tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4101868226575064560.post2004047619822971820..comments2014-06-27T14:05:46.142-07:00Comments on J + D = B "The Birge's": Reconstructing BridgesLeaving on a jet plane. . .http://www.blogger.com/profile/17943199082796308952noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4101868226575064560.post-45956633948505373712014-01-11T21:26:32.024-08:002014-01-11T21:26:32.024-08:00Oh my….I hate that you are struggling so much with...Oh my….I hate that you are struggling so much with this but honestly, I completely understand where you are. I have been there and more than once I have spent sleepless nights and dreams have come with me wondering what to do to fix what I have destroyed. You know me as well as anyone and know how abrasive I can be and that is not good combined with how hurt I have been, how untrusting I am of people, and how deceived I was by the devil for so long about how no one could love me because of my past. I have made some TERRIBLE mistakes in my past with friends and unfortunately, I cannot go back and make all of those right. The ones that I could, I tried. There was one friendship in particular that was so devastating to me and would wake me up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night because I had literally ruined it with my hurtful words and actions. I prayed about this and cried and was literally devastated about it. One day I was at a Beth Moore conference in Little Rock and this person was there as well. She was talking about difficult people in your life and relationships, etc….I had such an overwhelming feeling about this person. She lived very close to Little Rock. I had tried FOR YEARS to apologize to her and reach out to her with no avail…no response at all. That VERY NIGHT when I got home from the conference, I received a really long email from her telling me that she forgave me and that started our friendship all over. Is it the same? No…it never will be but the burden that I had about that friendship was lifted. I have never been so blessed about something like that before. God truly touched me regarding that. I say all of that to say….God's timing is perfect, Jill. He will bring those people back into your life if you are to mend those relationships. Just pray…pray hard and like me, you may have to pray for a long time. You can't let the enemy have control over this though…when you start to feel overwhelmed by it, take it to the Father. Love you and I am so proud of you!!!! Hester 5https://www.blogger.com/profile/09731447812806451412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4101868226575064560.post-65499581290609766132014-01-07T07:24:30.037-08:002014-01-07T07:24:30.037-08:00this is totally spot on with what I'm going th...this is totally spot on with what I'm going through right now... there are friendships/relationships that feel so broken beyond repair in my life and maybe that's exactly where they need to be -- out of MY human reach because the rebuilding needs to have its foundation solely from God's hand.. we can't do anything about how others currently feel towards us -- whether they are disappointed or hurt or betrayed by us. we can't really even know if that's STILL how they feel towards us.... what we do know and can only do anything about is what behaviors and beliefs we can see in ourselves and if those line up to what God wants based on what the Bible says. I think in time, the more we get honest about what parts of us really fits/doesn't fit in God's standards, the more we pursue being changed by God -- and our behaviors/thoughts/actions will reflect the better ways to build the new bridges HE will bring in our lives, whether it's with the people in our past, present, or future. But the most important thing to remember is being saved by Jesus is ONE step, a REALLY important step, but our habits/beliefs/ways don't change overnight... those get changed by constant reflection on God's Standards and making the adjustments accordingly... i hope that makes sense... it's a great thing that you are now aware of this need to build bridges, but the next step after that is to learn how to build them the right way according to God's standards.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00230193834287450079noreply@blogger.com