God, you love me like this?

This morning, after dropping my youngest off at daycare, I got back in my car, turned back onto the main road and began to focus my thoughts on the Father. This has become somewhat of a ritual as I do this almost every weekday during my commute to work. The car, for a couple years now, has been my place of solitude with the Father. It has become my main prayer closet. I am a wife and a mother of three young children and we live busy lives at times. The car simply became the perfect place for me to enjoy consistent intimate time with my Daddy in prayer. :)

I usually begin by focusing my attention towards the beauty of the sky, as this helps me enter into worship. But today, no words immediately came to my lips. I was lost in thoughts of His Greatness. As I marveled in silence, I was amazed at His love for little ole' me. I am always amazed. Over and over again I am simply amazed that He loves me.  How a God so big, so majestic, so full of Goodness and Glory, could love each and every one of us individually. He actually came down from Heaven, limited Himself, walked with us, talked with us, ate and slept with us, then died a gruesome death for us, because He loves us! We are as little specks compared to His greatness! As little ants in His eyesight! Yet, He has numbered the very hairs on our heads and knew us before we were ever formed in our mother's wombs! Selah!

Challenge: BE a Proverbs 31 Woman

31 Day Challenge: Be a Proverbs 31 Woman

God recently laid on my heart to begin confessing and personalizing Proverbs 31: 10-31. Well, I have to admit that I'd completely forgotten that He spoke this to me. It wasn't until the other day when I reached out to a sister in Christ to pray for me in an area that I had been struggling with that I was reminded of His instruction. Her response to my request was simple, yet heavy, she said "You are ALREADY that woman (paraphrased). Just begin to walk in it". She then advised me to declare and decree Proverbs 31.

That rocked me to my core! 

I am ALREADY that woman!?!?
(It was one of those things that I knew, but hadn't really received)

And did you see what God did there??? 

God will gently remind His children!

So, everyday since that day, I have been personalizing and confessing Proverbs 31:10-31 over my life. I have been decreeing that I already am who God has created me to be. No matter what it looks or feels like!

My fitness and why I share

A little about my health and fitness journey:

In 2007, I dropped 30 lbs after having my second child. And again, in 2009 I dropped 25 lbs. after having my third child. Both times I achieved weight loss through excessive cardio and a low calorie diet.   I was obsessed with the scale. Sometimes weighing multiple times daily. If the scale went up I was confused and frustrated. If the scale went down I was happy and excited. I was on an emotional weight loss roller coaster.

I kept the weight off for a while, but when I went back to work in 2011, the scale slowly started creeping back up. I knew that I needed to get the weight back down so I started to do what I'd always done, low cals and lots of cardio...and then I came across P90x.
Little did I know that it would be a struggle to challenge my body that way and stick to a low calorie diet.
I wasn't losing any weight, I was hungry and I was frustrated. 

The Scale: Friend or Foe?

This is one of many fitness related topics that I have been eager to write about for a while. I thought this would be a great time because so many people, especially women, are trying to shed those extra pounds as the new year just hit and spring/summer will be rolling around before we know it.

Now, I am NO expert, and do not claim to be, but I read A LOT. I do my research. I ask dozens of questions of experts that I have come to know AND I have been living by everything that I am going to share with you. I also have a long list of resources below that you can read when you have some free time.
You can read a little bit about my journey here and learn more about why I desire to share this information with you.

So, let's get to the scale. Can it really be trusted? The answer: Not really.

I like to call the scale a two-faced liar.
One day it's your best friend, whispering sweet losses in your ear.
The next day it breaks your heart and makes you cry!
Why should we trust something that treats us this way?

Don’t get me wrong, the scale can be a great tool when used correctly and with wisdom. But when used incorrectly, and ignorantly, it can sabotage all of our efforts and put us in a mental place of defeat that is hard to escape from.

The scale is one of many ways to measure progress. It should not be used as your only measure of progress. I rarely use it at all anymore. The scale simply cannot tell you everything that is going on with your body.

I work out hard, I’m slowing replacing unhealthy foods with healthier selections, and I am seeing results, even if they don't show up on the scale. 

Are they quick results? Some have been quick, but most have been gradual, because slow and steady is what wins the race.  Remember the Tortoise and the Haire?

My Father, THE Artist

Originally Published September 2012

After reading a post on a fitness blog that I follow, I scrolled down to the comment section and came across a story shared by a fellow follower. After reading this story, I knew that I had to share it. The original author and title of the story were omitted, but I think I’d like to call it...

” My Father, THE Artist"

A farmer was attending an agricultural show and happened across an artist who made animal sculptures from up-ended logs sunk in to the earth using nothing more than a chain-saw.
The farmer watched in amazement as the artist cut and sawed using just his intuition, no drawings, pictures or any apparent point of reference. Within a few minutes the artist had hewn a perfect eagle from what was previously just a log.
The farmer approached eager to find out how he managed such a feat. “How do you do that?”,he asked. “Simple", replied the artist, “I just remove everything from the log that isn’t the eagle”.

