Our minds are powerful. One word can be said or read and like a drop of rain in a pond it spreads out rippling waves of thought that can change an attitude or perception in a flash.
I was doing fine today getting more accomplished than I set out to being that I made a point to keep the day clear because the boys are out of school. However they decided to have friends over which left me with time that wasn’t ‘designated’. I made a point to do all of the little things I’d been putting off out of sheer laziness – calling and canceling a subscription, organizing some tax information – you know, fun stuff.
Finally I got around to looking at an email I received today from a fellow blogger, Jennifer Fulwiler of Conversion Diary. We’d met earlier at the end of summer CMN conference and I’d reached out to her for expertise in our field and then felt ridiculous for doing so because she is suffering a very traumatic event in her life at the moment dealing with a diagnosis of Pulmonary Embolism. She is an Athiest-to-Christian Catholic convert and a mother of five children. Reading through her blog a few weeks back the words had rippled through my insecurities and I’d shamefully fallen into the trap of comparison so I reached out to her for advice. And what does she do? Responds graciously with sound advice and an undertone of commanderie to erase any sense of superiority.
To be honest, I’d assumed she wouldn’t respond. Not because I felt like this was the type of person she was (actually, she and I are very similar) but because once I sent the email I’d regretted it because it was bad timing. I don’t need to ask her advice when she is going through her own issues. I’d assumed she’d consider me pathetic and disregard the email assuming I’d lost my ‘cooth’ over the past few months since we’d met. There was nothing I could do except assume so I let it go and added it to my ‘things to work on’ list. 😉
But she responded. And it makes me realize that I need to work on my assumptions. I can’t read people’s minds or foresee their actions. And I wouldn’t want any one to ‘assume’ anything in regards to me as well.
I think about how many times I’ve been anxious about something, waiting to hear back about a test result, a job opportunity, or from a friend who hasn’t responded to an uncomfortable text or conversation and how a simple ‘assumption’ spreads like a wildfire turning rationality into a blazing inferno of irrational thoughts. It’s a weapon of the enemy. 😉
Do me a favor and check out Jennifer’s blog ‘Conversion Diary’ and pray for her and her family. She is one tough cookie who is a survivor.
What is it you ‘assume’ today? Think about it, list it and pray for God to help you rationalize and receive the truth.
Blessings
Shannon