love

Being Busy…

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Matthew 11:28-30 MSG

Welcome!

I’m going to start off by saying that God convicts me in my writing. Writing has given me a new sense of slowing down and planning what I’m going to be writing. This is very new to me. With writing two blogs, I have to stay on top of my writing.

Confession…

I also have a confession to make… I’ve been so busy myself that I haven’t been spending time with God, haven’t been reading my devotional, and have just been on the go.

Life can get a little crazy and that is exactly what happened this past weekend. I was out of my house Saturday and Sunday. Typically I’m home all day on Saturday’s, but not this week! And throw in Halloween on Sunday. Busy and just not enough time describe this weekend.

I am sure you have experienced what I have just experienced. (If you haven’t, please let me know your secrets!!) It is so easy to get caught up in the busy lifestyle and forget all about what is important to us in our daily lives.

So, how do we stay on top of our priorities if life gets a little busy? This may be a question I may not have all the answers to. My two recommendations would be to have a list of priorities that are worked tightly into your schedule and pray about the things you should/shouldn’t be doing.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Matthew 6:33 NIV

Priorities/Non-Negotiable’s

I am just starting to do this in my life, so the kinks have not been all worked out just yet. If you caught my most recent blog, Planning, you most likely saw me talking about boundaries and priorities. I wrote out my priorities and went further by setting boundaries with those priorities. You can do the same, but we are just going to talk about priorities in this blog post. Below are some questions to start turning the gears.

What is important for you?
What is necessary to have in your life everyday/every week?
What things do you enjoy in life?
What is helping you to live a meaningful/purposeful/passionate life?

Once you answer these questions, you will have a list of some things. You may see a list that is perfect and lists everything that is crucial to your life. Feel free to add or delete things from this list.

By creating some priorities for your life, you will be able to see what your focuses should consist of. There will always be things that pop up and change in your schedule. If you want to take it step further, write down days of the week or a time frame that you would like to contribute to each category with your other commitments you have in life.

When we have set our priorities and have established some sort of guidelines/boundaries and implement them into our schedules, we will be able to keep up with what’s important in our lives.

I’m working on implementing my new guidelines into my life. This past weekend did not reflect the guidelines that I have established and in result of this, I am not feeling the best mentally, physically, or spiritually. I’m looking forward to getting back on track.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
John 14:27 NIV

Praying

This is something that I have recently started doing. If something comes up whether it be with friends, with family, or some sort of event; I will first pray. In doing this, I am asking God if this is what He wants me to be doing with my time. It can be a tad hard in the moment, but God always has our best interest.

For example, there was a Maverick City concert really close to where I live and God said no. I had no idea in the moment why God had said no. I was thinking along the lines of me possibly getting overwhelmed or not enjoying the concert for some reason. Instead of going to the concert, I had the ability to go to Longwood Gardens and take pictures. Photography is something that God is calling me to and He is helping me to refine my skills. While at Longwood Gardens, I also had the opportunity to spend the day with my grandparents and my mom.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7 NIV

Thanks for reading today’s post about being busy in this fast-paced world! If you enjoyed the post, make sure to like and follow my blog. I am praying for y’all and if you have any specific prayer requests, feel free to leave a comment or message me directly.

Heart Posture

Welcome

Hey there! So glad you stopped by!! If this is your first time, I am writing an encouragement type of blog every Monday. I also post every Friday about something God has placed on my heart or just about how my week has been. If you like what you see, make sure to give this blog post a like and give me a follow, so you don’t miss anything!

Before you start reading, I just wanted to tell you that you matter and you have a purpose. It may be hard to know that exactly right now, but I know that God has placed you exactly where He wants to. He will help you through everything. God has created you and loves you so much!

See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him.
1 John 3:1 NLT

Before I continue…

Have you ever thought about the way life works? Are you experiencing life through the worlds lens or Gods lens? Do you know what happens when you focus on God? How do you respond to things that happen in your life?

I know these questions can be a tad daunting and that is okay. You don’t have to know the answers to these questions. We simply won’t know the answers to every question, but they are good to ask every now and then. Depending on the season of life you find yourself in, you may have different answers than if you were in a different season.

For me, there have been coming my way and I have noticed HUGE differences in the way I respond to these various situations that are happening. This is fairly new to me and I am still working to figure it out. My heart has dramatically changed and I can only say it was because of God. I have spent more time with God and learning about Him in the past year than ever before. It is still a work in progress, but God has transformed me in a way that is unexplainable.

Example #1

When I worked and attended my previous church, I tithed. I did this out of doing it because the Bible says to do so. I was following the motions without having a certain feeling about it. I was doing it, to do it and hopefully please God in the process of doing so. This is a dangerous place to be and I never understood until recently.

