Sometimes…my heart gets overwhelmed by the goodness of God..and I find myself weeping because I recognize His hand in all that I am…Sometimes it’s something as simple as watching the sun set…or listening to my youngest grandsons laughter…or perhaps it is a memory of someone who has gone on…but has left an indelible imprint on my life…it could be a time when God came in an impossible place and made a seamless correction…I feel my heart rate slow down…my mood immediately changes and joy overflows…there is something about acknowledging what is good…that overrides what is not…I practice gratefulness because it keeps my heart light and free of bitterness…I quickly run to the place of gratitude when there is news that is diffcult to receive…there is always something good to think about…I reach for those things..and I can focus again…and face whatever the challenges may be…GOD will meet me in my place of gratefulness and supply answers that would never have been revealed in the place of discontent…it’s not always easy to find the grateful place…it takes persistence to get there…oh…but when you do…you will realize that the trip was worth all that you had to do to get there…try it…the next time..life happens..set your GPS to the place of Gratefulness…once you get there..you will want to visit often…

Have you ever had to help someone who was in a storm? Have you ever had to open your umbrella so that the rain didn’t drench them? Have you ever become their shelter? God has equipped us all to assist others on this journey called life…we have been wired to care beyond our own capacity…because our love is increased by Him..we do not avoid them while they navigate through the storm…we open our supernatural umbrella and we hold it over them…until the storm passes…in this life…storms come…some we create for ourselves and others just happen…it doesn’t matter what the origin…no one wants to weather the storm…alone…if there is someone in your life that is being tossed and blown by the storm…stop…listen…open your umbrella…and love them through it…after all…we’ve all had storms too…and someone walked alongside of you with their umbrella…won’t you share yours?

You are beautiful…you are a warrior…you are strong..you have faced dark nights…you have been lonely in a crowded room…you’ve endured extreme hardships…you have balanced your emotions and your check book simultaneously…you have affected change in the lives of family and friends…you are dependable and responsible…you wore a smile when inside your heart was broken…you have reached for hope when all around you was hopelessness…you have held it all together when everything was falling apart…you have cried yourself asleep…and awakened committed to a new day…because that’s what you do..your jobs are too many to count…your day is filled with demands…there are needs that seem to pop up hourly…meals to be made…clothes to be laundered…friends to be remembered…errands to run…calls to be made…emails to return…love that needs to be given….you do all of this and so much more…you are incredible…you are valuable…you are a WOMAN…AND YOU ARE FIERCE…and if today..no one appreciated all that you are and all that you do….

…just know that the God of this universe calls you His Masterpiece…He sees your labor and He fully loves YOU...sometimes we need to hear someone else say all of that…I just did…It made me feel good…I hope it made you feel good too…😘

I can still hear my mother saying…” Be quiet…God is speaking”…she said this whenever we were in the midst of a Jersey Shore thunderstorm…the summer could be the most fun…but it could also be the most frightening…because of those loud…long storms…We would be outside playing…and you could hear them rumbling in…we would all run inside…once we were inside…my mother would sit with me and my two brothers …and say these words…”Be quiet…God is speaking”…we would be quiet throughout the storm…it wasn’t until I became an adult that I realized the wisdom of those words…the noise of the storm can rattle you…but being still allows you to steady yourself…it pushes anxiety away and reminds you that there is a sound greater than the storm… the still quiet voice of God…that encourages…and calms…and says…”there is a storm..and you are in it…but you are NOT ALONE“… such great wisdom my mother had…be quiet in the storm…God is speaking…just hearing His voice reduces the volume of the storm…and your heart is peaceful again…if you are in a storm today…get quiet…can you hear it? His voice…instructing….soothing..restoring…I am sure you are calm again…your peace is returning… and that ladies…is a good thing😌

Love is such a strong emotion…it can cause the most level headed woman to lose herself…it can make you stay on a phone call so long that your ear actually loses feeling…you learn how to cook extravagant meals…you stay up late at night …you awaken early in the morning just to talk with him…you endure sporting events that you don’t understand…you hang on every word that he says…you join the gym…you may not go 😂…but you will join…sisters..you all know what I’m talking about…when love is new and fresh…and consuming…it’s when all day your thoughts are only about him…you cannot wait to talk to him…to hear his voice…just to be with him…spending time alone…with him….did I take you back?..well…that’s what God wants from us…that kind of love…an all or nothing kind of love… the kind of love that consumes us…that makes no sense…that causes us to rearrange our calendars…to adjust our days…to stay up late with Him…to awaken early to start our day with Him…to join with Him in all that He is doing..to love Him with abandon…because His love for us is totally irrational…and that’s the kind of love He wants from us😌

