Living Life with Purpose and Passion Every Day!
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3:5-6
How many times do you try and do something entirely on your own, only to end up failing to complete the task?
Or, have you ever tried to answer a specific question, only to realize you don’t actually have a decent answer?
Happens to me all the time.
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Happy Thankful Thursday!
Hope you all are having a wonderful week so far. Can’t believe it’s already Thursday again! Anyways, I’ll just get right down to it – here are the top five things I am thankful for this week – feel free to add your thankfuls in the comments below 🙂
5. So, I’m totally aware that I’ve been saying this almost EVERY week since the middle of October, but I’m so very thankful for cooler weather! This morning when I walked out of my apartment, it was 40 degrees – and I was just giddy with excitement. Cool weather makes me feel alive. Just wished that it snowed more frequently here – I am itching for a good ski weekend. Hopefully we’ll get a trip to New Mexico in later this winter.
Sadly, this is not Texas. It is beautiful Michigan.
“Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
– Galatians 1:10
Ever have those moments where you read something you’ve read countless times, but for some reason it really sticks out to you this time around? I experience those moments all the time. I guess that’s one thing I really love about scripture – you can read it over and over again, and still receive fresh revelation and insight from it. When I was reading from Galatians this morning, I had one of those moments, and I had to stop and really ask myself – who am I trying to please? Am I a people pleaser?
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Hello! Hope you all had a great weekend, and are having an excellent Monday so far! Our weekend was SO good. My mom flew into Dallas for the weekend to visit, and we had such an amazing time catching up on some long overdue mother-daughter time.
Mom and I at White Rock Lake Park!
We started the weekend with a brisk walk at White Rock Lake in Dallas. The weather was absolutely perfect – 60 degrees, breezy and sunny – a perfect fall day.
Me and the birds…
I’ve always thought that confidence was just something I would gain the older and more experienced I became. I guess I just assumed I would reach a magical moment in time when, all of a sudden I just BOOM became a confident, capable person.
What I never could have imagined was that confidence is not something you necessarily acquire with time. You can spend your whole life becoming the best you can possibly be at something, yet still lack the confidence needed to back up your work. No, confidence isn’t something that just automatically appears as you gain knowledge and insight, it is a choice. It is something you must choose to be, regardless of how skilled, popular or wonderful you are. Confidence is always a choice.
And no one can take that choice away from you. No one can force you to feel inferior, lacking or unsure of yourself. You have the power to control the way other affect you – whether that be positively or negatively. Your situation in life doesn’t have to determine your level of confidence. You can choose to be confident in spite of the things going on around you – you can choose to not let outside forces affect you. Don’t forget that.
So, next time you start feeling inferior, or you begin to doubt yourself and your abilities, remember – confidence is a choice. Choose to rise above your fears, and start acting like the confident individual you were always meant to be.
Hello! Hope you all are having a great week so far. Can’t believe that tomorrow is the first day of November…I think my mind is still stuck back in September somewhere.
Has anyone heard of and/or participated in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) before? It’s basically a challenge that takes place during the month of November, in which the participants try to finish writing a novel in 30 days. Sounds pretty intense to me. I’ve been toying with the idea of giving it a go, but I’m just not sure I should commit to that – not sure I’m quite at that stage yet. I have some vague ideas floating around in my head, but I haven’t really done much real, tangible planning. Anyways, seeing as tomorrow is the first day of the challenge, I was just wondering if anyone else was doing it, or had done it in the past.
Well, seeing as it is Thursday, I thought I would share another list of thankfuls from the week. Feel free to add the things you are thankful for in the comments below, and lets be grateful for what the Lord is doing in our lives together!
5. The ever-adorable Mr. Samson! I know, I know, I take more pictures of my cat than any person ever really should, but he’s just so cute! Lately, he’s been doing this thing where he sits in the sink and stares at the faucet. Then, when someone turns it on, he immediately sticks his head underneath it, and plays with the stream of water. So incredibly odd, I tell you.
He even brought Mouse-kin with him…
Do you ever have those days where it’s just really hard to stay focused and motivated? You know you’re trying to keep plugging away, but it’s hard to give that certain project or task your full effort, especially when you don’t see any initial results. It’s tempting to think, “I’ll just work on this later…when I feel more motivated.” But often that time never really comes, and you end up just giving a small portion of effort instead of everything you’ve got.
And then you read a verse like this…
“And whatever you do, whether in word or in deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” – Colossians 3:17
Or this…
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” – Colossians 3:23
And you remember – even when you don’t feel like it, it’s important to give your best effort, just as if you were working for the Lord.
We may not always feel like giving everything our best effort, but it’s so important that we try to do so. We shouldn’t be working to please others, or even ourselves. We should be working to please God alone, and He is worth our full effort. He is worth the hard work, the sleepless nights, the extra motivation – He is worth it. And we need to remember that as we go about our daily routines. We can find joy in even the most mundane tasks when we focus on pleasing Him through our actions.
Is there an area of your life that you need to put extra effort towards? Remember that you are working for the Lord, and just focus on pleasing him. The motivation you need to complete that task will come quickly when you begin to think this way.
Hello! Hope you all are having a great Monday so far. For some reason, I just can’t seem to wake up today. I think it must be from the cloudy weather and all the rain we had over the weekend. Other than that though, Monday is going well!
I’ve been thinking a lot about distractions, and how often I don’t recognize them for what they are. Actually, I think that is how they work best – if we can’t recognize them, it becomes harder to avoid them. Throughout my life I’ve had many different things I’ve wanted to accomplish, goals I wished to achieve. I guess you could say I’ve been a little bit indecisive. It’s always been hard for me to focus on just one thing when there are so many different things I could be doing. Probably why I changed my major so many times during college I suppose.
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Wow. I seriously can’t believe that it’s already Thursday again. Where is the time going?? Also, we’re going to hit November next week, which is another CRAZY thought. November 1st is officially the day, in keeping with tradition, that my mom and I both begin listening to Christmas music – and I’m getting pretty excited about that!
Anyways, I thought I would reflect back on the week and share a few things that I am thankful for. I like the idea of “Thankful Thursday’s” – it’s good accountability for me to remember the many blessings God has placed in my life. So, without further ado, here is my list of thankfuls for the week…
5. Texas. Yes, there are times when I don’t really like it. There are times when I feel incredibly homesick, and the only thing I want in the whole world is to just go home and see my family. And there are times when I become extremely frustrated with the local weather patterns [read: heat waves are horrible, and I seriously miss the snow]. But, overall, Texas is a great place to be. The people are great, the weather is decent [at least right now] and the community is amazing. Also, the State Fair is pretty cool too.
And honestly, who couldn’t love Big Tex?
Everyone Has A Past.
Have you heard that phrase before? Well, it’s true. Everyone does have a past – some more traumatic than others – but, in essence, everyone does have a past. Memories. Choices we made that we now wish we could take back. Things we should have would have or could have done differently if we had only known better.
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