Category: God, Love & Prayer

Stand Firm in Faith: When Bad News Strikes

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When you receive the bad news, will you panic, or hold your position?

Will you start to think of all the repercussions that may happen, the what-ifs, the butterfly effect. Or will you stand on His promises? Will you stand on the rock that is Christ and stand firmly?

“When you pray, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.” – James 1:6-7

Interesting.

Believe and not doubt.

Remember whose side you are on, and who is by your side.

Remember whose family you were adopted into, and who your Father is.

Remember that nothing formed against you shall stand.

Remember that God, your Father in heaven, is omniscient and omnipotent. He is the beginning and the end and sees and knows all things before and as they happen. He is always working and He promises to work all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.

What comes as a surprise to us does not surprise God. He has prepared works in advance for us to do, and He has equipped us to do those works. He has given us all of these things as preparation:

  1. Our life
  2. The mind of Christ
  3. The Holy Spirit
  4. The promise that He will never leave us
  5. A hunger for righteousness
  6. A refuge in Him
  7. New mercy every day

Hehe 🐙

But seriously, we have a friend in Jesus. He is our friend and is even praying for us CURRENTLY in heaven atm. Amazing.

So when you get the bad news, don’t hit the panic button like usual. Pause, take a deep breath, and remember all of these promises of God. The battle truly does belong to Him, and he wants us to trust Him with the outcome. Meanwhile, praying, worshipping, and doing our part.

“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.  But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” – 1 Peter 4:12-13

Don’t be surprised! Expect attacks, trials, hardship… and stand your ground! Hold your faith position!

xxx

<3

V

So many beautiful things…

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It’s a good day to be alive. A REALLY good day. Why, do you ask?

Because I’m breathing. My blood is flowing. Eyes are open and functioning. Legs are working. Hands are working. Brain is working (for the most part. Caffeine is still kicking in)

And there are beautiful things all around me. Yes, the flowers are beautiful. But the sun, the blue sky, the green grass. The structure that I currently reside in is beautiful. My clothes are beautiful,

I resolve to spend more time outside. The heat where I live gets to me sometimes, but there are ways to get my dose of sunshine in the morning, or during a cooler evening walk. God has created so many amazing things for us to enjoy and be in awe of Him… too many people are spending too much time inside these days! The phones and devices are so addictive. There’s a time and a place to use them, of course, as amazing tools, and for some entertainment… but to be creative? We are designed to be creative. And we must be in a creative space. A creative place.

There’s nothing like spending time by the ocean and walking in the sand, and smelling and tasting the salty air. With a breeze blowing through your hair, and the sun warming your skin. It’s incredibly healing and inspiring at the same time. As I reflect on the beauty that surrounds us, I have no choice but to give thanks to God, who made it all.

What are you fixing your eyes upon? There will always be problems in life, and trials, suffering… growth that is needed to move you to a place beyond where you are now. But what about the beauty? Are you fixing your eyes on true and excellent things? Or things that suck the life out of you, waste your time, distract you, and don’t better you.

What we focus on, expands. So how about things that are praiseworthy.

Awe-inspiring.

Beautiful.

Inspirational.

Motivational.

Lovely.

Commendable.

Honorable.

Just.

Pure.

Good.

God made all of these things to bring out these characteristics in us; to grow them in us, to use them to supercharge us to do excellent things and live abundant lives… He wants us to experience excellence and freedom in His creation and the life that He designed.

I dare you to focus on beautiful things today. Don’t waste your time on things that aren’t worthy of it.

xxx

<3

V

Do you want true peace instead of temporary pleasure?

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Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank you so much for the opportunity to share with others about your Spirit and power to transform and change our lives.

I thank you for changing my life and freeing me from addictions and the need to smoke marijuana everyday. I thank you for rescuing me from my eating disorder and body image issues. I thank you that I don’t hate the body that you gave me anymore. I thank you that I’m not afraid to eat any foods anymore. I thank you so much for giving me joy.

If you’re reading this and you’re struggling with addictions, I invite you to seek the Savior, Jesus Christ! He helped me and he can help you too.

