Inspiration

This is just so amazing to me! It's a unique form of worship, and I just love it! I wish more and more people (myself included) would just step OUT the box and totally be who God has called them to be. My constant prayer is that we would each use our gifts and talents to bring glory to God---using them in the way that only WE are designed to do so. There are just too many people trying to be carbon copies of others. There is only one YOU, and no one else can do what YOU do like YOU. Seek your own destiny out, and God will provide and make it prosperous.

Enjoy!

Just be obedient

Can anyone agree with me when I say obedience can sometimes be hard? I think alot of people try to make God conventional. But God is soooo unconventional. God always sees the bigger picture. Last Wednesday at church, Dr. Bradley was speaking on obedience. I love when a pastor is all is your business lol The Word can cut you for sure. But it's the sharp Word that shapes you into who you're meant to be.

He went on to say he once was offered a job making a whole bunch of money. So he was going to accept it. He had never made that kind of money in his life. He spoke with his pastor at the time and his pastor told him to pray. He had his mind set on it already but after prayer, God told him not to take the job. He had the choice to be disobedient but he chose to listen to God and a few months later the company folded. #Bummer

He said once he decided not to take the job, people were calling him crazy. They couldn't understand why he would walk away from such an amazing opportunity. It's important to hear God's voice for yourself. Those people would've messed him up had he listened to them. But that story is evidence that God can see the things that we so often can't see. Even when it doesn't make sense, God's instructions are there to guide us to our ultimate place in Him. He had no idea that God has called him to pastor at that point. If he had gone along with what he wanted or what "made sense" to others, he would've jeopardized the future of himself, his wife, his kids, and the growing congregation that God was leading him to.

One thing I've experienced in my own life is that disobedience can cause God to be silent. And that's honestly one of the worst feelings. "God tell me what to do. Tell me what to do." And we don't realize that God has already spoken. He's just waiting on us to be obedient. I can say, that there is true freedom in our obedience. I've been experiencing a freshness with God, a new freedom that I've been waiting for for quite some time.

Growth is produced out of obedience. Once we're obedient to the small instructions, God can begin to reveal to us the bigger instructions. I pray God is pleased with my many leaps of faith recently. I've been feeling a pull to go visit a certain area for a while now. I've been talking about it for months. Recently I got this urge to pack up and just go. It was very weird and pretty abnormal. But all I said was "um..I don't know about this..But God is this you?" lol

I believe God has something for me on this mini vaca I'm about to take. I have a cousin and a couple friends that have moved to that area who I will probably visit for a bit but I feel like this trip is for ME. It's a whole new level of independence as I've never traveled alone. But if these last couple of months are an indicator of what God is going to show me, I'm excited! I do believe there is definitely something I'm going to find. Maybe more of God, maybe more of myself, maybe both. Whatever it is, obedience is taking me to it!

Late Night / Early AM Encouragement

It's been a few days since that shooting incident in Colorado, and I'm still in shock! Watching the footage on TV just made my heart ache for the victims and their families. And it became even more disheartening when I read about the deceased victims on cnn.com. It hit me...that could have easily been me! Seriously. I go to the movies all the time, and that latest Batman movie was on my list of movies to catch this summer.

It always baffles me when things like this happen. Columbine. 9/11. Virginia Tech. And now this random shooting in Aurora, Colorado. I don't understand what goes through these people's minds when they seek out and plan to take innocent lives. Like, why? I just don't get it, and it's so sad.

In recent years, I've heard from several people (ministers and the like) that the state of the world is gonna continue to worsen. To be honest, I just don't want to believe that. But I do know certain things must take place on Earth before Jesus returns. We just need to stay prayed up and armed with the fruits of the spirit.

Obviously, it's the enemy (devil) that is working through these folks, coercing them to do these evil acts.

"The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I [Jesus] came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, til it overflows)." John 10:10 (AMP)


The enemy speaks to all of us in some form or another; it is up to us whether we listen and take action or not. It's easy to believe his lies are the actual truth, when you're not spiritually mature.

There were many, many, MANY days when I dealt with depression and its complementary thoughts. I didn't want to cause physical harm to others, only myself. However, had I listened and acted on those evil thoughts, I would have brought unnecessary pain and anguish to my family members and other loved ones. It would've been very selfish of me.

Whether we believe it or not, we are all connected. We were never meant to go through anything alone.  Someone somewhere cares about YOU! Someone (other than Jesus, God, and the heavenly beings) loves you! Someone is mentioning you in their prayers.

Life is not as bad as it seems. There is light at the end of the dark tunnel. There is joy at the end of the struggle, if you only push through. Just keep on living. Things will get better! I am a witness to that fact! Believe it for yourself.

Be encouraged and uplift others! 

Prayer Works!

The title of this post says it all! Prayer truly does work. Prayer has the power to change things. God has placed it on my heart to include a prayer request form on the website. I truly have a heart to pray and I desire to stand in agreement with you about whatever you're believing God for. I put a tab at the top of the site or you can just click here and it will take you directly to the form. If you desire someone to seek God on your behalf, please don't hesitate to send your requests. No matter what it is, God has the power to change it. Prayer works!

Do I really want kids?

I'm sure most people have contemplated the thought of having children. I was never on the fence about it. Even as a kid, I was convinced I wanted a house full of kids. But the older I get, the more I realize what it really takes to be a parent. I have the most adorable nieces and nephews. I just love them. It's nothing like going to my sis' house and walking in and they yell, "Che Che!!!" (Their lil nickname for me.) But they are a handful.

My sister and her husband have a blended family. All together they have six, yes SIX. One is 4 months, one is 3 and the others are 5,6, and two are 7. Yea crazy. I usually visit them once or twice and week and at any given visit, you may find me laid out across someone's bed getting in a power nap cause they can be pretty exhausting.

I'll never forget, a few weeks after my sister had the littlest one, baby Ashlee, she left me at her place with her and the 3 year old JoJo, while she ran errands. I went in the room for 2 minutes to change the baby's diaper and then I heard the microwave close in the kitchen. JoJo walks in the room and said, "CheChe I'm cooking." I run in the kitchen thinking he's warming up his toy in the microwave or something but thank God nothing was in there lol I have so much respect for them to be able to parent their own little brady bunch and remain sane.

I've always loved kids and kids love me too. Sometimes random kids will run up to me and hug my leg or something and I just think it's the cutest thing. Little kids are very cute. But when I would think about my own kids, I often envision all my children coming home with their families for Christmas and Thanksgiving and not necessarily the YEARS that lead up to that portion of life.

Raising kids require two very important things  patience and selflessness. And I definitely believe it's on a whole different level than relationships and marriage. Children require alot and the younger they are, the more impatient they are. Kids don't really take into consideration your schedule, what you're in need of, how you're feeling, etc., they want what they want when they want it.

And like I said, I love them but they can pluck a nerve sometimes (lol) but the good thing about being an auntie is I can leave and go home to peace and quiet when the atmosphere gets a little hectic and crazy. When they're yours, they're YOURS. I've been wrestling with this nasty head cold for about four days now. As of right now I'm only in school so I don't have to worry about calling out of work and I can focus on resting up. But I started imagining if I had children. Parenting wouldn't stop if I got sick or wasn't feeling well. I can't imagine feeling the way I'm feeling right now and having my nieces and nephews over..OMG..

So I do find myself questioning "Do I really want kids?" And honestly I don't really know the answer right now. But thank God I have plenty of time to think about it. I used to say I wanted to be married by 23 and have my first child by 25. (Clearly I was a teenager or younger then.) I guess we will see what happens in due time! :-)