Ten Rules to Live By

So here I am. It's the wee hours of the morning and God woke me up just so that I could reflect on some things. A lot has changed for my family over the past three years starting with us moving from my husband's hometown to a new city. While we have no regrets about the move, we've lost a lot since we made that decision.

From the outside looking in, you would think everything that has happened would be the breaking of us but actually it was the making of us as family. Our ability to persevere comes our spiritual roots and the good ground in which they are deeply planted. Travis and I grew in a church were our parents, leaders and church mothers worried about our souls first and our feelings second. Their tough love and two-edged words of wisdom prepared us for the harsh world and the tough times to come. And believe it or not, our toughest times wasn't in our finances, marital issues, health scares or after the death of our loved ones. Our darkest hours came when those who we thought would love us forever decided they didn't need us anymore. Growing up, we were prepared for the persecutions that would come from the enemy's camp but when some of those from our church world turned their backs on us...we hit our breaking point.

But God.

God is notorious for always having that "ram in the bush" and for us, he had several. In the recent weeks, God reunited us with spiritual mentors from our past and introduced us to new ones for present day. Their words of wisdom, love, prayers, support has helped us to generate ten rules to live by. And here they are:

1.      When you don't know what to do, seek God. When you are in need, ask God. When you don't know what to say, be quiet and listen to God.

2.      Christians don't keep their friends close and their enemies closer. They keep their friends close and their enemies confused. Why? Because the enemy will never understand love.

3.      If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, be careful, it might be a wolf in sheep's clothing.

4.      Their "no" is God's not yet. Never lose heart.

5.      Remember Jesus didn't say a mumbling word while being persecuted. You'd better not either.

6.      Vengeance belongs to God and if you take action, he won't spare the rod....(against you that is).

7.      The battle is not yours but the spoils of war is if you let God fight it for you.

8.      Never cry over spilled milk or the "friends" that stole your cookie. Let them have it. God has better in store for you.

9.      You can't be a child of God and a punk too. Stand firm on his word no matter what.

10.  When the day comes to forgive those who have lied, betrayed, back stabbed, rejected, neglected and spat on you..do it quickly and with much sincerity of heart.

Please understand, this post was not written for pity. The post was written in praise. I once had someone to say, "Bridgett, you don't have to write about your bad experiences." To which I respectfully replied "Yes I do. This is my testimony"

My life is not picture but most of the time, it feels that way. If it had not been for the testimony of others who had gone through and overcame, we probably would have given up. I know that if God can do for them, he can do it for me too. I hope our testimony encourages those of you who reads this. Always remember, just because life may not always give you the roses you asked for, doesn't mean your blessings can't be found in beauty of daisies.

B