As I've gotten older I have had the "I don't want to grow up" attitude. Due to unfortunate circumstances in my childhood, I have had to grow up quickly with more responsibility put on me earlier than it should have been. Needless to say my happiness as a child was strained at times.
Because of this I have found the easiest way to handle conflict was to accept it whether I agreed or not, or to run away from it when it got to be too hard to bear. I still occasionally do that today as an adult. Fortunately for me, God loves me enough to change that. He has brought me to a place that is not so easy to run from. He tells me to stay where I am no matter how difficult it might be for me.
He is closer to me now than He has ever been before. Although it seems really hard at times, I know this is where I need to be. Do I still refuse to grow up? Yes. But maturing in my walk with with Christ and being obedient to Him, now that's a definate possibility.

If you haven't already read "What Happens When Women Say Yes to God" by Lysa TerKeurst, can I just tell you that you're missing out on an amazing book! I recently finished reading this book and can't tell you how it has changed my life. Lysa is an amazing woman of God and you can see her heart throughout this book.

I have drawn so much closer to God just by taking Lysa's advice and saying "Yes" to Him. Hearing God's voice and being "radically obedient" (as Lysa says) will definately take you to amazing places. I have changed from reading this book and others in my life have noticed.

If you want to experience God like never before, read this book and listen for Him to speak to you. It will rock your world!

Amazing is defined as a great surprise or wonder. When I think of the word amazing it instantly brings to mind Amazing Grace. Grace is defined as the exercise of love, kindness, mercy, favor; a reprive (to bring relief). Now in my mind grace alone is a pretty big deal, but when you add amazing to it it becomes, well...amazing! Think about that for a minute, if grace is to exercise love, kindness and mercy to bring relief from something, then amazing grace means a big surprise of love, kindness and mercy to bring relief. That means we are surprised by the amount of love and kindness given to us to bring relief in our lives. That's a huge deal when no one really deserves that big of a pardon. All we have to do to receive that amazing grace is to accept Jesus into our hearts and live our lives for Him. I don't know about you but considering some of my sins, I'm getting on that train!
Think of all the times you've ever hurt anyone, even if you didn't mean to hurt them and all you had to do to be forgiven was ask. They not only forgave you but it was never brought up or thought about again, and their love for you never changed. Now think about that happening over and over again and again. You kept asking for forgiveness and they kept on forgiving, never stopped loving you and never thought about giving up on you.
Now reverse roles and imagine you're the one doing the forgiving. That would be really hard for me, especially that forgetting part. And then my love not only couldn't stop, but it would have to continue to grow for that individual. That's how our God looks at us. I know what you're going to say, "That's why He's God and we're not." But just imagine what kind of world we would have if everyone just tried to forgive and let go even if it's only on a small scale. If 6 billion people could try just a little bit every day not to lose their tempers, not to be jealous, not to brag, not to gossip, not to be too proud to say I'm sorry and to forgive just a little everyday.
It's not easy to forgive, believe me I struggle with holding grudges everyday. But everyday I chip away at it a little bit more until one day it's gone. I'm thankful my heavenly Father doesn't have to do it that way - He just forgives me and loves me just as I am.
Amazing Grace...how SWEET the sound!