Friction in your relationships? No one is perfect so inevitably we will experience friction in our relationships from time to time. The key is to learn to respond the right way. Here are 5 tips to consider when experiencing friction in your relationships: 1. First and foremost, relationships require work! I think we tend to anticipate work when it comes to succeeding in life, but we understand this less when it comes to succeeding in relationships. We anticipate working in our career or throughout college, but we tend to overlook the responsibility and work that relationships naturally require. We tend to give up on relationships easier than we give…
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Expecting Keziah: Grateful To God For My New Life
In 2013 I was down & depressed, but now in 2015 I feel extremely blessed. I am so grateful to God for my new life. It’s funny how we never know what’s in front of us, all we can do is pray and hope for the best. My life has not been easy, I’ve cried so many tears; but I can sincerely say that I’m moving into a new stage and I’m truly thankful. If we look within and change ourselves, we set ourselves up for some wonderful things. Change is the hard part, though, and I believe it’s where most of us short-change ourselves. We’d rather stay the same and accept what we know as…
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Hard Times Are Humanizing: Don’t Despise Your Struggles
As much as we’d all prefer for everything to always go our way, this is not what’s best for us. The struggles that we face in life have a way of blessing us in more ways than we can imagine. Hard times are humanizing. As we experience our share of hard times, we’re able to understand that we aren’t exempt from suffering. It’s humanizing and humbling to be able to look back over our lives and and see the many things that the Lord delivered us from. We’ve all faced situations where we saw no way out. Those situations that hurt like heck, but we made it through. God has a…
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To Get What You’ve Never Had You Must Do What You’ve Never Done
We’ve all heard it: To get what you’ve never had you must do what you’ve never done. We hear it all the time, we encourage others with it, but are we actually living it? It’s easy to comprehend, but much more difficult to implement. Quiet honestly, it’s very difficult to do what we’ve never done. Why is this? There are so many forces working to keep us the same. Traditions, culture, family, toxic environments, wrong relationships, negative thought patterns, and the list goes on. Our desire for comfort also works against us. We desire comfort not realizing that if we remain comfortable, things remain the same. Our lives will not…
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KEY TO SUCCEED: Progress Hurts Sometimes
We all want to shine, but we’d prefer to do so without the rain. If we’re going to live the life that Christ died for us to live, we must realize that: Progress hurts sometimes. As the saying goes: Anything worth having won’t come easy. What is it that you want? As you answer this question, take the time to ponder what it will cost you. Progress requires sacrifice. We want our lives to be better, but we aren’t willing to change ourselves first. There is a tendency to look around the problem instead of facing the problem head on. Most of our issues in life can be traced…
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It’s Not Your Fight: Be Still & Trust
Two times today I’ve heard the message: “It’s not your fight.” Earlier, while listening to a Joyce Meyer message she spoke of how she always wants to solve other people’s problems. She discussed how she often takes on more than she should because she’s picking up fights that aren’t hers to begin with. Then, while talking to my husband he flat out told me: “It’s not your fight.” He told me to not try and control the situation, but let the Lord work it out. So, now I’m writing to encourage you that it’s not your fight either. How often do we stress ourselves over situations or try and control…
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Ignore the Negativity & Obey God
If we’re not careful, people will talk us right out of our dreams. If we’re going to live the life that Christ died for us to live, we must learn to ignore the negativity & obey God. So often people will tell us what we can’t do vs. what God told us we can do. People can be quick to point out all of the potential negative outcomes as opposed to considering the possibilities. We have to know for ourselves what it is that we should be doing. We have to get with God and then be bold enough to go out and do what He has commanded us…
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GOAL-SETTING: 5 Ways To Achieve Your Goals
Goal-setting is an important aspect of progressing in life. When you have goals you have a clear picture of what you’re working toward. Goal-setting allows you to specifically determine what you want to achieve. Once you determine your goals, you have to stay committed to complete them. 5 Ways To Achieve Your Goals: 1. Keep Christ first. It is imperative to not allow your goals to become your main thing. Christ must always be your #1 and as you keep Him #1, He has a way of blessing everything else. Set and complete your goals, but keep Christ #1. “This book of the law shall not depart out of…
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Friends kill friends: Pray for wisdom & discernment
Yesterday I started the book “Killing Jesus” by Bill O’Reilly & Martin Dugard. Reading this book has me noticing a trend- friends kill friends. The book is detailing the shocking events that lead up to the crucifixion of Jesus. It also goes into detail on other legendary figures of this time period, including Julius Caesar. I love history books because people are people, and although times are much different now, people tend to remain the same. Desires, actions, and motives repeat themselves throughout history. Let me tell you about the trend I’m noticing… In case you’re not familiar with the deaths of Caesar and Jesus, they were both plotted against…
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I’m Back From a 21 Day Break
It feels good to be back from my 21 day break, though I must admit that the break felt good. We don’t realize how weighed down we are until we let some things go and clear our space. For the past 21 days I have let go of the ‘world’ in a sense, only participating in what’s necessary: work, school, church, parenting, etc. My phone time was limited and then I completely cut out Facebook. I feel good. I think we’d all be surprised at how much energy we give to things that truly don’t matter. Simply put: we waste a lot of time doing nothing. We can all benefit…