This past weekend, I gave a gift ($20) I received as a tithe to my current church. I felt the need to give the entire amount I had received, even though it was a pretty small. In doing this, I saw a HUGE change with my heart posture. When tithing this time, I had a joy and an excitement to me that I hadn’t expected. I just wanted to give back to God. He has been moving so much in my life and I only wanted to show Him how thankful I am. I do not have a job at the moment and I just felt like I needed to give what I received back to my Father.

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
2 Corinthians 9:7-8 NIV

Example #2

For the past year, I have not been taking classes due to some medical challenges I have been experiencing. When I have taken classes previously, I have signed up for the required classes. I felt no emotion in doing this. I was not happy nor was I sad. I was just signing up for the classes to ensure I had a spot in the classes that would work with my schedule for the following semester. Not much to it.

I am planning on going back in the spring and feel led by God to do so. Since I have left, I have added a minor in psychology to my marketing major. Yes, it is a good combo, but not for the reason you may be thinking. I found out I don’t enjoy marketing and God is leading me into psychology. With this new minor in psychology, I have some psychology classes to take. I have never been so excited and joyful to be signing up for classes.

God has been teaching me patience and learning to trust His timing. These classes that I have signed up for are both online and don’t have a meeting time. My schedule is likely to change by the spring and this helps to ease the anxiety I may have faced if I had to be in classes at a certain time.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Philippians 4:6 NIV

Before You Go

In the examples I have given, I hope this shows you what happens when we are near to God and learning about Him daily. This week, I want to encourage you to take a look at where your heart is. You can look into the categories of tithing, serving, learning about Him, your response to various events, and giving.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Galatians 5:22-26 NIV

Hello friends! Welcome to the first of many Monday posts. This Monday post is designed to create some encouragement for your week. It may be hard getting started in your busy to-dos that the week may bring, but as you read this post I pray that you would take moment to breathe, relax, and know that God’s got your back. Here’s to a great week! If you have any prayer requests, feel free to comment them or email me! I am praying for you ❤

Good Morning!

This morning I want to share about love. You may be asking, isn’t love just for relationships?!?!? The world has given us this false sense of love. After all, God is love. I want to dive into this subject and help teach you what God has been showing me. I am actively learning how to love others in the way God wants us to.

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
1 John 4:16 NIV

Love?

What is love? Is this an earthly thing or a Godly thing? Can we experience Godly love on earth? How should we love one another? The questions go on and on. I personally have had all of these various questions through the past couple of months. Love is something I don’t think we will ever be able to fully comprehend on earth.

God’s love is tremendously huge and is something I am still trying to wrap my head around. God sets the standard for love. He sent Jesus (His only Son) to earth to die on a cross for all of our sins, so we didn’t have to pay for our own sins. He was fully flesh and fully God. He was tempted. He was ridiculed. He prayed for those in need. He did not judge or condemn. He came so that He could save all of us from our evil desires.

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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
John 3:16-17 NIV

His Love is Real

When I first entered into christianity, I never understood why or how God could possibly love the world. I personally was going through a period of depression when I first going to church. I didn’t understand how much love God had for me at that time. I learned that God is literally love. No one or anything else can be love.

I have experienced God’s love multiple times since I started my relationship with Him and it is nothing of this world. Sometimes it is while I am worshipping Him, reading the Bible, walking outside, or simply crying out to Him. In loving others, we meet them where they are and we do not judge. God has not judged us and loves us no matter where we are. As we grow closer to God, we learn about love He has for us and then we are able to practice what He teaches us.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV

Before you go…

Life can be crazy and it is so easy to step away and not be focused on everything God has given us. God loves us so much and wants us to be in close communion with Him. As I leave you today, I just want to encourage you with some questions that you can ponder and seek God with as well as a song to help as you go through your week.

How important is your relationship with God currently?
Are you allowing God’s love into your life? If not, how could you allow God’s love into your life?
What can you do to spend time with God?

Faith & Friends

This past weekend, I went on a retreat with my university’s Chi Alpha group. We spent the weekend learning, praying, worshipping, and fellowshipping with one another. I personally had an amazing time and loved every single part of this weekend trip.

Cars & Traveling

We traveled about three hours away from our university and I was not 100% sure how the car ride was going to go. I get a lot of car anxiety (been in three accidents) and so cars are not my forte. I gotta tell ya, its really fun going in a car with three other friends and traveling together! We stopped for food and everything. Even though it was longer than I am used to, I had no worries about being in the car.

