I am a Christian wife of 29 years, a mom of 25 years, and a daughter. It is my desire to encourage and inspire you as I share my life journey, struggles, hardships, pain, and joys. I want you to know you are not alone in life and if I am able to share some encouragement with you then my heart will be at peace.
This page will be an accumulation of all of February 2018 Encouragement Daily Posts.
I hope you find them encouraging and supportive.
It is my prayer going into the month to come that I will be able to give you strength to get through the difficult days, and joy to go through the easier ones.
Many blessings for this month.
Please forgive me as I will need another day off from wring an Encouragement Today post.
This pain and loss of my BJ is just horrible. As I am finishing out this day, I have found myself looking for him and hearing sounds which I thought was him, but they were not.
i am trying very hard to not loose my voice through this exhaustion and heart break. I have a tendency to stop writing as you can tell by my archives.
I am trying very hard to not do this now. I am going to try working through the pain instead of running away from it and hiding.
Thank you for your patience!
Disclaimer, if there are any error, please excuse them.
Attention my Instagram Friends, I have created an IG account to cross link my blog to this account.
It is my prayer as this year continues to start a home business to bring in some extra money. It is my desire to create a logo brand from my blog as well as other great craft ideas to sell.
I need to help my family financially, but with all the health issues they experience, it is better that I figure out how to do this from home.
I am going to ask for your prayers as I start this new journey. I know God is behind me as I feel a peace about this endeavor, but I need God’s guidance in making important decisions.
You can access this Instagram account by linking up to the IG link to the right of this page.
Thank you for your prayers
As I am writing this post I am completely leaning on God for the words I need to reach those who are hurting and are in pain.
I have learned of several people who are struggling with the loss of a loved one in just one week and it breaks my heart to know how many more people have lost someone dear to them in the past couple of weeks.
My friend, it is my prayer you will find comfort in this bible verse God has given to me to share with you.
“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.””
Revelation 21:4 NKJV
I know your pain is tough right now, but I know there is one who knows knows how to heal it.
My friend, God knows your pain and He knows how much your heart is aching. He sees your tears and hears your cries. He is there to comfort your need and will give you the strength you need to get through this difficult time.
Cling to the love He has for you. Lean on Him during this time of deep grief and pain.
“He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.” Isaiah 40:29 NKJV
Grieve, My Friend. It is best to feel those emotions then it is to hide behind them. If you feel like crying, do so. If you feel like sharing your memories, share away. Everyone has a different coping mechanism to deal with this strong emotion. Allow yourself the time to process all that is going on and to heal over time.
Hang tight and remember no matter how tough this time is for you, God will give you the strength you need when you need it, He loves you and is standing beside you, holding you up.
My hugs and prayers are going out to each and everyone of you who are in pain.
If you need a listening ear, I am here. Leave a comment in the comment blank below.
This post is coming with a gentle reminder to remember the importance of taking care of yourself this weekend.
Has it been a long and busy week? Are you thankful for the weekend but know you have a lot of chores to do, errands to run, or activities you to get your kids to?
My friend, this is your gentle reminder that it is okay to do all of this, but do not forget to do something you enjoy as well.
It is important you take the time somewhere in your weekend to do something that refreshes your mind, body, and soul.
It is not selfish to take care of yourself. It is actually healthy. If you take this time to breathe, refresh, and reset, you will be able to get more done this week and you will not find yourself resentful because you are tired or even exhausted.
Do not fall victim to your family’s needs. It does not benefit anyone if you find martyrdom is your existence to meet your family needs. They love you for who you are not for what you do for them day in and day out. They want you to be happy and healthy too.
My friend, please take the time this weekend to do what takes you to your happy place. Please put some thought to what you use to enjoy. Do you find reading, writing, crafting, decorating, cooking (for pleasure, not for meal planning), shopping for you and your enjoyment, hunting, fishing, or building things, relaxing? If you do, take the time to do these this weekend. You will be thankful you did.
The key, My Friend, is to take some time this weekend to rest.
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 NKJV
Remember, IT IS NOT SELFISH TO REMEMBER TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF! It is necessary! Lastly, God commanded it.
Feel free to leave a comment below and share what activity you did to allow yourself some much need refreshing and relaxation time.
The end of the week has arrived. The weekend is knocking on our door. Are you ready? I know I am.
