Some of you are so wrapped up in being who God has called you to be that you’re willing to do anything to serve the Lord. But… Read more “Get your own armor! The more you know God the more you find you.”
Tag: life
If my life is a song, what are people listening to?
Our lives are all a series of choices. We decide what we want to eat, what we want to wear, the shoes we want to show off, what we want our makeup to look like, every aspect of who we are is put on display for others. I would like to say that I don’t really care what others think about me but that just wouldn’t be 100% truthful. Some part of me no matter how small has a certain version of myself that I want people to see. That’s a choice that I make daily. Of course I usually run into everybody and their grandma on the day when I am a mess! Not even a hot mess, just a mess. But that is besides the point. When I’m intentional, there’s a version of me I like to show.
God’s plan Vs Mine: The ultimate Comedy?
Do you ever make it to the end of the day and look back at it wondering how you made it to the end of the day?
That has happened to me more often than not lately. I feel like the mad Hatter at the end of every day, I’ve changed a few things since I woke up. I had to because so much change happens in one stinking day I have no choice but to adapt or drown in the craziness. It has seemed like life just keeps throwing these curve balls that I have no idea how to handle. To the point where I have no idea it’s coming until it just about hits me in the face! (Possibly one too many analogies, but I’m gonna roll with it, message me if you’re really bothered)
— Mad Hatter
Roughly 4 years ago God planted a dream in our hearts (my husband and I.) We had this crazy idea that God was going to use our past craziness, to help others who have been through the same things. We found that one of the best tools the enemy has in his pocket is loneliness, and he is very good at making us feel like we are all alone. We are pretty good at doing that to ourselves as well so lets not give the cheeky little booger too much credit here! I know I was great at reminding myself that there could be absolutely no other person on the face of this planet that has ever been sexually abused, or taken away from their parents at a young age. (puhlease!!) However that didn’t change the fact that I felt all alone, and completely unloved, even when I was surrounded by all of my brothers and sisters and amazing parents who adopted me. Even when I got married, in the so-called honeymoon phase, I was lonely. For a long time my husband felt the same. Like he was unworthy because of the things he had done.
Through time, friends, and our eyes being opened to how much God loves us, we have seen life differently. One day at a time has given us a passion to show others that guess what? We are never ever alone in this fight against the world. He gave us a dream to go and share that passion. So we prayed and decided no matter what the answer was, we were going to say YES to God. Not only is that a very hard prayer to pray, but it is an even harder prayer to follow though with!
God called us away from our friends, and family, and everything comfortable in our life! I had never even been to Denver, yet here we were moving there with our two young children. I must admit at first when my husband told me that this was where he thought we were going, I was not having it! I told him we were gonna fly him there so he could go see the city, pray over and see if that was really where we needed to go. Meanwhile in the back of my mind i was thinking there’s no way this is gonna happen. neither of us had ever even been, how were we supposed to move there?
God was giggling, I just know it, because lo and behold, we moved. 
We moved with this BIG dream and no idea how it was even supposed to happen, or function, or even what it was really supposed to look like! regardless we stepped out with the faith that God was going to lead and we were going to follow no matter how crazy I thought he was.
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human mind has conceived the things that God has prepared for those who love him.”
1 Corinthians 2:9
Let me tell you, I had no idea. This last year and a half has been a nightmare! Business fell apart with our business partner, the work outside that was very minimal. So we have been financially strapped to the bones, I got pregnant for someone else, (read all about that soon, promise) while also working full-time as a nanny to two. Plus I do happen to have these two little people who follow me around everywhere and call me mommy for some reason. 😉 We have been stretched in ways that I never knew we needed to be. The first year we lost track of our dream. we allowed ourselves to get caught up in someone elses dream with the idea that maybe just maybe, ours tied into theirs. We basically died a little inside spiritually at first because we realized how much we relied on others. Not for our beliefs, or standards, but for our fire. When you are surrounded by people who dream it’s pretty easy to catch the disease and start dreaming big too! When you are by yourself and people look at you like you may be slightly touched in the head because you’re telling them about the vision God gave your husband for your dream that is sooo much bigger than anything you could ever accomplish on your own, it’s easy to not dream. We moved from PA to Fort Collins, Co, then to Denver, then we moved to Las Vegas, and now we have the opportunity to go home. To have the things we prayed over before we even started this adventure, things we thought God was saying no to. An example of us thinking it’s a no when really God was saying not now. Because we have come full circle back to our dreams, simply because we walked in obedience to God.
