In the past few days, there has been a shooting in Baton Rouge (an hour away from where I live), and a shooting in the city I grew up in, Dallas. I am sickened. I am angry. I am heartbroken.
I admit I don't know a lot of what happened in Baton Rouge and I don't know much of what happened in Dallas. What I do know is a man was killed who happened to be black and mass amount of people are enraged because the color of peoples skin. So enraged that people of the same skin color are stopping traffic to "protest". So enraged that they "protest" in a violent way and 5 officers/security guards lost their lives.
When will it stop?!
Nothing is about skin color. No one is being oppressed unless it is of their own doing. If you really think something is happening, there is a peaceful way of doing it. Look at Martin Luther King Jr. Look at Gandhi. Violence to bring about change is doing nothing. How is what you have done any better than what that cop in Baton Rouge supposedly did?
Stop with the hashtags. Stop with the "protests". Stop with the madness. This isn't solving anything.
A people divided is a people conquerable. Nothing will get done until we band together. All lives matter. Not just a certain skin color or ethnicity. All people are God's children and we should treat them as such.
My heart is broken. I am in tears for the families that lost loved ones. I am in tears for people who are so lost that they think this is okay. I pray for those people. I pray God shows up in a BIG way in their lives. I pray they find Him and His peace. I hope you will join me in prayer. Through Christ, all things are possible and all things can be healed.
Pray for the families. Pray for the "protesters". Pray for peace. For God is the ruler of all things.
Friday, July 8, 2016
Thursday, March 17, 2016
Own It.
If you have read some of my previous blog posts or know me personally, you know that I have struggled with my weight for quite some time. I have tried several different diets and exercise programs and products. Nothing worked for very long and I lost my motivation quickly.
This February I decided, once again, I needed to get healthier and take care of my body. I researched a few different gyms and, thanks to Facebook, found that one of the gyms I was looking at, which was owned by a friend, was having a sale on their membership if you locked in for a year! I talked with my husband, physically went to the gym to check out the environment and what it was like (also to get a feel of the drive), then JUMPED at the chance!
I am LOVING the classes! But I've also hit a few hiccups where I haven't gone as much as I would like to. But I have also learned something. Having an investment in the gym makes me have skin in the game so I CAN'T give up. And having a couple friends who are at the same gym makes going so much easier!
I've also learned that I can no longer say, "I'm going to try." When I do that, I set myself up with an out and thus, for failure. If I say, "I'm going to try to eat healthier and work out" I give myself that chance of when I do miss a workout or eat no so healthy to say "Well, I tried. It didn't work though."
NO! Never again!
I am putting those words out of my vocabulary! I have to own it!
I WILL eat healthier and work out. I WILL lose weight! I WILL be healthy! I WILL get into shape!
This concept really hit home lately when I became an independent distributor for It Works!. I really just wanted the free product credit! (Which I got!) I found myself thinking, "I'll try it out as a company." My awesome upline kept telling me, "You have to say it like you've got it. That is how you will succeed!" But the voice in the back of my mind kept reminded me how I've failed before.
Suddenly, I snapped. If I want to succeed, I have to own it! I'm not just going to try it as a business.
I WILL succeed and help Tanner and I pay off our debt and put money aside for the deductible on our health insurance when we decide to have a baby.
I WILL make money with MY business!
I started MY OWN business, and I WILL ROCK IT!
Of course, I go to God every day and pray that He leads me in the way He wants me to go. So far, it's lead me here. I firmly believe he led me to It Works! and to Dawn and Macie and the rest of my team. I just had to be ready to hear what they had to say and willing to let Him handle the how. He has blessed my business thus far and I am SO grateful for that!
Take "try" out of your vocabulary. Rely on God and own what you do.
Thursday, February 11, 2016
What. A. Day.
Today is probably one of the best days of my life. When I woke up this morning, I had no idea what was going to happen.I do know that God orchestrated it all. Let me tell you how my morning went:
Tanner woke up before me as usual, but crawled back in bed after his shower and cuddled with me until after I should have gotten up. When you have a warm bed and a snugly husband, it's hard to get up! :P So the morning was off to a good start despite the part where I left 30 minutes after I should have. I didn't have any breakfast or lunch planned so I thought about running to Rouse's on my way since it was on my to work. I almost didn't go.