I saw this quote today and thought it was fitting for how I feel. I hope it lifts you up and allows you to smile if life has you beat down.
Happy Saturday, My Friends!
If you are feeling down today, know a little bit of chocolate makes everything a little bit better.
Love is meant to nurture others not to dominate them.
To love someone means to…
This is is by no means an extensive list, but it is enough to cause you to think about your own.
Many of these may be out of your control or power, but I can assure you, if your loved one knows you are trying to do things, they will feel your love.
Did you notice what I did as I looked back over these? Each begins with an action verb. This spoke volumes to me.
To love someone means to be continually performing an action for them and requires continuous work. Do not sit idle and assume they feel your love. You will find if you do, your loved one will begin to feel cold against you and your love will dwindle down to nothing over time.
Loving someone shouldn’t feel like work. You should want to be there and do things for this person. If you are showing them the love you have for them, they will feel compelled to do the same for you. Then you will see the results of a healthy relationship.
“Love does not dominate; it cultivates.”
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
My friend, cultivate your relationship. Do not dominate it.
Domination over anyone does not contribute positively to any relationship you have let alone for the person you love.
Love unconditionally and you will be amazed at how sweet your relationship will be as long as they do the same thing in return.
Do not sit idle my friend, give your loved one the attention they deserve for you to love them.
Today’s reminder is to tell you …
“You are wiser then you think, stronger then you know, and more beautiful then you can imagine.”
No matter how hard life beats you down, never believe the lies you hear in your mind. All too many times we hear the worst about ourselves instead of hearing the best about ourselves.
Cling to these words of encouragement,
“I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.”
Psalms 139:14 NKJV
God created each and everyone of you beautifully and He doesn’t make mistakes.
My friend, please know and believe in your heart that you are beautiful!
Hide these words in your heart and do not believe the lies the enemy wants you to believe.
Today’s reminder is to slow down when life seems like it is spinning of control.
How many times do you get lost in the busyness of life’s craziness?
You keep going from chore to chore, project to project, activity to activity and you forgot to enjoy the simple things of life.
Did you forget what it is like slow down and smell the roses (per say), to see the butterfly on the flower, the hear the birds singing outside, or to hear the music playing on the radio?
Sometimes life gets so busy that we forget what it is like to slow down long enough to breathe.
Today’s challenge is to slow down long enough to enjoy the simple things in life again.
What do you enjoy, but forgot what it is like to simply do it any longer?
Take some time today to let those simple pleasures in your life pass through your heart and permeate your soul again.
Today’s challenge will allow you to refresh and reset your life again.
Today’s reminder is that you are special.
Do you feel loved by someone? Do they bring happiness to your heart?
If so, think about where that love is coming from.
Your challenge is to ponder this quote;
“The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.” -Victor Hugo
Do not take this love or your happiness for granted for it can be taken away in one swift move of complacency. Once you examine what it is that causes your loved one to love you, continue doing what it is that allows this cycle of love and happiness to continue to occur.
Happy Monday!
I am here to remind you to…
“Love Yourself enough to Trust Yourself.”
“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” Alexander Graham Bell.
How many times do we find ourselves questioning what we should do in life and we just stand there paralyzed from fear, confusion, uncertainty, insecurity, and a lack of trust in ourselves?
Today is the day I want you to look in the mirror and tell yourself, “I love you and I will trust in you again!”
My friend, many times we get so busy with life that we find ourselves trapped by a series of poor decisions or we are living a life consequences due to our poor choices. As a result we forget there is a need to love and trust ourselves enough to believe our inner voice called the Spirit of God and our inner judgement to make decisions.
You need to learn to love and trust yourself again. By doing this you will be able to confidently walk away from the closed doors you are waiting on and will be able to see the doors God is opening now.
I am trying to clear my head and get back into the “game” of life. I will try to change my focus back over to things that impact the lives of others. It is my desire to continue to touch others by my words and my actions.
I know you all do not know who I am or what I am about, but I have to confess, what you saw this week was a new and changing me. Had I lost my little guy back in December you wouldn’t have even known he existed. I would not have written about him. You would definitely not have seen the pain of the experience. I would have hidden behind a fake smile and a fake, “I am okay.”
I was raised believing you do not show others your real emotions if they are packed with hurt and pain. You keep those emotions hidden in your heart. Now as I am on this journey of change, I can see first hand how this is wrong and damaging.
