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I sit up at this ridiculous hour, not able to sleep.  I woke up with my son so he could go potty at 3 AM and couldn’t go back to sleep.  UGH.  I never enjoy these moments as I know that later today, I will seriously be dragging.  All the things I need to do however keep playing over in my head like a continuous loop.  Normally I would try and fight it and just stay in bed, but not this morning.  I decided to get up and quiet the head by doing the things that I need to do.  Why stay in bed and be frustrated….. So, I paid bills and followed up on a couple of things.   Now, I take the time to write this.  Is there are reason?

 Perhaps. 

 It has been quite a while since my last post.  Life is busy…  we are all moving so fast.   For what? 

Ask yourself…… are all the things that you do in the daily hustle and bustle helping you to grow closer to God?  or are these nutty schedules taking you farther away from the only thing that really matters?  Are your priorities in order?  God first, family second, career third and EVERYTHING else below these?

Quiet the head.  Get the things done that need to be done, and take moments for you to center yourself everyday.  It will be so much easier to see your daily blessings all around you! Now, I am going back to bed!! 

 Be Blessed!

What are you grateful for?  Do you stop and take the time to look around and realize all of the many wonderful things in your life? 

It is so easy to fall into the habit of complaint.  But, what if we all fell into the habit of gratefulness.  What would the world be like if we were all content, and grateful?

I think I would really like that.  What about you???

I love to help and serve others. 

Do you???

How do the things that you love bless others?  What is it that your are pining for this holiday season?  Will it bring joy and blessing to others, or just for you? 

Have you thought of serving others this holiday season?  Have you thought about bringing joy to someone, giving gifts to strangers, just for the sake of the blessing?

Check out www.thegiftrevolution.com

Totally cool.  Come join the revolution!

I forgive myself and others.  I forgive myself and others.  This is yet another affirmation you can gift yourself with.  We ALL have baggage.  You may not even know all the baggage you carry, but we all have it.  There are things that you have said, or done that you are not proud of.  There are things that others have done or said to you that hurt you or hurt someone you love.  This is baggage.  Baggage is poison.  How do you feel when you have gone on a long trip and you have carried not only your load, but someone else’s too?  Are you energized, or are you exhausted? I would dare to guess, exhausted.  It is easy to see in this example of carrying physical baggage, that we can release the pain and exhaustion by by just putting it down. Unfortunately, with our emotions - it is not that easy.  It is generally a process, shedding a layer at a time, to release and let go of the things that hold us prisoner. 

This shedding begins with Forgiveness. Forgive yourself and others.  Say it over and over again.  Journal and enjoy the the benefits of this process. 

I forgive myself and others.

 Be Blessed.

I am healthy and vibrant.  I am healthy and vibrant.  I am healthy and vibrant.  Say it over and over again.  You are healthy and you are vibrant.  Say it until you believe it.  Fake it until you make it.   You will be so glad you did.

Journal about it.  Tell yourself you are healthy and vibrant.  Tell yourself , I love you, everyday.  Write about how you feel when you do this.  Journal everyday and let me know if you see any changes in your life.

Blessings!!

Can we always be positive?  Is there always a silver lining?   How do you feel when your days are filled with positive thoughts?  Conversely, how do you feel when your days are filled with negative thoughts?

When was the last time you looked in the mirror and loved the “you” that God made?  Have you ever done that?  Go and do it now.  Say it 10 times.  Look into the mirror and say, “I love you, (Name)!”  Every time you say it, let yourself believe it a little more.  A friend of mine says, “fake it ’til you make it!”  This is one of my favorite statements now.  Fake it until you make it.  The more you say something, the more you will believe it.  Say negative things, you will believe them.  Surround yourself with positive things, and you will believe it.  Which would you prefer?  Being positive, or negative?  You decide.  It is YOUR choice.

Let me first boldly say, I am NOT pregnant!  Phew!!!  Don’t get me wrong.  If God blesses me with another baby, of course, I will be joyful, but in MY plans, well….  I am done.  

I recently became a birth doula and it is fantastic.  It is such an honor to be apart of the most intimate moments of people.  Helping women have their baby with confidence, with comfort, with information… and seeing  new life come into the world….  WOW.   I am so grateful to my sister-n-law, Karen, who invited me to be her doula for her daughter’s birth, Aline, as this moment changed me.

For years, I have wanted something to do in addition to my family.  I love homeschooling my kids, being a wife and homemaker, and serving in our church,  but I wanted a little something more.  I wanted to help people.  I tried some home-based direct sales businesses, but nothing fit.  One I tried, promised to help people to preserve their memories, and another was to help women improve their skin, promoting a positive self esteem.  Though both companies are good, I am not a sales person and it wasn’t right for me.  I was always nervous, stressed out… nuts!  So, I gave up and I stopped looking for that something more.  Then Karen asked me to do this and I of course said yes. 

During the birth, I  felt so close to God… He was there.  I didn’t want to let her down so I kept praying that I would be all she needed me to be.  He was there and it was amazing.

When I looked into the certification process, there happened to be a class 3 weeks away.  I signed up and the process began.  I learned later, that those classes are only offered once or twice a year.  What great timing…. one might say.  I say, GO GOD!!  

I really feel His hand leading me.  I am not nervous or scared about this adventure.  No insecurities.  Just excitement! 

