How To Say I Love You

This won't take me long at all!!  It is very simple.  In the same way we don't get to choose how we love God, we also don't get to choose how we love others; especially those closest to us.  You can tell someone "I Love You" until the cows come home but if they aren't feeling loved, it's pointless.

Here is the model we should go by.  God loved us first and made a HUGE sacrifice in giving his son to die for us.  So, he chose to die first.  Then he asked us to receive the sacrifice that would ultimately set us free.  Then he gave us instructions on how to live but more importantly how to love.  He didn't say this method was optional.  He basically said this is how I will know you love me by doing the following things.

It should be the same in our relationships.  We should be finding out what makes those closest to us feel loved and then love them that way.  In doing this we will first sacrifice who we are because we for sure won't always feel like it.  We will be dying to ourselves in order that they might feel accepted, valued, loved and free.

Here is the beauty in it all.  When we begin loving people the way they feel loved (our spouses), there love tanks get filled and they begin overflowing love right back in the way we feel loved.  God knew this would happen and he also knew that with this model, we would all begin looking like Christ right here on earth.  That is purpose fulfilled at it's best!!

Recent Pics...Filming

Ignoring the Laundry

I have been watching my laundry pile up for the past several weeks.  I wash a load here and there but can't seem to get it all done.  I'm doing just enough to keep everyone clothed and smelling good, including myself. 

I've always been the type of person who crossed all of the T's and dotted all of the I's. At least I have tried to.  I definitely have the tendency to be a little OCD.  So, the fact that my laundry is piling up is driving me crazy!

Here is the thing, I use the laundry as an example but there are other things I am ignoring right now in order to focus on things that are more important.  I am extremely busy with a full time job, being a wife and mother of four teenagers, and hosting, editing, and promoting my talk show.  As if all of this wasn't enough, I have begun writing a book.  You see, OCD will find it's way into my life one way or another...lol!!:)  I am either doing everything at once or waiting for the next crazy season to come around and it usually doesn't take long.

I am learning how to ride the wave in seasons like this.  There are times (especially women) where we have to let the daily mundane tasks of household chores, errands, cooking, and cleaning take a back seat to our goals and dreams.  Seasons come and go and we need to be strategic as to how we function during those times.  If you're anything like me you will feel challenged when things are a little chaotic but keep the end in view.  Do what is necessary but stay the course toward your goals and dreams.  Don't let the insignificant outweigh the significant.  I think I will tweet that!! Right now I am ignoring the laundry because it's insignificant!

Sticks and Stones

You know the old saying "if you don't have anything good to say don't say anything?"  This has been on my mind a lot lately.  It's crazy to me that I remember being teased as a child and the exact emotion I felt at that time.  I remember words that teachers said to me in Elementary School.  I remember positive words and negative words spoken to me but for some reason the negative words packed a bigger punch.

Just when we thought "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me," shielded us from the wounds negative words created.  It was a lie.  Words definitely hurt us and often times determine how we think and feel about ourselves.  Some of us manage to rise above those words but it doesn't necessarily mean they don't have a lasting affect.

There is so much to be said on this topic but here is what I want to say.  Surround yourself with people who love you selflessly.  Guard your hearts and be careful of those you let in.  It's so easy to overlook a slightly negative comment and then before you know it, what seemed slightly negative becomes a pattern of words that break down and destroy your confidence and your calling.  Believe only what God says about you.  Don't live in the minds of other people, rather choose to exist in the fullness of who God created you to be and let his word dictate your self beliefs.

"If you don't have anything good to say then don't say anything." I would say "if they don't have anything good to say, don't listen!"