Are we there yet, Papa Smurf?

Are we there yet?
Yeah, that’s me talking to myself again. Usually when I start doing that it is because I am not happy where I’m at. With who I am. I can’t help but look at myself a year ago and the things I wanted to change and I have to ask myself if I have even started to change yet. It’s not that I don’t pray for guidance... I do. I pray everyday for God to guide my actions so I can be a better person than the one I was the day before. Some days he has to yell to get me to hear him, some days it is a gentle nudge in the right direction and well someday’s it comes to me like a brick out of no-where. How can I expect change if I hold on to the things that prevent me from changing. You can’t just alter the inside, you have to clean up what surrounds you on the outside if you want to see change. Unfortunately it is the things that are the hardest to get rid of. Jesus said if even our right hand, eye, anything causes us to sin we must cut it off. I know, that sounds pretty harsh to me too, but he also said we must lay aside every weight that hinders us. How can I expect to move, without leaving a few things behind. They may not be bad things, but my attachment to them may be the one thing drawing me further and further away from the person he created me to be. So starting today, one by one, I make a vow to release them. Every sacrifice I make to follow God is never really a sacrifice but a chance for life.. ...a better life. It may be hard, but I know God would never take away from me anything that I need, but actually GIVE to me more than I could ever imagine.