My Enemy is My Friend

My Enemy is My Friend

 

Often times we look at our enemies in a questioning way. Why Lord, do we have to endure this person? Why Lord, does this person hate me so? Why Lord, do I have to go through this?

But what if we looked at our enemies in such a way that we viewed them as our friends? Friends come in many different forms after all. We have family that we consider friends and friends we consider family. We have new friends and old friends. There are friends that we consider acquaintances because we don’t know them very well. We also have work friends, furry friends, adult friends, young friends, and the list could go on and on. The truth is we have so many different types of friends that we label differently.

In the pop culture world there is a term called, frenemies.

Definition (a)-This is a term used for someone that you can get along with but also have to keep close in order to watch them so they don’t do something behind your back. A clever term for the old saying, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

This term I believe can be applied to an enemy of the Lord and therefore an enemy to you. All it takes is adding another definition below the previous one.

Frenemy. (b) A person or thing, seen or unseen that is intent on causing harm to a particular person but causes beneficial gain in the process.

You see, with every experience, good or bad, births wisdom in some form. Our enemies may try and hurt us and may even succeed in doing so, but we are always helped by these experiences. 

God allows and uses every experience we go through to better mold us and the more experiences we get, the wiser God allows us to become. So when our enemy tries to lure us in or even successfully does and injures us in some way, we have gained the knowledge for next time and can successfully thwart the enemies’ attempt.

Now with each gained experience the enemy will always try and get you another way, maybe something similar or something completely different, but through a relationship in Christ, which almost always strengthens through conflict, we become more intelligible and a seer of trouble ahead. Through Christ and the prior knowledge we gain through our previous battles, we can often gain the knowledge of the enemies plan to attack ahead of time and make wise decisions to skip it all together.

Granted God sometimes withholds the knowledge in an effort to teach us something more important that we will only learn through an attack rather than side stepping it all together, but for the times that He allows us the opportunity to see and turn away from trouble, the knowledge to do so only comes from Him and our previous experiences with the enemy.

So when the enemy attacks & we are pushed to go to God, we gain valuable experience that allows us to grow in wisdom, creating smarter choices and when we can help it, better happier lives. 

It doesn’t matter if the enemy successfully attacks or tries to and we stop it with the help of our Lord and Savior, we always learn something from all these experiences. God knows this, which is why He allows our lives to be enriched through the trials and tribulations brought on by our friend, the enemy. Our frenemy.

Christmas Traditions

The weather outside is windy
A front blowing in brings with it the expectations of joy this season
Almost everyone down the street is putting up lights
A man in the store where we were contemplating which lights to buy
Stopped and had about a 20 min conversation with us
What an everyday tradition I grew up with that I haven’t experienced in a while
Talking to strangers in the store or check out line
Was sort of a norm for generations back
 
Corbin is at the point in life where he enjoys the lights now
He wants them on all the time
Oh how wonderful it is
That  Christmas brings out the child in those of us
Who choose to enjoy it
 
I still like to lay under the tree while it is lit up and the lights in the house are off
And watch the lights twinkle and smell the pine
I can’t wait for Corbin to get a little bigger so we can make this a tradition
& hoping every year, while we lay under that lighted tree
That Texas will get below freezing with expectations of rain
So maybe it will snow
 
& on Christmas morning
Really early before anyone else
I like to go outside in my pj’s wrapped up in a blanket
And drink coffee

Nothing is better than wrapping up snug and sitting in the cold with a warm beverage
This too, I hope to do with Corbin when he starts waking up before me
In anticipation of opening gifts on Christmas morning
Sitting outside first
Me with my coffee and him with hot cocoa
 
The wonderful traditions we have or we start making in life are amazing
For each holiday we celebrate or birthday we rejoice in
Other than a select few day to day ones
These are the memories we tend to remember most
& others tend to get a glimpse of

Do you want them to see the you
In the store with a cart full of gifts and an attitude that shows anything but good holiday cheer?
Or do you want them to see the you
Who has bought gifts but is more excited to tell of celebrating the birth of Jesus

 

Think of life through how many Christmases we will have to enjoy

With our family & friends

I want every holiday to be viewed in the right kind of joy it should be

Christ, Family, Friends, Love for others

All of which are a blessing on ourselves and others

 

