Mercy

mer·cy (ˈmərsē) noun- compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm.

We will never do enough good deeds. We will never show enough kindness. We will never give enough love to deserve God's mercy. It is new every morning. No matter what we did the day before if we wake up, we have a second chance to get it right. We can repent. We can make an about-face. We can try again, every day. Amen to that. Great is thy faithfulness. 

Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV)The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Grace

Happy New Year! I thank God for another year. I thank God for my village. I thank God for continuing to extend his grace and mercy toward my family. I won't complain. I won't give up. I will continue to run this race. I am looking forward to all that 2018 has to offer. New victories. New lessons. New memories. New mercies. New grace. 

2 Corinthians 12:9 (KJV) And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Vow

 "For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part"

Isn't it interesting that marriage requires you to agree to something before you have knowledge of it? Marriage makes you say, "yes" to the unknown. Most of us have a problem with this level of commitment. We want to weigh all of our options. We want to make an educated decision. We want to pick and choose our vows. Not possible. We will never know what the "worse" is, or what "poorer" really looks like. We can only value the gift of our spouse, and choose to honor our vows regardless. We have to remember our vows when challenges occur in our relationships. We have to "love and cherish till death do us part."

Mutual

My mother always told me, "start something the way you want to finish it." I have applied that bit of wisdom to most of my relationships. I am aware that sometimes circumstances spiral out of control. Things happen. Life happens. People grow apart. Intentions are misunderstood. Emotions are miscommunicated. Sometimes, an apology is not enough. The damage is done. However, there are occasions when your affinity towards someone is mutual. You are equally vested in making the relationship work. You are both willing to take the risk and be emotionally vulnerable. Love is not just about being mutually exclusive. "Love is an attempt at penetrating another being, but it can only succeed if the surrender is mutual."- Octavio Paz

Insight

There are certain movies I can watch over and over again. Each time I watch the movie, I notice something I missed the previous time. I gain a better understanding, a different perspective, or deeper meaning about the film. People are like films. You can watch them over and over again and notice something you missed the previous time. I know, first impressions are lasting impressions, but is that always true? Have you every jumped to a conclusion about a person or a situation to later find out that you were wrong? Have you ever taken the opportunity to get to know someone and found out that you really never knew them at all? People are like onions, too. They have layers. It takes time to peel back all those layers and really get to know someone. I'm not saying to ignore your intuition. I am saying take the time to get a better understanding, or a different perspective. Gain some insight!

"The best vision is insight." -Malcolm Forbes