What a wonderful example of how our Father shapes and molds us! By removing the pride, envy, hate, insecurity, low self esteem, resentment, unforgiveness,etc., He reveals who we truly are. The “eagle” has been there all along, unseen, hidden somewhere within the clutter.

We must allow God to remove those things that do not represent who we truly are. 

If we will yield ourselves to the Artist, the eagle will come forth. 

Blessings,
Keshia

Understanding and Embracing Life's Seasons

  My life as a Christian wife and mother has been consumed with a lot of changes over the last few months. I returned to school in the Spring , we relocated to another state at the beginning of the Summer and I returned to work at the end of the Summer. Arghh!!! So, needless to say, my somewhat organized lifestyle has turned into complete chaos. I’ve had to cut back on doing some of the things that I love. i.e. reading and writing. Staying fit, eating right, trips to the park, trying out new recipes for dinner, quality time with the ones that I love, etc. have gone from being effortless to almost impossible to obtain. I have entered a new season.
As depressing as I’ve made this sound, as a Christian woman I have come to understand and embrace the different seasons in life (thanks to a great mentor and First Lady), even when they don’t feel so good. I understand that as we reach for new levels, begin to walk in our callings, and pursue the prosperity that God wants for us (3 John 1:2 Beloved I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, even as your soul prospers NKJV) we will have to endure and learn to appreciate the journey.
I love to travel. Especially road trips. But for the sake of this illustration, let’s say that I am traveling to some fantasy destination by air. I’ve decided where I would like to go and at what point I would like to arrive. The only problem is dealing with all the “in between” stuff. I have to go through the strains of airport policies, walk from Concourse A to Concourse Z, sit on a 15 hour long flight, then throw in a 8 hour lay over. At this point I must decide if laying on that beautiful beach basking in the sun or sitting on the veranda watching the sun set on the mountains is worth all it will take to actually get me there.

God Used a Tragedy to Get Their Attention!

I contacted one of my close girlfriends about two weeks ago to see how things were going. She informed me that she and her husband were on their way out of town to attend a funeral. A close friend of her husbands had been brutally and senselessly murdered while out at a night club on the Friday after Thanksgiving. She briefly filled me in on the details that she knew of at that time. I gave them my condolences and we said that we’d touch base once she got back in town.
Yesterday, I spoke with her again. She began to fill me in on the extra details that she hadn’t previously known. These details, no doubt, intensifying the wickedness that gave birth to this tragedy. She continued to elaborate on the moments surrounding their arrival into town, meetings with friends and family and finally the funeral.

She said that one day she, her husband, some cousins, and friends of the victim sat around reflecting on the victim’s life. As they veered into deeper conversation, it began to take a strange turn. Some of the men began to express their concern about their salvation! They began to wonder aloud where they really stood with God.
Immediately, Genesis 50:20 came to my mind,’ You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.’
In the midst of this crisis, in the midst of their mourning, God began to knock on the doors of their hearts!
Given the worst situation that man could go through on this Earth, God can turn that very situation around and use it for His glory. Just look at the result of Christ’s death!
Colosians 1: 21-22 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.
Have you heard God knocking only to ignore Him? Is he leading you to trust in Him? Is He convicting you to take your Christian walk to the next level?
I challenge you to open the door today!

My Husband is Not My Ticket to Heaven

Originally Published 12/7/2010

So, your husband is sold out to Christ, but where do you stand? Do you stand behind him, or beside him? It is disturbing, but I have seen that many wives of true men of God, including pastors, ministers, evangelists, etc.  have not themselves worthy of God’s love, truly repented of their sins, inwardly given their lives to Christ and turned away from the ways of this world. Therefore,  a personal relationship with the Father in their lives is nonexistent. They have somehow lost themselves in their husband’s shadow, assuming the role of the Christian wife, but never actually living the Christian life.
As our husbands have become engulfed in the Father and penetrated by His consuming Fire, many of them have chosen to accept their God given call into ministry. Most of them expecting and desiring for their wives to be right their beside them as they pursue the call of the Lord. And while we may be quick to fall in line, we do not possess that same devotion. We have instead learned exactly what it is we should say, deemed what is appropriate for us to wear, and memorized just enough scripture to get us through most Christian conversation. We have joined the choir, taught the Sunday school class, served in various ministries, sat on the front pew, clapped, nodded and bowed our heads during prayer, even praying for others, all the while, knowing that our hearts do not belong to Christ. Most often are hearts belong solely to our husbands and/or children or careers. We have been deceived into believing that this is acceptable and that God is pleased with us! But the Bible says otherwise.
Matthew 7: 21 “Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord”, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name? And then will I declare to them, ‘ I never knew you, depart from me, you workers of lawlessness."
My belief is that we as women have come to believe that as long as we follow a husband that believes in and follows Christ we don't have to take responsibility and deal with ourselves because we are doing everything that Christians do. The problem here is that our husband’s salvation can not get us into Heaven and he won’t be able sneak us through the gates before they close!
You may be asking, “But the two have become one, right? Aren’t we one in the same?”
The Bible states that, ‘they shall become one flesh ‘ (Gen. 2:24). But we are spirits, therefore we must also maintain an individual walk with Christ.