I hope I rear Corbin in the right mind set
Even though we will watch all the good old Christmas cartoon specials
Especially the original Grinch
& when this materialistic world throws slashed prices his way

I want him to remember that

Just like you can’t buy someone’s love on Valentine’s Day

You also can’t buy happiness, tradition, or love on Christmas

Gifts are more about the giving than the getting

 

There is a reason for this gift giving
Celebrating the birth of Christ
Just like we celebrate birthdays

 

There is a reason hearts fill with joy during Christmas
A divinely given joy from our God
Our hearts soar because He came
A knowledge the heart and soul just know
Even if the mind isn’t made up yet

It is not the pumpkin spiced lattes or the apple cinnamon scents
It is not the songs or the weather
It is the remembrance of the great sacrifice
That transpired through the birth of our Savior

That brings on that joy 

I want Corbin to remember that always
Once I am gone and he is rearing his own family
To be an example for his future children
As well as for others who are watching him

 

Make no mistake that the world we live in right now is a blessing
Not far from now
The reason for this season will not be allowed or celebrated
It will become harder for Christians to worship
& Christmas will soon become a shopping holiday it is already on its way to becoming

Let us not grow weary though
Let us continue to pray that our Lord holds off a little longer
That through extra time we can help bring more people to Him
Especially by using the way we celebrate Christmas for the reasons we should
Telling all the good news of Christ’s birth and how He died to save us.

And We Walk

Daddy please hold my hand

I’m a bit wobbly and cannot stand,

I want to walk on my own

But I must learn how to first, this I know,

Step into step, I trip and almost fall

But Your hand catches me and stands me back up tall,

My steps are clumsy, little, and slow

While trying to keep up with You on this stroll,

You see my disability that will fade with age

You find compassion and lovingly engage,

Slowing Your own steps to match mine

& matching my grateful smile You are also inclined.

 

I’ve learned to walk now, even to run

With this freedom comes the urge to experience everything before the days are done,

But still with a firm clasped familiar hand

You lovingly hold on and explain something better is planned,

My know it all protests are not complete without complaints

So understandably, You tighten the restraints,

You stop our stroll and tell me to be still

Fidgety and reluctant I say, okay Daddy, I will.

 

Time has passed, my agreement, come and gone and come

Wayward is my nature and what wobbly legs have become,

Back and forth on the still request

Is where my allegiance has rested its nest,

The minute I was granted a little freedom, I took off and ran

Not understanding that freedom isn’t freedom but a pit where defiance lands,

Instead of looking to my Father for advice

I decided mine made more sense and I paid the price,

The trouble that found this wayward teen

Even that which went unseen,

The accidental and the deliberate kind

Each unknowingly had their purpose and part in time,

But mine were the choices that were made thereafter

Choices that peered through my soul with evil laughter,

I didn’t look to You in my all-knowing fire

& my knowing was snuffed and landed me in the muck and mire.

 

Years passed while treading through junk I mistook as my home

What should of felt comfy made me feel alone,

A young adult but a pack rat old in age

Still working on accumulating baggage and receiving despair as a wage,

Muscles of steel hardening around my heart

& to remove them, I didn’t know where to start,

This now strong stance of mine was starting to wobble once more

& my muscles from running had now become sore,

Learning to walk will all have been in vain

If I didn’t go back and start from the beginning, no matter the accompanied shame.

 

It’s been two years and I’m now walking strong again

Next to my Father like I would a good old friend,

We still hold hands when the time is right

& when He says to stay still, I stay still with all my might,

When He speaks my soul quiets

& within me He has ignited a fiery riot,

A combustible love for my patient Dad

Who wasn’t above sifting all my bad,

Who never stopped calling loudly my name

Who loved a heart so undeniably lame,

Parent and child before its creation heard His voice,

Have grown close and become friends by a happily invited choice.

& while we walk

We rejoice.

