Category Archives: Faith

Goals and Dreams

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© Rmarxy | Dreamstime Stock Photos &Stock Free Images

Dreams.

Everyone has dreams.

Some people choose to believe they can achieve their dreams while others settle for only meeting their goals.
I used to be a person that did refused to even make goals. I used to be the person that settled for just meeting my goals.

Now…..I choose to dream and I choose to believe that I can achieve those dreams.

My faith and my heavenly Father has shown me that my dreams are possible and can come true. The only difference is that I used to think dreams only happened to those people who were “lucky.” I now realize that dreams are attainable, but you have to work hard and make the choice to want them enough to work for them.

Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
~John 16:24~

Ask and you will receive.

I have never chosen to ask. I always thought my dreams were too big and only happened to those who were better than me. The problem was, I just never asked Him.

So I have asked Him. I have begun to believe in myself as He believes in me. My dreams are attainable. My dreams are within reach.

And after my dreams come to fruition, I will praise Him.
I will praise The One who granted my dreams and blessed my family beyond thought.

Praise be to the Lord, for he showed me the wonders of his love when I was in a city under siege.
~Psalm 31:21~

Weary

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Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
~Matthew 11:28-30~

I am a busy, work-at-home mom. I wear many hats and have a lot of responsibilities. I often do not get enough sleep; (who am I kidding, I never get enough sleep.)

I am weary.

I am physically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally weary.

It is time for me to find rest in Him.

Why does it always take me until I am so drained I can hardly move before I decide that I need to take it to Him and find rest? Why do I not just do this daily?
I am sure I would not grow quite so weary if I just gave it all to Him, every day, as He asks me too.

Unfortunately, I tend to be a stubborn child and it takes a lot of poking and prodding for me to lay it all down.

I am grateful and I am thankful that I do have a place to lay it all down. I am so incredibly blessed that I have a Father who will take my weariness upon Himself.

During my bible study last week, It was brought to my attention that God intends for us to rest. He placed the Sabbath in our weekly lives for a reason. He knows we need rest. Rest from the world. Rest from the busyness. Rest from ourselves.

Our Savior himself even took time away from his duties for rest.

But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
~Luke 5:16~

Rest is not an option.
Without rest, our spirits and bodies grow weary.
Without rest, we are unable to pour out into others.
Rest is a necessity.
We need to embrace it.
We need to rest.

Now excuse me, I think I’m going to go take a nap.

Priorities

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It has been almost two months since my last blog post. Before that, my posts were sporadic.
I have had a lot of personal things going on in my life and my priorities have gotten flipped upside down. The things that are truly important in life had gotten pushed down to the bottom of the list and the ones that did not matter a whole lot rose to the top.

In my current bible study, Jesus the One and Only by Beth Moore, I got a tough love smack in the face by my Heavenly Father. I love how He can give me a loving smack in the face and while it hurts and is life altering, it is always full of His love, grace and mercy.

Saying “No” has always been very difficult for me. I don’t know if it is my first-born child tendencies  my dysfunctional childhood, that I always feel obligated or the fact that I’m just “too nice.” Because I am not good at saying no, I often fill my plate way too full. When my plate is too full, I am only able to give 20% to each course instead of 100% to the whole meal.
This is how my priorities have gotten flipped upside down. I have said yes to way too many things. I want to help everyone. I want to make everyone happy. In the process, I have stopped pleasing my Father.

This week, my focus is going to be on re-learning how to please Him and getting my priorities flipped right side up.

“The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. The LORD is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one. Save your people and bless your inheritance; be their shepherd and carry them forever.”
~Psalm 28:7-9~

Hats or Armor?

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In a single day, I can put on more than a dozen hats.

~Wife
~Mother
~Cook
~Maid
~Accountant
~Chauffer
~Business Owner
~Daughter
~Sister
~Author
~Bible Study Leader
~Friend
~Doctor
~ Counselor
~Nutritionist

The list could go on forever. In one day, I may have to wear every single one of those hats. Some days I do not have to wear as many and other days I have to wear more.
Most days, I try to match my choice of fashion for whatever hat I will be wearing that day. I take into consideration comfort, warmth, and of course, cuteness factor (although if anyone is willing, I could use a fashion advisor. =)

As a busy mom of three, I sometimes wake up jumping out of bed, grabbing the first thing I can find and running the kids out to the bus stop.

Those are usually the days that I forget to put on my most important clothing.

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~Picture Source~

I try really hard to at least take those five minutes in the shower to get myself right with God for the day. However, plans just do not always work out that way. I have to do a quick wash, pull on my bathrobe and run out to the table to help my 3-year-old clean up the milk and cereal he just spilled all over the floor because he is “a big boy and he can do it hisself.”

I am ever so grateful that I have a forgiving God and a graceful God who realizes that my intentions are to always put on His full armor every single day, but the season of life I am in does not always allow that.

One day, I will be able to take that precious hour every single morning to spend with Him. Until then, I will grab that armor as quick as I can and run to the bathroom before the toilet overflows.

Rebellious Goals

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I used to be a rebel. I absolutely abhorred making “new year’s resolutions.” I hated it, because I am a recovering perfectionist.
So then I tried calling them goals. That did not really work either because I still had the same mindset and still believed they were the same thing. I was just using a different word to describe them.

Then one day I realized that in order to have growth and maturity, I needed something to strive for. I needed to make goals. A friend once asked me that even if I do not achieve those goals, think about how much growth I have achieved just by striving towards the finish line?
So I started making goals. I still liked being a rebel and calling them goals and not resolutions. I felt that in making resolutions, I still striving for perfection. By making goals, in my mind, I gave myself the ability to be always striving towards them and moving forward but allowing myself some grace if I did not achieve them.

That is what God wants from us daily. He does not want us to be perfect. He knows that we cannot achieve that because we are human. What God does want from us, is a continual growth, maturity and race towards Him. He wants us always moving forward in the direction in of His throne.

As part of a challenge for my job, I had to write down 5 goals for 2013. I “cheated” and ended up with 7.5. I tried to focus on various aspects of my life rather than making them all work oriented. Then we had to post them on our Facebook account so that we are reminded of them, as well as being accountable to always moving forward rather than backwards. As another source of accountability, I’m going to post them here as well.

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What are your goals for 2013?
 I would love for you to share them here.