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Brenda Bradford Ottinger

Encouraging Women to Live Rooted in the Sacred

Five Ways to Be (Un)impressive in 2017

New years rarely come in gently, do they? Like toddlers in a toy-store they charge in, carrying resolutions and dreams bigger than their britches.

These fresh beginnings are inspiring and heavy with promise—but often heavy, too, with fear. Fear of failure, of inadequacy, of not being enough for the dreams we’ve dared to wish upon a newborn year.

So much weight on the frail shoulders of a such a young year.

This year, why don’t we add one simple resolution to the list? One that offers freedom for the year ahead.

Be unimpressive.

I doubt many of us identify with a need to impress. I mean, who has time for all that when we’re trying to live and love and serve—all while cramming 30 hours into 24?

But, let’s break it down to its small beginnings: how often do we entertain thoughts of what others think of us?

Which, by the way, is quite different from how  others think of us. Of course we care to be seen as physically and spiritually clean—teeth sparkling, clothes matching, grace glowing.

But, somewhere along the way, it can move beyond that. Often, without realizing it, we become so taken with the superficial ideals of what  others think, that we lose sight of what’s truly impressive.

And, hint: it’s not us.

So many words we could use to describe the apostle Paul, but subtle wouldn’t be one of them. In Phil 2:3 Paul candidly reminds us that our place is not to impress. ”Don’t try to impress others.” (NLT)

And, isn’t that just a whole lot of freeing?

This year, how about we take Paul up on that challenge and give each other permission to be unimpressive.

Five ways to be (un)impressive in 2017:

1. Become impressed all over again with the wonder of who He is.

“Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, LORD, is the kingdom; You are exalted as head over all.” (I Chronicles 29:11, NIV)

2. Remember our strength comes from God’s grace. (Hebrews 13:9, NLT)

Anything we’ll ever do—if it has eternal measure—will be accomplished by His power alone as it trickles through our meager hands.

3. Focus outward, not inward. Be the server, not the served. (Galatians 6:2; Hebrews 13:16)

Right outside our front doors are people who need a smile. Who need to know they matter. Who need to meet heaven in us. May we not be so self-focused that we miss them.

4. Work for eternal reward, not for temporary glory. (Philippians 3:14; 2 Timothy 4:8; John 3:30)

With the pace of this modern world, isn’t it so easy to look up and find ourselves at the center? Again. Oh, that we’d decrease so He could increase.

5. Surround yourself with people who give you permission to be unimpressive. Friends who will tell you when you’re slipping into “impress” mode. And be that person for others.

“Two people are better than one, for they can help each other succeed.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9, NLT)

May God generously grace 2017 with holy opportunities to be unimpressive, and may He give us eyes to see them.

Happy New Year, friends.

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Never can there be too many magnolia pictures. . S Never can there be too many magnolia pictures.
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Says the lens of my eyes; of my soul.
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(“Not so,” says my iphone storage, but that’s a tomorrow problem.)
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Every time I leave my house, I can’t not stop, not stare, not take another jillion pictures.
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This magnolia tree of mine, she keeps a record of time, reaching farther into the sky with each passing year.
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In all her southern glory, she lifts leaves and limbs toward heaven, pointing to the One on whom all glory rests.
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Boldly, yet elegantly, she speaks of a Creator who, year upon year, grows lovely things under the banner of His care in the lives of His own.
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Even in times when life doesn’t feel full of lovely, may we listen to the magnolia’s anthem.
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She doesn’t question the winter, knowing full well that her Maker has yet to deny spring its beauty.
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I wonder how breathtaking magnolias must be in the City of God. ✨
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“Not to us, O, LORD, not to us, but to Your name goes all the glory for Your unfailing love and faithfulness.” Psalm 115:1 💕
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The May calendar has a way of turning our thoughts The May calendar has a way of turning our thoughts toward home, doesn’t it?
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Perhaps, for you, that’s a beloved Home State where the soil smells like childhood and dreams.
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Or, maybe the humble shelter of your youth, where boo-boos were kissed & fairytales carried you into dreamland.
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Perhaps you’re like me, and yesteryear’s home holds heartache and rejection, insecurity and confusion.
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Far too much of my past I spent chasing roots, not sensing an inheritance of belonging within the halls of my kin.
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Layer by broken layer, though, the Lord is healing me from within, showing me that…
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What our hearts long for can’t be satisfied with what our lives long for.
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The temporal can’t pacify the eternal.
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We’re so prone to searching for home in containers not meant to carry its calling—whether in place or people, title or position, acceptance or belonging—that we seek to satisfy its longing with lesser things.
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Having a sense of home within our circles is beautiful and sacred, but—it’s a shallow substitute for the inheritance we have in God.
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No place, no person, no position—no earthly brand of belonging—can ever claim home to your soul like the Haven of Him.
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Quiet your spirit in the shadow of His covering, dear friend, for never will He stop calling you His own. 💕
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Dear friend, do you feel like you’re etching a p Dear friend, do you feel like you’re etching a prayer into the ear of God, day upon year upon decade?
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You’re asking “why,” and “when, O Lord,” yet the situation your heart plays on repeat at the altar of God, remains seemingly unchanged.
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Oh, friend, I understand; me too.
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Sometimes those miracles we’re waiting for, they come at the expense of years of prayer.
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Not because God is cruel, but because God is thorough. He phones nothing in; takes no shortcuts with our hearts.
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The life-mending, soul-touching, supernatural work of God takes time to witness from our perspective.
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Oh, but take heart, dear friend, for God hears the cries of your heart.
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That outcome you’re praying for? Your God is already there, working out the details ahead of you.
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Even when it feels like you’re crying yet one more prayer into the silence, He hears and is moving ahead of you in ways you can’t even imagine right now.
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Hang on, my friend; keep praying, for those prayers are a worthy sacrifice to the only God who is altogether able. 🙌💕
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I wonder, friend, do the demands of life leave you I wonder, friend, do the demands of life leave you feeling downright weary at times?
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If so, I understand. Me too.
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Oh, that our souls would rest in remembering that Jesus also knew what it was to feel weary as He walked this earth in human flesh.
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You are not alone.
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This one’s for the weary. 💗
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Head over to Proverbs31ministries.org. to read & join the conversation! 💕
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