Today I awoke with a heavy heart. The night before was filled with loads of tossing and turning. And usually when I go through that the next day is filled with tons of the “I don’t want to be bothered”, a sucky attitude, a little bit of raging, no appetite, and just walking around with a big cloud over my head. But, surprisingly enough today was not that day. On the way to work I talked with a good dear friend who helped me to put some things into perspective. It always amazes me that things you may not notice, an outsider looking in can pick up quickly. Change is always good, but when change affects your personality, your character, and even your mood…..it’s time to take a step back and reevaluate.
So, while working today I decided to start working on this study guide I purchased yesterday called “A Time for Everything” –Discovering the Beautiful Rhythms of Life. It’s a Study Guide series through “Women of Faith”. The study guide is to help you find balance in your life. Immediately after starting it, I felt more at ease about some of the things that were bothering me. And just from completing the first assignment I learned that we have to stop allowing situations that are uncomfortable, inconvenient, and unpleasant to dictate our life. In those times we should be praying even more and praising him.
The assignment begin with talking about the 4 seasons and how there is a time for everything.
The scripture that supports this is Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. The lesson as what was my favorite season and why, what season best described my life situation right now, what the times I enjoyed were, and what time I least enjoyed.
My favorite season is fall.
I love the crisp air, I love the color of the leaves from the trees, I immediately think of Thanksgiving. I think of family, apple cider, a warm fireplace. I love that it is not too hot and not too cold. Most of all, I love that you can sport the cute girly jackets and boots. The season that describes my life situation right now is winter. When I think of winter, I think of it being brutally cold, icy, and dark. The times I enjoy most per Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 were, “A time to laugh”, “A time to gain”, “A time to dance”, “A time of Peace”, and “A time to build up”. My times I least enjoy were “A time to weep”, “A time to lose”, “A time to mourn”, “A time to hate”, and “A time to break down”.
The lesson continues with the story of Paul and his traveling companions in Acts 16:16-34. Paul and his traveling companions didn’t complain or abandon the cause, but began to praise God in the middle of the difficult circumstance and in response God did something miraculous. It parallel with what I had been feeling about a particular situation and God was revealing to me that I had to learn to stop reacting to certain situations in the manner that I am reacting to them. When we find ourselves in situations that are uncomfortable, inconvenient, and unpleasant we need to continue praying and to praise God.
So, I today I learned a good lesson and I am looking forward to keeping up with a balanced Life.
I haven’t always been at a place where I didn’t stress or worry. I have had it so bad that I have literally made myself sick in the past from being such a worry wart. But, I can gleefully report that 3 years ago, I decided that stressing and worrying will not occupy my thoughts, feelings, body, or my life anymore! For the first time I literally felt free! I literally “Let Go and Let God!” I had made up my mind that if I took it to God, then I would leave it at the altar. There would be no more praying about things and then trying to handle things alone. As a result, I now live a worry free life. And it feels GREAT! And when I tell you once the Blessings start to pour….it flows! So, when God is in the Blessing business…..He provides for you above and beyond and abundantly!
When we commit to action, to actually doing something rather than feeling trapped by events, the stress becomes manageable.
~Greg Anderson
Today I just so happen to catch the end of Steve Harvey’s new talk show while eating lunch at work. He was closing the show with some inspirational words. He was sharing with us a few quotes that he lives by and one quote stuck out and stayed with me for the duration of my day…..
“Be about the Business of doing something about it”
We can’t just expect things to always just fall into place. We have to actually get up and do something in order to be where we want to be. Action=Success, so let’s get Active!!!
What a great start to the beginning of an eventful New Year. A New Year and another chance to begin again. The slate has been wiped clean, so let’s begin!
First off…..did you check out lovebugsworld new theme!!! I am so excited because usually my theme involves the inner creativity in me and this new theme is not short of my artistic nature, but it also has meaning. For weeks I have been dreaming here and there of released balloons and today I decided to do some research on the meaning. Here’s what I found…..
~People release balloons at Weddings, Funerals, or for personal meaning. We can view them as a release of grief, a celebration of life, filled with messages, notes of remembrance, poems, etc. They can also be filled with flower seeds or even bird seeds.
What I also found is that releasing balloons can be harmful. To our animals and of course when they do come down, it’s littering. So instead of releasing an actual balloon, let’s release it in spirit. Let’s vow to let go of anything that will keep us from moving forward into the divined walk that God has placed us here for.