I know this week has been an extremely difficult one. It has been wrought with pain and tears, worry, concern and everything I would have hid behind just a month ago. So in turn with the attempt to hide behind a lie, I would have used the mask of anger as my crutch to deal with the pain.
My friends, I don’t know about you, but I am personally tired of hiding behind this mask of anger. It was so freeing to experience my real emotions, no matter how difficult they were, as I processed the loss of my little guy. It was refreshing to share that grief and pain then it would have been to hide from it.
Thank you for accommodating me as I used my blog to experience this change in my life. I will eventually be able to look back at the progress I have made as I continue to trek forward in my journey of change.
Now as the days continue to pass and my brain becomes more clearer, I will be able to write more thought provoking posts, but right at this moment, as I allow my heart to replace the pain with memories I have to catch up as well on some sleep. This will also enable me to clear my mind.
What you all do not know is that for the past three months my little guy was seriously struggling with his health issues. He was no longer able to sleep through the night. He would wake me up several times which prevented me from getting quality sleep. I mostly only napped at night instead of sleeping, but I wouldn’t change it for anything. I have a clear conscience knowing I did everything I could to keep him as happy and comfortable as I could. Although now I have to learn how to sleep again, since that went on for so long.
It is nice to know when I go to bed, that unless I need to get up for some reason, that I will be able to stay in bed all night. I figure by the end of the week, I will begin to see my new life without sleep interruptions and with great sadness. It will all be replaced by valuable sleep and precious memories.
It is my prayer for those of you who have learned to hide behind the same mask of emotional lies that you are able to find the place where you able to tear that mask off of allow yourself to live a life of real emotions and you will find living a life of real emotions will free you from an emotional bondage that has you weighed down physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Please learn from my years of emotional bondage that this is not a healthy way of life. Free yourself starting today and allow yourself to feel your “real” emotions. You will be so relieved when you do.
Your challenge for today is to openly express your real emotions. Take that ugly mask of lies off and allow the true healing begin.
You are beautiful without that ugly mask. Allow your heart to breathe.
Lastly, remember… You Are…. Enough!
Do this for “You”!
Your Encouragement Today is a gentle reminder that love isn’t always the outward emotion we think of.
In order for you to truly experience an outward display of love toward others, it has to first be felt by you on the inside in your own heart.
“The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart.”
— Helen Keller
Have you ever known someone who had a hard heart display the soft emotion of love toward others? I have not.
Your challenge today is to honestly look into your own heart and evaluate what does it look like?
If you answered yes to any or all of these, now evaluate the relationships you have with others? Are they healthy or are they in need of healing and reconciliation?
You need to take the time to re-evaluate the love you have in your heart in order for others to feel it coming from you.
You are not able to deliver what you do not have or feel.
My friend, be completely honest with yourself as you evaluate this sensitive feeling. If you need to heal from some wounds, allow yourself to see the pain so the healing process can begin.
Everyone needs to feel loved and that includes you.
Praying this kind of love for you.
You’ve got to dance like there’s nobody watching. Love like you’ll never be hurt. Sing like there’s nobody listening. And live like it’s heaven on earth. – William W. Purkey
I almost forgot to post something today. This image about love will have to sustain itself until I can find my words again.
The past couple of days have been difficult ones, but I am trying to find my way through the pain and grief of missing my little guy.
I am still trying to find the words I need to process not having him around.
As I am moving along I have found my other dog is now mourning him and is displaying signs of separation anxiety and now I need to be available to help him through the process as well. I was in contact with his veterinarian this morning to see what I can do to help him along his own path of missing his little buddy.
When you have a dog for 17 1/2 years, that is a big void left behind.
This is my precious big boy who also has a huge part of my heart.
He is only 3 years old, so we should have a lot more good years with him.
He is very sensitive and is well in-tuned to emotions so the loss of his brother is taking it’s toll on him now.
It is my hope with every passing day this will get easier and with every passing night I will get more sleep then I have had in the past three months of taking care of my precious little dude.
I will try to write as my words come to me. Right now that is hard, but I know this too shall pass.
I am just going to be honest though and ask for some prayers of peace and comfort in the days ahead. I know God is here and has been, but it has been a very long and hard past couple of months. I am physically, mentally, and emotionally drained.
Thank you!
