Coffee With God

What would you think, if I told you that you can have coffee  with God? It’s the first thing I do each morning. Once my coffee is ready, I sit down and talk to God. I greet Him as I would a friend. Tell him whatever is bothering me and ask Him for guidance, and then I listen. And He talks with me. He meets me because I put forth the effort to talk to Him. Sometimes it’s only a moment, but it gives me comfort, strength, and guidance for my day. 

God created the world and everything in it. He understands my heartaches, my hardships, and He knows how to overcome every single one. 

John 16:33 (KJV)

33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

What a blessing it is to be able to talk to our Creator. It blesses my heart greatly to know that my Lord will take a few minutes to talk to me. It pleases Him when we reach out to Him. He wants to help us through our hardships and problems, and teach us how to live victoriously through Him. We just need to make time each day to communicate with Him, but He needs to be a priority in our life. Waiting until our hearts are overcome with heartache is not the only time that we should call out to Him.

What a difference it would make in our life each day if we talked to God, first thing in the morning. Before we are distracted or consumed by our problems. The most important part of the conversation, however, is listening to God and then trusting Him. My life goes so much better when I trust God and leave my problems with Him. 

I want my life to become exactly what God created for me to be. In some way, each day, I desire to glorify my Lord. The only way I can discover His plan for me is if I ask Him, and allow Him to guide me.

So often we think that we have to figure everything out for ourselves. We take on the burden of making every decision correctly and on our own. And we fail to realize that God wants to help us. Reach out to Him today.

Happy Monday!

Candida 

The Secret to Life is Love

Saying goodbye to our loved ones never gets easier. Even though we know that death is the doorway to Heaven, it is still hard to endure. We want to keep our people with us as long as we possibly can because we love them. 

My uncle died this week. He was a great man who loved the Lord and his family. I have gone over and over our last visit in my mind. While it breaks my heart, there is also joy—not for me because my heart is broken, but for him. He is resting in the presence of our Lord. Nothing can ever hurt him again, and that comforts me.

Revelation 21:4  (KJV)

4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Whenever I experience the heartbreak of death, it always makes me to reflect on my life. What is important to me? How do I want to be remembered? 

After thinking about this for a while, my answer is love. We need to love completely, totally, unapologetically, and unconditionally—like the Lord loves us. We need to love without ever expecting anything in return. What if we treated and loved everyone as we would like to be treated and loved? 

My family is a wonderful example of this. They love without limits and restrictions. And I want to preserve that kind of love for my children and grandchildren, and their children and grandchildren. 

Of all the things that we could leave behind, a testimony of God’s salvation in our life and a record of love are the greatest. 

Love to you my sweet family and friends, 

Candida 

Are You a Worrier?

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, worry means to think about problems or fears: to feel or show fear and concern because you think that something bad has happened or could happen. 

Does this sound familiar? It is something I have to work on. 

We have all experienced some type of worry as an adult or as a child. Anxiety used to rule my life. I used to worry about everything and my mind was a constant state of uneasiness. I dwelled on my problems, the problems I might have one day, and the problems I had already experienced. This constant state of stress took a toll on my body and stole my peace. 

Until one day, I became so tired of always being fearful, and I asked God to help me. I knew that it would take more than the desire to change. In order to create lasting change, I knew that I needed a new mind-set. 

The Bible is filled with examples of faith. Since the beginning of time, God has taken care of His people. His love for Noah, Moses, Abraham, Daniel, etc. is no greater than His love for us. When we read their stories in the Bible, then we can see how God delivered them out of their troubles. He will do the same for us.  We need to seek Him and allow Him to guide us. 

Faith and worry cannot coexist. We have to believe that God will do what is best for us in all situations. While we may not like what we have to endure, God has a reason, and it is always for our own good. When we can develop this complete faith in Him, then our lives will be filled with peace. And we will be able to praise Him through the storms. 

Sometimes it is so hard. We don’t always like or understand what happens to us or our loved ones. But we have to trust God. In order to live a peaceful life, we need His love, guidance, and peace. In difficult times, we need to take our problems, fears, faults, and failures to our Lord. We need to seek His guidance and strength. We need to train our mind to look for the best in everything and everyone. 

The more we walk with the Lord, the stronger our faith will become. We need to learn to recognize His presence and open our minds to His goodness. He takes care of us in some way, every single day, but so often we are so focused on the bad things happening around us that we fail to see His mighty protection covering us. 

Here is a few ways that I welcome more peace into my life every day:

1. Start the day with my Lord. Read my Bible and pray. 
2. Do not watch the news or open my social media accounts until I have spent some time with God. I want His peace to fill my soul.  
3. Think about all the ways that He takes care of me. Write down my blessings and express gratitude for all the things going great in my life. 