 

Autumn's Thoughts

The fresh dead leaves float carelessly to the ground
Like music notes in the sky
Fall is almost upon us
The weather is fickle
A bit confused on where its temperature should be
But the trees in early anticipation
Get an early start on shedding the old
& are slowly loosing a couple leaves at a time
Mushrooms are growing up amongst the crisp old fragile leaves
Giving yards a bit of a whimsical feel over the smell of festering musk
That the older leaves give off
Only slightly filling the nostrils
But wonderfully inescapable at the same time

& as I stand outside looking over the colorful ground
Giddy over the notion that in a couple weeks
I'll probably be wearing a sweater
I also think of how I have survived another change
The seasons give life's years a timeline
And with each seasons change
Comes the realization that
We only get so many
And our loved ones only get so many with us
Corbin will be 3 when summer rolls back around
Growing so fast
Steven and I will have been married 11 years a week & 1/2 before then
My nieces and nephews are all growing up so fast
In pictures

& as the thoughts swim around
In my already ticking, conscious, clock like mind
I follow Corbin around to the swing set in the backyard
& I remember when we first got it
Not even 1/2 a year ago
Took forever to put it together
& He could barely use it
But after a couple months of only using the swing
He now does it all
(A great metaphor for our strengthening faith in God)
& much like he grows and learns new things everyday
So do I

I have come to realize that my life
With all that it is
& isn't
I can accept
I can be okay with
& all the disappointments
The situations out of my control
With everything God allows to enter my existence
I am beginning to let go of them
Only by His almighty changing power
I have grown in ways I wouldn't have thought possible
& through it all have begun to learn
To let go & let Him
Things in my life last year
I wouldn't of wanted to let go of
Resentment and justified anger
Pits of sadness and hopelessness
Seasons upon years
Years upon seasons
Everything building up
& this season happens to be the one
That amongst the growing pains of everyday life
I can say its okay
I can release my grasp
Because of the help of God
& now can stretch without the weight of life
Straining my shoulders
Standing erect and growing in my faith

If the amount we change in a year
& the ways in which we do
Could be painted on a canvas
It sure would be a sight to behold
A study within its lines
& if it could be done
The painting of the ones who change themselves
So that they may keep us
Would be an explosion of beauty, struggle, & understanding
evoking strong emotion
Both worthy in their own respects
Complimenting each other's existence

With all the seasons
Come names of people
That I have lost & found
Names of those who impacted my seasons of change
I cannot think of anyone without fond memories
Even amongst the worst memories I have of people
But much like many come and go in life
Soon this fall will disappear
Off of the ground it once laid so effortlessly on
& with it
Winter

The ultimate oxymoron
Frightening the delicate green to stay hiding inside the trees sheltering wood
& the flowers cuddled
Seeded in the sheltering dirt
Even the water hides beneath a shell
But even as powerful and cold as winter is
With it comes Christmas
& a warm sense of giving
A fireplace composing a ballet across the walls of our hearts
A fondness for our fellow man
A feeling we should carry with into the new year
& throughout every season in life

Upon the thought of the second coming season
I experience a bittersweet feeling
The knowledge that this will be another end of year holidays
Separated from siblings
Another one
With a wall between the family
Another one filled with the same old problems
I don't know if my son will ever get the joy
Of having big family holidays
If not with siblings
With cousins
He will have a good Christmas
Filled with more toys than he needs
But what are they
In a room with others that go unplayed with?
How do they stand
Against the joy of family?
I want my boy to have that
Family
Other kids laughter and squeals
Matching his own excitement
I pray one day
I will be able to give Corbin that
By way of siblings
Or cousins
& that one day
We will all be able to do holidays together

But until then
I look back on my many years
Continuing pondering this life thus far
Hoping to learn something new amongst the standing structures & rubble
& thank the good Lord for blessing me
With the seasons He has
The seasons He is
& the seasons He will
I will brush off the feelings that are anything but happy
Knowing that my Father in heaven
Will handle them the way he sees best
I let go of everything
Breath a relaxing smile
Set my son in his swing
Give him a big push
Take in his jubilant squeal
& be happy for this autumn day
The Lord hath given.

Priorities Of A Godly Woman

1 Timothy 5:14
So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander.

   So it is my 2nd day at work and my back hurts after sitting at this desk all day and entering invoices and product orders. I am certainly not use to the posture it creates for me to say the least. But this problem is not a difficult one, I will get use to it pretty quick. But until then it makes me want to go home and be lazy for the rest of the day but I have responsibilities that have to be tended to when I get home.
   I know there are many working moms out there, single or married that find it difficult to juggle work and then go home and take care of mom duties. For those single women that have no choice but to take care of things I commend thee, but for those women who are married like I am, we have to remember that the house and the children are ultimately our responsibility. We cannot choose to go to work and then come home and want to ignore those responsibilities or get angry with our husbands for not doing them for us. Yes, we may have our husbands at home helping out with some of the chores but in the end, it is our job to make sure those things, especially everything that deals with our children for the most part, is our responsibility. God is very clear about a woman's role in the family.

