Fix Your Eyes on Jesus
There’s a famous picture from the 2016 Olympics with Michael Phelps in the water swimming to the finish line and another Olympian competing against him in the next lane. The other Olympian turns his head to look at Phelps instead of continuing to look at his finish line.
This blog title also makes me think of Lot’s wife in the Bible (read Genesis Chapter 19 ) also check out my blog Salt Please.
To summarize quickly, the angels gave Lot and his wife specific instructions - Run for your lives, don't stop and don’t look back. All Lot’s wife had to do was fix her eyes on Jesus. But she looked back and turned into a pillar of salt. Whew 😥.
Isn’t that a depiction of our own life?
We turn to the left, right and back to see what others have going.
I’m writing this, but I’m guilty myself. 🙃
We can be winning and successful in whatever field and entity we are working and then we fix our eyes on others instead of keeping them on Jesus.
The word of God reminds us in Hebrews 12:2: We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
In this season we must keep our eyes on Jesus and him alone. Turning and fixating our eyes on others can led to so many other things that God didn’t intend.
As we go through this week and we encounter so many circumstances, will you make the decision to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus?
Last week’s Blog: FocusedTo check out more of my blogs and or content check out my Linktree!Did you miss a blog post? Don’t worry, subscribe to my newsletter! ❤️
Focused
Last week I was working on scheduling my blog post, creating my newsletter, recording my YouTube video, and scheduling all posts. While this usually takes about 30-45 minutes of my week, I challenged myself to remain focused until I finished the task.
What does it mean to remain focused?
For me, this meant, not reading or responding to text messages, emails or browsing social media or the internet until I finished everything. While focusing on the list I mentioned above I realized my brain wondered on so many other things (hence this blog post that I didn’t write until after I focused).
When did we become so distracted and what can we do to change it?
On average, people make over 30,000 decisions in one day. 🤯
That’s insane!
It means we have to be intentional to stay focused more than ever before to complete a task. We may have to put our phones on do not disturb, add stickie notes to the computer to encourage you to focus and delete or halt access to apps. We must prioritize the thing which is important before we are mindlessly scrolling social media.
Spoiler alert: I focused and finished prepping and recording everything all in one seating! 🙌🏽
This week, what will it cost you to complete whatever you are working?
Remember, the ability to focus is the currency of the future.
Last week’s Blog: Jesus Wept
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Jesus Wept
I often share I was raised in church - not as a badge of honor but as a reminder that it helped shape my foundation with God. My mom was a Sunday School teacher and I learned early on that “Jesus Wept” was the shortest verse in the Bible.
While I’ve always known this scripture for as long as I can remember, recently I’ve thought about how Jesus was on earth and experienced the same feelings we felt. There’s a story in the Bible where he was angry and another scripture referencing his weeping when his friend Lazarus died. (That he raised from the dead). In all of his human deity on earth, he allowed himself to feel and have experiences just like us.
Therefore, feelings and emotions aren’t either good or bad; however, we can’t allow them to control us or our actions. Feel your feelings as much as you need to, talk to your therapist, trusted friends, family, and others, and don’t allow your feelings to control you. Knowing that Jesus had human experiences, makes me comfortable to share any of the experiences I’ve had with Him. There’s nothing I can share that he can’t handle.
John 11:35 Jesus Wept.John 11:38 Jesus was angry.John 11:1-40 Full encounter of Lazarus resurrection
Last week’s Blog: Identity
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Identity
What ten words describe you the best as a person?
…
I have time today, I’ll wait for you to write them.
This was one of the questions I received in a devotion on the Bible app called, “My Identity in Christ”.
I’ll share with you my 10 words to see if we have any of the same words! Also, if you can’t think of 10 words, that’s okay, ask a trusted friend and or family member and or read Ephesians 1, 2 and 3. Those chapters have a lot of verses which share what God says about us. Okay, here’s my 10.
10 Words that Best Describes Me
- Beautiful
- Loved
- Whole
- Unique
- Intelligent
- Creative
- Redeemed
- Blessed
- Favored
- Chosen
To be honest, the first 6 was hard to come up with and after that I had to think for a quick second - what does God think about me? What would my closet friends say about me?
