Who is He?

It's eight o'clock on a Sunday morning. You wake to the sound of your alarm, quickly shut it off, and climb out of bed. You grab your phone off the side and head to the kitchen. It's time to get ready for church. While the coffee is brewing, you give a shout to the kids to get up and head to get a quick shower. With your hair folded up in the towel, soaked from the shower, you make take in the sweet aroma of coffee while you make yourself a cup. Midway through you nice quiet moment, the kids roll out of bed, whining that it's too early and they didn't want to get up. You inhale and prepare for your day ahead. 

The rush starts.

Breakfast.

Brush teeth.

Get dressed.

Once the kids are ready, you run off to do something quick with your hair and throw on your waterproof makeup. After a twenty minute fight to get everyone out the door, you rush off to morning church.

Does this sound a bit familiar? I know it does for me because this is my Sunday routine. However, I had the moment to ponder this past Sunday on something. As I was doing my quiet time in the morning, I decided to do my daily devotionals. This was when I realized something. I never really sat and thought about who God really is. I push myself and my family to stay on track and be sure to include God in my everyday. I talk to Him constantly. I swear if someone saw me on a daily basis, they'd think I was crazy. Especially if they're not a believer. 

A small insight to a conversation I recently had with the Lord went a something like this...

I picked up the phone bill, took a deep breath, and opened it. (I hate when the bills come in.) I see the amount owed, which is too high for my liking. "Lord, you have a phone bill down here that needs your attention. This one is yours." I call out to the Lord. 

I have small moments like this during my day. However, I never really stopped to think about besides my Lord and Savior, who is He? I took some time to finally be able to answer this. Here is my answer to who He really is...

God is good and everything He does is great. Everything... I mean everything that he made is good. All of his actions and decisions are good. God is the meaning of what it means to be good. The thoughts that He thinks are always good and not harmful. He's always slow to anger and forgives quickly. When He is angry, this anger is always righteous. 

God is perfect! He always gets it right on the first try and He NEVER makes a mistake. The power He has over sin is strong and mighty. He uses our sins to accomplish good in our lives and helps us learn more of who we are. He is sovereign over evil, yet He is entirely separate from it. However, nothing is out of His control. 

He is merciful.

He is powerful.

He is knowledgeable in everything.

He is patient.

He is faithful.

He is true to all.

He is reliable.

He is honest.

He exists out of time and space. 

He is the creator of it all, including the universe.

He is the ONLY God who was and is to come! He is eternal.

God is worthy of all to praise His name, worship Him, love Him, abide in Him, and adore Him.

****

After I fully understood who God is, I realized that He is worthy of my love. He deserves the devotion I should give Him. He is obedient to my calls and prayers, therefore, I need to be obedient of His calls and plans for my life. Once I started being obedient to His plan, I found Him at the center of my life. My life was full of pure joy, perfect peace, and many blessings. 

Who is He to you?

My Beat Goes On..

In Memory of Dakota

It's been three years since I hear the worst words any mother would want to hear, "there's no heartbeat." Each year for our daughter's birthday, we have a worldwide balloon release and candle lighting in her honor. This year isn't any different. My husband and I will load up the kids, go pick out our special balloons, and head off to meet up with other family members at our daughter's forever bed. I'll play a song that reminds me of her and the way I am looking at the way things are. While the song plays, we release our balloons. I stand there watching the balloons disappear from sight while I'm praying she's seeing our efforts to remember.

My heart and soul will mourn her even more, today than any other day. However, I'll push on and continue living my life the best I can. I won't ever forget nor do I want to. The occasional breakdown from her absence is a reminder of how much I love her. Of course, I'll have people giving me what they believe are words of encouragement, but I know better. I just bow my head and pray. I pray for the person who doesn't have a clue. I pray for them because I don't want them to know how those words their speaking have no comforting effects at all. I don't want them to know the pain I hold dear in my heart. 

Yes, I have come to appreciate the pain that overcomes me periodically throughout my life now. It's a reminder of her existence and that's okay.

I refuse to put any pictures I have of her away as some had suggested. I refuse to stop visiting her grave. I choose to honor her, her life, and her memory. So, for today, please join me in remembering my daughter by lighting a candle. Snap a picture and share it with me. You can do this by joining the event on Facebook, emailing it to me, or simply sharing it on my book page. Either way, show me that you chose to honor her, too!!

You ARE Loved!!

I have found many struggles in life before and after my walk with Christ started. I stumbled, fell, and got back up. When I found my faith a few years ago, I was broken, shattered, and unsettled in my identity with Christ. I had so many insecurities and let downs. Immediately after my return to Christ, Jesus started to mend my broken pieces. During the biggest struggle in my life, I wrote my journey in a book to share with others and show them that they weren't alone. As I wrote this book, Jesus spoke to me and told me who I was in Him. I learned about my identity in Christ.

When I focused my life on my identity, God revealed issues and things I struggled with that weren't according to His plan. As I worked my way through His list, I learned far more than I could have imagined. I often refer to two different Bible verses to define who I am in Christ. The first is Philippians 4:3, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." The second is John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

These verses apply to YOU too!

God love you and there isn't a thing in this world that can change His love for you. He doesn't love us based on how close we are to Him or how much we pray. He loves you, even more than you love yourself. His love is unconditional! Even the times where you don't love yourself, He still loves you. In sin, He loves you. 

God loves everyone, everywhere, all the time. It doesn't matter what we look like, the things we do or say, or the way we behave. Yes, He wants you to turn from sin and follow Him, but this is because He wants an eternity with you and doesn't want to see you perish. 

So I am here today to inspire you to tell the enemy to quiet those lies he's been whispering in your ears because you are loved and cherished by the Most-High. You are the princess/prince of THE ONE TRUE KING!

