Friday Focus

Good morning,
Grace and peace be unto you!

Thankful Thursdays

Good morning
Grace and peace be unto you!

Too many of us allow our path to be determined by our circumstances instead of telling our circumstances how they will be a part of our path. Unfortunately, none of us can see that invisible expiration date stamped on the bottom of our foot, but believe you me, we will all expire one day. When you do will you have lived life to it's fullest or go to your grave with should have, could have and would have's? Just do it.

I have shared with many of you my struggles over the last few years but especially in the last few months (a good coaching friend of mine told me at my age it is normal to question life so that helps). While contemplating life and all of its intricacies one thing that has become more clear. You only get one life and it was intended to be lived. Take some risk. Go on vacation. If you leave that job, that you think you can not miss, tomorrow they will have somebody in your seat the next day. Say, yes and be more adventurous.

Saddle up buttercup time to take life by the reigns and ride it for all it is worth.
Until Tomorrow
#liveBlessed

Wednesday Word

Good morning,
Grace and peace be unto you!

Transformation Tuesday

Good morning,
Grace and peace be unto you!

For most people, a holidays are the chance to relax, spend time with your loved ones, see some sights, and make some memories. But it's not like that for everyone.

New statistics from a survey carried out by Booking.com indicate that just over one in three people (36%) worry about things going wrong during the holidays and it pushes them toward anxiety attacks.

So, what can you do if you know this is an issue?

1. Use essential oil blends to help you relax and be at peace as you travel. These can be in roller bottles, creams, or just in the palm of your hand.  www.doterra.com/michellevann

2. Use some breathing techniques to calm yourself. When panics begins to set in the first thing that changes is the breathing. Learn to focus and take control of your breathing.

3. Be prepared. Have everything you need printed and in an easily accessible bag. Consider having music or relaxation tracts downloaded to your playlist to elimate going into a panic attack. (Having them on your device will elimate any technical difficulties)

4. Practice some mindfulness activities, prayers and\or meditations to help center your mind, body, and spirit. When you are centered negative feels have no place.

While this is not an exhaustive list I hope it gives you some ideas of things to do.
If you have further questions or would like to know more about any of these. Hit me up. iasisjmv@gmail.com

Until tomorrow
#liveBlessed

Monday Motivation

Good morning,
Grace and peace be unto you!

I saw this quote the other day and wanted to share it with you because, as women we can be relentless on ourselves. We don't really need others to bash us because we take care of all by ourselves.

What if for the next 36 days we;
1.Forgive yourself for EVERYTHING from the past.
2. Talk kindly to yourself, about yourself.
3. Treated yourself with the loving kindness you extend to others.
4. Put you first (everyone else will not die, they might learn they can do it themselves)
5. Take time to figure out what you really like, not what society tells us to like.

If you are going to take the challenge click the link below for the Facebook support group. Changing old habits is  hard but we have to go into 2019 stronger and wiser. We must use all the tools we have been giving to live our best life.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1969301060029754/

Friday Focus

Good morning,
Grace and Peace be unto you!

I pray that you had an awesome time on Thanksgiving and that you were able to spend time with those that you love. You might be watching this while you are standing in a black Friday line but I just want to encourage you to really take your temperature. Yes, take your temperature. Are you at the right temperature to birth forth what God has placed in your life? There are only 38 more days of 2018.

When you think about how an egg is incubated into a chick there is a great emphasis placed on the amount of light/heat that it is exposed to so that it grows appropriately. Many of us just like that little chick are growing and going through different stages to bring us to the place where we are going to have to peck our way out. Some situations are designed specifically for you so that you will be strong enough to live. Yes, it is time to live the abundant life you were promised.

Until Monday
#liveBlessed

Thankful Thursday.

Good morning, 
Grace and Peace be unto you!

As we wake up this morning I just wanted to share a prayer with you. 

Father God, today I thank You for the provisions of my life...
I thank You for the people in my life...
I thank You for the opportunities You have given to me in my life...
I thank You for the acceptance and forgiveness You have lavished upon me in spite of my sinful actions and choices...

I thank You for the healing You have brought into my life—physical and emotional... I thank You for the way You have brought me back from the darkness that
lurks in my soul and the choices I could have made that would have landed
me in a pit—or the choices I have made that did land me in a pit...
I thank You for the desires of my heart that You have satisfied with good things...

And the desires that I have not yet seen satisfied. Help me to be confident because of the grace You have given to me in so many others ways, that even my unmet desires would be something I could be grateful for...Amen.

Excerpted with permission from Day 31 of Prayers for Today (Moody Publishers, 2011) by Pastor Kurt Bjorklund.

Until tomorrow  #liveBlessed

Wednesday Word

Good morning,
Grace and Peace be unto you.

God Uses All Things for Good

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Genesis 50:20

It's easy—effortless, even—to have a grateful heart during the happy times, when you’re overcome with God’s goodness. When you’re offered your dream job, repair a broken relationship, or see a loved one healed, rejoicing comes easily. Bad news brings a different reaction. You feel discouraged, fearful, angry, sad, and a threshold of other challenging emotions. You might feel, as the psalmist says in Psalm 119:28, your “soul is weary with sorrow.” How can you be grateful in trying times? Is it even possible?

We don’t have easy answers; we may not understand until we are with the Lord. But we know and cling to this truth: our pain will not be wasted. Romans 8:28 reminds us, “God causes all things to work together for good” (nasb). Not just some things, but all things— the good and the bad. You can be comforted, you can even give thanks and rejoice because the pain will cease. God has already written the end of the story. And it all works together for good.

Until tomorrow
#liveBlessed

Transformation Tuesday

Good morning,
Grace and peace be unto you!

