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Wednesday, June 7, 2017

This Too Shall Pass


This moment, we are in right now, will soon be gone. The pain and misery we are facing today will soon fade away. One day we will look back on this day as a memory. It is up to us to decide what we will remember about this time. Did the trial break us or strengthen us? Are we better because of what we endured or bitter? What did we learn from the trial? 

Whenever I go through a hardship, I try to keep my heart open to the possibilities and lessons that God wants me to learn. The moment I realize that the trial is happening for me and not to me, then I’m able to grow through it. We cannot become stronger without enduring pain. The pain is part of the growth. So often, when I’m in the midst of the fire, I want so badly for God to remove me from the pain. In His time, when the trial has served its purpose, God will bring me out the other side. And I will not be the same person. 

In order to be a mighty warrior for Him, we have to be willing to grow through our struggles. The strongest souls have endured and overcome the most pain. It is through the pain that we obtain wisdom, and learn how to serve our Lord.

Anyone can have faith when everything in their life is great. We can all praise God when our bills are paid, when our health is great, and our loves ones are alive and well. It’s when our life seems to be falling apart that the praise becomes the loudest. 

Today my rib and hip were both out of alignment when I saw my doctor. I’ve been in pain most of the day, but I can’t even be sad about it because I know this pain is only temporary. And I’m so grateful for this day that the Lord has given me. The enemy is continuously putting his attacks on me and God has never failed to help me overcome him. Today will be no exception. 

When the enemy is attacking me, God reminds me that this too shall pass. Our God can make a way when there is no way. He is always in control. Even though I’m struggling to walk, there is still a smile on my face and joy in my heart. My God is wonderful. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. 

Love and blessings, 


Candida

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Help Is On The Way


We all go through moments of uncertainty and fear. When we are facing a Goliath in our life, we sometimes feel alone. During these times, we need to remember that God loves us and He will help us, just as He helped David and so many others. 

Right now my heart is heavy. I have so many friends who are battling illness and going through different hardships. While the enemy always tries to paint us a picture of hopelessness, God is our hope. He has a solution for our every problem. He is there for each and every one. We are never alone. 

During our hardships, we have two choices. We can either a.) get made at God and turn away from Him, or b.) cling to Him and get just as close as we can get to Him. He understands our tears. He knows our situation. And He has a solution to our every problem. We just need to spend time with Him and talk things over with Him. After my surgery, when the pain was intense and my body was reacting from the medicine, I could feel His presence. When every one else was asleep, He was awake and with me. He never left my side. It is during the really hard times that we get to see how much He loves us. Our Lord can comfort us like no other. He can calm us and give us peace during the storm. We serve a mighty God, and He is always right on time. 

And, sometimes, we just need to put our life and our hardships into perspective. The devil tries to magnify everything. He wants us to get down and to believe the worst. God can change things in an instant. We just have to trust Him to take care of it all. 

Sometimes, if I am really struggling with my mindset, I ask Him to give me the right perspective to get through my hardships. In one moment, God can take a very difficult situation and turn it into a blessing—just by helping us obtain a new mindset. The things of this life really doesn't matter anyway. Our relationship with God is all that will matter in the end. When we put Him first in our life, then He will help us with everything else. 

Love and blessings, 


Candida 

Monday, June 5, 2017

Trusting God With Our Lives


We don’t always know what to do. Making life changing decisions can be hard. Especially since we don’t know what the future holds. Our Lord, however, knows. He knows what tomorrow will hold before we get there. That’s why it is so important for us to seek Him on all decisions. He will always lead us the right way. We just have to trust Him.

We usually try to complicate everything because we expect things to be more complicated than they are. God ways are easy, and usually the simplest option. In our minds, we usually dismiss the simple options because we don’t believe it will work. I remember when I was trying to get my book(s) published. I made it so hard on myself. Writing query letters, inquiring about writer’s guidelines, trying to find a suitable publisher, mailing manuscripts, and dealing with rejections. When I sought God’s guidance, I got the same answer—write a blog. At the time, I could not figure out how my blog would help me get published. But that was exactly how it happened. My publisher found me through my blog. 

It was the same way with my health. The doctors had complicated treatments that would have costed me thousands of dollars. All I needed to do, however, was remove the foods I am allergic to so my body could heal. Once I changed my diet, my body started healing—without medicine.

God is all wise. Before we make any type of decision, we need to seek Him. He gives us the absolute best advice. No one cares more for our well being than our Lord. 

Love and blessings, 


Candida

Sunday, June 4, 2017

How God Changed My Life


Then….
Before the Lord came into my heart I felt empty, as if nothing really mattered. My heart was always fearful, and I was afraid to go to sleep each night. Knowing that my heart didn’t belong to God made me sad. The emptiness, fear, and sadness never went away. It lingered in my mind always. 

Now….
My heart is filled with an amazing peace and love. Even if death came to me now, I know that it would be a happy exchange. God would transform me in a moment and a twinkling of an eye, and I will live with Him forever. God’s love gives my life purpose and meaning. My soul is satisfied, and joyful. 

Giving my heart to the Lord was the best decision that I’ve ever made. I’ve never regretted choosing Him as my Savior. He loves me unconditionally, protects me, leads me, guides me, and always helps me through the hard times. 

