A Letter To My Parents

At this point in my life, I’m considered an adult. Yes, maybe sometimes I don’t completely act like it, but that’s part of life, right? As I’m growing up, I realize just how much you did for me. And, for that, I need to truly thank you – something I don’t think I’ve appropriately done to date.

Dad, thank you for telling me what I’m capable of. For giving me the support that I needed to build a dream to chase after. And for believing that I have the talent to reach my goals.
Mom, thank you for making me realize that I’m worth everything in this world. That I must be treated like a queen, and that I should never settle for less than what I deserve.

Dad, thank you for spending countless hours after you got home from work each night to do homework with me.
Mom, thank you for giving me a shoulder to cry on when boys broke my heart, and to let me know that my world wasn’t crashing down around me – as much as I believed it was at the time.

Dad, thank you for understanding when I take a leap of faith. And for supporting me in my journey even if it doesn’t seem logical at times. For recognizing that it’s what I need to do, and hearing me out.
Mom, thank you for your personality. For sharing your love of life, sense of humor, excitement for every experience, ability to befriend a stranger, and courage to look fear directly in the face until it backs down.

Dad, thank you for showing me what hard work looks like. For showing me that nothing comes easy, and that countless hours of blood, sweat and tears really does pay off.
Mom, thank you for showing me what a true battle looks like. For never giving up and for still being an active, involved, and dedicated mother to my brothers and me, even when you clearly didn’t have the energy to do so.

Dad, thank you for showing me how a man should treat a woman. For proving that chivalry isn’t dead, and giving me baseline expectations for the very least of what I should accept.
Mom, thank you for showing me how to fight for what I believe in. In life, love, and everything in between. For giving me the strength to stand up for myself and expect nothing less than the very best.

To both of you, Mom and Dad, thank you for showing me true love in its rarest form, what it feels like, and how it can extend beyond life’s obstacles and challenges. Without each of you, I’d be nowhere near the person I am – and the person I’m still working on becoming. There aren’t enough words in the world to express my appreciation, but I think this is a good start. I owe you one.

Sincerely,
Your Daughter

God's plan for me

Some days our minds have a difficult time understanding God’s plan. At least that’s true for me. I’m guessing it’s true for you too. We want so desperately to “get it all.” To see God’s plan for the future. To understand how it is all going to work out right here on this earth. In this decade. Or this year. Or this week. Or this second. Unfortunately, we can’t see the future. When I can’t understand God’s plan, there is a question I find myself asking: "Where is God in all this?" The more I’ve been reflecting on this question recently, the more I’ve realized that the problem is not where God is, because God is everywhere. The problem is that I’m asking the wrong question. You see, the question I should be asking is: "Why can’t I see God in this? "Because His fingerprints are all over His handiwork. Even when bad things happen to good people, He molds and reshapes until you can’t even recognize the bad anymore. It’s a plan called “redemption.” So I’ve stopped asking God where He is. I mean, it’s pretty obvious that He’s been here since before the beginning of time and He’s not going anywhere. I’ve started asking Him to reveal Himself to me. "Lord, help me see your work in this situation." I know God has a plan for me (whatever it may be), so you can be certain that God does indeed have a plan for you too. And the best way to discover that plan is to discover how He made you. This means taking an honest look at who you are – not seeing yourself too highly nor too lowly – and taking inventory of your strengths and weaknesses. Doesn’t it make sense that we would be created to accomplish what God wants? Yet, most Christians don’t even know what their strengths and weaknesses are, nor are they aware of their spiritual gifts. And as a result, they have no idea where they fit in the body of Christ and how to serve God and others. God will never leave or forsake you, even when you think that you’re alone he’s there. Jeremiah 1:5 says "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." I may not know my full potential yet but I know it’s for great things and I know without a doubt God holds my blueprints in his hand and that he guides me every day. No matter what I won’t stop, backup, pause, or doubt the path he has me on because I know that with him I cannot fail.

Do Unto Others

Typically I like to get away from the hustle and bustle of the office and I will go find a nice spot to park and eat in my car. A few days ago I was doing just that and decided to park at Burger King located downtown, which is a place I park a lot. That day there was a homeless man sitting on the curb about 10 yards away from me, I would say he was about 70. He was dirty, smoking an old cigarette that he most likely found on the ground, and talking to himself. I sat and watched him and found myself thinking "What a disgusting person! I mean he's sitting there talking to himself, he must be crazy!! If he can afford to buy cigarettes he should be able to buy food for himself!" I was thinking those things about this man I knew nothing about.   
As I continued to watch him sit there in the cold I noticed a man walk up and pull a hamburger out of a bag and give it to the homeless man. The man bowed his head in thanks and began to eat the hamburger like he hadn't eaten in a month. All the sudden I felt something come over me, I felt so terrible for judging this man and I felt lead to read Matthew 25: 34-40 and when I did I knew it was God that was directing me to that verse. 

Matthew 25:34-40(NIV) 34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

I truly believe that the Lord and his angels disguises themselves so that our faith can be tested. We never know what a person is going through or what happened to have them in the situation their in but it's our job as Christians not to judge and to go outside the four walls of our church to bless others. It's not to sit in our car and watch from a far  but to reach out to those who are hurting or in need. Hebrews 13:2 it says “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it". How amazing is that? That we've possible come in contact with an angel and didn't even know it and we got the opportunity to bless him/her. 
So next time you see someone in need put your pride or fear aside and go out of your way to bless that person because you blessing them could mean a complete turn around for their life. Never ever judge someone because you have never walked a day in their shoes, you don't know what's happened in their life but instead pray for them. Matthew 25:40 says The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ So even if it makes you uncomfortable to step outside your box and help someone just know that you're also blessing God and you will receive you reward for that.

