Are you protected? This message is powerful, and really is important. It shares the importance of being fully protected…with the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of peace and now the shield of faith. All imperative. I am thankful to God for His protection.
I love the snow. I wish it snowed more here. I live in a place that should get more snow than we’ve seen the past two years, but alas – not so much. That said, we had some beautiful snow today. It was short lived, and no real accumulations – but beautiful nonetheless.
Here is a shot of the snow:
Thank you, God, for the snow – can we have more?
SWAT – The Shoes Of Peace. This is the title of the message from the current series – and yes, I am thankful for it. The truths found and shared in this message speak for themselves. I am so grateful for a pastor and a church who seek the face of God, and share Him with our community and beyond. The words spoken – in this case about the shoes of peace – are powerful. We have discussed the armor and weapons necessary to keep you safe during times of battle.
This is the video from this past Sunday’s service.
Today at church, our pastor spoke about having a story. Each and every one of us have a story to tell. It is ours, and ours alone. The good, the bad, the beautiful and even the ugly make up who we are and the life we live. Our past, present and future comprise our story. It is this story that people will see whatever we are a witness of.
As Christians, God gives us a story. He doesn’t erase the “bad” parts and keep only the good. No! Instead, He redeems us, and allows every part of our story to share grace, hope and peace with others. The things in my life – the ups and downs, the peaceful moments and struggles alike, will be a living testimony of who Jesus is – through us.
Something I have said before, and that was mentioned today is that we are very well the only Jesus some people will ever see. As I was explaining to my husband, there are many people who do not know Jesus. They don’t attend church, and the Bible is nothing more than “just another book” in their eyes. To that person, I (as a Christian example) may very well be the only church, the only Jesus, and the only witness of who He is that they may ever know.
I want my life to be a witness of who He truly is. The life change and personal transformation I have experienced – and continue to experience every day – is something I want every living breathing human being to come to know. When people experience even a fraction of the love He has for us, life change happens.
I want to live my life in such a way that my story – my experiences in life that brought me from where I was to where I am today – speaks for itself. It is my desire that my story share the same amount of peace, grace, hope and love that was shared in such a real way with me. If anything I have been through in the course of my life (good or bad) can be used to share Him with another human being – to share grace, peace, hope and love — it will have a purpose greater than I could imagine.
I am one person, with one story – and it is with that story that I want to share gratitude and thanks to God for giving me. It’s my story. I am the only one with this story. I am thankful for my story – for all of it – for it is what has made me who I am.
Today was one of those days with no larger agenda needing to be accomplished. We had a few things to do, but nothing major. All in all, it was a great day. I was able to stay home and play games with my children. Spending time together as a family – priceless!
I believe that sometimes we all need to just take a step back and breathe. We need to take a moment to relax and enjoy life – not be caught up in all the things in life that ultimately don’t matter. Take time today to just unwind. Take a moment to enjoy those around you.
The choice is yours. What will you choose today?
If you’re like me, you’ve likely heard this many times, in many situations. It’s really true though. As I have said before, much of life is a choice.
Take, for instance, your attitude. You can choose to let your situation instill fear while you watch as your world crumbles before you…OR…you can CHOOSE to look life in the eyes and hold on for dear life…knowing that, ultimately, you will be okay.
I know that life sometimes resembles a never-ending roller coaster ride. In this instance, do you hold on – getting hold of anything within your reach, closing your eyes (thus also missing the ride) praying to just make it through the moment? Or, do you sit back, take fear and turn it into strength and enjoy the ride? Maybe you even throw your hands up in the air, knowing that you are taken care of, being held, and will not fall!
I don’t know about you, but I take great joy and strength knowing that not all hope is lost, and that I DO have control over my attitude, emotions and surroundings…not all off the time, but much of it for sure.
I’m so very grateful for choices.
The choice is yours..what will you choose today??
This morning, I had an MRI of the brain with contrast dye. In short, a brain scan. This is the test that will teach you if you’re claustrophobic or not. Even if you had no idea before hand, you might just very well learn how not fond of small contained spaces you are!
As I was preparing for the test, I was actually okay. There was music on in the background, but I really wanted “my” music. The technician asked if there was anything else I needed. I asked about listening to different music. She told me she’d be happy to change the radio station. I asked her to change it to our local Christian radio station. To my delight, she did. Such enormous peace in the room. As I continued to prepare, and was then rolled into the machine, I had a moment of panic. I wasn’t okay in that moment. I didn’t freak out, and actually didn’t say anything. Instead, I remembered a very powerful word: prayer! So, in that instant, I prayed. I asked God to help me have peace. I told Him something I know He already knew. I told him that I wasn’t going to make it if He didn’t help me. I kept repeating the word peace over and over in my head.
In that very instant, total and complete peace filled the room. I just closed my eyes and began to really enjoy the music. I was relaxed and at peace for the duration of the testing. It is with much gratitude that I say thank you to God for prayer and for the calming Christian music.
