​Today, of all days, I needed this! Sometimes the truth hurts, but I love that Jesus does not shy away from speaking to my heart so that I can be more like Him. When I opened my daily devotion and saw the verse from Matthew 12:28 which said "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest", I knew the Lord was talking to me. Anyone else?

But I immediately said, "Lord there is no labor here. I am not working, but I sure to feel heavy laden, so I'm going to come to you." I want to, as the verse goes on to say, take His yoke and learn from Him.

I know that as I learn more deeply to love the way Jesus loves, to serve the way Jesus does, that it is there and then that I will find rest, not for my body, I have enough of that, but rest for my soul. That's what I need. That has been my cry.

As I pressed into this truth and read the devotion from June 11th "My utmost For His Highest" it all made sense. 

​My soul is restless, because I have settled into being listless. I have slowly allowed being unable to do my "job" send me into a place of feeling grounded from taking on the yoke of Jesus, learning from him and then going out and doing what He does.

Today is a pivot. Today is a turning point. Today is the beginning of Jesus once again getting me out of bed, out of my listlessness and the exhausted state of my soul, acting like I am half dead and calling me to recognize the life giving vital activity He has for me.

Will it be easy? Probably not. Will I be tempted to crawl back under the covers of my depression? Probably so. Being depressed does not disqualify one from doing what God calls us to do. I will, however, wake up each day asking Jesus to let me learn by taking on His Yoke! That, I can do!

Thank you Lord for the perfect rest that you offer as we come to you.

Friends, do you need to take on His yoke and learn? Do you feel listless, tired and heavy laden? Jesus offers to all of us the remedy. The remedy is Him, one day, one moment, one breath at a time, yoked to Him. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!

I love my time at the gym. Going in the morning really helps to start my day out right. Thanks to my husband, I have a detailed, focused and effective workout routine. Every few weeks the plan gets modified and my weights and reps increase. I can see and feel the effects of my workout.

I know that I am not suppose to judge people at my gym, but I can't help but notice that some of the members wander around aimlessly with no consistency, no focus and no real results. They don't have a plan. Some do more mirror time than actual lifting of weights.

The more time I spend in the gym, the more I see how it directly correlates with faith and life. Proverbs 29:18 says

"Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

When I lacked a plan at the gym (which I did for years) my results come up lacking. I didn't grow stronger, I didn't feel any more fit, I didn't feel physically complete.

Like the gym, but, oh so much more important, is my relationship with Christ. When I lack vision, a plan to be intentional about my faith, my joy shrivels. Those days when I am distracted by the silliest things, all things which conspire against me to keep me from my time with the Lord, days when I think I can fit in "one more thing" before I steel away with Him only to find the sun has set on my time and the pillow is my best friend....Those are the days when my joy is incomplete because my vision is lacking.

So where are you today? Do you have a plan, do you lack vision..do you feel like you are drowning or are you feeling the effects of working out your faith life?

If you are struggling, sometimes it starts with a simple acknowledgment that you need help, some encouragement, some direction and some spiritual discipline. If you are feeling strong in Him, spiritually fit, maybe this is the season where God can give you eyes to see those that are wandering and need someone to walk alongside them.

Yes, we stand in the "NO JUDGEMENT ZONE", but God has given us eyes to see, hearts to feel, a discerning mind to call out when we are drowning and the wisdom to know when to throw a life jacket to those around us.

One of my favorite  devotionals is Oswald Chambers ~ My Utmost For His Highest. It challenges me each day. If you feel it might be a blessing to you, follow the LINK BELOW and if you get it, write me back and let me know what you think. It's compact, short and filled with great thoughts on a particular Bible verse each day. Maybe that's a start for you.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE


God bless you! I love you in the Lord, Mia

Today, I'm doing the public service portion of my blog. After I posted this picture on my FB page, my sweet friend commented that she didn't know what some of this stuff was. So Rachel, this is in honor of you!! Love you girl. And no worries, I only know about it because my Mom keeps me up to date.

I'm not a health nut, but there are a few things, especially with being on the road, that are essential in keeping me healthy. Being on airplanes, singing and sometimes licking other peoples microphones (which is why I carry my own most times), and sometimes not getting much sleep, I have found that these little things have been very helpful.

1. The Word of God. I can't live without it-LITERALLY. Having a great body (which I am NOT claiming) means absolutely nothing if the Word of God does not dwell in me richly. It is life and it is a non-negotiable. My husband and I were talking the other day about a time, maybe 13+ years ago, when I was 5'9' (I'm shrinking) and down to 125lbs. I was running twice a day (obsessively), not eating much, smoking, drinking and wearing a size 5 jeans. I looked really good (on the outside) but, inside my life was a mess until God intervened in a massive way. Speaking of which you can watch my testimony here. #1 The Word!

2. My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers. I have been reading this daily devotion for years. I always find something new in it. I have a few copies of it, but for some reason the torn up, paper clipped version remains my favorite travelling companion. You can read these online as well. 

3. TriVita Vital C Crystal Powder. It is a great powder form of pure Vitamin C and gets absorbed right into your body and does the job. I have not found a better form or more powerful form of Vitamin C. In my house we jokingly call it C-crack. It's that good (not that crack is good. Crack is BAD!) When my daughter feels a cold coming on she immediately asks for the C-crack. It is a little pricey, but coming from one of the worlds cheapest gals.."You get what you pay for"  This stuff is worth it. TriVita C Crysal Powder

4. HerbaSway All Natural Memory Support. I call it my Memory juice. Basically it's blueberry extract. A dropper full a day. For someone like me who has horrible memory and retention skills, which can be a problem when trying to sing and play songs (even the ones that I have written) at a concert. Once I began taking this, I noticed a huge improvement in my ability to memorize songs, chords and my children's names. HerbaSway

5. TriVita Nopelea juice. Again, this one is pricey, but well worth it. It's my miracle juice. It takes commitment as it is a natural anti-inflammatory. It's not a quick fix, but with time shows great results. I have arthritis throughout my body. Mornings are tough as I take my first steps out of bed. When I first began using this, I remember the day when I woke up got out of bed and the pain was gone. It was a miracle and if you have suffered from chronic pain, you know what I'm talking about. Unfortunately, some major life events happened that got me off my schedule and I stopped my routine and the pain all came back. So, I am now restarting the regimen, 60 days of a high dosing period, after that I cut my intake down. I am in my first month of re-combating the inflammation. Check in with me in a few months and I'll tell you how it goes. TriVita Nopelea

6. Greens..No brand plugs here. I don't know if they work except that It's good to get all your veggies and fruits in and if you are on the go a lot, using this as a supplement is great. 

7. Glucosamine Chondrotin because my doctor said I'm getting old. Bone health is important, so I take it. 

8. WATER...always!

9. Coffee, because God is good! The mug with a seal top because I spill everything, especially when I'm on the plane, train or in the automobile.

10. Underwear....Not pictured here, but kinda important. I can wear jeans twice, maybe even my tops, NOT my socks and especially NOT my panties. Is that too much information? If so, welcome to my world and enjoy the ride!

Maybe half of this was helpful #10, I'm sure not at all.