Be True to Yourself

I may not be some things but I always strive to be myself and be true to my beliefs!!  I want to be known for loving myself for who I am and never trying to be something I'm not.  Having a solid relationship with yourself and your Heavenly Father are two of the most important things we can do.  Besides feeling accepted by our peers it is essential to accept yourself, to love your imperfections and realize you are only human.  Some people try to hold themselves to impossible standards and in that case are never happy or satisfied.  I'm can't imagine worrying all the time about being perfect, which is not humanly possible.

Jesus came and died for our sins so that we may have a relationship with Jesus Christ.  Since we are not perfect we could never be right in God's eyes unless we have the grace of Jesus.  His blood made the relationship possible because he paid the price so we can have a atonement for our sins. 

God made us just the way he wanted us.  Who are we to say that we are not good enough?  God doesn't make mistakes.  When Jesus is the one strengthening us what can stop us.  I love leaning into the Almighty and knowing he is rooting for me and that he is on my side, cheering me on the whole time.  He is desperate to have a relationship with us and just loves us unconditionally. 

The Northpoint Ministries is doing a series called "Climate Change" and the big take aways is that: Acceptance is the cure for insecurity.  Our views of ourselves improves when we learn to see ourselves the way God sees us.  We are already accepted by God and that is enough.  His love is complete.  If we don't learn to accept ourselves then our insecurities will follow us through life and we will not be satisfied.  Learn to love yourself, accept, and try to see you as God sees you.  He is proud of you!!

You can watch the full message here.

One Compliment

Isn't it funny how one compliment or good deed can totally change  your outlook and mood?  Words and actions can be so powerful.  They can convey love and appreciation bringing and lifting a persons spirit or they can be weapons to bring someone down.  Obviously everyone would love to be encouraged.  There is a cycle of love and it can all start with someone choosing to love.  If you are having tension in a relationship and things seem difficult, saying something encouraging or doing something to please or help the other person can change the trajectory of the relationship.  Love is always a choice.  In the midst of any circumstance we always have a choice how we can respond.

Every decision we make will change and set into motion other actions.  Most people go through life reacting to situations instead of being intentional.  It is all about being intentional.  How we respond is so important.  One of the biggest things I have learned is when you say something you can never take it back.  We get one shot for a relationship and if the trust is broken that is it in a lot of cases.  It is also great to be consistent in your words and actions.  You just never can know how much something will mean to someone whether positive or negative.

I love when people go out of their way to let you know they notice your hard work and dedication to a job or endeavor.  Sometimes just knowing people care can make all the difference in the world. Knowing that you are instrumental to a goal or a mission and you are helping execute and work towards a goal is pivotal.  Be the change you want to see in the world.  It can all start with a smile and a mind set to improve the lives of those around you through laughter, joy and love!!

A Graduate

Graduation day.  After often years of hard work,  dedication, studying, breaking your brain on finals, when you graduate all the effort pays off.  It is a quantified result of how much you put in to your studies.  Some people will get honors, some people will just be happy to be done.  Either way it will be an end of a season and the beginning of a new chapter in your life.  Graduating is definitely something to be very proud about.

Sometimes it seems people focus so much on getting into a University that once they get in they realize that is when the real work begins.  Long days in class, combined with work if you are doing night classes and working full time, can cause exhaustion when it is finally time to go to bed.  Trying to memorize everything when you are studying, all you can hope is to at least try to remember everything you would need to do well on your exams.

My husband just graduated from Emory's Evening Master of Business Administration program.  He has worked full time and has taken night classes for the past three years.  On top of all the physical work he had to do it seems like a bigger accomplishment because we got married in 2010, and he drives all over GA for work.  I have so much respect for him because while doing everything for school he made it look relatively easy!  He always made me a priority, keeping our relationship number one.

So when he walked across the stage to accept his award, I know this is just the beginning of great things to come.  Since this is his second masters he is officially an overachiever!  He is definitely one of the smartest people I know and I am so happy to be his wife.  No only because he is bonified, he is the sweetest and most loyal husband I could ever have dreamed of having.  I am truly blessed to have him in my life!

Enjoy being single

I am a big proponent that it is better to be single than with the wrong person.  How much time can you “waste” if you know in your heart the relationship is not going anywhere?  There are four seasons in the year but there is no telling how many seasons you will have in your personal life.  Another way of saying this is, you will go through many different periods in your life: from growing up, to dating, single, back to dating, back to single, then possibly marriage.  In every season of your life enjoy the moment!!  I cannot stress this enough.

 In your ministry you can do more as a single person. You will have more time to serve his Kingdom, because when you are married your ministry is to your spouse and family.  There are limitations like coordinating schedules etc.  When you are single you can pick up and head overseas to serve internationally, for example.  The most important thing you can do to honor God in marriage is to love your spouse as God loves the church.  Keeping God in the center of a marriage is imperative to keeping a healthy marriage.  If you love someone you will never do anything to intentionally hurt that person.

God never promises you will be married. As much of a desire it may be in your heart, it may not be part of your story.  If it is then it will happen on God’s timing.  You really cannot force love or a great relationship. There is either the connection that is mutual that will lead to marriage or there are not those feelings.  I dated quite a few people before I found the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with growing old together.  I happen to realize the man of my dreams was right in front of me the whole time, but it may not happen that way for you.  There is not a cookie cut away a relationship will develop and every person is different.  I never blamed one person for what the last person did.  Always keep an open mind, until they show you otherwise.

I will say I had never dated a friend, until my husband, and I would recommend it with extreme caution.  It is a tricky situation because the first thing I wanted to do was preserve our friendship.  Love developed.  Again, it was a natural progression.  Feelings became love through a purposeful dating relationship.  Timing is always everything.  You may be madly in love with someone but they may not be ready to date or be in a relationship.  At the same time I don’t recommend putting your life on hold if they expressly deny feelings for you. 

So the moral that I hope you get from this is: be content, enjoy the moment, trust the Lord that he has your best interest at heart, and stay positive!!