Be the best you can be

We all have the same ability...to be the very best person we can be. It is not always easy and we will struggle along the way. However, if we make it our goal...we WILL achieve it!

The reason many of us struggle with insecurities is because we compare our behind the scenes with everyone else's highlight reel! We do not know their inner struggles or their insecurities...we see what they project and sometimes that can be intimidating. We are all different. We have different gifts and talents so we need to stop comparing ourselves to others and learn how to shine our own light.

When others are committed to keeping you from achieving your goal it is usually out of jealousy, ignorance or a failure to thrive on their part. Ask yourself if that is the kind of environment that will get you to your goal. If not, perhaps it is time to do a clean sweep of your support circle.

You will never know how strong you are until you lose someone or something you were not ready to give up. However, when you rise up with a renewed strength you will see that it might just have been the added weight that was keeping you back.

Remember to always be that friend who is kind, encouraging, uplifting with a sincere desire to help your family and friends succeed. Have a blessed and productive day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

Respect yourself...

If someone treats you as if you were beneath them, without respect, as if you were subservient to them then ask yourself, "Why am I allowing them to treat me this way?".

People will only treat you within the boundaries that you set. You have to respect yourself and know your own value. We all have value and we all deserve respect. When someone devalues you, you need to kindly show them the door and lock it behind them! Do not allow people in your life to treat you in any way that belittles you.

On the flip side, you need to show everyone respect as well. It is true that people earn respect however, there is a baseline of respect due to everyone regardless of their position in life. Always put yourself in their position and treat them the way you would want to be treated by others.

Have a blessed and respectful day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

The Spiritual Cycle

I found this spiritual cycle and I thought that it would be a great tool to share with you. Sometimes we just need a reminder of how God works.

First and foremost we need to relax and be in His Presence - He will take care of all our needs...in HIS timing. We have His promises to rely on so all we have to do is wait for His answer. We should rejoice in His goodness that He is faithful and that He will never leave or forsake us!

Waiting is not always easy...trust me, I know this first hand (I am HORRIBLE at it) However, it teaches us to rely on Him and on Him alone. We get valuable lessons in every step of the cycle.

Have a blessed and peaceful day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

Prayer is Americas only hope...

Prayer is America's only hope! We need to forget about all this "political correctness".  Why is it that we are so concerned about trying to appease and/or not offend EVERYONE else that we have turned our backs on God and our own values?

Atheists have removed God from our schools and government because they said it violated their rights...what about the rights of those who do believe in Him? We are told we have to be tolerant of the beliefs of others...yet those very people are not tolerant of ours. Where is the balance?

I have no issues with atheists or any member of any religion. I wholeheartedly agree that you have the right to practice any religion that you choose. I just do not agree that you should stop others from practicing ours because you don't agree with it. You can share the platform if you want.

We have pushed God further and further away. We are a country that was FOUNDED on God. Just remember...if God is not WITH us then HE will be AGAINST us!! It can only be one of the two!!! Look at the state of our schools and our government. It does not take a rocket scientist to see that it is not working - evil is prevailing in this country!!!

We all need to pray and pray hard. Pray for our country, pray for the heart of the people to turn back to God, pray for peace, pray for Israel. Pray for anything you want...just PRAY!!

Have a blessed and prayer filled day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

It ain't much...

God does not ask a lot of us. He does not want anything more than our heart and our desire to be close to Him.

What a change from most of the people in our lives. Many of them placed countless spoken and unspoken demands on us! The sad thing is that we try to bend over backwards to meet those demands. 

Think of everything that God has done for you, everything He has given you, every time He showed up when everyone else walked away. Is He really asking to much from you? 

Have a blessed and loving day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

A Thin Line....

Do not confuse arrogance with confidence. Sometimes we THINK that we are being confident while everyone else sees us as arrogant. It is not what you think you can do. It is how you react after you do it that defines your character.

Have all the confidence in the world...because you can do anything you put your heart into :)  Just don't let it get to your head and start thinking that you are better than anyone else. Balance is the key.

Have a blessed and balanced day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

Be filled with Gratitude and Joy...

Happiness in not having everything you want. It is wanting and appreciating everything you have. When you are filled with gratitude for what you have there is peace and joy. 

Far to often we base our wants on what other people have. We live in a society that we have to have the latest and greatest things to be cool. All that does is cause stress and put financial burdens on us. The cutting edge technology today is obsolete tomorrow and so the cycle continues to upgrade what we have for something better.

Finding what we need and what will work best for us is what matters. Everything we have is a blessing from God and we need to show our gratitude and appreciation for what we have been given. We also need to remember to be good stewards of what we have.

Have a blessed and grateful day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.