Don't Give Up

If you are like me when you hear the word rest, you think about taking a nap, or when it’s time to go to bed at night. However, resting the biblical way is so much better. In our last devotion we talked a little bit about how we are supposed to rest in the Lord. This one focuses a little more on “why we rest”.  Taking a time out to rest with God is essential to living victoriously and taking care of ourselves. Jesus Himself did this and showed us why. Jesus took time out to connect with His Father before making big decisions, he went off to be alone with God after preaching to large crowds and He prayed continuously to gain the strength He needed to fulfill His purpose. How could we possibly think that if Jesus needed to rest in God that we can live a healthy life without doing the same. Luke 5:15-16: "But the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed...

When I started down this path of self-care, one of the first things my daughter warned me about was becoming selfish. I’m slightly embarrassed to confess this but I will. I have spent hours scrolling social media watching different women share their self-care secrets. I’ve seen everything from face creams they swear will make you look longer, lotions to miraculously remove the cellulite from your thighs, and perfumes to make your scent irresistible. I confess, I got caught up in the allure of it all. So it was clear to see what she meant by don’t become selfish. Praise the Lord, God convicted me. The verse He gave me to love myself didn’t mean to pamper myself… it meant something much deeper. In short, self-care is not selfish. It is biblical. However, if you find yourself solely purchasing “things” to make yourself look better and you neglect your soul and your spirit, you may be weighing on the selfish side of self-care. How do you care for yourself without being selfish? I mean the ...

Biblical Self-Care is stewardship not selfishness. When I first started this journey, God gave me the scripture, Matthew 22:39, (NIV) “And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” The second part of this verse gets overlooked a lot. We see the love your neighbor part, but forget to love ourselves. Just like the 10 Commandments, God is giving us clear instructions in this verse on how to govern our lives. He commands that we love ourselves. It isn’t selfish to take care of yourself. Taking care of ourselves God’s way, means we are taking care of our body, our mind, our Spirit and our soul. There is a godly way to go about this and for the next 30 days, we are going to do this together. For the next 30 days, I will be sharing with you, a 30 day guide on godly self-care.  Godly self-care involves resting, establishing healthy boundaries, and nurturing spiritual health through prayer and scripture, following Jesus’ example of withdrawing to rest and recharge. This type...

What in the name of all things wrong with people is going on? We get a weather report that SNOWMAGEDDON is coming and people are running to the store to buy milk, eggs and bread! What are you gonna do, eat French toast for 3 days… and how are you gonna make it, if your power goes out? It’s been like this for decades. I don’t know why I assume that our country has evolved. I mean we wore masks for an entire year… It’s like watching a bunch of dancing monkeys… someone rings a bell and the frenzy begins. “Ooh ooh ah ah” Snow is coming… Snow is coming… it’s like Paul Revere rose again and rang the bell from the east to the west… Snow is coming… Go get your milk and eggs. Hide your chickens and cows! Some of you have never been in a real storm situation and it shows. I went to the store yesterday to get the essentials. The entire refrigerated section was wiped out. The employees were standing around scratching their heads like Thanksgiving dinner was happening again this weekend. Bottled wa...

Did last year wear you out? Does day to day life leave you feeling exhausted? If so… I feel you. I don’t know what season of life you are in, but I’m in the season of single mom, perimenopause, handling all the financial responsibilities by myself, working full time to come home and work some more and feeling oh so alone. (Most of the time.) Don’t leave just yet… I promise this isn’t a woe is me post. I just want you to know and I want others to know that you are not alone. Life is hard and it is okay to admit it. So if you hang in here with me til the end, I promise I will offer some hope. For some - It might even be life changing. (It was for me.) If you follow this blog, it is no secret, I’ve been floundering since my divorce. This past year, I made a commitment to get myself right with God and run back to the calling He has on my life. (Encouraging others through His word.) I started 2025 off with prayer and fasting and things were going great. Life was looking up for the first...

Have you been physically, emotionally or spiritually abused? If you answered yes to any of those - Hear me when I say this - God did not intend that for you! When the bible tells us we will suffer for His Name sake, it did not mean that we have to stay in unhealthy relationships or tolerate someone intentionally mistreating us. Christians will be persecuted, yes... but that is a rabbit hole for a different day.  What I will tell you is this - The bible is full of scripture on how we are to love and respect one another. Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church. Ephesians 5:25 Love others as you love yourself. Matthew 22:39 A friend loves at all times. Proverbs 17:17 Honor one another. Romans 12:10 Carry one another's burdens. Galatians 6:2 The bible is full of instructions on how and why we are to care for each other.  I'll be honest with y'all. When I started this journey, I was thinking I would start incorporating daily face masks, monthly massage appointments, ...