Take Action!

It's amazing what GOOD friends will do for you! They really get you thinking and keep you on the right track!
I've had some of the best conversations the past couple days especially about stepping out and doing what God has called you to.
I feel like we always wait and step out when it feels comfortable and everything is in place rather then stepping out when the waters seem rough and watch it all fall into place.
God really wants us to trust Him fully and His plan for us and if we just continue to wait until WE feel comfortable to do what He has called we'll never accomplish it or never to the potential that he has planned!
It is truly only OUR choice whether we live this life to the richest it can possibly be or just a safe(boring) life!

If God is guiding you into an area usually it is bigger than you think you can possibly do on your own. Which is His perfect plan because He doesn't want you to do it on your own in the first place! He wants to to ask for His help and wisdom! He LOVES to be needed and of course we DESPERATELY need Him especially if we hope to accomplish even just the smallest portion of all that He has called us to we'll need His help!

Sooo first. Find what areas of your life that you are holding back and waiting until you feel comfortable(because honestly you probably won't ever feel comfortable stepping out!).
Second. STEP OUT and TAKE ACTION! Really the only risk you are taking is to stay where you are...or go UP! So take your pick! :)
Third...and this should be during the whole time, ask God for His Wisdom on how to accomplish it as you step out and all along the way!
You will NEVER regret accomplishing what God has called you too! It's AMAZING and of course the most fulfilling thing!

Just ask!

Well...at least I'm writing this within the month of the last one! haha!
God has really been ministering to me to write on this more..even if it's just short little things! I know it makes a difference! :)
I realized something last night that was small but really stuck out to me! I had stopped asking God for things that I wanted in life for the most part!
It is SOOO easy to get in the habit of completely relying on ourselves and our own abilities to accomplish and get things but why stop asking God or only ask him when we are in desperate need?? He is ALWAYS there!
My eyes were actually opened to this when I was thinking yesterday that I REALLY wanted to go to Hawaii sometime and wondering why I had never been...??
God then showed me that...duh...I hadn't asked Him for it!! I was just assuming that someday I'll eventually get around to going there..but who knows when! I almost saw it as impossible because I was looking at it in what I could do in my own strength and ability! So I sat down and said "God I'd like to go to Hawaii! I thank you that YOU have provided for that!" We simply need to ask! What in your life have you put on the back burner because you were only looking at in in how YOU could accomplish it rather than how God can work it out??? He is really opening my eyes now to how I've settled for less because I haven't looked to him as MY FATHER!! Wouldn't you ask your dad to provide for you in ways that you couldn't?? He is SOOOO far more faithful than any earthly father! Imagine that! :)
I love you all!!

Are you pursuing money or fulfillment?

My friend's and I were talking about making money today and it really got me thinking...
What is our end result/goal/focus in what we are wanting to be when we get older? Is it to make more money?

I was looking at my finances last night and started to think...I want to make more money...what can I do to do that? Start up new businesses, do a workshop? But I had to stop. My goal was JUST to make more money which is most certainly not my end goal!
I HEARTILY believe in using your money wisely and making it grow...but when that is my only focus and the reason why I live...is to do that..I'm missing it completely!

When I was younger I wanted to be a lawyer, graphic designer, and finally an architect solely because they made alot of money! Finally when I found one of my callings, photography, all the doors started opening up and I was doing it NOT because of the money but because I loved it and because I loved creating beautiful work and seeing people enjoy it!

This generation is SOOOO focused on making more money that we are NOT fulfilling our actual callings! I was driving down the street the other day and saw a lady sitting in her car all raggedy and looking like she hadn't slept in days and realized that she probably is not in her calling and then looked around some more and realized that probably 75% of the people I was driving past were not even in THEIR callings either! Whether they were driving a nice car or not!
They could be driving the nicest car, living in a mansion..yet still not fulfilling what they are called to because just making money is the focus!

If all we focus on is wanting to make more money we will literally NEVER be fulfilled! That's why so many people are lacking fulfillment and it's a total rat race because they think that having more things and money will bring that..yet it is never satisfying!

I really feel like if we find out and pursue what God has called us to do the doors will open for us and the money will follow! That the end result is NOT adding another dollar to the bank account but making a difference and impact in this world! That's why were here anyways right??

