Strength

As i was typing that last post, i discovered something about myself.

i really *am* a strong person.

i am strong enough to raise two teenagers in today's society and have them turn out halfway decent.

i am strong enough to overcome a past riddled with pain and guilt and heartache and shame, and be a positive role model for people in my community and my church.

i am strong enough to stick by what i believe in, and strong enough to have searched myself to *discover* what i believe in.

i am strong enough to change careers in the middle of my life.

i am strong enough to begin again, fears and all.

i am strong enough to understand that, no matter how debilitating they may seem, fears are guides into strength and courage.

i am strong enough to know that emotions aren't the enemy, but sometimes the way they are expressed can be.

i am strong enough to know that silence is often far more golden than we give it credit for being.

i am strong enough to hold my tongue.

i am strong enough to show respect for those that i don't respect, knowing that my actions reflect upon me alone.

i am strong enough to have secrets, to know that sharing them isn't always the best route, even if conventional wisdom may say it is....and no matter who is curious enough to want me to share them.

i am strong enough to know that i don't want to be strong all the time, but strong enough to know that i may have to be.

i am strong enough to trust my Master.

And i am strong enough to have earned His deep trust as well.

That means more to me, and reveals more to me about myself, than anything else i could have learned. i could go on and on, now, about ways i show my strength, but nothing matters except that i am strong enough to gently, tenderly, lovingly hold my Master's heart.

Yes. i am totally blown away. Thank You, Padrone, for Your trust, for Your faith in me, and for Your patience for me to see things from a different perspective. You really are so absolutely wonderful to me, and i am incredibly grateful for Your caring and absolute ownership. i am Yours, so wonderfully Yours, mio meraviglioso Padrone.