Tag: gratitude

Soften The Heart: Devotional #13

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“Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.

For the commandments, “you shall not commit adultery,” “you shall not murder,” “you shall not steal,” “you shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

Romans 13:8-10

We tend to make things far more complicated than they truly need to be. Sometimes the answers that we receive aren’t good enough for us. This scripture is simple, to love one another. Simple right?

But another person may read this and reply with, “but why, why must we love one another.” And then there we go again making something more complicated than it needs to be.

Would you agree?

Now here’s another example, my husband says I always add too much seasonings in food. He says, “salt and pepper, that’s good enough. Everyone wants to get all fancy with food, but if you have salt and pepper then that’s truly enough.”

Of course I really enjoy more spices, and seasonings than that. But he’s got a point, when it comes down to it, salt and pepper are good enough. Even just salt brings enough flavor!

Life doesn’t need to be complicated, and we shouldn’t be wondering what we need to be doing in this life. The answer again, is simple. The answer is love. With every thing that we do, we must pour love all over it. Soak it, drench it, submerge it in love.

God has woven love like a ribbon into each and every one of us. We want to love, we crave love, we need love. The best way to receive it, is to give it.

But sometimes we do put up walls and boulders to prevent that flow of love. Love doesn’t want to be restricted, it so badly wants to be released. But some truly don’t know how to release the love that is buried deep like oil in the ground. It needs someone to help discover it. To show that person, love has been with them this whole time. They just didn’t know.

We must be patient with those, and do as we are instructed. To love those as ourselves. How God has been incredibly patient with us, can’t we do the same for others.

If someone doesn’t know how to love, you must show them. Let your compassion, empathy, and kindness be exposed for all to see. Be that guiding light, and pass the flame, that they too may have light in their lives.

Allowing yourself to love or to love others can be difficult for some. Wounds that were once covered in sand and repressed are now exposed and have to be dealt with. But you don’t have to remove those boulders that block your flow of love by yourself. Help is always near. God wants us to work together to become closer to Him.

We often think love is a feeling, but love is more than that, it’s a choice. And we must choose love at all times.

I pray, that the love that flows in each and every one of you may be released. That you may follow love, and submit to it. God is love, we know this. Like a river, love may take you to unimaginable places. But you must surrender, and trust the almighty. Who knows what waits down the river of love. I pray that you seek the unknown and discover new beautiful things that would not have been discovered had you not trusted your Heavenly Father. I pray that you may have courage and not be afraid. For God is always with us. May each of you always feel His presence, even during those rough trenches. May you let love in, and be free.

Amen.

Soften The Heart: Devotional #11

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“As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.”

Proverbs: 27:17

I had a really great, thought provoking conversation with a friend of mine that I have only known now for a few months. Our daughters are in class together and we met at one of their classmates birthday parties. Neither one of us knowing a beautiful friendship was about to be born. How grateful we must be for the small moments that lead to something priceless, like an amazing friendship.

We had a conversation on the phone not too long ago, and we had a deep conversation as we normally do. Unfortunately it came to an end due to my children needing my attention, but once we got off the phone I was provoked to find a scripture related to friendship because I felt so grateful to have a friend who I can share my inner thoughts with. We each challenge each other with what we believe in, in a very respectful way.

No offensive is taken, only respect and listening to each other sharing why we feel, believe, or think the way that we do. I believe we humble each other in our discussions and help one another to see more beyond the horizon. We sharpen each other.

How important, and what a gift, friendships are. A friend that is pushing, challenging you, and encouraging you, is going to improve you. Sharpen means improve or cause to improve. Improve means make or become better. Countenance means to admit what is acceptable or possible.

In relation to the scripture above, we strengthen each other’s tolerance and endurance to the sufferings that are experienced in this world. We alleviate burdens and give the gift of perseverance to one another.

To live is to experience suffering, we know this is true, and this scripture tells us how you and I can give strength to one another and endure what to some would be unbearable. This scripture reminds us that we are not alone in our sufferings and how important relationships are with one another.

We are here to uplift one another not to bring down. We must sharpen each other to the best of our capabilities. Because everyone at one time or another will seek or is seeking right now alleviation in what they do not know. We must share our light. We only shine because of those that taught us.

