Reminding God What He Said

Late last week I started a morning ritual of listening to Joel's message before I leave for work. As always Joel's message does my soul good. I hope to make this ritual a daily event but for now I'm aiming for 3x a week. Small Steps.

I love today's topic, "Reminding God What He Said." Joel said we need to find some promises from God and remind him what he told us. We need to put God in remembrance of his promises not our problems. That doesn't mean we shouldn't be honest with God on how we feel but we need to be reminded that's God's word is alive and powerful and God will change things in our favor when the time is right. We just need to stand on the promises. So I decided to find some promises i want to stand on. I'm sure later I will flesh out the promises more concerning certain areas in my life but I think the promises i have listed can cover several areas.

Oh and Joel gave this scripture in his message:Isaiah 62:6, 7

God you said:

• To live by faith, not by sight 2 Cor. 5:7







• You will instruct me and teach me in the way I should go; You will counsel me and watch over me." Psalm 32:8







• You are my refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble." Psalm 46:1







• No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what you have prepared for me." 1 Cor. 2:9







• Trust you with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge you, and you will make my paths straight." Proverbs 3: 5,6







• Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." Psalm 119:105







• You will supply all my needs according to your riches in glory in Christ Jesus."Philippians 4:19







• I can do all things through you who strengthens me."Philippians 4:13







• If I abide in you, and your words abide in me, ask whatever I wish, and it will be done for me."John 15:7







• You are able to do far more abundantly beyond all that I can ask or think, according to the power that works within me, to you be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Ephesians 3:20-21







• You cause all things to work together for good to those who love you to those who are called according to your purpose."Romans 8:28







• Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about me, for you are my God. You will strengthen me, surely you will help me, surely you will uphold me with Your righteous right hand."Isaiah 41:10







• If God can clothe the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You know I need need these things. But seek your kingdom, and these things will be added to you."Luke 12:28-31







• You give strength to the weary, and to me who lacks might He increases power."Isaiah 40:29







• There is an appointed time for everything. There is a time for every event under heaven."Ecclesiastes 3:1





• See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do I not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:19
  

Thank you Jehovah Jireh the Lord my provider for your promises. Thank you for being the Lord who is there , Jehovah-Shammah. I praise your holy name. These are the promises i would like to stand on. Lord help me to commit these promises to my spirit and my mind. Bring them to my remembrance when I need them. I love you!

Blue Drawing-July 3, 2011

Creative Every Day theme for July is Blue. Below is my soft pastel drawing in blue. It feels good to create something again so close together in days. I just finished June Creative Project and now I'm onto July . I love how my creativity seems to be blossoming where there is a blank piece of sketching pad and I have a theme and ideas start to surround my head on what i want to draw. Love it! Love my bff for finding this blog! Love the creator of this blog! I love how the author of this blog puts no rules on how you are to use the theme; she just wants the participants to be creative.

Creativity is meant in the broadest sense, so it doesn't have to be something art related. Your creative acts could be in cooking, taking pictures, knitting, doodling, writing, dancing, decorating, singing, playing with your kids, brainstorming ideas, gardening, or making art in the form of collage, paint, or clay...or whatever!

You do not have to post every day! I know for myself that having to post every day for a year would be too much. You can post about your creativity in whatever form you like, whether that be once a day, a few times a week, once a week, or once a month. Do what works for you!

This is a low pressure challenge, with the idea of bringing more creativity into our lives. I will not be the creativity police. I hope that we can all find ways, simple and grand to express our creative selves. Have fun with it.


Also, keeping with the blue theme I made blueberry pancakes for breakfast!

