My mission is to provide you with inspiration and encouragement to live everyday to it's fullest. I do this by sharing the simple things in life such as recipes to the most difficult of things such a life. We all know life is a struggle and many days a balancing act, but I am here to inspire you to do it well. Everything I write about is designed to inspire as well as encourage you to be a "better" you that you can be. Everything I share is raw and real. I do not cover up or sugar coat what I write about. This would benefit no one. My goal is for you to walk away feeling uplifted and encouraged after leaving my page. Lastly, I am here to remind you that you are… enough and beautiful… just the way you are.
I am sharing a simple reminder just because you think you have everything planned out and measured just perfectly in life, that if this isn’t what God’s plans are, He will be changing them and redirecting you.
Don’t get upset or frustrated, just go along with the flow and trust He always knows what is best for us.
I am sharing some inspiration with you today.
I found these words encouraging while listening to our church online.
“Never doubt in the dark what God gave you in the light.”
Grant Etheridge
It is also crucial to not let your circumstances change your trust in God.
I had a thought today to go back and revisit the word of the year that everyone created. I would be curious whose word is appropriate for this crisis now?
My friend, if you find yourself struggling today, lean on God for the strength you need to get through.
I am sharing some words of affirmation with you today.
“ You Are Amazing!”
HD Benson
There are so many of you who have been carrying a lot of stress. Whether it is from the pressures of work, being isolated with the pressures of working from home, teaching your children, or being a caregiver to your aging family or sick family members.
No matter what has you stressed, feeling anxious, or even fearful; today I am taking a minute to remind you, “That you are Amazing!”
If you are feeling less than this, give yourself the same grace you give to others when you see them struggling.
“Grace is an amazing healer!”
Home. Life. Encouragement
Did you wake up to the sounds of the birds singing this morning?
How many times in the busyness of your mornings do you wake up in a state of panic?
Now life has slowed down, stop and take the time to enjoy the peacefulness of the stillness.
I challenge you stop to this morning to take in the sounds of the quietness and the enjoy the beauty of the birds singing.
If you do and you found a peace in the quite, feel free to leave a comment below and share your experience.
I don’t know about you, but we have had a months worth of Mondays all in one.
We started the day out with my daughter struggling to be an adult today.
Her computer crashed over the weekend, which to anyone who works from home or is an online college student knows this is a very bad thing to happen.
She has to have a new computer up and running before Wednesday when her next lesson is due.
This was very difficult on her because we learned no one wants to give a young adult any form of credit. This was extremely messy and stressful, but after jumping through several obstacles, we figured out how to get this to come together.
In the end our sweet family friend, who is stationed in Italy, gave her the best advice to find her computer as well as our family who helped her financially, were all able to pull together everything she needed to find her computer thus putting an end to this very stressful morning.
No matter how frustrated we were, God protected her, even though it was hard to see while we met rejection and denial after denial.
I tell this nightmare story to remind you that no matter what your plans are, God’s plans will always trump yours, but be encouraged, because no matter what His plans are, they will always be better than yours.
Just because you don’t understand why something is going wrong, do not fear, because God is not surprised.
It may not be easy to remember, but if you can, take a step back and trust in God to have your plan and your journey already figured out.
He will not leave you or forsake you now.
Be encouraged, those who may be worried about their jobs, paychecks, child care, education, health issues, and sickly family members, for God knows your concerns and fears. He is working out your plans now. He knows where your next paycheck as well as all of your concerns will come from.
Remember, He knows what you do not know yet.
Take the time to lean on Him during these times of uncertainty. He will give you the peace and comfort you need.
Have hope that this will not last forever.
Have hope in today that today will be a good one.
Have hope in the courage to take the next step if it is difficult one to make.
Have hope that God is still walking hand in hand with you.
Have hope God has not abandoned you.
Have hope in Elizabeth Elliot’s encouraging words below,
“Sometimes life is so hard you can only do the next thing. Whatever that is just do the next thing. God will meet you there.”
Elizabeth Elliot
Lastly, have hope that God is protecting you and will be with you every step of the way.
During this difficult time it is easy to forget there is power in positivity and forget to focus on things we should be thankful for, so today I want to briefly focus on these.
The Bible reminds us the importance of being thankful;
“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV
Now think about the powerful words, “in all circumstances.”
The Bible does not say in certain circumstances. It doesn’t say in good circumstances. It says in “all” circumstances.
All too many times we can find things to be thankful for when life is going easy, but when times become difficult, it is easy to forget this concept.