Follow your dreams

For a long time, since I graduated high school 8 years ago, I wasn't really sure what I was supposed to do with my life. I knew I wanted to be a wife and a mother and one day be able to stay home and raise my children. I knew that God put something inside of me, a purpose, a calling just like he had everyone else but it was up to me whether or not I wanted to follow that calling. For a very very long time I fought that calling/purpose and told myself I wasn't good enough to do what God designed me to do. What is my purpose you ask? My purpose and calling is my open my own daycare. Crazy right? Some people would think so because that's not their calling but for me it's been a dream I've thought about for years. To mentor tiny little children, to help them grow, to teach them the bible and the love of God, and to show them love that they may not get at home. For so long I've allowed fear to take over and the devil to whisper in my ear "it will fail, you will fail, and nothing you do is ever going to make you succeed". It's a lie that I bought into for years but finally now I'm more than ready to make my dreams come true. I've sat behind a desk far too long knowing exactly what needed to happen  but ignoring the will of God for my life. I've made it a goal in 2016 that by December 31st, 2016 I will have a successful daycare center. Will it be hard? Absolutely! Will I want to give up? Probably. Will I give up? HECK NO! Will I fail? Not with God! If you want to follow your dream then stop waiting and just do it! Life's too short & tomorrow's not guaranteed so do what makes you happy.

Missing you is nothing new

Missing you Always 

You never said I'm leaving
You never said goodbye
You were gone before we knew it
And only God knows why

In life  I loved you dearly
In death I love you still
In my heart I hold a place
That only you can fill.
It broke my heart to lose you
But you didn't go alone.
A part of me went with you
The day God took you home.

Guarding Your Heart

As I was reading my bible today on my lunch break I ran across the scripture that's posted below and it just really spoke to me. I really starting thinking about how and why we as Christians should be guarding our hearts and starting doing some research. First you may be wondering what it means to guard your heart and the concept of guarding our hearts comes from Proverbs 4:23-26. We are reminded of all the things that try to come against us. Guarding our hearts means being wise and discerning in our lives. Guarding our hearts means protecting ourselves as Christians from all the things that would come to harm us. We have to overcome temptations every day. We need to find ways to overcome doubts that tend to creep in. We guard our hearts from all kinds of distractions from our faith. Our heart is fragile. We have to do what we can to protect it. There are so many reasons to guard your heart and mainly it's because the heart is fragile and that cannot be taken lightly. If your heart is the connection to God, what kind of relationship will you have if your heart starts to fail? If we allow all the unkind forces in the world to pull us away from God, our heart becomes unhealthy. If we only feed our heart junk from the World, our heart stops working the way it should. Just like our physical health, our spiritual health can fail if we don't take good care of it. When we let down our guard and forget the things that God tells us through the Bible and through prayer, we do damage to our heart and our relationship with God. That is why we are told to guard our hearts. However, guarding your heart doesn't mean hiding it behind a brick wall. It means being careful, but it does not mean cutting ourselves off from the world. Many people think that guarding your heart means don't allow yourself to get hurt. The result of this kind of thinking is that people stop loving one another or isolating themselves from others. However, that is not what God is asking. We are to guard out hearts from unhealthy and damaging things. We are not to stop connecting to other people. Our hearts will break from time to time as we go into and out of relationships. When we lose loved ones, we will hurt. But that hurt means we did what God asked. We loved others. Guarding our hearts means allowing that love in and letting God be our comfort. Guarding your heart means becoming wiser in our lives, not being isolated and unhurt. You may be asking now how do you guard your heart and it's these 6 simple things: 1.Study your bible. If you want to know how to guard your heart from things that will pull you away from God, the Bible is the best place to start. It is full of advice for living wisely. 2.Spend time in prayer. Guarding your heart means having a healthy relationship with God. That relationship grows as you pray and have conversations with Him. 3.Choose friends wisely. Choosing good friends seems easy, but sometimes we lose sight of friends who are good for us and the ones that seem more fun or flashy. Make sure there is substance in your relationships. 4. Get good advice. When we're stuck in a situation, turn to a spiritual leader that you respect for being strong in his/her faith. 5. Learn to overcome temptation. We are surrounded by temptation after temptation in our daily lives. Find ways to avoid them or learn how to walk away from bad situations 6. Learn to overcome doubt. Doubt can creep in slowly. We hear anti-Christian messages every day. Learn to push doubt aside and strengthen your faith. The heart is central to life, and the power center of our life with God. No wonder God commands us to guard our hearts “above all else.” Your heart is what Jesus died to save. It is the treasure of the Kingdom ~ which is to say, you are.

New Year New Me?

At the end of every year it's so easy to say the famous words "New year, New me!" and set out all these resolutions and goals for yourself to achieve like losing weight, getting out of debt, connecting with those you've lost a connection with and while those are super important for me my goals are a little different. In 2016 I want to grow my relationship with God and become closer to him, I want to read my bible more, pray more, fast more, tithe more, and do whatever I have to do to be more like God. I have a terrible habit of only going to God when I need something like a new job, money for bills, sickness to go away when the bible clearly says in Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. In 2016 I want to put my complete faith and trust in God because I was raised to know that he'll take care of me no matter what. God doesn't take us through a storm that he won't bring us out of so this year I will make God my number 1 priority because until he's the foundation of my life everything else will fail.