#44 - Change Starts with Me

Good morning! Did you know that as a Christian you can expect and believe for God's favor?! The sentence or two from Friday... not sure if you had a chance to read it, but it is POWERFUL! Confess God's FAVOR upon your life today! "FAVOR FAVOR FAVOR! God's favor rests upon me now and is changing circumstances, situations, rules, regulations, policies, laws and even my mistakes to prosper! God's FAVOR is working for me now! AMEN!" Now, that is good stuff! If I were a preacher I'd say, "Don't shout me down when I'm preaching good!" Do you have a situation that you need or would love to see turned your way? Confess God's favor! As a believer in Jesus Christ, as a born again child of God, your FATHER wants to bless you and wants to see you blessed. He wants you to walk in being the head & not the tail. Confess FAVOR! But... do more than that! BELIEVE IT! Say it, and then smile. Shake your head in awe, look up to the heavens and just THANK GOD that when GOD is for you, WHO can be against you! Child of God, there is no way around it, YOU HAVE FAVOR! 
PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!! HALLELUYAH! As we SPEAK, God's FAVOR is working for us NOW! WOW! What a good thing!!


Well... it seems like awhile since I posted something. We had a great trip to Hilton Head. Tyler's job is a definite blessing, but how awesome it will be when daddy gets to be a stay-@-home dad with me!! We are blessed now, but that will be a whole new realm of blessing. We thank God for AWESOME growth in our business, our passions & our calling! Open doors all the time! To do what we love! Imagine this.... getting paid to do what you love! Now that is heaven on earth! It's happening now, we call it done in JESUS name! I'm pretty jacked... I read 2 books this week. I am on my own accelerated reading program. Nothing changes until something changes. Insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results! I am changing me. I am starting with me. I am excited about becoming a better me, reading books that inspire, that encourage, that move me on. Filling myself up so that I can pour out, so that I can give more. Who knows, if you are empty you have nothing to give. If the glass has no water in it, you can't pour out ANY water to share with others. I'm going to FILL UP as fast as I can so that I am overflowing... so that I can continue to pour out and fill back up again. VALUE. The law of value. "Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment." Bless people by exceeding their expectations. Are you serving? Are you adding value to others? 


Ok... let's get rolling this morning. Quite a long intro, ey? I was amening myself! ;-) haha! I needed to hear it, to be reminded! 

Proverbs 3:5 - Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.

Proverbs 31:15 - She rises while it is yet night and gets [spiritual] food for her household....

Side note: I just said "Hi" to my neighbor, Rick. Had a little "mini-conversation". That's another thing I've tried to change, or improve on. Being NICE to people! What a concept! In the past, I would be so caught up in ME, where I'm going, or what I'm doing... what "I" am trying to accomplish. Head down, focused. Walking fast, let's make a bee-line in and out of this place so I can get to the next thing, so I can accomplish the next task. I'm working on a time-frame here. No time to smile at people. No time to say hello. No time to have a conversation or to listen. Go Go GO!!! Anyways... it felt good to say hi to my neighbor Rick. He is typically a quieter guy... and he stood there and talked to me for a minute. :) It was nice. He's off work for a few days. Good for Rick. This weekend in Hilton Head... I made it a point to smile at people. Something free to give, but often priceless to receive.  Sometimes people just need a smile or kind word. I'm working on not focusing so much on ME!


Well, bless the LORD! To lean on, trust in and be confident in the Lord with all your HEART & MIND. To not rely on your own insight or understanding! Wow. Really think about that. I know I often think that I "know" things. For me... I think the biggest area I need assistance in this is my "daily agenda". To be directed by Him with my activities. This is my choice. As I clear my mind, I confess, "Lord right now, I lean on, trust in & am confident in YOU for my day. For my purpose, for my direction, for things to accomplish. With ALL my mind & ALL my heart, I trust in you! Father, I know that in my own insight or in my own understanding I am limited, BUT when I team up with you, my insight and understanding is LIMITLESS! Through you, I can understand all things. I can be divinely directed. Father, right now I CHOOSE to be directed by YOU! I rely on YOU, not upon myself!" 


