 When I played football in high school. There were a lot of guys that talked about how good they were and if they wanted to they could to this and do that. The problem was they never even joined the team. They sat in the stands watching us play but never experienced the game themselves.
I don’t want to be “all talk”. There is a saying: “Don’t talk about it, be about it”. I am learning that it really is hard to be about what you talk about. But I am embracing the challenge because I want to “be in the game” not just “watch the game”. What we want means nothing until you put “weight” on your thoughts. I am learning to keep my mouth shut about what I am going to do until I actually start doing it. Until next time.
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 Letting go of things is hard but holding onto them can be deadly. It does not matter if it is a relationship or a career change. Letting go of your world to create a new one is not easy, but it is necessary to move forward.
Many people hope for big changes in their life but are not willing to let go of who they’ve been. You can’t receive change, if your hands are full. Seasons changes and though a tree looks amazing during the fall they become bare in the winter. Their bareness is necessary for new growth. I am learning to embrace bareness for with it brings new growth, new experiences, new perspectives and a new life.  I can’t give up on my dream.
It is greater than just me. I have to keep pushing forward. No matter the resistance, No matter the temptations, or struggle. I can’t waste my time living in “what if”, My opportunity is now. I will not be afraid anymore. I will embrace my dream. I choose to live not simply exist.  Everyone has opinions on how you are suppose to live.
“Don’t eat that, Don’t wear that, Don’t listen to that, Don’t read that, Don't write that.” It is not that I don’t listen to wise advice because I do. It is that most advice I hear is fear based. I don’t want to live in anyone's box of fear. I meet people that are confused on what they are supposed to do in their life because someone told them what they loved to do was not good enough. The great thing about life is that no matter what has been said that we followed, we have the opportunity to change our mind. The uncommon voice that speaks leads us to truth about ourselves. It inspires us to be better than we have been. It pushes us to workout when we want to be lazy. It encourages us to pursue our dreams, when we want to quit. Happiness awaits our acceptance of who we are. When we follow our heart we discover a love that brings life to us. By letting go of the other voices we can hear the voice that speaks within our heart. The voice that leads us to living a life full of purpose. Until next time...  I remember having a crush on a girl in high school and actually writing her a letter telling her how much I liked her and I wanted to go out with her. When I called her on the phone she laughed at me. That experience made me afraid to share my feelings with other girls for a while; I did not want to be embarrassed again. It is funny how one event can frame a person for a lifetime.
How many adventures, relationships, opportunities have you missed out on because you held on to a bad experience? Life is too short to allow the past to determine your future. I don’t want to be afraid of what will happen, I want to take the risk and follow my heart. I had to take a risk in asking other girls out in high school and college. In doing so, I took my power back. Fear does not want you to make choices or take risks, it wants you to sit on the sidelines worried about what could happen if you were in the “game.” We have to take our power back and don’t live a boring, regretful, worrisome life. Now I am married to my best friend and it has been an adventure that I cherish. I am living not existing. I am going after what is in front of me not running from things anymore. Some may call it reckless but I call it exciting. Take a risk, step out of your comfort zone and enjoy life.  We need a moment of silence.
In the busyness of the day we can fall into the trap of hurrying through all that we do. By the end of the day our face is stressed, our bodies are fatigued, and we are looking for the nearest couch to rest on while we allow the television to distract us from all that we experienced in the day. We don’t want to communicate with our children. We don’t want to talk to our spouse. We just want to be left alone to enjoy our evening in silence. The problem that we encounter is we miss the most important time with our families because we don’t know how to handle the busyness that life presents to us daily. We don’t need to get away from our families we need to get out of being so busy. We need to relax and breathe in spite of what is going around us. We can then become an influence of peace to our surroundings. I don’t like to rush through my day but sometimes I allow what is happening to get me to rush when I desire to relax. Yes, we have responsibilities that cause us to meet deadlines and be on time but no one likes a product that is half done we all want the best. Believe it or not but when you give your best people will wait for it. When you have time it works for you not against you. Use the time you have to give your best. Take your moment of silence, breathe and relax for your best it is worth waiting for.  "If there is no door to your dream, create one." One of the biggest obstacles to reaching our dreams is we don’t see a door. Many hope that their dreams come true but few actually believe they will. Most don’t realize that what they see when their eyes are closed is more real than what they see when they are open. If you truly want the dream to come true, simply believe the dream.
Your faith creates a door to a world full of things deemed impossible. Faith is more than just positive thinking it is seeing beyond sight. It is connecting with what is in you and not allowing what you see naturally to blind your spiritual vision. You are a powerful being and when you begin to connect with that power nothing will stop you from seeing your desires and dreams manifest in this world.  "The race is not given to the swift or the strong but the one who endures until the end."
