Oh the favor!

I have not blogged in months and there has been so much blog worthy stuff going on in my world....so much to share that it may take me a while to catch up with myself!

However I'll begin with yesterday. :) I woke up early to have my quiet time with God before I left for the gym and during that time I talked to God about His favor on my life. I reminded myself, and Him (not that He needs it:)) that I am cloaked in His righteousness and I have His favor all over and around me every single day. I began to tell God I had a high expectancy to experience His favor and see Him all around me all thruout the day. Too often we just go thru our day not looking for God and expecting to see Him and its almost as if we're surprised when He shows up. But yesterday I made the decision to live intentionally, looking for Him and expecting to see Him.

So I go to the gym and then I stop at Starbucks. I pull up to the drive thru to see a semi-long line, but nothing out of the ordinary for 8am on a weekday. I order my drink and procede to sit in the line for about 5 minutes before I pull up to the window. As I get my card ready to pay, the cashier tells me my drink will be free today because they feel I waited in line too long. What?! Really?! Free Starbucks?! I don't know about ya'll but that is enough to make me sing! :) I proceeded to pull out of the drivethru and thank God for my free coffee!

You may look at that logically and say "well that was good customer service," and I would agree with you but to me I look at that and say "thats the favor of my God on my life!" That was an opportunity for Him to remind me how much He loves me! God delights in even the little areas of my life and desires of my heart. He knows that while yes, I love Starbucks....I also feel it is drastically over priced for some yummy coffee :) So He GAVE it to me yesterday! Just a little reminder of the prayer I prayed that morning....I was expecting His favor and He did not disapoint! I mean really...does He ever?!

Now while this is a little story about a free Starbucks coffee, I do hope it inspires you to expect to see God in your every day. I hope it helps you to remember He cares for you and loves you in ways you cannot imagine.....all the way down to the smallest things in your life! You are loved and taken care of by the King of Kings!

Now get out there and EXPECT to receive His favor and see how He knocks your socks off!

Take me out to the ballgame....

I realize its been a pretty long time since I blogged last...I gotta get better about that. :)

Anyhow, it hit me today how super close baseball season is to starting. Players report to Spring Training the end of next week!!

I know everyone says that baseball is no longer "Americas Sport" but to me it definitely still is. I absolutely LOVE everything about it! The excitement of driving to the ball park wearing all your gear, getting there early to watch warm ups and just hoping to get an autograph or picture with your favorite player. The standing for the National Anthem, hearing the umpire yell "Play ball!" getting all your favorite treats from the concession stand...or bringing your own cause they are way too expensive now! :) The 7th inning stretch, a tie going into the last inning, a really mean strikeout, sliding into home....oh man I could go on and on I just love it!

My love of baseball started at a really young age. I remember being just a little girl walking into old Busch Stadium in St. Louis holding the hands of my Dad and Brother. Every game I wore my Cardinals shirt and my Cardinals hat that was WAY too big for my head. Back then, even though I thought it was exciting, I looked forward to the cotton candy the most...can't lie about that. :) But I grew up with it and it grew up with me. Its in my blood! The sounds and smells, waiting for Fred Bird to come over to my section and hoping Ozzy Smith would do some back flips during the game. Pure excitement!

My Dad and I live in separate states now and baseball is still something that ties us together, it bridges the distance and makes it seem like we're not on the other side of the country from each other. We'll watch games over the phone and talk about the latest news, trades and updates. When the Cardinals come to town I'll call him from the game and keep him posted on the score....its just what we do and I love it. I plan to pass my love of the game down to my children and give them the same memories of attending games that my Dad gave to me.

I have high hopes for my Cardinals this season...as I do every season. Here's to believing they won't break my heart. :)

The power of a choice...

Looking around on facebook and twitter I notice a lot of people having bad days or life circumstances right now. It happens...."life" gets in the way sometimes of what we want or what we would rather be doing or be with. But how we CHOOSE to deal with these circumstances makes all the difference!

We make choices every single day and those choices affect our lives in either a positive way or a negative way. Most of the time we don't take the time to think about it and THAT is what lands us in trouble. Or maybe we do think about it and we just choose the negative road....

Don't get me wrong, I have those days and those moments where I just want to choose to be in a bad mood or choose to not feel good or choose to let my circumstances weigh me down and get the best of me....of course I do! But on those days I have to evaluate my life and keep it all in perspective. On the days I'm tired or not feeling well....I'm still able to get up out of my own bed with a smile on my face and live my life.On the days where I don't like myself very much...I get to remind myself I'm a child of the most high God and He thinks I'm amazing. On the days where my finances don't seem to be enough....I still have a roof over my head and food in my refrigerator, God WILL take care of me!

Its all in our perspective! The way we think things are, is the way they will be. Let me repeat that: The way we think things are, is the way they will be. Sometimes ya just gotta call those things that aren't as though they were and get on with the day. When we dwell on the negative our whole life goes down into the pit. When we choose to see the positive, our life will be on the mountaintop no matter what!

