deserving

When I was growing up the word deserving always seemed to be attached to something negative.  For instance, when I came home with a “C” on my report card I was told that I got the grade that I deserved because I didn’t study hard enough. When I got in trouble or grounded, my mom would say that my punishment was because I did something to deserve it.   I didn’t hear the word deserve when we got an “A” on my report card or behaved well simply because good grades and good behavior were just expected.  This is not to say that I didn’t get praised or acknowledged for the good things, it is just that the word deserve was not part of that conversation.

That is probably why it was hard for me to understand and truly believe that I “deserved” the good things in my life too.  I always thought that good things only happened because I did something to make them happen (like work really hard or behave up to expectations).  But I now see things so differently. And I am so grateful!!

I realize now that I deserve good things not because of what I do, but because of who I am.  I now know that I am a child of God and I deserve of His love and blessing simply because “I am.”  I don’t have to work hard to deserve it, I don’t have to perform well to deserve it, I simply have to “believe” that I deserve it.

Even when I don’t live up to expectations (my own or the world’s) I can still feel deserving and worthy of not only good things, but GREAT things!!

What have I done today that makes me feel deserving??  Not much.  I simply believed!!