No one to impress and nothing to prove

Today on my run, I decided to listen to a Joyce Meyer podcast (well, actually about 4 of them). My mind was focused, and I felt good.

And of all the words I heard come out of her mouth during that hour and 20 minutes, the one thing that stuck was this:

You are free only when you have no one to impress and nothing to prove.  

I immediately started thinking, who am I trying to impress and what am I trying to prove?

Who am I trying to impress? I think we often skim over questions like this without really challenging ourselves to come up with the answers. A lot of the time, I think we don't really want the answers.

So I kept asking myself, "who are you trying to impress?" I realized that for a long time, I tried to impress everyone. My family, my friends, kids at school, my boyfriend (I'm thinking high school here).

And it's just been very recently when I quit caring what other people thought about me. Even a year ago, I would say that I cared a lot about how others perceived me. I wanted people to like me. I wanted people to think I was a good mom and a good wife and a good business woman. And I still want people to think those things, but I know them to be true. I don't have to seek the approval of everyone else for my peace of mind.

Now in the same thought, I am not even beginning to say that I am any where near perfect at any of the roles I play. I pray everyday for more patience with my kids and the wisdom to raise them the right way. I pray everyday for ways I can serve my husband and continue to be his best friend. And everyday, I pray for the courage to lead; the words to inspire; and the time to manage my team in a way that works for our family. By no means do I have it all together, but I am happy. I know that I am doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing. I have no doubt about that, so I'm not really worried about impressing everyone else with my perfectness. That's a joke. The people who pretend that they've got it all together are full of it. If we're honest with ourselves, we will all, always, have room to grow; More to learn, more to understand, more to be better at.

I think many times in the past, I've felt like I needed to prove to others that I was worthy of the blessings we've been given. Then the more I thought about it, I realized that more than anything, I've been trying to prove to myself that I am worthy of all this.

We've been blessed in ways that have scared me at times. I know that sounds bizarre, but there are times that I have looked at my life and felt like it's not fair that other people live with such struggle, while we have it pretty easy. I know this is a season, and I am so grateful for it. And I know now, that I don't have to prove anything even to myself.

My goal is to live in a place where I have no one to impress and nothing to prove except to the only one who matters. If I'm not living in the will of God, then I'll have way more to worry about than impressing others. When you're not trying to impress anyone and not trying to prove anything, you're probably living right in the middle of God's will for your life.

For example, right now, I know we're being called to have another baby. We both know it. And there are people who will call us crazy. I know that, and I don't care. I don't know where this baby is going to come from (our hearts have been very opened to adoption), but I know there is one in our future. And I don't care what anyone else thinks about it.

So I have to ask you....who are you trying to impress, and what are you trying to prove?

Instead of seeking the approval of others, I challenge you to seek the approval of God. See what He has in store for you. I promise it's more than anyone else can give you. Seek Him. Impress Him. Prove to Him that you are His servant, and reap the reward of freedom and peace.