Tag Archives: happy

What Does God’s Voice Sound Like?

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What Does God's Voice Sound Like?

What Does God’s Voice Sound Like?

It never ceases to amaze me how God talks to us.  I’m positive that He’s talked to me my whole life, and I didn’t even know it was Him.  The closer I grow to God and the stronger my relationship gets with Him, the easier it is for me to recognize God’s voice.  Did you know He talks to you all the time too?  You may have not even realized it was Him, simply mistaking God’s voice as just a random thought going through your head or just an odd coincidence of events.

Today, I thought I’d share a story I wrote a while back about hearing and recognizing God’s voice in something as simple as home décor. 

The closer you get to God, the easier it is to recognize His voice.

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“My sheep recognize my voice.  I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27 (MSG)

Jesus’ arm

Jesus told me where his arm was.  That was the message that I had sent to my husband, half-jokingly, half-serious.  I have a wall decoration that is a carved wooden cross with a figurine of Jesus hanging on the cross.  Eric had brought it back to me as a souvenir from Budapest when he was there on leave while in the military. There is a place in the living room where it usually hangs.  I had temporarily removed it to put up some Christmas decorations in its place.  It had been stored in one of the empty Christmas boxes. 

After Christmas was over and the decorations were taken down (I’m not going to tell you how long after Christmas this was), I had taken the cross and set it on an end table waiting to hang it back up.  One of the kids later passed by it and asked where Jesus’ arm was.  It had been broken off.  I assumed that the kids must have broken it while playing with their cousins and neglected to tell me.

“Random” thoughts

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Ways to Fight Discontentment

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Ways to Fight Discontentment title image

Ways to Fight Discontentment

Have you ever struggled with discontentment in something? You know…a situation where you just feel unhappy, frustrated, annoyed, irritated, displeased, dissatisfied, or just flat out angry. It might be in your job, in your marriage, at your current church, in a relationship or friendship, in a class, on a team, or even with material things like your home or your car. I think we all at some point or another in our lives experience some discontentment with various things, myself included.

I have been struggling with a couple of these things myself over the past couple of years. Recently God convicted me about how I was handling some of my frustrations and dissatisfactions. Unfortunately I was letting my discontentment steer some of my attitudes and behaviors, and it wasn’t in a good way. God dealt with me on some practical ways that I can fight discontentment, so that I don’t become bitter or give a foothold to the devil (Ephesians 4:27). This week I thought I’d share some of those strategies with you in hopes that they might help you too if and when you ever struggle with discontentment.

Take Some Practical Steps to Fight Discontentment:

Pray for a right heart and spirit

One of the things that has helped me the most over the past year has been to pray Psalm 51:10 as a heartfelt prayer over myself. By doing this, I’m asking God to change my heart and clean it up and to help me have a right spirit in areas where my heart and spirit may not line up with God and his heart. I’ve seen a tremendous difference in my attitude (and my irritation levels) since doing this. Whenever, I start to feel discontentment and frustration coming on, I will say this verse out loud, sometimes two or three times (or more!).

Another verse that I pray over myself is Ezekiel 36:26 asking God to take away any hard-heartedness or stubbornness that I might have and to help me be more tender and responsive.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10 (ESV)

“And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.” Ezekiel 36:26 (NLT)

Pray for grace

I’ve also found it extremely helpful to pray for grace. This is the kind of grace to be able to handle things that I normally can’t handle on my own. This definition of grace is God’s ability and enabling power. With God’s ability and power helping us, it makes managing difficult situations much easier and more bearable.

“Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NLT)

“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” Hebrews 4:16 (NLT)

Pray for those things that frustrate you

Consider this–maybe God is allowing you to be discontent in certain areas in order to talk to you or trigger you to pray for those areas. Instead of just feeling discontentment in expressing your frustrations and complaining, start praying about those issues or things that you see wrong. Pray about things that need to be changed. Find some scriptures to stand on and believe for that will help with that specific need or problem.