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13

If you come to God earnestly seeking Him, believing that He can help you and has the power to change you, you will find him and He will do just that! He set me free from darkness and gave me the power to choose joy and choose salvation and choose to do things that bring life and not death. We can choose to live in the light instead of the darkness. He gives us the eyes to see that we were living the darkness before and now can live, alive, in the marvelous light!

Thank you Jesus. I am praying for those that are stuck in a hamster-wheel of pleasure-seeking. I am praying for those who feel as though they can’t get ahead, can’t get out, or that there’s nothing to live for. “Vanity, vanity, all is vanity”. King Solomon, the wisest human king, said this after turning away from God, choosing to live for himself and live in sin. He became depressed because he was living outside of God’s design. When we live outside of God’s protection, we live outside of his provision and blessing and peace as well.

Peace, true, unbroken peace, is found ONLY in the presence of God. And you can only enter into the presence of God with a humble, earnest heart. God is not a fool and cannot be mocked. He sees clearly the motives of the heart. He wants to eat with you! He wants to dine with you! He wants to share in all of his eternal blessings with you. But you have to choose to lay everything down and give everything up in order to have fellowship with him.

Please join me on this 40 days of prayer videos to grow closer to God and stay encouraged: https://youtu.be/ycTeCLmScCg?si=yLiyMVvs_FbSP2k1

Let me know that you were here!

xxx

V

Do you need encouragement today?

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Hello there 🙂

Happy Friday! Happy 1st of December…!

Maybe you’re not feeling happy today. Maybe there’s something weighing on your mind. A disappointment. An unmet expectation. A broken relationship. An illness. A death in the family or friend group. A financial struggle.

We all need to stay encouraged, and there’s only one way to do that: by putting ourselves in the presence of God. By coming before God and praying something like the following:

“Lord, I need you! I can’t handle this! I can’t take this! I can’t bring myself out of this. I need your peace, your joy, I need your strength to overcome this battle in my mind. This battle in my heart. I understand that the battle starts in my mind and with my thoughts. I understand that Satan is trying to convince me that my situation is hopeless, helpless and unchanging. He has tried to convince me that the power of prayer is fiction. He has tried to convince me that I’m all alone. He has tried to convince me of these things but I know they are lies coming from none other than the father of lies. Help me Jesus to stop entertaining his lies and to learn how to separate them from what is true. Jesus, this is what is true:

Your grace is sufficient for me. Your strength is made perfect in my weakness. You work everything together for my good. You have prepared every work in advance for me to do! You are omniscient, all knowing, and are not surprised by our present struggles or the state of the world. We know that the government is upon your shoulders! You literally have it all in your control. Thank you Jesus for protecting us, providing for us, and guiding us. Thank you for being our bright light! Without you, we would be in utter darkness. But we say hallelujah! You are the light of the world and you have made us the light of the world as well! We love you Lord.

In Jesus’ name, Amen!

If that’s you, this message is for you. Join me for 40 days of prayer here: https://youtu.be/2TTjknpIStM

See y’all soon!

xxx

V

I miss you…

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You. Reader. I miss talking to you. I miss typing the words on the page and sending out energy and positivity. I miss sharing my heart with you and relating to you from across the continent and the world. It’s a small world, with the same moon, and I miss you.

You will be hearing from me more often. Until then, I would like to wish you a very nice Thursday. The last day in November 2023. Make it a good one. How? What is one thing you have been wanting to get done today? Go get ’em tiger.

I prayed for you this morning… I hope this encourages you: https://youtu.be/h8id0JmMlK4

Let me know what you think!

Bye for now!

xxx

V

FAITH

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It wasn’t really raining, but it had been all day long. The sky was completely gray, but it was a light gray so as to let a percentage of sun shine through the clouds. 45%, I would say.

close up photo of pampas grass
Photo by Andrea Garibay on Pexels.com

So it was something like this, except one shade grayer. Where it still felt early enough in the day, and it was a cool dusk. My smartphone was at home, on my bedside table, and I was glad to be accompanied by only God and nature.

…

It felt good just to be out there, walking. Taking in all of the scenery. And pondering.

Who am I? What type of woman am I becoming? Someone whose company I would wish to seek?