As for why I have been dreaming about Balloons….the only thing I can come up with is because I am embarking on new things in my life. Transitioning into the next stage of my life. And I welcome it with open arms!! I also embrace Change because it is only to make me better!
My challenge for you for 2013 is to do exactly what it is that elevates you to the next level. Mentally, Physically, Financially, even Emotionally, and most definitely Spiritually.
Even though it is almost 30 days into the New Year…..Happy New Year from Lovebugsworld to your world! Stay Tuned…….
Hello there…just where have you been? I thought I buried you. So why must you resurface again as if you are needed. It took awhile to get here and once again I have to face you. I’m not looking forward to this trip. Engulfed in a sea of what you use to be. Triggered by the need to put you behind me. Familiarity dares me to welcome you. Stubbornness to be strong holds true. I’ve built walls and put up guards just to avoid you because you were all a thing of the past and although at times it creeps back up lightening fast I want to hide so it doesn’t find me. But, somehow circumstances always present me with the challenge to accept it or decline and kindly walk away. So, as I stare back at what you were I can’t help but to smile. You just don’t do it for me anymore and since we are no longer one the best gift I could have ever given you I present to you with pleasure and that’s to watch me walk away…..again!
I was having an okay day today and after reading Definition of FAITH by fellow blogger thejourn3y my day turned out even fabulous!! This surely put things into perspective for me. Sometimes we think we have it so bad and not once do we think it could be worse. Just be thankful for what we do have!
“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase” ~Martin Luther King Jr.
Whenever I am unsure as to what my next step is in my journey I continue to pray for clarity and to have my steps ordered and guided. This quote always give me that extra boost of assurance that everything is already taken care of as long as I continue to do my part by praying, believing, having Faith, trusting and allowing God to handle the rest!!! We might can’t see the ending result, but God already knows….all we have to do is to take the steps!
I have never thought of myself as being inspirational until I began my blogging journey. I have always been opinionated and because of it I’ve been accused of being a “know it all”, bossy, lacking empathy, no emotion, mean, and the list could go on. The picture I am painting doesn’t sound too appealing, huh? It sounds like a monster, right? My argument has been, Yes…I am bossy, but I would never ask someone to do something I am not willing to do myself. Yes, I do feel like I know a lot of things, but I’ve never claimed to know everything. That would be insane! Yes, I have struggled with not having empathy. I don’t think I lack it completely, but I deem it where i feel it is necessarily suited. And usually it is not where the accuser feels it should be. Crazy thing is….for everyone that has called me anything other than my name, usually has to come back and apologize and tell me, “Hey, you were right!” But, I don’t gloat, I just keep doing what I believe is right and because I have the biggest heart, I will always still do my part and being exactly what God has placed me here to do and that’s be helpful! I do empathize with people and situations, but what I don’t tolerate are excuses. I believe whole heartedly in being who or what you say you are and doing exactly what you say you will. I believe in action. If you say it, then do it. There is nothing more disappointing than to be told something that is not carried out by action.
Lately, along with blogging, I have started back writing in my journal. I have seriously been trying to reevaluate myself….my life period. I believe I live up to what I speak, but I have been seeking the help from God to make me over. To make me fit in his eyes so that with anything I put out, it be from God. I am human, so I do make mistakes. So, I do ask for forgiveness when I do fall short. I am so thankful for how far God has brought me!! I will continue to seek guidance and to live out exactly what He has placed me here to do. And in that process, a few have deemed me as inspirational and even though I didn’t think I could wear that hat, I will accept it. There are those before me that have inspired me and there are people who are continuously inspiring me as I type these words, so If I can give back an ounce of what I have been given, then it makes my heart and soul smile. So, for every negative thing that I have been called, there is a piece of positivity lying within.
Ironically, I have been sitting on this posting for a few weeks, but today as I was catching up on some of my fellow bloggers posts, I came across my favorite bloggers site ispygod and exactly what I had been feeling, she had already wrote about, so it gave me the push to finish this posting. Writers block always come at the wrong time!!! Lol! So instead of scraping it, I decided to share it!!
There is no better feeling than to be able to identify when God has winked at you! Winked? Yes, God does wink at you. Have you ever been praying on a situation or asking God for a sign on a situation and you “randomly” have a conversation with a stranger or you stumble across something in a book, the Bible, a TV show, or anything out of the ordinary and all of sudden you have “ah ha” moment?! When that happens to me, I call it a God wink! Not too short of a comfirmation or even an affirmation!
