~Journey in Grace~

Self Discovery

2013-04-04T10:09:00.000-07:00

When was the last time you slowed down enough to think about who you are as a person....

Are you satisfied with who you are when you get up in the morning...Are you happy with who you are when you look in the mirror? I am not talking about physical appearance here. I'm talking about when you search within the depths of your soul. Are you satisfied?

I think if we were all honest with ourselves there are things we would change about ourselves. Whether it be a daily routine, how much time we waste, how much we lack in areas. You know a lot of people say" Oh I am just in a slump." No they are not they have lost sight of who they are and where they are going in life. Is this you?

Well this was me! I have had some personal challenges that I have allowed to keep me in bondage of my own self. Prisoner to myself. Lacking so much motivation. Existing to get through the day. I can hardly stand to think about it now.

I prayed and cried out to God and He heard me.

He heard my desperation to be so sick of myself. Unfortunately this is what I needed. I needed to be so exhausted. I was literally getting ready to schedule doctor appointments because I was so fatigued, thinking I had issues much more serious. It was that I lacked self will.

As a Christian I think we believe that we are not able to make goals apart from spiritual ones. Well I must tell you that character in a persons life is something I believe the Lord is much more pleased with than we comprehend. In life you should ask the Lord to guide you in your day but I also believe He is very pleased with those that "take the bull by the horns", get the job done and done right, and the go getters that never give in. God needs these type of people. I often hear people say that you need to do everything in the spirit. Yes that is right but my battle was getting up out of bed in the morning I mean literally putting my feet to the ground to do the day to day. Do you see my battle here was physical not spiritual? God has to work on us all in different ways .

You know since I have started this journey in self discovery. I have had the battle of people's voices in my head saying if it's not in the spirit it's not good. Well this is a physical challenge to myself. This is something I so needed and the Lord knows I need it. He is guiding me through this physical battle just like He does the spiritual ones. The Lord desires to see me at my full potential. To have integrity and success in my future!

I must say that I do believe that God will work on me much more in the future if I get this part of my life sorted out. But without this essential part of my life sorted out, I truly don't believe God could move forward with me. I lacked any bit of self will.

My prayer is that God will help me in the future to be what He wants me to be and that by this small 30 day challenge it will change the rest of my life. I know with Him all things are possible.

My challenge: To wake up at 6:30 and go for a 30-45 minute walk/run.

My main goal is to wake up at 6:30 the physical exercise is simply something to get me up and going without waking up the family. The exercised is just to keep me going throughout the day and it has really helped with the fatigue.

The bible speaks a lot on laziness, how are body is not our own, how we are to be good stewards. The word is so vast and it reaches to every realm of your life. If you search it out you will find that God is concerned about the minuet details. He told us to observe the ants.....You think He doesn't care about the details in your life. Think again :)

Be Blessed~ Chelsie

Battle Mind

2013-03-01T16:19:00.000-08:00

Life brings experiences. Some are expect but most we encounter are so unexpected. They show up on our door step and say "deal with me now!" You know what I am talking about. It could be anything in you life. You name it finances, relationship issues, sorrow. Very seldom do these unexpected things seem as though they are a blessing. If anything at most times they feel like a curse.

Have you ever sat back and thought to yourself why another challenge? Do you ever call out to God and say why this why now? I know I have many, many times in fact.

The conclusion I have come to is that life is a sequence of challenges; some harder than others. Some the battle is an endurance thing. Some so long in their course. Some oh how sweet the victory.

Remember in your younger years when you were being developed for life. Remember climbing the rope in gym class always striving to make yourself better to get to that next color on the rope. This is life people; it's the same thing. Those simple things as a child were put there to show you that you can endure and to keep reaching for those heights that are within your grasp! Do not give up! Do not drop to the mat and walk away. No you press on you endure, you fight, you equipped yourself to get stronger so the next time you are prepared for that long hard battle! You figure out in life what your battle is and you figure out how you need to combat. Be a soldier; never give up never give in! Seek the answers to your life's questions! You fight this battle with all that you have and you come out from it so victorious that people see Christ in you! Ephesians 6 talks about gearing up for battle and putting on the armor of Christ so that we can fight! Gear up dear friend. Meet with Jesus and talk with Him so that He might enable you to be what you ought to be. You cannot nor should you fight this battle alone! You will lose!

Rise up Christian and stand in those valleys of despair. Cling to your mighty Savior.

I'm going to slow down for a minute here pause a little.

God's Word

Oh how precious it ought to be to us. Oh how treasured we ought to keep it. Oh how we ought to know it. Oh how we ought to meditate on it. Oh how it ought to show us the love of Christ. Oh how we ought to live it.

Dear friend if you profess a Christian life apart from the word of God you are but a fool. If you do not know what the words in that book are saying how are you to be what God Almighty has called you to be? How are you to stand in those battles? Our life is simplified when we lean on the words in the Bible. The areas that were once gray are now black and white. We know when to speak and when to stay silent. We now when to engage and when to disengage. We fight for things worth fighting for.

I challenge you to get into the word so that when the challenges come knocking at your door you are able to know exactly how you ought to combat them. Combat them in a way that brings God glory.

