A couple of years ago, I started sharing “Self-Love Saturday” videos on TikTok. I’ve been debating on whether or not to continue sharing them on TikTok or begin sharing them on my YouTube channel. We shall see.
Anyhoo…
It’s Self-Love Saturday and the day after Valentine’s Day. Be sure to do something extra special for yourself. Me—I’m going to go buy myself some discounted flowers and candy. Smile
Listen, life is too short to keep waiting for things to happen. Always make the best of your life as it is now. There’s so much beauty in NOW!
“Just Be Yourself” @ShaunsDailyInspiration on TikTok (March 4, 2023)
As I said three years ago, “You are the gift.” The most valuable gift you could possibly give is yourself. Your presence and essence are irreplaceable. It’s YOU that’s wanted and needed. Yes, it’s YOU.
I normally start my Sundays with a “Hello Sunday” post but this one was too good to wait. This one has me smiling from ear to ear. If I were to title it differently, the title would be “Free Will vs Completely Allowing God To Lead.” Here’s what I shared in a “Wednesday Writings” post that fell on January 19, 2022 (copying and sharing in its entirety):
Obedience. The definition of obedience is – an act or instance of obeying (following the command or guidance of).
As many of you know, I have been on this journey of completely allowing God to lead; to follow his guidance without wavering. Well.. just imagine how that’s going. Sigh
So, there is this little thing called free will, which is the ability to act at one’s discretion. Well, I’m finding free will isn’t always my friend. During this journey, free will has popped up numerous times and continues to pop up whenever – 1) I don’t believe God is moving fast enough or He’s moving way too fast; 2) I believe things are going in the wrong direction; or 3) whenever I flat out don’t want to follow His instruction. Y’all, sometimes free will is a pain and often delays blessings. Ugh!
Last night I was given specific instructions to leave a certain matter alone, to allow God to work so that I could see His glory. Y’all know I love watching God work! Well, that didn’t happen. I kept picking at it. Checking to see if progress was being made. Kind of like putting a bandage on a wound and removing it every couple of hours to see if it’s healing. Uhh.. It won’t if you don’t leave it alone. So, this morning I couldn’t help myself. I couldn’t leave things alone. I went in and started manipulating things. I was like, “God, I’m just gonna do this one little thing then give it back to You.” And that’s exactly what I did. And guess what, I feel like I have failed another challenge. Not in a shameful way, but in a way that has me regretting my decision. However, at the same time, I still have the desire to do better. I just have to know how things will turn out if I allow God to lead.
Okay.. y’all, I just had another “Aha” moment. Imagine going into a lab, starting an experiment and when the experiment isn’t moving along fast enough, you decide to manipulate the process. Guess what?! You just altered the outcome. You will never know what could’ve been had you left it alone.
Slowly but surely, I’m learning. If I am going to allow God to lead, I must be obedient. Period.
Thanks for reading! Hope you have a lovely Wednesday!
So I went and checked my journal entry to see what I was referring to that I wouldn’t leave alone. Well, it was a post I had made on my Shaun’s Daily Inspiration Facebook page—I had recently created the page a few weeks earlier (December 31, 2021). God had instructed me to do one thing with the post and then to leave it alone. Instead, I kept going back manipulating things. Y’all, He specifically told me to leave it alone so that I would know the outcome was all Him. Well, as you can see from what I wrote three years ago, I couldn’t leave things alone.
Fast forward to today…
Baby, that free will I was referring to is gone! Now, when God says jump, I say “How high.” I don’t move without His guidance. Y’all, it took me a long time to get here and I never want to go back to the way things were. Now, don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with having autonomy. I’m all for it! However, when God specifically directs me to do something or release a situation to Him, I do it. I do it without hesitation because I know He knows and sees things I don’t. Believe me, I have bumped my head too many times trying to do things on my own because I didn’t think He was capable of properly handling them—in other words, things working out the way I wanted them to.
So, yes, I’m smiling from ear to ear because He is in control. Y’all, I never thought I’d get to this point because releasing control has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Whew! If you only knew. However, the peace and freedom I’ve gained since letting go is indescribable. Whatever comes, comes. Whatever goes, goes. Knowing that God is the one controlling everything lets me know that I will always come out stronger, better, and on top. Yes, I can’t help but smile.
Well, that’s all I have for now. Thank you for following my journey. Here’s another picture from 30 years ago. It’s from the same day as the last picture I shared. This is me with some cute astronaut who had flown into Eglin. They would leave patches and autographed pictures to hang on our display wall. Y’all, he was such a cutie. I just had to take a picture with his picture. Lol.
It makes no difference What you’re going through You’re going to make it God’s going to see you thru Hold your head up Put a smile on your face This is another test It won’t last always
Get ready for your blessing Get ready for your miracle Get ready for your blessing Get ready for your miracle
Smile and hold your head up! God’s got a blessing with YOUR name on it. That’s right! He sure does. And that blessing is called life, and it has your name all over it.
I know 2024 is coming to an end and you may not have achieved everything you wanted to, but this is not THEE end. Tomorrow’s a new day and a new year, and it’s filled with all kinds of blessings with your name on them. Listen, God’s got you!♥️
It’s Shaun’s World 
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