Our Proverbs 31 friend... what I've in a bit held out from... dreaded... she rises while it is yet night and gets spiritual food for her household. I guess in reading it, it doesn't necessarily say that she gets up "before" her husband, but rising earlier would bless my husband. For me to be able to get spiritual food for myself, to serve my spouse & son better, to prepare myself more for the day, to not feel rushed upon when the boy is going to wake up. To rise earlier would be better. It would also allow me to bless my husband on another level, to rise while it is yet night and get PHYSICAL food for my husband. To make him breakfast. I already know that he would LOVE that. It would be a blessing to him. SO... a new goal. Rising earlier. Once up, I will be ready to go. Rising earlier will allow me to get more done in the morning. Prepare better. Read in the morning. Plan. Complete other tasks. 


What can you commit to today? Leaning on the Lord, more than on yourself? Rising earlier to prepare for your day? Spending more time in the Word? Giving to others? Smiling more?


What are you going to do? Change starts with me. Changing your world starts with you!

#8 - Taste & See

Good Morning! :) Drinking some STOUT coffee right now! We ran out of our favorite, our Hazelnut Vanilla Kahve Coffee (myxswellness.com)....should be coming in any day now. It actually won in a taste test against Starbucks! It's yummy. So, I'm drinking coffee from our Kerig. The K-cup I'm drinking this morning is called Black Tiger! Yikes! Even my dad said, with a name like that he was a bit scared to drink it! :) haha! It is pretty stout. And...it was a sad morning to open the fridge and realize there was no more cream! Whaaaaaaaa! :-(''''' So sad. So, I had to doctor my coffee up with milk, splenda & powder french vanilla creamer. One day, when I grow up, maybe I'll rise to the level of drinking my coffee black! Definitely something to aspire to do!!


Well, as I was getting in the Word this morning, I was definitely groggy & tired. The boy decided to wake up last night, so I was up for about 2 hours with him. Was quite interesting. But PRAISE GOD that I am in a position to stay up with my boy! And then, be home with my boy all day! What a blessing!! But, I also just thought, "Lord, can you really 'bring it' every day? Can you really open the Word up daily in an insightful & new way? Am I expecting too much?" Well, this morning I reluctantly opened up my Bible & began reading, I really just wanted to go back to bed. 


So, then I began to grab all these nuggets, some of the nuggets that we have developed our life on. Like take Proverbs 3:4, we use this all the time! Application of the Word in real life situations! When Tyler or I are going into a meeting, or a situation, or discussion with a friend or family member that may make us, in the natural, a little nervous - we quote this verse. "Thank you Father that I have favor & good understanding in the sight of YOU God, and man! Thank you that I have favor as I walk into this meeting because your Word says it, I can believe for it!" Then I read a bit further and found a financial nugget that we have built our finances on, Proverbs 3:9-10. "Thank you Lord that since we honor you with the firstfruits (tithe) of ALL (including financial gifts people may give us) of our income, we believe you that our storage places (bank accounts) ARE filled with plenty & our vats (bank accounts) will be overflowing with new wine (money/resources)." Then, going a bit further in Proverbs 3:13-18, we could just choose to tag team off of yesterdays blog and talk about "Skillful & Godly Wisdom" and what comes from possessing it. There are so many ways we could go this morning....but I'm going to choose a different path. 


Again...I always take text from the Amplified....here goes:

Proverbs 3:5 - Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.

Proverbs: 31:18 - She tastes and sees that her gain from work [with and for God] is good...

Sometimes just thinking about the Proverbs 31 woman can be exhausting. She is so perfect, has it all together, and it makes you wonder, "When does this woman ever take a break? Does she ever have down time? I just don't know if I can 'GO' like her...I don't know if I have the energy or stamina." Well, for that very reason, that is why I like Proverbs 31:18. 


