Let's Talk : Why you Should FORGIVE.

Forgiveness is  a  sore spot for   a lot  of people including myself. I've wasted   years of my  life   walking around with this cloud of  unforgiveness floating above my head with no resolution.  But  I've  learned  over the years that  when  you hold on to  grudges you lock yourself into a  prison along with your pain. You may also find that you lock others out of your life who could potentially  add value to your life. .  So today I'll share with you what changed my perspective.

What Changed My  Heart? : Three things.

• The pain that I was  clutching onto served no purpose other than to  keep me stuck in time  storing the   offense in my heart.
• The other party was either unaware of the offense or simply didn't care.
• I realized  keeping  a rolodex of the event punishes me  more than  one that  caused the hurt.

Now what  actually solidified my need to  change my heart  was this  verse:

Matthew 6:14The Message (MSG)14-15 “In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can’t get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God’s part.

Intense  right? We all want God to  forgive us right? I don't know about you but I've have not lived a pristine life  and there are things I need to be forgiven for. So how can  I receive forgiveness  if  I  don't do my  part  in letting go of  resentment? By holding on to  a grudge we  are  essentially cutting ourselves out of forgiveness . "if you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God's part".  Ever read the Lord's Prayer? I've said it, you may have said it;  Remember this  part?  "Forgive us our debts as  we  forgive our debtors".   What that statement means is, God  forgive me only  to the extent that I forgive  others.

How does Forgiveness Work? :

Forgiving someone doesn't dilute the  pain that was  caused or  excuse  the one who hurt you; Forgiveness pin points the issue and actively  peruses peace with the issue instead of holding on to  it.  There is such freedom in letting go and allowing God to heal that area of your life. 

Here's  a  quote from  blog entitled Forgiveness vs. Restoration by  Rick Warren  that  helped me put things into perspective.

Let me explain what forgiveness is not. Forgiveness does not mean the instant restoration of trust. Forgiveness is instant. Trust must be rebuilt over time. Forgiveness is based on grace. Trust is built on works. You earn trust. You don’t earn forgiveness

Lastly  for those who are  still  dealing with  painful events in your life I want to encourage you to live  a free and full life. Throw  down your  burdens at the feet of the master and ask that God  fill those  gaps in your life and  and restore your broken  heart so that you may  really  LIVE  to the full without dragging  any chains from the  past. In Jesus's name -Amen


God bless you!

Love, Lesli.

My Open Diary : What am I Going To Do With My Life?

Two weeks ago    I lost my job...


So here's the story I had just gotten back from a  family reunion  in  Philadelphia.  We had a blast  we drove from  Atlanta  all the way to downtown  Philly for the first time ever!  I get back to work two days before  the 4th of  July.  That  morning I felt odd  I kept having this reoccurring thought  in my head of  " Am I really going back here?"

I get  to my office  and  walk  to my department and notice that the lead  data entry  clerk's desk is  cleaned out!  I thought great he  quit and I'll have to take on  his work load as well as my own.  Later, another coworker arrives and I emailed him and asked  about   the  lead data entry clerk. Me:  What  happened to ----?  Co-Worker: The week you were out  the company did a bunch of layoffs and  He was let go along with  a few others.

Wow..wait! #thoughtbubble  He  had been  employed there way longer than I,  why  was he let  go instead of me?  Good question and I was about to find out.

After  working  about four hours my  supervisor walks to my desk and asked me to come to her  office. Welp!  Here we go   I already knew I was  as  good and  gone.   We sat and in her office was the administrative assistant.  She went over all the  details  to which I barely heard  much  of because all I could think of  is how bitter sweet this  moment was.  Honestly at  that point I was  more than ready to move on but I'm also one that is afraid of change.

Fast forward to today and I have no clue what I want to do with my life. Anxiety   peeks it's little  head  in and   I have to admit   this is not at all  where I wanted to be in my life at  31 years old ( I'll be 32 next month) .  My  vision for my life  was to be  in a serious  relationship  or  married with a family and career that I was proud of. 

So what do you do when  life doesn't   turn out the way you've envisioned?

to be continued.