During the retreat, they focused heavily on the idea of idols. Which to me is kinda funny because my first time reading through the New Testament, God was speaking idols/idolatry to me. I honestly thought that was the only thing that the New Testament was about; boy I was wrong!! To me, idols are more about celebrities or anyone who is popular and following everything they do. I was very confused when I was reading about idolatry. My definition was somewhat correct, but somewhat not…

Idolatry

This weekend, we dove into what idols really are. One question that was asked was, “What would you see in the mirror when you looked back at yourself?” Harry Potter was being referenced in this instance. The question comes from Dumbledore when looking into the magical mirror that shows deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts.

When I ponder and ask God about this question, I get ‘love’. I am still working on unpacking what this word means and asking God about this. I believe I desire to love people in the correct ways. I have received love and want to be able to express love to other people in a way they can receive it. So what would you see?

Continuing on with idols, there are four sources in which they stem from. This was very fascinating to me due to knowing very little before this retreat! The idols get broken down into Power, Control, Comfort, and Acceptance. They are pretty self-explanatory, but were very mind opening for me. The ‘love’ word that comes to mind would fall into the control category for me. I want to be able to control the way in which I can love people and hope they receive it the way in which I want them to.

Silence & Solitude

We wrapped up the weekend with some alone time with God. We practiced an exercise that allows us to go into the presence of God and to help us learn how to listen to Gods voice. I really enjoyed this exercise and have put it below. It has been adapted from Bridgetown Church

Relax: Let your mind and body calm down. Try slowly reading through a psalm, attending to your breath, or repeating a simple prayer.
Surrender and Detach: Sometimes called yielding or surrender, practice releasing your anxieties, the circumstances of your life, and your will over to God in prayer.
Look: The heart of prayer is looking at God, looking at you in love. Spend time considering, looking at, contemplating God. Look beyond the other thoughts that crop up, redirecting your mind as needed back to the Father.
Listen: It’s been said that the primary posture of a disciple of Jesus is sitting at his feet and listening. God has direct access to your mind–in the stillness, listen to what the Lord might be saying to you.
Love: End your time by resting in God’s love, anchoring yourself in the peace of his presence.

Here are some pictures from this past weekend!

Thanks for checking out this blog post! I post a blog every Friday and will be starting to post one every Monday as well! Come back and check out what I am writing about! If you would like to get notifications, make sure to follow my blog so you can stay up to date 🙂

Preparation Day

Remembering to Breathe

Tomorrow I am starting a Tony Robbins virtual event called Unleash the Power Within. I’m super excited, but also kinda feeling a little nervous! This event is from Thursday-Sunday and ranges from 12-14 hours per day. It is a little daunting at first hearing how long the days will be, but also exciting at the same time.

Since this event is going to entail long hours, I spent four hours of my day in the kitchen preparing food for tomorrow. Preparing the food got me very excited because I know the food I will be consuming will be healthy and energizing for my body. I am working on being able to do this event with as few issues as possible. I want to ensure that my body has the energy that it needs for these long days.

Meal Plan for Next Four Days

The current plan is to drink 16oz of lemon water when I wake up. Do some stretching and feed my dog. I am working on building a habit of meditating for at least 30 minutes, so I will be meditating for 20 minutes tomorrow morning.

For breakfast, I will be fueling my body with eggs as well as yogurt and granola. I am not one to eat breakfast because I always forget somehow… I will be cooking eggs in the morning and keeping them warm until I get hungry. The yogurt and granola will also be eaten with the eggs and will be served with some sort of fruit option.

My lunches will be consisting of smoothies with ingredients of arugula, raspberries, peanut butter/nut butter, nutritional yeast, coconut milk with multigrain crackers on the side. I don’t want to eat something super heavy that would make me tired and thought smoothies would do the trick.

Thinking about my dinners makes me very excited! I used to eat the following meal for lunch every day a year ago! These meals will consist of chicken, rice, broccoli, red pepper, and hummus. All of the chicken and rice has been cooked and the vegetables have been chopped! I throw the container in the microwave for a quick reheat and throw the hummus on top. It is a super simple, yet healthy way to end the day.

Since I will be eating food that I am not 100% used to, I prepared!! In case I get hungry and need something to nibble on throughout the day, I have lots of snacks as well! These include: carrots, celery, string beans, bananas, strawberries, apples, trail mix, and bada beans. I may end of adding these foods with my other meals. Haha 🙂

Game Plan for Blogging

I will be involved in the event tomorrow, but I will still be posting a blog every single day! Instead of a super lengthy blog, I will be posting some of the highlights from the Unleash the Power Within Event each day. I am not 100% sure the end times of each day due to the event having the possibility of running over (which I’ve heard has happened in the past).

For now, if you have any thoughts on my food preparation or would like to add something that you do within your food preparation, let me know! I am always looking for new ideas and tasty food! Make sure to subscribe if you would love to see this month long journey of posts!! And remember, lets achieve the impossible today!

#AchieveTheImpossibleToday