In a single moment…

As we reflect on this day; 13 years ago, we are reminded that we are not guaranteed tomorrow.  The past is in the past, the future is unknown and the present is a gift.  Appreciate the gift that is given to you and love on those that you have to share it with.  Never miss the opportunity to show love to someone close to you and around you. 
Everyone out there in this world is fighting a battle of some kind.  Whether it may seem large or small, it is significant to the person engaged in it.  Sometimes all we can do is offer our time to spend with someone.  A hug, a smile or simply ‘I’m thinking about you and I’m praying for you,’ can ease the heart and mind of someone who is hurting. 

Romans 15:13 says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Hope.  One single word can bring forth so much joy  and peace in our life.  The fact that we do know that we have hope through our faith in Jesus, that God is on our side and He is always with us. 
In a single moment, everything in our world can be flipped upside down. Even knowing that, we can rest in knowing that with Christ in our life, the best is yet to come.  God gave us His Word.  His love letter to us. To study, to live, to love and to share.  We have that very truth written down right in front of us.  It’s available to us, freely, through-out our country.  Sometimes we tend to take advantage of the freedom we have to worship Our God, Our Father.  Then I stop to think about those in other countries who have been persecuted daily just for carrying a Bible with them.

We have so much available to us, how can we put our resources and capability to use in our life to share with those around us? 
Christ came to Earth not to be served but to serve, our hearts and attitudes need to be reflecting that of Christ.   Christ came so that we may have eternal life by entering into a personal relationship with Him.  That we could be united as one.  Philippians 2:1-5 says that, “If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.  Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves,  Each of you should look not only to your own interest, but also to the interest of others.  Your attitude should be the same as Christ Jesus.”

Our attitude.  Those two words are huge right there.  How do we have the attitude of Christ? One, by spending time in the Word of God.  The more we are in the Word, the more we are susceptible to hear God speak to us in our life.  Two, by being around other Christians that can build you up.  Get involved in a Bible believing church, a small group and surround yourself with those who are there for you to build you up, pray for you, answer questions you have.  Be united with those around you so that you can be one as you share the love of Christ to this world.  When we are united with each other, we show the world that we stand strong together in our faith and in all we do.  When one of us hurt, we all hurt.  We are there for each other, because we are apart of a family, an eternal family, a family of God.
Three, Prayer.  Prayer is powerful.  It’s that quiet time that we have one-on-one with Our God.   Prayer is a significant part to our attitude to be like Christ in everything we do.  Being in God’s Word, being apart of a united body of believers and having a dedicated prayer life are essential parts to who we are in Christ and can give us the strength to share with those we meet along our journey. 
Christ showed us His love for us as He laid down His life for us on the cross that day many years ago.  There is no greater love than laying down your life for someone else.  It’s putting others first, it’s sharing, it’s being united as one.  How can you motivate others? How can we motivate the people in this world to know and believe what we hold so tightly to in our heart and soul?

Even though terrible tragedies happen, just as with the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, as well as many others.  We will always remember the ones who lost their lives, and even the ones who came to Christ in the midst of all the tragedies in the world.  We must continue to share the good news of Christ.  You never know who you will come into contact with and who needs to know that there is a life greater than this one when you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. 

Have a blessed day! Be thankful, be grateful and have an attitude of Christ in everything you do.

Blessings,

Dreams!

                         DREAMS! 

Now that's a great word, just by itself!  But, for a small word it can provide an amazing and huge impact on our life.

Have you ever had a dream? Yes, many of us have!  We dream at night and then there are those little daydreams through out the course of the day that can sometimes happen, right?  We think about things that we would love to have and be, if we only had the time or we were in a different place in our life, right?  Sometimes we tend to give up on our dreams a little to quickly, right?  But, really.....we don't have to. No, we don't have to give up on our dreams! And Yes, we can achieve anything we set our hearts and minds to.

It may be a difficult process but it could be worth it, when find out what we're really supposed to be doing.  If we don't attempt to go for our dreams, we may never know what could or would have happened.
What the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve!  God has given us the ability to dream...to dream BIG!  God has plans for each and everyone one of our lives.  Now...how are we going to pursue these great things planned for us.  Like it says in Jeremiah 29:11 -- For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Our hope is in the Lord because He gives us that hope for our futures.  

We all strive to be successful, because let's face it...success and achieving your goal is HUGE!  But, Success is a Journey, not a Destination! To achieve success we have to take this amazing journey that keeps us moving.  We just don't stop at a destination, we eventually keep going and move on.  We just don't sit in one spot and not do anything.  We need to be always moving forward toward the next goal once we reach the previous one.
As we go through life we find that 'life' is a series of choices, and we all have choices in life that we make.
Is your life a joyful noise to the Lord?  Sing your dreams, share your dreams with others around you.  Is your smile glorifying God's name?  Do you bring joy?  Can people see your dreams with you?  If you let people in on your dreams, they can help you achieve them.  So go out there and BE JESUS to those who surround you!  Show the love of Christ through your smile and through your actions....let those people see Jesus through you!

