24

So tomorrow when I wake up, I am going to ask the Lord to renew my thoughts and my attitudes...I'm going to strive to be righteous and holy. Will I be perfect?  No...but hopefully tomorrow I will be a little more ready.  And right now, just before I get ready to go to bed, I am really thankful for His promise:

 

Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.  Lamentations 3:23