Not of this world

I have been struggling lately, I mean like really struggling, with comparison, desiring worldly things, seeking others approval etc.... 

Joel Olsteen has an awesome facebook page, that if you are not a part of, you should be. He (or his admins) always have the most uplifting posts, that make you think about your thoughts and actions, but with a positive spin. Today he post:

"Everyone has an opinion. But if it doesn't match what God has put in your heart, let it go in one ear and out the other."

I let people's opinion of me weigh in far more than I should. Most days I feel I am more concerned with people's opinion of me than I am with God's opinion of me and at the end of every day, HIS is all that matters.

I will be honest that I feel judged about the car I drive, how big of a house we live in,

the vacations we do (or don't) take.

Do you see a trend here?

 It all revolves around monetary things.

Things that when I am 80 years old I won't remember, but what I will remember are:

the times I spent playing trains on the floor with Crewe,

or talking with John about life after Crewe goes to bed,

or taking that extra bit of time in the grocery store so that Crewe can push the kids shopping cart all the way to the back of the store to pay a special visit to the lobsters.

THOSE are the things I know will be burned in my memory when I am 80.

Yet why is so hard to remember these things everyday?

Why do I strive to have a bigger house, a newer car?

I know it is because I am human. I live in a world that I don't belong.

I am tempted by Satan to be of this world. I fail a lot,

BUT I will continue to ask myself when I am faced with a challenging situation, is this something that will be important to me when I am 80. 

Recently, I think I have made the wrong decision; however, I will strive to improve!

These things stretch me, they grow me, but more importantly, they remind me that I do not belong to this world!

Insert random cute pic, because you can't have a post without a pic ;-)