Reach out to your best friends today and remind them how much you cherish their friendship. Explain to them why you choose to have them in your life. Give them love and gratitude. How special to have such friends who develop us and push us to grow.

Love to you all.

Soften The Heart: Devotional #8

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“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33

It is undeniable that humanity does evil things. We are most definitely witnesses to that. Evil lurks around like a fragrance that has yet to fade away.

Jesus though gave us some serious truth bombs. We know this from reading the scriptures. And the effects of these “truth bombs” are still lingering today. Rather than a bomb being filled with gas or smoke, Jesus planted bombs filled with love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness.

The fragments from these bombs are still piercing souls as we speak. The dust has not yet settled from what Jesus has done for us or taught us. Which is why we don’t understand everything fully yet. We’re all still in this giant cloud of smoke from this gift that God gave us because he loves us. Most people wouldn’t think of a bomb as a gift, however this bomb of love and truth from God is the greatest thing that could ever happen to us.

Here’s the thing though, Jesus came so that through him we may have peace. The key word is *may*. It is completely our choice to take this peace that God has offered to us.

Rather than being in the cloud of smoke afraid because we can’t see anything, and groaning because our ears are ringing from the noise, or hiding because we’re scared. We can be anxiously excited to see that all our fears have been conquered because of the truth bombs that were planted for us. If we keep our eyes open while the dust is settling we can actually witness the changes. We get to see evil transformed to love. How amazing!

Jesus says, be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. What a comforting thing to know. Soon enough we all will get to rejoice in this beautiful new world. Praise God, Praise the Lord.

Love to you all

Soften The Heart: Devotional #7

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“And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;

And perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

Romans 5: 3-4

This earthly life is full of inevitable hardships. Which is what a tribulation is; a hardship. However, as the scripture says, with hardships come lessons in determination, which gives us strength, which gives hope and encouragement to others and to yourself.

Some of you may already know this to be true and the pain is still lingering. You may be in a storm right now. But you also know what comes after a storm. A beautiful rainbow.

Sometimes in life you see great ordeals approaching, other times, those hardships will unexpectedly knock the air out of you the way a car spits out an airbag. Nobody wants to go through pain and suffering and nobody wants to see those especially close to them endure such things. They break our heart and crush our soul. But we are strong and courageous.

We have such things because we live in a world that is ill. However what we are being told to do when we encounter a hardship is to be still and rejoice. We are being told, don’t worry, something good will come out of this if you allow it. You have to seek the good. But think of those hard times for a moment, what did they teach you? What are you doing now and sharing with others to prevent anyone from suffering what you may have endured. Hard times happen to bring us closer together, not to separate us. Which is what God and truthfully all of us want. We want unity and peace.

So let’s hold hands and embrace these hard times together.

Soften The Heart: Devotional #4

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“So he answered and said, “ ‘ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself .’ “

Luke 10:27

If you study and pay attention you will begin to recognize how we are all interwoven creating life itself. We lean on one another without realizing, we depend on more than we believe or even know, all of us representing a small piece that make up a grand infinite masterpiece.

We are one. When you love someone, some thing, you are loving not just that something but yourself. Made up of the same universe. All in this life and unknown together. God is all around you, in every thing that you see, touch, smell, hear, taste, God is in you, God is in us.

Everything is deserving of love and every thing needs love. We must accept and appreciate the cycles and have faith in all that is. Have faith that no matter what, love will always grow through the mud the same way a lotus does. Love will grow through the suffering and the obstacles.

Choose love today, and every day.

Soften The Heart: Devotional #3

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“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy or sell, and make a profit”;

whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”

James 4:13-14

Life is precious like a gem and fragile like porcelain. It is so easy to get caught up in the web of this fast paced world and forget that we are not promised tomorrow. That our futures are not guaranteed. What we have is the present. What we have is a gift. And this is something we need to constantly remind ourselves. But many of us have difficulty living in the present moment. We become anchored to our past or become too caught up on a future that we know nothing of. I believe we may remain hopeful of our futures and I believe our past continues to teach us; the same way re- reading a favorite book in different stages of your life changes your perspective. However we must also accept that many things in life are out of our control. Coming to terms with this reality, that our lives are faster than a blink of an eye when you’re looking at the bigger picture feels incredibly surreal. But maybe going through this earthly life is the only way to know God. That this life is a grace of its own to know Gods love and sovereignty.