I think often times our identity is so rooted in so many things - such as a career, status, wealth, relationships, titles, materialistic things and so much more. But, if we really sit and be honest - if all of those things are gone, who are you at your core? And does it align with scripture?
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. Psalms 139:14 NLT
Last week’s Blog: Hacking Yourself
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Hacking Yourself
Some of my friends may disagree, but I can be lazy sometimes by my own standards.
My truth: Since the end of November, I’ve had no desire to workout. My prior gym closed down in November and I was devastated because I finally found something I loved - so it didn’t feel like working out.
I’ve joined two gyms since then and neither feel like home, so I’m still open to exploring more options. Until then, I’m realizing on days I lack motivation after a full day of work I have to coach myself.
The most important person, I’ll ever coach is me. I have to create hacks for myself because no one knows me better than me. I mean I could lie to myself but it would be counterproductive for me - therefore, I’m learning I have to hack myself!
I know if I’m off work, I need to go to work in the morning because if I wait until later in the day - I’m probably going to lay down and take a nap and chill. I’m a component of the motto, to thine own self be true. So, as I learn to get better at hacking myself with grace and flexibility, I’ll share what I’ve learned. Happy hacking day!
I’m curious, what do you do to motivate yourself on days you lack motivation?
Last week’s Blog: Impulsiveness
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Impulsiveness
Impulsiveness. I think of this word as ready, set go! The dictionary defines impulsive as a tendency to act on a whim, displaying behavior characterized by little or no forethought, reflection, or consideration of the consequences.
I am a fan of people who are able to make decisions. While decisiveness is great because you are able to make an informed decision based on known information, impulsiveness is less rational and may have severe consequences.
I understand there are situations in which impulse decisions can be helpful, but when a decision can be costly for yourself or it doesn’t represent who you are and can be costly for your brand Inc…sit down and consider the cost.
I listened to a sermon message on this yesterday and the Pastor stated, “If you have ever been in a situation and you look at yourself in the mirror like what am I doing here?” or said, “I should leave this place.”- was that decision driven by impulse?
I’m sharing this story because while I am growing my brand, I always want to represent God and myself well. I want to ensure I am making marathon decisions and not decisions based on a sprint for quick results.
What can an impulse decision cost you?
If it cost you your peace, that’s too much!
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Mark 8:36 KJV
Last week’s Blog: Dream Again
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Dream Again
Life - Be lif-ing! It’s tough! But on the other side of things are beautiful moments you can create with family and friends to have joy - when we dream!
To dream again after difficulty is to say, that as long as I still have life in my body - I have a reason for existing and to dream. I can dream about creating a different life, starting a new hobby, learning a new skill set, taking a cooking class, creating pottery, publishing a new book and so much more. Don’t let the results of past decisions dim your light. Continue to have faith move forward and dream again. The word of God says:
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.” - Hebrews 11:1
To dream you have to tap in and visualize things before you see them. I like to dream BIG!
What could or would life be like if you expanded your mind and dreamed a little?
Last week’s Blog: Whew Lawd
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Whew Lawd
What do you do when you feel you have to walk away from something you truly loved? This something could be a relationship, friendship, a job, a venture or etc…
I think most people think of grief only when someone passed away, but you can grieve lots of things.
Y’all know I like to go to Webster for a good definition to help with my understanding. Webster’s dictionary defines grief as a deep sorrow. Okay, that definition isn’t defining it enough so let me look at sorrow. Webster defines sorrow as a feeling of deep distress caused by loss, disappointment, or other misfortune suffered by oneself or others. Okay, that’s better.
To answer my initial question posed in this blog, I believe you have to grieve a season. To grieve is to say you loved. The presence of grief doesn’t negate that you trust God. But sometimes my plans don’t line up with God’s plans and his plans always supersede mine.
