What kind of energy are you radiating?

We all have an energy about us. Have you ever noticed that you seem to feel calmer around certain people, while others evoke a stressful feeling in you? My daddy has a very calming feeling to his presence. Sometimes I can just sit with him and feel better—even without saying a word. It’s as if he can transfer some of his faith and strength to me, just by being around him. In stressful times, he is the person I want to sit with because he helps me to know, in the really hard times, that God is in control and this too shall pass. 

I want to have a calming presence about me as well. I want to release all the anger, hurt, worry, jealousy, etc. and replace it with God’s love, peace, and joy. I want to live my life according to God’s will. I believe being in the center of His will is the key to it all. When we are living our lives for God, then other people will feel His spirit from us. 

Embracing God and allowing Him to be in control of our lives is the greatest way for us to live. After all, what can we really control anyway? I waste so much of my time trying to control my circumstances or other people. None of which is beneficial to me. Therefore, I know that if I could just accept what is and love people right where they are in their lives, my life would be so much better. 

I believe we do this by living and embracing the present moment. Friends, I have wasted so much of my time by reliving the past and worrying about the future. The reason we can’t remember what happened yesterday is that we weren’t really living in the moment. I can remember small details about the days when my children were born. Because I was fully present in the moment. It was special to me, therefore I enjoyed it. The same is true for vacation. But I don’t want to live my life waiting for special moments or for vacation. I want to live each moment as if it is important to me. 

So, I am learning to become aware of the world around me. Instead of using devices to waste my time, I am learning to appreciate the moments and to feel gratitude for them. And it’s working. Last night, as I went into my son’s room both of my children were in there. We all sat on his bed and talked for a moment. My kids said that I make them feel sleepy just by being around me. Hearing them say that was such a beautiful gift because I know that God is doing His work in me. 

Thank you, Lord, for teaching me how to be that calm presence.  

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Do you have a morning routine?

This week, I discovered the importance of a morning routine. When I wake up with intention and take the time to center myself in the Lord, then it sets the course for my whole day. Instead of just reacting to life all day, I am intentional about how I want to live. 

First, I have my coffee with God. I read and meditate on the scriptures. Then, I journal for a moment about what I have read and then write in my gratitude journal. Next, I stretch or do some type of exercise. My body is usually stiff when I first get up and this helps to loosen it up. I also do some deep breathing and relax for a moment. This helps me to clear my thoughts and center myself on God. And it helps me to pray. 

After all these steps, I sit down to write. I have a writing playlist that I listen to each day. My writing session always starts with the same song. When I’m writing no one else is up. My husband has already gone to work and my kids are still asleep. While the house is quiet I can get in the zone and write so much better. After I finish my blog, I post it to Facebook and my website. Then, I get ready for the day. I listen to audiobooks or podcasts. I love to fill my mind with encouragement before I head out the door. Finally, I do a live video and share something positive with the world. 

We don’t know who we will encounter throughout our day or the circumstances. But God does. Therefore, when we seek Him first, then He will help us to deal with whatever comes up. This is my favorite way to start my day. 

Do you have a morning routine? 

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

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Living in gratitude

God loves a thankful heart. It pleases Him when we are thankful for our lives and when we live in a state of gratitude. While being grateful might not change the circumstances of our lives, it can change how we feel about our lives. 

Years ago, I lived in a place of pain. I cried for the things that Amniotic Band Syndrome took away from me. Until one day, a woman shared her story with me. Her baby had died before birth because the amniotic bands had wrapped around the baby’s body. She never got to see her precious baby smile or watch him grow up. That day was the first time I was actually able to see my situation with a new perspective. 

I survived. I am alive to love my family and to be loved by them. When we truly put our lives into perspective, then we often realize our lives are not as bad as they had originally seemed. When we can dissect our lives, and truly look for each blessing, then we can find them in ways we never thought about before. 

We are abundantly blessed. Our every need is met. When we shift our focus from all the things we don’t have to all the things we do have, then we can see the abundance in our lives. Especially when we list all the things we have that money can’t buy. 

Right now we can all scan our bodies and find so many things to be grateful for. I’ve had people ask me how I could be so grateful for my thumb on my left hand, when I am missing fingers. If we can’t be grateful for the things we do have, then we wouldn’t be grateful if we had more. 

How we choose to live our lives is up to us. We can complain about everything or we can choose to be grateful for everything. Complaining will make us feel as if we don’t have enough because we are rejecting what we do have. Gratitude, on the other hand, will make us feel abundantly blessed. Therefore, we will be able to find even more things to be grateful for. 

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Give yourself grace

The moment we decide to make changes in our lives, the resistance shows up and life becomes harder. When I decided to do a live stream Monday through Friday, instantly obstacles started showing up in my life. It has been a daily struggle for me to just show up. This morning I am running behind schedule and I don’t see how it is going to happen. Knowing this upsets me because I don’t want to disappoint my Lord. I want Him to be pleased with me. Then, I had a thought. God knows my heart. All that He requires of me is my willingness to serve Him. 

Sometimes we require more of ourselves than what our Lord requires of us. Instead of allowing this to cause me further stress, I am just going to surrender it to God. If it’s His will that I do a live video this morning, then He will make a way. If He doesn’t make a way for me, then it wasn’t His will. 

Allowing Him to lead us and to guide us requires us to be obedient to Him. Sometimes doing what He wants us to do is not what we want to do. Our ways are not always God’s ways. We have to be flexible in our journey with Him and just trust Him to do what is best for us. 