I got into my routine mindset and past up the first entrance like any other day. I thought about just coming back later. As I pulled up to intersection, however, I decided I would just go to the store and get it over with. Inside the store, I found some of the things I wanted, but was starting to get antsy because I was taking WAY too long. I checked out quickly and headed out to my car.
I was almost to my door when someone called out to me. I turned expecting it to be someone looking for money or something. Boy was I shocked when I saw a woman and two men, one with a camera, headed towards me. She introduced herself as Julie from KLFY (local news station here), one of the men was Mr. Giles, owner of Giles automotive (and Riverside's neighbor), and her camera man. Then she said the best part. They were the Pay It Forward crew. Mr. Giles wanted to give back to the community that had given so much to him. They asked if I knew someone who could use $500. I told them I did know people who could as I worked at a church, but I didn't know "which one". In reality, I was having a hard time thinking of a name. Not two seconds later and I thought of our outreach minister, Danny Hebert.
They told me they would follow me over to Riverside since I thought that was probably where he was. He wasn't there though. I texted him, but before he could get it, he pulled in. We let him go inside and then we started walking up. He ended up coming back outside.
She told him who she was and that we had something to give to him. Mr. Giles handed him the envelope and as soon as Danny opened it and saw the $500, he went speechless. It was an awesome moment.
But it didn't end there. They went inside and filmed Danny doing his thing. After a while, they called me in to do the thank you and such. Mr. Giles noticed I had a spare on my car and asked if I had a flat. I told him I had gotten a flat about a week ago and was waiting on the tire to come in. To which he responded, "Bring it over when the tire comes in and I'll put it on for free." I was shocked and thanked him and told him how much I appreciated it. Danny then told me he appreciated me recommending him and that he appreciated it.
Then, he held out his hand and shook mine, giving me the money that was in his hand. I thought it was some of what he had been given and was shocked and wanted to give it back, but I knew he would insist I keep it. Julie had no idea what was happening so Danny told her.
Apparently, while they were in the kitchen, Mr. Giles had asked what all he might do with the money. Danny had told him he was probably doing to give some to me since he thought I needed it too. Mr. Giles then told him to keep his portion. He gave Danny $500 to give to me.
I was stunned. I didn't even know what to do. I was so happy. Tears started falling and Julie asked if I was okay and hugged me. I told her I was awesome and I was just so grateful. $500 would really help. She then asked what was going on in my life and I told her about Tanner being a machinist and that a lot of his work comes from the oil field (which we had talked about the decline of that and how it had affected the people and the church) and that Tanner just went back to school as well. When asked what I might do with it, I told them God gets his cut first and then the rest would probably go towards paying off debt.
I am blown away. I have no words other than God is AWESOME.
The best part is, Julie told me that they pray for God to lead them to the right person before they go out every time. Knowing that, I have great confidence is saying that God planned this out and made it all work perfectly. I am still floored.
TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY!
(P.S. this will be on TV in about two weeks! AHH!)
Tanner woke up before me as usual, but crawled back in bed after his shower and cuddled with me until after I should have gotten up. When you have a warm bed and a snugly husband, it's hard to get up! :P So the morning was off to a good start despite the part where I left 30 minutes after I should have. I didn't have any breakfast or lunch planned so I thought about running to Rouse's on my way since it was on my to work. I almost didn't go.
I got into my routine mindset and past up the first entrance like any other day. I thought about just coming back later. As I pulled up to intersection, however, I decided I would just go to the store and get it over with. Inside the store, I found some of the things I wanted, but was starting to get antsy because I was taking WAY too long. I checked out quickly and headed out to my car.
I was almost to my door when someone called out to me. I turned expecting it to be someone looking for money or something. Boy was I shocked when I saw a woman and two men, one with a camera, headed towards me. She introduced herself as Julie from KLFY (local news station here), one of the men was Mr. Giles, owner of Giles automotive (and Riverside's neighbor), and her camera man. Then she said the best part. They were the Pay It Forward crew. Mr. Giles wanted to give back to the community that had given so much to him. They asked if I knew someone who could use $500. I told them I did know people who could as I worked at a church, but I didn't know "which one". In reality, I was having a hard time thinking of a name. Not two seconds later and I thought of our outreach minister, Danny Hebert.
They told me they would follow me over to Riverside since I thought that was probably where he was. He wasn't there though. I texted him, but before he could get it, he pulled in. We let him go inside and then we started walking up. He ended up coming back outside.
