Morning!  I do not have time to write a lot but I felt so led to share something with you about faith and God's promises.  As I am studying His Word this morning, a clear picture came to me about how faith is the key to unlock God's promises ... abundance, prosperity, health, healing, etc.  

As far as prosperity and abundance go, though I still believe it is our faith that activates these promises, I feel there are certain other acts we must do in order to bring forth the financial overflow we may need or the abundance we desire.  We must be good stewards of what God has already blessed us with.  If we are not good stewards of our tithes and management over our money, I do not feel He is going to bless us with more.  It simply does not make sense to my feeble mind why God would give you more of something when you cannot take responsibility for what He has already given you. 

However, as for health and healing, this is what God showed me this morning.  Throughout my studies of God's Word ... through the Bible and teaching tapes, etc. ... I have always concluded that it is our faith which activates God's promises.  If we believe for healing, we shall be healed.  If we believe for good health, it shall be ours.  It is not to say we will not suffer in the flesh as others do, but I believe that during this time of suffering if we will declare His promises and walk towards what we believe, then it shall be ours.  This is not to say if you can neglect your body and abuse it God will grant you this desire because as with abundance, I do not feel He will.  Why should He bless you with good health and healing if all you are going to do is continue to abuse and neglect your body.  I do, however, believe we do not have to pray 'for God's will' when we declare wholeness in our bodies because it is God's will to heal us.  It is everywhere throughout the Bible where God healed people based on their faith.  He would say things as, "Go, your faith has made you whole" and "Because of your faith, you are healed".  It was His promise of that day and it is still His promise of today.  God's word has not changed, and as stated in Isaiah 55:11, His word shall not return to us void.

When contemplating all of this during my study time this morning, God gave me a clear example of how it works.  As I stated before, faith is the key that activates God's promises.  Look at it as this ... God's promises are products on the shelf of a store.  In order to purchase those products, we have to expend our money, which is our faith, in order to receive the benefit of the products.  It is the same with our faith and His promises.  In order to benefit from God's promises, we have to purchase them with our faith. How much of His promises we can purchase is based on the amount of faith we have, just as how much we can purchase of the products is based on how much money we have.  It simply became so much clearer to me this morning, and I felt so led to share it with you.

Activate your faith today and claim the promises God has for you.  He is standing before you with open arms and promises He so desires to give you ... won't you active those promises today!

Wow, I cannot believe I have a few free moments to actually sit down quietly and write again.  I so miss my blog and writing articles.  However, with all I have had on my plate lately, there just is not enough time in the day.  I realize we each are responsible for being good stewards of our time, and though it may seem as if I am putting what matters most to me on a back burner, it is the way it needs to be for now.  I am working diligently so there will be a time in the future where I can write regularly.  I look to the day when I will be able to sit and share all of God's musings with you.  It is so my heart's desire, and we all know who puts those desires in our heart.  Knowing this is what keeps me focused on the goal ahead.  I will press forward knowing all will come together in His time ... His perfect time!  I will no longer allow the dream stealers of this world to rob me of my dreams. 

As you all know, I became an Independent Mary Kay consultant in January.  It keeps me hopping but I am loving every minute of it.  Someone asked me, "How do you do it?  How do you work all day in the stressful situation you work in, then leave there and go work some more?"  My response was easy.  Do you remember when you would be at work on a Friday, and though you had worked all day, when 5:00 came you could not wait to go home, dress, and head out on the town.  Your dragging spirit ... your physical exhaustion of the day ... they simply dissipated and you were revived because you were going to party and have fun.  Well, this is how it is with me.  I do not look at Mary Kay as a job though I hope to make it my lifelong career.  I look at it as an opportunity to party as I so enjoy what I am doing.  I look forward to meeting new people, helping them with skin care, makeup, and simply having fellowship.  It opens doors for me to share my love and passion for my new career path and also for the One who gifted me with this opportunity ... my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!  Now does that sound tiring?  It is anything but!!!