The next time you experience a hardship write about it. Write about your feelings, troubles, and fears. And then write about the outcome. Open your mind to how God works out your problems. 

We need to remember, when the devil is working in our lives and giving us a hard time, that our God spoke the world into existence. Since He is the Creator of all things, He knows how to help us always. Trust Him. Seek Him. And allow Him to guide you, through good times and bad. 

Have a wonderful day!

Candida  

The Power of Habits and Why You Need Them

Habits can be helpful or harmful to us, depending on what type of habits we adopt into our life. Some of our practices are intentional. We might decide to exercise daily, and welcome healthy foods into our diet. Some routines, however, can be self-sabotaging. 

The Bible tells us to watch and pray, and I believe this should be in all things. The devil is waiting for us to mess up, in fact, he will help us out if we will listen to him. He wants us to destroy our lives, and he often sets up traps for us. It is never a big thing. Our enemy sneaks little things into our lives to cause us hardships. So often, we don’t even realize that we are failing victim to him. 

For me it is often distractions. If I’m not focused and intentional about my day, the devil will have me wasting my time. Instead of working on the project that needs to be completed, I will be snoozing and sleeping until the last minute and then rushing through my morning—forgoing my precious writing time.

This morning, I am so sleepy. It literally feels like I have sand in my eyes. It would have been extremely easy for me to go back to sleep. If I had skipped my writing time and workout, I could have slept for an extra two hours. But I have created this habit to get up early and dedicate the first two hours of my day to improving myself. I have dreams and goals, and sleeping in doesn’t propel me forward. 

Our time is the one of the most precious gifts that we have. It is not something that we can buy more of. When it is gone or wasted, we can never get those precious moments back. Lately, I have been thinking about my life. What will matter in the end? Will I wish that I had gotten more sleep? Or will I wish that I had left more stones for my children and tried a little harder to make a difference in the world? 

Serving God and being intentional about our day is never easy. We can, however, create habits to help us become more successful in our endeavors. Every Monday morning, I sit down with my laptop and start writing—whether I feel like it or not. Usually, I write a few words and pray. Hoping that the Lord will give me a thought or help me to articulate the thoughts that I do have. It’s never easy, but the weekly practice has helped me to develop a stronger writing habit. 

I also read self-development books. Learning how other people manage their time and productivity helps me. In his book, “15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management”, Kevin Kruse gives lots of examples to create better routines. Below are my top five.

1. Set daily priorities
2. Consistent morning ritual
3. Write everything down in a notebook
4. Work themes for every day of the week.
5. Don’t focus on time, but focus on energy. 

When we create great habits, then we will not be as easily defeated. For example, I get up and go to church every Sunday. My alarm is set to repeat every week. I don’t think about it. I just get up and we go. Because if I thought about it and questioned if I should go or not, then the devil would have an opportunity to talk me out of it. As it is, I have created a habit to help me achieve more of what in my life. 

We are all in control of our lives, and we need to decide what we want more of. Take some time today to think about what makes you feel happy, accomplished, and successful, and create habits to help you achieve more of it every single day. This is your life, do something every day to make it great! 

Have a wonderful Monday!

Candida 

Why You Should Make Yourself a Priority

How often have you tried to drink from an empty cup? We give our time, energy, and love so freely to others, but we often withhold it from ourselves. Where are you on your list of priorities? If we are honest, we will often discover that we don’t even appear on our own list. 

We make time to care for the children, time for our home, but we very seldom ever take a few moments for ourselves. Years ago, I remember being stressed out all the time. I would go to bed exhausted and wake up exhausted. Every part of my day seemed overwhelming. And so many times I prayed to just make it through the day. 

My problem was that I gave all of my energy, time, and love to other people. Every day I continued to give, without ever adding anything back in. I didn’t take time for me. Honestly, I thought taking 30 minutes to exercise, when I was already exhausted, was pointless. I didn’t see how my food would make a difference in how I felt. After all, I wasn’t hungry. Nor did I feed my mind and soul with valuable information.

I got stuck in the survival mode and barely made it through each day. I woke up in just enough time to get ready. My mornings were often rushed and hated. And I wasn’t happy with myself. 

It wasn’t until I decided to make a change in my life, that I found peace. Through it all, I learned to love myself. 

So what did I do?

1. Make the time to exercise. Just a few minutes a day helped me to clear my mind. It boosted my creativity and helped me to deal with my problems. 
2. Change my diet. Junk food has no nutritional value at all. It depletes our energy instead of helping our bodies to supply it. Superfoods, however, do the exact opposite. They fuel our body for peak performance.
3. Read something every day to encourage my soul and feed my mind. Reading scriptures and personal development books helped me to change my mind-set. 
4. Dream. Have personal goals and a plan to achieve them. We all need something to dream about and work towards. 
5. Realize that when I take care of me, I have so much more to give others. When I do all of the above, I’m more patient with my kids, more fun to be around, and have a better outlook on life. 