Growing up and still to this day one of my Dads favorite phrases is "make it a great day!" Only now as I'm older do I see the wisdom in that simple phrase. Any day can be a GREAT one, if you choose to MAKE it one. You can be in the middle of a crisis and you can still choose the joy of the Lord which will make your day amazing...bad circumstances or not. Choose today to not live a circumstantial life. We are blessed children of the most high God....ANYTHING is possible for us!

Remember that people are watching you...your children, brothers/sisters, parents, friends, people you don't even know! They want to see how you live your life, how you deal with trials and struggles. You are setting an example...is it a good one? If you've been inviting people to church for the longest time and they just aren't interested....what are you showing them? Are you showing them a life that is more than a conqueror and lived thru the Power of the Holy Spirit or are you showing them a life that is defeated and just barely holding on?

So the next time you want to say a negative thing or write a negative status or tweet....remember to CHOOSE different and spread the positive to your world and all your friends. :)

Promises Promises...

Hey everyone!

First I want to say I hope everyones new year is off to a great start! How many resolutions have you broken yet?! haha!

We all make resolutions...stuff we don't want to do anymore, or stuff we commit to doing. How many gym memberships are purchased at the beginning of the year, never to be used ever again?! :)

The thing I've been thinking about in all these resolutions is how many of us have expectations for the new year? Things we are believing God for and expecting to happen?

I have TONS of things I am believing God for and I have faith they will happen. Not because I present them to God like a wish list to Santa, but because I know they line up with His Word and I know He is faithful to those who serve Him. :)

What are you expecting God to do in 2011?

I love Psalm 91...I was reading it yesterday and verse 4 says "He will cover you with His feathers. He will shelter you with His wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection."

The Bible is FULL of Gods promises and all we have to do is read it! I keep His promises alive in my heart by reading them, thanking Him for them and reminding myself of them even when I dont' see them coming to life in front of me everyday.
There will be times when what we see from day to day definitely doesn't line up with what His Word tells us. But Psalm 91:4 reminds me that He covers me in his wings and His promises are my protection.
What do I need to fear??

2010 had bumps and bruises for me, as I'm sure it did for you, but it didn't stop me from expecting BIG things and even BIGGER things in 2011. No matter what comes my way I know I can continue to believe God for amazing things because He shelters me and His promises protect me.

So when trials come, which they will, remember His promises for you and know He has BIG AMAZING WONDERFUL things for you....always be expecting!!

All of me...

In my studying today I read Psalm 139. FIRST I have to say I absolutely LOVE this entire Psalm...so many awesome things in it, but verses 13 & 14 totally stood out to me today.

Its SO easy to get down on ourselves and pick ourselves apart. We're too short, too chubby, our hairs too straight or too curly, we're not smart enough, we don't like the way we talk, on and on and on!! We do it everyday, sometimes so much we don't even notice we do it anymore!

These verses remind us that God knit us together while we were still in our mothers womb and He made us extraordinary and wonderful! On top of that He made us in His image so that means HE is extraordinary and wonderful! The creator of the universe also created us and He says we are amazing!

David said "I will praise You!" David knew what was up! He praised God simply because He was alive to do it and he understood God made Him just how He wanted him to be.

We all have bad days...I'm sure David did too...after all He was being chased all over town by Saul ;)
But if we just take a second and remind ourselves who made us and who we belong to, it puts it all in perspective. We can always go to the gym, change the color of our hair and learn to apply makeup to fix all the rest! :)

And to all a good night!

Just wanted to take a quick moment to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!

In all the eating, gift giving and fun lets take a moment to remember the real reason for the season and say HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!! :)

Hope you each have a wonderful day with your families and remember how much God loves you....He sent His only son afterall! ;)

Kiss someone under the mistletoe today!

All you need is love...

I just absolutely love this time of year!

All the lights sparkling everywhere, the beautiful decorations, the candles that just smell of Christmas...which I'm not sure how they do that, but its perfect! :) The shopping for that perfect present and wrapping the gifts for under the tree and most importantly celebrating the birth of our Savior Jesus! I just love all the love that's in the air!

I've been challenged to not only remember why there is so much love in the air during this season but to take it OUT of this season with me. Its so easy to be loving, kind and cheerful during Christmas because, at least for me, its kind of hard NOT to be but I believe the real challenge is to be the exact same way ALL year long!

Jesus said "they will know you are my disciples if you love one another." (John 13:35) This wasn't something He told us to do when we feel like it or when someone is nice to us, He simply said "love one another." Its so easy to love others when they love us or show us kindness but to love the "unlovable" is what Jesus did. This challenges me to my core because obviously that's not the easiest to do, but because He did it, we are able to as well.

So this Christmas have fun, wear something ridiculously sparkly and love one another! :)

xoxoxo