Katy Rose

Katy Rose
JUST A WOMAN SAVED BY GODS GRACE AND WANTS TO WRITE ABOUT IT.

Thursday, January 30, 2014

How To Actually BE The Church.....


When you are an active follower of Jesus Christ, you need to remember that you are "on call."  Do you notice how I said an "active" member?  There are many people that claim to follow Christ, but you can tell by their lifestyles that they clearly have no fruit being produced, in Christ Jesus.  What is the point of going to Church if we don't act out what we are taught?  There is no point to be "seat filler" and an observer of the Word.  We need to be ACTIVE participants.  This is not easy to do for us, and do you know why that is?  Because if we are not in the Word enough or on guard, then we miss Divine Opportunities.  God has divine appointments scheduled for us each day, and there are so many times we miss these appointments.  I am not just writing this message to everyone, but I am writing it to myself as well.  If we do not seek God daily and first in our life, then we can easily be out of touch with him, to where we do not hear him. I am going to share something that I just experienced recently, and I was caught off guard and missed a Divine Opportunity.  I was working and a man came in and asked to speak to the Manager.  I heard him ask the Manager if there was any extra work that he could do because he and his girlfriend were homeless.  The Manager was not able to help him and the man turned around and said: "God Bless."  One of my co-workers ran out and gave the man some money.  My first thought was "Shoot, I don't have any money on me, but I do have my lunch."  As I was thinking of what I could do, the man had already left.  I literally missed a Divine Opportunity where I could of gave the couple my lunch, and I could of prayed for the couple.  I felt so bad and I got upset with myself because the point of me going to church is to BE the church and actually apply it.  Here I was caught off guard and did nothing!!!  I had to repent to God because I acted too late, and I had to actually forgive myself.  I told my Husband what had happened and we both prayed for the couple.  My husband and I are in agreement to hold each other accountable of when there is a Divine Appointment.  I have prayed to God for enlightenment, so next time I will not miss another opportunity.  We need to learn how to stay on guard and be sensitive to the Holy Spirit.  Here I was busy for a moment and that is when I missed out on blessing someone.  The reason I am writing this blog is to enlighten everyone to keep seeking God and to keep their eyes and ears open.  Do not be like the world and turn people away or look the other way.  Learn how to be bold for God and pray for others and be Jesus to others.  Many people shake their heads and say : "Wow, that is too bad."  No!!! Let us pray for that person, let us find a way to bless that person!!!!  We need to act as Jesus would and BE Jesus!!!  I am preaching to myself and to everyone else.  Stay on guard and be in the Word.  Expect God to place specific people in your path.  I am going to say a prayer at the end of this blog that you can say along with me.
 Heavenly Father, help me to stay on guard and to look out for Divine Appointments.  Place specific people in my life God, and help me minister to them about your Son Jesus Christ.  Open my eyes and ears Lord.  You have blessed me Father, so I will bless others in your name!!  Thank you Jesus for dying for me, and for loving me.  Help me to love others the way that you love me.  I pray all of this in your Sons precious name, Jesus. Amen!!


Monday, January 27, 2014

My Testimony..... (This is my Personal Testimony of what Jesus Christ did in MY life)





























I have shared my Testimony before in class and on video, but I realized that I have never wrote about it on
my blog.  I wanted to share my Testimony with each of you.  I grew up Catholic and went to a catholic grade school for 8 years.  I went to church two times a week and grew up hearing about Jesus.  I knew the story, and knew that he died for mankind and I knew his story about the Virgin Birth, Death, and Resurrection.  I went to confession and did everything that I was told to do.  I was just going through the motions and walking in the footsteps.  I started to rebel at a young age because I wanted my parents to be proud of me.  I desperately was seeking attention and approval from my parents.  Being the only girl in our family, I was seeking my Fathers approval.  My dad was in the Military and traveled alot, and we never had the chance to truly connect.  We would connect through sports, particularly in tennis.  I would look forward to learning Tennis because this was time for just My dad and I.  My father would tell me that I did good in tennis practice, and I cherished this time because this was the only time I would hear that I did good.  Inside though I was starved for attention and didn't know how to speak up.  I didn't have a relationship with Jesus and I didn't have one with my dad.  I started to lie about small things and cover small things up.  I wanted to "appear" perfect and I wanted to hear that I was doing a good job.  I realized that I was pretty good at putting on a "facade" and faking people out.  I was hurting on the inside, but appeared to be fearless on the outside.  I had a tough exterior to where I never showed emotion or pain.  As I got older it got worse.  I was crying out for more attention, and I wasn't getting it.  I was desperately wanting a connection with my Father and we were farther apart.  I started to disappoint him so I spiraled out of control trying to get his attention even more.  I became very rebellious to where my grades started to suffer, I skipped school, and started hanging out with the wrong crowd.  After high school I received a Tennis Scholarship that paid for my schooling, housing, and food.  The red carpet was literally laid out for me at this college, and my dad was so proud of me and pushed it so much on me, that I couldn't help but say yes.  He was so proud that I received a scholarship, that I couldn't stand to tell him that I wasn't ready to go right into college, but I did it for him.  Mentally I wasn't mature enough to handle college at that time because I wasn't in my right mind.  I was still in alot of pain and wanted to deal with it, but instead I just bottled it up and pressed forward.  In the first semester of college I got kicked out of school and lost my Tennis Scholarship.  I couldn't bring myself to tell my family that I lost my Tennis scholarship, so I put on a "facade" and hid it from them. I never let them know that I got kicked out of school.  I got a full time job and got an apartment with a roommate.  Things went from bad to worse.  I now was partying alot, and out every night of the week.  I started to experiment with drugs and alcohol.  One year later my parents found out about my scholarship and were extremely hurt and angry that I lied to them.  I then got a place on my own and went to another college for Massage Therapy.  I was now going to school and living alone, but I was still out of control.  There was one night that I came face to face with God, and I will never forget it.

