I AM FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE

 

It is so easy to get lost inside of our minds and believe things about ourselves that are untrue. Sometimes we have to step back and consult with the ultimate authority regarding our importance and significance to the Creator of the Universe. 

Psalm 139:1-18

O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand! I can never escape from your Spirit. I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night-but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you. You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand. And when I wake up, you are still with me.

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BEWARE OF ENERGY VAMPIRES

                                        

The conversation starts like this: "Man you won't believe what happened to me today. Check it out bro I'm at work and this crazy girl shows up on my job talking a whole bunch of smack telling me I'm late with my child support. Like I don't know that." Or "girlfriend you busy? [doesn't wait for an answer] I hope you know I showed up on his job today, yeah I sure did so now everybody knows he's slack and not handling his business. Can't even take care of his own children with his picture hanging in the main lobby talking about Employee of the Month."

 As Mabel "Madea" Simmons would say "you got, got." Yep you got the energy sucked out of you by someone you have a close relationship with. It happens all too often, in an attempt to be an empathic shoulder to lean on you get bum rushed by people and their never ending drama. I worked as a program director for seven years and a division director for fifteen years in a large non-profit organization. Each day without fail good well meaning individuals would show up in my office and share the most bizarre stories. In most instances the stories rarely had anything to do with the people who were paying all of our salaries. It went something like this: "you have a few minutes? [the trap is being set]. Sure I have ten minutes or so [I placed my big toe in the trap]. Have a seat [I put my entire right foot in the trap]. Oh thanks you are such a good person, you are never too busy to talk with us when we have problems [Now my entire my right foot is firmly strapped onto the trap]." At this point of the conversation it sounds like Charlie Brown's teacher: BLAH, BLAH, BLAH,BLAH. Then suddenly [the trap is triggered and I'm dangling by one foot] without warning from the shadows veiled in a black cloak....it's the ENERGY VAMPIRE! Aiming for my jugular vein to suck the ENERGY out of me...oh yeah I was in jail over the weekend. I don't know what happened. I snapped. I clicked. I went bombastic. I had a flashback. You know I suffer from a disorder I forgot how it's pronounced. But yeah you know I been able to keep it under wraps since I was twelve years old. But when he was late again with my child support I just lost it. Thanks for listening you are such a good listener. Have a blessed day!" Now I'm left suspended and dangling by one foot from the fluorescent light fixture totally zapped and it is only 9:15AM. A blessed day. After filling the air and atmosphere with toxic waste they transform into a religious and deep person by saying "have a blessed day."

It is important to establish firm boundaries when interacting with energy vampires. Rule #1 stay in control. Energy vampires are controlling people and usually demand an audience of one [you]. Rule #2 never give them ten minutes. Ten minutes is an eternity to these drama addicts. Rule #3 never invite them to sit down or into your personal space [that includes the telephone]. Rule #4 just say NO and remember NO is a complete sentence. Energy vampires are addicted to their story and it doesn't matter what you say or how you say it they are not listening to you. Their favorite words are "I know". Knowing connotes action, movement, or change and energy vampires do not have the discipline to do any of those things. They are too engulfed in their drama to get out of their own way. So beware of the energy vampires. You do not need a string of garlic, a crucifix, or stake. All you need to remember is NO is a complete sentence. That simple word is the only deterrent you will need to ward off relentless energy vampires.

YOU CAN WAKE UP NOW

My friend Jackie had this picture in her Facebook newsfeed and it resonated with me. Thoughts of how much of my life I've wasted wanting people and situations to change flooded my mind.Waiting for an undesirable aspect of our lives to change is often painful and exasperating. Has it occurred to you that the change you desire to see is only a thought or eye flutter away?  I woke up seven years ago and I have no intention of engaging in a deep slumber again. Wake up and see how different things look.