Changing Life's Plans

"20 That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." - Ephesians 4:20-24 (NIV)

Sod being removed
And I was very sure at that time…that I would not be mowing the lawn for a while. I forgot. There is no stability with life’s plans. They are always changing. I found the green flyer I kept and my husband called the man who ended up removing the sod for us.

But my husband and I decided we could pick up from there. We decided to finish the lawn ourselves by replacing the grasses with gravel.

After laying down the fabric that would prevent the weeds one afternoon he got home from work, we ordered the gravel. The following morning, everything was delivered. It was a piece of cake in the front yard as the truck just dumped the gravel in the middle and all we needed to do was to rake and level the little bits of stones.

my husband leveling the gravel

After waiting for the day’s heat to cool off a bit, it was more laborious to haul the gravel piled in the side yard to the back yard. Oh how our muscles ached scooping and scooping and my husband pushing the wheelbarrow many, many times. It felt like forever. When night time came, both of us were moaning. But we both knew, it was a good kind of pain. We ended up laughing so hard.

I noticed some neighbors sort of stopped at their tracks to look at our yard. One couldn’t help but asked my husband when he was outside why we removed our grasses. He told the neighbor, we wanted to save water and with that, we anticipated a drop with our water bill.

“I’m very sorry, Ms. Rcubes,” the lady at the other end of the line uttered. I could sense she was trying to find the right words to comfort me.


My fight against some people at work was taking a long time. I knew that beforehand. But I didn’t have any other option. I must go through that process if I wanted the light to shine in some shady places going on.


“Give it about 6 more months,” she stated, relieved when I responded that it was okay and I knew the process would be slow. She must sense the calmness from my tone.


She would never know the reason of how just like my husband and I changed our yards, removing the grasses and replacing them with gravel to save water, I had accepted the change from my work despite being treated unfairly, as a part of God’s plan for me. I began to understand the moment I let Jesus into my heart that my life would never be the same, requiring the “constant” to “change”. Needing to step out from my comfort zones to zones of afflictions.  Because in doing so, I must work hard to remove the old habits to be new in order for me to serve God.

6 months sounded like a long time. But I only wanted to face what I needed to, a day at a time. My old habits never developed in a day. They developed during many years and would not be fast in changing them. A day at a time. To change my life’s plans and know what God truly willed for me, knowing that my life’s purpose was not what I wanted but what He had planned from the start. He had already given the tools for me to use. The question would be… “What choices would I make?”

I saw a glimpse of a father, toting his young child on his back, stopping his walk and not seeing me from the front door, he stood in our front yard, looking at every corner as if he was mapping the landscape in our front yard. So it is with my Christian life…People are watching…

"17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen." - 2 Peter 3:17-18(NIV)

13 comments:

  1. Oh yes, when we claim to know Jesus ...people watch. I love your heart that so wants to live in Him. Despite some work disappointments, you are a testimony of God's grace and patience with us as you respond in love. That speaks volumes.

    I continue to pray for you. After your post on the man who was eating the flesh of another, it really hit me that we are living in desperate times. I am praying for God's protection for you and that He would use you to spread His light to those in the dark places.

    Blessings and love,
    Debbie

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  2. Dear Rosel,
    It must have appeared like a drastic decision to your neighbors for you to replace your green lawn with gravel. But that is a wise decision, you save water, and you save yourself the effort of mowing the grass. You can just do groupings of potted plants with some rocks. Look at some rock garden books... you will get plenty of ideas from them!

    As for the work situation you are facing, I pray that you will continue to endure, and persevere, and never give up. There is great value in being an overcomer!

    Keeping you in my prayers, dear friend.

    Love
    Lidia

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  3. Indeed, people re always watching, especially those of us who call ourselves 'Christian'. May those that come behind us, find us FAITHFUL. I love how you wear your faith. You're not afraid to stand the test - and represent God.

    keep on keeping on...one day at a time.

    I appreciated your comment at my place. thanks so much for your valuable input.

    blessings
    Patrina <")>><

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  4. Talk about being in the lime light.... You can take the lime for being sour though. Yes, people will be watching and many will be soured by your leading. Appreciate you Rosel. Thank you. Blessings.

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  5. Our Christian walk often has us in a good kind of pain....like your lower water bill...the end result is worth it all. I wonder if others will remove some of their grass?

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  6. Yes, I think that was a wise move, Ros. A stone for two birds, actually.

    And our testimony as we claim our life for Jesus, should shine like a light. Many will watch and they will distinguish your life apart from the world.

    Such a beautiful analogy, Ros. Thank you.

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  7. Very interesting yard - :) Lord, help us as we go through the changes in our lives. Thank you God you are always with us. Yes, people are watching. Praying what you are going through will be over soon and in your favor. Hugs ~

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  8. Hi dear Rosel. I very rarely get a chance to visit my blog friends, but you just came on my heart so I thought I'd find you. I pray all is well. I need to snoop around and see what ever happened with your job.

    My dear daddy went to heaven on his 90th birthday on May 8th. Now my mother is hoping to join him soon.

    I pray you are well!

    Love!
    Beth

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  9. taking a stand is so hard. Not taking a stand I think is much harder. The pressure to stand up for what's right vs. giving in to the pressure to do what isn't....He's in your corner...always...in whatever changes have to happen. Sending you a ton of hugs....

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  10. I can totally relate to having to move from comfort zones to zone of affliction in order to remove old habits that are hard to remove. I'm going through that myself. Praying for you as God works in your life for better things.

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  11. Well put Rosel. God has been moving me out of my comfort zone and at times I do not like it. As it shows me more of who I am, but it shows me more of who He can be if I let Him. Thank you dear one. Blessings.

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  12. Hi Rcubes -

    Thank you for this piece. I enjoyed how you weaved these truths.

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"Faith is taking the first step even if you don't see the whole staircase..."
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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