I was alone in my apartment and I had drugs at the time, and I was watching T.V and I started to have a drug overdose.  I wasn't able to breathe and felt my heart coming out of my chest.  I started to get really hot and felt like I was going to faint.  I grabbed my chest and started to panic.  I knew I had taken too much, and that I was overdosing.  I crawled over to my bed and started to cry out.  I had been in pain for so long that I had reached my maximum.  I now was going to die with a broken heart and never have a chance to make things right.  The thought of having my family find me like this broke my heart even more. I was ashamed of how bad things got and how bad I let things happen.  I didn't call anyone because I was embarrassed.  I started to cry out to God for the first time in my life. I said out loud: "God if you are real, I need you right now.  Show yourself to me.  I don't want to die like this, I want a second chance.  Please, if I am able to wake up the tomorrow, you have my word that I will NEVER touch this stuff again."  I then laid down in a fetal position and cried myself to sleep.  By the grace of God, I woke up the next day and didn't overdose.  I knew that God had heard my prayer and given me a second chance.  I have kept my promise to God and NEVER touched anything again.

I started seeking Jesus and learning about what he did for me.  I discovered a Christian Church that started to give me a hunger for Jesus.  I started making new friends, and cut off my old friends.  I started to change my ways of living, and God started to work on my heart.  I was working in a law office at this time and met some amazing people.  It was a Friday and we closed at 4:00pm.  I got done with my work early and had 20 minutes to spend, so I decided to research things online.  Deep in my heart I always regretted what I did back in college with my Tennis Scholarship.  I realized that I blew an amazing opportunity and I wished I could have it back and make it right.  I started to contact colleges in my area and just email coaches and explain my background in tennis and tell them a little about myself.  My thought process was: "If I at least do something, then I know that I have done everything I could."  I had a few coaches email me back and let me know that tryouts were already over. There was one email I received from a Coach that said I could come out and play someone and he would watch me.  I was so excited because the tennis door was back open and I now had hope.  My mother was down visiting me and I told her that I was going to tryout at a college but I didn't want her to tell my dad or brothers because I didn't want to let them down again if nothing happened.  I dropped my mom off at a Barnes & Nobles that day so I could go and try out at this college. I played another girl from a Tennis Academy and absolutely got beat.  I think I only got one or two games off of her.  I was so embarrassed because here I wasted this coaches time, and another opportunity.  I held back tears inside because I was so angry at myself.  I know that I could of done better, but I choked.  I got my bag and started to leave and I was walking past the coaches office.  I wasn't going to stop in his office because I already knew the answer, but I at least wanted to Thank him for the opportunity.  So I stopped it and held my tears back so I could Thank Him for watching me.  I told him I had an off day and apologized and for some reason we just started talking.  I explained to him what happened with my old tennis scholarship, and how much I regretted it and I even told him about my dad and how much I let him down.  So here I was telling this coach my personal story and was 100% honest with him.  We shook hands and he said he had more people to watch and he would let me know.  Weeks went by and I didn't  hear anything.  I then received an email that it was between me and another girl.  The other girl had amazing tennis ability, but he liked how mature I was and saw a leader in me.  He said he would make a decision and let me know by the end of the week.  I woke up on Saturday to an email that said:  "After careful consideration I have decided to offer the scholarship to you because I feel you could lead the team and we need a mature player on the team."  I was crying, clapping, and screaming all at the same time.  I couldn't believe it!! I got a second Tennis Scholarship at a better college and did it on my own.  I was the oldest on the team, and back in college again for a second time.  I became Team Captain and became a leader on the team.  We had an amazing tennis program with coaches that know the game inside and out.  I was able to reshape my tennis game and improve on my strokes.  We had a really strong team.  We actually got a spot to compete in Arizona at Nationals.  We flew to Arizona to compete in Nationals for 5 days.  We actually ended up winning Nationals by one point and became The 2008 National Champions!!!  We received a big trophy, received medals, and had a ring ceremony to where we received National Champion Rings.  I called my family that day crying and left message on the machine that I was a National Tennis Champion and that I finally did it!!!  My father was SO proud of me, he couldn't believe it!!!  So now I was able to achieve his approval and it felt so good.

I was then done with college and was working full time.  I had several failed relationships that were not healthy, so I was still struggling with finding a stable partner.  I was so badly hurt from my previous relationships that I was done with men.  I was tired of failed relationships and just wanted to focus on myself for once.  I started to talk to a man (that is now my husband :) ) I started to talk to Carlos through a girlfriend on my tennis team.  I find out that they are Cousins and he saw my picture through facebook at our team banquet.  He thought I was pretty and started to ask about me.  I was 100% honest with Carlos and told him that I wasn't looking to date anyone and that we could just talk as friends.  He was on board with that and respected what I had to say.  We became best friends and talked everyday via email/text/phone/computer/etc.  He was an amazing listener and I noticed he was different from the rest.  We actually began dating and shortly after became engaged.  We started to grow as a couple towards Jesus and started going to church.  Carlos became Saved and accepted Jesus as his personal Savior.  We then got baptized together and were on fire for God.  We were doing good but we were still living in Sin because we were intimate together.  We found out that I was pregnant and this took us by surprise.  I was so scared again about disappointing my dad and didn't want to tell my family.  I went into deep depression and just wanted my life back the way it was.  I didn't want Carlos and I didn't want this baby.  I then stopped going to church because I felt dirty because I wasn't married and here I was knocked up.  I started researching information about abortions.  I thought this was my only option and I wanted to go through with it.  I battled with depression for a LONG time and wanted to die.  I had three Godly Women praying for me and I knew it was Jesus fighting for the life of my child.  There was such a spiritual battle going on, and here my baby and I were in the middle of it.  I ended up keeping my child and not get an abortion.   My husband and I got married when I was around 3 months pregnant and it was rough in the beginning because I struggled for so long with the pregnancy.  I started to accept my pregnancy around 6 months and got excited about it.  We were blessed with a healthy beautiful boy that was 9lbs. I was so happy to meet our little boy and so happy that I did not rob him of his life.  I had a stronger relationship with God and knew that God had a purpose and plan for this child.  I fell in love with God even more because I knew God loved our little boy when I didn't.  My husband and I truly grew in our faith walk with Jesus and we decided to do things Gods way.  We were both feet in and excited to fully follow God.