Being a consultant, having your own business, is so rewarding in so many ways.  I finally can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I can finally put some more pieces in my puzzle of life together, and I can actually see where He is leading me.  It is all lining up with the dream He shared with me years ago.  Just the thought of His hand upon my life as this is overwhelming.  He truly is my King ... my Comforter ... my Great Physician ... my Provider ... my Everything!  Mary Kay is founded on the premises of God first, Family Second, and Career third.  When you focus on exactly this, it works out.  When you do not, then you can feel His favor slipping away from you.  Believe me, I know this all too well.  Mary Kay believed we should always treat others as we desire to be treated.  Do you really do this?  Think about it ... do you really think of how you desire others to treat you when you are responding to someone who has made you mad ... offended you ... hurt someone you love!  No, we do not.  We allow our fleshly and carnal emotions take over instead of giving it over to God as He is our Great Avenger. 

I have missed you guys!  I so enjoy sharing my life with you.  I ask that you keep my brother in prayer.  He suffers with Parkinson's and his health is uncertain from day-to-day.  Some days he is good and then others he is not.  It is a very unpredictable situation, but we are pulling together as a family and doing what we can to assist him.  He is surrounded with wonderful daughters.  One in particular has stepped up the plate and she carries the majority of the burdens ... both good and bad.  I sympathize with her on many levels as I remember when I took care of my mom and then ultimately my dad.  I was single, had a small son, trying to do what I thought was best for my dad, working full time, and dealing with a lot in my own life.  It was a very difficult and trying time.  Please keep her in prayer, as well as all of us.

My son's graduation announcements arrived this past week.  I sat down and addressed them.  Guess what ... I actually did it without shedding tears.  I think I am numb at this point, and so busy in the festivities of it all that I do not have a great deal of time to allow it to penetrate.  I am a proud momma!  He has received his first scholarship.  We go on Monday night to the dinner where they will present the check to him.  He took his first placement rest and passed.  We will go next week and take another one.  Him going to college is becoming a reality, and it will move on whether I am ready for it or not.

Well I need to close for the night.  I have so much I would like to share but at another time.  I love you all, I pray for you all, and I look forward to spending a lot of time with you in the future!

God bless!

4.03.2016 -  I have been SO BAD about my blogging lately.  When I opened up my website to start this blog, I found where I had done a blog on 3/28 and never posted it.  It follows this blog.  I so miss chatting with you guys, but I have been so on overload.  Working full time, trying to get things ready for my son's graduation, tending to my husband and home, trying to get my Mary Kay business off the ground and running .. it has been a bit overwhelming.  Throw into the mix trying to assist my niece's with my brother's care and you have someone who is burnt out mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.  I have been on vacation this past week and I feel as if I could use another one.  Sometimes life simply throws too much at us too fast ... or do we do this to ourselves? 

I once heard Joyce Meyer say if you are overwhelmed and feel you have not a second for you or anything, then you need to find the cause for it.  After all, you make your own schedule!  I think I can handle all that is on my plate, but it is the interaction with others at times that burdens me.  I love my family and friends so much.  When there is any type of discord, it weighs on me heavily.

Satan has been on overtime today.  He has used every tool imaginable to attack me ... family, church, etc.  I have had to stay on my toes and rebuke him at every onset.  I could not hardly tell you one thing my Pastor said this morning.  My eyes were red and swollen from crying over a situation that is totally out of my control.  I was late for church, and then it was just a tired day!  On the good side, when I got home, my son and husband brightened my day.  We cooked lunch together, watched television together, and then I awoke to find my son gone and the television off.  Yep, I fell asleep on them!

My son and I got on the computer this afternoon and tackled his Piedmont admissions process.  It was not as bad as I thought it would be.  This week he will study his placement tests and we will go take them next Thursday.  Please lift him in prayer over the course of the next two weeks.

Good news ... really good news ... my son got his first notification in the mail about being the recipient of an $1000 scholarship.  It was a nice ending to a bad beginning. I am very proud of him.

Please keep my brother in your continued prayers as he struggles with his Parkinson's.  It is taking him down rapidly physically, but mentally he is doing well.  We just have to schedule care for him, and this is quite a process at times with families.  It can be overwhelming to say the least, so we need your prayers as well. 

As you will see when you read my 3/28 blog, I did not accomplish anything I set out to do, but I did accomplish a lot!!!!