God taught us through the very rough patch that we need to catch the fire from HIM! There is no one who can take it away or cause it to simmer when all the fire we need comes right from him. He taught us what our dream looks like!!! We are so stinking excited about what is coming. When there is a passion in you for something beyond yourself, god moves mountains. God has given every one of us passions and talents to be used for His glory. I am so excited to be able to do that. When you get down to what it is that you are truly passionate about, and decide to use THAT for the display of Gods splendor, then a fire is ignited inside that burns so bright! I hope you feed that fire. Life for us is starting to look up but we are still very much in the midst of all the craziness. Barely making ends meet yet tithing, knowing that God will provide. We are provided for even when the numbers don’t add up in my head. God is good and he ALWAYS provides!
What is your passion? I want to hear from you!! My passion, if you can’t tell, is writing. I also love talking to people so leave a comment, message me on FACEBOOK, I would love to chat about your dream, and how to make it reality no matter what life around you looks like!
The beauty of the in-between
Today is Saturday, the day before Easter. Tomorrow is a celebration of the fact that Jesus rose from the dead. Friday is celebrated as the day Jesus died on the cross and suffered tragically for us. I have never heard a whole lot of talk about Saturday. It’s a day of waiting, the in-between. There isn’t a whole lot of significance to the day in the middle of the miracle.
I can imagine all the people who watched Jesus die were thinking one of two things on this day those many years ago. They are either really bummed because they expected him to rise, or they are flaunting the fact that they didn’t think he was the real messiah anyways. Hardly any time had passed really, I mean had it even been a full 24 hours since he suffocated on the cross and said “It is finished.”
How long are we willing to wait for the miraculous? So many people were ready to write him off as not coming back. They believed in the words he was saying for so long but then when it didn’t play out the way they expected it, well then it just couldn’t be right. Some weren’t even willing to wait more than a day. It was expected to happen immediately, without delay!
That’s not what happened. Looking back we can take today and feel the anticipation building all around. I can imagine this tide growing, and creating this amazing atmosphere! When in reality it was probably anticlimactic.
Have you ever expected something awesome from a movie that was based on of an incredible book you read? You expect something amazing to happen and it falls very short of our expectations. Getting our hopes up for something awesome! You read this amazing story with so many juicy details and the movie that was made is in a simple word, lacking. I can imagine that is what everyone was feeling on Saturday. They thought it fell short. People barely gave the miracle time to build!
What miracle have you been expecting that you feel has fallen short? Could it be that you are in your Saturday? The day right before the most amazing thing is about tp happen? Are you turning around and getting ready to go home without a miracle just because you’re not willing to wait long enough?
The entire day Saturday was probably spent wondering if/when Jesus would walk out of the tomb. Just because the miracle hasn’t come the way you wanted, or in your timing, doesn’t mean it isn’t coming. Don’t miss out on your miracle because you’re not willing to wait out your Saturday! Keep Faith and stay strong, Jesus didn’t raise from the dead in everyone’s expected timing.
