Our Blog

Back To School

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year…Lol

It’s Back to School Season

This is the time of year is filled with so many mixed emotions for parents and students. Some parents are excited to send their kids off after a busy summer season. Others are feeling anxious and sad that their baby is all grown up now and is stepping into a new phase of life. The reality is sinking in that they are growing into little humans who are not needing us as much as they once did. And for many parents, that’s a sad feeling. We know that that is ultimately the plan, to prepare them for when they have to venture out into the world; but it doesn’t get any easier when that time has come. We must let them go and pray that we equipped them well with what they need to face this world. The bible says in Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

I am that emotional mom who cries over the new milestones in my children’s lives. No matter how many “back to school seasons” I’ve been through, it’s a constant reminder that they are growing up and there is nothing I can do to stop or slow it down. So I have held that scripture close to my heart and making sure that I raise them according to God’s word and trust that he will see them through now and beyond. Our youngest one has started Kindergarten this year and as I was preparing his enrollment paperwork, the waterworks turned on. I thought that I had mentally prepared myself for it, but nope. The same thing happened when it was his first day of Pre-K. It’s a scary world out there and we want to guard our kids from EVERYTHING, but the reality is that we can’t.

However, our kids on the hand are usually excited to go back to school. They want to wear their new clothes and backpacks. Show off their new sneakers, haircuts and hairdos, then after a few days or weeks the excitement wears off and it’s back to “ I don’t want to get up, I’m still tired.” Or “ can I just stay home just for today, I don’t feel like going to school.” In those moments that’s when parent mode kicks in and we have to remind them the value of education and why it’s important to follow through on our commitments.

 No matter how old our kids get they are still going to need us. Yes, they may be less dependent upon us but they will still need us. Now that we are parents, we depend on our own parents less but we are all the more dependent on our Heavenly Father. He is there by his Holy Spirit to lead us and to guide us through everything that we go through in this life and that is such a blessing. He says in his word that he will never leave us nor forsake us and that is something that we can count on when we are facing different seasons in our lives. As we experience this new season, let’s go into it confidently knowing that God will see us and our kids through this new school year.

New Year, New You

That time has rolled around again, New Year’s. This time of year almost always has everyone thinking about all the new things they’re going to do or try. We’re all professing these audacious goals of learning a new language or eating clean/healthier, exercising or traveling more, quit smoking (cold turkey), spend more time with loved ones or even reading more etc, etc, ect. I know I’m definitely guilty of several of these resolutions. I’ll probably get a couple weeks into January and then, boom, I quit. Life happens, and I get distracted and allow those tiny setbacks to hold me back from what I had set out to do in the upcoming year. So many of us go through this very cycle, but rarely do we do the deep dive to examine what is truly at the root of us not accomplishing our goals. 

Perhaps the is the problem right there. We are trying to accomplish “Our” goals. Where is God in this process? Very seldom are our resolutions ones that include God. I’m not saying that there is something wrong with having goals; just that we shouldn’t lose sight of who our source is and where we ought to go to draw our strength from which will ultimately allow us to actually realize those goals. Psalm 28:8 reads “The Lord is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for is anointed one.” NIV. I believe we should always have a plan for every aspect of our life if we plan on being successful in that area. I’m sure you’ve heard of the saying “Failure to plan, is a plan to fail.” I would venture to say that we should take it a step further and write down our goals. Habukuk 2:2 read in part “…Write the vision, and make it plain upon tablets, that he may run who readth it.” KJV.

We all have been put here on earth for a purpose. The main purpose is to Glorify the One and True Living God. Practically, we do that by the way we chose to live our life daily. Sometimes we try to plan out our whole lives and then get frustrated when things aren’t going according to our timetable. Have we lost sight of what God said in Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,“ declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” NIV. Now, granted this was a message was sent to the elders and priests who were exiled from Jerusalem through the prophet, Jeremiah. Nonetheless, I believe that just as God had a plan for them, He has a plan for us.