Have I grown colder, or warmer?

Rougher, or softer?

More kind or less.

More patient? Or less.

Has pressure made me into more of a diamond, or a broken vessel?

I want to be on a boat and hear the sound of the waves lapping up onto the sides. I want to see sea foam and watch it bubble onto land with the flow and quickly disappear into the sand. It’s so cliché but I love watching the water form a circle around my feet when the waves break on the shore. I taste the salty air in my mouth and feel a breeze circling around my head. I’ll be back to you soon.

…

And I began singing. Prayers, mostly. Giving thanks for all that I saw around me. And prayers for my feet and legs; the ability to walk. My mouth, my voice. I gave thanks for simple things that are usually subconscious; realizing that it was only by the grace of the Giver of these gifts that I was blessed with them.

Lord, I thank you that not only do You have my life in your hands, but You gave me my life. Now I ask you for Your strength to walk this life uprightly. To not grow weary of doing good works. To keep a perspective much bigger than myself. To look into the unseen, and see with Your eyes.

For we walk by faith, not by sight.

2 Corinthians 5:7

Help my spirit worship You in every situation. Help me listen to Your voice and not miss a beat of what You would have me to do.

xxx

V

photo of woman holding a green paper

The power of a smile :)

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There will always be those people that want to ruin your day. They blindside you with a rude comment. They try to confuse you by contradicting themselves and then denying they ever had a change of mind. They lie to you, plot against you, are jealous of you, and are hateful. The world is full of these people! And there’s only one thing to do.

Smile.

Ohhh yes. Smile and shake it off.

They don’t deserve your power. They’re trying to crush you and rob you, but they aren’t able to for this simple reason:

If God is for you, who can be against you? Romans 8:31

So Smile.

Not in a conniving, evil way. But in a way that is based on a sigh of relief once you realize that Nothing formed against you shall stand. Isaiah 54:17

And ask God to help you forgive that person in your heart… truly forgive them. Forgiveness doesn’t excuse their wrongdoing, but it does release you from their grip on your consciousness and heart.

I dunno about you, but I feel better!!!!!!!!!!!1

Smile!

xxx

V

Good morning.

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It’s been a little while 🙂

May 26, 2023. I like this day so far <3

In order to get the creative juices flowing, I’m going to post a series of spring photos:

And after posting that one, I realize half of these daisies are dead. Awesome

The above photo is a bit blurry but it does show off my cute wittle teapot and favorite tea cup

I used an AI generator to make this picture of Jesus and I am absolutely amazed at the power of AI to generate images. Wow.

Like, how else would I get this picture of two baby potatoes holding hands under the moonlight?!?!! HAHA! I’m in loooooooove

Dude this is beach sand. Also kinda blurry, sorry, but I was amazed at all of the different colors, shapes and sizes of pebbles that made up the sand at this particular beach. WOW

Need a hand?

The beach is not as far as I think sometimes lol, I should go more often! Actually, here we are at the end of May… June arriving next week…. that means SUMMER sooo yeah I’m going to try on my wetsuit and get rolling. I’m a little nervous to surf cuz it’s been a couple years, but I’m lighter than I was in 2020 and have been doing strength training so I think I’ll be better at surfing this year! #agingbackwards <3

The only thing is…

If I’m for real gonna try and go a few times I need a surf buddy. My previous surf buddy is in a really busy season and won’t be able to accompany me, so I will have to find someone else. And find, I will! LOL my ambition is high when I keep my prize in sight. I should make a vision board with pictures of surfing, and maybe that’ll keep me focused. But also, weighing what my priorities really are… so let’s do that:

  1. Relationship with God
  2. Relationship with my husband
  3. Other relationships with family and friends 🙂
  4. Work work work work
  5. Health and fitness

I mean that’s basically it lol

So now I wanna make a few goals. Always good to have goals so ya not just living a stagnant life. A good way to do this IS to make a vision board – you know what, I’ma do this and put all sorts of inspirational things on it including surf boards, healthy recipes, a picture of someone running and swimming, nature scenes…. I want to go outside for walks more, and go to the beach more… I want to drink lemon water each morning lol, and do good things for my health. I actually had avoided getting sick for over a year (minus a stomach bug) but got a cold recently. DANG lol but ayy one time in a year isn’t too bad.