So instead of being upset with myself, I am just going to give myself some grace. Writing this blog in the mornings, and having my coffee with God is my priority. Then, everything else I am able to do is an added bonus. Right now I am still in the stage of figuring this all out. I may not be able to squeeze in a video every morning. And that is okay. I will just continue to show up and try again. 

2 Corinthians 12:9 (KJV)

9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

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Stop comparing and start loving

Why do we compare ourselves to others? Why does someone else’s success sometimes feel like our own failure? Why do we allow the devil to give us guidelines for our lives? 

The enemy tells us that if get more then we will be more. He beckons to us with his lies. Our ego wants to impress others. It wants to stand out and to be something praiseworthy in this world. That’s why we feel as if we need to chase perfection. Our heart, on the other hand, tells us to chase a perfect God. 

Instead of trying to draw attention to ourselves with our so-called perfect lives, we need to be living in a way that puts the spotlight on our perfect God. We don’t need a perfect home. We just need to make sure God is in our home and that love dwells inside. We don’t need to try to raise perfect children. We just need to take them to church and to teach them about our Lord. And to love them unconditionally. 

When we focus on the things that are truly important, then we realize most of the things we fret over are not even important. We give power to things that are harmful to us. When we live our lives based on vanity, then we feel inferior or superior to other people. Neither feeling is helpful to us. 

The best thing we can do is to take our need for perfection and surrender it to God. When we can humbly lay all of our faults and failures at His feet, then He will help us to live our best life. In God’s eyes, we are all the same. He loves all unconditionally. Our worth is in Him. 

It’s when we try to separate ourselves from each other that we experience pain. We are all one body. No one is more important than someone else. Regardless of fame or fortune or how good someone’s life seems. 

At some point, we’ve all experienced failures and sadness, happiness and success. That’s what makes us human. If we see someone who is thriving in their life, then we need to rejoice with them. The same is true for someone who is hurting. We need to weep with those who weep. Lifting our brothers and sisters to God in prayer stops the need for comparison and opens the door for love. 

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You can't make me mad

You can’t make me mad. 

This is a statement that I repeat to myself daily. For many years of my life, I allowed other people to control me. I lived in reaction mode. Meaning that I reacted to the actions of others—as well as my own feelings. Whenever a situation came up, I reacted based on my feelings. Most of the time, my reaction was anger. It bubbled up inside of me and spilled out. Sometimes the eruption was a full-blown temper tantrum. And others times, I just stuffed the anger down inside of me. Then, I dwelled on it at every opportunity. Constantly thinking about it caused me to come unglued over unimportant things. While I hated my reactions, I felt as if I couldn’t overcome the anger. 

It got to the point that it really bothered me. Especially, when I was hateful to the beautiful souls that I love the most. So, I took it to the Lord. I prayed and asked Him to help me to overcome my anger. And He did. 

Now, I search for the truth and react with compassion. Most of the time, the reason we become angry is because of the story we tell ourselves about the situation. We make it all about us. We think we know how other people should act and feel. When they don’t follow our rules, then we become upset. Therefore, I have decided to just love others right where they are in their lives. Unconditionally—with no rules or expectations. When I decided to be me and let other people be themselves, then I stopped getting so angry all the time. 

While I do still get angry at times, I am actively working on it. I try to deal with my problems as they arise, instead of stuffing them deep inside. And I try to see every person I encounter as a beautiful child of God. When we notice someone hurting, then we just need to love them through it. Pain attracts pain. So if I answer the cry of someone else with my own pain, then we will end up fighting. But, if I notice their pain and react with love and compassion, then it will help them heal—instead of causing more wounds.  

This is also true for how I treat myself. Being angry with myself and talking negatively to myself is not helpful. When we make mistakes or feel down, we don’t need to push ourselves down further. What we need is grace. Choosing to love ourselves unconditionally, even through the disappointments and heartaches, is one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves and others. That is how we heal and continue to move forward in our lives. 

When we are rattled whatever is inside of us will spill out. Therefore, my goal is to have so much love and kindness inside of me that when I get rattled the love and kindness is what will spill out. I desire for love to be my default reaction.

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Prayer changes us

What if God is preparing you right now to answer the prayer you’ve been praying? 

We don’t always look at it that way. Sometimes we think because we pray, God will make everything easy for us and just answer our prayers like we want him to answer them. Trust me, friends, I’ve been there. 

While it is true God can do things that I can’t do, still, He wants me to do what I can. When I do the things that He wants me to do, then He will step in and do the things I can’t. Still, I have some work to do in each situation. God doesn’t waste our hardships. He uses each one to mold us, teach us, and strengthen us in some way. Through every trial, I have learned a valuable lesson and achieved the gift of wisdom. 

I love it when I can humble my heart and surrender it all to Him. I love it when I’ve reached the end of my strength and He shows me how to go beyond my preconceived beliefs. I love it when He gives me the courage to stand up to fears. 

Prayer changes things. It turns the impossible into possible. Right before the blessing, however, it always gets harder. That’s when most people quit. When it gets harder they give up. I’ve learned, however, that is when we should pray harder. And visualize the outcome we want. God wants us to pray, believing that He will answer. 

So my precious friends, today I encourage you to pray harder. Don’t give up. This trial is not meant to defeat you. It is meant to teach you. Pour your heart out to God and then watch how He pours His blessings out to you. Ask Him what He wants you to learn? It is a wonderful gift to be able to embrace the trial and know that the fire is creating something beautiful in your life. 

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