Let every day of your life be filled with passion, purpose, forgiveness, grace, mercy, and love. Be grateful for each day. Hug and hold your loved ones close and thank God for this opportunity and chance to experience love.

Soften The Heart: Devotional #2

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“And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance”

Romans 5:3

Let’s define some of these words first to grasp a better idea of what this scripture may mean. A tribulation is a cause of great suffering or trouble. Perseverance is defined as “continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition.”

Back to the scripture, our pain brings out the will to not give up. It pushes us, it makes us stronger. It continues to say that our troubles are what give us hope and shape our character.

When hard things happen we must have faith. It’s the love in our hearts that persevere. May this scripture encourage you to dig deep into your pain and to find out what it has taught you. What has it made you realize? What has it made you wonder? Pray about it. Ponder it. Sometimes we have to go through a dark forest in order to see a beautiful sunrise. And when we see that sunrise we give hope to those who are still in the forest.

Believe that you will come out on top, no matter what life has and will continue to throw at you…..God is with you, always. You just have to look around.

Soften The Heart: Devotional #1

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“And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.”

1 Corinthians 8:2

Life is mysterious. And sometimes, we don’t like that it’s a mystery. It feels like sometimes we are all walking on egg shells in life, looking over our shoulders just waiting for something to jump out. Who wants to live like that? Always afraid. Not that everyone is entirely afraid but uncertainty can make a person anxious and stressed. The unknown can be terrifying.

However, we aren’t suppose to have all the answers and even if we did, then what? We would become bored and not appreciate this incredible gift of life. Gratitude would seize to exist. If something is predictable then it doesn’t hold our attention, we lose focus because we already know what’s going to happen. Think of a TV show that you’ve watched over and over again. You already know what’s going to happen so now you aren’t watching intently. It becomes background noise while you do something else. It becomes comfort and less exciting than when you first watched the series.

I believe God wants us to enjoy life which is why so much is left unknown. He wants to keep us excited and involved. Life doesn’t come with a seatbelt, it keeps us constantly at the edge of our seats. And God knows that us not knowing everything is how it needs to be and how it should be. One day it all may be revealed but until then, embrace the mystery and the majesty of the almighty.

To The Wildest Dreamers – Keep This In Mind

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Whatever you want in this life, I hope what I have to say can motivate or encourage you in some way.

Don’t ever stop being a dreamer.

“Set impossible goals”. I actually heard that quote on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. It was one of her greatest holiday giveaway ones.

A man had been swimming in the ocean, he did a flip, and broke his neck. Just like that, his life changed in an instant.

Life as we know is full of those kind of moments.

He was told that he may never walk again. A nurse told him something that gave him strength and determination. “Set impossible goals.”

Over time, he did learn how to walk again, he is one of the lucky few. He didn’t allow being told that he wouldn’t be able to walk again stop him or hold him back. He dreamed that impossible dream. The beautiful part of this story is he walked his wife down the aisle. And I’m willing to bet they danced too. All because he didn’t give up. All the frustration, the tears, the try after try were absolutely worth it.

(This isn’t them btw, I’m just providing a visual so you can truly try to empathize with this couple and to gain perspective. Hope it works.)

Now……

Everyone has something that they desire. What is your dream? I know you have one.

I’m willing to bet some of you reading this have never really been asked that question. Or you haven’t shared it with anyone.

I want this post to get you thinking about what you want in your life. To take a moment to identify what you seek.

When I was younger the only dream I truly desired so much was to become a mom. I’m not even kidding, that was my dream. It was a dream and it felt like a calling, I can’t really explain it. I wanted to be a mom so bad and my greatest fear was that I wouldn’t be able to have children.

When I became a mother my dream literally came true. Words cannot describe how much joy motherhood gives me. However, what’s crazy though, when I became a mom I also lost myself a bit.

Losing a bit of myself was very bizarre to me. I became something that I wanted so badly, yet, here was I not feeling completely fulfilled.