For those of you unfamiliar with Young Living oils, this title might throw you for a loop! Let me explain…
In recent weeks, my eyes have been opened to the world of therapeutic grade essential oils. I’ve known, or at least heard about them for many years now – almost a decade. However, like much of humanity, I was skeptical. I had no idea how something – an oil – could really make a difference. As time progresses, I will share personal testimonials about how these oils have made a difference in my life. Today, I’ll share a brief, but powerful story.
There is a little oil that packs a big punch – Thieves. From Young Living’s Website:
Thieves was created based on research about four thieves in France who covered themselves with cloves, rosemary, and other aromatics while robbing plague victims. This proprietary essential oil blend was university tested for its cleansing abilities. It is highly effective in supporting the immune system and good health.
So, let me rewind and tell you a little story.
This past Thursday, I started the day with a slight headache. It went from a slight headache to a really annoying headache by lunch time. I took my daughter to lunch, and sat there, waiting on my food. As our waiter was conversing, he asked if I was okay. I told him that I was, but just had a really bad headache. I figured I must need food, since I hadn’t had much that day yet. That wasn’t the case. Nothing, not food, ibuprofen, peppermint oils, NOTHING was working. I went home and it progressively got worse. Finally, with the aid of prayer, more peppermint oil and some good rest, the headache was gone. It was replaced later that evening with a tickle in the back of my throat. This did NOT make me happy!
The next morning, I woke up with the same tickle, just worse. I used my “normal” oils, but nothing targeted to help in this case. Fast forward a day.
I wake up Saturday morning (and several times through the night) to a really sore throat. At this point, I’m an unhappy camper. I did a bit of research, and learned that Thieves would be an excellent choice to help my body fight off whatever was ailing it. So, I put two drops on my tongue. Then I put a swallow of water in my mouth and gargled with it. After gargling for a bit, I slowly swallowed. I could, literally, feel it working. I did that three times spread out throughout the day. It felt so much better by evening.
Sunday morning, and I’m not kidding, it was gone. It was completely gone. It was, again, a combination of prayer and definitely oils that helped the duration be so short. I’m grateful to God for what I’ve now deemed is (one of many of) His gifts to humanity! It’s up to us to take hold and use them!
I am routinely thankful for the heart and innocence of children. I have three such beautiful kids. They amaze me on a very regular basis.
The heart and innocence of a child is something that just warms my heart.
As we were at the Air Force base, my son came running up to where I was standing, begging for a “Little Things” card. He told me that he wanted to use some of his very own money to help someone pay for their lunch there in the food court. So, I gave him a card I found, and he ran up and stopped a transaction in mid operation, and asked the elderly woman if he could pay for her food. Both she and the gentleman behind the counter were touched. It was a small amount, only a few dollars, but it had a priceless impact. It impacted all who saw it, but also impacted my son. The pure and innocent joy on his face was heartwarming. After he did that, he came back to where I was now sitting at the table and talked about the whole thing. He smiled and waved at the woman he had helped. She came up to our table and said that he didn’t have to do that, but that she wanted to say thank you very much. She asked if I was his mother. I told her I was, and she asked if she could give him a hug. It was cute – but she wouldn’t hug him without my permission. It was a beautiful sight to behold. God working on lots of hearts that meal.
That same evening, our family went out to eat. As we were eating with the kids, my youngest struck up a conversation (or attempted it) with the two year old at the table across the walkway from us. She and her dad were dining alone. For reasons still unknown to me, God put their family on my heart. As we were leaving, my oldest son (whispering in my ear) said that we should “little thing” them – that he thought they looked like they could use some happy. After walking away, I went and found a manager. I told him I’d like to take care of their meal, and also notified their server, as they were just attempting to pay. Before I could see a reaction, I decided to leave the situation anonymous. I found one more “little things” card, and asked the server to pass it along. I’m not sure what situation they were in, but it doesn’t matter. I followed after the heart of God and just shared love and a “little thing” with someone. I don’t know what it did for them, but I can tell you it brightened my day in a beautiful way.
What I love most about this, is that doing these intentional, though random act of kindness is making a really big impact on my family. I know the things we do touch the lives of those we reach out to, but seeing my children’s giving hearts, and seeing them follow after the heart of God with such passion is definitely a proud Mama moment.
I am thankful for accountability – in whatever form or shape it takes. With regards to weight loss, I find that I do much better with the accountability factor. I think it’s like that for most people.
This month, I have started in a local weight loss challenge: Winter 2013 Biggest Loser. For the next eight weeks, I will continue the path I have already chosen. I am eating healthier, drinking mostly water, and being more active. It will go beyond the eight weeks, but for the scope of the challenge, I’m just sharing my thoughts on right now.
Even if I don’t win (which obviously I hope I do – there is a monetary prize) the accountability alone will continue to be worth it’s weight in gold.
If you are struggling with weight loss, I urge you to find someone (or a group) to be accountable to. It does make a difference. I will try and update each week on how my Biggest Loser challenge is going. Along with finding an accountability partner, I suggest you take small steps. You need to make better / healthier decisions. You don’t have to starve yourself to be healthy. You can cut certain things (caffeine, carbonation, excess sweets, etc) and those alone will make an enormous difference. Give it a try? You’ve got nothing (except weight) to lose!
I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to comment below, or send me a message via my “contact me” page.
Living Life Unscripted 