   The reason I posted 1 Timothy 5:14, even though it is addressed to widows, it is a verse that really pertains to all women. Our main responsibility is maintaining the workings of the household and although our husbands are the head of the household the women are the ones who maintain it. I heard in a movie one time that the man is the head but the women is the neck and she moves the head.

   1 Peter 3:1 explains that we are called to move our husbands not by way of hateful words of guilt but by the way we conduct ourselves. Our husbands are more apt to move and help us and do what we ask or need when we do so in a calm easy going manner. The same goes for the way we ultimately run the house, like our children and our cleaning duties for example. When we take care of those duties like we should our husbands appreciate us more and want to help us out. A happy child and a meal on the table every night, husbands tend to appreciate more than they will an extra check. And because of this, those of us who do work, have to learn to juggle and when we do we need to prioritize the balls we are throwing so that if one falls it is of the least importance. Family, home, and then work is really how our priorities should fall.

   I wonder if anyone stops and wonders if the fact that both parents are having to work to make ends meet is directly correlated to the waywardness of children these days. That being said, it is not wrong for a mother to work and bring home the bread but men and women are wired differently. Our children need to feel secure in the fact that mom is going to be there should they need us. Those of us who are able to make the choice to work or not and choose to go ahead and do so, need to understand that our families and our home come first.
   Our greatest accomplishment in life, aside from our relationship with God, is the children we turn out into the world, not the amount of money we accumulated or the name that we made for ourselves. It can be a daunting task to look at all the things that are required of a godly women and to try to live up to such standards. But God doesn't call us to be perfect wives or perfect mothers. Instead     He calls us to be examples for the younger generation the best way we can. We all fall short of the glory of God but it is the trying to be the best we can in the Lord that matters. In the end it is our faith in God that grants us access to heaven but here on earth our example matters to those who are not saved but more importantly for our children. For the daughters to follow suit of their mothers good examples and for the son, in the fact that you will want him to marry a godly women and he will look for one that matches your example. Titus 2:3-5 addresses this by explaining how women should be examples for the younger generation.
   Proverbs 31 is also a great description of how a woman should hold herself and the duties she should follow. Now I fall short on many of these. I wish I had the tenacity to get up at 3 in the morning with my husband and make him breakfast and a lunch for work but I don't. I barely make it out of bed to get my son and myself fed and ready for him to go to his grandma's house and me to make it to work on time.
   But, when I do get up I make sure that the house is clean enough before I leave. I do the dishes from the night before if I wasn't able to get to them and hang up any clothes I dried as well. When I get home, I cook dinner for my family that we eat at the table & away from electronic devices so I can further keep the relationship between everyone close and up to date on their day. And although my son is only 2, man does he have a lot to talk about at the dinner table! I also pick up toys and whatever else is in the living room that doesn't belong there when I get home and on my days off I vacuum, sweep and mop. My husband helps with some of these tasks but in the end, I know, these are my responsibility. It may sound like a lot but as I fit in all my more important responsibilities along side work I find, even though it seems there isn't enough hours in the day, (Philippians 4:19), God always provides enough time for me to have plenty of down time with the family He has entrusted to me.
   So in about 30 min I will be headed home and I get to relish in the blessings of my work at home and enjoy taking care of my family in the way God intended. I count myself blessed that I get to take care of my family with working as well. I am happy to take on extra responsibilities and I hope all you working mothers are too. Count yourself extra blessed that you get the opportunity to take care of your family in more ways than one!

Questions for God?-Thoughts on Thomas

Have you ever questioned your faith or wanted proof from God instead of relying simply on faith? Believe me, everyone does at some point or another. I certainly have. But through doubt we are able to recognize a broken or weak area in our bridge that leads us away from the world & into His. (Metaphorically speaking). We are able to recognize our weak faith, repair it, & stand steady on it. Creating a strength in an otherwise unsteady bridge and allowing us to move forward. Thomas the apostle really shows how questioning God in complete inquisitive truth can help us fix a part of our faith that needed fixing or reworking, strengthen our faith in God, and give us new insight into who He is and what He purposes for us.


