Pick a struggle!!!

When I see this meme it always makes me laugh...

It reminds me of something my mom would always say to me!!! Whenever she would tell me to do something and I didn't want to do it OR I was doing it but only half-heartedly, resulting in a SLOP JOB, my mom would say to me, "Don't be FAT AND LAZY!!!" I would always just kinda be like, Okaaaaaaayyyy...liiiiike kinda puzzled...buuuuuut OKAAAAAY MOM!!!

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Well one day she says this to me and I look her, then kinda slowly I'm like, buuuuuuut MOM, I'm ALREADY FAT!!! Without missing a beat and very matter of factly, she was like, WEEEEEEEEEEELLL, then DON'T BE LAZY!!! I was like, OH OK!!! 

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It all clicked for me, I already had ONE STRUGGLE, she didn't want me to add another to my list and be LAZY too!!! It may seem like she was being harsh with me to say something like that, buuuuut I know she was only trying to help me with a fault I had a tendency towards, LAZINESS!!! To this day, when I'm not wanting to do something or not putting my heart into, it I'll say to myself, Come on Mary, do a good job, DON'T BE FAT AND LAZY!!! "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might..." (Ecclesiastes 9:10)

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Sometimes when we have faults, we tend to say, WELL, this is JUST ME!!! Like it or lump it!!! Buuuuuut, the other day I was talking to one of my friends and I was telling them about how I was superrrrrrr nervous about doing something and they were like just be YOURSELF don't OVERTHINK IT, just go and BE YOU!!! I was like, yeah buuuuuuuuut, part of BEING ME, IS OVERTHING STUFF!!! They laughed and then were like, well that is true, so let me rephrase that,  go and BE THE BEST YOU!!! . 
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I actually read the other day an article about the top personality types to have a tendency towards being overweight!!! Would you be shocked if I told you all that my personality type ENFP was top on that list??? WELL IT WAS!!! Buuuuuut even tho my personality type is prone to struggle with this, I can't just excuse it, I have to WORK on OVERCOMING MY STRUGGLE!!! My personality type has a TENENCY towards certain struggles, buuuuut by the grace of God, I will strive to overcome my struggles...til I reach heaven!!! 

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Even though we all have tendencies towards certain faults, depending on our personality type, that doesn't mean that, that is THE WAY we are SUPPOSED TO BE!!! We may have struggles, because of WHO WE ARE, BUUUUUUT GOD has given us the power to overcome our faults

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Soooooooooooo my friends, PICK A STRUGGLE and instead of just struggling with it, PICK A STRUGGLE AND WORK ON IT!!! 

"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Cor 15:57)
♥Mary Frances :)

Every WHITE person...

I read or heard a quote one time that really BOTHERED me! They said, "Every WHITE PERSON, is overcoming prejudice!" I'll tell you what, when I heard that I was very ANNOYED!!! I thought, that is NOT true! I am white and I LOVE all skin colors and ethnicities!!! I love learning about different cultures and trying authentic dishes. Some of my closest friends are black! I've spent the last 8 years of my life doing outreach with African refugee kids plus refugees from many other countries

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 Furthermore, I've been this way since I was a little girl! When I was four years old I begged my mom for 6 months for a black baby doll and when I FINALLY got my black baby doll, Jessica, for my 5th birthday, I was ESTATIC!!! Its still the most memorable birthday gift ever. From that time on I marched around with that baby doll everywhere I went and informed everyone that, "WHEN I GREW UP, I was gonna marry a black man!"  I thought, the NERVE and audacity for someone to say that, "ALL WHITE PEOPLE are overcoming prejudice",

really, truly OFFENDS ME!!!

IN FACT, I find that statement to be a PREJUDICE statement!!!

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HOWEVER, after I pondered the statement in my mind for a little while, I realized that on second thought, this statement was INDEED true!!! ALL WHITE PEOPLE are INDEED overcoming prejudice!!! *Gasp...I know, I know, SHOCKING that I would actually agree with this...The problem with the statement is that the person that stated this STOPPED with JUST WHITE PEOPLE!!! The truth is that...

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All WHITE people, ALL BLACK people, ALL BROWN people, ALL YELLOW people, just ALL PEOPLE, EVERY COLOR of people in general, are in fact,  OVERCOMING prejudice!!! It doesn't matter if your THE MINORITY wherever you are, WE ALL have prejudice ideas about other ethnicities at one time or another.

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What does PREJUDICE mean??? The word prejudice, meaning literally pre-judgment, Prejudice means to have a preconceived opinion of a person that is not based on reason or actual experience. Prejudice is an unjustified or incorrect attitude (usually negative) towards an individual based solely on the individual's membership of a social group. For example, a person may hold prejudiced views towards a certain race or gender.