Strive to give, not to get, when you are feeling discontentment

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How To Use the Correct GPS–God Positioning System

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How To Use the Correct GPS--God Positioning System

How To Use the Correct GPS–God Positioning System

I would consider myself “directionally challenged”.  Just ask my husband.  It doesn’t take much for me to get lost.  I’m a HUGE fan of GPS now though.  Where were personal GPS devices 19 years ago when I was driving to my in-laws’ new house in Texas for the first time?  A GPS would have saved me several wrong turns and a very tearful conversation on the phone with my father-in-law (there might have even been some frantic yelling on my part 🙂 ) as he was trying to verbally direct me to their ranch.  Apparently you can turn both ways on a loop, and if you go the wrong way and then take a right-hand turn you will end up completely opposite of where you want to be.  Oops.

“Directionally challenged” in life

I’ve discovered that sometimes I can be “directionally challenged” in life too, and like a lot of people, I don’t always seek direction and guidance.  Sometimes I even flat-out ignore it.  It’s either…

    • “I don’t need your help. I can do it by myself.”
    • “No way! I’m not doing that!”
    • “That’s got to be the wrong way.”
    • “I think this way might be better.”
    • “I don’t trust you. What if you’re wrong?”
    • or something similar

Next thing I know, I end up lost or completely opposite of where I should be.  What’s even more sad is Continue reading →

7 Tips for Remembering Names

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Bad with names? Here are 7 Tips for Remembering Names...

Bad with names?  Here are 7 Tips for Remembering Names…

Do you know that feeling of panic when you see someone you know, but for the life of you, you can’t remember their name?  I’ve been there a few times.  I’ve typically done one of two things in this case.  I either try to carry on a conversation without even having to say their name and without admitting I forgot, or I go ahead and admit that I have completely forgotten their name, beg forgiveness and ask them to remind me.

Oh…there is a third thing that I hate to admit that I’ve done…just flat out hide and/or act like I don’t see them.  I know!  I know!  That’s terrible!  Don’t act like you haven’t done it though! 🙂  On the receiving end of this situation though, I think I’d really prefer the other person to just admit that they don’t remember my name.  I actually respect people more for this.  Remembering names can be tough!

It feels good to be remembered

It does feel really great though when someone remembers your name, especially if you don’t expect them to.  I had this happen recently.  I was volunteering at church and had to check in at the front desk.  The girl working there said “Tracy, right?”  That made my day!  I have probably only seen her a handful of times, and I don’t think we’ve actually ever had a conversation.  You also have to understand, we have thousands of people that attend our church and hundreds of volunteers, therefore making it extremely difficult for remembering names!  To me, it was highly impressive that she could remember my name.  It made me feel really good.

I’ve also been on the flip-side where I run into a person that has met me several times yet still doesn’t remember my name.  This makes me feel Continue reading →

How to Validate Others

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How to Validate Others

How to Validate Others

Updated Post (*originally published 8/14/14)

“A friend loves you all the time, and a brother helps in time of trouble.” Proverbs 17:17 (NCV)

Humans have a need for validation.   More recently I’ve become more acutely aware of this.  Some of you make be thinking, “What the heck does she mean by validate?  Isn’t that where you get verification of visiting someplace to get out of paying the parking fees?!”  Well, that’s one definition!  However, I’m talking about the kind of validation where we verify and recognize that a person’s feelings are indeed genuine and show understanding of those feelings.

I have been hurt by well-meaning friends, family and even my husband at times because they failed to validate my feelings about a situation.  Most of the time my feelings are either minimized or judged, and then I feel like there’s something wrong with me.  I HATE the emotion of leaving a conversation feeling worse than when I started.

Some wise advice

My sister, Shawna, said it perfectly once (she’s very wise 🙂 AND a very good validator by the way):

“Some people are not empathizers.  They are not gifted at seeing through other’s eyes or trying to feel through their feelings.  People often play the devil’s advocate, when all we need ‘in this moment’ is to feel understood, to feel someone try to comprehend our frustrations.  Sometimes playing the devil’s advocate is not what people need in their first moments.  Often they need to be understood first.  When you get your feelings out (and often out-of-the-way) THEN you can look at things constructively for purpose and dealing with the situation.”

See!  Isn’t she wise?  She hit the nail on the head.  Also, to validate someone does NOT mean that you have to agree with them or believe that they are right.  Most of the time people just need to feel heard, not that you agree with them. 

When you get your feelings validated THEN you can look at things constructively.