Last but not least "Lean in God's grace" when the battle gets grim and you simply do not know what you should do just lean for a little while. While you are there fully surrender to the grace only God gives. Allow yourself to meditate on His words.

Proverbs 6 :20-23

My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother; Bind them continually upon thine heart and tie them about thy neck. When though goest it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest it shall keep thee and when thou awakes, it shall talk with thee. For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light and reproofs of instruction are the way of life.

We will always have some sort of battle to face; face it with Faith that makes all things possible!

Be Blessed~Chelsie

Never lose sight

2013-02-21T16:43:00.000-08:00

Day to day life becomes so mundane. Dishes to be done, floors to be cleaned, kiddos to school, and errands to run. It all gets so jumbled up and can almost become the norm; if you let it! As I sit here with a huge stack of clean clothes on the end of my bed just waiting to be thrown on hangers. I thought to myself my oh my I need to sit and think a bit. The blessings, the abundance, the health, the wealth, the prosperity. It all gets so buried in our business and becomes a blur. To the point that we forget to notice and be thankful for all that we have. America: I live in the most prosperous nation and yet I do not even notice the luxury of it anymore. The roof I have over my head, the vehicles in my driveway, the food I have to put on the table every night, the entertainment we have, the health we have, the freedom! My oh my it all goes so unnoticed.

Are you like me and you have begun to lose sight of it all? Well I am challenging myself to look at it from a different angle from now on. I am also going to challenge my kids. To praise God for what He has blessed us with! I think I might even make a thankful jar for the kitchen table. Have the kids think of things they are thankful for and pull them out from time to time. Maybe morning would be best. A great way to start our day. Praying and praising God for what He has given us.

You will never change the way you live until you change the way you think. I want to challenge myself and my family to be thankful in all things.

I Thessalonians 5:18
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

A Test....

2013-02-08T22:04:00.001-08:00

Choosing: Some choices can be so difficult and some easily made. Some to be pondered and others not near as much. Some so serious and some just on a whim. Whatever the outcome we may not know....But this one thing I know; all choices big or small are really very important!

Whatever it is in your life at the moment that is trying you is exactly that.; it is trying you. This is a test: did you just get that gut check back when you were in high school and your teacher said "POP QUIZ". Some things never quite go away, some anxieties stay with you even into your adult years. So this is a test. Whatever trial, difficulty, or circumstance you might be facing in your life is a test.

Let me get real with you here now. Have you studied, have you prayed, have you been in fellowship with the Teacher? Notice the "Teacher". The Lord is our guide, instructor, and great counselor. His word is our manual; without it we know nothing. (And what we think we DO know will fail us miserably if it is not in line with God's word) Fellowship is so often looked passed, our fellowship with the Lord ought to be continual. Never ceasing to pray, to commune with our Heavenly Father.

Here you are in this test and you may be saying well it's not all that important. The tiny details of the choices I need to make won't really affect the outcome of it all. Oh yes they will. God is in the details. Search His word and see how much He is in the details of everything. The Word of God alone is proof God is in the tiny details. God cares about the very small details of your life. He cares about how much effort you put into making your life a living sacrifice. God cares about your everyday choices. He cares how those choices affect others. No man liveth to himself and no man dieth to himself.

Whatever it is that you might be facing let me challenge you to base your decisions for your choices not on what you might feel is right, but what is right according to the word of God. Also allow yourself time to pray, never rush into decisions. So whether it may be your marriage, child rearing, finances, relationships, work issues, education for your children, or simply just changing the simple day to day routines in your life. Do this dear friend base your decisions you make off of the word of God and ultimately bring glory to God.

Be Blessed
~Chelsie~

A New Beginning

2013-02-08T14:54:00.000-08:00

It's time.....time to free myself into the bliss of feeling my fingers strike the keys. Allowing myself to wander in the thoughts that are overflowing. To put them down on the screen and allow God to do His work. Writing is the most freeing thing to me. It's something that the Lord has blessed me with. My grammar and run on sentences might hinder me a bit; but that is not the reason I write. I have always had plenty to say even as a young girl, but as the Lord has been developing me I understand now; everything is not so important to say.

The Lord has blessed me in such a way to compound my thoughts and He gives to me certain things most everyday that I think would be a great encouragement to others. So this dear friends is why I start a new blogging journey. To encourage those who are so much like me: A Christian, A wife, A mother, A homeschooling mother, A friend, A church goer, A ministry servant, A part-time working/stay at home mom, A homemaker, A daughter, A sister. But most of all just a normal gal trying to make it through the day to day. Living in grace and striving to bring Him glory.

I hope this is a place I can free myself to help others with the day to day mundane life. It's the day to day that is most important. The day to day defines who we truly are. It's how we handle the small obstacles in life that will ultimately shape us. When we are faced in the deep valleys the day to day is so important in defining us. It is what gets us thru those valleys. As you read my blog I hope it resonates with you and you are able to soak it all in. Hopefully allowing God minister to you in such a way that I cannot but only He can.

Be blessed friends and I pray this is journey worth taking. Doing it all for His Glory~ Chelsie~