Trick or Treat!

Trick or Treat!  ohhh...I'm a little late on this one, aren't I?
Over the last couple of days, this phrase has been said many, many times by young and old alike.  We encouraged our youngsters to don masks and costumes, soliciting treats from the neighborhood.  Children were excited to dress up as their favorite super hero or maybe even a witch or a ghost. At the end of the night, they returned with a bounty of chocolate, gummies and other various sugar filled treats. Many people have gone to costume parties with their friends, anticipating who would be the most creative, scariest or funniest character in attendance.  The end of October comes and goes every year with the same fanfare of masquerade.
It is the rest of the year that has been on my heart recently.  I had originally thought about the masks that adults wear every day, but it occurred to me that there are many children wearing masks also.  They come in about as many varieties as one can find at a Halloween store.  Some examples are: "I've got it all together", "things are great at home", "class (or office) clown", "victim", "air headed", "tough guy",  "bully", "obnoxious", and "helpless".  These are the social masks we may wear daily.  These masks are the ones that hide our insecurities with hopes of being accepted, even if it's not really ourselves who are being received.  They hide our pains, our shame, our fears, our sadness and our vulnerabilities.  They hide things that we naively believe nobody else has ever experienced.  Often times, we lack the confidence to allow people to know us for who we really are or what we've been through.  After all, nobody could ever welcome us...if they really knew...
I want to encourage you today to take off your social mask(s).  Take the first steps to uncover the person who lives deep within.  Dig down to your core and think about what masks you wear and why you wear them.  If you're not really sure, take some time in prayer and ask God to uncover the truth for you.  Remove the layers of your facade, and begin to enjoy your life being you, being who you were created to be!

Half full, half empty, or...?

Is your cup half full or half empty?  Or more simply asked, are you optimistic or pessimistic.  Do you live life being able to see positive in all situations or are you living full of discontent, frustration and maybe even anger?  Growing up, I felt that I was optimistic for the most part.  But somewhere along the line, that changed.  I didn't really notice the change.  Maybe there wasn't a change at all.  Maybe I never truly was a "half full" type of person.  I think I was more of a "that can happen for anybody...except me" kind of person.  Maybe an "optimistic for others" kind of thing?
One morning I was having a discussion with my son, a high school student at the time, and the truth of my "outlook on life" became real.  We were chatting and I commented to him that he needed to start seeing things a little differently...that he was quite negative and that was no way to live.  At that moment, he posed one of the most difficult questions to swallow.  He said, "Mom, how can I be positive when EVERYBODY and EVERYTHING around me is so negative?"
WOW!  I've asked God what His will for me is and how nice it would be if he sent a sign, like "Neon" or maybe a brick upside the head, but I should have been more clear that one brick would suffice.  That day, it felt as a ton of bricks!
I began taking steps to become more positive by reading and sharing uplifting quotes and stories.  It became a morning habit for quite some time.  I received many "likes" and "comments" on my Facebook page and even had people tell me they looked forward to my morning posts.  This was all good and helped me climb out of my pessimistic pit, or at least it seemed.  I was looking more towards "half full", but there was still something missing.
God began speaking to my spirit.  He didn't use bricks this time to get my attention, He whispered.  Deep into my soul.  He said that while I was battling for a cup that was either "half full" or "half empty", I was striving for the wrong thing and looking in the wrong places.  He wanted me to seek Him to find a cup that was more than overflowing.  He wanted me to find life in Him that would be full of  His joy and His peace so that I may overflow with His love and hope!
Are you settling for a cup that is less than full and a life that is less than abundant?  It doesn't have to be that way.  Listen for that still small voice of God for He can change your life if you allow Him!  I know. He's changed mine!

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.   Romans 15:13 (NIV)

gr8ful4Him