Aha!

"Spiritual maturity is when you can learn to live above your changing, unreliable emotions rather than under them." When I first heard Dr. Rakes say this, well over a year ago, it resonated within my heart. However, recently I have become even more in touch with the truth that lies within this statement. Now, I refuse to pull the "I'm-a-girl-so-I-am-emotional" card, but to say that I am not an emotional person would be a bold-face lie. On most occasions, I can maintain control of the manner in which I express how I am feeling. So in my mind, the initial challenge was to make the "most" in the former sentence become "all". Within the past year, I have come to the realization that my perceived challenge wasn't the point. In fact, controlling the expression of my emotions is probably not even half of the battle. Though I had gained somewhat control of when or when not to express what I was feeling, inside I was a mess.

When concerning emotions I don't think that there is a truer statement than the one that Joanna Weaver writes in "Having a Mary Spirit." "Careless Thinking is a dangerous habit. For as our thoughts go, so go our emotions. And as our emotions go, so often goes our faith." Here's the "aha!" moment... this "living above the emotions" Dr. Rakes was referring has little to do with am bound to lose. But rather, living above my emotions consists of stopping the negative thoughts that pull the lever to send me on the emotional roller coaster that I know too well... protecting my thoughts, protects my emotions, which then in return preserves my faith.