No. More. Excuses.

In the present, it is SO easy to make excuses both for others and most importantly, for ourselves.

Excuses on why we haven’t lost that baby weight, why we haven’t started that course we’ve always dreamt about or my favorite, why we haven’t launched into that dream hidden deep in our hearts. You name it, it’s easy to make an excuse. No matter what it is.

If you know even the slightest part of my story, you know that I too, can easily make excuses.

You see, according to medical statistics I should be a woman with no ability to make friends or even formulate sentences- let alone speak them.

“Why?”, you might ask.

Hemifacial Microsomia.

Growing up with this congenital disorder which affected the formation of my ear, mouth and mandible- on the right side of my face meant I was frequently in and out of the hospital hanging out at doctor’s offices and taking every type of test you can imagine.

I remember the doctor’s always being concerned for me. “Is she going to make friends?”, “Is she going to be able to speak properly without a stutter?” “Is she going to be normal?”. (Okay, that last one I just added for laughs, but they might have well said it.) For years, different people tried their best to “remedy” my disability.

In my last post, “More Than a Hashtag”, you read that in 2012 I found myself in a place of brokenness. What should have been a routine procedure that previous year turned into hours under anesthesia and an appointment that went completely wrong! You see, during that procedure, I caught an infection. An infection that literally caused deterioration in both my physical body and spiritual body.  

My identity was stripped. Who I thought I was, was stripped.

So you see, by this alone, I could have found it easy to make excuses for moving on with my life.

But what good would that have produced?

1 Timothy 4:12 says,

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.

In that moment where everything that could go wrong did go wrong, I had to make a decision. A decision to stop making excuses.

When my last ER visit went completely wrong, I no longer had an identity to hide behind. I was exposed. There was no place and no person to run to other than God.

Beloved, my God has a race marked out for you. No matter your past, no matter your present. No matter the excuses you can conjure up.

But, it takes you throwing off every excuse that is hindering you in order to run your race.

No matter what “it” is, may you throw it off today because Jesus died for it all.

To stop making excuses and run the race marked out for you, read the prayer below:

Abba, (Father)

I am your Beloved. I receive your plan for my life. Today I throw off every excuse that hinders me from running the race marked out for me. I invite you into my situation. Help me to run the race marked out for me in Jesus name.

If you prayed that prayer, or even rededicated your life to Christ, making a conscious decision to “not settle”, Beloved, say hello below. I’d love to connect with you personally. -XO

#BelovedDoNotSettle