Change begins with making better choices for an abundant life. Your choices are often the result of parental guidance or the lack thereof. Parental supervision and your physical environment influence your mindset and dictate your decisions in adulthood.
My choices and decisions created severe pain and anguish. In my early twenties, I was flat broke, eating at soup kitchens and city missions in Oakland, California.
One night at a city mission in downtown Oakland, I made a better choice. I was unaware it was the best choice to make in life.
Walking forward, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior.
That night, Jesus rescued me from the darkness and equipped me with His Holy Spirit. He began to guide my path and transform me into a Child of the living God.
The amazing grace of God cleansed my heart and transformed my mind, and it all began with making better choices.
I enrolled in a Certified Nurses and Home Health Aide training class. I gained employment at St Joseph Convalescent Hospital in Castro Valley, California, in six months.
Back then, I didn’t understand the Holy Spirit was working to clean my heart of sin and transform my dysfunctional mind.
I was happy to have a job!
Change Begins with Making Better Choices
Reflecting on the last twenty-plus years, I understand how God worked to clean my heart and transform my mind. Working in the Health Care Field and serving others taught me compassion and empathy for people.
Having matured, I became aware of a person’s struggle to survive. Sensing their pain and anguish permitted empathy and sympathy for their afflictions.
Learning to discern personal feelings of distress allowed me to show mercy and forgive the combative patient who didn’t mean to harm me. I understood that physical illness or medication could alter their mindset.
In caring for developmentally disabled individuals, I learned to assist countless people. Helping them taught me people have a choice, and it’s not your place to make it for them, even if they have setbacks in life.
The right to make better choices in life is theirs to make. It’s a God-given right, and no one can take it from you. People can try to influence your decision and change you, but you have the right to kick and scream.
For those years, I thought it was a job. However, the grace of God cleaned a hardened heart and transformed a dysfunctional mind. It began with making better choices in life.
What better choices can you make?
I pray that you will accept Jesus Christ as your SSaviorand permit Him to work in your life. Change takes time. Keep walking by faith in the Lord; over time, you will see His glorious transformation, too.