When I feel His presence nothing else matters. It is a joy that is better felt than told. He died for us. So I want to spend my life living for Him. I could never repay Him for the beautiful gift that He has given me. Even though I can’t repay Him, I still want to show Him my gratitude and love. Sometimes we just need to stop and think about what our salvation means to us personally.  

What does it mean to you?

Love and blessings, 


Candida 

Saturday, June 3, 2017

Enjoying The Day


I love Saturdays. They have a lazy feel to them. Even though I still end up working, because there is always laundry to do, I’m not rushed. Right now, as I write this, I am sitting on my porch with a cup of coffee, a beautiful view, and the wonderful sunshine. While I would rather be on the lake, my husband is working, one of my sons is taking a test, and the other one is getting ready to mow grass. It’s just not possible today, but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying the moment I am in right now. I've learned that I don't have to do anything profound to have a great day. I just need to be grateful for the day. That is the key. 

In a few hours, I am going shopping. I would like to have a new swimsuit for our upcoming vacation. My boys are so strict. They have specific guidelines for me. Haha. My dad was never as strict. So hopefully I will be able to find something that fits their guidelines and my approval. 

Next week, I have so much to do. Even my Saturday is scheduled. I am attending a writer’s conference and I’m excited about it. It’s great to connect with other likeminded people. Over the years, I have met some incredible people. My goal is to do as much as I can today, to help me be better prepared for next week. 

How are you spending your day?

Love and blessings,


Candida 

Friday, June 2, 2017

It's Inside You

Why is it so easy for us to see the greatness in others, but we ignore it in ourselves? How often do we think, I could never do something like that? It’s too hard. I don’t have the skills. We often limit our success because we limit our beliefs. 

Yesterday, I had this thought. 
It is inside you! The greatness, the strength, the ability to overcome, and the desire. Embrace it and allow it to transform you from the inside out. The only thing holding you back is you. 

How true is this? God dwells in my heart so there is greatness and strength inside of me. He can teach me, lead me, and guide me along the journey. We don’t have to have it all figured out to start. God wants us to trust Him, and step out in faith. When we stop listing all the reasons why it won’t work and start focusing on all the reasons it could, then we open ourselves up to receive a new opportunity. 

Anytime we start something new it’s only natural for us to have doubts. It’s when we start nurturing our doubts that we cause ourselves grief. Faith is believing in the things that we cannot see, but our heart’s desire. When we have hope, we can get through the really difficult moments. 

The greatness we desire is beyond our comfort zone. In order to get there, we have to step beyond what we know, what we have already experienced, and open our hearts to the new possibilities. It’s hard. But the only way we can change our lives is if we change what we do. 

Take the chance. Step out in faith and see what God has for you. 

Love and blessings, 


Candida

Thursday, June 1, 2017

Working On Me


Regardless of how hard I try, sometimes I still feel like that little, shy girl who shoved her hands in her pockets and walked around with her head down. The struggle is definitely real. While I want to encourage, inspire, and bring something amazing to the table, still at the end of the day, the only thing I can do is work on me. I can’t change anyone else. I can’t motivate, encourage, or inspire anyone on my own. The only thing I can do is share my experiences. I don’t have it all figured out. But I know the One who knows it all. 

Years ago, I realized that I would never have an ordinary life. If you’ve been following my journey, then you know there are always up and downs. Sometimes regardless of how well I eat, exercise, control my stress, etc., I still have days when life is just especially hard. Even though I have challenges doesn’t mean that I have to allow those challenges to define me or stop me. Instead of striving to be ordinary, I have decided that I really do want to be extraordinary. Not in the sense that I want to be better than anyone else, but in the sense that I want to become the person God created me to be. He didn’t call me to be like the world, but He created me to follow Him and to reflect His image. 

My flesh is weak. My ankle dislocates along with my ribs. I have muscles knots constantly. I have to eat a strict diet because my body can’t tolerate certain foods. If I work more than usual, I get swelling in my hand, wrist, and back. Even though I have received healing in my body, I still have issues at times. I could dwell on my flaws and imperfections or I can try to work on the person underneath it all. 

When I work on my mindset, then I am able to develop the right perspective to help me to continue along my journey. God has blessed me to overcome obstacles that I thought would destroy me. He’s helped me to go beyond my physical and mental limitations. Reading His word and praising Him helps me to rise above my limitations. 

Yesterday as I reached my step goal on Fitbit, the app made a comment to insinuate that those 20,000 steps were no problem for me. So often people see the success, but they don’t see the struggle. My legs and feet ached and I thought I would never get there. I hadn’t slept well the night before and my body was aching all over. To some it may seem crazy for me to keep pushing, when I’m obviously in pain, but to me I’m training. I’m teaching myself to go beyond the resistance, and to not give up when life gets hard. Every day those 20,000 steps are challenging for me, and every day I strive to reach the goal. Because I remember what it felt like to lie in bed, barely able to walk for months. I never want to be in that shape again. I remember having to make the decision to keep going or to give up on it all—my hopes and my dreams. When I decided to keep going and give my life everything that I had to give, that included showing up every day and fighting for my life. Even when it’s really hard. 

The greatest accomplishments in the world are the ones that are the hardest for us to achieve. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to surrender our lives to God, and ask Him to use us for His honor and glory. 

Love and blessings, 


Candida

Author shares message through Zippy the zebra