accept

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I really don't like this word. Noting specifically came to mind about it when I first learned of the prompt. 

 Well...

 except that I thought "I really don't like this word."

 I'm not good at accepting what life brings me as enough. I always think, know, believe, wish for more. As if iIwere entitled to more than what I'd been given.

 This gets messy, you see, because I don't believe in accepting the status quo. "No acquiescing!" I cry in my heart. We are called to be more! We must push forward.

 That also can make me terribly ungrateful for what I've been given.

 There is such a tension in this. The already and the not yet. We are called to more - it's part of the molding and shaping into the image of Christ. Yet we aren't there yet and that leaves us discontent. Unsettled. We aren't accepting. Should we?

 What are we called to accept? What are we called to love as it is? And what are we called to be unsettled with, to push past? I'm thinking there really isn't a list... as long as the accepting doesn't turn to complacency and the pushing doesn't turn to legalism.

 What a tension we are constantly living in. Called to be grateful - simply another form of accepting - yet called to be more. The older I get, the more I see these tensions. The more I am willing to sit in the grey areas of life and just listen. To what I should accept.

 I'm much more comfortable moving...  on what I don't.

 I am linking up for Five Minute Friday. The FMF is hosted by Kate Motaung on her blog Heading Home. Today’s prompt is “Accept.” http://fiveminutefriday.com. 

Comments

Anne Mackie Morelli said…
Stephanie, I enjoyed reading your post on "accept" from fiveminutefriday. I agree that the word accept can lead to some negative connotations and images associated with it. Where we sometimes have to reluctantly sit in the tension, and accept things we would rather not. Appreciate your insights.
3:52 PM
Anonymous said…
Stephanie, so true. I'm not so fond of accepting some things either. I find comfort in doing something. Anything! Even if it's the wrong thing.
I'm in the 8 spot this week
4:32 PM
Janyre said…
"I'm not good at accepting what life brings me as enough." Oh, my goodness. Yes! That's at the core to so many of my struggles—I think I know what's best for me and it's so very hard to receive God's gifts that aren't easy. Coming to you from FMF #38. www.BeautifulUglyMe.com
4:55 PM
Rebecca's journey said…
I love this, writing about not liking the word and all its connotations; great take on it. #36 www.playingwithpoems.blogspot.com here, I too thought about the tension between accepting and striving; what do we accept and what do we push through? where are the boundaries? The more I have pondered it today, I think starting with acceptance of God's complete and total love for us is where the answers start.
11:40 PM
Andrew said…
Terrific essay, Stephanie. I wasn't so good at accepting either, until illness literally floored me.

Having to construct a new paradigm that included a life without the physical and mental energy of the decades before was not fun.

But there is still a job to do.

#1 at FMF this week.

https://blessed-are-the-pure-of-heart.blogspot.com/2017/09/your-dying-spouse-365-i-live-impossible.html
1:55 AM
Meg Weyerbacher said…
This is so true for me too, friend. Thanks for writing this.
6:11 AM
kc bob said…
Being grateful is simply another form of accepting!

That is so insightful Stephanie. Thanks for writing this post!
8:19 AM
Unknown said…
This is awesome!! I have been feeling that same tension, lately. Thanks for writing this. Simply beautiful!
2:21 PM
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