Situational circumstances - It's how we respond and choose in the moment

Last week while in a study group I said something that still comes to mind in pondering... "sin is circumstantial". Now this doesn't mean that all circumstances are sin, but in the circumstances that we experience in life, it can ultimately come down to how we choose to exercise our great gift of choice (a.k.a. free will, agency...).  What will we choose? How will we choose it? Did we stop to think that we had a choice in the matter? Did we think about how to protect our own survival? Did we consider how our ultimate choice would impacts others? (...and yes, there will ALWAYS be others to consider...even in good and great choices) And, Did I consider God when I was making this choice?...

So, since making this statement and having this thought (because what is a statement without the "experience" to back it up?), I have... let my "circumstances" get the better of me...not handled myself in the best way that I would have/could have...I think I had something that looked like a tantrum....stumbled over myself and following consequential choices...saw others experiencing the same thing...saw how it brought covered up "garbage" from my past to light...helped me to deal with said "garbage" and take it to the curb...saw how, in spite of my grumpy-stinky-argh-I-am-a-pirate attitude, that my choice of encouraging, helping and serving others was not set aside...how I could love myself more so that I don't continually set MYSELF aside...and share my overwhelming gratitude to God over and over again in each choice and step throughout my day.

Because my life is PERFECT! Really!! It is!! Not the way that I would view perfect HAHAHA! I can honestly say, when I am going through the mire, I feel anything BUT perfect...and at the "end" of it all, I am humbled to tears at God's AMAZING and perfect plan for my life. 

It's like I took a side road, of my own choosing, and at the same time on a different road running parallel to my experiences moving at an aligning speed, was God's grace and gifts about to meet up with me with, again, perfect timing, as I emerge on the other side. Over and over again, I observe this in my life.  

Just yesterday, I got lost trying to get out of IKEA in time to meet up with the study group...WOW!! 20 minutes just to get out of the store! UGH! (double UGH!)...and every missed turn lead me to find exactly that something else that I was looking for, but gave up on finding...when I finally made it to the group they were JUST starting (this perfect timing thing, if I was more grumpy and less encouraged, would get "annoying" ;) )

Allowing God to work through the circumstances in my life... priceless.