Picture this, our friend has accomplished a lot. She looks back and with a small smile on her lips & satisfaction in her mind she sees that what she has done is good. She looks back on her work, impressed. I think that there may have been times where our friend did this.... she had her work completed, it was a success, so now, she wanders out to a rolling hill. Green grasses as far as the eyes can see, wild flowers planted covering large areas of ground. Looking in the distance, she sees the rolling hills, green grass & yellow, orange, pink, and white flowers. The sky is bright, bright blue with a few scattered cotton ball clouds. The sun is shining and she looks up with the sun on her face, a light breeze in her hair and just puts out her arms in pleasure. Our friend is taking a break to enjoy the fruits of her labor. She has brought with her plump grapes from her vines, and some food that she has brought from afar, and for the next several hours she is just going to enjoy the fruits of her labor. She has tasted & has seen that the work she has done was indeed good. This break to enjoy God & the beauty of nature is just what she needs to keep "doing good" and "accomplishing the good things for God". Her children are not with her, her husband is fine, it is simply her & God. 


Before Tyler & I got married and he was still in college, he took every Sunday and enjoyed a Sabbath, a Day of Rest. He didn't do school work on that day, he didn't train for track, he didn't clean his apartment or gather with friends to work on a project. He took Sunday after going to church, spent the rest of the day, he & a lawnchair, and sat down at the beach. It was Tyler, a good book, his notebook & his Bible. Just he & God. It took a step of faith to do this. To NOT train?! "Olympic hopeful", Big South Conference Champ 4 years in a row, to take Sunday completely off? We continued this "Day of Rest" after we got married...and then, due to help we were receiving from some business mentors, we stopped doing this "Day of Rest". Sometimes the only day they could travel to help us was Sunday, or Saturday and so gradually our "Day of Rest" (DOR) became just another day forgotten. 


About 3 years ago, the Lord got on us about not having a DOR. So, though decided to lean on, trust in & be confident in the Lord...to not rely on our own understanding. To us, taking a day off was almost "blasphemy" to our business goals. To our "GO GO GO" lifestyle. To our constant "productivity"... or so we thought. Taking a DOR, took faith to go back to it, and definitely took trusting in the Lord. 


Well... yesterday was our DOR. My favorite time of the week. A day where we just wake up when we wake up, drink our coffee together, sit side by side on the couch while reading and spending time in the Word. The boy then begins to stir and he gets up, happy & smiling. Mama doesn't do laundry, clean, work on taxes. Mama doesn't do anything that resembles work, & neither does dad. Even being around people, since we are around people a lot, on our DOR, we prefer not to even be around people. We like to just relax, quietly relax. So, yesterday we went to the pool, set up camp and enjoyed reading, getting a tan, swimming with the boy & even taking some sporadic naps. Our DOR is sacred. It is special. Not to mention, it is Biblical. "Honor the Sabbath Day and keep it holy." God worked 6 days, and rested on the 7th. 


Take a day & rest. Enjoy the fruits of your labor from the previous week. Taste & see that your work with & for God has been good. Do what seems relaxing to you. Do what is enjoyable to you. So you like to scrapbook, do that. You like to read? Sew? Sleep? Watch a movie? Play games? On our DOR, we do whatever REJUVENATES us mentally, physically & spiritually. We REST. We have even had seasons where we frequently would get a massage on our DOR. Your body & your mind need rest. And wouldn't you know it, we now get MUCH MUCH MUCH more accomplished during the week because we have allowed God to give us a plan, to lead us and guide us on our Day of Rest. So then, our work that we are doing during the week is not in vain because it has been directed from our Father. 


So, taste & see this week. Enjoy the green grasses & wild flowers or the quaint, quiet coffee shop, time by the pool in your gazebo, at the beach, by a mountain stream. Find a place that you can enjoy and have that sweet, quiet, uninterrupted time with your Father. No watch dictating your time, no cell phone with constant interruptions, texts & calls. Just you & your Father. 


Taste & See.