Truth, Mercy and Love!

"Show me Your ways, Lord, teach me Your paths, Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long. Remember, Lord, Your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to Your love remember me, for You, Lord, are good." (Psalm 25:4-7 NIV)

Sometimes, admitting the truth a matter can be a shock to the system and an ego, but the truth--no matter how much it may hurt--is always liberating. "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall you free." The truth--about so many things that has entangled my time, has shown me that I'm too old to do certain things and must make way for younger people to do them.

The truth of matter is--I'm from the old school--the school that taught us that our word was supposed to mean something and when we commit to doing something, we should honor our commitments.

Apparently--commitment and honoring one's word is not taught much these days and as a result--confusion ensues and chaos thrives when commitment is not honored. I know some would say I'm too old-fashioned, but I like who I am and the values I was taught and would like to think that I still exhibit. When I say I'm going to do something, I try to do just what I say, I'm going to do. Now, unexpected things may occur that would hinder my mission, but attempts are always made to stay focused on the mission.

My focus on trying to make sure an event was a success, proved to be a distraction--not a fatal one, but a distraction none-the-less and made me aware, that one person cannot undertake the responsibility of what requires a small army of committed people. My first mistake was in trusting others to honor their word.

But God is merciful and He has shown me mercy and not allowed things to get so far out of hand, they could cause irreparable damage. That's one of the things I love most about our God--His mercy and love--in spite of us. He never lets us down and in spite of my own shortcomings, the event was successful--as defined by Him, not me. We had absolutely wonderful weather for an outdoor event, sunny skies, and moderate temperatures. People were friendly and most complimentary. I'd like to believe the end result was a testament of His love for me because He knew, I didn't have a clue as to what I was doing, but He made it possible to happen any way.

So, with this event, I've learned some valuable lessons--about me and others. I do not have to accept responsibility for the things that others do or don't do, but I must own my missteps and correct. I cannot expect others to uphold the same standards I have because they are not me and I don't know what they've been taught. I can count on friends and relatives--when all else falls apart--to keep their word. Most of all, I've learned to expect the unexpected and have an appropriate response to it all.

Thanking God this morning for allowing me to see truth about me, be grateful for His mercy, and ecstatic over His love for me. And yeah--facing truth--is very liberating!