Take Time To Play

If you've been to busy to play, you've been to busy. We, who are made in God's image are meant to play, not just when we are children but also as adults. Play revitalizes the spirit and restores a sense of perspective.

I've learned that it's those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular. Savor the joy of living.

I'm joyful for this season of life that I find myself in. When I think that I find it mundane or I'm just plain tired, I remember the pit from which I was pulled and I am joyful. God is God of the past and the future, but He is also God of the present and that is where I choose to live my life and find my joy!

What's so cool about pursuing a life in Christ is knowing, "God's got this."

So be like a child and take time off for play. Mark a date and time on your calendar to do something you enjoy. Indulge in your favorite childhood activities. Go to the zoo, roll in the grass, lick an ice-cream cone, or go to the beach. Enjoy doing something for the sheer joy of it.

"He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake."- Psalm 23:3

For His Glory,
Dalinda

God Sees The Whole Picture

Some people judge a book by it's cover, but I judge it by it's last chapter. As we read the Bible, we have the benefit of seeing the whole picture. The end of the story is obvious to us, but to the actual participants, the results were long coming.

It's easy to believe everything is going to work out when you can turn the page and see the ending, but it's different if you are living through it.

Just as night conceals earth, but reveals the universe, your dark times can reveal truths about God you wouldn't see otherwise.

Faith is not necessarily the power to make things the way we want them to be; it it the courage to face things as they are.-Ronald Dunn

No sacrifice we make on this earth can be any greater than what God has already sacrificed for our salvation.

God loves us so much that sometimes He gives us what we need and not what we ask.

Trials and distress are not something unusual in life; they are part of what it means to be human in a fallen world.

Everything we go through in life is part of God's story. Being where we are right now is the only way to get where we are going. I'll take all the ouches in the world for the privilege that God has down the path for us.

It's all about knowing He loves us and because His love is perfect we can trust His perfect plans, no matter what they are.

Pain will either turn us against God or draw us to Him. The choice is ours!

I am privileged beyond measure to be on this journey with our God!

In His Mighty Hand,
Dalinda

His Reflection In Us Is More Beautiful Than We Could Ever Make Ourselves

It's so easy to focus on what we see wrong with our bodies. In the grand scheme of things, I know this is a shallow concern. But if I allow my brain to park in a place of dissatisfaction about how my body looks, it gives Satan just enough room to move in with his lie that strips me of motivation.

The enemy will always place a "why bother" in the face of God's "it's possible."

Like many women, I 've struggled with a flawed perception of myself. My sense of identity and worth were dependent on the wrong things.

We must learn to be content with what God has given us. Because it will never be enough until God is enough.

The body God gave me is good. It's not perfect nor will it ever be this side of Heaven. But it is a gift for which I am thankful. And it is my responsibility to take care of it, to be the best I can be, for God's glory.

Becoming a woman of self-discipline honors God and helps me live the godly characteristic of self-control.

Princesses are not perfect....the pressure is off.

You are a treasured daughter of the Highest King! Don't allow any worthless idols to determine your worth or cause you to believe lies about yourself.

Humbled,
Dalinda

You're Not Old Unless You Get Wrinkles In Your Heart!

Society is filled with television programs, articles, and advertisements telling us how to stay young, lose weight, and be more desirable.

I think sometimes new is equated with better. Maybe that's why the divorce rate is so high. A marriage bound by beauty only lasts as long as the beauty.

If I can just get a new husband things would be better. New things are often used to buy happiness. If I had a new house, or a new body, then I would be happy. New things can't make us happy. Why? Because the new soon becomes old.

Thankfully, God offers us better hope than this. With God, we will grow older and better. Despite the emphasis modern culture places on youth, a person whose self-esteem and self-identity are rooted in a relationship with God is a person who can age with dignity and grace. If we invite God's spirit to live in us, then our spirit will be made brand-new every day.

You're not old unless you get wrinkles in your heart!

Blessings,
Dalinda

Choose Optimism, Avoid Negativity

Avoid people who are negative.

If you want a simpler and happier life, choose your friends with care. Avoid whinners and complainers. Sometimes this goes for family too. Spend your time with friends and family that encourage you. Invest your time with people who maintain a good attitude and have a positive outlook on life.

Sometimes you have to let go of friends and family who bring you down. They may not be bad people, just bad for you.

Just because you are a believer, doesn't mean you have to accept abuse. Scripture says, "Look, I'm sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as serpents and as harmless as doves." (Matthew 10:16) I am confident God means we should know how our enemy operates and be alert to his attacks (like verbal abuse). Then stand your ground and speak up. The trick is to remain as calm and as gentle as a dove even if the enemy starts screaming in your face. Keep standing your ground without fear and steadfast in faith that God keeps His promises. Only speak what comes from Him and don't let the enemy win the floor. Make him flee. Scripture says, "So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (James 4:7)

Look for the good (and God) in every situation.

In His Love,
Dalinda

Joseph Almost Missed Christmas

There is a man in the Bible that almost missed Chritmas. His name is Joseph. It wasn't because he was distracted with holiday parties, visiting relatives or completing his shopping list. He just couldn't see how his current circumstances were part of God's plan for his life.

Joseph was engaged to be married to Mary, a young woman chosen by God to be the mother of Jesus.

Mary was away for three months and when she returned she told Joseph that she was pregnant. Joseph suspected that Mary had been unfaithful. He knew what the gossip would be, so he was quietly planning to leave Mary. Mary told Joseph that she had not been unfaithful, that the Holy Spirit came to her. She was going to give birth to God's son.

What first looked like a huge problem, a troubling circumstance, total reputation-wrecker to Joseph, turned out to be the most glorious thing in his life when seen from God's perspective.

Joseph saw what an honor it was to bear this burden. What a thrill to raise and know God's son!

God's ways are not our ways. And sometimes in our greatest difficulties we find our greatest opportunities and blessed responsibilities.

If Joseph had walked away from Mary, he would have missed Christmas. And he would have missed the life-defining lesson that God's plans aren't always logical in human eyes, but they can always be trusted.

Oh, just think how different our lives would be if we didn't let fear make us shy away from God's plan.

My desire is to live in the moment, the real life moment in front of me, and to not waste time worrying about why that moment doesn't always look like the perceived one I had rolling around in my head.

I do not fully understand God. But there is much I know: My God doesn't just do good things, He IS good. My God doesn't just love us, He IS love. He is a just, righteous, merciful, holy, sovereign, omniscient, omnipresent, indescribably awesome God. Through Him, all things hold together and have their being, and nothing, NOTHING, is out of His control.

I'm glad He is too big for me to fathom. A God small enough for me to understand....would not be God at all.

As long as I hold tight in my heart to the fact that His plans are GOOD, then I can fight through the obstacles life throws at me, to see the light of the reward that will greet me in the end.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Blessings,
Dalinda

Your Christmas Spirit: Greed Or Love?

Our society has fallen into the trap of believing that quantity is greater than quality, but this is not true. This lie from Satan has been fuel for the spirit of greed that prevails in our world today. In most industrialized nations of the world, especially in America, there is an abundance of everything; and yet there are more unhappy people than ever before.

As believers, you and I have available to us the quality of life that God has. His life is not filled with fear, stress, worry, anxiety, or depression. God is not impatient and He is not in a hurry. He takes time to enjoy His creation.

I have learned that I always have feelings, but I don't have to let them rule me. I can't override them on my own; but if I seek God for help, He will strengthen me to walk in His Spirit, not my emotions.

These last few days before Chritmas people are in such a hurry to get here and there, to buy this and that, they don't realize that they are letting Satan use the emotions of greed, anxiety, stress, etc. to take their focus off of the true meaning of Christmas.

We all mess up. We all make mistakes. We get distracted and take our mind off of what is important. We deserve to suffer the consequences, but instead we are given grace...God's grace!

God is good and I am not, but the blood of Jesus washes me!....Yes, the blood, it is my victory!!!.....THE BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT EVER!!!!!!!! THANK YOU, JESUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas!

In His Precious Name,
Dalinda

My Reputation Is Not About Me

As heaven's advertising agency, we promote God in every area of life, including success.

God blessed Israel in order to billboard His faithfulness. When foreigners saw the fruitful farms of the Promised Land, God did not want them to think about the farmer but the farmer's Maker. Their success advertised God.

God lets you excel so you can make Him known. And you can be sure of one thing: God will make you good at something. Proverbs 22:4 says, "True humility and fear of the LORD leads to riches, honor, and long life"....

"We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us" (2 Corinthians 5:20) The ambassador has a singular aim...to represent His king. He promotes the king's agenda, protects the king's reputation, and presents the king's will. The ambassador elevates the name of the king.

May God rescue us from self-centered thinking. May we have no higher goal than to see someone think more highly of our Father, our King.

I never want to be so full of myself that God has to take drastic measures to knock me off a pedestal. I want to be humble. There is a song from years back that says, "I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean." God is mighty, without Him, we are nothing.  Without God I can not blog. Without Him I can not minister in my church. Without Him I am a selfish wife. Without Him I am not a loving mother. Without Him I am not a friend. Without God I am nothing.

Humbled,
Dalinda

I Choose God's Strength Over My Strength Every Day Of The Week And Twice On Sunday

We are taught to remain in God's love so that we won't tie our happy to anything but God. So that our joy will be complete.

I'll admit that when I get stressed I love to eat. "Comfort food", I call it. All the starchy stuff. All the carb stuff. All the stuff that is bad for your health.

