Free and Humble

I'm going to say something that childhood me, teenage me, and even young adult me would have thought was absolutely insane... reading the Bible is so much FUN! Now, don't let me lose you just yet. Like I said, in the past I would have told you that is crazy. The Bible always seemed like work. It was something that I was supposed to do, but I would get lost in the thees, thous, and Biblical names. Here's a helpful tip: If you struggle with a word, just pull up BibleGateway.com and let them read it to you. Sometimes that is how I read a few books of the Bible all at once. It's so much easier to follow along and not get stuck on difficult words. I digress. The more I spend time with God, whether it's reading the Bible, praying, or worshipping, the clearer things have become. God brings things together for me like never before. It's so energizing ! It feels like I'm getting all of these little hidden clues each day that will ultimately lead me to my forever ho...

Have you ever felt like a bird with clipped wings? No matter how hard you flap and wail around, you feel like you can't get anywhere. Sure, you still get some flight time, but it's slower and not as far as you would like. I have to admit that I'm feeling that way right now and my heart is hurting for others that feel the same.  It's easy to ask, "God, why? Why are you allowing me to go through this?" It's like we automatically assume that the scissors that clipped our wings are in His hands, but that's not usually the case.  THE BIRDCAGE Just five months ago, I was working at my nine-to-five (tucked nicely into my little birdcage). I had worked there for over 12 years and didn't really have plans to leave, but God had other plans . I was supplied with food and water (paycheck) consistently and my cage was kept clean and tidy (I had great colleagues and loved the work), but God wanted more for me.  THE RELEASE The freedom of being released from my b...

Have you ever felt guilty for not spending enough time with God? I know I have. This crazy life has a way of pulling us into it's hurricane. We end up spinning around and around only to realize that we're not going anywhere and we're a messy path behind us, not a path of healing or salvation. God has to be our priority , but He has given us free will and the freedom to control what we do in our lives. He has left it up to us to make Him a priority and set aside time to draw closer to Him. I worked outside of the home my entire life until recently. I understand the struggles of being a busy working mom. If you're not at work your running kids to activities or catching up on house work that seems like a losing battle. You don't have time to take a shower or go to the bathroom in peace, let alone devote quiet time to the Lord. Or so you think. I've gathered a list of ways that I've started inserting God into my everyday life. It has been a game-changer for me ...

This post is not like my usual posts, but I really wanted to share my thoughts on The Action Bible .  First, let me disclose that I am not being paid for this review, I really just wanted to share my thoughts as a momma.  The Action Bible first came into our lives when my mom bought them for my two girls as well as their cousins one year for Easter. I had never even heard of it, but quickly fell in love with it. Let me tell you why. My youngest daughter was almost 9 years old at the time and although she had a "grown up Bible", she really latched on to The Action Bible. Now, I don't know about you, but when something makes my child latch on to the word of God, I get a little excited!  I will mention that my other daughter was a bit older in her tween years and she did not show as much interest. I suppose it depends on the kid and where they are in life's journey. I'm not sure if my oldest just thought she was too mature for The Action Bible or if she just preferre...

Have you ever felt like you're not good enough? I'm sure everyone has been there at one point, but it's something that I'm struggling with right now. So, if you're expecting to read an article from someone who (probably artificially) has it all together, you may want to bail right now.  You see, my entire life I've worked outside of the home. In fact, I started working at 16 years old and I've been working ever since, sometimes two jobs. I'm a person that pours my heart and soul into whatever I do, sometimes to the detriment of myself or my family. As a special events coordinator I worked quite a few hours and several events that were afterhours or out of town. In fact, two of our biggest events just happened to be during my kids' birthdays. (Why that didn't give me a red flag to do something else, I don't know.) Now, I've lost my job and for the first time in my life, I'm not bringing in half of our income. Could I go out and grab a...

MY STORY Some may consider the story of losing my job private, and while I agree that in some ways it's a private matter, it is WHY I did what I did (listened to God) and what comes next ( finding my purpose with God) that is most important. God told me to step out in faith... God told me to be more righteous... God told me to be a light! God used my current circumstance to redirect my path. My story is less about why I lost my job and more about God's timing and His direction for my life.  As I was scrolling through Instagram recently, I read a quote that BuildingHerself posted. It read, "Who you are is God's gift to you. What you become is your gift to God." I want to become exactly what God intended me to be. I also want to be a light for Him and encourage others to live to their full (Godly) potential.  We are here on this earth for such a short time. Did God create you to just work your life away for someone else, to run the kids to sports, to worry about...

I did it! I posted my first journal on Amazon !  Do I know what I'm doing? Not completely, but it's really fun to learn! I decided to start with low or no content books. What does that mean? I'm so glad you asked! My no content books are just notebooks that I created using Canva (Possibly a tutorial coming in the future, let me know if you’d like to hear more!) then upload to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) . (Once again, let me know if you want to hear more about that process!) I love to add special touches so I went a step further and added some images and sayings to the inside of the notebook as well. After I published my journal I had been watching my Amazon KDP account religiously just waiting on that first sale. Then, IT HAPPENED! I sold two journals!! It works!! To say I was thrilled was an understatement, but what came next was a little unexpected.  You see, I hadn’t told very many people that I was publishing a journal, but I did mention it to my mom. Now ...

Sometimes I have a great idea for a blog post, but I'm just not ready to write it yet. That's exactly what happened with this post. As I was reading the Bible I felt led to make a blog post about Peter walking on water. So, I created a draft, added my thoughts and left it sit for a while.  Lately, I've been struggling, I'm not going to lie. With the turn of the new year reality has set in. We no longer have my regular income stream, cookie orders have slowed down, and bills just keep piling in. I'm being humbled . It's easy to feel overwhelmed and wonder if you're making the right decision for your family, but I know I'm taking the path that God is paving for me. Okay, he's not paving, roughly clearing at most, but definitely not paving. If there was paving involved it would look much like the road that Lightening McQueen made quickly to try and leave Radiator Springs. But, no matter the condition of the path I'm taking (because it's not ea...

I've never been more humble in my adult life than I am right now. Why, you ask?  Well, I was kind of thrown into it. I lost my job after 12 1/2 years resulting in our family income being cut in half which is causing us to make some difficult decisions. I never thought I would be in this position but oddly enough, I'm embracing it quite well (sometimes lol). Don't get me wrong, it's not easy to say no to the kids when they want something and it's not easy to delete something from my Amazon cart after being a little more thoughtful (the struggle is real), but I find peace in knowing that I'm exactly where God wants me to be. Does God want me to be jobless and poor? Not at all, but God wants us to prosper doing His work. I believe that God delivered me from a life of trying to please others to a life of trying to please Him. Without me realizing it, He answered the prayers that I've been praying for years! I mean, I didn't pray to lose my job or income, bu...