I recently walked into Books A Million to do some work and have a coffee; one of my favorite things to do that I don't get to enjoy much these days, so when I have the chance I relish in it. Well this time I happened to walk by an end cap to a book shelf and saw this book jump out at me. I often find some of my favorite books this way. This book is called "Love Out Loud: 365 Devotions for Loving God, Loving Yourself, and Loving Others" by Joyce Meyer. I picked it up right away and read the back. As I read the Bible verse I thought "I have to get this book". This is what it said "Jesus said, You must love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your sould and with all your strength and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourelf. (Lucke 10:27)". It continues to go on and say "Many Christians get mixed up about what love really is. they know they shold love God and others, but don't understand that loving yourslf is one-third of God's equation. Instead, they mistakenly think of it as being selfish or egotistical. I often feel guilty when I take time for myself, even though my life is so filled with chaos most of the time. As a mother I feel that I often need to be doing for others, and feel I'm being selfish if I'm taking a few moments for myself. However, even got states in the Bible that we need to love and care for ourselves, then we are able to give more to others.
Since I purchased this little book I've been taking time just about every day to read a page. Each page focuses on a daily task that you should focus on in the act of loving others and yourself. To focus on what God wants for his children.
Today's devotion focused on the task of following through with your goals or plan that you start. To not give up in the difficult times, but to persevere through it. The bible verse states "But we do (strongly and earnestly) desire for each of you to show the same diligence and sincerity(all the way through) in realizing and enjoying full assurance and development of (your) hope until the end. -Hebrews 6:11
This hit home to me today, because I recently finished up my Master's Program after 4 years of long, hard, tiring work. I often felt like I wanted to give up. I often felt as though I wasn't going to make it through it. I had nights of exhaustion, frustration, and tears. As a Mother working full time this was a very difficult task to take on. However, it was a dream I knew that if I didn't accomplish I would regret it. I'd have been settling in my life, and that is something God does not want for any of us. He has big plans for us in our lifetime and wants us to do that work for him. I've always felt that being a teacher and working with children with Special Needs is my calling, and I was feeling incomplete not having achieved that yet. So I gave it everything I had. I often prayed to God to get me through those days when I wanted to just curl up and give up, however I persevered with his guidance.
During this time I was also working at getting my youngest son help with his struggles. Going to doctors appointments, IEP meetings, consultations and making phone calls. I often wondered how would I get through it all. But as I was reading this little page this morning and crossed this verse "Beginning something is easy, but finishing takes courage." It hit home...in the beginning of a new adventure there's excitement, our heart races, and we just want to conquer it right away, but nothing worth having is that easy. Those big accomplishments in life take hard work, sweat, tears, and grit. When the excitement wears off it's the real work and challenge comes. In God's mind we aren't successful if we abandon what He's called us to do. He wants us to finish and do it with JOY! You might lose interest in your journey as the excitment wears off, weather it's a new job, your education, or even your marriage and your children. There are many people that don't want to put the work in, that walk away and give up when the work gets hard. However those that achieve great success in these things are the ones that stick it through those difficult times and come out on the other side with the greatest rewards.
Success doesn't always come in wealth and material things. Success comes in all colors. Success is what gives you Joy in life and the feet of accomplishing your goals however small or big they might be. As you go through today keep in mind these words from Joyce Meyer "God doesn't promise that finishing everything we start will be easy. In fact, most of the time things don't go smoothly because we need to learn the lessons that come from resolving problems. But we cannot let ourselves quit; we must rely on God's grace and keep moving toward the finish line until we cross it in victory.
Today go with a grateful heart and think of what tasks you haven't finished and resolve to work hard to accomplish those today, not matter how big or small they may be xoxo
Much Love
Hello everyone! I'm excited about starting up my blog again and sharing with you my story in hopes that something just might help someone out there. I know as a Mom I always look to other mothers to know that what I'm going through in my life is "normal" and that I'm not alone in my daily struggles with motherhood and life in general. We all face ups and downs throughout our journey here on earth and at times they can be very stressful. I wasn't ever sure if what I was sharing was helping or inspiring others, but since I've stopped writing in my blog and sharing so much on social media I've heard from others that they miss reading my blog posts as well as other daily posts; so here I am! I'm back :)
So where have I been? Well at the end of August I started student teaching to finish up my Masters program at SNHU and to get my teaching certification. I have to say I was extremely busy and it didn't leave much time for anything else. The 16 weeks that I was student teaching was 16 of the most difficult weeks I've ever faced for many reasons; I'd say because I had to step so far outside of my comfort zone, however I have grown so much from the experience. This is what I want to share with you about today.
As we go through life we are going to face many choices. We are going to face many crossroads and it can be a very difficult decision on which road to take. Many of us are afraid to step outside of our comfort zone and take the road that is going to challenge us; The road that is going to make us uncomfortable and force us to grow as a person. I will tell you, when I knew that student teaching was upon me I was the most nervous and anxious I've ever been. I was afraid I was going to fail at it. I was afraid I was going to make mistakes or not do well. This is something I've wanted for so long, but I was saying to myself "what if I can't do it?"..."what if I fail?"...With that mindset I was setting myself up for that failure because I wasn't thinking positively. I wasn't saying to myself "I can do this!". As I got more comfortable in my new environment and the people around me I wasn't afraid to take a risk and I started to have more confidence in myself. As my confidence grew so did my performance. As a result my mindset changed. When I finished the 16 weeks I could see how much I had grown, how much I learned, and how stepping so far out of my comfort zone changed me in such a positive way.
There have been many times in my life that I've been nervous to take on a new adventure, whether it was going off to college for the first time, joining a sorority when I was in college, becoming a mother, speaking out for something I believe in, buying a home with my husband, trying out a new business venture, or going after something I want in life. Each new adventure is scary, however we have to tackle those things head on because when you do, you not only grow as a person but you could be making a difference in your life or even the life of someone else. Recently I've been fighting for my youngest son to help him face some of his own challenges in life. Another very difficult task I've encountered in my life. I've been scared, determined, and challenged through the journey. However, I know throughout it that I'm doing what's best for my son. I'll share more in my next blog post, but what I want to say is you might be afraid as you face new challenges, but follow through with all your heart, no matter what it is, because when you come out on the other side, you will be a new person. We are often afraid to take on a challenge because we don't want to fail and then look foolish in front of others. We are all so afraid of making a mistake, however if you never try you never know what was possible. Through the journey you will have grown. You will have made a difference in not only your life, but along the way you will have touched someone else as well.
<3 Much Love <3 and *Smiles*