Over the years I have gone up and down with my weight. I have had some really stressful times in my life, especially when my parents were ill. Mom had cancer and Dad had heart disease.

I've tried every diet that is out there. They seemed to work for a while, but I couldn't stay on these types of diets for the rest of my life, so the weight eventually started creeping back on.

I realized having a pity party was a clue I was relying on my own strength, not God's. I finally gave my health issues over to God. And when I did I started seeing amazing results, not just the weight loss part, but saw an improvement in my overall health.

Back in October I went to an internist because I was fatigued all the time and my regular doctor could not seem to get my thyroid medicine regulated. Once I gave my internist my complete family history she ordered a ton of tests. One being the Berkeley test, which is a heart test. The results showed that I had inherited one of the genes that causes heart disease. Both of my parents were also diabetic, so my internist took me off of carbs and sugars. For exercise, she encouraged 45 minutes to an hour of cardio sessions and 20-30 minutes of resistance training. This change in lifestyle has given me more energy. I sleep better. I have lost weight. But the most important thing is my overall health is so much better.

When I was first tested, my insulin was 8. It is now 3. PRAISE GOD! The ApoE Genotype(the gene I inherited from my Dad) was 4.5 and went down to .5 which is great because they wanted it below 1.

I have been using a lot of Jamie Eason's recipes. For those of you who don't know who Jamie Eason is, she is a fitness model and writer for Oxygen Magazine. She had a health scare some years ago and committed to clean eating. And, an added benefit is...She looks amazing!

Weakness is hard, but it doesn't have to mean defeat. It is our opportunity to experience God's power firsthand.

I'm not on a diet. I'm on a journey with Jesus!

Humbled and undeserving,
Dalinda

Serving Others With Joy

Eight years ago today I gave birth to a healthy 10 pound 2 ounce baby boy. HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY, DREW! I love you very much!

A mother's life is seldom easy. You carry a large responsibility in your family. When you walk with God, He promises that the burden is light and His yoke is easy.

Delight and fulfillment go hand-in-hand as a mother seeks to find purpose in the responsibility of serving her family. She is the center of the home, and God has given her the unique ability to create an atmosphere of peace and joy that only she can bring.

Ask God to draw you so close to Him that your child(ren) see God in you, even in the hardest of times. They see peace even when it makes no sense. They see joy when there's no reason to be joyful. So when they do come to the end of themselves, they remember....A Mom who turned to Christ for strength. A Mom who prayed. A Mom who caught them doing things right and noticed. A Mom who stood firm as she trusted her son/daughter to grow and become a better man/woman. They'll know God is real.

Let the joy of the Lord fill your countenance so that what you portray may be contagious to everyone you influence and come in contact with daily. You are God's gift to those you love.

Joyfully,
Dalinda

Take Control Of The Way You Think

You control what you think about.

You may be influenced by the words and actions of others, or by the environment around you, but what you choose to do with a thought is entirely up to you.

The apostle Paul gave some very clear instructions about thoughts in Philippians 4:4-12.

Rejoice always. This means to give thanks and praise continually, in all circumstances. To give thanks and praise in all situations does not mean that you are necessiarly overjoyed by the situation itself. It means, rather, that you choose to respond to even the most negative situation in a postitive way, thanking God and others for their help and provision, praising God for who He is, and encouraging others with a positive attitude and affirming words.

Live in moderation. A life of moderation doesn't happen by accident, it requires intentional choices. A peace-filled life requires balance, in what we eat and drink, how much sleep and exercise, how tightly we schedule our days, how we balance work and play, and how we balance alone-time and people-time.

Give it to God. PRAY! Go to God with choices big and small. Prayer is vital to turn negative thought into positive faith. Worry doesn't solve anything, but prayer can move mountains. Mattthew 17:20

Choose to dwell on thoughts that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, things of good report, things of virtue, and things that are praiseworthy.

Follow the examples of Godly people. Reflect on those you admire the most and think, "What about this person's life draws me to them?" Seek out people who live God-honoring lives.

In order to think positive thoughts, you need positive input. Expose yourself to things that are honorable, beautiful, and godly. If you do, those very traits will begin to characterize you as a person.

For His Glory,
Dalinda

Confidence Comes From God

My life is full of many things, but my confidence comes from God.

Fear will leave you empty....Faith will fill you up.

Your eyes see your faults. Your faith sees your Savior. Your eyes see your guilt. Your faith sees His blood.

If we truly grasp the fact that everything the enemy throws our way can be an opportunity to experience God like we never have before....Wow, what freedom we could have!...Free to dance, free to live, free to love, just free.

Fear corrodes our confidence in God's goodness. Fear creates a form of spiritual amnesia. It dulls our miracle memory. It makes us forget what Jesus has done and how good God is.

Confidence isn't something we lose. It's something we forget to apply. Confidence comes from God. Anything we do outside of God is insignificant. So the first step toward applying confidence to any situation, is to trust God to handle it.

"Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"- Matthew 8:26

The self-confident woman knows WHO she is because she knows WHOSE she is.

Faithfully His,
Dalinda

Gratitude Is Always An Option

If you look long enough and hard enough, you'll find something to bellyache about. So quit looking! Lift your eyes off the weeds.

Never allow situations to define God. Situations may not be good, but God still is.

Today, praise God for who He is!

Choosing to open my hands to all of His blessings, because you all know it's always our choice. It's our choice if we will receive what He gives us as a blessing, or if we will label it otherwise. I believe that God is always Good and always Perfect, regardless of my often times misperceptions. On the days I fail to see His graciousness as a gift, it's only my seeing that is distorted, never His love.

Make gratitude your default emotion, and you'll find yourself giving thanks for the problems of life.

He is not a genie in a bottle y'all. It's not about us changing His will, it's about allowing Him to change ours.

With Humble Gratitude,
Dalinda

It's Not About Comfort, It's About Character

What you are willing to walk away from will determine how much God can bring to you.

This is not our world, so we can't live however we want to live and expect the sponsorship of the God of the Universe. This is God's world.

Great men and women of God are not made on the peak, they are formed in the valley. What a comforting thing to know that if God is testing your faith, it's because He has somewhere He wants to take you. God has to prove you before He can promote you.

I've learned that for us to live out our royal call, we will have to walk away from some of the comforts and pleasures in this world.

There are no short-cuts to anyplace worth going. The long road is also where God teaches me things I wouldn't learn otherwise.

Just because it's more convienient or faster doesn't mean it's the best way. Sometimes being open to what you weren't expecting is the best way to find what you were looking for all along.

David was in a cave during his preparation for his royal call. Joseph was in a prison during his preparation to become chief adviser to Pharoah. Queen Ester's preparation gave her the courage to risk her life to save her people. The purpose of this call is not about pain; it's about power. It's not about trails; it's about triumph. Great battles bring great victory.

"If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it." - Matthew 16:25

I love the things that are difficult (or downright impossible) for me as a human, will be accomplished with ease when my hope is appropriately placed in the one true God. God can make the impossible....possible. God can make the difficult....easy.

Blessings,
Dalinda

If We Let God Guide, He Will Provide

Jesus wants us to seek His will and follow Him so that He can meet our physical and spiritual needs.

People get into trouble when they think they can handle life without God. If we read the Bible and follow God's guidelines, everything will work out in the end.

It is impossible to drive in the wrong direction and arrive at the right destination.

God wants me to depend on Him only....not my husband, parents, family, or friends. It must be Him alone. Others will let me down.

He has been molding and shaping me to be used for Him. It has been a long hard lesson to learn, but so simple. He is all I need!

Life's most strengthing experience is the awareness of God's presence in our lives, no matter what difficulties come our way.

No matter how educated we are, no matter how much power and influence we may think we have, no matter how significant we may imagine ourselves to be in His plan (if any of us could even claim significance), none of that qualifies us to grasp the first particle of why He does what He does when He does it and how He chooses to do it.

His plan is not designed to make us comfortable; it's designed to make us more like Christ, to conform us to His will.

In this life, we have focus choices. We can focus on ourselves, we can focus on our circumstances, we can focus on other people, or we can focus on God. When you think biblically you focus first on God. Regardless of what you want, regardless of the circumstances you are under, regardless of what others say or think, regarless of how you feel, God and God alone is working out His great plan. And in the final tally, it will be fabulous!

In His strength,
Dalinda

God Is My GPS

Do you ever catch yourself manipulating past God's plans to secure your own desire?

When life doesn't unfold the way we dreamed it would, it doesn't mean God has abandoned us. His plans are good, they will make us more whole and more like Jesus, and they will impact the most people for the longest amount of time. It isn't wrong for us to have dreams, but let's be prepared when He wants to steer us in another direction. God may change His directions, but never His promises.

Rest in the assurance that if it is to be, it isn't up to me. It's up to God. I give what I can give. And then wait for Him to give what only He can give. So, if He makes it happen without all my chaotic self-effort, then I know it is His best....And if it doesn't happen, I will praise Him for saving me from myself.

God will never leave you empty handed. If something is taken away, He will replace it with something better, if He denies your request in a certain area, it is because He wishes to give you what is best, if He asks you to put something down, it is so you can pick up something greater.

Living a life of trusting God is much easier living and, in the long run, will save you from wasting your energy trying to figure out why it didn't go your way!

In His Grip,
Dalinda

Humbled

So many times, there are conflicts in life because it's all about us. It's all about what we want, what we think, and how it will effect us. It's about our opinions, our goal, and our way of doing things.

