Listen Now

In our humanity  In our very existence  We crave validation - we want to be known and loved When we move in our calling to impact the lives around us, we will use a source of energy to continue to fuel our desire and that’s based on the energy and validation we get back. I don’t know a single soul who wouldn’t desire this. The challenge then becomes how do we continue to choose to be a person, an agent of change, a source of love and light when there is no validation back? Emotional maturity is when we choose to plug in to the ONE power source that never fails, never leaves & never forsakes us. And that is our creator, God. You cannot let your feelings be your TRUTH  

So my question for you today is  Can you dream bigger?  Should you dream bigger? Where are you dreaming small?What lies are you believing and can you make them obedient to what God says of you instead of what you believe of you or what you believe the world believes of you. Don't just pray for the fruit.  Pray for the capacity to hold what you receive.  Pray for the courage and boldness to make big moves.  Pray for a committed heart and conviction when you're operating out of integrity. Pray for the forgiveness of your past mistakes and when you operate from your flesh.  Pray for the strength in the surrender.  Pray for each investment to become a seed.  Pray for each challenge to stretch you, grow you and heal you.  Pray for those who weren't meant to be in your space to quietly let themselves out.  Pray for the humility and a servant heart.  Don't just pray for the fruit...pray for who you're becoming in the process.

  Our thoughts of worry can become feelings that leave us unsettled and uncertain. So how do we merge thoughts of hope with thoughts of worry? First we have to ask ourselves: What can we be certain of?  The bible says that God will never leave us or forsake us.  So no matter how bleak it may seem, the truth is we belong to Him and he has us in the palm of his hands. And while circumstances may not be ideal, or within our desires and hopes, we still belong to God and we are cared for by Him. Ultimately I believe at the root of these worrisome thoughts we have that can become feelings of anxiousness, is our pride. www.choosingthebestyou.com    Good gut microbes and their impact on our mood https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36536630/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33136173/  What probioitic I use and recommend shop.plexusworldwide.com/sprat/product/plexus-vitalbiome    

Take a moment to consider the trught that God will exceed anything we can ask or imagine.    I often repeat this back to myself and it lights up my heart every single time. Paul's words in Ephesians encourage me to come to prayer with a bigger outlook about what is possible. I dare you to consider bigger. I dare you to consider bolder in pursuing what is possible with God. 

I want to encourage you. Your life goal should not be to arrive at the end safe. We were never called to live safe lives. We are called to hard… good… earth shattering.. hard things and we are promised to be held in every aspect.    The end result of our willingness to do uncomfortable awkward unsuspecting things is a satisfaction that our heavenly father desires to give us. Our character grows the harder things we face. We become stronger and better people. We become fruitful and walking out more and more meaningful things.  

I have heard so many stories about people who experience peace when they say no to hard things in life.  Let me tell you, it is ABSOLUTELY peaceful to not be doing meaningful things - especially the things that God has laid in front of us to do. Its not your calling that burdens you, its your resistance to it that is causing you the pain.  Your calling will crush you, press you down and you will become refined and new in this process. Even when we can't feel it, God is working.

One last thought on the idea of grand gestures. Sometimes we are on the giving end and sometimes we are on the receiving end. And we base how we receive on the level of our worthiness.  When someone acts grand in our lives, we will internalize that gesture and see ourselves as worthy to receive or not worthy.   Our lives are not on our merit. They are on the merit of God. We would not be here if it were not for Him and his hand over our lives.   I could tell that the first homeowner we were working with, Vivian, was struggling with the idea that we were demonstrating this grand gesture for her and she was grateful we were all that but struggled with the idea of being worthy to receive it.  Her and I talked about it and she shared with me that she has struggles in her life. She struggles to always have pure thoughts, pure words and pure actions. So I shared with her that I do too. And that God doesn’t work that way. He isn’t waiting to lavish his love upon us when we get all of our stuff together. He lavishes it on us, even though we dont’ deserve it. I also thanked her for her willingness to allow this tragedy in her life because her tragedy gave my life more purpose.  Life can happen to us or it can happen through us. If you wish to donate towards one of the amazing homeowners we got to work with in FL is Vivian. Vivian is a single mom, a disabled US Veteran (Navy) She is a 2 x breast cancer survivor.  She is an addiction counselor but hasn’t worked since February due to her cancer surgery.    She had 2 ft of standing water in her uninsured home from hurricane Ian.    She has lost mostly everything.  Specifically we would like to start meeting some of her needs by getting her and her daughter a queen bed, bedding, towels, etc.    They will be needing a new washer, dryer, referrer (all major appliances had to be discarded)    They both lost their cars as well   We have both big & small needs to be met here. I believe we can all make a difference together.  https://gofund.me/70c01bdc  

So how do we navigate the stormy seas that happen 50% of the time?1. Acknowledge that storms are a given and will happen - be prepared for that    It doesn’t mean we won’t take on waves or water, it means that how we respond to the wind and waves does.   What we expose ourselves to can hinder or help our ability to keep our ship headed in the most healthy direction possible.   When the sun is shining, soak it all in. Absorb that Vitamin D we all need and allow it to penetrate your soul with gratitude for those sunny days.    When the wind and waves come, know that the author of this life - our creator desires to give us peace despite the storms. He knows every detail of the wind and waves and desires to give us that comfort we all desire to feel even when it feels like the winds will never calm down. He is there for us. We have to simply invite him on board the boat.