Metamorphosis Drawing-June 28

As I mentioned in the previous post, one of my purposeful tasks is to be creative on my day off. I looked at my original start of a drawing i started on Fathers day that featured me as a child with my dad. Originally it was going to be a late fathers day present that I stopped for the night. A few days later I decided I wanted to develop it into something more. The person I am..the road I've taken maybe. I didnt know. Transformation maybe.All I knew is I wanted the Lord to have his way with the drawing. So tonight when I was started to think about a creative project I looked at the drawing and said why not. The Lord brought back to my memory the link Carey sent me months ago titled Creative Every Day and when i looked at the word for the month it was metamorphosis. Which i thought was perfect especially considering my ideas. When I hear the word Metamorphosis i always think of a butterfly. I started with a face portrait of me as a college student and then one with me on my wedding day ..wiped away my dad and then the drawing morphed into something else. i feel like its not done but for right now I'm going to leave it as it is. I dont think its my best drawing to date but what I'm learning through Artists way is bad or so so drawing is how you get to good drawings. I cannot be fearful of bad drawings.Its about expression in whatever way it comes out.

Love this Song

This song is like 3 years old but its new to me. I heard it at Hillsong the first time i went (a month ago) and was in tears. I just found it not knowing the name. Now I will always now. From the Inside Out

Rejuvenated

Last Tuesday, as I was packing for my DC work trip for several days. I was throwing a tantrum in my head saying, "I dont feel like going. I'm exhausted. WAhhhh. Why Can't I stay." Of course I dragged myself on the afternoon train and fell asleep.Little did I know it was exactly what was needed.

I woke up frantic because i was on a train that DC isnt the last stop like normal but luckily i was one stop away. As i got off the train I felt a bit different and couldn't place why. Got in a cab to my parents house and engaged in a convo with one of the most talkative cab drivers ever. He mentioned what a beautiful smile I had and how that made his day because most people get in with a grimace and an attitude. He went on to say we have no idea the gifts we can give people even when we think we have nothing. A smile and a kind word is alot. I thought what a suprising and beautiful statement that was. As I talked to the cab driver I realized how much alive I had become..even dare I say my ol' chipper self which i havent seen in so long because shes been buried in exhausation during the weekday. I got my hair done which always make me feel better and drove back to my parents and was in bed by 11:30which never happens in NY. Let me say it was the most sound sleep.

I woke up early (7 a.m.) to get ready for work (I know for some 7:00 is a normal time (and dare i say even late especially for my wonderful friends who are mothers) to start to get ready for work so you can get there by 8:30/9 but in NY I dont get to work till 10:30 so its early for me). Anyway, I noticed I was not exhausted as I am normally and I did not hit snooze my normal 10 times. When I got on the subway, a passenger said good morning and at first I had to look around to see who she was talking to. I quickly realized it was me and returned the greeting with a smile. Sadly, I cant remember the last time I received a greeting on the subway. I went to work and was showered with love and hugs as always. That never gets old because NY office is never like that. My day was packed but suprisingly by the end of the day i was energized. Without going into the details of the rest of the week which pretty much followed Wednesday. I realized DC rejenevated me. First time ever! In the midst of my complaining about coming here I didnt realize it was the very place that could rejuvenate me. I remember in that instant the Lord ways are not our ways. I feel like God totally turned this trip into what i needed physically. Eventhough DC was causing me the exhaustion for all the back and forth he was able to use that same thing to bring me rejuvenation. By Thursday I put the pieces together and realized this. God took me away from the busy nature of my beloved NY where I'm constantly on the go. A place that everyone is going at such a fast pace to DC. Robin even mentioned to me the solace could also be in NY my schedule is so packed. When she said that theres so much truth. I dont get home until 10ish in NY. In DC I'm at my parents home by 6pm and i just chill out ...nothing additional.

At the end of my trip in DC I returned home and hubby even commented on how happy i seemed and was kind of approaching me like im not sure how to take this especially because i had a bit of zen-ness on top of it.lol!

I was so looking forward to Monday and today because eventhough I had a busy weekend I took off those days because i knew i would need them...not knowing DC would rejuvenate me. I told my boss i was taking off those days there was no permission in my voice. Like i was telling Carey I realized I needed some self care before i burned out. So my voice was emerging because we are talking about the betterment of me.