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When people are not validated properly, sometimes damage is done to a relationship.  Trust may be lost.  Emotional distance may be created.  A feeling of “safety” in pouring their heart out to you may dissipate.  If invalidation continues and becomes a pattern, the relationship may be replaced with another that does provide validation, or worse, the relationship may be severed completely.

Practical Steps–Follow these do’s and don’ts of validation:

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How to Apologize Effectively

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How to Apologize Effectively

How to Apologize Effectively

Updated post (*originally published 8/5/14)

“So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.” Matthew 5:23-24 (NLT)

I stumbled onto something pretty cool previously that I thought I’d share with you.  I think you’ll like it too!  It’s a free personal profile to discover your “apology language”.

I’m a HUGE fan of Dr. Gary Chapman, who is best known for his New York Times bestseller: The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts and the series of books that go along with it.  A few years ago I was listening to one of the Focus on the Family podcasts, and Dr. Chapman was discussing the Five Love Languages and how there are also five languages of apology.  He’s co-authored a book with Dr. Jennifer Thomas titled When Sorry Isn’t Enough: Making Things Right with Those You Love in which they detail the study of apologies and how people give and receive them.

Listening to the podcast, I found this very intriguing because I’ve noticed myself sometimes having a hard time receiving somebody’s apology simply because of the delivery or because it didn’t feel genuine to me.  Dr. Chapman mentioned that “If you receive an apology that omits your apology language, chances are you won’t fully accept it or even recognize it as an apology.”  The goal of their book was to help people “learn the techniques to effectively recognize and deliver apologies and watch relationships thrive as a result”.

The five basic languages of apology are: Continue reading →

Your Gift Will Make Room For You

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Your Gift Will Make Room For You

Your Gift Will Make Room For You

God gave us our gifts and our talents for a couple of purposes.  One is to point people to Him, which we’ll talk more about later.  Another purpose of our gifts is to bring us prosperity, honor, influence and happiness.  Pretty cool, huh?!  The bible says that your gift will make room for you.  I’d like to encourage you today that God does want you to be Happy, Healthy & Prosperous, and He will use your GIFTS to help you accomplish that!

Your gift will make room for you…your gift is designed to prosper you, to make you money and bring you wealth, and to provide for you. Your gifts were designed to help you make a living.  They will advance you in life and move you forward.  God wants to bless you through your gifts.  In turn, your gifts will be a blessing for other people too.  Your gifts will meet a need, and consequently you will be compensated for that.  It’s a win-win!

It’s pretty cool to me that I actually get to do what I love (teach, write, speak) and get paid for it!  I think for so long I felt like I was just going through the motions in life, in my jobs, and in my roles.  I lacked a sense of purpose.  I think a major factor in that was that I hadn’t discovered my gifts yet and wasn’t fully using them.  I was frustrated because I was operating outside of my gifts.  When I started to discover my God-given gifts and started to use them, joy was an automatic by-product.  Knowing that I was helping others with my gifts and getting paid to do so was a huge bonus!  The proverb that your gift will make room for you started to make a lot of sense to me. 

Your gift will make room for you. #success #prosperity #fulfillment #proverbs1816

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YOUR GIFT WILL MAKE ROOM FOR YOU MEANS THAT IN ADDITION TO ADVANCING THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, YOUR GIFTS & PURPOSE ARE MEANT TO PROSPER YOU AND BRING YOU SUCCESS AND FULFILLMENT.

“A man’s gift makes room for him and brings him before great men.” Proverbs 18:16 (AMP)

“A present [gift] is a precious stone in the eyes of its possessor; Wherever he turns, he prospers.” Proverbs 17:8 (NKJV)

“But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.” Deuteronomy 8:18 (NIV)

When we faithfully operate in our gifts the way God intended (to serve Him and His people), those gifts will bring promotion into our life.  If used right, Continue reading →

Funny Friday: Road Sign

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Funny Friday: Road Sign...the only thing missing is the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz!

 

Funny Friday: Road Sign

I thought this would be a fitting Funny Friday photo this week since we were just talking about getting lost and following directions and guidance.  It’s no wonder I got lost in Texas with a road sign like this!  The only thing missing is the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz. 🙂

“Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left.” Isaiah 30:21 (NLT)