Y’all I love to eat a good meal, but when I’m grieving, that’s not the case. For me, that season is pushing the plate away, I wouldn’t even call it fasting bc it isn’t intentional. I don’t have a desire to eat. 🥹 It’s also been lots of worship, praying, journaling and practicing mindfulness as the scripture says and bringing every thought into captivity. To be honest it’s been rough! 🙃 And at the same time a beautiful mess knowing that God is with me every step of the way. As the saints used to say in church, I’m continuing to pray my strength in the Lord.
Last week’s Blog: Last Place
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Last Place
I wasn’t sure if I should call this blog last place or life isn’t fair. 🤔 Anyway, let’s jump right into the blog. I’m currently reading through the book of Matthew in the Bible and I came across this parable about workers in the vineyard.
Scripture Reference: Matthew 20:1-16
My summary: There were five different workers looking for work and all five people were hired by the same men to work in his vineyard. Some of the workers started early in the morning, some at 9am, noon, 3pm and 5pm; however, they were all paid the same day wage. Of course, some of the workers who started earlier were upset because the last group only worked one hour and were paid the same amount of money. They voiced their concerns and the owner of the vineyard, responded to them and said, “Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage? Take your money and go.”
Now, I encourage y’all to read the full story to receive the full context because this summary is a quick snippet. But on first glance, I can see why the earlier workers were upset; because it doesn’t seem fair. But we all know, life isn’t fair. However, I’m trying to see how I can be last and receive God’s favor and receive the same reward as those who were first. God I don’t have to be first at everything in this season if you allow those who are last to be first!
First place! 🥇 ✌🏽
Last week’s Blog: 2024 – This is My Year
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2024 - This is My Year
This is my year - everyone shouted! It seems like this is the constant cliché heard every January. But, some kind of way between January and December momentum is lost and goals and or resolutions are thrown to the side. But, what if this could really be your year?
How can you keep your foot on the gas all year and be all gas no brakes?
To reach this point, it takes intentionally. You must be intentional in planning out your day and or week. You also have to anticipate hiccups and prepare a plan of action before hand. A person looking to lose weight has to know eventually they will be offered junk food or desserts. To plan for perfection is to plan to fail. Life happens swiftly and you have to prepare a plan to get back on track when you lose motivation or have accountability partners already in place.
As you make your goals and or resolutions be intentional, prepare a hiccup plan in advance, revisit your why and give yourself small rewards for milestones along the way.
If you really want this to be “your” year how are you preparing for it?
Last week’s Blog: Home Alone Top 10
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Home Alone Top 10
We have something at work we do in which we rewatch old movies together as a group and I recommended for us to rewatch Home Alone. Home Alone is a classic and was always one of my favorite Christmas movies to watch. Listen, rewatching movies as an adult - it hits different! Here's my top 10 things I noticed while watching Home Alone - in no particular order.
- Kevin had a long day and really needed a hug at the beginning of the movie from his mom.
- The family needed better controls to ensure a child or no one is left on a family trip - instead of numbers call everyone by name.
- What did Kevin's uncle, Rob McAllister do for a living to afford to pay for so many people to travel internationally for the holidays?
- Uncle Buck could not read the room when the mom noticed she forgot Kevin at home. His response was well, I forgot my glasses too. Smh.
- The price of pizza aged well. 10 pizzas at $12 dollars; however, the rest of the stuff he purchased at the store would cost like $75 or more today.
- Why did Kevin have access to a gun - even it was a BB gun?
- It is interesting watching them walk straight to their gate in the airport - no security check or anything.
- Kevin's mom had her address book to call her neighbors. I can't remember the last time I saw an address book.
- Sometimes you think you are afraid of things until you have to boss up like Kevin.
- The scene with his neighbor at the church was my favorite scene. So often the older generation is forgotten and they have so many beautiful stories and wisdom to share with others.
Looking back on this movie, there were a lot of movies I watched as a child, which would not be acceptable for kids today to watch. What is your favorite holiday movie to watch?
Last week’s Blog: The Perfect Wait
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The Perfect Wait
”Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.” Ecclesiastes 11:4 NLT
What are you waiting for to get started with your idea, business, song, podcast, book, journal, group?