Talent is a great thing to possess but talent alone will profit you little. Your talent has to be nurtured and challenged for you to really discover the depth of what you possess. Many people can start a marathon but not everyone is willing to see it through until the end. Being consistent is a quality that will take you beyond just finishing one marathon. It will take you to the highest level and help you realize your potential. An important aspect of being consistent in what you love to do is, it eliminates the stress of trying to do it all at one time. No man can run across the United States of America in one day but if he consistently ran each day with focus and determination he would eventually get there. Why? Because he is not focused on the end, but rather the present challenge. Those that are consistent in life get things done. They may not be the most talented but they make up for it by having supreme focus for a short amount of time. Being consistent allows you to enjoy the journey and appreciate the present. No longer burdened by the massive goal set before you. You reach for the small goal ahead of you. If you are overweight, going from 300 pounds to 180 pounds would seem almost impossible and if that is your focus, you will eventually quit when adversity comes. It is not about a quick fix, it is about being fully present in your now. It is about being better than you were yesterday. The weight (burdens) will be a distant memory through consistently striving to do better than you did before. One day you will be where you set out to go but still eager to go even further. Your consistency will take you beyond your goals to places you never imagined going. “It's not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives. It's what we do consistently.” - Anthony Robbins “Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying basic fundamentals.” - Jim Rohn  Until yesterday I had been struggling with stress for a long time. No matter where I turned stress met me. Yesterday I was driving and was asking God what is wrong with me. I didn't want to be stressed out but it seemed to have a hold of me. I wanted to be free from it all. What I realized is I was trying to control my life. I was trying to make things happen without asking for help. In my pride I was keeping peace at bay. I was fighting against what I wanted most in my life: love.
Stress caused me to have a negative outlook on life and because of my negative energy I attracted more of what I did not want into my atmosphere. I created a prison cell and locked away my joy, peace and love. Guarding it day and night not allowing them to see the light of day. I wanted things to work so bad that I forgot I took the enjoyment out of my journey. I wanted to get to point B fast and was not willing to stop and enjoy the sunset. My life was in darkness and I was unhappy because I kept bumping into things. Upset because things were in my way, ignorant to the reality that I was in the way. I was blocking anyone in my life from being free to be themselves. I was controlling the light switch and was unwilling to let anyone see the Son. Thank God for awareness. When God opens the blinders and you see life as it really is, the negativity flees and all that remains is love. That is what God has done for me. He has let me see the light, not to show me how miserable I have been - that was self evident. He just loves, and in that unconditional love, I found hope, peace and passion attached to my purpose. I am excited. Regardless of the adversity that comes, I have peace that God will handle it. I don't have to worry, I don't have to try, I can just be. I can embrace reality with open arms. The word that stands out in the scripture above is: let. God is willing to rule our hearts with love and peace but will I let Him? Today, I will! Until next time...  Silence a girl sits in silence hoping to be seen by a boy. She dreams. Reality awakes her loneliness displaces her she undresses. Withholding nothing she confesses her desires carving ink onto trees she is brought to her knees stroking his ego he comes and goes darkness shuts the door. Silence a girl sits in silence hoping to be seen by a boy. She dreams...  In every course there is a plan. The plan of action is created by the teacher to cultivate learning a subject. You have reading plans that you must follow before you go to class, so that you can understand and discuss certain topics. Every assignment is purposeful, even though the student may not understand why at the moment. It is still purposeful.
"All things work together for the good of them that love God and are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28 When we decide to take the course of God we have no idea what we have gotten ourselves into. In school, success is based on how well you learn a subject and how good your grades are. In the course of God it is about failure. Your success is based on failure. You see, it is not about how well you perform because your performance can never meet God's standard. So it is in your failure you learn of God. You learn of His wisdom and you find your place in Him. Failure is painful. We would rather have success doing things our way than surrender our way to know the power of God. The course of God is humiliating. It is unbearable to our ego. No matter how hard we try to get a perfect score we always come up short. There is something amazing that happens through this experience of failure, we get one on one time with God. We get special tutoring and mentoring from God that teaches more than any book or class could ever teach us. We learn of ourselves, as our gifts are revealed in the presence of God. The course of God's purpose is to awaken our spirit that has been dormant and put to sleep our ego that has impersonated our spirit. The spirit does not desire accolades over service. The spirit is not puffed up but is rooted in love. Its aim is not to prove its power but to use its power. When you have spent time with God you learn to be slow to speak and quick to listen. You know that the teacher (God) is not trying to shame you to quit the course but learn to endure adversity. The teacher wants to see you reach your full potential; When we understand the process, which is we must be broken to see the amazing gifts inside of us. We learn to trust God regardless of how painful it may be. When we do, we find a seed within us that if we hold onto will grow into something beyond our imagination. For scripture references to go along with this blog, Email Me and I will send you some :) Until next time.  Are you ready to take the Course of God?
