Joy, Danger, and Thought Patterns.

Sitting in the ATL this weekend - won a grant to attend a conference here, and that gave me an opportunity to do something I really enjoy - travel.  For work or pleasure, I always enjoy it.  Some people complain about the planes or waiting or delays or crappy whatever, but none of that bothers me.  I really enjoy it.  Why, you ask?  I think it is because I can be among many people - but don't need to engage with them.  In my work, there is not an option of engaging - in order to be successful, I must engage.  With each person I pass, see, enter a room with, etc.  If I don't, people think something is wrong, I don't like them, I'm mean, I even have had some people at our company say that I scare them.  (Even thought we have had limited interaction, sometimes just on the phone.)  Back to the ATL.  I got to spend a couple of days with my brother and his family, and that was such a great time - it is crazy that my nieces are growing up to be these young ladies.  I suppose I am getting more comfortable with my girls doing that as I spend time with them each day and am part of the process, but with the GA girls, I don't get that frequent interaction.  I absolutely LOVED being with them all - I will be sure to mention that my sister-in-law from Alabama made a pecan pie for me because it is my favorite, and she is the best at making them.  The joy I got to share was certainly what God wants all of us to experience - being in a relationship with others where there is no judgment, only love.  And time with my brother is the same - joy.  We don't agree on everything - never have.  But I love him more now than ever, and always enjoy being with him.  One big learning from this week - I read in my devotional: "Thought patterns become etched in our brains."  That hit me really hard this morning, as I don't always have the best thought patterns, and being a thinker, that can sometimes become obsession in my brain thinking about the wrong things, or thinking in the way of the flesh and this world - and that is DANGEROUS.  Look at Malachi 2:15 - 'guard yourself in the spirit'; Matthew 10:7 - 'be on your guard against men'; Matthew 16:11 - 'be on your guard against the yeast'; Luke 12:15 - 'Watch out! Be on your guard....'; 1 Corinthians 16:13 - 'Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.'  All of these are warnings to be careful with this world - to not allow the thought patterns of the flesh and sin to etch into our hearts and minds the evil that Satan so cleverly wants to fool us with.

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