It's so incredibly awesome that you are at this stage right now and most likely haven't even entered that whole world yet and are finding this out now so that you don't have to get into that rat race! You can enter right into your calling! It's so easy right now!:)

What do you want your end result to be in your future job or career? If it's making money...you should PROBABLY be rethinking your life...and career! We're not just here to survive....or even to survive well...we're here to fulfill our callings and destinies, and through that we really will change the world!:)

"I'm fat, I'm fat, I'm really really fat..."

I used to sing these words when I was about 5 to an old Weird Al song. I don't know why but I LOVED this song! I didn't really understand it but thought it was cool! lol! Pretty sad huh??
Anyways, I've always struggled with believing I was overweight..and guess what?? alot of the time I was!

Now if you don't need to lose weight this post is still for you! It's so important to have a healthy eating style(diet). I am from a very healthy food eating family so I never would eat a ton of junk food but the thing that I JUST realized over the past couple weeks was even though I was eating healthier foods I would eat ALOT of it!! We had some friends over and I saw how much they ate and then looked at my plate and was like “I look like a pig!!”

My mom told me a couple months ago about some guy who was whining that he was overweight and finally God told him that he was just eating WAY too much! When I heard that story at first I got defensive and said “Mom, I don’t want to be anorexic! I eat just the right amount!” After a couple weeks of thinking about it then having those friends come over and seeing the portion sizes…I decided to just try cutting everything in half that I put in my mouth and not eating the other half! It was hard but I did it for a week and ended up losing about 3 pounds just that week! I thought! This must be it! This must be why I need to lose weight…I’m just STUFFING myself like a turkey!

You see us as Americans think that at each meal we aren’t going to eat for like the next 12 days so we eat and eat and eat until we are full or even stuffed! When guess what! We have the next meal in only a couple hours!! We aren’t going to starve! I think we all or most of us at least have caused our stomachs to grow because of our portions so that first week was hard because I was shrinking my stomach back to its real size which is only the size of your fist!! After that it became continually easier and easier until I started getting “full” on the half portions!! It was AMAZING!

So look at your portions this week…are you stuffing yourself? Do you feel bad leaving things on the plate? Guess what?? DON’T it’s going to end up in the same place anyways whether you eat it or it goes in the trash! LOL! It’s true!! So just eat until you have taken off that hunger burn and a little bit more than drink lots of water! It’s amazing what happens when you become disciplined in your eating habits!! I have sooo much more to say about this but this post is already pretty much a book! Haha! I love you all!! I’m going to be writing on here a bunch more because I have all the topics that I want to write about written down so I know what to write next! Fun times!!! Happy eating! :)

What's discipline?? Do I even have it?

Hey beautiful girls!!
I'm am terribly sorry I have neglected this place for so long but the reason why is what I will be dealing with in this post, discipline..or the lack of it! haha!
The past couple weeks I have been noticing my office, bedroom, and life just getting messier and more cluttered!
Ugh!! Not cool! Especially when I have alot on my plate and to have disorganization everywhere, makes it hard to think or even process things!
What is the purpose for discipline anyways?? Why would I want it? Ok well say your going running, you get on your shoes, you know where your going, but this time you just decide not to tie your shoes! What will happen the minute you get out there! YOU trip!! Discipline not only helps propel us forward, but helps us get there quicker and in one piece!! haha!!

The best thing to do in many areas, to change a habit or cause a good change, is start small. I examined my life to see what was out of order and the first thing that came to mind was that I would just wake up whenever, get on my computer in my pajamas and work like that most of the day. Duh, why everything is out of order! lol!
I was praying awhile ago how I can adjust this and the first tip was a good but easy one that God gave me! Basically set office hours and don't go up there until then and when I do be fully dressed as if my office was out of the house! That DEFINITELY helped, so I put that in place.

Now for the next step!!! uh oh! lol! I prayed last night that God would wake me up when HE wanted me to wake up to have my devotional time. Well...guess what time that was??? 5:30!! But the awesome part was since he woke me up I was able to get up right away with no trouble even though I went to bed last night at midnight! I'm excited about this next step toward discipline in my life!