She told him who she was and that we had something to give to him. Mr. Giles handed him the envelope and as soon as Danny opened it and saw the $500, he went speechless. It was an awesome moment.
But it didn't end there. They went inside and filmed Danny doing his thing. After a while, they called me in to do the thank you and such. Mr. Giles noticed I had a spare on my car and asked if I had a flat. I told him I had gotten a flat about a week ago and was waiting on the tire to come in. To which he responded, "Bring it over when the tire comes in and I'll put it on for free." I was shocked and thanked him and told him how much I appreciated it. Danny then told me he appreciated me recommending him and that he appreciated it.
Then, he held out his hand and shook mine, giving me the money that was in his hand. I thought it was some of what he had been given and was shocked and wanted to give it back, but I knew he would insist I keep it. Julie had no idea what was happening so Danny told her.
Apparently, while they were in the kitchen, Mr. Giles had asked what all he might do with the money. Danny had told him he was probably doing to give some to me since he thought I needed it too. Mr. Giles then told him to keep his portion. He gave Danny $500 to give to me.
I was stunned. I didn't even know what to do. I was so happy. Tears started falling and Julie asked if I was okay and hugged me. I told her I was awesome and I was just so grateful. $500 would really help. She then asked what was going on in my life and I told her about Tanner being a machinist and that a lot of his work comes from the oil field (which we had talked about the decline of that and how it had affected the people and the church) and that Tanner just went back to school as well. When asked what I might do with it, I told them God gets his cut first and then the rest would probably go towards paying off debt.
I am blown away. I have no words other than God is AWESOME.
The best part is, Julie told me that they pray for God to lead them to the right person before they go out every time. Knowing that, I have great confidence is saying that God planned this out and made it all work perfectly. I am still floored.
TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY!
(P.S. this will be on TV in about two weeks! AHH!)
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Am I Enough?
Recently I watched a video on RightNow Media called "Am I Enough?" It showed three women in different stages of life wondering if they were enough. We all ask that question, don't we? We go throughout our day wondering if we are good enough, strong enough, pretty enough, enough for our husband, our kids, our jobs. We even wonder if we are spiritual enough.
The video ended with a man's voice reading verses such as, "I am the way the truth and the life." - John 14:6 "[I] am near to all who call upon my name." - Psalm 145:18 "[My] mercies are new every morning." - Lamentations 3:22-23 "[My] love never fails." - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Then the voice asks, "Am I enough?"
That struck me. God should be enough for me. Why am I not living that way? He is my father, my Lord, my savior. He loves me more than I could ever imagine. He died for me while I was still a sinner. He says I am more than enough.
Why do I doubt Him? Why do I still wonder if I am enough? Why am I not trusting fully what He says?
You are enough. You are loved. Continually choose to trust what your Father says about you. You are His heir and He chose you! How could we ever doubt that we are enough when the creator of all the universe looks upon us with such love and joy?
Perhaps we just forget. Let this be a reminder. Let us remember that we are more than enough because we were chosen by God! Let's put it on our ceiling above our bed so it is the first thing we see in the morning. Then we will never have to ask "am I enough" ever again!
The video ended with a man's voice reading verses such as, "I am the way the truth and the life." - John 14:6 "[I] am near to all who call upon my name." - Psalm 145:18 "[My] mercies are new every morning." - Lamentations 3:22-23 "[My] love never fails." - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Then the voice asks, "Am I enough?"
That struck me. God should be enough for me. Why am I not living that way? He is my father, my Lord, my savior. He loves me more than I could ever imagine. He died for me while I was still a sinner. He says I am more than enough.
Why do I doubt Him? Why do I still wonder if I am enough? Why am I not trusting fully what He says?
You are enough. You are loved. Continually choose to trust what your Father says about you. You are His heir and He chose you! How could we ever doubt that we are enough when the creator of all the universe looks upon us with such love and joy?
Perhaps we just forget. Let this be a reminder. Let us remember that we are more than enough because we were chosen by God! Let's put it on our ceiling above our bed so it is the first thing we see in the morning. Then we will never have to ask "am I enough" ever again!
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Green Pastures.