Decide to make the change today. Don’t put it off another day. Send me an email (candidasullivan@yahoo.com) and I will help you find a workout program that will fit into your life, a nutrition plan to help you feel your absolute best, and books to encourage and inspire you. This is your life, don’t settle for anything less than your dream life. 

Have an amazing day!

Candida 

How to Prepare for the Hardships of Life

If I had know that my workout would result in a fractured arm, four weeks ago, then I would have skipped it. But I didn’t know. I was doing something simple. Something I had done many times before. That evening, however, I was injured in an instant. 

This injury has reminded me that we don’t always know what is coming our way. While everything may be just fine in my life right now, it could change in a moment. And that’s why we need to be ready—to live our life fully and, yet, to be prepared for death. While we may not know what tomorrow holds or even the next second for that matter, God does. He foresees our future, and helps us to be prepared. 

Every trial that we experience now will aid us in the future. When we go through something so difficult with our Lord, and overcome the hardship, it sets up a memory for us. Then when a similar trial occurs, we remember how God helped us previously and that memory gives us hope, strengthens us, and encourages us to keep going when we really want to give up. 

These last four weeks have been so difficult for me. The intense and aching pain has accompanied me throughout each day. Simple tasks are difficult, leaving my body drained by the end of each day. Even though I’m exhausted by the end of the day, I’m usually hurting so badly that it is difficult to sleep. After a few days of constant pain and very limited sleep, it gets hard to keep going. While I would not have chosen this trial for myself, God knew it was coming and He has prepared me accordingly. 

All of those intense workouts and runs, where I wanted to give up, but forced myself to keep going, have strengthened me and increased my endurance, faith, and taught me that on any given day I am so much stronger than I even realize. Each Sunday that I have gone to church to learn more about my Lord has strengthened me spiritually, and mentally. 

The previous battles have taught me that through my Lord I am an overcomer. 

But I have also learned that I can’t wait until I’m in the midst of the storm to seek Him. If I do, then I am not strong enough to endure the hardship. And my lack of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding will cause me even greater heartaches. When I am prepared, however, I can praise Him through the storm, and reap the rewards that only the hardship can bring. 

So how do we prepare for hardships:

1. Seek God daily, through prayer and His word. 
2. Go to church as often as possible to learn and grow.
3. Step out of our comfort zones. 
4. Do something every day that is hard.
5. Trust the Lord.

From Unsplash.com

While I may not have chosen this trial for myself, I am so thankful that God chose me. Yes, it is difficult right now, but those that sow in tears shall reap in joy. My God is wonderful! He knows exactly what I need, and I trust Him to help me today, and always.

Have a wonderful day!

Candida

How to Be an Overcomer

It is so easy to get stuck in the I can’t do that mind-set. We often give up, before even starting, because declaring that we can’t do something is easier than trying. Stepping into uncharted territory is hard. And it’s only natural to want to quit at times, but the beauty happens beyond the I can’t do that mind-set. 

If we condition our mind to look at a situation, and decide if we can do it or not based on our on beliefs, then one of two things will happen. We will either conquer the world or do nothing. My fear is that I would land in the “do nothing” category. Because I would approach my life based on what others expected of me, what they told me, what they believed, and what I could see on the surface— without questioning it. 

For example, if I had listened to my doctors three years ago, then I would be disabled, depressed, and living the life that was expected of me. I’ve heard so much negativity about my condition, from others as well as my own negative beliefs, that it would be easy for me to believe that my future is doomed. In fact, it would be easier for me to believe that I will continue to decline in my health, than for me to believe that I will find a way to overcome the challenges. I have no scientific proof that I will get better, but I have hope. 

Instead of allowing the things I have experienced thus far to determine my future, I have faith, hope, and trust in God. When the world tells me something is impossible, I go to my Lord for clarity. And He always encourages me to try. Since He created the world, I know that He can help me overcome each challenge that comes my way. But only if I seek Him, and get rid of my negative mind-set. 

So how do we change our mind-set?

1. Ask ourselves if what we believe is the truth or based on assumptions.
2. Seek God. Ask Him to lead us and guide us, and then be willing to follow His instructions. 
3. Try before giving up. If something is impossible, then you will not be able to do it regardless of how hard you try, but be sure it is impossible before you give up.
4. Constantly test the limits. See what is possible and what is impossible. 

Our life is a gift, and we should nurture it daily. We are all capable of so much more than we realize. Just remember the devil can’t take away your greatness, but he will do his best to persuade you to waste your life, to hide your talent, and to give up because he can’t defeat you when you try. 

 Have a wonderful day!

Candida