Texas Skylines & God's Reminder to Me.

Most mornings on my drive to work, I typically do the same thing. I drink my coffee, pray for the day ahead of me, try to really wake up as I drive down the familiar road, and look at the sky.

Being that I have to be at work at 7:30 am, I usually am able to see the sun as it rises, and when I do, I take a picture. Ever since I first owned a camera, I have always been captivated by the sky in Texas. Every time I see a pretty sky, I just think of how beautiful God’s creativity is. Then I take a photo, post it on social media, and hope others get to see the sky that day too. Pretty simple, right?! 

This morning, as I was driving to work, it hit me.  I took a picture of the blue sky overlapped by pink and gray clouds, and sent it in a text to my friends. Immediately after sending the text, I had this thought. “What if I became a photographer who only shot photos of the sky. How cool would that be?!” Obviously, I enjoy working with kids, and so I was just day dreaming I guess. haha But then I thought of how unpredictable of a job that would be. It’s not like I KNOW what the sky is going to look like at any certain hour. Sure, you can know the estimated time of sunrise or sunset, but do you know whether there will be extra colors in the sky besides blue? If there are clouds, do you know if they will be big, fluffy, stretched out, or puffy? Of course not. So as I’m sitting there appreciating how different the sky is every day, I was reminded of God’s word, which also happened to be mentioned in a group text with my best friends this morning.  (Sidenote: I am WAY stinkin' blessed to have a group of best friends who can vent together, pray together, be real, and seek God together).

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34.

Looking at the clouds, knowing that I don’t know what tomorrow’s sky will look like in the morning, I’m reminded that I don’t need to worry. In fact, I don't know anything about tomorrow. I may expect to go to work, eat, sleep, etc, but I don't know every detail, and that's ok. (Not that I worry whether or not I will see a pretty sky on my drive the next morning, but just about life in genearal.) I know that God goes before me (Deuteronomy 31:6) and already has a plan for the future (Jeremiah 29:11).

 It may seem silly that a little day dream about photographing clouds reminded me not to worry, but hey, God can speak to your heart through anything. God knows very well (because I get all giddy) that I love a pretty sky, so it makes sense for him to speak to me through something I already love. And this morning He spoke to me to enjoy each day, and not to worry about tomorrow, through just one of His pretty Texas skylines. :) 
 

Becky

Sharing The Gift of Love: My Message at Thrive Live!

Hello again!

It's been a while since I've blogged, and lots have gone on in my life, as I'm sure you can relate.

So if you are reading my blog for the first time, welcome!

If you are a familiar face to my blog posts, then welcome back!

At the end of August, the women's ministry at my church (Abundant Life Church in Grapevine, TX) hosted an event called Thrive Live. This event was set up as if you were attending a live talk show, with guest speakers (me being one of those speakers), dinner, desserts, give aways & more. Funny how I planned on blessing others with my testimony and walked away being blessed myself! God is good :)!

I shared with the audience how God uses us to share His love with others. Today I'd like to share on my blog ways YOU can share the gift of love with others too!

Just as a little background about me: I come from a big family, being the forth out of five children, and so I always wanted to be entertained growing up. When my husband and I first started dating, I was adamant about being creative and having fun together. Through the years, my passion for having regular date nights and making memories in our marriage has become a part of my DNA.

In 1 Corinthians 13:13, it says "but now faith, hope, and love abide, these three, but the greatest of these is love." Love is something I am passionate about. I have been married for four years, and being a wife is something I do no take lightly. I'm sure you can relate, as being a mother, a daughter, a friend are all roles we value in ourselves. I want to do my very best at fulfilling this "role" that The Lord has given me, and a big part of that is sharing love.

Now please don't tune out if you are not married. This can be applied to all relationships, whether that is with children, your parents, siblings, or even friends. We all desire to be loved, and Jesus is the ultimate example of love. When sharing the gift of love, we have to realize that love from ourselves in our own flesh can wear out, grow old, and fall short. Pray for Jesus to fill you up with His love (which is unconditional), and let that flow out of you onto others. There are a few things I want to emphasize when it comes to sharing the gift of love to someone. I'm going to use my marriage as an example, but please adjust these examples to how you see it fit into your own life and relationships.

1. DO NOT COMPARE.

I learned early on in our marriage that when I compared my marriage relationship or the way we did things to others, I only hurt us. I remember a time that my husband got annoyed with me, because any idea I had on something was not my own opinion, but what I saw another couple do. There is a quote that says "Comparison is the Thief of Joy." How often do we find ourselves trying to compare to others: their relationships, the way they raise their kids, financial decisions, their walk with God?! I found that I often would feel disappointed when my husband didn't do the exact same thing as another couple did when we first started dating. Like any relationship, when we put expectations on the other person and don't communicate that expectation, our feelings get hurt. I quickly changed my perception on dating and took it into my own hands to plan and create. By doing this, I took away false expectation that didn't need to be there, and allowed myself the freedom for us to be our own couple and enjoy the time we spent together, without the comparison game. That sparked my passion for implementing date nights into our marriage, because I valued our time together and the memories we were creating for the two of us.

2. YOUR RELATIONSHIPS ARE UNIQUE.

My marriage is different than my best friends, my parents, my siblings marriage. We may have the same values and beliefs, but the DNA of our relationship is different, and that is fine. For some of you, your friendships may be different. For others, your children and the way you raise them may be different than your neighbor. That simply means that sharing the gift of love looks differently for each of us.

3. APPRECIATE WHAT YOU HAVE.

Make the most of the time you have with the ones you love. That may mean hours of talking, acts of service, creating atmospheres to be honest and vulnerable with others. Other examples of showing the gift of love to others is in volunteering, cooking a meal for someone, taking a trip, gifts, helping in time of need, and praying over someone. Show gratitude for the blessings that God has given you. Your spouse, child, parent, friend, are all blessings. Find joy in loving others and know that God will give you the love to share to others. 

CRAFT- DATE NIGHT JAR

I brought a date night jar to show an example of ways to be creative in sharing love.

These are some of my very best friends, and they encourage me in so many ways. They each encouraged me during one of the hardest times in my life, and gave me gifts of love with prayers, chatting, hugs, texts, and laughter.

I really learned to appreciate what I had when my world came to a holt and I was in the middle of a storm. I will be blogging about that storm & God's love for me through it in the weeks to come, so stay tuned!

 My hope is that you will be inspired to create something for you and your loved one. The gift of love isn't about the amount of money you spent, but it's about spending time together. Be encourage and inspired by these ideas on sharing the gift of love.

Becky