I am embarrassed to admit that when I first accepted Christ as my personal Savior, I didn't think God would have much work to do. After all, I was a pretty acceptable person by my standards. Was I ever surprised when I was confronted with God's standards.

When I am confronted by the awesome holiness of my God and Savior I am also confronted with my shortfalls. That's one of the wonderful things about this relationship with my God. Peering intently at Him always encourages me to look more acutely and accurately at myself. It is impossible to draw near to His throne and be reminded of His magnificence without also being reminded of my own massive need for His mercy!

Sometimes we get so caught up in life that we forget who gave it to us...and who gave it for us.

It is when my mind is focused on Jesus, when my eyes look toward eternal things, when my ears listen way beyond the voices of the day, that I hear the ocean sing. The LORD miraculously puts everything into His perspective when my mind and heart are set on all that He is, on all that He has done, on all that He's promised. I become more thankful, I become more hopeful, and most importantly, I am humbled.

Humbled and undeserving,
Dalinda

God Is Our Refuge And Strength

One year ago today my sweet Daddy went to be with Jesus, on Pearl Harbor Day. The thing that I think is so neat is, my Dad was stationed at Pearl Harbor when he was in the United States Navy during World War II and he passed away on Pearl Harbor Day, December 7, 2010.

Both my parents are deceased. I lost my Mom to cancer on December 10, 2006 and my Dad to heart disease on December 7, 2010. Almost four years to the day. I miss them both, so much!

When I look back over my life and remember some of the things God has brought me through, I think, "How did I do that?" It was because of God's grace and power. He enabled me to do what I needed to do at the time, and He will always do the same thing for you if you ask Him to.

I feel as though many of us are going through tough times just now. Don't you dare quit! God's help always arrives at the right time.

Everyone suffers. But God knows how to turn our tears into joy. He can restore our souls in the valleys of life!

I hope and pray that today, if you are feeling defeated about some area of your life, you will realize that God's grace is sufficient for you, when you are weak, He is strong.

Be sure of this: God sees. He feels our pain. He always brings good from bad situations...Trust Him. He will not let you down.

Grace and peace,
Dalinda

Your Worth

Stop chasing after acceptaance...we must realize that we are ACCEPTED!

We need to come to a place where we are secure enough in who we are in Christ that we will not allow our sense of worth to be based on the opinions or actions of others.

Don't try and find your worth in how you look. Don't try to find your worth in what you do. Don't try to find your worth in how other people treat you.

You are worth something because Jesus shed His blood for you!

If I let everything I do, every decision I make, come from what I feel God is asking me to do, then what others think about my decision is irrelevant. My ultimate approval and acceptance must come from my Father, otherwise, I will end up chasing a moving target.

Humbled and undeserving,
Dalinda

There Is Hope

Our circumstances and emotions change like shifting sand. If our happiness is based on our surroundings and circumstances we will feel like we are on a roller coaster ride, and we will be left with an empty heart.

A heart full of God's love is way more rewarding than anything this world has to offer.

Our hope doesn't come from anything in this world. Our confidence, our peace doesn't come from having enough money in the bank, winning a championship, owning a new car, or getting a promotion. Our hope comes from the Lord.

We fuss so much over our earthly homes, paging through magazines in search of the perfect decor, or just the right paint color. What short-sighted vision we have!

Heaven is our real home. The most glorious place of all.

"We are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives." ~Philippians 3:20

What is more important than sitting in the presence of the Almighty?

In His Grip,
Dalinda

Know Your Enemy

Satan uses people and circumstances, but they are not our real enemy; Satan is. He finds things and people through whom he can work and delights in watching us fight and war without even realizing he is the source.

We need to look beyond what we see or initially feel and seek to know the source of our problems. Usually we blame people and become angry with them, which only complicates and compounds the problem. When we behave in this manner, we are actually playing right into Satan's hands and helping his plans succeed. We also blame circumstances and sometimes God, which also delights Satan.

Our number one goal in life as believers should be Christlikeness.

Go through each day without hassling anybody, without criticizing anybody, without trying to put anybody down. These characteristics are from Satan. We should know Satan's character so we do not listen to or believe his lies.

Blessings,
Dalinda

Fearless Faith

When David came against Goliath, he did not stand for hours looking at the giant wondering how to win the battle. The Bible says that he quickly ran to the battle line, all the time talking about the greatness of God and declaring his victory ahead of time. David did not run away from his giant; he courageously ran toward him.

If David had run from Goliath, he would never have been king of Israel. He faced his giants and proved that he had the tenacity to endure difficulty without quitting.

David lived a fearless faith. This doesn't mean that he didn't wrestle with fear. In David's writings he never claimed to be free from the feelings of fear. He talked about being afraid, but he chose to be confident!

Having a fearless faith simply means that we no longer allow fear to intimidate us. Rather, we counteract it by admitting it to God, asking others to pray for us, filling our mind with the truth of God's Word, and then moving forward....doing it afraid.

Preparing for battle begins on our knees.

Faithfully His,
Dalinda

Are You A Follower Or Just A Fan?

Fan: an enthusiastic admirer. A fan wants all the benefits of a relationship with Jesus without any sacrifice.

A follower must sacrifice and take up their cross.

The crowds of people that Jesus fed, healed, and taught were mainly fans. Most of them followed Him because they wanted something from Him. They praised Him as long as it was easy, but ran away when the going got tough.

Being a follower of Jesus isn't easy!

I want to be a follower of Jesus everyday, but I know there are days when I live as just a fan. Part of the growing process with Christ is realizing how much farther I have to go. I'm thankful that God is merciful and deals with me a little at a time. He is patient, loving and kind. I want to be more like Him and less like me.

It has nothing to do with "what" we do, but everything to do with "why" we do. It's a Jesus thing.

For His Glory,
Dalinda

Change Can Be Good

You will never change your life until you change something you do daily.- John Maxwell

Healthy choices are easy to put off until some future date. But procrastination, especially concerning matters of personal health, is at best, foolish and, at worst, dangerous. If you feel the need to improve your physical health, don't wait for New Year's Day; don't even wait until tomorrow. The time to begin living a healthier life is the moment you finish reading this sentence.

I must take up my cross...My cross. Stop blaming and finger pointing. I must take my issue to His cross and see my sin for what it is...sin. And I must be disgusted enough by my sin to truly want to do something about it.

Life is a gift...health must be earned. We earn good health by cultivating healthy habits. Look at your habits: how you eat, how you exercise, and how you think about your health. The only way that you'll revolutionize your physical health is to revolutionize the habits that make up the fabric of your day.

This is the time to commit yourself to a more sensible lifestyle. Each moment is too precious to waste.

Success doesn't always come in direct proportion to your measure of talent. Sometimes success comes to those with the fiercest determination to never give up.

God is a redeeming God and He can make all things new.

The journey to a new you begins now...and it begins with God.

"Whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, you must do it all for the glory of God." ~ 1 Corinthians 10:31

In His Mighty Hand,
Dalinda

Close Your Eyes, Clear Your Heart, Let It Go

We want to give our situations and trials to God for Him to use for His glory, not for us to become bitter about.

How dare I bless Him in my ease and curse Him in my trials. My God is God! His Deity is not dependent on my current situation. His Love is not dependent on my attitude!

In my strength, my gifts are 'D' effort at best, but when surrendered to Christ there is no end to what HE can do with them. Whatever I have the faith to surrender fully, willingly to rid myself of my comfort zone or my conveniences HE can make beautiful.

I pursue HIM and HE pursues His perfection in me. He desire me to see the world through His eyes, with His heart. There's no way for me to do that in my own strength.

I am determined to see God glorified through my mundane. Well, I see my everyday as mundane, but if I allow Him to use it, He can make my mundane...Miraculous.

I don't want to show everyone a "mock perfection." I don't want to be a Barbie Christian. I want my life to be a humble, honest reflection of where I am in my walk with Him!

We can't ever learn how to live real faith if we never need real faith.

Because He wants us to willingly let it go.

For His Praise and Glory,
Dalinda

Lighten Up

I am thankful for the moments of laughter to lighten the day. Laughter renews your zest for life too. If you've been feeling old and cranky lately, a good laugh can lift your spirits and renew your youthfulness.

Are you so serious about life that you've drained the creativity and joy out of it?

You lead a busy and productive life, but don't forget to make room for good times.

Always have something to look forward to. No matter how much there is to do, anticipating a coming pleasure can brighten your mood and help you accomplish today's tasks with zest.

The key is this: Meet today's problems with today's strength. Don't start tackling tomorrow's problems until tomorrow. You do not have tomorrow's strength yet. You simply have enough for today.

Lighten up and savor the simple joy of being alive.

Joyfully,
Dalinda

What Does It Matter?

What denomination are you?

Can I just suggest, what does it matter? If you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, who came to this earth in the form of a man , lived as a man, was crucified on the cross for our sins, rose from the grave in three days, and is seated at the right hand of the Father until He comes again...that's all you need to know about another believer. Everything else is relative.

Some of it is legalisms, some fanaticism, but if your core belief is truth, then you are brothers and sisters in Christ regardless.

We've just made up a bunch of rules, made 'church' and the body of Christ so much more difficult than it needs to be.

Grace- because of a personal relationship, not a bunch of rules.

Humbled,
Dalinda

Peace

Peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.

