10 BOCNEWS.com JUNE 2017 Now don’t think that she was a weak woman. Women have a tendency to be very critical of each other. We make the assumption that when someone is down, that they’re weak or someone that doesn’t have dreams. Do not disrespect her and think she was a woman who didn’t want to be any- thing. She had dreams, she had ideas, she had goals, she had vision, she had desire, she wanted to be somebody. Sometimes when we see people down and out we say, “Well, you know if she really wanted to be something, she could be something…” But there are some situations that can happen to you, that limit you or they detain you temporarily. The Bible doesn’t say she was a lazy woman, it says she tried to get up, but she couldn’t get up “in no wise”. She tried different things, trying to pull herself up, but she couldn’t “no wise lift her- self up”. Have you ever gone through some- thing and it was difficult to get over? You’ve tried different things; you’ve tried to pray it out, you’ve tried to fast it out, tried to sing it out, tried to wor- ship it out, tried to shout it out, you’ve tried to distract it out, you joined the gym, you’re trying to work it out, you’re changing jobs, you’re moving from city to city. She tried a whole lot of things, but she couldn’t in no wise, lift up herself. I didn’t say she couldn’t lift up other people, I said she couldn’t lift up her- self. Ladies, we are guilty of lifting up other people, but you forget to lift up you! I mean, you lift up your husband, you build up his self esteem you, he is super man, ain’t nobody like you baby, you lift up your children, when they’re not feeling good, you tell them, “come over here, let momma kiss that away”. You tell them they can do anything, you tell them they can be anybody. You lift up the Pastor, you made the people in your office look good, you lift up your boss, you lift up your girlfriends…you lift up your boyfriend, you tell him he’s wonderful, he can do anything, you made people in the church look good…but nobody is lift- ing you up. You need to know, you are a priority. You know you’re healing and getting whole when you stand on your own two feet and start caring for you. Stop waiting for someone to take you out to dinner. Take yourself out to dinner. Stand in front of the mirror and say, “You know you’re looking fine today!” You have a right to be good to your- self. Celebrate yourself; stop wait- ing on somebody to celebrate you. Celebrate yourself. You are a priority, not an option. Take yourself out to dinner, get your- self your own limo, go get that new outfit you’ve been talking about, put it on and wear that! If someone gives you the side-eye…throw your head back, throw your shoulders back and know You Are a Priority! To learn more about Michele Leonard, go to HeritageChristianCenter.com. Be a part of the upcoming, “I’m a Priority, Not an Option” Women’s Mid-Summer Retreat on July 22nd. Register at HeritageChristianCenter.com Tickets are $15.00…tickets NOT sold at the door. Heritage Christian Center is located at 14401 E. Exposition Avenue, Aurora, Colorado. PRIORITY ... continued from page 9