Are People Stealing Your Mangoes?

Last week I went out to run a quick errand in the morning. I was only gone about 20 minutes, but when I returned there was 3 strangers on my property taking mangoes from my tree! I didn’t make a peep. I am a pushover. I hate conflict. Heck, I didn’t even ask them to leave! They were literally trespassing! I let these strangers come in my yard and take my fruit without asking! I knew immediately there had to be a lesson in this little situation, so I prayed about it for a bit. What was God trying to show me? Here’s what I came up with..

I am letting people in my life steal my mangoes! And I don’t mean actual mangoes people.. By “mangoes” I mean joy, love, and precious time!

But it’s my own fault, because I don’t set any boundaries and tell them they’re “trespassing”. I have always struggled with this. When someone is asking for too much from me, whether it’s money, errands, rides, favors etc. I have such a hard time saying no. I “feel bad” or I “don’t want to hurt their feelings”, but in the end I end up hurting everyone around me by becoming bitter. I get snippy… I ignore text messages and phone calls.. I become selfish. So in turn, I actually become “the stranger in the yard” because my friends don’t recognize me. I get too overwhelmed with requests and demands from friends and family and think the solution is to isolate myself. And don’t get me wrong, I enjoy being alone.. a lot, I’m a pretty solitary person, a “lone wolf” ..if you will. But I have taken it to another level in the past, when I give too much of myself the isolation becomes extreme. I give so much that I have nothing left for anyone else. I crumble to the ground in a sobbing heap on the floor. Needless to say I’m a work in progress.. sometimes saying NO takes so much strength for me. And it’s funny, the people I am closest to are the ones I struggle the most with telling no to, when they would understand the most! I recently took one week where I promised to say “NO” a lot simply because I needed time to myself. And you know what… IT FELT GREAT. It’s ok to say no. God needs us to recuperate sometimes so we can do his work. And the moral of the story is….

If someone’s stealing your mangoes.. Tell em’ to get off your property!!!!