Its nice to be off. But why is it your days off never turn out like you want them? Yesterday went by so fast with cleaning the house which i find theraputic and listening to a professional development class and watching a romance. Today I'm trying to be more purposeful with my day. First off I got up really early 6:30. Not intentional at all (lol) I thought it was 8:30 and to my suprise I was going to roll over but I said maybe its meant i start my last day off early. So I started to clean the house and then listened to one of my professional and personal development courses which was called "How to Develop Your Own Personal Statement." I've only listened to an hour of this audio book but i think this is exactly what i needed to listen to. Reminds me of the scripture in the bible where it says Write your vision down, make it plain on paper. I'm sure I'll do a seperate posting about this at some point because theres this exercise in the story that I'm going to try that involves getting by yourself in nature. On my day off I also decided to write in my blog and listen to Hillsong on youtube. i plan to have some creative time as well..just havent decided what yet but its necessary. I broke down in my last artists way group two sundays ago due to exhausation and not creating art and since then I've been feeling the need to create more and more. I even went to my sketching group on Sunday. Yay!

Over the course of the day i will meditate, pray, read the word, listen to Joel and to christian and nature infused music and have a glass of wine. Because i want to fill my well up today.

While Away From My Blog...

I identified with Albert Einstein quote of Insanity:
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

When i look at my life, that is, the thing I want to change most which is my:physical appearence...my weight.

I keep trying to lose weight..serious weight 70 lbs worth just to lose and gain the same 15 lbs over and over again. That is Insanity! The boiling point has been reached ions ago. Getting back into a "program" has never been my problem. Sustaining it.Enjoying it. Being successful at it is. Everything starts in the mind and spirit. The time has come now to bring everything together. One day after I decided to join Weight Watchers because I've tried to do this on my own and it isnt working and I have to be honest with myself that it isnt working. So after my free meeting the next day I joined and it is the best decesion and I can tell that in just the month and a half Ive been a member. Ive found the support i need. I see the change in my eating habits. I no longer feel deprived.I am no longer caught up in the number but actually being conscious of the change happening in my mind.I just described all the things that are important for sustaining weight loss. Next, I looked at my exercise routine..Turbo Jam which is great but I felt i also needed something else to give me variety..so I tried variety of exercise classes two of which I love..Zumba and Hip Hop. Fun classes..not something I would normally pick because I have no rhythym but thats exactly why I need to take those classes. Because its not about what I cant do. Its about the experience. Its about the transformation that can happen. Its about I have no idea what one thing may parlay into another. I decided to get a pedometer and I started walking at least 2 miles a day.

With the aid of all these things I can see inches lost, based on the scale 5 lbs lost...slower than i may like but probably exactly how I need to.

I can feel the outer casing of myself sheding even with this minimal weight loss and thats because i'm no longer intrested in living a life thats not me giving 100% in everything. I'm intrested in letting the steph within bloom and come forth in full potential. I am no longer waiting from a far but making a conscious effort. I'm intrested in allowing my voice to emerge ..not always stuffing down how i feel but being as transparent as i can.Because we only have one life to live. God has given us this life to live it abundantely and ive learned that years ago and believed it and walking it slowly but surely but now its time tomake more of a conscious effort. Ask myself the questions of what I want out of my life. What skills need to be developed? What's holding me back? What can i explore? What is my vision? How can I develop myseld creatively as well?

TIRED!

Tired basically sums up why I have not written in my blog in over a month.Since early May I have been traveling back and forth to DC. I have been left literally exhausted where by the end of most days I dont know my name. Its great to see my parents and my coworkers in DC but after the fourth time in the same month ...the traveling has become a disruption to my life.Thankfully I only have one trip in July and I pray its stays that way. I just want to enjoy my time in NY and my girls day with Carey.