Make a list of 25 dreams...what you would like to have, do and be, if you could have, do and be whatever you wanted/needed. Make a book, cut out pictures and watch your dreams come to life.
{in no specific order -- I just want to see my dreams be accomplished :)  Then look back and see all the things you've checked off, maybe then you'll have to start a new book; because you've accomplished everything from your previous book.

Meet and marry my future husband! :-)
Be a mom
Be debt-free
Be able to buy my dream house with my future family
Travel!!!
Be able to sponsor a child full-time through a sponsorship program
Tithe regularly
Become an actress in movies, tv and Theatre - Extra in Christian Mingle
Become a journalist and work for a newspaper/magazine -- Created Evoke Magazine
Publish a book and be an author of many books
Buy a car
Be able to share God's Word with anybody that I come in contact with boldly and confidently. -- Working on stepping out of my comfort zone. 
Go on a missions trip
Participate in Christian Theatre
Live in another state
Visit every state --- almost done
Visit every Continent  -- America, Central America -- done
Graduate from a University
Have an Internship
Sing in front of a large audience
Act in front of a large audience 
Create and Write my own blog
Go on a road trip with friends
Learn to play the guitar -- getting closer

When exposed to the light....darkness has to flee

                                  

This morning I was listening to an inspirational message, and let me tell you, I've done my best to make these daily messages a part of my morning, but in the last couple of months, I've missed more than a few messages, and I've really missed that I missed these calls.  Now getting back into the habit of listening to these daily inspirational messages I know why I truly enjoy and become motivated and inspired every time I listen to one of these amazing and inspiring leaders on these calls. 

Today's message came from the heart of Amber.  She shared about relationships.  I love this because relationships are truly what we were made for...what we were created for.  Our very existence is built around relationships. A relationship with Christ!  Our relationships with the people in our life! Everything starts with self-less thinking and it's bigger than just you.  When we think about benefiting others and how we can grow in our relationships we are leading with love, from the heart.

In today's message, Amber shared from an issue that had been discussed from Focus on the Family (a radio show on the Christian radio station).  In this, she shared how 1 in 3 women can struggle with depression, and how more women are medicated now than they were years ago.  In the past, women used to go out, get together at parties, talk, shop, have coffee, can food together.  Where as years ago, not every house had air conditioning, women were more apt to get out of the house and be social.  But now, there is so much keeping women inside, television, air-conditioning, modern conveniences, etc.  There are more women hiding away.  We need to get those women back out on the social scene, because women need their friends. We need to be able to have our 'girls night out', to be able to talk and share, because let's face it, we can't talk to men about everything!  If we spill out all of our word vomit about our lives all over men, all they're likely to hear is blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...  Which, is why we need our girlfriends to talk to, we need someone who understands what we're going through and will listen and help us.  If we keep everything inside, it'll just build up. But, it we expose it to the light, darkness has no choice but to flee!  

Ephesians 5:8-13 9 (NIV)--> For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.

Performing "Girlfriends" at a Women's Conference

We can get together with our friends for 'girls night out' once in while just to be able to hang out and chat and be able to be vulnerable with one another, talk about our lives, share....so we don't let things build up, so we don't feel alone.  Sometimes all we need is to feel loved and know that we are not alone.  Then maybe we may find that someone else may have been through the same thing we have. 

We can make people feel good, make them feel happy!  Because it's your choice to be happy....so be happy!!! Show love!!!

Find your friends that you can talk to, those friends that will help build you up, and not tear you down.  You know that you will become like the five women you around around the most, so good friends can be so valuable to each an everyone of us.  

This message also reminded me of a skit/monologue I've shared before.  It's called, 'Girlfriends.'  It talks about how women need their friends, and how important it is for us to have our friends in our lives, whether we're married our single, we need our friends in our lives to be able to talk to.  We need someone to talk to, laugh with, give advice/get advice from, cry with and pray with.   Don't be afraid to be open and vulnerable with a friend.  The more you open up with your friends, the more you can share and open up and help them open up to our wonderful Father in Heaven.   

These are some of the verses I came across as I was reading into the message I heard today.  Sometimes I just love the way The Message Bible reads, as I share with you...

1 John 1:5 (msg) -- This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there's not a trace of darkness in him.

^{Matthew 5:14-16 (msg) --} "Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

Grace and Peace,