When your equilibrium is upset by complications or crisis, it is essential to step back, take a deep breath, and focus on God instead of the problem. God promises to take care of you. But if you are putting all your energy into worrying about the problem, it is almost impossible to hear the still, small voice of God in the situation. Only God can help you navigate the problems that seem too overwhelming to deal with.

When you focus on God's immense greatness, it puts your problems into perspective.

Spend time with God to discover the peace that passes understanding. Exchange fear for faith by concentrating on the greatness of God. You may not know why the hard times happen, but you do know whom you can trust in the midst of them.

I've learned that the Lord didn't do it all in one day. What makes me think I can?

I am so thankful for the peace of Jesus Christ that overwhelms, surpasses my needs, upholds my weak knees, and covers my heart and soul.

I need Him! He is the only solution to my trails.

Knowing God's peace not only transforms your life, it also transforms your perspective of who God is. When God walks through our circumstances with us, the grass really is greener on the other side. Not because our location or circumstances have necessarily changed, but simply because He is there with us.

Peace,
Dalinda

Claim The Blessings

Sometimes life can feel like a wrestling match. When the complexities of a challenging situation make you feel as if you are wrestling for your life, remember Jacob.

When times are tough and you're not sure how you're going to get through them, take a minute to acknowledge the help you have received instead of the needs you still have. Appreciate the gift and thank the giver. When you look back at how God has provided for you, it will inspire you to believe that God will provide for you again.

Know that the love of God is greater than all the challenges life can throw at you.

"Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." ~Psalm 34:8

Blessings,
Dalinda

You Don't Have To Be In Prison To Be A Prisoner

One of the loneliest experiences you can have is when you're surrounded by people who don't understand your situation, your dreams, your interests, or your sense of humor. You may feel like the psalmist who wrote, "No one stands up for me; there is no refuge for me; no one cares about me" (142:4).

How do you handle life when your most alone times are when you're with people who are supposed to understand you?

The truth is we're all pretty much into ourselves. That's part of our sinful nature and it's not pretty. Because of that, people will let you down. When that happens, you may have the tendency to grow bitter because the people in your life didn't do what you needed or expected them to do.

Don't fall into that trap. Don't allow yourself to be a prisoner. Even though you are the one left to carry the heavy load, you must guard your attitude. (Hebrews 12:15).

Jesus is the only One who completely understands the entire situation, including the encouragement we need. He is faithful! He is all you need!

In Him,
Dalinda

Surrendering Control

This control nature of ours can get out of control!

We try to control too much, only giving Him the leftovers.

I am finding that it all comes down to seeking God's direction and listening to His voice, more that getting caught up in having to have things done in my way, my timing, and my plan.

When I focus on the Lord, everything about controlling circumstances and people sharpens into focus. The little things remain little, and the things that need my intervention get taken care of in His way, not mine. In the process, I'm exhibiting the love and compassion of Jesus and moving about reflecting Him, not me.

I'm definitely a "work in progress," but I am celebrating the growth I'm experiencing in this area. More miles to cover, but I'm gathering steam to make it happen with each step I travel with God.

Humbled,
Dalinda

The Beauty Found In The Mess

Isn't it odd that sometimes in the hardest periods of our lives, God does His best work?

I'm convinced God doesn't dislike tough times as much as we do. Oh, He hates sin, that's for sure. And I know His heart breaks for our pain. But tough times are kind of like the pain we might feel going to the gym. It hurts while we are there, bur there is a greater good coming forth. If we position ourselves to see His hand at work, we will see it.

Trials are no fun when we are going through them, but seeing God's hand weaving the threads toward a result bigger than our circumstance is life affirming, a true blessing indeed! Honestly, I actually feel the blessing in the midst of the trial, not because of anything I do, but because of His grace. His amazing grace!

HIM receiving Glory out of this little life is WAY more important to me than...anything else! For my life to be worthy of being set apart as a testament to our Great GOD...well, that rocks my socks off more than living a life according to my own convenience.

I am thankful for the lessons of life and the beauty found in the mess!

Blessings,
Dalinda

Stay Humble

I am thankful for the challenges in life that remind me that He is my strength.

In our weakness the Lord's strength shines through.

We need to fade so that God can shine. God has a greater purpose than our immediate comfort. Getting what we want, when we want it, is not always the best for us or glorifying to God.

What we should be concerned about is whether or not our actions and attitude are glorifying Him. Am I taking the credit for the work He has done in my life? We need to keep Christ and our reflection of Him at the center of our lives at every moment. The more we do that, the more instinctual it becomes. And instead of being prideful we become humble in His sight.

In order to combat pride in our lives, we must acknowledge that every good thing in our lives is a gift from God. We count our blessings, not draw attention to ourselves, but turn all praise and glory to God, our Loving Father, the Giver of Life.

God without man is still God. Man without God is nothing.

Humble In His Sight,
Dalinda

Joy Comes In The Morning

Satan knows that I don't feel well today and that I am already down because it is my Dad's birthday. He is using everything he can to bring me down even further. But with God by my side he will not succeed.

The devil is not happy to see us on our knees crying to God. We need to press through, press on and not give up.

God shows up in the dark times just as He is present in the light, but sometimes we hesitate to expose our challenges and struggles for fear of embarrassment or rejection. I try to avoid building those walls because I want people to know God's grace in their own lives and those are the moments we need it most!

If only we could remember that on the tail end of every sorrow there is a joyful tomorrow!

Humbled and undeserving,
Dalinda

Lift People Up

Words are important. Like nothing else they have the ability to hurt, to help, or to heal. And the words that Jesus spoke two thousand years ago had, and still have, more power than any words ever spoken.

A word of encouragement can go a long way in strengthening hearts. Whether the word comes from a friend, a spouse, a stranger, or straight from God's own Word, encouragement has power. It let's us know we're not alone. We have a support group cheering us on as we go through life. Out of that support group, God is our biggest fan. He wants you to succeed, and His help is just a prayer away.

Compassion is a big part of learning to love others as Jesus did. It is more than having pity on someone. It is feeling so deeply what someone else is going through that you're moved to do something to alleviate their suffering. Open your eyes to the pain of those around you today, and then allow God to touch others' lives through you.

You can be Jesus' hands and feet in today's world by consciously putting yourself in a hurting person's shoes and letting compassion inspire you to action.

My prayer is that you would step out and do something radical for Jesus. I guarantee He will help you with the details.

For His Glory,
Dalinda

Doing What Matters

We are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

Life is not fair. People will say and do things to hurt your feelings, things you don't deserve. But when someone mistreats you, try to see it as a chance to show them God 's grace and to grow in your own faith.

Don't try to get even or get the last word in. See how quickly you can forgive. And don't tell everyone around you what happened. Just let it go. Don't worry about what others think...God's opinion is the only one that really counts.

When it comes to making choices, loving God and others is always the right choice, no matter what the circumstance.

Blessings,
Dalinda

Our Strong Anchor

Unfortunately, we all face unexpected crisis situations in life. If we are wise, we'll prepare ahead for life's storms by building our lives on the solid ground of Jesus Christ and His Word rather than the shifting sands of this world.

Never cast an anchor in shifting sand.

When the flash floods of affliction wash over us, God will be our steady anchor if we trust in Him. The question is: How will you respond to life's storms? Will you resist God or allow Him to be your anchor?

The Lord Himself awaits to help us, if we only ask.

In His Grip,
Dalinda

Believers Are Achievers

Great men and women of God are not made on the peak , they are formed in the valley. What a comforting thing to know that if God is testing your faith, it's because He has somewhere He wants to take you. God has to prove you before He can promote you.

There are no short-cuts to any place worth going. The long road is also where God teaches me things I wouldn't learn otherwise.

God can make the impossible....possible. God can make the difficult easy.

Remember, that while we draw the breath of life in the mortal body that is so easily beset by sin, we have an adversary that will do everything he can to steal and kill our joy and peace with God.

How God sees us is not the problem. It is how we see ourselves that keeps us from succeeding. Each of us can succeed at being everything God intends us to be.

You and I think we are supposed to be achievers, and we are. But the way we achieve is to believe.

It is wonderful and comforting to know that when everyone else sees our faults, God still sees our possibilities. The Lord did not wait for me to get all fixed up before He got involved with me. He started with me where I was then and has been responsible for getting me to where I am today.

It should be a great comfort to us to know that what we cannot do for ourselves, the Lord will do for us, if we trust ourselves to Him.

Grace and peace,
Dalinda

A Walk Of Faith

When you're struggling with something, look at all the people around you and realize that every single person you see is struggling with something and to them it's just as hard as what you're going through.

God wants to take us to places we've never been. To heights we can't even imagine. In order to do that, we have to go through the low valleys, treacherous mountains, rough terrain, and narrow paths of life, places where we could easily get lost or cut off the track. And there is definitely no way we can just head off on our own and expect to arrive safely in the place He has planned for us. We will never know the joy of true freedom until we understand we cannot take a single step without His help.

God doesn't want us to just depend on Him as a last resort when we have a medical emergency or a financial crisis. He wants us to depend on Him for every breath we take. And, quite opposite of the way it may seem, that kind of dependent life is not stifling. It's liberating!

Learning to walk with God is a process. And just when we think we have it all figured out, God leads us into a new place where our old tricks won't work. In fact, it may seem like we're learning to walk again. And in a way we are. We enter unfamiliar territory and are soon reminded that, on our own, we stumble. Yet when we take His hand, we fly. God wants us to soar far above the limitations of our lives and ourselves. He wants to take us to a place we have never been before and can't get to from where we are without His help.