Ok, I am heading off to chill and get ready for my big return to work tomorrow!  I am sure I have a lot to tend with on my first day back.  I have 2 skin care classes scheduled thus far for my Mary Kay business, but I still have 4 more to go. My goal is 6 classes per week.  Being a consultant is very tiring right now, but rewarding.  I made my weekly income this past week in only 6-7 hours.  Yep, pretty good, huh?

3.28.2016 - Has it really been over two weeks since I last shared a blog with you?  I am ashamed of myself, but as you all know, I am in the process of trying to build my Mary Kay business.  It does not allow much time for more than God, family, work, and Mary Kay.  I so miss my writing, but I have to focus on the fact that working so hard right now on getting my business off the ground will open up the door in the future for me to be able to write full time ... my true passion in life!  The long term dividends are well worth the daily sacrifices I am making now.

I had my biggest week this past 7 days with my new business.  I still cannot believe the awesomeness of God and His favor.  He has opened doors for me to share laughter with many ladies over the past week, and it is exactly the main reason I felt He led me to Mary Kay in the first place.  It is always such a joy to give to others.  Of course, the financial gain has not been bad either ... LOL!  It has been pretty awe-inspiring to say the least.

On last Friday I woke full of such heaviness on the inside.  My hormones were all over the place, and it proved to be a very difficult morning.  No matter what my husband said to me I cried.  I was literally bouncing off the walls, and I could not for the life of me figure out what was going on.  Once I calmed down and sought His input it all made sense.  I called my job to let them know what was going on and how it would cause me to run a bit late, and then I got it together and pressed on.  When I looked back over the course of the last week, it was obvious what was happening.  I had worked 12-15 hours per day for the last 3 days and it had finally caught up with me.  However, it was a different type of worn out.  Yes, I was physically, mentally, and emotionally worn out, but it was a peaceful and productive type of feeling.  It is difficult for me to put into words.  I felt like I had truly accomplished something in life through hard work, determination, and faith.  Though I was coming unraveled, it was good.  Does this make sense ... probably not?  Needless to say, I got it together and pressed on.  Throughout the day at work, I would tease others when they said something to me with a response of, "Don't make me cry!".  I used my difficult morning to bring laughter.  It is what we need to do with all of life's struggles at time.  Even when they are not laughing situations, sometimes we simply need to lighten up a bit and learn to laugh at ourselves.

I am off this week so I can focus on my book and tie up some loose ends.  My son is going to help me hit the computer again next week and solicit publishers again.  On one hand, I am excited to be back on this path but also weary knowing how frustrating it can become.  Yet, I have not lost faith that God has a plan with all of this, and His timing has to be what I desire first and foremost.  I cannot lose my vision of the end result, and moreso I cannot lose my vision of what God shared with me long ago.  It is His vision which has kept me pressing forward ... pausing when He has put me on pause ... and continuing when He nudges me to do so.  It is all so confusing but what is not confusing when you are truly seeking His will for your life?

I had an amazing time at Career Conference in Virginia Beach a few weeks back.  I am fired up and waiting on the next conference which will be in Dallas, Texas.  I am also reading all I can to assist me in becoming the leader God desires me to be.  John Maxwell is one of the most leading motivational speakers in the United States and a mighty warrior for God.  His books are both uplifting and encouraging.  I have several of them.  If read in the context and with an open heart, between his testimonies and lessons in life and God's working through you, I know you can become the greatest leader of all time.  Do you know what makes the most powerful leaders?  Focusing more on others and less on self.  It is a concept you have to conquer to be able to move forward at all in being a great leader.  I desire to lead through my faith, His Word, my book, and my Mary Kay business.  It is what I can bring to others that will prosper me and not the amount of sales I can have.  Of course, the latter is not bad either, but I look at this as more of His favor than of my ability to sell.  I am not a salesperson by any means!

I hope to get some articles wrote this week also while I am out of work.  I have so many subject matters I desire to share His input with you about, but one day at a time.  I realize I will never get everything done this coming week which I desire to do, but I am making the most of every minute.  Time is precious and must be used wisely or you never accomplish anything.

Have to run.  I will be chatting more in the days ahead.  Continue to hold me up in prayer.  He is hearing and answering your prayers for me, and I am so appreciative to you all!  Have a blessed day!