If you are waiting for the perfect… fill in your blank - that day will never come.
If I waited for the perfect venue, I would have never hosted my first conference.
If I waited for the perfect book, I would have never written a book.
If I waited for the perfect client, I would have never began book coaching.
Remember, done is never perfect and perfect is never done!
Start now, get good at your craft, build your audience. For me I rather make mistakes with a few people than to start when I feel it is perfect and make mistakes in front of millions.
If you are waiting for perfect start now because perfect doesn’t exist!
Last week’s Blog: Threads
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Threads
I saw this blog question and I thought I’d join in! I want to share a diverse range of posts, so I thought this would be a fun and short post for others to join as well.
The blog question posed was, “What are your favorite two things to wear?”
When it comes to wearable items my favorite go-to items are:
1. Dresses
I love dresses because it is one easy piece to throw on. I can doll up a dress with a waisted belt, some cute accessories, high heels, and boots or I can dress it down with some mules, tennis shoes, or sandals. Dresses are so versatile in shapes and colors. I prefer more of a fitted dress - but not too tight because I don’t want to have to continue to fix it all day. I’ve been there before with the dresses that continue to “ride up” and give I’m too little vibes.
2. Sweatshirts
When it comes to traveling - sweatshirts are my go-to item! Listen, I’m usually always cold, so sweatshirts keep me warm. I like layering my sweatshirts with a cute undershirt in case I get too warm I can take it off and tie the sweatshirt around my neck or waist to make it fashionable!
Because I love a bonus item - skirts were third on my list! Honestly, they are really tied with sweatshirts but since it is cooler here right now, I put sweatshirts as number 2.
What are your favorite wearable items?
Last week’s Blog: Finish Strong - Wrenhowsway
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Finish Strong
I was chatting with friends the other day and I mentioned this quote from Dr. Dharius Daniels, “We live on whatever level we settle.”
I know for myself I have so many goals and aspirations I would like to achieve. As long as I’m still breathing, I still have time to progress forward in my goals. Although we are a little shy of 30ish days to the end of the year, we still have time to finish the year strong.
I could easily make tons of excuses for unaccomplished goals or I could adjust my goals and finish them out well. Of course, I decided to adjust my goals for the year and have as much forward progress as possible.
One of my main goals is my weight loss. To gain some momentum in my weight loss since the last two weeks were cray, I am considering doing a two a day challenge again, Crazy?!!! Yes! Hard! Yes, but I can do hard things and I no longer want to settle for my current weight. What goals are you completing before the end of the year?
Last week’s Blog: Valiant Lady
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Valiant Lady - Virgin Voyage
So this was my first cruise with Virgin Voyage and here’s my experience. We cruised on the Valiant Lady and it was amazing - 7 days and 6 nights. We visited Roatan, Honduras, Costa Maya, Mexico and Bimini, Bahamas. Bimini and Roatan were my favs! It was an amazing trip, I feel rested and rejuvenated!
Here are the things I loved about the cruise line:
- It’s an adults-only cruise - no kids are allowed.
- There were several different and unique restaurants with great food options. My favorite restaurants were Gunbae and Extra Virgin.
- The customer service was stellar.
- Tips were included with everything so I didn’t have to carry cash.
- The loot money came in handy for any purchases on the ship including excursions.
- The Valiant Lady was beautiful and clean.
- The spa day pass was superb and it’s cheaper on port days!
- The free WiFi came in handy because everything must be booked in their app.
Here are some of the opportunities I recognized:
- Some of the restaurants and activities were at capacity before even boarding the ship so you weren’t able to enjoy them.
- You must pay attention to the app for announcements because updates aren’t made over the speakers and there's no cruise director.
- I wish we could have spent more time in Bimini.
- The Virgin app could use some work. It kicks you out randomly.
Overall, I’ll rate the cruise 9 out of 10! What’s your favorite cruise line?
Last week’s Blog: What About You
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Happy Thanksgiving
Y’all may not know this but Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love Thanksgiving because you have two consecutive days off from work, Black Friday deals, the food and it’s the beginning of the Christmas season.