I went on a serious soul searching journey. And 3 kids later I feel the most confident, courageous, that I have ever been. And I have grown so much.

Motherhood has been the best thing to ever happen to me, because I found a different part of myself. New dreams are being born and new goals are being formed because of my first dream. My daughters inspire me. I have started dreaming ‘impossible dreams’ because of them.

I share this because I don’t ever want you to feel discouraged. The feeling of reaching something but not quite feeling the way you thought you would will happen sometimes.

I saw an interview with Tom Hanks on The Today Show and he said something along the lines of, “The good things you feel from an accomplishment don’t last, and the same goes for the things that bring you down.”

I’m grateful for my dream of motherhood coming true. Greatest, hardest thing ever! This blog exist because of my girls! I have no idea where this blog will take me, but so far it’s probably helped me more then it’s helped any of you.

Trust the Timing of things. And trust your path. Each path provides some type of lesson to get you where you need to go next.

It can take time trying to figure out what you really want.

The point is, don’t give up. Keep trying, keep experiencing, keep doing! And stop being so concerned with what others think. Otherwise you’ll just become stuck and you will settle. If you only knew that just a few feet more you’d see that something greater was waiting for you.

If you’re afraid to fail in front of others, you’re going to have to suck it up. I say that in the nicest way possible.

I personally would rather keep trying new things and experiencing failure to find what really lights my spirit up, then to just settle because I’m in a content position.

You can’t be afraid of dead ends, u-turns, or any paths that lead you into a roundabout.

The pitfalls, the mistakes, the redos are going to happen and they have to happen in order for you to learn and grow and to get where you want to be.

4 THINGS TO CLOSE THIS UP

(Thanks if you read this whole thing!)

Be patient.

Don‘t forget the reason why you’re doing what you are doing.

Write your goals down and work towards it everyday.

Stop limiting yourself, set yourself to be free and to express who you really are and who you want to become.

Enjoy the crazy maze of life!

We Can Live In A Better World With A Simple Act

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I think something we all think about from time to time is our purpose in life.

Not just our purpose, but we wonder how we are contributing to this world. We ask ourselves what impact am I making, or how can I make an impact? I have an answer.

Kindness.

We reciprocate kindness. It’s something so simple yet extremely powerful.

Can you imagine a world where people were just more kind. Kind as in soft hearted, thoughtful, helpful, loving, full of compassionate and sincerity.

You hear about acts of kindness, you hear how contagious it is but what is an act of kindness really.

An act of kindness is a selfless act you do for someone or something for the mere fact of making them feel good and expecting nothing in exchange. That’s a very simple explanation.

In result of these actions, these acts of kindness, you feel good. You feel really good, you feel positive, you feel and you know you are making an impact in someway. If you are unaware of this, YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE with every kind thing that you do.

You don’t need to know the results of whatever good acts of kindness you are doing because in your heart you know these good deeds are impactful and will go further then you can possibly imagine.

Kindness is extremely contagious. Which is why we need to be more kind to one another.

Even just witnessing an act of kindness makes you feel good! Have you ever noticed that?

In performing more acts of kindness you are spreading magic.

When someone does something nice for YOU, don’t you feel a need and a desire to reciprocate it. You want to return the gesture because you keep in mind how good it made you feel and you want to pay it forward.

All this kindness feels so good because it releases that love hormone you’ve heard about, oxytocin.

A hormone that is released through intimacy, hugging, childbirth, and that’s just to name a few! Overall I think we all can agree it’s a pretty good feeling.

I feel like often we are reminded how cruel this world can be. Whether it be something we watch on the news or see on social media, or hear maybe on the radio.

It’s crucial to not let these bad things that exist harden your heart and to stay strong with your ‘kindness armor’.

Being a Mother I worry a lot about my children and this world they are growing up in. But I know if we are all just more kind this world really can be a better place.

I challenge you to do more acts of kindness. Empathize with one another and choose to love. We are all in this together. We are one.

No matter how big or small you think you are, you play a huge part in this life and world and plan. Lift those who are weak, continue to strengthen yourself to help others, and never give up on the vision that you have for a better place.

What kind thing will you do today?