Are you waiting? For that thing to happen? For that special someone to appear? For that perfect job? Or that just right house? Are you looking for that perfect friend? If you could only catch that break…make that sale..buy that car…make that perfect connection….then you would be able to breathe a little…enjoy life a little more…be a better person…have a better attitude…be a little kinder…live a little more…love a little more…are you waiting for something to happen? Stop it!! While you wait for the perfect person…job..house…car…opportunity…life is slowly slipping away…I learned something in my single days…I wanted to travel…and I waited for someone to go with me…I was disappointed a few times before I realized that I was wasting my moments by waiting for someone or something to make the difference in my life…I made a decision to travel alone…I remember another time that I really wanted this particular ring…it was beautiful…but I was waiting for “my knight in shining armour to magically appear and gift it to me”…after I awakened from that fairy tale😊…I went into the store and asked if I could pay for the ring gradually…I paid on that ring for quite a while…but I stopped waiting…and decided to move..throughout my life I can remember “waiting moments”…I found that these were often frustrating times…because I was living in the land of discontent…waiting…and expecting something or somebody to change my life for me…what I found is this…God gives us the ability to be content with or without whatever it is that we are waiting for…He may give us the power to get it done ourselves…such as when I traveled alone and brought my own ring…or He may give us peace to wait in the land of contentment until He does something…either way…choosing His way of waiting removes the anxiety and anger that we begin to feel when we are waiting on someone or something…instead of waiting on Him…

Have you ever had to forgive the unforgivable? That person that crushed you…perhaps it was a betrayal…a caustic word spoken wrecklessly…someone’s character flaw that touched you…a broken promise…whatever it was or is…If you are still refusing to forgive..it will hijack your peace..it makes you captive to it’s constant replays…it catapults you into a place called UNFORGIVENESS…it is a dark…cold place that rehearses old hurts…that rewinds old tapes..that reviews every painful detail…it arrests our development…and stifles our joy..it belches up at the most inconvenient times…maybe when a new friendship is forming…or when a time of peace finally emerges…it grips you like a winter chill and begins to destroy what is becoming…forgiveness is intentional…it is a holy choice that releases not so much the heart of the offender..but releases the one who has been offended…forgiveness sends a signal to the heart and says get back in sync with the God that has forgiven you…and when you do…life flows back into that damaged place in our heart…and we are whole again…forgiveness releases both the prisoner and the guard…and that is a good thing😌

Sometimes I get lost in my thoughts…I allow my thoughts to manage me…rather than me managing them… My self speak amplifies in my head and then my attitude takes on the DNA of these lawless minions…they begin to control my day…I find my motivation diminishes and the song that was in my heart changes to the blues…my to do list remains just that…to do…my thoughts have now hijacked my entire day and subtly excised my joy…how did I allow this to happen? There is great danger in incubating negative thoughts… they begin to multiply and just like ants in your home…they begin to colonize…and one becomes many… what began as a good day has now become non productive…we have to think about what we’re thinking about..if not…we will become victim to those time thieves…those undisciplined monologues that reroute our minds…thoughts must be managed…there must be a push back when they come…we have to have strategies to combat these intruders…intentionally evicting them when they crash our party is the only way to restore our joy…here’s what I do…I pray…I do a transfer…whenever “dark thoughts” arise…I replace them with “light thoughts”…words that God has spoken over me…it exterminates those minions and I am back on track…and that’s a good thing😊

When did you stop believing? When did the passion leave? When did you turn down the desire? When did you give up on the dream? When did you stop the journey? When did you surrender your hope? When did faith diminish? What caused the disconnect? Was it something said? Was it something done? Was a promise broken? Was it taking too long? Did life take a detour? What made you lose the thing that you knew you were destined to do…destined to be..when did your purpose get hijacked? Are you still alive? Then get back in the game…ask God to accelerate your steps…keep your focus…stop feeling sorry for yourself …stop blaming others…remember that this is the thing you’re called to…personalize it..and refuse to assign it to others…it’s yours…and you are responsible for completing it…ask God to resurrect what you had declared dead…and make every day a seed that you sow to grow the thing that is uniquely yours…you can do it…you’re thinking about it right now…that thing is not dead it was just dormant…do it…you’ll feel whole again…your life will take on a new dimension…you’ll be in sync again with the great God who placed that purpose in you…let Him finish the work that He started in you…He just needs you to believe again…

There is a Zone that many of us live in….It is the Comfort Zone…we lounge in that place and refuse to travel to Greatness…The Comfort Zone lulls our greatness to sleep…it looks for other travelers along the way…because the Comfort Zone needs a group…it needs its residents to encourage each other to never travel to Greatness…when you live in the Comfort Zone…good enough is good enough…there is no straining or stretching in the Comfort Zone…doing only what is required is the standard…anyone who dares dream of Greatness is dismissed as a renegade…they have come to disrupt the spirit of mediocrity and will be banished from the Comfort Zone…Greatness is calling…but it requires deciding to step out of the boat and into the deep waters…it means leaving the residents of the Comfort Zone…it means doing some things that push us and cause us to go beyond our own abilities…it makes us uncomfortable in the Comfort Zone…Greatness…when discovered becomes the place that we aspire to rest in…it is no longer something to be achieved it is now our new standard…we were created for Greatness…because God…Himself is great…it is in our DNA…so take the chance today…step out of the boat…make the call…write the letter…send the email or text…fill out the job application…start the classes..mend the relationship…start the business…write the book…wake up from the dream and live it…leave the Comfort Zone…get your passport and travel to Greatness..you are needed there…I’ll save a seat for you….I understand it’s an amazing place…He is calling us from Comfort to Greatness…I’m answering the call..how about you?