We got more involved with the church and actually started leading our own class and started Our ministry online.  My blog started reaching the world to where I could share the Gospel of Jesus with others.  We then had another baby and God blessed us with a beautiful little girl who was 8lbs.  We have our little family of 4 that God has blessed us with and we are doing it Gods way!!!

I could share ALOT more of everything that God has done in our lives, but I just wanted to share a few here on this post.  So God is real and he will reveal himself when you ask him to.  He wants us to draw near to him and wants an intimate relationship with us.  I can now say that I have fallen in love with Jesus and his story is real to me.  I can see Gods hand and blessing over our family and I can see Gods hand over me in my past.  God was with my through all of my pain waiting on me to invite him in my heart.  He waited on me so patiently and was so lovingly.  I now make it a priority to share my story with others and share the gospel of Jesus with others so they are not in the dark, like I was.  I don't want anyone to struggle in secret like I did.  It is ok if you don't have a good relationship with your earthly father.  I am now completely healed because I know I have a Heavenly Father that loves me and is proud of me and accepts me fully.  God has healed up all of my wounds from childhood and Jesus daily gives me his strength to endure trials and struggles. I know I am NEVER alone, and the same can apply to you!!! This love that I talk about it is FREE and Open to EVERYONE!! Jesus died for me and for YOU!!! His grace is enough for you!!! When you are weak He is strong!!! Call on Jesus like I did, and see that he is waiting on you and loves you!!!  I hope you are able to see the Love of Jesus through my testimony and that my testimony reaches many for the glory of Jesus Christ!!!

How To Feel The HEAVY Presence of God....

This is a personal post on how I have felt the heavy presence of God.  This is speaking from my point of view, so it can vary for each person and God can speak to you in different ways.  I was seeking God last night and he revealed something to me that I wanted to share with everyone.  I wanted to talk about "Faith."  First, I would like to give a definition in the dictionary of what it defines "Faith" as:  Complete trust or confidence in something or someone.  Strong belief in God or in the doctrines of religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.  This is the definition of "Faith."  I am now going to look at the Biblical definition of "Faith" : Hebrews 11:1 says " Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."  This is the biblical definition of "Faith."  Now I am going to give my personal definition of faith, which was revealed to me last night from God.  I was in my prayer closet last night and was praying to God through the Holy Spirit speaking in tongues and God enlightened me on this very subject.  Praying to God in the Holy Spirit is faith exercised to it's fullest!!  Here you are completely relying on God and the Holy Spirit on what to pray for.  You have complete trust in God and you let the Holy Spirit intercede and let the Holy Spirit have a direct conversation with God.  You are in FULL obedience and praying Gods Perfect Will.  You feel the absolute peace of Jesus and it covers you like a warm blanket. I prayed to God through the Holy Spirit for awhile last night and when I was done praying, I felt absolute peace and knew that things were happening in the Spiritual Realm.  My husband and I truly connected in an intimate in-depth conversation and we were really able to touch base. I know it was all because I experienced the Heavy presence of God and knew that Jesus was present in a way like never before.  It was revealed to me that in order to walk in faith in full obedience it is praying in the Spirit.  It is being led by the Spirit of God and not second guessing yourself because Gods Perfect Will is being prayed.  The best thing I can share about this is that Satan is not allowed to interrupt this type of prayer.  When you pray "normal" your mind can wander and drift on many different types of interruptions.  You can be in the middle of praying and start to think about certain things that need to get done around the house.  You can lose your train of thought and forget what you were praying about.  The enemy knows how to interrupt our prayers and gets us to lose focus.  When you are praying in the Spirit, the enemy does not know what you are saying because he doesn't understand the prayer language.  You are able to seek God 100% with NO interruptions!!  You will have clarity about things that you have been struggling with, and you will experience the presence of God.  So I want to encourage you to seek God daily and pray in the Spirit.  It will be another level of intimacy with God that you will experience, and you will fall in love with God even more.  

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Trusting God 100%



This is something that I struggle with at times because my "trust level" fluctuates.  One day I can trust God 100% and then the next day I can trust him 50%.  In my personal opinion, I feel "trust" is one of the hardest traits to perfect.  It is in our human nature to ride the roller coaster of emotions and let things and feelings dictate our trust level.  As long as things are good and in our control, then we have no problem trusting God.  The moment things get out of our control or the unexpected happens, then we are asking God why, and are trust levels go down.  There is no quick fix for this, because each day is a new day.  I believe that the longer you walk with the Lord then the better at this you will be.  The more things God brings you to and through, then you are able to trust him because you see him prevail EVERY SINGLE TIME!!  I have noticed in my life that if I am having a hard time and I find myself not trusting God fully, I am able to see that I haven't been reading his word enough.  Remember in Ephesians we are supposed to have the ENTIRE Armor of God on at ALL times!!  If I am getting attacked and I am not properly dressed then I am going to be hit hard by the attack and feel it, and it will take me longer to bounce back.  If I was filled up with the Word of God then I would be able to speak to the attacker and distinguish the attacks with the shield of faith that quenches EVERY fiery dart from the evil one.  Recently, I found myself having anxiety and fear and God enlightened me and let me know that I need to be in the Word more and I need to discipline myself.  I want to 100% trust God and not struggle with this.  I understand that on my part I need to be in the Word and be meditating on scriptures throughout the day and I need to seek him and listen for him.  I was talking with my Husband last night and I told him that I want to be so sensitive to the Holy Spirit because I don't want to miss anything that God has for me. If God is telling me to move, I want to move right when he tells me.  This should be every one's goal!!  So are you having a hard time trusting God?  Are you in the Word enough?  Do you have too many distractions?  Maybe you need to Fast and seek God one on one!!
The Bible talks about Fasting, and this is something you do when you want breakthrough on a situation.  Many people will give up something important to them, and that is it.  I will break it down in simple terms.  You are supposed to Fast something that means alot to you. It could be a certain food, technology, drink, hobby, etc.  So if you are fasting for God and believing revelation from him, this is what you are doing.  You are taking the "thing" you are fasting and saying: "God, I am giving up _______ for you, and I am going to dedicate the time I spent on this and double the time with you.  I am going to call on you and lean on you 24/7 during the ENTIRE fast."  When you are fasting you should be seeking God more than you have before and be in the Word more than before.  Also, do not put on display for everyone to know that you are fasting.  When you fast it is a sacrifice to God and it is intimate, there is to be no complaining because it is a pleasure to offer it up to him.  Maybe you haven't heard this before, and now you understand the simple version of Fasting.
  I am personally going to dedicate more time with the Lord because I want to hear from him and I do not want to get caught off guard from the enemy.  Are you married?  Do you have family?  Sit down with one another and talk about Fasting together as a family and praying together as a family.  Cover each other in prayer and lift up one another.  There have been many times that I ask my Husband to pray over me because I know I need prayer, and there are times I am weak.  I have said this over and over in my blogs, but I will say it again.  NOBODY is alone!! We are ALL in this Faith Walk Together!! We have brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus!! We can lock arms with one another and lift each other up!!!!  Jesus carries our burdens on his back, so surrender your pain/baggage/weakness/etc,  Humans are weak and we aren't meant to suffer alone.  Run to Jesus and trust him FULLY!!!





























Friday, January 24, 2014

I Want To Share A Secret With Everyone....

I am going to reveal a secret to everyone. Do you want to know what the sexiest thing is??  The world will tell us to show more skin and dress a certain way.  The world will tell us to buy more things so we can find value and status.  The world will tell us job status is sexy.  The list can go on and on.  The secret that I am going to share is not popular with the world.  You will not hear it in the news, or see it in movies.  You will not see it on billboards, or read about it in magazines.  The sexiest thing is when you see a Man or a Woman worshiping the Lord Our God!!!  To see someone humble themselves before the Savior of the World and lift their hands to Praise Him and Glorify Him.  To see a Man grab his Bible and actually sit down and study Gods Word blows my mind.  To see a Man or a Woman actually apply what they read in Gods Word tops it off!! Maybe you are hearing this for the very first time.  Maybe you already know this and can agree with me.  When I was first dating my hubby he did everything right.  He was respectful and had manners and was an amazing listener.  I can choose from a lengthy list of things he has done for me, but nothing stands out more, than seeing him worship God and lead our family by Gods Word.  It takes a strong secure man to submit himself to God and obey his Word.  I have seen  my husband listening to Christian Music and have tears streaming down his cheeks because he loves God so much.  I have seen my man watch what he does and says because he wants to stay in Gods Will.  I have seen my husband turn off the television, grab his Bible and say : "Let us go and read our Bibles."  I have seen my husband mentor other men and help others.  I have seen my husband lift his arms in praise and sing to Jesus.  I see my husband hungry for Gods Word and with each passing day it gets stronger.  The picture that I am going to post below is a moment that I am so glad that I was able to capture.  There is NOTHING Sexier than this photo!!!  This picture below is a picture of my Husband Praising Our Lord and Savior.


This photo will ALWAYS be my favorite and a living example to our family of how we are to worship the Lord our God!!  I want to speak to Men and Women right now!! Men, you have a higher standard to follow and you have to be the leaders in your home.  You have to submit yourselves to God and obey him.  You have to set the right example in your home and edify and love your wife!!  You have to honor your families and love your children!! If you do not have a wife or a family, then you are to seek God with your ENTIRE heart and follow his Word.  Read daily!!!  Women, you are to submit to your husband and not be bossy.  If you are not married then submit to God and follow him.  You are to be the "Heart" of your home and be loving to your Husband and children.  Respect yourself with how you speak, dress, and carry yourself.  Read the Bible daily!! Walk with God daily!! Do not gossip, do not slander others.  Be happy for others and learn to be Content!!!




Updates, Updates, Updates.........

This blog is going to be about the many updates that has been going on in my life.  There have been lot's of changes and I am excited about all of them.

First, I am currently in the middle of a Workout Challenge that I have been doing.  When I have completed this challenge I will post every detail in my blog and you will be able to see what I have done.  I am getting stronger and this is becoming a routine that is actually getting me healthy.

Second, I am going to be running in a 5K in a few months, and this is something that I am looking forward to.  I have a personal goal that I would like to reach and I am going to work hard to make sure I am ready by race day.

Third, I am starting a 10-week Bible Study with a group of women.  We are going to be meeting in my home and going to do an in-depth study.

Fourth, For my birthday in March we are planning on going to Miami to see Rafael Nadal play at the Sony Open.  I have been looking forward to this for months, and cannot wait!!!

Fifth, We are going to be moving in the next few months and we are looking to settle down and make it our home.  We are hoping that this will be a permanent move.

Sixth, We finally have found a stable Babysitter that we are able to use!! My husband and I can now have many date nights and actually go out like other married couples.  We have a list of things we are excited to do, and we can slowly check it off.

Seventh, My husband and I are going to be playing Doubles together in a Tennis league in the next few months.  This is going to be so much fun, and we cannot wait to play others in this league.

Eighth, I plan on competing in Singles in a Tennis League for Women, and this will be my first time playing Singles, since College Tennis.

Ninth, My goal before the end of the year is to get certified in Tennis.  I have been waiting for certain things to line up, and things are finally starting to fall into place.

Tenth, Gabriel will be starting Pre-school in the next few months, and we cannot wait for him to start learning and growing!!

These are the updates for 2014!!! As you can see we are very busy but enjoying every single moment!!! We know God has blessed us so much, and we are just so thankful for his favor on our family!!! I pray that this new year brings many blessings to you and your family!!!

Thursday, January 23, 2014

It Is Important To Have Fellowship With Other Believers......

I wanted to write this blog post to Men and Women.  When you are a believer and In Christ Jesus you then have brothers and sisters that are In Christ Jesus as well.  It is so important to make connections and have fellowship.  We do not need to walk through life alone, we can walk through life holding hands with other believers.  Do not ever be ashamed if you are struggling or you need prayer.  Have a mentor or an accountability partner that you can call and reach out to.  I am writing this blog and applying the same principle that I am preaching.  I received a DVD and book series from a website that wants me to review it and write about it on my blog.  This is a phenomenal DVD series that I thought would be selfish to keep to myself.  So I decided to invite a small group of women to come over to our home and we will meet once a week and do this 10 week series together.  My husband is amazing because he is taking our children out of the house each week so the women and I can meet and have a Bible Study with no distractions.  I am excited to do this study with these women and I feel that we will learn alot from this study.  So please I want to encourage you to start having fellowship with other believers!  You will grow in your faith walk with Jesus and have others to encourage you along the way!!



























Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Rafael Nadal Is AMAZING.....

For everyone who knows me, knows that Rafael Nadal is my favorite Tennis Player!!!  I love his passion on the court, and his talent.  He seems to never lose energy on the court, and he brings unbelievable energy on the court.  Here is a link below of a match he played last night that was UNBELIEVABLE!!!

Enjoy this clip!! I cannot wait to go to Miami in March and see Rafael Nadal in person on the court!!


http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=10331698
































Language Please.....

The Bible Verse that changed my life was James 3:10.  The verse says "Praise and Cursing come out of the same mouth.  My brothers, this should not be."  I read this verse in James and God made this verse literally jump off of the page.  At this time I didn't watch how I would speak and would say whatever came to mind.  If I was happy then I would say happy things, and if I was mad, then I would say mean things.  I stopped and meditated on this verse and asked myself: "What is this verse saying to me?"  I was able to interpret it like this.  We only have one mouth and one tongue.  We cannot have two things coming out of the same mouth.  We can choose one or the other, we cannot do both!  I can either Praise OR Curse.  Like I have just said, you CANNOT do both, it is one or the other.  I decided from that point on that I would CHOOSE to speak Praise.  I want to Praise God and give God glory and not curse him.  I also do not want to curse others.  It is very easy to be driven by the flesh and speak whatever comes to mind.  I was one of those people that was VERY outspoken and spoke my mind to the full extent.  Like I have said earlier, this verse literally changed my life.  I know that God revealed this verse to me because I was not walking in obedience and he wanted to get my attention.   It is about making a choice and sticking to it, no matter WHAT!!!!  Today can be the day to where you decide no more!! Today could be the day to where you decide you either give Praises or Curses.  You can no longer do both, you have to choose one!  You know have been enlightened with the Word of God, so the Holy Spirit has now made this verse come alive to you!!!  I pray that this verse changes your life like it did for me.  We need to remember that we are all in this faith walk together and as brothers and sisters we need to lift one another up and share with one another enlightnment and struggles.  Have a blessed day!!

Monday, January 20, 2014

How Long Is Too Long?

This is the question that many believers struggle with today.  When you follow Jesus you have Faith and Hope, so usually you are believing for something.  You could be believing for un-saved loved ones, a broken marriage, rebellious children, finances, etc.  How long have you been believing God?  How long have you been praying?  Have you stopped praying? Have you lost faith?  As you know that being a Christian, you understand that it is a DAILY walk.  We are to only focus on one day at a time.  So why do we look at things in "our" time?  We think in our minds that God needs to do something in days/months/and years.  Are you still believing God for what you are praying about?  Have you put God on a time limit, that if he doesn't answer your specific prayer then you are done with him?  These are questions that you need to answer honestly and see where your heart is at.

Here is an interesting thing to mediate on for awhile.  Ask yourself this:  If God told you ahead of time that you wouldn't get your prayer answered until the year 2020 would you still seek him??  I honestly feel that many would have the mindset of "What is the point that is 6 years away."  This is why God wants us to DAILY walk with him and trust him.  We need to remember that he doesn't owe us answers.  He is God of the Universe and All Mighty.  We need to remember that he doesn't need our help, he is able to do handle things on his own.

I pray that this post speaks to you and gives you hope to keep seeking God and to keep believing God.  Without faith it is impossible to please him.  We are able to trust God when we don't see the results if we remember that there is a Spiritual Battle going on.  In Ephesians 6:12 it talks about what we are in war against.


We  need to picture that when we pray to God there is a Heavenly Battle in the Realms that we do not see.  There are angels and demons fighting against each other and Satan is doing any and everything to keep you from praying because he knows how important prayers are.  We need to pray stronger and harder because we understand there is a war going on.  We are in a battle and we need to fight for our prayers to get answered.  We need to intercede for others and stand strong for the weak.  When you see someone struggling, pray with them right then and there.  Do not do what the world does and say "I will keep you in my thoughts."  This to me makes no sense.  I don't want to be in someone's thoughts, I want someone to be in agreement with me and to pray with me to God of the Universe so angels go to work. Angels move on our prayers.

So let me ask you again..... How Long Is Too Long?  The answer is: As long as you are STILL Alive and Breathing, there is still hope, so keep praying and believing God



Saturday, January 18, 2014

Iron Girl 5K


I am proud to say that I am going to be competing in "Iron Girl" 5k run.  This is my first time doing Iron Girl and I am excited to participate.  I have done a 5K before but I was in high school and I haven't done another one since.  I have been training for awhile now and my endurance has really improved.
 I now enjoy running and I now have a goal in April.  I will update my blog when I complete the 5K and post pictures and let everyone know how I did.  My goal is to finish in 45 minutes, and that would be really cool if I came in before that.  Only God knows, so I will keep training until then and bring my best to the table.  I have a little over 2 months until I compete in this event, and I can't wait!!!!
















The Secret To Be Content In EVERYTHING.......



























Take time and read this Bible verse above and meditate on it.  I am going to break down each verse and explain what it is saying.  Paul wrote Philippians and this book is a MUST read.  While Paul wrote this verse he was in chains in jail and in the worst situation.  Would have joy and strength if you were chained to other prisoners?  The secret in this verse is that he has LEARNED TO BE CONTENT IN WHATEVER THE CIRCUMSTANCE.

How was he able to be content? If he was cold and hungry in jail how was he still content?  It is because he had the Joy of the Lord!!  The bible says "The Joy of the Lord, is my Strength."  Paul knew how to live FOR Christ, instead of for Himself.  How many times do we live for ourselves???  How many times are we only thinking of ourselves?  If I could put a percentage on it, I would say that we think about ourselves 99% of the time.  We have a selfish sinful nature that dominates over us.  We need to learn this lesson from Paul, and apply this to our lives.  We cannot let "things" or "people" dictate whether we are content or not!!  As you can see this will not happen overnight.  Paul says "I have LEARNED this."  When you are to learn something, it means that it is a Process and the maturity will develop over time.  If you were to learn a foreign language it would take time to develop.  You wouldn't wake up the next day and speak fluently.  You would have to spend time studying and perfecting the material.  What do we need to study so we can learn this wonderful concept?  The Bible is what we study.  We need to read His Word and meditate on it and let it change us from the inside.  The real change happens from the inside out, and it starts with the heart.  It is easy to temporarily change on the outside but within time we would slowly fade back into our old ways.  For a change to stay permanent, it needs to be from the inside, and God  prefers it this way.  So I am going to paint a picture on how you can learn to apply this verse.


I am trying to do good and something bad happens to me.  I lose my job, my car breaks down, I can't keep a relationship, etc.  When things start to happen to us we cannot prevent these types of things from happening.  So when things like this happen we have to remember the most important step and that is what happens after these things happen.  The next step we have 100% control over.  It is our thinking!!  We can choose to let the situation or circumstance take over us and fill us with fear and anxiety, or we can CHOOSE to speak Gods Word and speak life.  When you are a follower of Christ and obedient to His will you understand that it is not YOU who lives, but Christ who lives Through you.  So this means you are here on earth for HIM and to glorify HIS name!!  Now we have learned already that Jesus Christ has already overcome the ENTIRE World and he has even conquered death.  We know that he is greater in us then he that is in the world.  So when things start to happen we already know that Jesus overcame it already.  We can rest in him and say "God I WILL not let this job loss take over me, I know you have something better for me."  We can say " God I will not have anxiety about my car breaking down because you are my provider and I rest in you."  We can say "God, I know you have the perfect person designed for me, and I will rest in you and in your timing and wait for when it glorifies you."  So many times we want God to FULLY explain everything to us and the truth is that he doesn't need to.  He is ALL KNOWING!! God created the entire world without our help, I am sure that he can handle whatever you are going through.

So when you start experiencing stress or troubles, learn how to be content NO MATTER WHAT!!  Instead of focusing on what you do not have or what just happened, focus on what you DO have.  When something bad happens, throw up your hands and start praising God in the middle of the storm and focus on what you do have.  Here is an example below:

Something happens where it starts to steal my peace:

Throw up my hands and say:

Heavenly Father I thank you that you have overcome this already and I rest in you because you see everything and you take care of your children.  I thank you for the breathe of life and for another day.  I thank you that I am healthy and alive today.  I thank you that my family is alive and well.  I thank you for a roof over my head.  I thank you for food in the fridge.  I thank you for a car today.  I thank you for having a job today.  I thank you for water and electricity.  I thank you for dying for me, so that I could come to know you and be saved.  I thank you for your mercy.  I thank you for my husband and my children.  I thank you for our church family.  I thank you for always have a plan and provision over my life. 

As you can see the list can go ON and ON because he is SO Good and Every good and perfect gift comes down from HIM above.




Friday, January 17, 2014

Countryside Christian Center....

I wanted to take the time and write about my church.  This is the church that my family attends and this is the place we call Home!  I have been going to Countryside Christian Center for 7 years now, and my Husband has been going for over 3 years now.  I was first introduced to this church with a friend that I worked with.  I came a few times, and something about the place kept drawing me back in.  I made some powerful connections with some of the Pastors and Elders.  I fell in love with the vision of the Church and the messages every Sunday.  I introduced my Husband to this church and he fell in love with it as well.  My husband and I attended a Pre-Marital Conference and one of the Pastors married us.  My husband and I got baptized together, and my Husband was lead to the Lord at Countryside Christian Center.  We attend Wednesday Nights for Bible Study and attend Service on Sunday.  My Husband and I taught a class on Sundays for close to two years.  We are now starting to serve in other areas that we feel the Lord is leading us to. We also have lead a Marriage Conference at the church.  We only have amazing things to say about this church.  We know the Pastors well, and the Staff well.  You will feel like family when you walk in this church.  People genuinly care about one another here, and you will form lasting relationships.  We could share story after story of how amazing this church is.  I have never been to another church that has even come close to this one.  If you are in the area, I encourage you to come and check it out.  I pray that you have the most amazing experience when checking out this church.  The Church has amazing things planned for 2014!! This is a place that my Husband and I can honestly call Home, and our children will learn about the Lord here.  In this church you can expect to be discipled, and have an in-depth understanding of the Bible.  The things you learn at this church you can apply to your everyday life.  I will put a copy of the church website below and you can read further about this amazing church.

                               countrysidechristiancenter.com

How Do You Handle Changes?

How do you handle changes?  Are you the type that starts to experience anxiety when you lose control?  Are you able to fully trust God when things start happening around you?  Many times the enemy likes to throw us off guard with changing our circumstances and situations.  Many times it is never in our favor and I believe that God uses these times to see if we actually apply his word.  It is very easy to read the Word when things are going good and when nothing is happening.  It is fun to highlight verses and circle them in our bibles, but do we actually apply the verses in times of trouble?  What good does it do if we highlight and circle things, if we don't actually apply them to our lives?  The Bible is Gods living word that comes to life right off of the pages.  There is no other book in the world that can do this, so this is a  powerful concept to grasp.  The amazing thing about reading the Bible is that you can read the same verse several times and God will reveal something different to you, each time you read it.  So I am going to ask the question again: How do you handle changes?  Do you feel your blood pressure start to rise?  Do you speak Gods Word out loud over what you feel?  I am going to say it again:  Do you speak Gods Word out loud over what you feel?  Many times we let our feelings dictate us, and we ride those emotions from feeling to feeling and this is very risky.  One moment we can be calm, and the next moment we can be so angry that we just want to hurt others with our words.  When you start to feel yourself get out of control, how do you handle it?  You should know yourself well enough to know when you start to get out of control.  If you can catch it at level 2 before it gets to level 10, then it is much easier to stay calm and catch yourself before you get out of control. It is our job to hold ourselves accountable and to make sure we get better each time we slip up.  We cannot get so upset at ourselves when we make mistakes.  It shouldn't surprise us when we make mistakes because we already know that we are sinners and that we needed Jesus to die for us so we can be saved through his sacrifice.  The enemy loves to try and give us condemnation and make us feel guilty and stop us from growing in our faith with Christ.  We know that there is NO CONDEMNATION for those IN CHRIST JESUS!! Do you confess this out loud?  So what are you going through at the moment that is challenging you to step out and trust God boldly?  How many times do you seek God out throughout the day and read his word?  Maybe you haven't been believing that God can do anything.  Today can be a brand new day to where you start trusting him and taking him at HIS WORD.  Remember that he puts his own word above his name.

Monday, January 13, 2014

Our Family Rules....


1) Pray Often    We make sure to always thank God each day for each breathe.  We make sure to do it daily, because we need to connect with Our Heavenly Father for each day.
2)    Find Your Identity In Christ    This is something that my husband and I need to separate and each person spend alone time with God, to where we can develop an intimate relationship with God.  We need to understand individually that Christ died for each of us and what he died for us to have.
3)    Show The Same Grace to Others As God Has Shown You    In order to represent Jesus we need to model the same what he did for us.  He gave us grace freely, so we need to do the same to others.  We remind one another that we need to show grace and mercy toward each person we come in contact with.
4)    Encourage Others, Love Others    We know that Life and Death are in the power of the Tongue and that we can give others Blessings or Cursing.  We make sure to watch what comes out of our mouths and we make it a point to love others on purpose.
5)    Laugh and Laugh Hard    This is something that we have perfected.  We spend family time together and play with one another and be silly and laugh.  I remember one night we spent time chasing the kids around the house and did this for close to 40 minutes.  We were all running around the house laughing and chasing each other.  
6)    Be Kind.  Listen- No Yelling or Elbowing    We understand that we are Gods gift to each other so we want to treat each other with kindness.  We made a promise that we would never yell infront of the kids because we don't want them to feel uncomfortable or unloved.  We never want our kids to grow up in a house where they remember yelling and arguing.  
7)    Be First To Say Sorry    This is something that we are working on, and have come really far with this one.  We listen to each other talk and get our feelings out in the open then our end goal is.. Peace.  We know that one or the other has to take the first step to make peace. If my husband doesn't do it, then I do it.
8)    Slow Dance In The Kitchen    This is something we do quite often and our Son always stares at us weirdly and then runs in the middle of us and dances with us.  :)
9)    Always Be Looking For Ways To Serve Others    We are very busy with our schedules but we always make sure to serve others and find the time to do so.  
10)    Be Thankful    We are so humbled because we understand that every good and perfect gift comes from God above.  God has had his entire hand on our family and blessed us with so much.  We are so blessed and thankful for everything he has done for us.  
11)    Fill The House With Music, Worship    This is something we learned back in the day.  We ALWAYS have worship music playing 24/7.  We have it playing in both of the kids rooms and even when we leave the house, we make sure to leave the worship music playing.  We know that Worship Music is a form of Spiritual Warfare, and we have faith in it.
12)    Hug One Another, Daily    We are always hugging one another and hugging the kids.  We understand that we aren't promised another day, so we make sure to make each day count.
13)    Consider it Pure Joy, When You Face Trials    My husband models this verse in our home and I follow after him.  My husband is always thanking God for each trial because he knows that God thought of him enough so that he could go through it.  This is something that I struggle with, but I am able to follow my husband because he leads by example.  


Wednesday, January 8, 2014

God in Slow Motion....

This book was very interesting because the author breaks down several verses and explains them in depth.  The title of the book "Slow Motion" really describes how the author breaks down Gods Word and explains it to the reader.  In our society we tend to rush through life and speed things up, and the truth is that Jesus never was in a hurry when he was here on earth.  He explains in detail on why we can trust God with our lives and that he wants us to enjoy our lives as well.  I would highly recommend this book for new believers in Christ Jesus because it gives scripture but then breaks the scripture down into terms that people can understand.  For new believers, the Bible can overwhelm them because it is so big and they do not know where to start.  I would recommend reading this book because you will read scripture and be able to start applying it to you everyday lives.


Unrealistic Expectations........

Why do we have unrealistic expectations for ourselves and for one another?  We expect too much from ourselves and one another.  We set unrealistic goals, and experience huge disappointments when others can't meet up to these expectations.  Now why did we need Jesus to come down to earth and give his life for us?  Because we are ALL sinners, and no matter how great we try to do things, we STILL fall short.  Where do we get off thinking we are better than others, or that there are different categories?  There are two categories we can place people into:  People that HAVE Jesus and People that DO NOT HAVE Jesus.  Did you notice anything about those two categories?  It is all about JESUS, and not ourselves!!!  This is why scripture says we cannot brag or boast, because it is not our doing, but HIS doing!!!  To put it in simple terms, if everyone was put into one great big boat, there wouldn't be sections of "college degree graduates/high school graduates/dropouts/ have a career/ unemployed/ owns a home/ rents a home/ etc."  God doesn't look at each of us and measure up to see what we did or what we have.  If you don't  have Jesus, he sees EVERYONE in the boat as Sinners.  God cannot look at Sin because he is perfect and this is why when Jesus took our sins on the cross, God had to turn away.  At that moment, Jesus had the weight of the worlds sins on his back, and his own Father had to turn away.  So since we know it is what Jesus did, then why do we get in our flesh and start thinking we are better than others?  This is a lie from the pit of hell, and many have fallen into Satan's trap.  What Satan wants to do is to have us so focused and driven on Earth here that we are constantly chasing after each goal and then when it is our time to die, everything we have worked for had NO EFFECT in Eternity.  So many people chase after riches and collect all of their treasures and then when they are no longer here, they leave EVERYTHING behind.  The biggest regret that people have on their death bed isn't "Wow, I wish I would of gotten that materialist possession."  There biggest regret is "Why didn't I spend more time with my loved ones, Why did I waste so much time working instead of spending time with my family?"  This is a sad reality that many will experience, and my heart aches for them.  Grab a hold of God and read his word and don't fall into Satan's trap.  Whenever you hear that little voice in your head that starts speaking to you and saying you have to have the next best thing, or you need to work more, etc.  You speak Gods Word and you take authority over the devil!!  We need to humble ourselves daily, which means we need to make things simple.  Do not conform to this world, do not try and fit in with this culture.  Remember that we are IN this world, not OF this world!!!

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Beginning of 2014!!


Happy New Years everyone!!! I hope everyone had a great New Years, and has had a great start in 2014!!!  What is your resolution?  Many people make a resolution because a new year means a brand new start.  We are able to learn from the previous year and reflect on what we can do to improve next year. So what is yours?  Did you even make one?  I remember in my past my resolution was always to lose weight.  I have always wanted to improve myself physically and be strong, so that was a resolution that always repeated itself.  I can honestly say that my resolution this year is one that my Husband and I made together.  We have decided to read Gods Word together each night and discuss what we read.  In the past we have done this before but this is something that we would do on a nightly basis.  There are many nights to where we both read the Bible, but we are in different places.  We have really enjoyed doing this because we read the same passage and then we discuss it out loud.  I want to encourage you if you are married to start reading with your spouse, there really is something powerful about it when you both come together as one and submit yourselves to God and seek him in one accord.  On New Years Eve my family and I were all in bed way before midnight.  I could hear all of the fireworks go off at midnight, so I knew it was the start of a New Year!

I wanted to give some insight to everyone who is reading this.  Whatever your resolution is, ask yourself if it is eternal or temporal?  Many times we focus on things that only matter in "this world" and we know that everything will pass away.  So why do we spend so much time focusing on the "Now" and now "Eternity?"  I can tell you why..... because the devil keeps us busy and he keeps us deceived.  He shoves so much in our face, that we are constantly moving our heads and our eyes to keep up.  It can distract us, and if we are not careful we can slowly adapt to this culture.  We can slowly start to walk away from God and have our head in every other direction but up.  So it is the start of a brand new year, what are you believing God for?  We serve a God that can do ANYTHING and loves to show himself!  Take time each day and give God thanks and praise, for all that he has blessed you with.  We need to remind ourselves that it isn't our work, it is Gods work and it gives glory to him!!!

So I want to encourage everyone to take some time and reflect and see where you heart is at.  If you could work on one thing on the inside, what would it be?  Do you have a short temper?  Are you judgmental? Are you prideful? Stubborn?  These are fleshly traits that are in all of us, but if we seek God and submit these areas to him.  We need to expose these areas to him and repent so Gods light can shine on these dark areas and they can finally surface.  Happy New Years to you!!!! I pray blessing upon you and your loved ones and that the Gospel of Jesus Christ shines throughout the entire world this year like never before!!