Squire Rushnell wrote a whole book dedicated to God winks entitled “When God Winks at you”! It changed my life and gave me insight on just how powerful God is and how HE truly shows us exactly who HE is! It’s compiled of different stories about how God speaks directly to us. It truly has some amazing stories from real people and things they have encountered.
I just love when I receive a God Wink! It gives me that warm fuzzy feeling and it’s like I am soaring high on cloud 10,000! For example, I had 3 different customers on my job this past week engage in conversations ironically dealing with somethings that had been bothering me for awhile and I had been praying about. You could call it random or even a coincidence, but after talking with each person, the more I got the bigger message from God. I received my God wink and I felt at ease.
The more I have built my relationship with God the easier it has become to identify things and to better understand life. Life has taken on a different meaning and has become much more enjoyable. I understand things through a different set of eyes. Living out His words is when you truly began to live! So, I challenge you to open your eyes, your ears, and your heart to receive Him.
What has been some of your recognizable “God Winks”?
I know we tend to use the term “everything happens for a reason” so loosely, but I think the average person doesn’t really take the time to fully understand the reason or can even identify what the reason really is.
In every situation whether it is good or bad, I always try to figure out what role I played in it, what I did right, wrong, or what I could have done better. Some people call it anal, I call it being thorough so that I can not make the same mistake twice. If it was something good, I want to figure out how to be even better the next time.
In life we go through things to learn from it. If we never experienced anything how can we grow?! The decisions we make in life determine how our life exists. We have a right to every decision we make, but the consequences are far from our reach. We don’t control it…God does! We have to make better decisions and to do that, it first starts with building a better relationship with God.
Before we make decisions, we should be consulting with God. I don’t mean telling him what you are going to do, but asking to see if it aligns with what he has planned for us.
If you find yourself in the same situations over and over again then it’s time to try something different. Change is inevitable, but can be so beneficial. It can be the next best thing in your spiritual growth.
What are you going to differently? What works for you?
This past week or so has been a very trying time for me. I was just feeling like life is just like a roller coaster…the tracks are built for your cart to go up and down and when you are on the ride while it is down, you anticipate the going up! It has to go up and as slow as it may take it to go up, you know it is going to go up. These very words I had to give to a blogger friend today, but as I was typing it for them I realized I needed it for myself as well! Life is just funny like that. We go through all of these life rhythms and even though you feel like you might be off beat, there is always that point when you eventually have rhythm. It’s at these times where your faith has to be in tact. I was reading one of my favorite blogs ispygod today and she gave me that boost I needed to get back on track. As I was reading her post, all I could think about was Matthew 17:20….having Faith as small as a Mustard Seed.
Keeping the Faith, Believing, Prayer and Knowing that we can increase any and all areas of our lives with just that simple formula. Prior to writing this post, I decided to reread one of my many journals. I would be lost without a journal….a pen/pencil and paper is like my therapeutic realm. I collect journals not only because I love to write, but because I have to write; my thoughts, feelings, conversations with God, songs, poems, short stories, things to do lists(that’s another post within itself) or just to doodle is just how serious it is for me to have a journal handy at all times. As I was reading one of my journals, I came across a Journal Entry dated October 18, 2009:
Dear God,
These days my mind has been so full! There is just so much that is swarming around in my head and it is not any bad things. Today as I was getting my brakes done, the guy that was fixing them said to me, “I don’t hear any music, but you are surely rocking back and forth and that tells me that you are a happy person!” That made me feel extra good and put an even bigger smile on my face. I am happy, happier than I have ever been in a long time. I feel so at peace. It almost feels like I have this big secret that only you and I know about. I just want to scream and shout and just get my praise on and tell everyone I come across just how awesome you are. I was so upset that I couldn’t go to church today, but unfortunately my brakes gave out as I was pulling out of the driveway. So, I know there is a reason for that protection. Lord please continue to guide me and help me to make sound decisions spiritually, mentally, financially, and even physically. I thank you for your grace and mercy and patience. I thank you for all the blessings that you have blessed me with and will bless me with. All I ask is to be blessed to be a blessing to others. Thank you for all of my family, loved ones, and friends! I love you!
In Jesus Name,
Amen!
