What do you think of my shiny armor?

So, as I said in my last blog, one of the words I'm focusing on in 2012 is "peace." I'm going to read about it, write about it, and work at regaining peace in my life. Last year, I found myself at a crossroads I never thought would happen in my spiritual journey. My faith in God has not faltered at all in this struggle, but I have been hurt by people I thought were my friends in faith.

This past year, I've taken steps to regain that peace that comes that comes from concentrating on my relationship with God, and I have felt His presence and direction every step of the way. Now I feel He wants me to focus on "peace" and feel fully restored once more.

At some point last year, I started following Lysa TerKeurst on Facebook and subscribed to her blog. Her words today really spoke to me. On Facebook, she posted this:

Have you ever struggled with letting a circumstance that came your way recently, suddenly define you? This seems to be a lesson God lets me live over and over. He wants to be my only definition of who I am. I am a child of God, holy and dearly loved. I know this. I teach this. I believe this in the very depths of my soul. Yet, it is so easy for me to slip into redefining myself when situations arise. When hard times come and beat against our stability, we must be determined to hear God’s words and put them into practice. Then nothing can topple our peace, security, or true identity.
I'm not sure who else needed to hear that--- but I know I certainly did.

I, for one, needed that reminder. If we just remember that the only identity that matters is that we are children of God and that we are loved so dearly and fully, then we can put on the full armor of God and repel any hurt, any catty remarks, any gossip, any anything! Like Lysa, I know this and I believe it with every ounce of my being, but because I'm human, I sometimes let those everyday human things put some chinks in my armor.

Today, though, my armor is shiny and like new. (And maybe, if I get everything sorted through, I'll need my armor to be a smaller size. ;-)