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Free Coaching Tip: CHOOSE to Celebrate EVERYTHING!

Man celebratingFree Coaching Tip!

Celebrate Everything

We can all find plenty to grumble about. We can all choose to find fault in anyone. We can all feel like God must have made a mistake. However, that is NOT the way of the Cross. That is NOT the way to peace and joy. Rather…One of the most freeing things that brings peace and joy…is to choose to celebrate everything. That’s my free coaching tip, today.

I believe it was Elisabeth Elliot who is famous for quoting: In acceptance lies peace. She was an advocate for CHOOSING to see God’s LOVING hands in EVERYTHING.

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It is a choice

Life is hard, but God is good. That is not negotiable. Our default—especially during hard times—is to think that if horrible things happen, that God is mean. We naturally have questions, but the Truth is that all the time, God is good, even when life seems bad right now. Believe that He understands your questions, so…even in the midst of badness: Choose to celebrate His goodness!

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

I Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV)

The beauty around you is not an accident

God is the Creator of the beauty all around you. As I write this, we are in the spring of the year. And, if we take the time to notice, we see vibrant colors in the sky, in the trees and plants everywhere. Beauty. God is the creator of beauty and color and fragrances. Choose to celebrate His creativity!

“Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.

Psalm 150:1

At mealtime and snack time

Stopping to celebrate the abundance of choices we have for sustenance is powerful and freeing. It makes God happy when we remember with gratitude that it all comes from Him. He is your Provider. Your Shepherd. Choose to celebrate His generosity and care for you!

“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”

I Corinthians 10:31

In every emotion you experience

He is there with you, experiencing it with you. In sad times and happy times. In times of grief or celebration, you are never alone. Choose to celebrate His presence!

“A time to weep, and a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time to dance…

Ecclesiastes 3:4

When you are in your bed, preparing for sleep

No need to lie awake, worrying. God takes the night watches. He never sleeps or slumbers. He is wide awake, even as you sleep. Choose to celebrate His rest!

”Let the saints be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud upon their beds.”

Psalm 149:5 (KJV)

You are not an accident. You are here by God’s design.

Before you were even born, your Creator designed you just the way He needed you to be in order to do what He has called you to do. He adores your crooked nose, or your space between your two front teeth, or your short neck, or your bushy eyebrows. You are unique and He thinks you are beautiful. Choose to celebrate His wisdom in creating you to look the way you do!

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Psalm 139:14

He never stops thinking about you

Isn’t that powerful? The Creator of the entire universe, never ever stops thinking about you. You’ve heard the saying “If God had a refrigerator, YOUR picture would be on it!” Choose to celebrate His pure unconditional love for you!

“How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them. Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with you.”

Psalm 139:17

The popular counsel to “Act as if” until you “Get it” works. To act as though whatever is going on in your life has first passed through the loving hands of the Lord God. Because that is true. Nothing touches you without first passing through the nail-scarred hands of our Lord. He goes through it all WITH you. Your pain is His pain. Your joy is His joy. Choose to celebrate that!

”These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”

Matthew 22:1

It is also true that there is only one way to become like Jesus. We become like Him through the fellowship of His suffering. Yes – sometimes when the hurt is deep and wide – we have to choose to purposefully search for His LOVING hand in a circumstance, but when we take the time to pray and search, we will find Him THERE – in the midst of the circumstance – in all His GLORY! Activate your search daily. THAT is where we find joy. And that is something to CELEBRATE!

Until next time…

Do you need encouragement in your walk with God?

I offer one-on-one coaching and would love to come alongside you to help you become the woman God created you to be.

Let's Connect!
Awaiting His shout,
pam_signature-c49a6c

Christian Life Coach
Leading from Your Strengths Mentor
www.loavesandfishescoaching.com

Filed under: Christian Life Coaching,Strengths Mentor Coach — Tags: , , , , , , , — Pam Taylor @ 7:00 am

Confessions of a Nosy Neighbor

Woman looking in mirror
Have you ever gotten frustrated at someone and only much later realized that you, too, were guilty of the same thing that frustrated you about them? It’s time for confessions from a nosy neighbor because it happens to me far more than I want to admit to you.

Confessions of a nosy neighbor

My neighbors were moving out. They were good neighbors. I hated to see them go. And I felt a bit protective of them somehow. They didn’t want to leave either. I was grieving the loss. So, when I went downstairs to get my mail, I noticed a guy from the apartment building watching movers put things in the moving van. The van was nearly up against the building, right outside the window. I remember thinking he was just plain nosy. He was so close, that his nose was almost up against the window. I felt a bit angry at him.

So, I said, “What are you doing?” And he told me a lie. He said that he’d been watching the weather or something like that. From his perspective, he could only see the van contents. I was frustrated at what he was doing and that he had lied to me.