The Greatest Teacher was once a student. In college, it does not take long to know if you are going to enjoy a class or not. Normally it is not based on the topic, it is based on the professor. Professors push you, either towards learning or out the door. A great professor does not just have knowledge, they have experience. They live what they teach. Their dogma and philosophy is not as rigid because they understand from the perspective of imperfection. They don't hold up standards that are impossible to sustain. They push the students towards discovery; they want them to find their way. By empowering the students to look within, they unlock creativity and engagement which makes learning possible. For a great teacher, grades are secondary to learning. What good are excellent grades if you don't know your purpose in life? God is such an amazing teacher that He took His own class. He humbled himself and felt humanity. Jesus take the class and no matter how difficult it got he endured it. His love for His professor caused some in class to hate him. They wanted to see Jesus fail because he was not doing things the way they thought the reference material demanded. Jesus was closer to the professor than they were because they were afraid to talk to the teacher. They did not get understanding because of their fear. So, Jesus paved a new way; a better way. He took the lessons of the course and made them his own. In the end, Jesus took the test. One that he had to take alone. He could not get any help from the professor and though it was difficult he passed and graduated taking his seat on the right hand of the great teacher. Helping us now as we take the course of life. Where is your power? What Course are you taking? Do you hear God? How can you hear God if you don't take his class? How can you take his class when your schedule is filled up already? There are things in our life that need to be dropped. They are not empowering us to know God and learn of our purpose on earth. We are just going through the motions, missing opportunities to engage with God on a personal level. We see promises in the bible and claim them for ourselves yet never ask God for our own. I can relate to the stories of King David or Apostle John but I am not them. I want my own time with God. They were empowered by God to live and so am I. So are we. The power; our faith in God will cause us to change ourselves, homes, communities, cities, states, countries, continents, and the world. The power is in us. It is time to drop the courses that are wasting our time and join the course that will shape our life.  Psalm 91:4 (KJV) He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust : his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Years ago, I was up late with my newborn baby girl. She could not seem to get comfortable at all. As I tried to help her she would fight with me. Finally I pressed her close to my chest right under my arm and she was in "heaven." She quit moving and went to sleep. As I watched her sleep in my arms. I thought, is this what I do with God? Yes, I fight trying to find a place of comfort but as I search for the right spot I don't realize that I am fighting against my Father.
God is trying to place me in position so that I can rest. He wants me to have peace but I don't like what I am going through so I try to fight my way out. The way out is in His arms. God like I did, places us close to His heart so that we can feel His warmth and take rest. His love puts us to sleep. As we sleep, we have no worries and no pain. We live in peace, as God works on our behalf. I want to encourage you to stop fighting and surrender your life into the arms of God. Let Him position you close to His Heart that you may find rest. Realize that He is with you every step of the way and when things get difficult, don't fight just surrender to Him.  Am I too comfortable with God?
Am I taking advantage of His Presence in my life? There was a time where all I did was seek God. Literally all I did. At the time I knew nothing about grace. I was not drawn to God for his unconditional love towards me. I was drawn to Him because I was in need of Him. I still need God, but it is different now. Back then I felt if I did not do the right things then He would turn His back on me. I was caught up in the acts of self righteousness. I did good and I felt loved. When I made a mistake I was not loved in my mind. So I took everything out of my life that did not reflect what I thought God did not like. I turned from my "sinful" desires and did what was "holy". But then I met Grace. When I met Grace, I found a God that loved me not for what I did but for who I am. I am a child of God and nothing can separate me from His presence. In the process of learning of His love I fell deeper in love with God. It was not about what He was doing in my life anymore it was about what He already done. I was hungry for God's presence. I wanted my day to be filled with God speaking to me. If I am honest I have lost touch of that desire. I take advantage of the fact that God loves me unconditionally. I know He will never leave me, so I don't have to work on my relationship with Him. I know He knows everything about me. I know He loves me, so I just do as I please. The problem is not God's love for me it is my love for Him. I say I love God yet I don't turn to Him unless I have a request. I have lost that passion to talk to God about everything. I listen not to Him but to myself. My voice has drowned out His, but I am not happy. I miss my time with God. I miss hearing Him through life experiences. I miss talking to Him. Like a college kid missing the comfort of their parents presence. I desire God. I don't want to pour out my gifts and fill empty. I want to be filled by the power of His spirit. What I am saying is I don't want to feed on the life of others like a zombie. I want to live off the presence of God. My prayer is to wake up. Only in God are we awake. In everything I experience, I want to experience with God. I have been lost but now I am found. I was sleep, now I am awake. I was blind now I see. Speak Lord, I am listening. Let us wake to the Presence of God and live as only we can. Until next time... |
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