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

Its a trust thing...

This morning my husband and I went to the hospital to see some of our very best friends brand new baby. He was born at 9:30 this morning and what a cutie pie...totally handsome!

It got me thinking....if I hadn't miscarried I would be about a month away from having a baby myself. That could be a very dangerous thought because it can go two ways. It can lead to sadness, depression, tears and a day of being down in the dumps or it can remind me of Gods faithfulness and how He always knows exactly what I need when I need it. I choose the second.

That may sound strange but I know God knows my desire to have a baby and although I would absolutely love to be pregnant like yesterday :) He has a plan and its a perfect one. Who am I to think I know better than God? I'll never understand why I miscarried but when I think about it I really don't need to know...I just need to trust He knows.

Trusting God has always been a weak spot for me it seems. Yes, I can totally trust Him for other people but when it comes to myself and personal things in my life I seem to hesitate in handing it over. But its so amazing what God does when I do hand it over....He completely blows me away by reminding me once again He is faithful to me. So what do I do? Every single day I build up my faith by spending time with Him, reading His Word and singing songs to Him. The more I know Him and His character the more I love and absolutely adore Him....the more I trust Him.

I know God has a plan for me and my husband. I believe babies are in that plan so I look forward to that and I continue to worship Him in those times that don't make sense. He deserves all of me all the time.

Until next time....

Heart of Worship...

If you've gone to church at all in your life you're probably familiar with the old song "Heart of Worship"
"I'm coming back to the heart of worship,
where its all about You, its all about You Jesus.
I'm sorry Lord for the thing I've made it,
when its all about You...all about You, Jesus."

We hear it start playing and we begin to go through the motions singing along with it but not really listening or letting it sink in...after all, its an OLD song right! :)

Even so this song has been in my head all day today and its made me sit and think about what I'm actually saying.
"I'm coming back to the heart of worship...where its ALL ABOUT YOU, all about You Jesus"

When is the last time it was truly all about Him? When is the last time we sat down to do our study time or turned on some worship music to really focus on Him and we weren't interrupted by our phones, kids, laundry, spouses, life in general?!? :)

This song brings me back to my core which says, nothing else matters BUT Him! If I don't have Him as my center and my focus then everything else will consume me in my day to day life, everything else will become bigger and bigger and more and more unmanageable. He HAS to come first!

I love my mornings. Don't get me wrong I'm not a huge fan of mornings themselves, but I do love MY mornings. I get up about 7, the sun is coming up and the house is quiet. Work hasn't started yet, the phone hasn't started ringing yet and no one is wanting, needing or expecting anything from me. I make my breakfast, sit at my kitchen table, dig into my Bible, spend time in prayer and writing in my journal. Its my time with Him and I value it. I'm protective of it, I don't like anything to interfere with it.

It makes me think that's how God is with us. He values us, He's protective of us and He doesn't want anything messing with us or interfering with us. What a God we have the honor of serving! He loves us that much! He loves us so much that just as I don't like anything interfering with my time with Him, He doesn't like anything interfering with His time with me!

God deserves our best every single day. Like the song says "I'm sorry Lord for the thing I've made it, when its all about you" Its not about us. Its about Him. Lets show Him that everyday. :)