The Apostle Thomas was such a small character in the Bible. In fact he was only mentioned a few times in the Word. But much like there are no small parts but only small actors, Thomas was a very important figure in our faith today.
There is a quote saying, -"Thomas doubted so we wouldn't have to."-
Two quotes, out of the most important quotes about faith in my opinion, from Jesus were made in response to Thomas' questionably doubtful but truthful nature.
In John 14:5-6, Thomas said to Jesus, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
This alone is our faith in a nut shell. Jesus, is the only way to heaven.
&
In John 20:25-29, Thomas shows reservation about believing that Christ has risen and shown Himself and states he will not believe unless he sees the wounds in Jesus' hands. A week later Jesus shows himself again to the apostles and tells Thomas to touch His wounds so that he may believe. Thomas then says to Him, "my Lord and my God!" Jesus then says, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
This quote wraps up that previous nut sell in its hard exterior. We must believe in Christ to get to heaven....even if we have not physically seen Him.
-"Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe."-Saint Augustine

Thomas was an important evangelist and speculations of him opening the first Christian church in India is credited to his name but I would like to think his biggest service to God was giving us a look see into what faith is about.
He made it to where we can see doubt spoken directly to God from a man who was ready to give his life for God. (John 11:16)
A bit cynical in his approach but we shouldn't have fear when approaching God. We should be straight forward with our doubts and fears. God already knows them but when we lay them out on the table ourselves our relationship strengthens 10 fold!
Thomas showed a character flaw, (doubt) that wasn't without rebuke from God but was made useful for years and years to come.
Consider that our doubts, although stemming from the devil trying to sway us are also used by the Holy Spirit to strengthen our relationship with God. It is only by addressing these matters we can get through them & become less apt to have them in the future.

After Thomas was shown Jesus he stated my Lord and my God. He is the only person in the Bible to say my God to Jesus. Which in my opinion is very important because after having doubts he proclaimed Jesus WAS God. Such a heavy truth. & for a man who was only mentioned a couple times in the Bible.
We don't know our own importance while we do the things we do. We might think we are terrible followers because we continue to stumble and greet sin with open arms and blind eyes or worse open eyes, but God can use everything for His glory and we may never know what our minimal existence will help with down the line but we can be sure that no matter how small or how unseen, God is using us and that is a BIG truth and of the utmost importance.

God's Way

When we & or our faith feel attacked let us pray the Armor of God and remember, our God is bigger.

Ephesians 6:10-18

Sometimes life throws us some doozies doesn't it? And throughout these complicated problems, 9 times out of 10 we have a knack for messing them up even worse than they started.

Why?! Why can't we seem to keep silent instead of keeping our mouth open and why can't we look to God and search Him before we search our own self-seeking hearts? 

That sinful nature of ours never seems to give us a break does it? Thank the good Lord that He cared enough to give His son Jesus to die for those sins. Sins we might have to answer for here on earth in the form of consequences but sins that have also been forgiven and no longer shackle us to an eternity separated from God.

The heartbreak that last statement gives me could shatter all windows within a couple hundred miles of me. I think of the heartbreak I feel when I get into arguments with loved ones and know how that hurts so but just like the heartbreak of complete separation from Christ can be a remedied problem through faith in Him so can us learning from our mistakes through the healing power of Christ.

He heals our hearts and sets our minds on Him and purifies our thoughts so that we know how to speak and act in ways that glorify Him.

Let us remember to pray before we respond to any circumstance, even if it's a quick prayer asking God to help us say or write what is appeasing to Him and will ultimately shine on His glory.

When we mess up it is not the end but instead the begining. Another chance to enter into a similar position and handle it better and say to all who see, "I handled that this way because God changed me."

Upon everything we have done let's rest a new way to handle the same problem but this time, God's way.

Adorning Godly Ornaments Of Life

   I don't know about y'all but I love to wear jewelry. It doesn't matter if it's real or costume, I love it all. But there is something special about getting to wear the real stuff. The gems with the diamonds. Now don't get me wrong, I have very few expensive pieces and I wear them sparingly but when I do wear or "adorn" them, one can tell they are real.