Long story short, health, wellness, vital relationships, making time for enjoying God’s beautiful creation, working hard but not letting it rule your life… are all things that allow someone to truly live, and not miss all of the life around them!

My husband made me a delicious omelette recently, and went as far to make me a paper rose that he placed on top. He set out coffee and cookies. What a sweetheart.

Guys, if you’re feeling stuck, look at a few pictures in your camera roll and remind yourself of life, good moments. You will feel inspired after doing that. Everything I just wrote and came up with sparked from seeing the picture of the beach waves. It’s too easy to get trapped in our own minds these days and have technology suck the life out of us. Don’t forget about creativity. Don’t forget about using your God-given brain and all of the things you can come up with; plans, goals, ways to bless others… Let’s get out there and LIVE!

Oh yeah, and surround yourself with like-minded individuals. That is SO important. If you spend your time with people who are going nowhere in life, it’ll be much harder to get to the places that you want to go.

Okay, that’s all.
Bye for now!

<3 <3 <3

xxx

V

illuminated qoute board

WADDUP

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Listen up everyone! Today is a new day so let’s make the most out of it. Whatever things you keep putting off saying you will do it tomorrow…. do it today! Tomorrow is not promised.

These flowers don’t look like anything very impressive but I am proud to say that they have been living in this vase for over 3 weeks. Actually, it’s been 1 month. I’m truly shocked and delighted in these little guys. It’s amazing what pouring a little bit of water onto something living will do.

Speaking of living water, let’s pour “living water” of encouragement and love into our relationships. Everybody out here is living this hard life and trying to make the best out of their situations. The least we can do is support one another and show compassion. Things may be easy for me today and hard tomorrow, and vice-a-versa with someone else. We don’t need to add to the hatred in the world and kick other people when they’re down and add to the madness.

It’s amazing what a smile will do 🙂

I just want to take a moment to show some gratitude to God. I look around and realize that everything I have came from Him.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17

God does not change. He’s not nice today and rude tomorrow. He doesn’t get tired of loving us. He doesn’t give up on us and stop pursuing us and fighting for us. He’s not fickle and flaky.

He’s firm. Foundational. Strong. He doesn’t crack. He’s supportive. He upholds. He protects. He’s welcoming and inviting. His presence is comforting. He is peaceful to be around. I am so thankful for Him.

Lord, thank you so much for letting me know you. Thank you for answering my prayer ten years ago. When I asked for your help. Thank you for leading me in righteousness and helping me to choose your ways. Your ways are so much higher than my ways. I choose selfishly and narrow-mindedly when I’m not relying on your wisdom to guide me to make the right choices. You long for me to be dependent on You and trust you to live this life with you, not apart from you. You are my best friend, my guide, my Truth. I live because you live in me.

I hope your day is more fragrant than this rose, more pleasing to your eyes than its’ petals, and flourishes more vivaciously than its’ leaves <3

xxx

V

down angle photography of red clouds and blue sky

“Snackage”

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always surrounded you. Usually in the form of Cheetos cheese puffs, oreos, pringles, and anything chocolate. “Snackage” was one of so many words that we generously added to the English language in all of our astute intellectualness. We renamed objects that had perfectly “good” names but were no longer suitable to the environment that we were building for ourselves. One that surpassed reality and added layer after layer of silliness, life, and drama.

There’s so much I want to say about you but I don’t know where to begin. One of my favorite ongoing memories of you was when I would take leftover food home from bible study and bring it to you. After a few weeks of telling everyone “it’s for Barb” people began to question whether or not you really existed. So then you became the fictional “Barb”. They even went so far as to all take a permanent Sharpie marker and sign their names on one of the Styrofoam clamshell containers that probably contained some of Brenda’s famous chocolate cake. Even “your friend Dennis” signed it. They kept this up until one day, whether a couple members of bible study met you at a Christmas concert at the Ferguson Center at CNU. They couldn’t deny your existence any longer. In other words, you were secretly famous.

And now you’re with Jesus.

xxx

V