As we begin a new week, let us surrender it all to Him, don’t allow last week’s baggage to affect this new week!  Allow Him to be at the center of all your decisions this week!  Be blessed by this song and remember to Just Breathe!

Enjoy this reminder song to you by Natalie Grant.  No matter what you are facing today remember you are in better Hands now and remember to Just Breathe!

Thank you Mandisa for the reminder that this trial, issue, problem WILL make up stronger!  Be encouraged ladies and remember to Just Breathe!

“Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them….Matthew 7:12 MSG

I am out to dinner with a friend one evening when she reaches over and hands me a card.  I said, what is this?  “A card for you she states.”  I open the card and in an instant remember sending this same exact card, years ago, to someone else.  I remember it so vividly because I loved the way the two little girls were swinging on their swing on what seemed to be a summer afternoon.

Swing sets were my favorite growing up….Okay I have digressed from the main point here…LOL!

However, and more importantly, I was reminded how much God loves me and knew that I needed to receive that very card, that very instant.

You see, I love to send and receive cards- but lately, I found myself doing the “sending”.

I recently read a book on friendship that “messed me up”!!!  It “forced” me to evaluate the current friendships in my life, the types of friends they were to me, the type of friend that I was to them and also think about the special people that were no longer a part of my everyday life.

To be totally honest with you….the whole exercise made me a little sad.

I thought about my age and my current stage in life and thought “ wow to reach this point in my life where I would like the number of friends to “grow” not “diminish” here I am wondering why some were no longer there.  I was quickly reminded that some friends are for a season and that’s okay too!

But, check out what the cards states…Once in a while, you find a friend who’ll be a friend forever; and who is more a sister than a friend. Wow, He knew that I need a little reassurance in this very area of my life.

Entrust God with every single person in your life and as always, remember to Just Breathe! Oh and if you are the person I sent this card to please let me know!!! LOL!

I love how Laura Story reminds us what Jesus means to us…. Lets us not forget each day what He has done for us and remember to Just Breathe today!

Jennifer Rothchild says….”Giving chocolate to others is an intimate form of communication, a sharing of deep, dark secrets.”  Give someone a piece of chocolate today and share the love and always remember to Just Breathe!

We anxiously wait for our boarding pass from Barcelona back home. As we board the plane and sit in our assigned seats we hear the pilot say the normal courtesy welcome and length of our trip.

“Good morning ladies and gentlemen, welcome to your flight to Miami which will be approximately 9 hours and 34 minutes.”

I start to think, great I can sleep and get some rest before I get home and this should help me adjust to the 6 hour time difference that I’ve been living for the past 8 days. So, we have watched a movie, had dinner and a lovely nap and I still have about 7 more hours of flying!!! I am going to go crazy with all this time.

This made me think about the concept of time. How we spend it, how we waste it and how we perhaps, abuse it. We are all given 24 hours- no matter which social class we are in…..it is equally given to each 0f us.

I believe that God wants us to make the best of our time and not waste it on things that are not important to Him.  If we look at how Jesus spent His time we will see what was truly important to the Father. Jesus spent His time: with His family, with his friends/disciples, talking to His heavenly Father, reading the scripture (some call it Gods love letters to us, others call it our instructional book here on earth) and resting.

A healthy balance of time….never all on one thing.

He also spent it doing ministry and serving others. He used it to help other people.  Here’s a surprise…He didn’t use it all on Himself and His personal needs and desires.

As we enter the summer months, let us not only plan special events and fun times with our “inner circle” or family but look for ways that you can serve someone else or another family.

I challenge you to evaluate how you are spending your precious 24 hours and make the best of this new week AND always remember to Just Breathe!

As I was quietly sitting in my airplane seat I noticed a lonely slipper by me. I looked up and down the aisle to see who would not notice that they had lost a shoe…

It was quite comical actually.

Within minutes an older “adorable” grandpa-looking man comes with his daughter looking for his other shoe. He had rushed to the bathroom and he didn’t notice that he lost his shoe/slipper. He was laughing so hard that both him and his daughter were in tears…. At this point I was in a full chuckle , the one where you have to hold your stomach and you snort from your nose…yup, the embarrassing kind.

The whole incident made me think…. How many of us have lost things in life and haven’t noticed?

Have we lost our joy for the simple things? Have we lost our appreciation for the things we have in life? Have we lost the love of spending time with the people we love and are so dear to us? Or, worse yet, have we lost our hunger and thirst for being in God’s presence?

It’s easy to lose something and allow so much time to go by that we don’t even miss it even more.  We grow accustomed to not needing it anymore.

This made me want to evaluate the following areas of my life:

1.) Am I spending quality time with my God or am I giving Him leftovers, whenever I remember? AND,do I miss it when I don’t?

2.) Am I caring for others the way Jesus did? Or, am I allowing the busyness of life to steal that joy and passion that He has given me?

3.) Am I taking time to enjoy my current season of life with my husband?

4.) Am I giving my children the love and support that they currently need, or am I giving them what I think they need?

5.) Am I being wise with my time and who I spend it with or am I allowing others to dictate how my time should be allocated?

6.) Am I giving myself time to rest and refresh physically and mentally or am I constantly running around like a chicken without her head?

7.) Does my checkbook speak of what is important to me or am I allowing the world and society to also dictated that for me?

This exercise has allowed me to think about what is important to me and how to adjust what needs “adjusting”.

Today I remind you to Just Breathe and please don’t lose your slipper:-)

TGIF!!!!  This week may have been a tough one and made you doubt what you are doing and why you are doing it….  Your haters have been in your face and nastier than ever- Well you have a message for them…”You Were Born for This” and your assignment didn’t come from men but from God Himself.  Enjoy this week’s video “You Were Born for This” and always remember to Just Breathe!

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” James 1:17

The excitement was brewing but I was exhausted from the week’s extensive work schedule. But here we go; we are getting ready to embark on the vacation of a lifetime. The trip of a lifetime! Europe here we come!!!!

“The flight looks good states my sister in law, I think we are going to make it.” Within each minute that passes a seat on the flight to Madrid was given away to someone else. I sat there quietly in my seat knowing that this was His gift to me.

One Friday evening in March, we took our in laws out to dinner, at that dinner God used my brother in law to gift me a trip to Europe….an unexpected gift! I was thrilled, excited, in disbelief, happy, a bit sadden that my family wasn’t coming with me but understood that I needed this time to replenish and refresh.

Back at the gate at Miami Airport, I start to sense a bit of worry in my sister’s face…a bit panicked to be exact. Every passenger left the waiting area and there were only 6 of us left with standby tickets. And guess what?

Only one seat left!!!!

Well, we didn’t leave on that flight….four of us with sad looks on our faces but one of us with unexpected peace in her heart. I was sure that this gift was from my heavenly Father and it would be in His timing.

We left on the next flight out of Miami, the flight that He wanted me to be on, the flight with extra security because His daughters were on it AND the governor of Florida…LOL!

I can’t finish this story without mentioning the fact that the first flight was delayed by 3 1/2 hours due to mechanical issues, so much so that the pilot asked for another plane. God knew that I was already physically and mentally drained, His daughter didn’t need this stress nor anything to tarnish His unexpected gift.

Thank you Father for my unexpected gift. Thank you Ramon Perez allowing God to use you to give someone an unexpected gift!

Today I remind you to Just Breathe!

Reflection Corner:

1) What unexpected gift has God given you lately? Have you taken the time to thank Him? Have you taken the time to notice that it came from Him?

2) Gifts come in different ways, appreciate the fact that some of them come with a detour for a divine reason.

3) Have you considered being the vessel that He uses to give someone an unexpected gift?