As we prepare our hearts and minds to be thankful, consider this. Too often we get stuck in our past and never learn the lesson that the situation was supposed to teach us. Yes, many of us have had some really cappy things happen, but what was the lesson? If you learn the lesson you won't have to be retained. 

Use the knowledge you gained to be not only a gift to you but to those you encounter. See, the test that you went through is a testimony for you to share with others and to propel you to the destiny that is specifically yours.

Your path does not look like mine. My path does not look like yours. However, when it is time for our paths to cross we both have to be at our assigned meeting spots to fulfill our destiny. Don't get caught up by the side show. Destiny is at hand. BE motivated because what's to come is better than what's been. 

Until tomorrow 

#liveBlessed

Monday Motivation

Good morning,
Grace and peace be unto you!

Wednesday Word

Good morning,
Grace and peace be unto you!

As I was reading this morning this came up and I want to share it.

We have so much to be grateful for in this life. Each and every day. But reality is that sometimes constant life demands, struggles, and worries give more room to defeat than to a heart of thanks. Or we forget, in the midst of busyness and pressures, just to pause and give thanks, for all that God has done, and continues to do in our lives.

Sometimes it really is a sacrifice to offer praise and thanks. We may not feel like it. We’re struggling. We're weary. Or maybe, we feel like He let us down. We think God seems distant, like he's far away, or doesn't really care about what's troubling us. Painful life blows and losses might have recently sent us spiraling.

But here’s what can make a lasting difference. We have a choice, every day, to give him thanks. And with a heart of thanksgiving, we realize that no matter what we face, God doesn’t just work to change our situations and help us through our problems. He does more. He changes our hearts. His power, through hearts of gratitude and focused minds on Him, releases the grip our struggles have over us. We're strengthened by His peace, refueled by His joy.

God's Word is filled with many reminders of how powerful and vital a thankful heart can be in this world.

-It gets our eyes off ourselves, and helps us to focus back on God.

- It reminds us we're not in control, but that we serve a Mighty God who is. It keeps us in a place of humility and dependency on Him, as we recognize how much we need Him.

- It helps us to recognize we have so much to be thankful for, even all of the little things, which often we may forget to thank Him for...but they really are the biggest, most important things in this life. It takes our attention off of our problems and helps us instead to reflect on, to remember, the goodness of His many blessings.

- It reminds us that God is the Giver of all good gifts. We were never intended to be fully self-sufficient in this life. A grateful heart reminds us that ultimately God is our Provider, that all blessings and gifts are graciously given to us by His hand.

- A heart of gratitude leaves no room for complaining. For it is impossible to be truly thankful and filled with negativity and ungratefulness at the same time.

- It makes the enemy flee. The forces of darkness can't stand to be around hearts that give thanks and honor to God. Our praise and thanksgiving will make them flee.

- It opens up the door for continued blessings. It invites His presence. Our spirits are refreshed and renewed in Him. God loves to give good gifts to His children. He delights in our thankfulness and pours out His Spirit and favor over those who give honor and gratitude to Him.

Monday Motivation

Good morning,
Grace and peace be unto you!

I saw this quote and really wanted to share it with you today. Some of us sell ourselves short, for various reasons, that we believe serve us. Many of us were taught that if you talk about what you have been blessed to do you were conceited and needed to be more humble. Many others of us were fed so much negativity that even when someone acknowledges our good we can't  see or believe it. 

My sisters today I want to encourage you to start writing down the positive things people tell you about you. For example Maria believes that you are a great artist and I belive it too. Write it on an index card. Make it as beautiful as possible. Then tape it to your bathroom mirror. Everytime you get a compliment or words that feed your spirit add it/them to the bunch. Read them in the morning as you look yourself in the mirror. You have to speak life into you. We deal with negative on every front that you and I must take charge of what happens between our ears. A mind is a terrible thing to waste. 

Until tomorrow 

#liveBlessed

Thursday Thoughts

Good morning,
Grace and peace be unto you!

Today I am grateful for books that have come in my life at various points. I am going share two today.

The first is Healed Without Scars. Dr Evans allows us to hear into some of his conversations with people in which he has helped in his counciling practice. This book came at a time that a needed to see some of my blind spots. It us truly a mirror to reflect you to you.

The other book is No Matter What. Lisa Nichols takes unto her life and explains 9 principles that she sees has guided her life. If you are contemplating life changes this is the book for you. It will not only provide you with reading but activities to work through what you are reading.  It is stretching me.

Until tomorrow
#liveBlessed

Wednesday Word

Good morning,
Grace and peace be unto you!

Transformation Tuesday

Good morning,
Grace and peace be unto you!

One of the ways that we can transform our lives is by voting. The wrong people in office can not only produce bad laws but a negative environment for you to live in.

Too often we think those people don't make a difference in my life personally.  However,  if you are sick and the law deems it a preexisting condition those people have impacted your life. You will now have to pay out of pocket and that will most definitely effect your quality of life.

This is not the time to put your head in the sand. Pay attention to what is happening around you. This is a critical time in our world, our state, our county, and our city. Be part of the solution.

Monday Motivation

Good morning,
Grace and peace be unto you!

Have you ever received a positive note from someone that just lit up your soul? Note necessarily a love note, but more one of encouragement. The note that said I am proud of you from the one person you thought never paid you any attention.

Today, I want to challenge you to write at least three notes to encourage someone that you have been watching along the road. Lift someone's spirit with how you see them, even though they may not see themselves that way. Sow a seed in someone else's garden. See what blooms.

Until tomorrow
#liveBlessed

Friday Focus

Good morning
Grace and peace be unto you!

In this month of Thanksgiving let's give thanks. Here are some ideas to help you get going.