If you are at a place in your life where you feel like you can't take one step without the Lord's help, be glad. He has you where He wants you.

A man's heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.~ Proverbs 16:9

The path is not a punishment; it's a privilege. It's not a restriction; it's a reward.

Blessings,
Dalinda

TGFJ...Thank God For Jesus!

Has today been one of 'those' mornings for you?

Let me ask you a question...Why does this phrase have to be negative? Why can't one of 'those' mornings refer to a morning spent in God's presence? We seem to talk more about our bad mornings than our good ones. Are we glorifying God in this? NO! Let's change our focus. Instead of expecting it to be a bad day, let's expect it to be God's day.

TGFJ...Thank God For Jesus!

Have a blessed weekend everyone!

Shine on,
Dalinda

Setbacks

We all have setbacks in life. This is when it is important to keep your focus on God, not your circumstances. No one comforts better than Christ. In the midst of your circumstances, His presence brings comfort and strength. He may choose to restore your circumstances, but frankly He may not. Regardless, His grace is abundantly sufficient for you. His hand is on your life at this time of affliction. It's better than the hand of any friend, any partner, any parent, or any child, because when He touches, he brings great compassion and lasting relief. No one comforts better than Christ.

Our problem is that we focus our attention on the wrong thing. We see the fuzzy cocoon; God plans and sets in motion the butterfly. We see the painful, awful process; He is producing the value of the product. We see today; He is working on forever. We get caught up in the wrapping; He focuses on the gift, the substance down inside. We look at the external; He emphasizes the internal. He makes everything beautiful in it's time, including your loss, your hospital experience, your failures, your brokenness, your battles, your fragmented dreams, your lost romance, your heartache, your illness. And yes, even your terminal illness. Without Him, life is purposeless and profitless, miserable and meaningless. With Him, it will ultimately make sense.

In His Mighty Hand,
Dalinda

Putting A Positive Spin On Life

If you look for the bad in life, you'll find it!

I'm not saying lie to yourself, but I can tell you from personal experience that so much of what rattles around in your head has more to do with your perspective than with your real circumstances. If you look at yourself and at your surroundings and think negatively about them, then you start a cycle that is hard to break. But if you prayerfully spin your bad thoughts into truly positive, uplifting, thankful thoughts, then you start to focus on the blessings rather than the difficulties in your life.

Don't put your hope into things that change...relationships, money, talents, beauty, even health. Set your sights on the one thing that can never change: Trust in your Heavenly Father!

You've seen people treat this world like it was their permanent home. It's not. You've seen people pour time and energy into life like it will last forever. It won't. You've seen people so proud of what they have done, that they hope they will never have to leave...they will. WE ALL WILL. We are in transit.

The happiest people I know are the ones who have learned how to hold everything loosely and have given the worrisome, stress-filled, fearful details of their lives into God's keeping.

Joyfully,
Dalinda

Are You Spiritually Fit?

The journey toward spiritual maturity lasts a lifetime: we can and should continue to grow in the love and knowledge of our Savior as long as we live. When you cease to grow, you begin to die.

Ask the God who made you to keep remaking you. Every day you should learn something new. Every day you should grow. Every day you should be further along than you were the day before. We must each discover our God-given gifts and talents, what we are truly capable of, and then put ourselves to the task of developing those gifts, talents, and capabilities to their fullest extent.

And don't forget.... God will use anyone who has a willing heart as a means to advance His Kingdom.

Victory is not the absence of problems; it is the presence of God's power.... Walk in victory today!

Humbled and undeserving,
Dalinda

Sometimes We Don't Understand, But We Must Trust

Our youngest son, Drew had his tonsils taken out two weeks ago tomorrow. Yesterday, Drew felt good. We went to church and then to lunch. Then we went to Wal-Mart to get him a Halloween costume. When we got home Drew went upstairs to play video games. I was in the kitchen making chocolate protein bars for the week. All of the sudden Drew started screaming, "I'm spitting up blood, I'm spitting up blood! He was bleeding pretty bad! Trying to stay calm, I called the doctor on call and told him what was happening. He told us to meet him at the ER at Saint Francis Eastside. We got there in 15 minutes. Jody never drove so fast!

The doctor met us there and had to put him to sleep so he could go in and see why he was bleeding from the place he got his tonsils removed. This took about 30 minutes. The doctor came to talk to us and said that he had two blood clots, one on each side of his throat. They had ruptured. He stopped the bleeding and then had to pump his stomach of all the blood that he had swallowed. They pumped 200-300 cc's of blood off his little tummy. He could have got into some big trouble. Praise God, he did not!

Sometimes we may not understand why certain things happen, but everything that does happen, happens for a reason. God could have been using our situation with Drew to touch the heart of a hospital worker, or any person who knows Drew or our family. We may never know this side of Heaven, but we must always remember that He is so faithful to keep His promises. We must trust Him, even when we don't understand.

We can trust the One Who holds all the answers to the jarring question 'Why'? Just knowing that is enough.

In His Grip,
Dalinda

Age Is A Frame Of Mind

Young people don't get their grandparents, and the over-fifty crowd can't figure out their juniors...in some sense a standoff. But the truth is, there is beauty on both sides of the gap. Young people possess stamina and a passion for life, while those who've been around awhile are reservoirs of experience and wisdom. In God we are glorious at any age.

All of God's people are ordinary people who have been made extraordinary by the purpose He has given them.

Each age brings new opportunities. As believers, life is a journey. We want to move from point A to point B, and then on from there, all the while growing in our faith. Instead of focusing on the ups and downs of the journey, we should be looking ahead to the finish line....What joy will come when you cross it!

Blessings,
Dalinda

Conformed Or Transformed?

God has a plan for every aspect of your life, including your health. But He expects you to do your fair share of the work! God will not force His plans upon you. He has given you the ability to make choices. The consequences of those choices help determine the quality and tone of your life.

Health is a gift from God. What we do with that gift is determined by the person we see every time we look in the mirror. If we take it for granted, we do a profound disservice to ourselves and to our loved ones.

If you trust God, and if you keep asking for His help, He can transform your life.

Your journey toward improved health can be, and should be, a journey that you make with God.

The choice is ours. If we want to be a sold out somebody for God, we have to break away from the everybody crowd. The One who knows us best and loves us most is present to provide everything we need to continue on until He changes our circumstances.

In Him,
Dalinda

Diet Is Not About Denial....It's About Desire

Today, I am beginning my journey to create a healthier me. With the help of my internist and my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ I will have victory. No food tastes as good as being healthy feels!

The time and energy it takes to eat healthy and exercise is well worth every minute. I am going to be strong in the Lord's strength, do my very best, and God will do the rest.

If I exercise and eat healthy to bring glory to myself, I will run out of willpower. But if I eat healthy to complete God's calling for my life and to bring glory to our King, I will see victory like never before.

For the next 12 weeks, I want to honor God with my body by following the nutrition and exercise plan my internist has given me. I commit to eat well, get proper rest, and exercise to bring glory to God, not myself. I pray God gives me self-control, helps me to be disciplined in my mind, my body, and my spirit.

Jesus can take our defective lives and make them effective! He can take our worst and add His best. Your life means more than you think it does. God is using you in ways you may never know.

My desire is to bring God the glory and to reduce my risk of getting heart disease. My Dad died of heart disease. My internist gave me a genetic test to see if I inherited the genes, from my Dad, that cause heart disease. The results came back showing that I inherited one of the genes.

Heart disease is the #1 killer in the US....Heart disease accounts for 1 death every 34 seconds....1 in 3 persons has some form of heart disease....800,000 people have a stroke every year.

I want to do everything I can to reduce my risk of getting heart disease and becoming one of these statistics.

Many times our battles in this life prepare us for our purpose. So the goal in our walk with God should not be to dodge the pain and problems life brings, but to learn to fight the good fight and finish strong!

In His Mighty Hand,
Dalinda

Who's In Charge?

One of the surest ways, and BEST way, to improve your health and your life is to do it with God as your partner. When you put God first in EVERY aspect of your life, you'll be comforted by the knowledge that His wisdom is the ultimate wisdom and that His plans are the right plans for you.

When you put God first, your outlook will change, your priorities will change, your behaviors will change, and your health will change. When you put Him first, you'll experience the genuine peace and lasting comfort that only He can give.

God deserves first place in your life....and you deserve the experience of putting Him there.

In Him,
Dalinda

Share Your Joy

To share your joy with others, to love others as Jesus loves you, is not only a form of thanksgiving and praise, but also a way to cause others to wonder what you are so happy about.

They say you can tell a lot about a person's foundation of hope by the way they handle a rainy day. Do they turn into a Gloomy Gus, wailing, 'Oh, woe is me," or do they make the best of a bad situation? A hope-filled person will realize that abundant life in Christ isn't about simply enduring the storm, but also about learning to dance in the puddles. So grab your galoshes, and let's boogie!

Joyfully,
Dalinda

True Beauty

Let me tell you a little secret friends. The actresses, the ladies who appear on those magazine covers and even the sixteen year old selling anti-aging make-up are just like you and me in real life. It takes an army of hair and make-up professionals 3-5 hours to get them ready for their close-ups and agencies still spend tens of thousands of dollars on airbrushing.

