Spring Cleaning in August?

Okay so we are in the process of moving, and that means there has to be some clean up. As you know, once your start packing you start finding things that you forgot you had. Then you ask yourself, "What was I saving this menu from Taco Bell for ?" .....trash can...."Oh look, there is that missing PART to that old vcr that we don't have anymore!".....trash can...."What exactly is THIS??"....trash can.

Aside from all of that stuff that you find you no longer need, you find something else amongst all the other stuff.....dust. Even if you may be vigilant in your Spring cleaning and get down on the floor and move heavy furniture to clean, over time the dust tends to collect anyway.

So it is a misadventure to say the least....:o)

The good news is we are on track and making fast progress to vacating our old apartment, are we moving to a new house??? Not yet, but we are holding on and buckling in because we know God has something great in store for us.

As I close this update, let me leave you with the prayer my oldest son says most often at dinner time:

"Thank you Father for this food,
Thank you Father for this day,
Thank you Father for blessing us,
And thank you Father for all the blessings to come.
Amen."


Amen, indeed!!
CJ

A Good Report.

To say life is kind of busy for me right now, is like saying a race car is kind of fast. You see my family is preparing to move, our youngest son (who is 8 months old) is now crawling, eating in the high chair & pulling himself up on the furniture, and we are about enroll our oldest son into public school for the first time.

We are moving at the speed of life indeed, but I had to take a moment to testify about how good God is.

I have no worries, God has taken care of everything as He promised.
I have more blessings than I can count, God has made our family prosper and be in health.
Any trials and tribulations set before me I have counted as Joy, for if He is and has been with me, who can be against me?
Everything is in Divine and perfect order according to His will. I comprehend this because I lean not unto my own understanding.

So today I am thankful & honored to give God the glory and wanted to take a brief moment to share it with you all.

Blessings!!

CJ

Great Mornings!

How do you start your day?

Is it that much anticipated first cup of coffee? A morning jog? Maybe you kick off your day with a full breakfast. Perhaps the best start to your day could be prayer. You can still have that cup of joe or that morning run, but before even those things prayer can set the tone for your entire day.

Consider what is written in (Psalm 5:3);

"In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation."

God is always available to listen but we sometimes get too busy to talk to Him. In the morning before all the hustle and bustle, take a few moments to pray. Talking to God in prayer reminds us that we have direct access to Him and we can ask for guidance and support. Even if you have no requests to lay before Him and all is well with your life, be thankful. Our blessings flow more abundantly the closer our relationship to God.

So when you wake up in the morning, and begin to think about what your day may bring, spend a few moments talking to God and find a great start to every morning!

CJ

Thoughts into Actions

When you say you can or you can't, you are right!

At its root, the concept is pretty simple, your thoughts become words and your words become behavior. It happens spontaneously in most cases, you think about doing something and then you do it. However there is another component to be reviewed here. You see many times we don't realize how much time we spend on certain thoughts. So because we are not paying attention to the thoughts, our behavior just kind of happens and we find ourselves on automatic pilot.

This can be challenging if your thoughts are scattered or sunk in negativity. You can't think clearly, and positive thoughts escape you. Your behaviors are then scattered as well. You find yourself doing things out of habit that do nothing good for you, sometimes even hurting you.

Now imagine you are focused and concentrating on good things for your life like compassion, laughter and loved ones. Your actions will reflect those thoughts in kind. You'll discover yourself putting others' needs before your own. You'll see good behaviors flow as second nature. You might even find yourself willing and able to rise above adversity you previously thought insurmountable.

So keep your thoughts focused on what God has blessed you with and it will be apparent in your actions.

CJ

Spread the Word

One of the main purposes of this blog is to share words of love and support. In a world where there is way too much negativity in every direction you look, I wanted to create a place where people can stop by, read something positive, and hopefully be blessed.

As some of you know I am working on putting much of what I have written here along with additional material into book format. This would be another way to spread the good word. In order to reach more people who might benefit from these inspirations, I want to encourage every reader to tell a friend. If you feel so inclined, feel free to post the link to this blog on any websites you visit.

In the meantime, I will continue to do my best to work on my book, make postings here and follow that higher calling. Giving God the glory as I move to serve as a witness according to His will.

CJ

Divine and Perfect Order

The world moves around us and we have three options in response to it, we can fight against the movement and make our own way, we can join the flow and move with the universe, or we can do nothing and watch it all pass us by and let everything just happen to us. Where do you suppose the most reward will come from?

Making our own way often seems like a good idea. We are strong enough and intelligent enough to know what's best for our own lives, so why not make it happen? Well the only drawback to that philosophy is when we do so without acknowledging God's plan for our life. I have mentioned before that we certainly have free will, but we are not abandoned to it. In other words, we don't HAVE to make our own way. We can talk to God about His plan for our life and work in unison with it to bring about the outcomes most desirable and beneficial to our souls. Too often we make choices that go against the plan God has set for us, so we deviate and end up going through tougher times.

When we do nothing and just become spectators to our life, we find ourselves caught in a rut, dealing with issues like depression, anger, and fear all the time and in worse cases even blaming God for everything. What really happened? Things affected us as we remained stagnant. The free will we were given was not even used in any attempt to drive along on our path. We simply gave up or gave in and let the world happen to us, good or bad, up or down, it all comes and goes without our participation.

But when we agree and understand that God is in control, and that all transpires is according to His will, then we discover that everything is in divine and perfect order. Our choices lead us to our destiny, but as we make better choices we find favor in God's grace and the blessings flow in abundance! All the times in our lives when we made less productive choices, He was still watching over us. His will was still in place, it was we who walked away from his protection and found ourselves struggling more.

So today I share with you this one piece of wisdom, talk to God. Pray that he reveal His will to you that you may begin to make better choices. Choices that will enlighten you to his plan for you life.


Selah,
CJ

Being Humble

Too many times in our lives we fall into the habit of desiring to have our Egos stroked. Of course it is a great feeling to receive kudos for a job well done, to gain a bit of recognition for your hard work, or to know that others care about what you are doing and love you for it. However, sometimes we begin to thrive on the endorphins and begin seeking excessive opportunities to gain favor from our co-workers, friends and loved ones. This is when we run the risk of living only for the next victory or 'high'.

We are often challenged to be the best in many things we do. We are even taught at a young age that through competition we can be stronger. Of course competition certainly brings to our lives incentives and rewards. It is when this behavior becomes neurotic that we suffer unpleasant consequences like trying to define our entire self worth on competitive outcomes. Being number one is not a bad thing, it just needs to be tempered with some humility. To be humble is to accept accolades without vanity.

Remember that sometimes instead of competition, we should be offering cooperation. It is a testament to your humility to honor others in their endeavors and hard work. Offering a helping hand is an excellent way to embrace our talents and strengths. It is also paramount to identify out limitations and realize when we need assistance. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign of wisdom.

When coupled with compassion and wisdom, you may find being humble helps you rise above negativity and enjoy more of your life.

CJ