Last Holiday

What if you were told that you had only two months to live? November -December how would you spend your last holiday.  Would you spend it with family & friends? Would you spend it complaining about what you do or don't have? Would you spend it on a dream vacation? Would you take out all your money that you save if you saved any and go shopping? Would you sit around and say why me God?  Ask yourself that question this holiday season What would I do?  How would I want people to remember me.  Many of us ladies are like the character in the movie Last Holiday which is one of my favorite holiday movies.  It is about this shy salesperson who finds out she has only three months to live.  She begins to do what many of us do ask God  (Why Me Lord).  As she sits and looks through this book she created about her dreams and things she would like to do in her life she begins to change how she looks at life.  She plan her dream vacation, take a first class flight, she adventures out and do things she never thought she would do "She begins to take a chance on life". The movie lets us see how we view life when we are hit with some hard choices.

In the process of her enjoying her life she begins to inspire other people around her, isn't that wonderful in your moment of dying you inspire others to live. Even when the emeny trys to tear her down, she still inspires others. Around this time of the year many people become depress, lonely and sad because they can't do what they want to do for their family, but this thanksgiving be truly thankful for what you can do this Holiday.  We hear all throughout the season Jesus is the Reason for the Season but do we really believe that? If we do let act like it.  This year for many people have been the hardest year they have ever seen in their lives. So as a people lets make this season about Jesus and enjoy it.

This holiday season spend your holiday as if it is your "Last Holiday" and enjoy it with laughter, smiles, shareing, giving, being the person God call you to be.  Change the way you do the holidays this year if it is volunteering, cooking dinner and inviting a neighbor over who you know doesn't have a family.  Just do something different this holiday season. Enjoy it as if it is your "Last Holiday"!!

LAST HOLIDAY (2006) - Official Movie Trailer

CURB APPEAL!

Good Morning, I just want to thank all those who are following this blog, I pray that you share it with someone in your daily walk.  Today topic is CURB APPEAL!



 What is curb appeal you may ask, curb appeal is the visual attractiveness of a house as seen from the street. Today I want to touch on your Spiritual Curb Appeal what are you attracting, what are people seeing when they look at your house (which is you). Is your curb appeal old and falling apart as you see in the picture is that your spiritual house?  In this spiritual walk there are times when our house need a little make over. The storms of life are so strong that it can put a wear and tear on your house, just as you fix up your nature house we also need to fix up and remodel our spiritual house. We need to change our thinking, get rid of old things, old feelings, old way we approach people and talk to them, the old way we handle life situations. That is where curb appeal comes in. We walk through life with the house (ourselves) looking good  to us so we think and God is saying you need a make over. God is saying let me make you over to what appeals to me and we want let him.  People are looking at your house from the curb and see you are a mess. Sometime when you are in your own house you don't see how you look from the curb you are so used to doing things your way you don't want to change.  You ever wonder why people don't want to have nothing to do with you, you have no curb appeal.  Who are you attracting with you curb appeal are you attracting people that will help you or are you attracting people who just want to add to the falling apart structure of your house.  What is your curb appeal saying about you?  Are you so mean that people just walk by your house. Is your curb appeal saying you are weak or strong?  Are you so holy  that people just walk by your house? Are you so afraid of letting people in your house to help you make a better curb appeal?  Today in your daily walk look at the house you pass buy and see which house you would like to be, look at the curb appeal and see what it says about that house and applied that to your own life.  Just take a look at the curb appeal!!!!



KEEPING UP APPEARANCES

     I think we all have the fairy tale as  little girls when we pass by the big houses in the car, that we imagine who lives there and what their life must be like.  We imagine, dream, and hope that one day it will be use with the perfect home, the perfect husband, and the perfect children. As we grow older, we realize that the dream is a little harder to obtain than just clicking our heels together, but nevertheless we endeavor to achieve it.

    I've talked with and seen both sides of the equation and the outcome of trying to obtain this "thing" called the good life. On one end of the dream there is the woman who came from nothing, never had anything to speak of,  and hustles everyday just to make ends meet. For her, its all about survival and that is the mode that she stays in. There is no  looking to the future and planning ahead because "the day has enough trouble of its own" Matt. 8:32. I know you are asking yourself, so then what is the appearance that she is trying to keep up if she has nothing to "keep up?'
    
