Blog: Making Wise Choices
Posted: October 30, 2010
“Did it feel like you were being squeezed?” These were the sassy, profound words of my eighty-five year old mother after I shared some intimate details of my unusual, overwhelming struggle. I stopped, gulped and smiled. Yes, that’s exactly how I felt, I thought, and I wonder what makes me feel that way? I pondered over this the next few days looking for discernment and insight into my squeezing. I recognized it in two areas of my life. When I feel overwhelmed with too many demands and don’t have the time to find defining answers and God’s truth. When my life is cluttered with too much “stuff.” Both of these points clutter up my life, my brain, my thoughts and my search for God’s truth and discernment for clarify. I recall Thanksgiving weekend when I needed my favorite potato peeler, but couldn’t find it anywhere….
Posted in: Beauty Unleashed, Encouragement, Finding Truth, Freedom from Busyness, Making Wise Choices, Overcoming Struggles
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Posted: October 15, 2010
We live in a daily tension filled reality. Do we believe we have been created for something magnificent and that God has a glorious purpose for our lives, or the reality of seeing our pitiful, fatigued selves in the mirror and feeling the pain of our unsatisfying and sometimes painful circumstances? When we fully believe that we have been called to a specific task, purpose or calling-that we have used our best five strengths and boldly unleashed the gifts God has given us and then all doors are slammed shut. Someone must have been lying. Instead of answered prayers, reconciliation, plans moving forward and open doors, the future says: NO VACANCY, DO NOT DISTURB, CLOSED FOR THE SEASON, OUT OF BUSINESS, NO TRESPASSING. Right now I am dodging the bullets of doubt and hanging on by my fingernails to the reality of my abundant life and God inspired purpose. It’s…
Posted in: Expectations, False Belief Systems, Making Wise Choices, Overcoming Stuggles, Uncategorized
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Posted: September 28, 2010
Nothing creates more discussion, joy, heartache and confusion than; relationships. In spite of the fact that we are saturated with information, surveys, studies, workshops on relationships in friendship and marriage, we are extremely cautious and even more isolated. In my next book, called SAND TO PEARLS: Making Bold Choices to Enrich your Life, (Release date-January 2011) I devote two chapters on the topic of friendship. This subject always causes the greatest conversation, heartache and mystery when I speak to women across Canada. In each of us there are basic needs, and when they are met, we can have vibrant, lasting relationships. Here are my top nine needs, and I am sure most of them will be yours as well: I NEED YOU TO: 1. Listen to me. I mean pay attention, look me in the eyes, nod now and then (not drifting off to sleep kind of nodding) but “wide awake” attentiveness…
Posted in: Beauty from the Inside Out, Beauty Unleashed, Encouragement, Expectations, Friendship, Making Wise Choices
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Posted: September 19, 2010
If you are a task driven person, with a huge sense of responsibility, the words “May you build a ladder to the stars and stand on every rung” have the potential to evoke negative emotions in you. Yet when I hear Bob Dylan’s famous words of his song called “Forever Young”, it spurs me on with excitement of all the possibilities God has given us in this great country. Bob Dylan released this song in 1974 on his album called “Planet Waves”. These lyrics were written by him during the era of the Vietnam War; a time when the fear of nuclear war loomed heavily in people conversations. People were afraid! Yet in spite of this unsettled time in history Bob Dylan reminded us to reach higher and seek out opportunities to experience life in a way that would remind us of God’s blessings. We are still afraid! I hear…
Posted in: Beauty through Boldness, Encouragement, Making Wise Choices, Overcoming Fear, Uncategorized
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Posted: September 11, 2010
You ask your teenage daughter to clean her room. When you walk in the house you are amazed that she also cleaned the entire house and you smell the garlic and basil of an Italian dinner. The bathtub is filled with hot water, and a plush thick towel is laid out so you can enjoy your leisurely spa bath. Your husband tells you he will wash your car. Then you find out that he also vacuumed the inside of the car, cleaned out the trunk, polished all your black shoes and folded your laundry that’s been sitting in the dryer for three days. That is BEYOND your wildest expectations of what you dared to ever ask or dream of. Yet, that is what God promises for us. “Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish more that we would ever…
Posted in: Beauty from the Inside Out, Encouragement, Making Wise Choices, Overcoming Stuggles
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Posted: August 20, 2010
The deadly 3 “D’s”. It starts with discouragement, catapults into despair and may end up in depression. For some unknown reason you ventured into a dark cave and found there was no light to guide you out. Your aching body feels heavy and fatigued. Your mind is ruminating, you can’t focus and you keep chewing over the scene of your mess, failure or loss. I know every one of you reading this has experienced at least one of the deadly “D’s”. It’s a horrible place to be in, and we need help getting out. That’s where you come in. Yes YOU! We all need to take part in being God’s hands and feet on earth to lift up those going through one of the 3 “D’s”. If you are the one going through one of the “D”s right now, I pray that someone reading this blog will jump in…
Posted in: Beauty from the Inside Out, Encouragement, Friendship, Making Wise Choices, Overcoming Stuggles
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Posted: August 7, 2010
Pause, and envision the future. I own a greeting card that says, “The biggest fear in my life is that this is not just PMS but my real personality.” Whenever I read this out in front of an audience, I hear a loud gasp and chuckle. Then a few women lower their heads-I imagine with some embarrassment. Those words probably hit a nerve a little too close to home. Women are the most exquisite, fragile, influential confusing creations on planet earth. We have to be aware and guard those exquisite sensations and eruptions so that our life is not about one week of emotions, and three weeks of apologizing. God has given us our feelings to help us navigate through life with wisdom and power. Our feelings can be like a red flag that warns us of danger, or guides us with gut intuitions on the choices we make. They…
Posted in: Beauty from the Inside Out, Making Wise Choices, Overcoming Stuggles
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