Unfocused: 3 steps to changing your focus
If we sat down for coffee today it would probably be my third cup. I would have to apologize because my brain would be going a million miles a minute trying to talk to you while simultaneously making a bullet point list of the seemingly endless tasks to be done in the house. We would also have the children running around like chickens with their heads cut off. I would like to say that it’s just because it’s Saturday and have the energy, but I’m pretty sure it’s because I gave them waffles for breakfast. I was in the middle of doing something so I let my oldest put on the syrup. So it’s all the sugar that’s got them slapping each other and jumping on all my furniture. I would also be distracted by everything running around in my head. All the ways I want to respond to people playing against the way I know I should respond. Some are not uplifting, that is why they’re only in my head and not out of my mouth. There’s the argument that I am rocking, warring against myself on how I should feel compared to how I actually feel. I’ve probably also been holding my tongue because my feelings are hurt but I can’t share certain things or I will only cause more drama and others feelings to be hurt. It’s hard work to make sure my heart and my brain are where they need to be! To be focused on building others up and not tearing them down. So many other things to focus on than the one that matters.
That, my dear friends, is why I am so grateful I did not sit down to have coffee with any of you this morning. I spent the entire morning feeling so overwhelmingly stressed. Then I made my children go outside and I turned on worship. Aaahhhh… decompression has begun.
I woke up early this morning and had a brief time with God. For those of you that know me, I am not a morning person. I can wake up and be cheery, sure, I just don’t want to wake up. I used to be able to sleep in, then the kids woke up and the chaos rained down. This mama definitely did not get enough Jesus to deal with my children in the light loving voice and manner I know I need to have.
Step 1: Step out of your moment.
I lost the focus I was so close to grasping when I read my bible this morning. Everything else seemed to take precedence in the fore front of my mind. To the point where I was so beyond ready for nap time and it was 10:30. I didn’t even have the intention of changing my focus. I just needed something to be louder than my girls arguing in the back yard. I’m at the point where my response tends to be “work it out!” At least until that doesn’t work for them. So I stepped out of the moment of frustration I was in and I turned on worship.
You are my one thing: by Hannah McClure came on my playlist. I couldn’t help but stop and worship.
“Just to be close to you, just to walk next to you, this is my one thing, you are my one thing”
I realized my one thing was not Jesus this morning. I had, like, 40 things that I was trying to focus on. My brain and my heart have been pulled into so many different directions it was taking the focus off of what really matters, Jesus.
I continued to worship and shift my focus. Praying over my situation. Leaving the sink full of dishes and the floor covered in tiny little crumbs for a little longer, so I could re-focus. Even my girls came inside to worship a little. I got to show them what matters most this morning and it definitely wasn’t the boxes in the basement, or their bickering.
Step 2: Shift your thoughts
When my thoughts are so focused on the negative things, the things that need to be done and all the business around me, that is what my life becomes. My reality turns into this stressful thing, where so much needs to be done and there is so little time to actually get any of it done. If I shift my thoughts to the beauty around me, no matter what my house looks like or the tasks that still need to be done today. Shift my thought to what I am grateful for, even if I don’t feel grateful right that second. I can live with less stress. I can turn my totally unfocused and frustrating morning into an enjoyment. What you focus on becomes your reality, is absolutely true. The more time you spend thinking about something the more it’s going to control you.
Step 3: Share your shift with someone
I encourage you this morning. In your stress, no matter what it is, your focus is pulled from the one who centers us, so take a moment and stop everything you’re doing, yes even reading this post, and focus on God. Whatever works best for you. For me it’s worship, stopping and praising Him in the middle of the times when I feel overwhelmed. Changing where I choose to focus, because it is definitely our choice. For you it might be reading your bible, or getting away to a quiet place to pray. we can’t control what’s going on around us, or what people may do or say to us, but I can certainly change where I decide to put my focus. Today, I choose God!
Then share it with a friend. Talk about the beauty, and your gratitude with at least one person. The more you talk about it the more you will be focused on the beauty and not the stress. The love Christ has for us and not frustrations surrounding us.
If you need someone to talk to, or someone to get advise from, or you would like to share with us, please do not hesitate to email us!
Distortionfreeme@yahoo.com
I would love to hear about how you re-focus on God. I know we can always use some new ways to make sure He is the center. So please leave comments and share with your stressed out friends.
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