Do you think the president sits around in his pajamas all day and wakes up at any time??? NOPE!! He has set MANY disciplines in his life and it's taken him where he is today! I know discipline is a pretty harsh word and doesn't sound very fun! But really it takes ALOT of discipline to put the things in place but once they are there and become habits it's much easier and it can take you to the next level!! BUT guess what!! It's terribly hard to do or stay consistent on on our own! I've had MANY failed attempts at that! It helps SOOO far more when the Holy Spirit is guiding you in what to set in place and how to keep it there!

What small bit of discipline can you start to put into your life??? Find out what that is then ask God to help you with it and keep it there!! I love you all and am so excited for this journey!!

Captivating!

So I just finished the book Captivating yesterday and it is seriously the best book I've ever read(besides the bible of course)!!! It took me about 6 months to read it cause when I read I like to really dissect the book so I get all that I can out of it, and plus I it was the busiest time of my life!! lol! Anyways, I highly highly recommend it to every woman!! It has totally changed my life! When I went on my little retreat a couple weeks ago this is what I read most of the time because it just really speaks to a woman's heart in a way that I have never seen another book do!
The 3 main things that the book talked about that a woman's heart longs for:
1. To be romanced
2. To to play an irreplaceable role in a great adventure
3. To unveil beauty
The way it talks about doing this is unbelievably simple but so important!
One of the things is offering your true heart to people without fear of being rejected, it's risky but God did not give us these hearts to hide or bury but to come alive and to minister to others with them!
Another very important part that I read and God is really working in me right now is worshiping.
I have found that whenever I really like something I LOVE it and it becomes almost a god in my life! I remember I used to like a band when I was younger and it just became all that I would talk and think about! I was just sharing what I thought this fault was in my life with one of my friends yesterday and she said "THAT IS YOUR STRENGTH!!" I was taken back for a second cause I could not see how this could be a strength! But she went on to say when you turn that same attention to God that's when it is your strength! So my weakness then becomes perfected into my strength!
Lastly, in this book it talks about how a girls never ending question is: Am I lovely?
And it shows that we really try to get this question answered by everyone else but really the only one who can truly answer it is Jesus!
So yeah..Incredible book..drop everything you're doing right now and go out and buy it! The authors also have a book for guys called Wild at heart I haven't read it but heard it was excellent! I love you all!! Have an amazing day!

Aaachooooooooo!!!!

Oh man!!! Well it's that most wonderful time of the year...everyone seems to be not feeling so good:( We have the holiday's to thank for it partly because we eat so much sugar that it weakens are immune systems so it can't fight as hard, then the weather sets in and it's just a fun mess of Kleenex!! haha!
I know I haven't really dealt much with health on this blog but now is definitely the time!
The absolute best thing to use is scripture....haha! Yeah I know..may sound weird you probably thought I was going to say like half a cup of warm water, some lemon and honey(even thought that IS really good for you) the very best thing is to dive into the word and get your faith built up! :)
My dad, two years ago was dealing with a never ending cold which he found out later was most likely pneumonia!! It just kept going on and on and on! For over a month! Finally he went to our pastor for prayer, our pastor prayed and my dad started feeling better but then it came back full force again. Later that night our pastor called him and said "You know whenever I feel those symptoms start to creep up on me I just take 4 or 5 healing scriptures and say them in the morning and at night!" And it works!!!! Seriously! It gets your faith built up in the area of healing so your taking what the devil meant for bad and turning it into good by getting that area that he is attacking built up!! When I broke my ankle I immediately got on those healing scriptures and started getting built up in the area of healing and even though I wasn't able to walk over night it healed up exactly how we had been praying and the doctors were very pleased how well it healed(cause I was going to need surgery!! But the doctor decided not to do it! Which in itself was a miracle)!!
So take that scripture like you take medicine! And with this there are no bad side effects either!! Only good ones!! So even if you're not sick I recommend start just confessing healing scriptures it will get you built up in that area so that when the devil wants to try to attack you have a bigger wall against him!!
Here are some healing scriptures that I have been speaking and you can use these too!
Isaiah 53:5
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
Matthew 9:22
Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment.
1 Peter 2:24
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
I pray that you all have a healthy happy amazing new year!!
I love you all!
Sarah