When I arrived back in my apartment, I walked over to look out the 3rd floor window and watched as the movers put more stuff in the moving van. I stood there watching for a few minutes. Then…

God spoke to my heart

In my spirit, I heard God say, “What are you doing?”

BUSTED!

God allowed me to see MYSELF…

“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, “Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,” when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.”

Matthew 7:3-5 (NLT)

I’d been doing the exact same thing as the guy I had been frustrated with.

So, I am a nosy neighbor and I was stunned to realize that I had become what I had hated. So, I asked God to forgive me. I confessed. And then I praised the Lord God and thanked Him that He has not given up on me. I still sin every day! UGH! AND…He still speaks to my heart and still shows me my sin. He still is letting me clearly see my hypocrisy. My judgmental spirit. It hurts to see myself as I truly am. But it is also very cool that God loves me too much to let me stay that way.

”For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in the mirror.”

James 1:23 (NLT)

It might seem like a small thing. But it’s not. It is huge. It is the little things that mount up together to try to destroy our close relationship with the Lord. Keeping “short accounts” with Him is wise. And free-ing.

How about you? Do you ever see yourself doing what you hate in others?

Until next time…thank you for all you do!

Do you need encouragement in your walk with God?

I offer one-on-one coaching and would love to come alongside you to help you become the woman God created you to be.

Let's Connect!
Awaiting His shout,
pam_signature-c49a6c

Christian Life Coach
Leading from Your Strengths Mentor
www.loavesandfishescoaching.com

Filed under: Christian Life Coaching,Freedom,Spiritual Life — Tags: , , , , , , — Pam Taylor @ 7:00 am

Do You Have Test Anxiety?


Have you ever suffered from test anxiety?
There are all kinds of tests. Tests we had for each subject in school. Standardized tests. It is getting to be that time of year for school kids of all ages to take final exams.

There are Real Estate license tests. College entrance tests. Drivers tests. Medical tests. Breathalyzer tests. Etc. Test anxiety is a very real thing for many people. It’s all-consuming and immobilizing. For those who suffer from it, it sucks them down into a black hole of fear and despair.

Feeling turmoil and stress
This season of life on this planet can feel like that sometimes. It seems everything everywhere is in turmoil. Just living your daily life with people, can bring challenges and trials and can feel much like test anxiety. And in a sense, that is exactly what is happening. God gives us “opportunities” to trust Him. God tests us so WE can see how much more we need to grow, judged by our response to the testing. I am thinking of Job in the Bible. He questioned his “friends” and he even wished he had never been born, his testings were so difficult. But the wonderful example Job leaves us is that he never stopped TALKING to GOD. Even when he was confused and in horrible pain and suffering and betrayals from his friends.

It’s hard to concentrate

When we’re going through trials and testings, it can feel overwhelming. We may try to ignore it or we may try to talk ourself out of it. Sometimes we try to drown our sorrows in addictions and bad behavior. Often, we try avoidance by sleeping too much, or maybe we can’t sleep well or long enough each night, which can bring out the worst in us sometimes.

We often then neglect fellowship with God

And that is our biggest error. We become self-focused to the point that we neglect God-time. We neglect the very thing that will make the testing manageable and give us the victory.

It helps to remember this world is not our home

It’s easy to forget that this world is just a temporary residence, while we are in the midst of daily “testing. Yet, in spite of the fear or anxiety, we have a CHOICE to make. We can CHOOSE joy. We can CHOOSE to think before we speak.

We are not victims of our feelings. God has given us the “tools” to rise above the anxiety—to rise above that sense of overwhelm. He says ASK. He says SEEK Him. And then He promises when we seek Him, we WILL certainly find Him! He WANTS to be found by you and me.

CHOOSE this day to focus on God

Choose to be God-focused, rather than problem-focused. Run into the arms of God the Father. He has the answers you need. SEEK HIM in His Word—the Bible—and in prayer.

CHOOSE to TRUST your faithful God

SHOW yourself faithful in the midst of the testing. In the midst of anxiety, He even gives His beloved sleep and peace. He promises,

Ask and you will find Him expectantly waiting for you to come to Him, so He can express His love to you. So he can help you through the testing. The trial. The circumstance.

“I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.”

Philippians 4:13

“Call to Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”

Jeremiah 33:3

Until next time…

Maranatha. Come Lord Jesus.

Related Post: Needing God Desperately

Do you need encouragement in your walk with God?

I offer one-on-one coaching and would love to come alongside you to help you become the woman God created you to be.

Let's Connect!
Awaiting His shout,
pam_signature-c49a6c

Christian Life Coach
Leading from Your Strengths Mentor
www.loavesandfishescoaching.com

Filed under: Christian Life Coaching,Spiritual Life — Tags: , , , , , — Pam Taylor @ 7:00 am