So, you see Life is full of rhythm and even when we get off beat, we can always find our way back and get right back in tune with the beat!! Reading my journal entry from 2 years ago really made me smile because it is so me to always rock back and forth because there is always music in my head. I truly fit the phrase, “Dancing to the beat of my own Drum.” It’s almost as if I am having a special dance with God because he is my leading man!!
I missed yesterdays “Photo A Day May” because it was so rainy and I didn’t want to take a gloomy picture of Day 14 “Grass”! So, I decided to wait until today since it is nice and pretty out. I was just reading butterflyofhappiness’ blog that I stumbled across today thanks to reading one of my favorite bloggers blog today(Eric at healthdemystified). The first thing that I see when I clicked on her blog is a picture of a Rainbow and I LOVE rainbows!! Rainbows remind us of God’s Promise…..Genesis 9:11-17. (Please check out her awesome post for today!!)
Yesterday was a trying day for me. I fell into a “I just want to curl up into my own cocoon and shut the world out” day! No motivation what so ever. I had decided at the end of last week that I would take a week off of blogging and just focus on trying to write my book that I have been working on and how do I start the week?!! In a funk of a mood. Maybe because the weather was so gloomy and my mood matched it, but I just wanted to stay in my room and I literally did not resurface until the lack there of sun went down. And then I was beating myself up for not sticking to the plan of working on my book. Let’s just say nothing got done yesterday.
Low and behold today…the sun is out and there is not a trace of rain and I was able to take my pic!! And in that pic there is a tiny yellow flower that caught my eye. That put a knowing smile on my face!! Just as I was composing this, I was thinking about the silver lining of it all….it’s okay to began again. We are blessed to see another day. It’s another chance to be all that we can be and continue to do exactly what we were placed here to do!! Happy Tuesday!!
I created this for my Instagram this morning, so I thought I would share it. Just some random thought while I was straightening up my house this morning…..
You will be amazed at some of the things that come across your mind when you are cleaning up. Because I am a music freak-o-zoid, I must have music in the background whether it is cooking, studying, taking a shower, doing my hair, and definitely while I am cleaning! So while I was making my playlist on Rhapsody, I decided I wanted to be on a “Jackson” kick. I compiled a list of Janet and Michael Jackson songs to accompany me on my cleaning. One of the songs that I added to my playlist is “Man in the Mirror” and as I busied myself, I sang, I danced, and I cleaned. Mid way in my cleaning, the song came on. Immediately I stopped and let the words and music resonate my mind and my spirit. Immediately I lapsed into a memory back when I was younger. I remember when the “Bad” album came out. My late Grandfather was a music fanatic as well and he would play this album over and over. I can remember on a trip to Maryland and MJ being the entertainment the whole trip! Well, this is when I fell in love with “Man in the Mirror” and although at that age I didn’t understand fully what it meant, I knew there was a message behind it. I can even remember when MJ performed this very song live at the “Grammy’s” in 1988. I was only 7 years old, but I still remember it. With a chorus in the background coupled with the words and how intense the performance was gave me a sense at the age of 7 that this was a serious message. Now as an adult, I still get that same feeling. The only difference is that I understand and get the message. So, today when that song came on….I was overwhelmed with emotion. I believe it has a lot to do with the onset of change. When change is on its way in my life…I feel it. Crazy, huh? But, it’s true. Somehow I feel when change is getting ready to set in and because I embrace change….I meet it head on. Change to me is always for the betterment. Change is inevitable and why not meet it at the front door. I welcome change because I know that change has to take place in order to renew my spirit. You can’t stay put, everything is a revolutionary circle!!
Today I awoke with a heavy heart. The night before was filled with loads of tossing and turning. And usually when I go through that the next day is filled with tons of the “I don’t want to be bothered”, a sucky attitude, a little bit of raging, no appetite, and just walking around with a big cloud over my head. But, surprisingly enough today was not that day. On the way to work I talked with a good dear friend who helped me to put some things into perspective. It always amazes me that things you may not notice, an outsider looking in can pick up quickly. Change is always good, but when change affects your personality, your character, and even your mood…..it’s time to take a step back and reevaluate.
Photo Credit: 
For example, I had 3 different customers on my job this past week engage in conversations ironically dealing with somethings that had been bothering me for awhile and I had been praying about. You could call it random or even a coincidence, but after talking with each person, the more I got the bigger message from God. I received my God wink and I felt at ease.
or just to doodle is just how serious it is for me to have a journal handy at all times. As I was reading one of my journals, I came across a Journal Entry dated October 18, 2009:
