KEEPING MY EYES ON THE GOAL

FINALLY LOST MY HAIR

A week after my second chemo treatment, what I had feared happened.  I lost my locks.  I was trying from the beginning of this journey not to appear vain about losing my waist length hair.  The Bible says that a woman's hair is her glory, but I was reminded that Christ should be my glory and to count it all lost - my hair, degrees, family, friends, life experiences - I give it all away to know Christ and share in His suffering,  "...so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him..." This is easy to say, but not so easy to do, only through Christ.

 

Philippians 3:8-15 (The Message)

 ^7-9The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn't want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God's righteousness.
 ^10-11I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.

Focused on the Goal

 ^12-14I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.  ^15-16So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you'll see it yet! Now that we're on the right track, let's stay on it.