Recently a statement caught my attention claiming that there was no perfect church. The discussion was regarding how all churches have issues, some big some small, with members working around the imperfections and finding the good. People have imperfections too. Thankfully I don’t have to be perfect so long as my intentions are good. I am far from perfection but strive to be faithful to Jesus. Always challenging myself to consider how Jesus would react to the situation. Things that are not perfect, my behavior, habits, moods, the list could go on forever. What I do have are good…
Are you currently living a faith-filled life yet struggling to experience complete peace? The struggle is real. There are things I rely on each day to help me focus on my faith. Tools that help me stay on track living a life of internal peace. First I make reading the Bible a priority daily. Second, I pray throughout my day. Third, I remind myself to be thankful, and grateful and live with love. Fourth, I make sure I am listening. Fifth, when possible I serve others. And sixth, I trust and give control to Jesus. In the past, reading…
I was definitely the stereotypical workaholic, balance was not in my vocabulary. I loved working. It didn’t matter what job, I always found things that I enjoyed about work. I craved the sense of accomplishment that I felt when company goals were achieved and I thrived on problem-solving. For most of my life, my job revolved around finding creative solutions. Life changed when I met my husband. We were co-workers when he started to influence my life in major ways. He always found importance in the little things. He found joy in looking at things such as…
I’ve always wondered what it means to be deserving. Is one person really more deserving than another? Does working hard, putting in long hours, earning good grades, and getting a degree, make us more deserving? When I start to have feelings that I deserve something, I quickly pray to change my thoughts to love, kindness, and compassion. I don’t allow myself to sit in thoughts of being deserving. For me, it stirs up trouble. When I think about it, who is not deserving? How would I be able to judge the life of someone else? Aren’t we…
When I find myself questioning what to do in a particular situation, I think about what Jesus would say. Somehow everything seems much simpler when I try to see the situation from his perspective. As I am contemplating a decision, I ask myself if Jesus would approve of how I am dealing with the situation. It only takes a few seconds for me to determine if he would approve. When I start negotiating with myself it is time to develop another plan! When things are difficult at home, I ask myself what Jesus would say about my parenting. Am I…
For those who follow my journey, you know that I often write about love. I am not speaking of romantic love, but rather having love for others. A love for others despite any conflicting views or judgments. I am always challenging myself to focus more on Jesus. It is not an easy process for me, distractions are always interfering. I center my thoughts on being grateful and turn to prayer. In order to focus on love, I have to let go of frustrations, stress, worry, and anger and move toward forgiveness and compassion. I am forever reminding myself to be…
When faith is first in your life, the unknown is far less scary. As you give up control and rely on Jesus clues are given and signs appear that help you find your way and prepare you for what’s to come. I listen and am alert to different clues that arise. There is a lot of noise that attempts to pull me off track, but when I am drawn to something, I do my best to follow the lead. I remember having this unusual desire to go buy a book from a bookstore. Bookstores are not something I frequent…
Each of us faces our own personal struggles. Some of us may have similar issues, but we have our unique set of circumstances. We really don’t know what other people are going through because we are not walking in their shoes. Despite only knowing our personal issues, everyday struggles are real. Some days the conflict seems to weigh us down. We try to work through the obstacles, yet more issues arise. It might seem like prayers are not answered or worse, not heard. Jesus has a plan for each of us. His plan may not work with our time…
We all have a choice about how we approach death and our feelings of guilt, anger, relief, sorrow, contentment, etc. Although my late husband’s death was sudden and unexpected, I was fortunate to know that he did not want to survive on life support. A part of me feels a bit embarrassed to say that I don’t ever remember talking to him about faith. We never had a need to talk about it because we lived it. I saw him live life with love. We both knew we would be married in a church, but rarely attended unless…
If you were to ask me years ago if I had idols in my life I would have laughed and said, “No!” In hindsight, I always said that my family was first in my life. I lived my life full of faith, but my family took that top spot. I didn’t realize the importance of always putting my faith first until I worked with Mary Kay Cosmetics. My faith was strong and present, but I never verbalized it as being first in my life. The strength of my faith was definitely “in the closet.” It was the top leadership…