     On the other end of the spectrum you have the woman that seems to have it all. A great and lucrative job, the husband, the big house, nice luxury sedan or SUV, the 2.5 kids, and even the dog! By all appearances she has it all! Don't get me wrong, you have worked hard and sacrificed a lot to get to where you are and are proud of it as you should be, but the question remains how much are you sacrificing of yourself to keep it? when you sit on your couch in you den and look around at all that you have accomplished, why in the pit of your heart do you still fill empty and unfulfilled?

    No matter which end of the spectrum you are on, and all the countless women and scenarios in between, the questions are still the same. Why do yo still feel unfulfilled? For the woman who is surviving the surface answer is easy. You would say, "Because I don't have what I need." but its more to it. The emptiness is still the same. It's a longing for something you feel as if you cannot get or reach, You keep up the appearance that you are tough and nothing bothers you and you are going to "get yours" no matter how much it takes. Its difficult to keep up the appearance of being tough or hard when you truly are very sensitive at the core. Its hard to keep up the appearance of having it all when within your heart you would give it all away if you could just be content and happy. The ironic thing is that the woman who has nothing is looking at the woman who has it all and believes that if she had all of the trappings of success she would be happy and content. While the woman who has it all looks at the woman who has nothing and dreams of a more simpler life without all the complications of "more money, more problems."
  
     When we take away the external and look at the core of who we are, we all have the same needs. Hiding behind the mask that grins and lies does not bring peace and wholeness to our lives. Learning how to not allow external circumstances dictate who we are and our worth is paramount. OUR PERCEPTION IS OUR REALITY  and we project our perception of ourselves into the world. what we are looking for is the love of Christ to fill that space that only He can fill. How do you begin to feel His love? Begin by being honest with yourself. the stuff, or lack thereof, does not define who you are. the extra Coach bag or pair of shoes will not fulfill the deeply internal desire to be loved. Be honest and be real. That's when the King of glory can come in.........

Prayer

Lord, I ask you to open up my mind, my heart, and my spirit as I embark on this journey of self-discovery. My heart's desire is for You, and it's Your word that I meditate on day and night. Open me up to myself and help me to see the origin of my heartache so that I may begin to operate in the newness of You. I come against the enemy right now that tries to speak to my mind and tell me that I can't go to those hurtful places because I will break or come unglued. For I know that when I take YOU to those hurtful places that you can heal and renew me. In Jesus name I pray.

AMEN.

WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?

I was tapping my foot on the floor as I looked up at the clock. It was now 11:30 pm and I had not heard from my husband. Okay, I told myself..give it just a littel more time. You know he lets time get away from him. I'm going to play it cool, even though I literally could feel my blood pressure rising. Should I call the hospital? Maybe I can just jump in my car and go check on him. Will the police be at my door or call me to tell me something terrible has happened to him? As my mind was running every scenario in the book, I heard the chime of the back door opening. Thank God! Now that I know he's safe he is really going to hear it from me this time! As he casually saunters into the room, the look on my face must have given it away immediately. He then  had the audacity to ask me what's wrong! "Where were you? I have been worried sick!' Startled at my attack he responds, "I told you I was going to the church to drop off some things." Dropping off things takes about 10 minutes and the church is only 15 minutes away. Oh yeah, I had already calculated in my head how long the trip should take. "Well sweetie, the sound system was acting up so I was tring to fix it for Sunday. Why didn't you just call me?" "I did, but you didn't answer!" Now he wanted to insult my intelligence. As I grabbed my phone to show him the evidence, I looked at my phone and realized in my franticness of calling him I missed dialed his number by one digit. Well that still wasn't an excuse for him to have me in this state, so I just let loose withe the  barrage of what my heart was feeling. "You left me! You didn't call, and I didn't know what happened to you.!" Yo have been gone for a whole two hours and I was worried. You know that you are alright, but I don't know that! What if something had happened to you and I didn't get a chance to say goodbye??" Whoa...I just heard the words that came out of my mouth and at the sam time felt the pang of pain in my heart. Where in the world did that come from??

Many time in our life when we find ourselves arguing or getting upset at an individual or situation; when we are honest with ourselves, it really is not the situation or person that upsets us. but rather what the situation or person reminds us of something in our past that we have not yet been healed from.

Begin to listen to your conversatiosn and being to recognize what gets you upeset. We have  to realize that we have the power, so if we are getting upset, it's not the other person that "made us mad". We allowed them to conjure up those feelings within us. The question is why does it make you feel that way.....

• Have you had a disagreement or argument with someone, but realized that you were arguing about something other than the situation at hand? What was it?
• What made you upset and angry? What did it remind you of ? Where did it take you in your mind? Identify where healing needs to take place within you.