While I understand some have mixed emotions in celebration of the holiday for various reasons, it’s always a good reason to stop, pause, and give thanks!
We’ve experienced a few unprecedented years and we are still here! That’s enough to say thank you! So whether you celebrate the holiday or not, take a moment to give thanks! A grateful heart allows you to refocus and changes your countenance!
Last week’s Blog: Valiant Lady Virgin Voyage
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What About You?
Sometimes in life, we make decisions that impact our own lives whether positively or negatively. I feel like we often hear, forgive others for what they did to you - which is extremely important. But what about forgiving yourself?
Have you forgiven yourself?
I remember going through a relationship breakup years ago. While I was processing everything while journaling I realized I had to forgive myself. In that instance I wrote a letter to myself and apologized to myself for past experiences. I wanted to be sure I included forgiving myself in my healing process. Scripture remind us one of the commandments is love your neighbor as you love yourself.
And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these. Mark 12:30-31 NLT
I realize before I can truly love others, I have to love and forgive me. Forgiveness is a decision and a choice. Sometimes you may have to revisit forgiving yourself until you are fully healed. Ultimately it doesn’t matter how many times you have to revisit forgiving you because it is your journey - just remember to do the work to heal you.
In the words of my therapist, I’ll spend the rest of my life doing the work to heal myself!
Last week’s Blog: Out of Season
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Out of Season
I was listening to a podcast recently and they mentioned we can purchase almost every fruit all year long. Like summer fruits, can be purchased in the winter and vice versa. That’s a little scary when you think about it. I think this has aided in our current society that we need everything now. There’s no reason to wait until things are in season, they can be imported or manufactured even when they are out of season.
But when we have things out of season, we are no longer receiving the best quality or fruit that we could have if it was produced in the right season.
“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest.” Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 NLT
Sometimes, it’s better to wait until things are in season for you! Just because something is available it doesn’t mean it’s the right season for you. Not waiting to the right season may mean your fruit aren’t ripe! Often times it’s better to wait until your season.
Last week’s Blog: Therapy
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Therapy
Did y’all know the word therapy is in the Bible? When I learned this I was astonished!
One day Jesus called together his twelve disciples and gave them power and authority to cast out all demons and to heal all diseases. Luke 9:1-2 NLT
The word heal in this verse translates in the Greek to therapeuō and it’s where we get our word therapy. This word means to restore health!
If you have ever been to therapy, this is what a therapist does - heals!
I believe God can use therapy as one of many resources to help us process things in our lives. I tell people all the time, I need Jesus and therapy. Therapy can also lead to quantum leaps in areas emotionally, relationally, or spiritually to process past experiences and create new habits to move forward. Therapy helps you see your blind spots from the past and gives you language to help you understand things that may have occurred in your life.
If you are looking for a therapist, the key to finding a therapist is to keep trying until you find someone who works for you! If you ever want to have a non-biased person listen to you, try therapy.
Last week’s Blog: Thrive 2023
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Thrive 2023
Hey y’all! So I went to an amazing conference over the weekend! It’s really more like a family reunion. Lol. I finally put some names to some faces and met some of the coaches from the mentorship program. I always feel the best way I learn is to implement what I learned and to share it with others.
So here’s my top 7 nuggets in no particular order:
- God gives creative abundance. What I do with the creative abundance determines if I get financial abundance.
- Sometimes you need to be in a room to get permission to be you and do what God called you to do.
- Content is an exchange of goods and services and the compensation is the way to say thank you.
- You are not who you are after you are encouraged, you are who you are at your natural state.
- Money respects itself so much that it will not come to someone who will waste it.
- Certain rooms will change your appetite and you get hungry for things that you didn’t even know you needed.
- Greatness is mandatory.
Because I’m me, here’s a bonus nugget:
Those who are uniquely successful treat what others deem optional as mandatory!
I have so many pages of notes that I wouldn’t even try to share in one blog! The best conferences are those that make me examine what I am doing and lead me right back to Jesus.
What’s your favorite conference to attend?
Last week’s Blog: Internal Investment
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