Speak Life

It's so easy to feel like a failure. The following phrases run through my head more often than I would like to admit: "I should have done that better", "I should have responded better than I did", "I didn't do that right", "All I seem to do is mess up"... and the list goes on. I'm sure you have your own similar list.

What I found about these little sayings is that they are essentially poison. I firmly believe in the power of words and over time, you will become what you think you are. If you think you are a failure, you will probably take on many of those characteristics over the course of time. But when you choose to speak life and hope and grace over yourself instead, I bet you'll find that you start to blossom. You'll tackle a new project with enthusiasm. You'll have confidence in your abilities. You'll feel like the princess God created you to be.

Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

Speak truth to your heart and dwell on your successes. Sometimes I think it's easy for women to discount their achievements and we don't generally like to draw attention to ourselves. Of course there is a line to be careful of, but I also believe that it's unhealthy not to celebrate the good things. Don't be afraid to pat yourself on the back when you've done something well, reached a goal, or are just having a really good hair day. I think when you start looking for nice things to say about yourself you will feel better about what you CAN do and it will be easier to accept compliments from others. It's not God's intention for you to walk around feeling worthless and like a failure. You are His daughter, and He is the Most High King! Start treating yourself like a princess :)

All that said, today my "pats on the back" are taking the time to do my devotions this morning, having a good day at work, and having a good workout out the gym tonight. Yay me! :)

Now take some time to pick at least one thing to give yourself a pat on the back for. Then do it again tomorrow :)

And on and on and on it goes...

In January, we got a Planet Fitness in town. About a week after it opened, my mom and I were watching the Biggest Loser and texting each other back and forth during the show as we always tend to do. I saw a commercial for Planet Fitness and was intrigued by the inexpensive monthly fee and their "no judgement zone" policy. We decided to sign up and so far we've really enjoyed it.

About a month ago, both of my parents were already at the gym and I was going to go once the girls were in bed. I got in the van and headed over, noticing that the low fuel light was still on. It had been on for a couple of days now, so I figured I'd stop at the gas station across from the gym after my workout. Well... my van had other plans. Only a minute down the road from my house, she (my van is a girl and her name is Belle) just stopped accelerating. No matter how hard I pushed on the gas pedal, she was definitely slowing down. I got her pulled over to the side of the road and she just shut down. More lights on my dash came on and it completely freaked me out. (I haven't had the best of luck with vehicles in the past... I've literally had a transmission die on me while on the highway before. That was fun.) I couldn't call my husband because he was home with the girls and they were already in bed, but luckily, my dad was at the gym with my mom that night and the gym was only five minutes away. I knew if there was one person I could call to get help, it was my daddy.

To make a long story short, I ran out of gas. We have an Accord also, and we've driven that with the fuel light on for quite a while in the past, so I thought my van would be able to do the same. (It is a Honda... and obviously all Hondas are the same!) No such luck. My dad and I had to make a few trips... one back to my house to get the gas can and one to the gas station, and we spent quite some time having to jump the battery, which died after trying to get my poor, thirsty Belle started one too many times. I couldn't stop apologizing during the whole ordeal... I felt terrible that he was missing out on a workout at the gym, that the whole thing was a result of my silliness, and did I mention that this was in January and there was snow on the ground? Of course he didn't mind, though he does still tease me about it. :)

When we finally got Belle up and running we headed back to the gym (where my poor mother had been working out on the treadmill for forty-five minutes, thinking we'd walk in ANY moment) and I hit the treadmill. My parents left, so when I was finished at the gym, I was a little nervous about the van starting okay. She started up just fine and I called my dad to tell him so. Before we hung up, I told him how grateful I was to have him close by and that I knew if I needed help all I needed to do was call my daddy.

The next morning was Sunday and during worship at church we sang "One Thing Remains". This is a newer song to me and I just simply love it, so I really got into singing it right away. About halfway through the song, while singing the words "Your love never fails, never gives up, never runs out on me", God reminded me of my debacle from the night before and how my dad came to my rescue. It was an inconvenience and was a result of my silly mistake. But my dad didn't mind... he loves me and was quick to help when I needed it. Then God gently told me that if my earthly father loves me that much, just imagine how much more my Heavenly Father does! Sin in my life is my problem and the result of my mistakes. Christ isn't responsible for any of it. But that didn't stop Him from going out of His way to help me, when sometimes I don't even know I need it. He's there, waiting for my call, and is quick to answer. My request for help doesn't annoy or burden Him... He is delighted and ready when His daughter needs Him. 

Needless to say, after this mini-revelation I had a hard time finishing the song. The power of God's love is, in a word, overwhelming. It's bigger and stronger than we can ever wrap our minds around. And the best part? It's there for all of us. Right when we need it.

All you have to do is call your Daddy.

New Beginnings

I have a confession.

This is not my first blog. I've created at least three to five others over the years and if I was lucky I would publish three posts. I eventually learned to stop telling people about my new blog until I had a few posts under my belt, hoping to look a little more established. That means that there are about two or three blogs floating around the internets that I never even told anyone about. I always start with the best of intentions and well, you know where that road can lead. ;)

This blog will be no different as far as sharing goes. I don't intend on "advertising" until I've posted at least five to seven times. So if you're reading this, I've reached my first, but very important, goal. And it's somehow kept you interested enough to read all the way to the first post. I'm not sure if that means I should be congratulated, or if you should. Congrats to both of us!

First things first.

My intention with this blog is a simple one. Over the past two years I've felt God impressing many things on my heart as far as ministry goes. Specifically, in ministry to women. We have a lot of daily pressures, whether we are married, single, divorced, a stay-at-home mom, a working mom, or a woman who's chosen not to have kids. Regardless of what our "status" is, women don't always have it easy. For being the fairer gender, we sure are pushed into a lot of unfair things. My message to all the women out there is very basic.

You are loved and you are worthy.

I believe that my problem with creating a successful (or at least consistent) blog in the past has been pressure to write long, funny, and thought-provoking posts every day. I don't know about you, but as funny and thoughtful as I can be, I simply don't have the time and energy for all that. It's almost more than I can manage to feed the fam and keep them in clean clothes some days ;) So I'm kind of letting myself off the hook with this one. I do hope to post if not every day, at least four times a week. And when I do, don't expect a long post, with occasional exceptions. (This initial post being one of them)  I have so many things on my heart that I want to share, but I don't always have the time to type it all out. And if I don't have the time to hash all my thoughts out, then I doubt you have time to read something that long. Something short and sweet is sometimes all we need, am I right? I hope to bring you encouraging snippets that get you thinking, make you smile, and hopefully encourage you to see yourself how God sees you.

I look forward to this journey together, dear friends. We have a lot to discover along the way :)

<3, Tiff