.We all have ideas that we come up with in our mind about that which is unknown to us

 You say, OH NO, NOT ME!!! Hold up,

 let me as you a few questions:

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-How many of us have ever felt a little nervous when we see men in turbans on the plane with us????? Yeah, that's PREJUDICE!!!
 -Have you ever held on a little tighter to your purse when you see a certain color of person walk by? That's PREJUDICE!!!
-How often do you see someone that doesn't speak English and you assume they're most likely illegal? That's PREJUDICE!!!
-Have ever you ever assumed someone that is light skinned and a straight nose is a snob???
-Have you ever thought all Mexican men are controlling and jealous?
-Have you ever thought all Texans are WEIRD?! (Wait aren't they???;)
-Have you ever assumed that all Jews are cheap? Have you ever thought all black people can't swim? Have you ever thought Asians can't see well because their eyes are slanted? Have you ever thought, White girls can't cook!???(I'm out to prove that one WRONG!!!!;)
-Do you think that men are funnier than woman??? (Okaaaay Hanna told me once that her brother's truly didn't believe that females could be as FUNNY as men, UNTIL they met me!!! Whoop! Whoop! She said they ACTUALLY said that I'm funny LIKE A GUY!!! That's such an AWESOMELY prejudice compliment!!! AHAHAHA!!! I'm glad i'm an exception to that rule!!! The funny thing, IS that I actually agree that GENERALLY SPEAKING, men ARE funnier than woman...I have TWO female friends that are SOOOO HILARIOUS!!! Like no one can crack m up like these two can and that is Kimberlee Ford and Alahondra...OMW those girls are HILARIOUS!!!)
-Have you ever thought all Californians are fruits and nuts!
- Have you ever said: Never trust a skinny cook!
-Do you believe that all black people can sing good???
-Have you thought that all Filipinos sing off key?
-Have you ever thought all southeners are racist and still fighting the civil war???
-Have you ever thought that Men are more adventurous than women???
- Have you ever assumed that someone that is physically disabled is also mentally disabled?
- Have you ever thought that because a black guy is tall he can play basket ball?

Have you ever assumed that just because someone is single and in their 30's that they are grouchy, don't like Hello Kitty, or wear heart shaped glasses and don't know how to have FUN???

IF YOU HAVE THAT IS A VERRRRRRY PREJUDICE THING TO ASSUME!!!

Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!

JUS SAYIN!!! ;))))

All these annnnnnd many MORE are examples of prejudice!!! I can think of two times I've specifically encountered prejudice in my life. Once it was towards me and once it was ME!!! AHAHAHAHA!!! The one towards me happened when I was 14, we had just moved up to Phoenix from Cave Creek and for THE FIRST time ever there was a black family that lived down the road from us. I was VERY excited about this because remember, I"VE been obsessed with black people since I was a little girl, AND FOR THE FIRST TIME, there was ACTUALLY a black family, RIGHT DOWN THE STREET FROM US!!! I thought that was just soooooo COOL!!! Well The little girl, her name was Fallon, she was my younger brother's age and quickly became friends with them.

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One day I was babysitting her over at our house and as I was cleaning and dusting in the living room, she just looks at me in AW and says, "Wow! I didn't know that WHITE PEOPLE could clean that good!" AHAHAHAHA!!! I thought it was HILARIOUS that she said that to me, buuuuut if you think about it, that was a VERY PREJUDICE statement for her to say!!! Somewhere in that little girls mind, she had this preconceived notion that white people couldn't clean. She just assumed that I didn't know how to clean, SIMPLY BECAUSE I WAS WHITE!!!

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MARY TIP: There is NO NEED to get OFFENDED when people are prejudice towards you about something as long as its done in ignorance and NOT hate. You can kindly correct them but there is NO NEED to get all touchy about it!!! Just let it roll off you!!! TRY laughing about it!!!! Heeeeeelllllooo PEOPLE...Some of this stuff is FUNNNNNNYYYY!!! AHAHAHAHA!!!

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The time I remember myself being prejudice was this one time two of my friends were racing each other on the beach. One was a thin African guy and the other was a little thicker white guy. In my mind I thought FOR sure the African dude was gonna win! I mean, come on, he's AFRICAN, he HAS TO WIN!!! And lo and behold, the little bit thicker white dude WON!!! I was, AND STILL am SHOCKED ABOUT THAT!!! AHAHAHA!!! That WAS and STILL is very prejudice of me to assume that the African guy would win, simply BECAUSE HE WAS AFRICAN!!!

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Soooooooo you see, I think that when all of us look inside of ourselves, we will all find that to some degree, we all have some prejudice in us. The problem is NOT the fact that we have prejudice, as HUMANS, I believe its NATURAL for us all to have some. I do NOT believe that prejudice is a sin! The problem, is when we REFUSE to overcome prejudice and allow it divide and separate us from one another. When we let prejudice to cause hate and disdain! When we allow prejudice to keep us from sharing the gospel message or loving our neighbor!!!

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So YES, ALL WHITE PEOPLE, ALL BLACK PEOPLE, ALL BROWN PEOPLE, ALL RED PEOPLE, ALL YELLOW, annnnnnd just in general, ALL PEOPLE, whatever the color,  are in fact PREJUDICE in one way or another, HOWEVER we are ALL able to OVERCOME PREJUDICE....

THROUGH JESUS CHRIST!!!

 

Because of JESUS, we can say, your my brother, your my sister,

lets GO TO HEAVEN TOGETHER!!!

"After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;" 

(Revelations 7:9)

♥Mary Frances :)