I am writing today with a heavy heart because it marks the 10 year anniversary of my sweet dad’s death.
It doesn’t seem possible that my dad has been gone for so long. He seems so alive in my heart, my mind, and my thoughts. Not a day goes by without thinking of him or saying something that he would find funny or finding myself using one of his many beloved phrases.
I absolutely love the times when God blesses me with someone who either looks like him or has his same mannerisms. I never take these moments for granted. I feel so blessed for the brief encounter, as I feel like I have spent that time with my dad. I am sure that seems weird, but I believe God meets our specific needs in life in mysterious ways. I may not even realize I needed that moment with my dad, but I never walk away without feeling thankful for it.
I can remember one day vividly when God gave me one of these brief moments in the grocery store last year. I was having a tough day and I was in the produce isle. I had noticed this sweet gentleman who had the same stocky figure wearing a flannel shirt similar to what my dad would have worn. As I noticed his face, my bewilderment only grew deeper. Oh my gosh, he had the same hair color, the same hair cut and similar glasses to what my dad had worn. No, this couldn’t be possible? This man looked so much like my dad, he could have been a twin.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. I completely lost focus on what I was doing and discretely watched him in complete amazement. As I continued to watch him, I learned that not only did he look like my dad, but even had the same gentle mannerisms. All I could do was thank God for my brief encounter with my dad.
It was a moment in life I could never have planned for, hoped for, but yet God allowed me to experience and I will always hold that experience in my heart as a sweet memory and moment in time.
My friend, you may never know how you will touch or impact someone else’s life because He places people in our lives and we may never even know it. This gentleman will never know how much he touched my heart that day in the produce isle of a grocery store. Likewise, the sweet nurse at my dad’s nursing home will never know how much she touched mine and my mom’s heart the day she left a fresh white rose on my dad’s bed.
See, what you don’t know about my story is that my dad had to be put into a nursing home because he was having debilitating seizures as a result of his traumatic brain injury he sustained during the Vietnam War. This brain injury brought on early onset dementia and as the years went on, my dad forgot who I was, except for the last day I saw him. There was a moment on his last day that he looked at me and called me by the nick name he had given me when I was a child. I will never forget that sweet moment. God blessed me with this special time because I could never have asked or wished for it.
When we left him we knew he wasn’t doing well, but my mom wasn’t prepared to stay the night because she didn’t have her own medicine she would have needed to take that night and even the next day, so we knew choosing to rent a hotel room to stay with him wasn’t an option that day. Mom lived an hour and half away from him to include you had to drive through the mountains to get to there. Where mom lived, it could be raining, but during the winter months, you could encounter a severe snow storm going through the mountains, which is what happened that night to us after we got home. The weather forecast the night after we left my dad was for not only a snow storm but an ice storm too. Unfortunately, the forecast stood true. When we got up this morning 10 years ago my mom received a phone call from my dad’s nurse to tell her it was only a matter of time before he passed and there was nothing we could do. Had it only stayed a snow storm we would have trekked through the snow and the mountains to get to my dad, but with the ice, it was too dangerous. We couldn’t, we just couldn’t get back to my dad. It breaks my heart to have not been with him the day he died, but we couldn’t risk our lives to get back there. Thankfully, God knew our hearts and He knew we would have been there if we could have been. I believe He knew that which is why not only did we have a snowstorm, but God stepped up the storm making it an ice storm too. He knew we would have attempted to get through the snow storm to get to my dad.
This is why we didn’t get back to the nursing home to find that precious white rose until the day after my dad died. To the nurse who went above and beyond your job by leaving that pretty white rose on my dad’s bed for my mom, thank you! Your thoughtfulness to think of this will be forever embedded in my heart.
As I am remembering my dad today, my encouragement is to remind you that life is precious and valuable. If you still have your parents consider going to them today and give them a hug and tell them you love and appreciate them. If you are like me, and you don’t live close to them, try calling and tell them this same thing.
If you do not have your parents any longer consider this simple thought as you are out and about living your life and possibly doing something as mundane as running errands, you will never know how much your actions or gestures could touch someone else’s life. People are always watching us, even though you likely will never know it. Be mindful today of your actions whether they are with your family or friends or total strangers. Allow God to use you today to touch someone’s life. You may never know it, but you could leave a lasting impact on someone today so allow yourself to be that blessing God has planned for someone else.
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