   If you were to set my real piece of jewelry next to a piece of my costume jewelry it would be easy to tell which one is the real deal. If I put the real piece next to one that had crystals instead of diamonds or a non-precious metal for the chain it wouldn't take much more than a close look at the stones to see which were real or by putting the chain in nitric acid to see which holds up and proves its weight in gold.

   Much like proving whether jewelry is real the same goes for proving whether people are really Christians and actual followers of Christ. Much like I have stated three different types of jewelry,...costume, immatation jewelry, and real jewelry, there is three different types of people, non-believers, those who say they are believers but are not, and believers. Lets look into how the ornaments of life we "adorn" will help us prove real amongst the wolves in sheep clothing.

   The unbelievers are easy to tell apart from believers because they either state it outright or their lifestyle and decisions prove thus. 

   It's the ungodly that say the are children of God that can be hard to tell the difference between because often times they mimic the actions of the godly.

They hide themselves within the church, sometimes even becoming so hidden they become leaders in the church. Judas is a good example of someone in the Bible being a deceiver and pretending to be a follower of Christ, being put in a position as one of the 12 apostles, even trusted so much he was made treasure, only to be shown as the liar he was. But the Lord gives us a manual to go by so we can spot the differences and discern the real from the fake.

   Differences can be easy to spot, like a malicious gossip, as well as difficult to see, like someone teaching slight but important differences in doctrine. So we must be well versed in Gods word so that we will not be fooled.

   The biggest issue we have in the church is that we have worldly believers creep into the church and start changing the teachings of God. Wanting to make things that are not okay, okay and perverting the Word to benifit themselves or their cause.

   A great way to prove a child of God from a child of the world is to test their lifestyles. Lifestyles they openly or secretly live and impress on others.

   An example of this would be when someone says it's okay to have an affair on your spouse because your unhappy in your marriage or because your spouse is cheating too or it's okay to go out to the bars every weekend and get soused while you flirt with everyone there and your children are being cared for by someone else, or as long as you go to church on Sunday what you do during the week is forgiven.

   Now the Bible doesn't state that  having a sitter or drinking alcohol is wrong but what it does state is that we should be at home with our children and that being a drunkered is wrong. Why? Because it impairs your judgement. We are called to be sensible in our thoughts, words, and deeds and while drunk a person tends to do or say what they shouldn't and often times will regret. & God calls us to be with our children so that we are rasing them, in Him. Now I am not saying one cannot go out for a night on the town occasionally either. Instead, I am stating that our outings should be kept to a level that still allows us to put our children first. But a worldly person would try to convince you otherwise, because society says it is okay.

   These examples and others like it cause some Christians to go astray into certain sinful lifestyles they wouldn't have done originally. They creep into our church like the shade does as the sun starts to slowly go down and rub off onto the less seasoned, the slothed in faith, those who don't know the doctrine, & even those who do but are at a vulnerable place in their life.

   Those who do know the Word and detest those who lead others astray must stand out against them so that those they are trying to lead astray will turn to them & they can lead them to God before they turn to sin.

   The Word of God is written on flesh; Our Hearts. We must adorn in! By having God in our hearts we become different in the way we think,  speak and live. We become hyper aware of our actions and how they please or dishonor God. The same goes for the way speak and hold ourselves. Someone who doesn't believe in God should be able to look at you and know something is different about you and they want whatever it is. When they see you and make the discovery that you are who you are because of God and His glory, they will want to come to know this God you speak of. We should bring people to God by the way we "adorn" our lifestyles and our words.

   Many people decorate or "adorn" lampshades with ribbons that hold crystals or mirrors on them in an effort to let out more light in the room. We need to do just that. By mirroring how God says to live our lives. We should be so decorated and pleasing in actions, motives, words, thoughts, etc., that we set a room on fire for the Lord because of the amount of light shining from us.

When this happens not only will we bring others to Christ; but we we will also either push away the decievers or convert them as well.

   Yes! The Word of God is written on our flesh. It is inscribed in our hearts as our names are on His hands. Let us wear the jewels of life that were once diamonds in the rough. Worldy unhappy lifestyles, words, thoughts, everything that He turned around and made better for us to show His glory. That glory, is what we wear & how we can stand out and be the light He wants us to be, to help guide the lost, out of darkness and into Him.