Our world today has so many misconceptions of true beauty. It's not high fashion at it's best. It's not a Noxzema smooth face every morning. It's not tighter, firmer abs either. It's a beauty that's so transparent that others see Jesus in you, working through you: A beauty that causes others to wonder what's different about you.

Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important. A smile can brighten the darkest day. It takes a lot of work from the face to let out a smile, but just think what good smiling can bring the most important muscle of the body...the heart.

Others can't see Jesus until we let our light shine for Him! So SMILE! It increases your face value and guides and directs others to Jesus, the sweetest light of all.

Keep smiling (for God),
Dalinda

Falling Forward

Courage and fear. Those two attributes are strange bedmates. It would seem impossible to experience both of them at the same time; yet it seems that's the challenge of the believer's life. Fear tells us that life is unpredictable, anything can happen, but courage replies quietly, "Yes, but God is in control."

If we will stop for a moment during our cluttered lives to reflect, we will realize this is not a rehearsal. This is it!

I sin. I fall far short. I stumble. I listen to Satan's lies too often.

Why do I keep losing my patience with the kids? Why do some people's attitude annoy me so much? I should be more Christlike by now, shouldn't I?

Just the other day, I lost it when a driver cut me off, and I've been asking God to help me stop doing that. But do you know what He showed me? He is using all these unpleasant irritations to bring my hidden attitudes to the surface so He can deal with them. He will continue to change me, but it is a slow process.

As gold is refined in fire, likewise our attitudes are brought to the surface in trials.

Each moment of this life I long to look more like my Jesus and less like one of the Pharisees!

I pray that God challenges me to fall ever more before the throne of God begging for more of Him to show in my life and less of me!

In Him,
Dalinda

It's A Shakedown

Shakedown: to shake something in order to find a hidden treasure.

Sometimes we are shaken so that something better can be revealed.

Some ways we can be shaken are: our health, our relationships, our hopes, and our souls.

We cannot choose whether or not we should be shaken, but we can choose what we are standing on when we are shaken.

Never cast an anchor in shifting sand!

Sometimes our relationships are shaken so that we can see that Jesus is the only relationship we can truly count on. When everything seems to be falling apart that's when God is putting things together just the way He wants it.

To our heart-wrenched cries of Why? God's ultimate answer is, "Jesus," as He is glorified and magnified in our lives through our suffering. Trust Him. When guilt takes the edge off every joy....When there are no answers to our questions...Trust Him when you don't understand. Trust His heart. Trust His purpose. Trust Him when it is your heart that's broken. Trust His goodness. Trust Him beyond the grave. Trust Him to know best. Trust His plan to be bigger than yours. Trust Him to be on time. Trust Him to be enough. Trust Him to set you free. Trust Him, and Him alone!

The times when we can't trace His hand of purpose, we must trust His heart of love! Trust HIM!

For His praise and glory,
Dalinda

Life's An Ocean, Sail It!

We should give meaning to life, not wait for life to give us meaning.

You miss a lot of good things in life if you have the wrong attitude. If you look for the bad in life, you'll find it. Things turn out the best for people who make the best of the way things turn out. You are only a victim if you allow yourself to be.

Pessimism is more harmful than optimism is helpful.

Life is a struggle that must be accepted. Each stage of life has a learning curve, but what pains us, trains us.

Everyone gets the same twenty-four hours in a day, the difference is how you use it. Each individual has the choice to make their life either complicated or simple. It is up to us to take the lemons life hands us and make lemonade out of them. We can choose to let circumstances rule us or we can choose to rule the circumstances. God created us with a free-will. Part of that free-will is the ability to make choices. Lemonade is much sweeter and tastier than plain lemons, don't you think?

For His Glory,
Dalinda

Lessons Hard To Learn Are Sweet To Know

All things are difficult before they are easy.

Something is lost whenever something is gained. But sometimes when you lose, you still win in the long run. (Luke 9:23-26)

Life is like a mirror, we get the best results when we smile at it.

You will never be completely happy on earth, simply because you were not made for earth. Oh, you will have your moments of joy. You will catch glimpses of light. You will know moments of even days of peace. But they simply do not compare with the happiness that lies ahead.

Many in life don't grow wiser simply because they lived a righteous life, many grow wiser because the older they get the more they recognize how many times they've fallen short.

He who suffers most has most to give.

God has a greater purpose than our immediate comfort, than getting what we want, when we want it, is not always best or gloryifying to God.

Better to limp along the right road than to speed on the wrong one.

There is a heavenly reason for everything in life; may we always learn and grow from our experiences.

I am honored that the Creator of all, chose this beautifully crazy life for me!

Humbled and undeserving,
Dalinda

Keep The Faith, Tides Change

God will never leave you empty handed. If something is taken away, He will replace it with something better, if He denies your request in a certain area, it is because he wishes to give you what is best, if He asks you to put something down, it is so you can pick up something greater.

God will either give you what you ask, or something far better!

When you put Christ first in your life, tides change.

The cross is "I" crossed out. He is first. I am second.

I found this poem somewhere and thought it was good:

Doubt see obstacles
Faith sees the way;
Doubt sees the blackest night
Faith sees the day;
Doubt dreads to take a step
Faith soars on high;
Doubt questions, "Who believes?"
Faith answers, "I"

Let's sail away on God's boat! The seas might get rough, but the Captain knows the way!

Blessings,
Dalinda

Let God Be God

We can worry about hundreds of different things, from what people think of us to what will happen to us as we age. Quite often, worry does not even have a basis or nugget of truth to it. There is no known reason to even think about the things that worry and then frighten us. Worry can become a bad habit. It is just what we do!

Some people say children are gullible, meaning they believe anything, no matter how ridiculous it sounds. But children are not gullible; they are trusting. It is children's nature to trust unless they have experienced something that teaches them otherwise. And another thing we all know about children is that they can enjoy just about anything, even turning work into games.

God wants us to know that we are His precious little children and put our complete faith in Him to care for us. He wants us to take His hand and lean on Him, continually asking for His help. But we must come humbly as little children - sincere, unpretentious, honest, open,-knowing that without Him, we can do nothing.

God has given us life, and our goal should be to enjoy it. As God's children we were never intended to live in bondage of any kind. Seek to become and remain childlike in faith with all the simplicity of a child and experience freedom to enjoy all that God has given us in Christ.

In His Love,
Dalinda

Are You In Over Your Head?

At various points in our lives, all of us feel we're getting "out of our depth" or " in over our heads." But the reality is that without God we're always in over our heads.

There are problems all around in this life: a job lost, someone dies, there is strife in the family, or a bad report comes from the doctor. When these things happen, our temptation is to panic, because we feel we've lost control.

I appreciate all the wonderful people God has placed in my life. My husband and my children are amazing. It was because of my parents' love for one another and love for God that I am the woman I am today. They taught me much ... not with lessons, but by example. They lived a life in front of me that permeates my being today. They were a kind, loving example of a family committed to God.

I depend on many people in my life to help me accomplish what I am called to do. However, we see constant change. People who we thought would be with us forever leave.

Every individual needs to believe that God is all you have to have. God is the only presence we can never do without.

God without man is still God. Man without God is nothing.

Don't venture out of your depth till you can swim, with God as your lifeguard.

In His Mighty Hand,
Dalinda

Don't Let The Devil Steal Your Joy

I don't know about you, but I want to prove to the devil that I can enjoy everything I do and that his tactics to steal my joy just won't work. 1 John 4:4 says, "Greater is He that is in me than he who is in the world." I believe it glorifies God when we refuse to live in fear, worry, dread, or any other relatives of theirs.

If we allow fear in our lives, it breeds more fear, but if we practice walking in faith, it becomes easier to do it again and again.

It is important to realize that we are not alone in our battles with fear. The devil wants nothing better than to convince you that there is something really wrong with you and that other normal people don't have the same kind of problems. Don't let him do it; all of us experience fear.

God wants us to believe for great things, makes big plans, and expect Him to do things so great it leaves us with our mouths hanging open in awe. James 4:2 tells us we have not because we ask not! We can be bold in our asking. We can ask God for all we want to, as long as we trust Him to do it His way, in His timing.

Faith is knowing inside that despite what is happening on the outside, everything is going to be alright because God is on the scene, and when He is present nothing is impossible.

In Him,
Dalinda

Cracked Pots

Everybody is defective in some way. Only God can make us "run" like we were designed to do.

God works through jars of clay, or what Joyce Meyer often calls "cracked pots." This means we are flawed, so when people look at us and see amazing things happening, they know it must be God at work because it certainly could not be us. 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 says, "God chooses the weak and foolish things on purpose so no mortal can have pretense for glorying in His presence."

God will use anyone who has a willing heart as a means to advance His kingdom.

I found this analogy from Joyce Meyer and thought it was so good ... Imagine a pot with a lamp in it and a lid on it. Even though it may be filled with light, no one can see the light within it. Yet if the pot is cracked, the light will shine through the cracks. In the same way, God works through our imperfections.

In our weakness, the Lord's strength shines through.

Humbled and undeserving,
Dalinda

Living Courageously

Believers have every reason to live courageously. After all, the final battle has already been won on the cross at Calvary.

When you find yourself worried about challenges of today or the uncertainties of tomorrow, you must ask yourself whether or not you are ready to place your concerns and your life in God's all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving hands. If the answer is yes, as it should be, then you can draw courage today from the source of strength that never fails: your Heavenly Father.

Isaiah 41:10 says, "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous hand."