New Look? Yes, Please!!

I wanted to share .......

Heavenly Realities: Stumbling toward Gratitude 

got a fresh new look. Check it out below and tell me what you think!!

Marriage & Social Media

The sun rises and the alarm goes off. Of course, I don't hear it but my son, who was sleeping next to me, stirs. His movements in the bed wake me up and I hear my alarm. I roll over, shut off the noise, and take a deep breath. Another day I have been blessed.

I grab my cell phone from the nightstand and pick up my son. We walk out to the kitchen to join my Mom, who's usually talking on the phone to my step-dad, who's on the road because he's a truck driver. Placing my son in his high chair with his breakfast, I make my way to the coffee pot. (Another one of God's amazing blessings: COFFEE)

Once my cup of deliciousness is complete, I sit to enjoy it while scrolling through Facebook. I see small bits of the lives of those I care about and those I haven't ever met. I see several articles with the "click bait" headlines, which I try not to click on. However, curiosity gets to me and I read the article. Most of the time these articles are usually centered around Jesus. However, some of them are of relationships, marriage, and romance. I try to stay away from any misleading marriage articles because I'm striving to follow the best advice one could get about marriage: the Bible. Now don't get me wrong. I also like to look up to those who have been married for the long haul, those that have the kind of marriage I pray to have when I'm older.

At times, I tend to watch the older couples in church and think that their marriage is sweet because you hardly see a marriage lasting that long. If it's more than five or so years, I tend to be in awe these days. I try to push myself away from "judging or coveting" the marriages I see on social media. I tend to feel that, at times, the polish was taken to the post and only the good times are shared. A lot of the time, we don't see the negative that happens within the marriage.  The shield normally covers the marriage and the transparency isn't available. These people only want you to see what they feel will get them some kind of attention. Now, don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with showing your love to your spouse online. I do this myself, quite often actually. I'm talking about the "perfect" family, marriage, and life posts.

We're not here to allow the world to impact our marriage. We want our marriage to impact the world. Thus meaning that the outside view of marriage shouldn't ever be used to shape your marriage. Your marriage (biblically) should want to impact the world around you. How do you do this without crossing the line of the "perfect" life posts? Easy.

Continue to live life with Christ at the core. Focus all your energy on Jesus and allow Him to do the talking. He'll take control and whisper to the hearts of those around you. 

Compelling and Creative Christian Authors

Life has been rather busy for me lately. Sadly, I haven't had the time to be inspired for another blog post because I've been so wrapped up in my move. Yep, I've found a cute little apartment, outside of my favorite little town, and now I'm making it home. During my wind down time at night, I like to scroll Facebook or read.

Today's blog post isn't about my books, but about books/authors I enjoy. I've put together a list of authors who I believe you'll love too. Check it out and I hope you find another favorite author to turn to in your time of relaxation.

1. Joyce Meyer - Motivational Speaker/Author

2. Annie F. Downs

3. Ann Voskamp

4. Mary DeMuth

Who would you add to this list?

Selfless Love

Love is talked about MANY times in the Bible. Love, as described in the Bible, is very different from the worldly definition of love. Biblical love is selfless, unconditional, patient, kind, boast less, proud less, trusts always, hopes always, and always perseveres. (1 Corinthians 13: 4-8) There is a  thing of too much self-love. Scripture doesn't tell us to love ourselves; it's assumed that people already love themselves. That's why in the statement, "love your neighbor as you love yourself" essentially means for us to treat people well. In fact, society already loves their selves too much and this is the problem.

Take, for example, Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan. In this parable, there was only one who showed to be true to the man who was in need out of three people; the Samaritan, a priest, and a Levite. The priest and the Levite refused to help the man in need. They failed to show love to the injured man, which resulted in loving themselves too much. Here they put their own interests first and not of the man who  was injured. The Samaritan chose to true love, Christ-like love. He gave his time, energy, resources, and money without hesitation and was focused on outward, not inward.

Jesus told this story as an illustration of what it means to 'love thy neighbor'. We're supposed to push away from thoughts of ourselves and care for others. We are supposed to value others above ourselves, and look for the interest of those around us. Not for what is overall best for ourselves. According to Philippians 2: 3-4, loving others requires humility, value of others, and a conscious effort to put others first. Anything less than this is selfish and vain- it falls short of the standards of Christ. In addition, we should love ourselves to a degree and not think of ourselves as worthless. The Bible does say we are of great worth because God created us in His image. This plays as a balancing act.

Let's take a look at what it means to be self-centered. The definition means when one is solely concerned with one's own interests. Usually, they are self engrossed and egotistical. No wonder it's an  unappealing trait. Most of the time, those who are self-centered don't take the time to understand another's point of view. A person who has this trait struggle to maintain a sense of compassion towards others or they have an internal need for acceptance by others.

As an example, Kim can be kind hearted and caring when she wants. However, most of the time you'll find her complaining about the things in life that aren't going her way or the way she believes it should be. You'll find her reaching for attention as a way to self assure. This could be done by her repeated posts on social media of selfies and the "I'm so wonderful" type posts.

Most of the time, those who post these types of things are looking for the attention. They're also known as attention seekers. Those who are self-centered are self-driven, more concerned about their image and the materialistic things around them, than any other issues in the world. Lying and manipulation are core to a self-centered person. They tend to lie and manipulate those around them to get what they want.

I personally think the self-centeredness is a sin, which should be avoided. As a Christian, we should be pushing to help, reach out to, and guide those around us. Manipulation should be avoided at all costs.

How do self-centered people make you feel? Does this personality trait make you want to be friends or does it make you want to get away from that particular person?