Category: encouragement

Monday Motivation: At the Very Least…

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My husband spoke last night and one of the things that really stood out was the question” at the very least, what are you doing?”
So, as today’s Monday Motivation, I ask you(and myself :)) that very question “What’s the very least that you could be doing?”. And this could be in any are of your life.
-What’s the very least you could be doing to achieve your goals?
-What’s the very least you could be doing to build your confidence?
-What’s the very least you could be doing to get healthier, have better relationships, communicate better, to love others more, to live the life you really want?

The list could go on and on, but the way to the answer is the same. Action. No matter how small, do something today that will put you on the path to be being your best self…even if it’s the very least you could do, it’s something and that means progress!

Mommy Declarations!

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Hi All!! I have such a heart for Mothers! I know first hand what it’s like to be so caught up in being a wife and mommy that it can be hard seeing myself doing anything else. Specifically the things that I am gifted to do…created to do. For the past week I have been making my declarations everyday and I can see the difference. I’m taking the time to change my mind and my actions are following.
I pray that whatever it is that God has called you to do that you do it…all while being the best wife, mother, sister, friend (and whatever else you are!)ever.
You can do it!  

Today will be a great day! Everything that I need to get done will be done w/out dread, with excellence and on time.

My children call me blessed! I am a mother after God’s heart, therefore I speak positively into the hearts of my children.

I am loved. I am beautiful. I am God’s daughter. I am confident in myself b/c I have complete confidence in my Daddy God!

I walk in my God given purpose on purpose daily.

I live under an open heaven! Every blessing that God has for me I recieve, with a grateful heart.

I am blessed to be a blessing.

I am productive. Everything I put my hands to is blessed.

Matters of My Heart…

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The matters of the heart are sometimes bigger than what we acknowledge…
I have spent years with a smile on my face and appeared to be nonchalant with a heart full of anger, insecurities, hate, jealousy and envy.
I thought that just b/c people couldn’t see what was going on in my heart that it was okay. If I was nice enough or even portrayed myself as unconcerned, I thought that what was going on inside would just go away and wouldn’t harm anybody.

I was sooooo wrong! My heart affected my relationship with God, others and everything about me. There were so many things that I had in my heart that were literally killing me daily. Low self-esteem, comparisons to others and thinking that I wasn’t important all came from my heart.
Although I never spoke some things out, the very sight or thought of some people caused the ugliness of my heart to boil over into my entire being.

Everything that is good and even what’s bad starts in the heart. I’m learning to keep my heart clean by being honest with God, speaking the Word and positive affirmations and studying the a Word.

A clean heart has brought me so much freedom, peace, confidence and a more intimate, real relationship with God that goes way past what people see…it’s goes and shines a light on every dark, dingy spot that tries to keep me stagnant and sitting in a place of judgement and scorn. A clean heart keeps me in a place of humility. Always recognizing my need for my Savior. Apart from Him a clean heart is an impossibility…but w/Him, and His grace, my heart is made new…daily.

Today Was One of Those Days…

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My day started out a little rough! An unknown car in my driveway at 5am, 3 kids that insisted on arguing and playing “karate kid” while they were supposed to be getting dressed, the irritation that comes w/seeing that the help you tried to give someone just isn’t helping…
Then you add to that the police coming to my house b/c of our home alarm going off and getting my oldest to school 30 seconds before her arrival time….and you can probably understand why at any moment I could have screamed!

However my saving grace was me continuing to tell myself that “great things are happening for me today and all things are working together for my good”. And the fact that today was also the first day of “BSF”; a weekly women’s bible study. We meet once a week for the school year; there’s a time that we all pray and worship together and then we break up into small groups and go over our weekly lessons that are focused on the book of Matthew. Afterwards we come back together worship and have a time of teaching and encouragement.
I was so glad to be a part of this bible study because of the diverse, authentic women that are involved. Just to hear people voice that they have been so busy w/life that they need time to get re-grounded in the Word and w/God is refreshing. It’s just so heartwarming for me to see women w/o the masks on say what’s in their hearts and just seek to be more intimate w/the One who loves them like no other…
So if everything that happened this morning was all so that I could press and be in the presence of some great women and a grace giving God, then I consider it all worth it! The enemy’s plan was to get me so frazzled that I would miss being in a place that my steps were ordered to be…I won b/c I didn’t give in and give up. So for that I’m thankful that Today Was One of Those Days…a great day, a grace day.

BE YOU!

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One of the best ways for me to quiet myself and get alone w/God is to clean.  And that’s what I was doing for awhile today…cleaning!  Maybe it’s the nesting kicking in full gear or just me craving more organization in our home, either way I got some things accomplished domestically on this day all while be able to reflect and thank God for where He has brought me too!

While I was cleaning, I was just thinking.  Thinking about the person that I am and strive to be as a 32 year old child of God, wife, and soon to be mother of 4.  And I can honestly say that a lot has changed over the years.

I can remember back when I first made a commitment to give my all in my relationship w/God.  A lot of things changed.  The way I talked, where I went, who I hung out with and even the way that I viewed people.  And most of this was for the better~I made a lot of changes b/c I felt a certain conviction and I no longer wanted to just please me, ultimately I wanted to please God.

And with the good changes and transitions, there were some not so good things too.  One of the biggest things that I struggled w/for most of my life was highlighted and even heightened in a sense…insecurity.  From as far back as I can remember I had always felt that I wasn’t good enough, pretty enough, smart enough, popular enough…and the list could go on and on.

And w/me being a new Christian, I felt this all over again and my list of insecurities grew.  I didn’t know enough, I wasn’t social enough, I was too quiet, my testimony wasn’t big enough, I wasn’t important enough to hear from God like others, I didn’t look saved enough, I couldn’t pray like the others…

And w/my list of “I AM NOT ENOUGH’S’ growing, so did Operation “Be Someone Else”.  I attempted to do, be, and conform to what I saw around me.  Everything that I envied in other people I tried to take on for myself.  In no way  am I saying that a person cant admire or even aspire to take on a personal quality that they love about someone else, I’m just saying that I tried to BE someone else other than who God created me to be.

And w/this trying to be someone that I wasn’t came even more unhappiness.  I was very unsure of myself, my gifts and even who God had called me to be.  I was a people-pleaser. I looked to other people to validate me and when they didn’t, I was broken.  I was constantly  afraid of disappointing others.  I couldn’t make decisions without checking w/others.  I was always offended.  Lastly, I put more into the words and opinions of others than I did into my relationship w/God.

I am so glad to say that all that has changed.  I can remember one day when the Holy Spirit told me to “eat the meat and spit out the bones”.  For me this meant that I was to take only what I needed to help me grow, the edifying things from those around me.  This one phrase caused the light bulb to go off in my heart!  I was no longer in bondage to the words and thoughts of others!

Slowly, I came to realize that God didn’t make a mistake when He created me.  I am an introvert and I am okay w/that.  For a long time I thought that since mostly all the people around me were extroverts, I was defective.  But soon, I realized I wasn’t.  I have a quiet spirit.  I love to spend time by myself.   I like to watch people and how they respond to others.  I don’t like to respond too quickly.  I am who God made me.

However, I realized that God can work through my personality if I let Him.  There have been many times when God just opens me up and gives me the opportunity to have some very meaningful conversations with people, and in those moments I know it is Him at work.  And in these times, I am so thankful b/c more than anything I know that I have made a genuine connection w/someone…even if it was for just a moment in time.

The point  of this whole post is this~Be YOU.  Be the you who God created you to be from the beginning of time!!!  Yes, being You may take you taking some w/God and totally renewing your thinking, but it is so worth it!  Having a true, authentic relationship w/God and to know yourself and love who He created you to be is the best gift that you could possibly give to others and yourself!  BE YOU!!!!!  The true you.  The God centered and created You…just BE YOU:-)