So what is courage? It is the ability to be strong in trust, in conviction, in obedience. To be courageous is to step out in faith, to trust and obey, no matter what.~Kay Arthur

For the child of God, suffering is not wasted. The spiritual principle is that in some way God uses suffering to transform ordinary, dust-clay people into...vessels that are strong in faith...vessels that display His glory to the watching world.

The truth is that our real strength lies buried at the depths of any wound we have survived.

Instead of denying our disappointments, hiding our wounds, rehearsing them, or judging them, we need to accept them as part of our story. There's an old saying that captures this principle well; "You've got to be where you are to get where you are going."

In His Mighty Hand,
Dalinda

Life Is Sweet

As I grow to understand life less and less, I learn to love it more and more.

I went to my internist this morning for the results of my tests and blood work. I got some news that I really didn't want to hear. The Berkeley Heart Lab test showed that I DID inherit the gene that causes heart disease from my Dad. But the good news is my heart scan was clear of calcium buildup and clogged arteries. PRAISE GOD!!!

I actually have several things going on. My cholesterol was a little high. I am also not getting the proper dosage of medicine to control my thyroid, so she increased it. My insulin was o.k., but she wants me to watch my carbs. Both my parents were diabetic so I have to be very careful. Some of my hormones were low considering the fact that I am 40 and am perimentalpausal...poor Jody! The "horror-mones" are talking. He will soon be saying that I have been lobotomized by the Evil Dr. PMS. ;-}

When I go back to my internist, she will coach me for 3 months, every two weeks, on proper nutrition for me. She says this is not going to be a diet but a way of life. She wants me to have another Berkeley Heart Lab test at the end of the 3 months to reevaluate.

Please continue to keep me and my family in your prayers. Today was especially difficult for me as it is still so fresh in my mind having to watch my Dad struggle with this terrible disease. I am also giving my life story in our church community group tonight.

Always remember, as long as we are still breathing our life story continues...

God Bless,
Dalinda

Celebrate Life

It is possible to live our lives just going through the motions of working, accomplishing, doing, but never truly enjoying life. This is true of unbelievers as well as believers who have not learned to enjoy the life God has given them. Jesus gave us life so we can derive pleasure from being alive, not just so we can go through the motions until He comes back for us or takes us home.

Enjoying life is decision that is not based on enjoyable circumstances. It is an attitude of the heart, a decision to enjoy everything because everything-- even little seemingly insignificant things-- has a part in God's overall "big picture."

As we believe that it is God's will for us to experience continual joy, we will discover a power that lifts us above our life circumstances. We will be free to leave our problems in God's hands while we enjoy His blessings.

Today I woke up and thanked God for life; then I vowed to live it as fully and enthusiastically as possible.

Blessings,
Dalinda

Let Go and Let God

Let go of the what-if's. Each moment is to precious to waste. He who looks behind will never get ahead.

Life is a long lesson in humility.

Remember the most important thing is not how we start, but how we finish. Be a fighter...as long as we are passive, Satan will torment us.

What are you clinging to...memories of the past, fear of the future, uncertainty in the present, lingering resentment, an unforgiving spirit, rooted bitterness, an old relationship, an old thought process, a wrong attitude, pride, doubt, selfishness. Let them go! Are they worth clinging to when they cause you to miss out on life?

How sad it is when we remain in bondage and settle for less than the life God intended for us to live. So don't wallow in your "why's." Don't throw a pity party. Don't remain in your misery. Don't stop short of all God wants to do for you.

Understand that you may not understand this side of Heaven. Trust God to sort it all out in the end. He can break the bonds of your suffering--now! Trust Him! He will bring you through.

Humbled and undeserving,
Dalinda

Sunshiny Days

Wow! What a beautiful day. I guess if it never rained, I might be tempted to take a day like today for granted.

With the seasons of the soul, thank God, for He is faithful in all circumstances, when the storms rage, God is there. And when the sun brightly shines on an early fall day - or in your life - we have one more vivid reminder that storms pass, but God's love always endures.

Have a blessed, sunshiny day!

In Him,
Dalinda

Encourage Others

We may look at other people and think they never have to go through anything difficult, but we all go through different things. Some people have gone through devastating things that nobody knows anything about. Some people have learned the art of suffering silently. They know only God can help them, so they don't bother telling everyone they meet what they are going through.

It is not wrong to share our troubles with a friend or counselor, but the point is that we cannot assume others are not having challenges in life just because they don't look depressed or don't talk about their problems. We ALL get hurt at times, and we all have the same opportunity either to let it make us bitter or to let it make us better.

A word of encouragement can go a long way in strengthening hearts. Whether that word comes from a friend, a spouse, a stranger, or straight from God's own Word, encouragement has power. It lets us know we're not alone. We have a support group cheering us on as we go through life. God is our biggest fan. He wants you to succeed, and His help is just a prayer away.

Keep smiling (for God),
Dalinda

Launch Out

The only way we can ever reach our final destination and succeed at being our true selves is to take many, many steps of faith. Stepping out into the unknown, into something we have never done before, can leave us shaking in our boots. Because of feelings of fear, many people never "step out," therefore they never "find out" what they are capable of.

I believe failing is part of every success. A person who refuses to give up will always succeed, eventually. Their real strength is not their talent as much as it is their tenacity.

Remember: failure is simply a detour on the road to success.

Do what you can do and God will do what you can not do.

I can assure you that taking the steps of faith you need to in order to enjoy a life of freedom is definitely not as difficult as staying in bondage for the rest of your life. We need to remember that God is our partner and realize that He has a part and we have a part. When we do our part, praying and stretching our spiritual muscles in faith, each time we confront fear, it becomes smaller and smaller.

Don't be afraid of making mistakes. You will never succeed without making mistakes and possibly many of them. Making mistakes is something we do as human beings, but we are still God's children, and He has a good plan for our lives.

Your pain can become someone else's gain. Your mess can become your ministry if you will have a positive attitude and decide to let everything you go through prepare you for what is ahead.

If you are feeling unqualified for something you believe God is calling you to do, don't let that stop you. He will be your trainer. Heaven knows, when God put it on my heart to start an encouragement blog I wasn't very confident that I could pull it off. But I did not have to be prepared to do the job by myself, I just prepared myself to do the best I could do and God does the rest.

Wonder what this world would be like if we all let our guard down and step out in faith?

Step out and find out!

Luke 5:4 says, "When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, "Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch."

Blessings,
Dalinda

Consider The Opportunity Life Gives

Consider the opportunities live gives: a chance to be, become, do, achieve, give, receive, serve, laugh, and love.

If you are stressed out all the time, something will have to change in order for the stress to be relieved. It will not just go away as long as you keep doing the same thing. If you want different results, you have to change the ingredients.

Most of us are afraid of change. We want the safety of sameness. It is amazing to me how some people spend their lives resisting change while others thrive on it. Change keeps life fresh and adventurous. And most importantly, we grow through change...we become fully alive.

Life is like a flower. It needs both rain and sunshine as its buds open and blossom with time.

We have to treat every single day as if it's opening night. Being a follower of Christ isn't easy. It carries much responsibility and my prize at the end isn't a trophy awarded by the people. It isn't seeing my name on the marquee. It isn't even rubbing elbows with the rich and famous. No, the prize is far greater than anything I can hold in my hands or see with my eyes. Serving God brings a prize with eternal value and significance. It brings a prize that shines brighter than the lights of Hollywood. It is a prize that goes beyond myself and changes the lives of those I come in contact with.

How sweet it is to seize life's moments while waiting for life's milestones.

Life's a gift from God, so unwrap yours and enjoy!

In Him,
Dalinda

It's Not About Rules

God does not say He is looking for someone with perfect performance, but rather someone with a perfect heart--a heart that desires to please Him, a heart that is grieved over sin and evil, a heart that believes in Him and His willingness and ability to forgive and restore. God knows we cannot manifest perfection. It is acceptable to be needy!

I love having a relationship with the God who created me. I love knowing that I don't have to be perfect or "Pharisee-like" to come to Him. I love knowing that when I invest time and communication into this relationship, it grows. Religion doesn't grow. Religion is like a tight fitting outfit that doesn't stretch. It's uncomfortable and at some point you just want to take it off and throw it away. I'll choose relationship over religion any day!

I believe God would rather have a believer who has a good heart and less than perfect performance than one who has perfect performance but an impure heart. It is possible to be very religious and to keep all the rules but to have a heart that is far from God.

Jesus had much to say to the Pharisees of His day. They had a polished performance, kept the laws, followed all the rules and regulations, and were proud of it. They also had a judgmental attitude toward others, did not walk in love, and showed no mercy. Jesus called them whitewashed tombs full of dead men's bones (Matthew 23:27).

Grace...because of a personal relationship.

Grace and peace,
Dalinda

Measuring Your Day

When you wake up in the morning, your first thoughts are about the day ahead. You think of the things you need to do...and wonder if you are up to it.

Instead of measuring your day against what you think you can do, measure it against what you know God can do...which is anything! There is no such thing as a day too tough for God, not a test day, not a moving day, etc.

He already knows everything you will face today and He will help you face it.

God has planned a perfect plan for your life. In the distance you can see the mountaintop. That's our goal. We want to go straight to the top, but we tend to take shortcuts. But shortcuts can take you into dangerous places.

There will be difficulties along the way, for sure. But God will use them to bless you with courage and strength. At times it may seem that God is leading you away from the goal. Follow Him anyway.