During difficult times we become consumed by fear and anxiety and allow those dark and heavy emotions to run our hearts into the ground. They take away the ability to see the positive and encouraging things in our life. They rob us of our ability to the thankful of even the simple things in life.
Today we are going reclaim those pleasures that may have been robbed from us. Today we are going to list five things that bring us joy and thankfulness.
What are just five things that bring you joy and peace and what are you thankful for?
Here is my list of five things I am thankful today…
Let’s rejoice together in those blessings. Leave your list below in the comments.
During these uncertain times, we can find a peace that passes all understanding in our God in Heaven.
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:7 NIV
Today is a wonderful day to be reminded there is power in a peaceful heart.
Take some time today to reach out to those things that enable you to just exhale the pressures of your life and inhale the peacefulness of tranquility.
What does tranquility mean? What is the definition?
Noun, A state of peace and quiet.
Vocabulary.com
So what does this look like to you? How do you find your peace and quiet?
Let’s enjoy a discussion and see if what you do is something that I may enjoy doing as well.
Leave your comments below.
I’m praying you will find your place of peace and tranquility today.
I am stopping by to encourage you that no matter what is going on we can find our strength within our selves.
“You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”
Marcus Aurelius
Are you feeling overwhelmed?
If so, ask God to lift this concern, fear, or anxiety: and replace it with comfort, peace, and hope.
Then get physical and let’s get moving.
Consider doing something you have not had time to do when you are living your busy life.
It doesn’t matter what you do. What matters is that you get up and get moving.
The activity will enable you to clear your mind of the negativity and replace it with your happy endorphins. You will feel accomplished and the sense of accomplishment will defeat the feeling of anxiety.
Lastly, fight back against the urge of nothingness. Anxiety will tell you no, do not do this, but have the courage and find the strength to fight the resistance.
You will feel so much better if you do.
We are closing out an extremely difficult week for many people. For anyone who has followed the news or social media feeds, you are well aware of the state our world is in.
I have come to realize over the week there are many people who are struggling with anxiety and so it has inspired me to step up my game to provide you with some encouragement as well as some strategies in how to handle the crisis that is being created by staying at home all the time.
As I was pondering what would make life a bit easier, I came up with three forms of positivity you can share with yourself as well as others to ease any frustrations, fear and anxiety you may be feeling.
This is one of the greatest components to defeating anxiety. Have you ever thought about this before? Have you ever been extremely stressed out or been full of anxiety while still being thankful for your many blessings?
I’m not sure about you, but when fear and anxiety takes root in my life, they usually place inconceivable thoughts in my head which takes over my ability to think rationally and be thankful for the positive things that occur.
Having hearts of gratitude allows you the power to drowned out the darkness and the lies fear and anxiety place in your mind.
I am not saying it will be easy, but this is how God would want us to respond to the fear, stress, and anxiety we are experiencing.
This may not always be easy because there are times when they lash out irrationally at us.
What we have to remember is that this inappropriate behavior is a result of their fear, stress, and anxiety and not anything you have done. Despite this knowledge, it is important for us to be loving towards others whether they are loving towards us or not.
I am not saying it will be easy, but this is how God would want us to respond.
I don’t know about you, but the times of my being out of the house between working, doctor appointments for my daughter, and grocery store errands, I have come in contact with my fair share of rude people.
In the beginning of the crisis it was easy for me to just turn and walk away from them, but now it is getting harder.
The rudeness is becoming more and more prevalent which is making the act of kindness more and more difficult.
It however, does not matter how rude they are because the Lord wants us to share our kindness with them anyway.
We may never know, but God can use our kind hearts to change the hard heart of their aggressive behavior and truly turn them around while softening their hearts at the same time.
Some simple ways to show kindness to others might come through a simple smile as you pass by someone. Bake some cookies and place them on your neighbor’s door step. Mow an elderly neighbor’s lawn. Assist a senior in the store or make your family’s favorite dessert and watch your favorite movie together.
An act of kindness does not need to be difficult, it just needs to come from your heart, but it can truly turn around the heart of someone who may be struggling right now.
So, in conclusion to today’s inspiration, it is important to remember no matter how frustrated, fearful, or anxious you may feel, it is possible to turn you feelings around by taking some time to focus on finding some gratitude in at least one thing that happens today. Find a loving gesture to share with someone and share an act of kindness with someone to brighten their day.
Take some time to step away from the negativity you may be experiencing and turn it into something positive.
You’ve got this. You can do this. Life will not remain this difficult and there are brighter days ahead.