What if these were to simply think about making a choice to not let what doesn’t weigh in the balance for all of eternity to not bother them.   Its statistically and humanly possible to always be in agreement with everyone about every thing in life.   Even more so, those statistics get really small in the confines of our very close relationships.   Typically when we are in conflict its because we see things going differently than they are.   Ive always perceived expectations as a  thief of our ability to be content.

Our waiting  Our financial challenges  Our health Our conflict at work Difficult seasons in life   They happen  They are for a purpose    Sometimes these less than ideal things happen as a result of a poor choice on our part   Sometimes its a poor choice on someone else’s part   Ultimately its not lost on God what’s happening     

The bible says that we are not to plan on what we will do on this day or that.  I pray and ask God for things according to His will and his plan for my life. I will never be attached to any outcome that he may allow whether I ask big for something and it happens or whether I don’t.   I could do nothing or I could do something. Something opens up space for BIG somethings and BIG somethings are opportunities for the world to see what our amazing God is capable of doing in and through his people who dream and ask big.    Any opportunity I can get to be around people who talk big, dream big and ask big I am there. These are my people. Like why not? Why not tell God that you are willing to be used by him for him with a purpose, for a purpose and on purpose!   

Assume success because God is absolutely for you.  He is for your in your marriage He is for you in your career He is for you in your family He is for you in your ministry He is for you with your health   Your ability to do - solely rests upon lining up your heart belief with your mind belief and making your thoughts obedient to what Gods word says of you. He is for you. 

We - you and I - have the opportunity for God to use us in ways we may not even ask for or imagine, but he does desire to use us.   When we surrender to Him and acknowledge who He is and that no matter what we have or we don’t, that we desire to be His hands and feet so that others can KNOW who He is. He is caring for others and many times he is doing that through us We don’t have to worry and others don’t have to worry because God is the orchestrator and we are the instruments of His peace to offer up our lives and the things that are in front of us, time, talent and resources that all belong to him to be used according to his perfect will.

Jesus PURSUED people who were awkward Jesus pursued people who most people would not pursue   If our lives are looking more and more like His, our life will have conflict and we have a choice of how we see that conflict   Its who we CHOOSE to see Its who we choose to be   So be offended and see if that moves you in a path of more purpose, more peace and more confidence for the days ahead    Or choose to let God in. Give him a room in your house of life Allow him to be easily accessible to move in you for peace despite the conflict, despite the chaos and despite the people that say and do hurtful things to us on the regular   And newsflash, sometimes we are those people for other people 

Check on your friends, they may not be ok How are you? Are you ok? Ask questions. And be honest with others if you are not ok.   We are living in different times This current state of affairs in our world  we are in has opened up space for a lot of confusion, a lot of fear a lot of lack of clarity for what is true and what is false   We are sifting and sorting sifting and sorting through all this uncertainty and all of this “what in the actual” is going on here?   I get it I am with you   When we lack confidence, we lack hope and when we lack hope - we spiral to darker and darker places   I want you to know that I do have confidence I do have hope 800-273-8255 please call if you are struggling with mental health. You matter

Our brains are wired to keep us safe Our brains are also wired to keep us so that we are right about our thoughts. So if our thought is, we aren’t a good parent our brain will look for answers that make that a true thought.   If our thought is we could never get that promotion - our brain will look for ways for that to be right   If our thought is, we couldn’t ever achieve a healthier weight, our brain will look for ways for us to be right about that and then subconsciously we put things into place for that to be true In How we grocery shop In How we plan our meals In How we order food from a menu at a restaurant In how we take daily vitamins and minerals through supplements to help improve our bodies vitality 

Most of us go along in life and as we travel we pick up things that we end up not always fully dealing with. We pack them in a backpack on our lives. We hang onto them and overtime those things we pack in and don’t deal with, get heavy.    Encountering God in this way - allows you to empty the back pack and gives you tools about how not to repack

How is it that the list of good that we do in this world still can leave us feeling sad? Could I or should I choose something else to do?  Perhaps something less meaningful and less selfless?  But I always talk myself back to watering the grass I am on and being content with where God has me. I pick up my boot straps and I get back at it.   I've always known that this life is not about me. I have always known that we will face challenges and trials of many kind - it says so in the bible.   So how is it that we can do really good work and still be sad?   The truth is, we have expectations and desires that aren’t always met.

Have you ever found yourself lacking confidence? Have you ever found yourself deflecting compliments? Have you ever found yourself with low expectations in life? 7 scriptures to boost your belief and confidence https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QFTGVwUvf3bMMwfLyFhpiz9NF_ovpKB31wmz-dG1YsY/edit

We were never designed to compare It was never intended for us to have a spirit of competition or to feel less than  Sometimes we struggle to see the opportunity and the beauty in the present because we are too busy looking left and right, and allowing the enemy to steal our joy and even worse, we look back far too often in comparison to better days or days that we regret.   I want you to give yourself the best gift of all. I want you to look UP.   I want you to see that God is for YOU   That he has plans for you. To prosper and not harm. To give you a hope and a future.   The only time you should be looking back is to see in gratitude for how far you have come! www.choosingthebestyou.com