My mission is to provide you with inspiration and encouragement to live everyday to it's fullest. I do this by sharing the simple things in life such as recipes to the most difficult of things such a life. We all know life is a struggle and many days a balancing act, but I am here to inspire you to do it well. Everything I write about is designed to inspire as well as encourage you to be a "better" you that you can be. Everything I share is raw and real. I do not cover up or sugar coat what I write about. This would benefit no one. My goal is for you to walk away feeling uplifted and encouraged after leaving my page. Lastly, I am here to remind you that you are… enough and beautiful… just the way you are.
With Thanksgiving knocking on our door, I am inspired to be mindful of being more thankful for the little things around me.
Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.
Robert Brault
One of the little things that comes frequently to mind is the sense of financial stability.
This came in the form of having our Military job. When my husband was deployed, we never had to question when we would get paid.
Likewise, when my husband was younger, before he began struggling with PTSD, I never had to question if he would be going to work. He just did.
This financial stability seemed so routined and normal, but now our life has changed so dramatically, life is no longer “normal”.
Our financial stability has improved, even more so since I got a job, but it is still stressful at times, as my husband has many health issues that prevents him from going to work consistently.
Although, financial stability would seem to be normal to most people, our reality is that it really isn’t.
I have learned a pay check is something you should not take for granted.
Today’s motivation is to encourage you to be strong, determined, and motivated to make the best of what this week is to hold for you.
Monday’s To-Do List
Make my bed
Be determined
Be grateful
If we start our week with the mind set of these three simple principles, then we have mentally prepared ourselves for a more positive outcome.
Now, to briefly examine this list.
Make my bed
Who makes their bed everyday?
I for one, believe by getting up and making my bed I have already accomplished a simple task for the day. Every time I go to my bedroom, I am reminded this is done and it makes me feel better about myself.
If you do not make your bed every day, I challenge you to try it for just a week and see if it helps to change your perspective to starting your day.
Be determined
If I was not determined to do what is often times hard, I would not have the motivation to push through what is difficult.
Think about the areas in your life you struggle with.
Do you have the strength and determination to push through what is difficult to accomplish what is important to you?
Be encouraged knowing God will give you the strength to fight for what is important. He will give you the determination you need to accomplish this task, just be sure to ask.
Do not rely on your own strength, or you will fall short of completion.
Remember these words…
“He who has prepared us for this very thing is God…”
2 Corinthians 5:5
Be grateful
Lastly, be grateful for everything you accomplish and do not take it for granted.
For where our gratitude is, there will be a sense of accomplishment.
Remember this verse God gave us.
“… Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you.”
1 Thessalonians 5:18
Gratitude is as powerful as determination in accomplishing tasks.
If you’re not thankful for what you have and what you have accomplished, then why bother working towards accomplishing the goal?
If your week looks like it will be long and difficult, then be encouraged by these inspirational words…
“What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise.”
Oscar Wilde
Today may be the day that you need to try changing your perspective at how you look at your trial or difficulty.
Instead, look at it as a blessing in disguise. What is it trying to teach you? What are you meant to learn from it.
Maybe the blessing is found by trying to accomplish it a different way. All too many times we get tunnel vision and do not see there is a better way.
My friend, now you have been equipped with some motivation, here is to a happy and accomplished week.
Your Monday morning motivation is to remind you to be the best you, God created you to be.
Life isn’t meant to be about competition with others because when we live a life such as this, we are met with discouragement at every corner.
Think about the meaning behind this quote.
“A flower does not think of competing with the flower next to it. It just blooms,”
Zen Shin
Take a moment and think about the deeper meaning here.
Think about how God created us and how He created us to be “uniquely us.”
Besides, if we were honest with ourselves and allowed this to be true, how freeing would that be. How freeing would it be to just be “me”.
Well, today I challenge you to follow God’s words and follow the design He had for you, for when He created you, He didn’t create you to be a competitor with others, instead, He created you to be “uniquely you”.
“… for I am fearfully and wonderfully made…”
Psalm 139:14a NKJV
So instead of competing with others around you today, take the time to just be “you” and just bloom.
My friend, Today’s Encouragement will be a simple reminder that no matter what you are going through, whether everything is going well, or whether everything is going badly, there is a reason for all of it.
God reminds us in Ecclesiastes,
“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under Heaven.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NKJV)
If you are going through a difficult time remember this and be encouraged that with every second and every hour God is growing you and molding you for a better plan and purpose.
He never allows us to go through the muddy waters of life without allowing us to use those difficulties later and somewhere else.
I have experienced some great difficulties in my life and as I was going through them, my greatest consolidation was that there was a purpose for it. Whether the purpose was to help me conquer a trial later or if it was to help encourage someone else, I knew in my heart there was a reason for everything I was going through.
It didn’t come easily though, because there were many days I remember saying, “Lord, this is hard, this is really hard, but if you can use this hardship later to make someone else’s life a bit easier, then I will be okay and I can do this, but only with Your strength.”
I needed to know there was a reason and a purpose for the difficult season in my life and God was always there to reassure me there was.
My friend, if this is you today and you are struggling in a difficult relationship, you are struggling financially, or you are struggling with a sick family member, a close friend or even a spouse. It doesn’t matter if it is all of these or none of these. What matters if you are having a difficult time is to remember these simple, but powerful words;
“There is none like You, Lord.”
Jeremiah 10:7
Stand tall today, hold your head just a little bit higher, and know your God knows you, sees you, and above all else, loves you.
Do you ever feel like you are wandering around aimlessly in the forest? No matter what turn you take or what path looks right, the view is still the same. It never changes. It never looks different.
Eventually, you take the time to look around and you conclude you have only been walking around in circles, going nowhere.
Have faith in these words,
“God will meet you where you are, in order to take you where He wants you to go.”
Tony Evans
My friend, today’s words of motivation are to stop walking to be just walking. This is why you are walking in circles.
Instead… stop, look up, and seek God’s direction.
He holds the road map you do not have, in His hands. He knows the direction you are to take to get out of the forest and He knows what forks in the road you are to be taking to live out the plan “He” has for you.
Stop, look up and seek God for your directions todayand your journey will begin to look different. Your circles will begin to straighten and you will begin to see the clearing of trees leading you out of the forest.
Enjoy your journey, Friend. Now you have access to the “Man” with the map and you have the assurance the route will be clearly marked out. You will no longer walk aimlessly, but instead you will be walking with purpose.
The purpose is the plan God has for you. Now you can enjoy the journey as well as the view along the way out of the forest.
Trust in His road map and your journey can be done with confidence and surety.
There is something simplistic about Christmas time if you take the time to enjoy it.
My friend, do not forget to slow down and breathe while enjoying your favorite parts of this season. If that looks like sitting down in front of the Christmas tree with a hot cup of cocoa and Christmas music playing in the background or if it shopping for Christmas presents while taking the time to get a cup of coffee and sitting down in a cafe to enjoy it, the key is to allow yourself to soak up the parts of the holiday season that bring you joy to your life.
Do not get so busy that these simple pleasures in life slip you by.
Home Life & Encouragement 