Check out my website at www.thedoulachick.com

 Be Blessed!!!

Do you ever get angry?  Do you desire to lash back at those that hurt you?  The bible says not to get angry.  Anger paves a way for destructive behavior and, well, we should just not get angry.  “Uh… okay.  I won’t.  Yeah right.”  Impossible.  We all get angry.  We all want to be right!  We all want our wrongs made right.  That is our nature.  It is, however, destructive.

Ephesians 26 (NLT) And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.”  Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry,

Forgiveness….  What is it?  What isn’t it?

The bible tells us not to let our anger control us.  In other words, don’t let your anger cause you to do harm to someone else.  Remember what our parent’s taught us,”if you can’t say something nice, don’t say it at all.”   The bible says that we should not let the sun go down while we are still angry.  Isn’t that hard?  Don’t you just get so angry at your spouse, your kids, your parents, your friend, your boss, your co-worker, the guy on the highway, that you just want to spit nails??  Don’t you want to punish the people that harm you?  If you said no, good for you.  Are you being honest? 

When we are angry, we sin.  We talk negatively, we act negatively, we yell, we fight, we curse, we hurt others.  Do you really feel better when you’ve gotten “revenge”?  Or do you feel worse?

When we forgive, we are not making an “excuse,” causing us to be a door mat.  We are choosing not to hold onto that anger, to further cause harm.  We are choosing not to feel the stress, the discomfort, or hear the noise in our heads about the situation.  Instead, we are choosing to move forward and bring peace to our lives. 

When you do something nice for someone else, don’t you feel good?  Forgiveness will also make you feel better.  You will feel less tense, less focused on all the junk, allowing you to once again focus on God and all the goodness!!! 

I understand there are crazy circumstances that you can say are too hard to forgive.  Your spouse cheated on you, left you, your kid stole from you… there are very bad things that happen.  Unfortunately, though, if you don’t forgive, (I didn’t say excuse and forget), you will fall into a pit that will get more and more difficult to climb out of.  This pit will lead you down a destructive path, that will cause you and everyone around you pain.

I pray for all of us that our anger does not fuel us to do negative things.  I pray that our anger will cause conversations that will allow us to grow, and become stronger, better people, and that forgiveness will easily pour out of our hearts!

Happy Monday to you.  It is Labor Day and we are enjoying our day.  My husband is off today so we have been enjoying our family day. 

Are any of you regular meditators?   Well, I wanted to give it a whirl.  Perhaps I am drinking too much coffee, or not getting enough exercise, probably both, and certainly not getting enough rest, and well, I think that my monthly “moon” will be arriving soon, so I feel a bit high strung, if you know what I mean.  So, today, I lit a candle, put on some music from my hypnobirthing CD, and sat still.  I focused on breathing slowly and successfully blocked out the world and all the noise in my head.  That is so hard for me to do.  I blocked out my things to do list, my crazy thoughts about what everyone in my house is doing since I am not with them, etc.  I was successful.  I am not exactly sure what was supposed to happen, but I chilled out, and was still.  When my time was up, I opened my eyes, and felt totally refreshed, ready for the day.  I had more energy.  I gave my body the extra oxygen it needed.  It was great.  I am  writing this about 6 hours later and still I feel refreshed.

Adding this to your day might be just what we all need.   I am sure I am more pleasant to be around since I no longer feel like my insides are going faster than my outsides.  Phew.  I needed that!  I am going to do it again before bed, and again tomorrow morning.  I will let you know how it goes!

 Be Blessed!

Blessings!  They are all around us.  Do you see them?  Do you appreciate them?  Do you know where they came from?

I went to a staff meeting tonight at church.  It was wonderful.  Pastor Troy was back and totally on fire.  One thing that he shared with us is that he struggles with blessings.  He struggles with feeling guilty when receiving blessings.  He is not alone.  I am so grateful for having gotten to be apart of this meeting again.  I am glad he was open about this, because this is something that I struggle with too.  He put  it out there, and the way he did it… well if you have ever had the pleasure of listening to my pastor teach, you get it.  If not, check out www.flamingoroadchurch.com and you can see archived teachings online, and also check out our Internet Campus.  Very cool.

 Anyway, this made me think.   Using passages from both Philippians (4:4-8) and Ecclesiastes (5:18-20), he brought it home by sharing that by bringing God all things, we will find peace and will truly be able to rejoice. (Philipians)  To be joyful is a  decision, not a feeling.  We choose to be joyful, just as one chooses to be angry.  When we are joyful, things don’t seem to bother us quite so much. 

In Ecclesiastes, the author states ( TNIV), it is appropriate for people to eat [share a meal with loved ones], to drink, [enjoy entertainment] and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor [your job] under the sun….  When we receive His blessings, we should enjoy it, be grateful for it, and not simplify it or explain it away.  We are always afraid that when people hear of our good fortune, jealousy will arise.  We often shoot down our blessing to make others feel better.  When we shoot down, or say no big deal, to a blessing that God gives us, we are telling God that it is no big deal.  Just like the parent that cannot wait to see the look on their child’s face on Christmas morning with the gift that they worked hard to provide their child, God cannot wait to see us enjoy what he provides us.  There is no arrogance in this.  Blessings are not arrogant.  They are a gift from our Daddy God who loves us so much!

Embrace God’s blessing today and everyday!