We all face challenges in life. Sometimes, it seems that we face the same mountain over and over again. Do you feel like that? Is there something challenging you, making you feel like you can’t get over it? I believe we can all relate to that. The apostle Paul had his particular challenge, as well. He referred to it as a ‘thorn’ in II Corinthians 12:7. As you reflect on that, what is your thorn? A thorn is something that challenges us or humbles us. It is something that we can’t change or get around. God will often allow those thorns in our life to humble us and show us…
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Back to the Basics
It’s Feb. 19th, and if you’re like me, you may feel a little disconnected from your 2024 goals. So much has been going on that I’ve been finding myself just going and going, focusing on the next thing. This constant action has a way of making us feel disoriented or even a little discouraged. It is imperative that we are intentional to slow our pace so we can see where we’re really at. These are perfect opportunities for us to get back to the basics. Getting back to the basics is about focusing on what truly matters. Life has a way of distracting us. We can get so caught up…
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Designated Days
This year, 2024, one of my focus areas is time management. Not just saying I will do better on time, but really focusing on it and praying about it. The Lord continues to open my eyes to various things that I can do better at, as it relates to time management. One of those things is incorporating designated days. Days where we generally focus on certain things. Life can be a lot at times. This is what gets us. We have so much to do, and we often feel there is just not enough time to do it all. The reality is that we all only have 24 hours each…
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Working Through Disappointments: 3 Tips
Life doesn’t always go our way. Daily, we are faced with unexpected twists, turns, and events that try to discourage us and throw us off. Sometimes, it can be our own shortcomings that frustrate us. Regardless of the source, we must grow in working through disappointments. We’re at the top of 2024, and most of us have set new year goals. If your goals are the right goals, they will challenge you and you won’t hit them all the time. That’s why they are set as goals. Our goals are our focus areas. We focus on them because we know we can do better regarding them. Think about it. That’s…
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Focusing on Goals? Expect Friction.
It’s the top of the year and most people have set goals for 2024. The new year provides us a new slate and a new opportunity to start afresh. Though we should not solely focus on goal-setting at the top of the year, it is an ideal time to assess our lives, identify growth opportunities, and commit to doing better. I want to encourage you that as you are focusing on goals, expect friction. Goals stretch us. Goals are things that we focus on that will make our lives better. Understanding this should arm us with the understanding that we will be challenged. Accomplishing goals requires change. Without this necessary…
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Happy New Year: 10 Tips to Start 2024 Strong
Happy New Year! It’s 2024, and most people are setting their goals and intentions for the new year. How about you? What are you doing to start the new year strong? Some people find planning and goal-setting exciting, while others dread it and feel a little uncertain about the process. Whichever group you find yourself in, below are 10 tips to help you start 2024 strong. 10 Tips to Start 2024 Strong 1. Be real. Don’t allow the new year excitement push you to create goals that are not appropriate for you right now. I’m all about setting big goals, but I also encourage you to be real with where…
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Flexibility Requires Faith
As we go about our lives, we tend to focus in on a few things. The world pushes the message of being laser-focused on goals, in order to get them accomplished. We are also encouraged to block out all distractions, sometimes to the point of neglecting other key responsibilities. I am learning is that flexibility is required and flexibility requires faith. Flexibility requires faith. One reason that we aren’t always flexible, is because we are fearful. We fear not getting it done, if it’s not done now. We fear not having enough time, or not being able to do the things we want to do. Being inflexible is often rooted…
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Rise Above
No one is exempt from problems or challenges in life. We all have something that we’re dealing with. Jesus tells us in John 16:33 that we will have tribulations, but we can be of good cheer; because He has overcome the world. If we know that troubles are apart of life, we must learn the right way to respond. We must learn how to rise above our difficulties. In order to rise above our difficulties, we must have the right mindset. We must first anticipate challenges. The words of Jesus prepare us. We must believe His Word and arm our minds with it. As we do, we will not be…
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Stay Positive: 5 Tips
In life, we will experience hard times. There’s no way around that. When we find ourselves in hard times or seasons when we’re stretched, we must stay positive. This is the key and often the biggest test. Staying positive when in hard times can sometimes be the deciding factor on how long we remain in those hard times. Here are 5 tips to help you stay positive, no matter what’s going on in your life. 1. Pray This is sometimes viewed as a last resort, but it actually should be our #1. When times are hard or we are challenged and frustrated, we must pray. We must go to God…
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LIFE: Learn How To Live With Problems
If we are going to enjoy life, we must learn how to live with problems. What I’m learning is that no matter the stage or season of life you’re in, you will have problems. This acknowledgement humbles me, because I’ve spent a lot of time trying to exempt myself from problems. I’m sure you can relate. Think of the effort we put into planning and picturing. We plan and picture the way we want life to go, and then when it doesn’t go as planned, we’re stressed. How do you typically respond to problems? I believe we all have tendencies. We have natural ways of responding when things don’t go…
