Today was Day 108 of The Red Shoe Project. With my RED shoes snug uponmy feet, I walked out, shut the door behind me, locked it, and threw away the key. I won't be going back! I have no regrets, no bad feelings, no anxiety. While I was there, it all seemed okay. For a long time it seemed right. That's how everybody operated. That's what I grew up in. That's what I was taught. I never knew there was another way. But now, it's time to go.
I've left behind my old mindset regarding money.
Have you ever felt that something just didn't fit anymore? And even though you like the color or how it feels or the special memories it holds for you, it's still not happening. Surely if you try it on one more time, maybe it will fit! But no... it doesn't fit. It looks ridiculous! Not to mention that you've already done this step of "trying again," several times. Deep down inside, you know the truth. Not only doesn't it fit, it never will fit you again, ever. It's gotta go! But even still, you put it back on the hanger or fold it and put it away in a drawer.
Only when you are really serious,
will you package it up
in a green trash bag
and drop it at the Goodwill.
I'm starting to package many things up.
It's called TRANSITIONING.
That's what happens when change takes place. There's a passage you have to move through.
It's a time of...
- Saying goodbye to the old and hello to the new.
- Walking out of where you were, and walking into where you are going.
- Letting go of the old, and embracing the new.
There's a segue, a shift, a jump, a switch. You were going that way, but now you are going this way.
I'm not considering any more. I'm done thinking about it. There's no more wondering which way to go. It's done, settled, decided. In fact, it's all been arranged, appointed, determined and agreed upon. It's established. The ground has been broken. I 've made my selection. I've made up my mind.
"Whether you turn to the right or to the left,
your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying,
"This is the way; walk in it."
Isaiah 30:21
I've struggled for a long, long time with an erroneous money mindset. I thought that I had finally figured it all out when I worked the big corporate job and had lots of money. I didn't have to depend on anyone. I could just work hard and take care of myself. And I did that really well. But that only masked things for awhile. The gnawing at my soul, that something still wasn't quite right, returned to haunt me. After going full circle and coming back to my passion of ministry... Yikes! There it was again, that "money thing!" You see... I can't do what God is calling me to do if I operate in the money mindset I've always known. It doesn't work. I've been seriously wrestling with God about this for some time now... well over a year. I've fasted. I've prayed. And I've set myself at His feet for divine revelation and direction. And finally, He has delivered.
I'm not saying I've got it all figured out... certainly not well enough to present it to you at this time. But, I now know enough about the "Kingdom Mindset" to say...
"YES! this is the missing piece.
This is what I've been searching for.
This will work!
This is the way that I must go!"
Philippians 3:12-14 says...
Not that I have already obtained all this,
or have already arrived at my goal,
but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
Brothers and sisters,
I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do:
Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on
toward the goal to win the prize
for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
I'm not going there. I am there. I have arrived. I may be at the beginning of this new Yellow Brick Road, but I'm on it... Red Shoes and all, and moving forward, one step at a time, into a "Kingdom Mindset."
Gail
