Robin McGraw - From My Heart to Yours: Life Lessons on Faith, Family, and Friendship

FROM MY HEART TO YOURS: Life Lessons on Faith, Family, and Friendship
Copyright 2007 Robin McGraw

All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Project Editor: Jessica Inman
Art Direction and Design: Linda Bourdeaux, lindamaybe@thedesigndesk.com

ISBN-10: 1404105212
ISBN-13: 978140410521

Printed and bound in the United States of America

www.thomasnelson.com

Contents

NO MATTER HOW ORGANIZED AND
VIGILANT WE ARE, LIFE STILL HAS A WAY
OF BRINGING US TO OUR KNEES

CHOOSE TO BE WHO YOU RE MEANT TO BE

WHEN SOMETHING INSIDE JUST WON T GIVE UP

CHOOSING AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

GIVING YOUR CHILDREN UP TO GOD

ACTING ON YOUR GOD-GIVEN GIFTS AND DESIRES

EMBRACING THE WOMAN GOD CREATED

THERE S A REASON FOR EVERYTHING

WORKING WITH PASSION AND PURPOSE

SPEAKING YOUR MIND AND HEART

WE MAKE OUR DECISIONS, AND THEN OUR
DECISIONS TURN AROUND AND MAKE US.

Francis Boreham

I believe that in order for a woman to experience true happiness, fulfillment, and peace, she needs to know two things: who she is, and who she is meant to be. Theyre not the same thing: the first one has to do with the reality of your life, and the second one has to do with your purpose for being in this world, which is something each of us has to discover for ourselves and cannot be dictated by any other person in our livesnot by our husband, parents, children, employers, or friends.

I believe its gotten harder and harder to tell the difference between who we are and who were meant to be. So much of the time, we lose ourselves just trying to keep up with the frantic pace of life. We drag ourselves out of bed in the morning, already half an hour behind, and spend much of the day responding to the needs and demands of others. Somewhere along the line, we often lose track of the essential feminine selfthat unique, life-giving entity that invigorates our beings and warms the souls of the people we love. But we dont have to lose that feminine self, and the way to hold on to her is to accept nothing less than being simply the bestthe best we can be in the roles we choose for ourselves: wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend.

I also believe we were put on this earth to enjoy lives of joy and abundance, and that is what I want for you and for me. I hope youre excited about whatever phase of life youre in: excited about being a woman in this day and time, excited about being the woman God created you to be. Its all there for the choosing, because, in the core of my soul, I believe that how you live, how I live, how we all live as women is largely a matter of choice. We have the power to choose joy in strenuous circumstances. We have the ability to choose a good attitude when everyone around us is grumpy. We have the privilege to choose the words we speak and how we speak them, or to simply remain quiet.

I believe that how you live, how I live, how we all live as women is largely a matter of choice.

I imagine that a lot of women who hear me say this may think, Thats easyfor you to say. You can choose whatever you want because you live in a wonderful house witha successful man who loves you, and you can probably have anything you wantyourea privileged person. And all that is true. But do you know what the real privilege is? The real privilege is being free to embrace the joyful aspects of life and reject the hurtful onesto choose to do whats working, and to turn your back on what isnt. Its a privilege to have the right to take charge of your existence and be excited about your life.

Too often, people think they need a lot of costly stuff to be happy. The first apartment Phil and I moved into was a whopping 420 square feet of linoleum and worn nylon pile, and I used to drive a 1962 Comet with bright turquoise paint that looked as if it had been brushed on. When I was a kid, the only spoons I had in my mouth were stainless steel, not silver. Still, I always felt fortunate to be who I was, and excited by the prospect of what life held for me.

We are defined not by the station in life into which we are born, nor by our pedigree, race or religion, but by the choices we make. And it is through the integrity of our choices that we create the life we long for. Embrace the privilege to choose how you will live rather than taking life as it comes alongnot so youll make the same choices I made, but so you will make the choices that are right for you.

GOOD INSTINCTS USUALLY TELL YOU WHAT TO DO
LONG BEFORE YOUR HEAD HAS FIGURED IT OUT.

Michael Buske

Its not always easy to stick up for yourself. People in authority can be intimidating, especially when theyre not accustomed to being challenged. And theres always a chance that youll raise a ruckus, only to find out you were wrong and end up looking like an idiot. But Id rather risk looking like an idiot than feel like one for being too intimidated to stand up for me and mine.

I was in just such a situation a few years ago with my son Jordan. He was in seventh grade and playing a lot of sports when he came in one night and showed me a little knot-like bruise on his shin. He wasnt sure when he got it and it didnt hurt, so we figured he got it playing football and, since the season had just ended, we decided to wait for it to go away on its own. Then basketball season started and Jordan began practicing after school and competing on weekends. He soon began complaining of pain in his lower back, which struck me as odd for a twelve-year-old kid. I began to wonder if maybe hed hurt his back during football season and, remembering how Phillip had wrecked his body playing college ball, decided to take Jordan to the orthopedist to make sure everything was all right.