Tag: authentic

hope

Chosen Before Conception

Shaun Bradford

Good Morning! Today’s post is a copy of the “Hello Sunday” post I shared three years ago. When I tell you it’s such a timely and reassuring reminder that God chose us before we even knew we existed. He chose and crafted us to fit perfectly into His plan to fulfill His, not necessarily our own, purpose. The reason I say “not necessarily” is because we will always feel out of place or like we don’t quite fit when our purposes don’t align with God’s. Our hearts, minds, and souls will never be at peace or truly content until they begin flowing in the direction they were created to. I’m learning more and more not to resist the flow, but to resist the urge to change who I am to fit in, to stand in who I am. And I must say, the experience has been wonderful! No more anxiety. No more second guessing my worth. I’m just here being who God created me to be. Smiling

So, here’s what I shared in 2021. I hope it blesses you as much as it has blessed me. Always remember who you are (handcrafted and chosen by God) and Whose you are (God’s child, royalty). Love you!♥️ ~Shaun

Hello Sunday: September 19, 2021

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”Jeremiah 1:5

That scripture came from my morning reading. This next part was amongst my Facebook memories from September 19, 2018.

Quote – “God is calling you, equipping you, [and] preparing you according to His purpose.”

And this was my caption in response to the quote:

“I’m so thankful God chose me to fulfill His purpose. Despite my quirkiness, He chose me to carry out this part of His mission. So grateful He loves me as I am. There’s NO love like God’s love!”

Based on everything written above, sounds like God has a lot of work for me to do. The humbling part is, I do not have to change who I am to fulfill His purpose. As the scripture above suggests, God already knew what kind of person I would be even before I was conceived. He knew I would see and do things slightly different from others. He knew that no matter how hard I would try, I would never fit anyone’s mold. “. . . before you were born I set you apart.” Whew!

Y’all, I needed this reassurance. Sometimes I do not feel like I belong in certain spaces, but for some odd reason God keeps placing me in them. From here on, whenever I feel unqualified I must remember – God chose ME!

Same for you. If you ever find yourself in spaces that you feel unqualified to be in, just remember – God chose YOU! You are the ONLY one qualified to fulfill that specific part of His purpose. Yessss, YOU!!!

Listen, always remember who you are and Whose you are, and everything will work out just fine. Enjoy your week!

Life

Hello Sunday

Shaun Bradford

Happy Sunday! Not sure what I will write about today. Y’all, I am finally all blogged out. Listen, I truly commend you who blog or write daily. Whether you do it for a living or just for fun, it is not an easy task. Question – How do you come up with content?

Personally, I can journal all day long. Journaling comes easily because I am only writing for myself, not other readers. Not sure how other writers feel, but I find so much comfort in not having to consider content or grammar. Allowing my thoughts to flow is so freeing. On the other hand, blogging is a task. I always write with the reader in mind. Although the majority of what I write is off the cuff, I still ask myself if it is something someone else would want to read. Thankfully I have old material – past journal entries, Facebook posts, and quotes (mine as well as others) – available for days I just cannot think of anything to write. Believe me, they have certainly come in handy, especially during my current blogging streak. Yes, I’m on blogging streak! I have now been blogging for 142 consecutive days. Honestly, some days I really do not feel like posting anything. Then, I think of how far I have come. Do I really want to go back to square one? Not at all! Once I hit 100 days, I knew I had to continue. I challenged myself to do at least 50 more. Hmmm… wish I was this committed to exercising. Anyhoo.. now that I am almost at 150, my new goal is 200. Yep…200! Fingers crossed.

To my readers, thank you for rolling with me and actually reading my content, whether it has been engaging or not. I really do appreciate it. And to my true bloggers and writers, you ROCK! So much respect for you.

Well, that was all I could muster for today. Guess it would have been easier to share a past Facebook memory or journal entry, but for some reason I actually wanted to write. Why am I so complicated?

As always, thanks for reading.

Enjoy your week!

Shaun