Ok - this is the last one, I promise, but this is delicate and important.
Our goal here is to stay focused on these goals. Anything that takes you away from that, you must remove. Now, don't get carried away.
If your spouse or significant other doesn't understand or what to understand, that's OK. You just can not say a word to him/her about this. You don't need to hear everything that's wrong or won't work - all that pragmatic stuff - your demons will do enough of that.
If you have friends who laugh at you, fine, don't discuss this with them.
If you have family who can't get their mind around what you're doing, you do not need to say anything to them.
If they persist upon asking you, you can choose to say nothing - not answer their prying, or you can make it clear to them, that they have their choice of looking at something, and you have yours, and you understand that they aren't in agreement, and that's OK with you, and hope that they would feel the same way: that because you aren't in agreement with them, they can accept that and go on down the road. It doesn't have to be a deal-breaker.
Here's the delicate part.
If it is a deal-breaker.....if you do receive an ultimatum, you might want to wonder why he/she/they are so fired up to make this a huge mountain. Basically you are using some tried and true methods of Christianity and faith-building to get you through a very hard time. There is nothing strange, odd, new or foreign about this. It is certainly not off-balanced (although it may appear to be so simple-minded that it may appear it wouldn't/won't work).
I am not here to tell you how to run your life. All I would want to do is make suggestions, and I would like to suggest that if someone wants you to give up your faith-driven beliefs to "save" a relationship, the relationship might need some looking into.
Please seriously consider discussing this with a professional. Praying, asking, seeking, knocking and believing are not weird symptoms of behavior. It might be good to ask some other questions regarding the relationship.
If you feel that your relationship is more important than this work, so be it. Your faith-driven work here will always be interrupted by this relationship especially if it's an "either/or" ultimatum.
You can also pray about this. This is the beautiful thing about the Holy Trinity, Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. That Holy Spirit is the God in you. He will talk with you and guide you through this.
Most often, people won't make that much of it. The worst that may happen is that they may think that you're a pie-in-the-sky type person, or you haven't got all your oars in the water. So what? What did they say about so many inventors, entrepreneurs, and other pathfinders in history?....the same thing. You just don't discuss it with them and do your devotions and meditations on your own. But no worries, while they are floundering around, and probably more likely, not expecting that much of themselves or life in general, you will be not only surviving, but flourishing.
If you do mention this to friends and family and they understand, it's great to have someone to share this with. You can share the surprises and be in awe together of the unbelievably good fortune that is coming your way. You can talk about how things seem to magically fall into place for you, while others are having a terrible time. While others are making excuses about the economy, you don't have to worry about that - God is worrying about that for you. All you have to do is believe.
There is nothing more fun than having someone to share this with, and someone as well to lean on and for you to be leaned on. The more the merrier, just as long as they are open to the belief that this works. If you feel more comfy with just a few friends, fine. If you like more, that's fine as well.
OK - believe it or not that's the finished part of my "List" Series.
I will let you rest for a while, then start on some basics. In the meantime:
Start that list!
