A new chapter in My Story

I have been in church and around more people who know what I believe most of my life so it is easy to talk about my relationship with Christ. Turning 44 this year I wanted to do something that would be a "mile marker" or a "memorial stone" of my journey with Christ. Jesus has changed my life in the past few years, so much that my family would say I am not the same person that I was when we moved to Florida. I wanted to do something that would open
the door of sharing my faith with a converstion starter and then I also wanted something to remind me of what Christ means to me.
So on my birthday, the girls went with me to get a Tatoo.....yes you read that right a Tatoo! I have thought about it all year. I knew I wanted to get a word in Latin written on my wrist but I also knew it would be permanant so I prayed and asked God to show me what the word should be. I began making my list of words that would express my "story" naturally, I read scriptures and I kept it in my prayer journal. I kept comming back to the words I get to choose
Every day we make choices.....we choose how we are going to live our lives, what we will say with our words, who we will touch with our lives, if we will love, forgive, be kind....we get to choose how we respond to life. Because Christ chose to give his life for me I get to choose how I am going to live it for His glory. I wanted the second half of my life to make a greater difference for Him, to live intentionally.
Here I am getting a Tatoo at 44!The coolest thing was going with Emily and Katie and sharing this experience with them. To hear them say, they are proud of me as their mom for stepping out and taking a risk, to not worry about what people think but follow after.....chase after God.....to express my relationship with Him as the most important and do something that is "out of my comfort zone" for me!

God has changed me so much in the past few years. (and thankfully He continues to change me) My natural self would rather choose to have it my way, all about me & be the center of attention. There are times when I would rather harbor a grudge or nurse a hurt rather than let it go and forgive. I have thought that by choosing to hold on to the hurt or even the bad thoughts
I would be hurting them back but in reality I am only hurting myself. I end up blocking my communication with God. The only thing in this life I get to control is my attitude....my reponse and I get to choose! When I choose God's way, He blesses and honors that choice with more and more of His presence in my life. Jesus didn't tell the disciples to follow the crowd, follow their hearts, or follow what seems to be right according to the present circumstances. He simply said, "Follow me"....Matthew 4:19.

We only become different when we are following him!

Matthew 16:24-25 - If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself/herself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.

The Latin word, eligere, means "to choose". This is a permanant reminder that Christ chose to give His life for me and I get to choose every day to live my life for Him!