When we set resolutions, I think another oversight on our part is that it isn’t enough to just say and write down what we want to achieve for the New Year. We must actually DO IT. There’s a level of sacrifice that it’s going to be necessary to obtain/realize what we want. We can’t remain the same if we want new life experiences. We have to be willing to give up those old habits in order to make room for the new ones. Surrendering ourselves as a living sacrifice is how we’ll be able to get there. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 we read, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here!” As you’ve heard before, “Old habits die hard”. It’s true, however, it’s unrealistic for us to think that we can have/maintain the new things in our lives while operating under the old distorted mindsets and wicked ways we once had.

The great news is that Jesus is the way to a new, joyous and prosperous life. He is the answer to all of life’s questions. Putting God first is the key to true success and fulfillment. Refer to Matthew 6:33, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.” I thank God for sending His son, Jesus who chose to lay down is life as a sacrifice for you and me. Without him, I was destined to spend eternity without him. I invited Him into my life to transform me and you can do the same. The gift of salvation can only come from accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. My suggestion for this New Year is to get those priorities in line and become a new creation in Christ, like Paul in Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ live in me. The life in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 

Be blessed, may this upcoming New Year be brighter than the last and most importantly may the love of Jesus Christ lead you into becoming a New You.

You Don't Only Live Once, You Live Twice!

Have you ever heard of the saying/acronym “YOLO’? Which stands for “You Only Live Once”, as to say  live your life on your own terms. How you want, when you want, being unapologetic and just going after  any and everything you want out of life.  

Well, it all “sounds good” but can be a quite dangerous way to live one’s life. Throwing caution to the  wind and not having any regard for the potential consequences of living one’s life this way is, careless to  say the least. This is the worldly way of living. Thinking and acting this way appeals to the flesh, which is  contrary to God’s Word. We see this in 1 John 2:16 “For everything in the world-the lust of the flesh, the  lust of the eyes, and the pride of life- comes not from the Father but from the world.” NIV 

As a believer, we seek guidance, direction, leading and teaching for our daily living from the scriptures in  the Holy Bible. Here’s another acronym you may or may not be familiar with “BIBLE”; which stands for  Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. All that we need is right there in the bible. God gave us the  standards and the guidelines of how we should be here on earth. For those who may still be a bit  confused as to what God’s will is for us, here’s one example in Rom 12:2 “Do not conform to the pattern  of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and  approve what God’s will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will. NIV 

It is so easy for us to be distracted and pulled in to what this world has to “offer”. This world says you’re  not good enough, smart enough, tall enough, pretty/handsome enough, blah, blah, blah… All of these  things are lies from the enemy. Is it really offering us anything of true substance or is it all just  temporary and short lived satisfaction? The world has the glitz of glamour that appears to be able to fill  the void that we all have experienced one way or another. We all have insecurities that we try to hide,  avoid, deny overcompensate for. But, what most will find (if not all) is that no matter what one tries to  do to combat those lies fed to us by the enemy, we will still remain unfulfilled. The reason this is is  because the only one who can truly complete us and offer the love we all so desire is, Jesus Christ. 

I started this blog by saying we don’t only live once, but twice. The first life we live will be here on Earth.  But the second will be determined by what we do here and how we choose to live our lives. The life we  live here is finite. The one we will live after, is eternal. Our destination after we leave this life will either  be in eternity with God our Father, The One and ONLY God, and with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ or  to be absent from God and be in Hell for eternity. 

One of the most well-known verses in the bible whether you’re a believer or not is, John 3:16. “For God  so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but  have eternal life.” See, we all have the opportunity to live eternally with God. All we need to do is just  Believe in Jesus. We don’t have to work for it, we don’t have to earn it, we don’t have to be the most  perfect person in the world. We just need to believe in Jesus, who He is and what He came to do for us  all. Refer to Romans 10 9-10 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your  hear that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with you heart that you believe and  are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” 

Our eternal salvation is a gift that all we need to do is accept it. My prayer for you is that you know that  you are loved. You were created in the very image of God. He knows you better than anyone else ever  will. He knew you before you were even in your mother’s womb. He has a great purpose and plan for your life. So don’t believe the lies and doubt that the enemy tries to plant in your mind. Remember to  whom you belong, an AMAZING God who loved you SO much that He sent His Only Son, Jesus Christ, to  die for your sins so that if you would only believe in His Son, Accept Him as your personal Lord and  Savior, that he rose again that when we leave this world, we will live again with in Him in eternity.