We went shopping this weekend at Target. I love Target. My wallet doesn’t love Target as much. I can walk in for a pair of socks and walk out with a cart full of items to redecorate my bedroom. Target just has a way of sucking money right out of my wallet. So we went to Target, and my daughter Lauren, much like her mother was looking to spend her $12.00 of allowance money on a toy. If you have shopped for toys lately, you know $12.00 won’t get you much. As we entered the checkout line, the tears began to flow. She was leaving empty handed. Her eyes were red, nose was running, and she was embarrassed. Being that she is right at the height of my purse, a rather large purse, she stuck her head in so that no one would see her red eyes.
I have often wondered why the cover of “Unglued” is a picture of Lysa’s head buried in a purse. Today, I got it. At least what it means for me.
Sometimes we stick our head in a purse because we want to keep from screaming. Sometimes we hide away in a purse because we are embarrassed. I tend to do the second…scream…and then hide in embarrassment.
The midway point in a Bible Study is never easy. Half way through we begin to asses if we are where we thought we would be. Does life look any different? Are we still coming Unglued? And if the answer is yes…well bring on the truck load of shame.
I wonder if any of you beautiful women are still struggling with Unglued tendencies? In fact, I don’t just wonder, I am all too aware that you are. Learning the truths that Lysa shares with us by no means assures that we won’t still be provoked. But we now have the choice and the tools to react differently.
But sometimes we don’t. We fall into the same old habits. It’s called temptation. And it is easy to give in to. But the giving in is just the first half of the story…the second half has far greater implications. What do we do after we come Unglued?
My tendency is to stick my head in my purse. To bury myself in a mound of shame and negative self-talk, eventually leading to belief that things will never change. I tell myself that I am too far gone to be helped by God, and that I am doomed to a life of Unglued reactions. Then I see that vision of God, the false one, with Him pointing His finger and saying, “I told you that you would never be good enough.”
Can we say lies, lies and more lies?
Satan loves to attack, and sometimes we give in. We come Unglued. But what He loves even more is to shame us over our reactions, rendering us ineffective, so that we will stop even trying.
Dear sister, if you are struggling, that is a GOOD thing! It means that you are still trying. That you are making an effort to change. Change is difficult. We can hide our head in our purse every time we mess up, or we can ask for forgiveness, dry our tears, maybe even use our tears to help someone else, and move forward! Now is not the time to let up, now is the time to press on. What a gift Lysa has given us. The chance to move forward in our lives. The chance to grow closer to our Creator King. Today, as Lysa teaches us in Chapter 7 – let’s remember who we are, redirect our focus to Jesus, recognize God’s job isn’t our job, praise God, and realize our reactions determine our reach! And although they may determine our reach, that do not determine who we are in Christ. No more shame sweet Princess of the King…we are moving forward.
Thank you for the encouragement, Stephanie. Years ago I heard a sermon on our fight against sin. The shame is not in the struggle…but in giving up the struggle. Deciding, “This is just the way I am…I am no longer going to fight it.”
Thank you securelyheld. That quote is now on my deskpad at work!
Love your post. I had my Unglued moment and ended up driving to work in tear and calling husband confessing that I am not going to be perfect and I was sorry. Then I was so thankful that he said ” I understand you have a lot going in your life right now.” Thank you God for letting him share that with me. Just what I needed and to now it is time to put my lessons back into play for some more Imperfect Progress. Have a great day!
Stephanie you are always so right on target! I’ve been feeling like a failure because i am still struggling with being unglued or still being an “Expluffer” (that’s exploder and stuffer rolled into one) plus i am so far behind i just can’t get caught up. I can only handle one chapter a week and do it justice so now i feel like i’m totally out of the loop. I don’t want to read ahead because then i lose things along the way. I’m still trying to hang in there though.
We are exactly where we need to be at this time. Chapter 5 had do much meat in it. So did chapter 6. It takes time to digest. I agree : one chapter per week is sufficient for me as well.
I have a different thought now from years of experience (shows how often I come unglued). When Satan shows Jesus pointing at me I now think he’s saying ‘so you botched it. You won’t do that again, so stop snivvling and start again.’
Thank you Stephanie for the insightful words–i’m behind with my study–getting ready to ready to read chapters 7 & 8. feeling unglued but i keep hearing God whispering to me–take my hand and I’ll lead–you follow me. can’t wait to read more blessings sue c
Love this Stephanie!! It is so wonderful being with other women as we work through our struggles.
Thank you for sharing your heart Stephanie. It was exactly what I needed to hear today. I think many of us begin to feel that way in the middle of a Bible study-a point where we don’t even see some of the progress that we have made. I know my tendency is to be a perfectionist so if I don’t feel as if my goal has been reached, the disappointment in myself can cause me to do the same thing-get frustrated with myself and the process. Thank you for reminding us that we are all in this journey together and we don’t have to feel as if we are alone. We may be behind or we may be right on schedule but that doesn’t mean that we should ever forget about the ultimate goal-what God wants to do in our hearts.
Thank you for sharing. We went shopping me & my 3 girls and we had an unglued moment when my 7yr. Old did not get her necklace that she demanded. Although my purse was too all for her head.
M. Waters
Yes, praise God we are moving forward. Lord, I really am curious how long can it possibly take to take one step forward without having to take two or three backwards first.