This past month, life has taken turn after turn. At the end of last month, Tanner and I had our Baby Step 1 finished (Dave Ramsey) and were excited to use that money to continue saving for the upcoming holidays and start knocking out our debt! Then we got the news. Due to work being slow because of the oil industry being slow, Tanner's hours were cut down to 32 instead of 40, he gets a day off every week. That extra money was gone. God is good and we had to adjust our budget, but we weren't/aren't hurting for money. We have enough to continue paying all of our bills, have plenty of grocery, restaurant, and gas money, and we still had some left to put in each of our pocket money, Halloween expenses, and some in our saving for our trip to Ohio for Thanksgiving.
For a while, I was distraught. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I love seeing all the kids dressed up in their costumes and I love dressing up in a costume, decorating our trunk for trunk-or-treat, and giving out candy. I had a whole plan for what we were going to do this year. Unfortunately, adult costumes are expensive (WHY?!) and I was looking at spending 100+ dollars on the costumes, some trunk decor, a "costume" for our dog, and candy. With the news, that was no longer a possibility.
See, I lean toward the saver side. Thus, when we got some extra money in from loving people to which we are EXTREMELY grateful(!), Tanner said we should put it in our holiday fund and I KNEW he was right. I didn't argue. But I was still sad.
On the bright side, we think we can pull off something with things we already have AND still incorporate our puppy! We are still working out the kinks, and Tanner is still trying to get excited about Halloween. ;P I love him so very much, but this is a holiday we differ on. I get super excited, and he doesn't. But that perfectly okay. :) Pink and blue. Not wrong, just different. :)
Anywho, I got to thinking about the timing of this news that we had gotten. Tanner has been looking at going back to college, and we just got our emergency fund fully funded. It was as if it was the prefect time. Tanner wouldn't get stressed with having a full time job, teaching the youth on Wednesday Nights, AND going to school as he would have a day off. Our budget would be fine and if an emergency came up we would be prepared. On top of all that, one of our friends offered to pay Tanner to do some work at his house. Friends are awesome. :)
So, today I am thankful. I am thankful that we have money to pay for the things we need and some. I am thankful for the green pastures God leads us to. He is an amazing and loving God. I trust He will always lead us in the ways to go. God always gives us just enough. I am thankful for the friends God has put in our lives. Our lives have been enriched by them. We have been blessed immensely from our time so far at Riverside Church of Christ.
I'd like to encourage you to focus on the things you are thankful for today. Focus on the green pastures that God leads you to. He has your best interest in mind even if you can't quite see it yet.
For a while, I was distraught. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I love seeing all the kids dressed up in their costumes and I love dressing up in a costume, decorating our trunk for trunk-or-treat, and giving out candy. I had a whole plan for what we were going to do this year. Unfortunately, adult costumes are expensive (WHY?!) and I was looking at spending 100+ dollars on the costumes, some trunk decor, a "costume" for our dog, and candy. With the news, that was no longer a possibility.
See, I lean toward the saver side. Thus, when we got some extra money in from loving people to which we are EXTREMELY grateful(!), Tanner said we should put it in our holiday fund and I KNEW he was right. I didn't argue. But I was still sad.
On the bright side, we think we can pull off something with things we already have AND still incorporate our puppy! We are still working out the kinks, and Tanner is still trying to get excited about Halloween. ;P I love him so very much, but this is a holiday we differ on. I get super excited, and he doesn't. But that perfectly okay. :) Pink and blue. Not wrong, just different. :)
Anywho, I got to thinking about the timing of this news that we had gotten. Tanner has been looking at going back to college, and we just got our emergency fund fully funded. It was as if it was the prefect time. Tanner wouldn't get stressed with having a full time job, teaching the youth on Wednesday Nights, AND going to school as he would have a day off. Our budget would be fine and if an emergency came up we would be prepared. On top of all that, one of our friends offered to pay Tanner to do some work at his house. Friends are awesome. :)
So, today I am thankful. I am thankful that we have money to pay for the things we need and some. I am thankful for the green pastures God leads us to. He is an amazing and loving God. I trust He will always lead us in the ways to go. God always gives us just enough. I am thankful for the friends God has put in our lives. Our lives have been enriched by them. We have been blessed immensely from our time so far at Riverside Church of Christ.
I'd like to encourage you to focus on the things you are thankful for today. Focus on the green pastures that God leads you to. He has your best interest in mind even if you can't quite see it yet.
"The Lord is my shepherd;
there is nothing I lack.
He lets me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters."
~ Psalms 23:1-2
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