When the path gets rocky and steep, when problems get in your way, hold on even tighter to His hand. Together you can make it to the top.

Keep the faith,
Dalinda

Live Life On Purpose

All things are difficult before they are easy!

You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. It really doesn't matter how old or young a person is. If God calls someone to do something, and they have the confidence to do it, nothing can stop them.

Moses was 80 years old when he left Egypt to lead the Israelites to the Promised Land. Confident people don't think about how old they are; they think about what they can accomplish with the time they have left. Remember, confident people are positive and look at what they have, not what they have lost.

It's amazing that those who have contributed so much to the progress of society have often had to endure tremendous criticism, judgement, and persecution in order to make something in the world better. This clearly shows how Satan fights progress of any kind. He uses all kinds of fears to try and stop people, but the confident person will keep pressing on and say "Yes" even when the world screams "No."

Remember, life's big chances rarely give advance warning!

Be unstoppable!

Blessings,
Dalinda

Please feel free to make comments or suggest topics that you would like me to do a blog on.

Be Yourself

The world is full of pretenders. People pretend to be happy when they are miserable. They try to do jobs that are way over their head just because they feel they "should" in order to be admired or to maintain a certain reputation with people.

People have many masks and can become quite adept at changing them as needed. I have heard people say, "I'll just fake it until I make it." You are being untrue to yourself. And not only are you being untrue to yourself but you are not being the person God created you to be and you are robbing yourself of God's best.

I believe that not being true to one's self is one of the biggest joy thieves that exists.

Be yourself and be all that God created you to be. That is living life to the fullest.

"On my own I'm so clumsy, but on your shoulders I can see....I'm free to be me!" I love these lyrics from Francesca Battistelli's song 'Free To Be Me'.

In His Amazing Love,
Dalinda

We Can All Be Free If We Choose To Be

The outcome of our lives is not determined by what happens to us but by how we respond to what happens to us.

We will be affected by the circumstances of our lives. They will carve grooves into our hearts that will always be part of our experience. But those circumsatnces, horrendous as they may be, do not have the power to control the outcome of our lives.

As long as we believe that our happines and well-being are determined by what happens to us, we will always be victims, because so much of what happens to us is beyond our control.

Our only hope lies in realizing that we do have a choice about how we respond to life's circumstances, and it is those responses that determine the outcome of our lives.

The most important thing is not how we start, but how we finish.

We are who we are because of the circumstances in our lives and how we respond to them. They mold and shape us. We grow. We change.

Who would we be without change?

Humbled,
Dalinda

Needing A Double Shot Of Faith?

If you are feeling disappointed today, be honest with God. If you are feeling weak, tell Him so. If you are feeling discouraged, tell Him so. If you are feeling hopeless, tell Him so. If you are feeling ashamed, tell Him so. If you are coveting someone else's blessing, wondering why God isn't blessing you, tell Him so.

We may be able to put on a good mask for everyone around us, hiding our pain and our anger and frustration. But God sees, and His desire is to love us through this hard time.

Choosing faith over feeling is a choice we have the power to make.

God sees our hearts, and when we are real with Him, He can become real in our life.

My desire is to live in the moment, the real life moment in front of me, and to not waste time worrying about why that moment doesn't always look like the perceived one I had rolling around in my head.

Practicing thankfulness is one of the most powerful ways of thinking to bring about a change in our circumstances.

Faith leads the way to answered prayer.

In His Magnificient Grace,
Dalinda

My Internist Appointment

I have been having some health issues over the past few months and thought it was my thyroid. I have Hyshimoto's Thyroiditis which has caused me to be hypothyroid. The tests that my family doctor did showed that it is not my thyroid. So off to an internist I go.

I went in to see an internist this morning. Her main concern was the fact that my Dad had heart disease. So she had me have a heart scan today before I left. She is looking for calcium build up and clogged arteries. I also got tons of blood work done. She is also concerned with a few of my female issues. She wants me to have a ultrasound on my ovaries. My Mom had endometrial cancer so she is just covering all the basis. She is checking my endocrine gland and all my hormones as well. I also had the Berkley test. This will show if I inherited the gene for heart disease from my Dad. The test results for this test will not be back for 3 weeks. All other tests will be discussed when I go back in 2 weeks.

Please continue to keep me and my family in your prayers.

In His Grip,
Dalinda

Boast In The Lord

If I say I am confident, I don't mean that I am confident in myself or my abilities. I mean that I am confident in my leader, God, and the gifts, talents, and knowledge He has placed in me. Without Him, we are nothing, but with Him, we can be champions.

Our confidence must be in Christ alone, not in ourselves, not in other people, not in the world or it's systems. The Bible states that we are sufficient in Christ's sufficiency (Philippians 4:13), so we might also say that we are confident through Christ's confidence.

When we have confidence in God and His love and kindness, we can progress to living confidently and enjoying the life He wants for us.

In His Mighty Hand,
Dalinda

Fear Not

Fear seems to be an epidemic in our society. The lists of fears that people experience can be endless. Satan never runs out of new fears to place in any individual's life. At least until he/she firmly makes up their mind that they will not live in fear.

Our worries come from fear. We try to control people and circumstances due to fear. We let people control us because of fear. People who are afraid of becoming poor become greedy and stingy. Someone who is afraid of not having friends pretends to be someone they're not. We get into wrong and harmful relationships due to the fear of being lonely, and the list goes on and on.

I believe we can conquer fear if we make time to understand it and see fear for what it really is...Fear is the master spirit that the devil uses against people. A spirit that has no place in a life turned over to Christ.

Fear may present itself as a feeling, but if we refuse to bow down to it, that is all it is...a feeling! My feelings are not me. I am greater than my feelings and so are you. I can decide to go forward in faith. Going against your feelings is not always easy because feeling are frequently strong, but standing against them until you enjoy freedom is much better than continuing to let them ruin your life and hold you in bondage.

Fear is: F-alse E-evidence A-ppearing R-eal.

Faith is not necessarily the power to make things the way we want them to be; it is the courage to face things as they are.~Ronald Dunn.

Lord, I choose to not live by my feelings today or let them hold me in bondage. I put my faith in You and will serve you with all my heart. You are the constant in a life full of change. For me, that's enough. Amen

Blessings,
Dalinda

A Godly Attitude

It doesn't matter what happens to us, but what happens in us!

Every time something didn't go right for the Israelites in the wilderness, they complained, criticized, tried God's patience, and exploited His goodness. When we don't open our mouths and give thanks, but instead complain and murmur, we are exploiting the goodness of God.

How many doors do we open for the devil in our lives through murmuring? How many times do we ask God to give us something and after He gives it to us , we start complaining because we have to take care of it? This kind of wilderness mentality keeps us living in the wilderness when we could be living in the Promised Land.

In Philippians 2:14, we are told to do "all things" without complaining...THAT MEANS EVERYTHING!

We can accomplish anything and always be a winner as long as we have a godly attitude and exercise control over our mouth daily.

Victory is not the absence of problems; it is the presence of God's power...Walk in victory today!

In His Mighty Hand,
Dalinda

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Beyond Our Feelings

YOU DON'T HAVE TO FEEL CONFIDENT TO BE CONFIDENT! To live in victory, each of us must learn to go beyond our feelings. I have learned that I can feel wrong and still choose to do what is right. I have also learned that I don't have to feel confident to present myself in a confident manner.

God responds to our faith not our fears. Self-doubt is fear ~ fear that we will make mistakes or do the wrong thing. I have discovered that doubt is a thought planted in our heads by the devil. He uses it to keep us from enjoying life and making progress in God's good plan for us.

Today, by God's grace, I am free from fear, negativity, and self-doubt. This doesn't mean that these feelings never try to visit me, but I have learned to say "NO" to them just as easily as I can say "YES." When negative thoughts or conversations come up, I am reminded by the Holy Spirit that being negative will not help anything or anyone, and I decide to change.

When fear knocks on your door, answer with faith. When self-doubt knocks, answer with confidence!

God-confident,
Dalinda

Do Something About It

Many of us have lost the confidence God wants us to enjoy.

I have learned a lot in my journey about what "true confidence" is and about overcoming my need to please everyone. His desire is that you be bold, courageous, confident, respected, admired, promoted, sought after, and most of all, loved.

Those who are addicted to approval of others frequently get "burned out." For them there always exists the danger of attempting too much. They so desperately want to please that they do everything they feel is expected of them and then some. Sometimes they say yes just because they cannot say no, not because they think their actions are the will of God. They burn out for lack of discernment or because of unwarranted guilt. And then their anger builds.

We become angry when we feel all used up and pulled in every direction. Burnout makes us angry, because we recognize deep down inside that this is not normal. We become angry with the people pressuring us, when in reality we are allowing ourselves to be pressured. To avoid pressure form others and from ourselves, we must take control of our lives under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Once when I was complaining about my heavy schedule, I heard the Holy Spirit say, "Dalinda, you are the one who makes your schedule. If you don't like it , then do something about it."

What in your life do you need to "do something about"?

Humbled,
Dalinda

Perspective Is Everything

Stress is everywhere. People stress out because they know today is the tomorrow they worried about yesterday! Most of our stress is self-imposed.

What happens when you think you are winning the rat race and along come faster rats?

Stress may be a given factor, but your attitude can change the way it affects you.

Stress is nothing but psychological pollution.

Accept what you can't change, and don't dwell on your own or others' shortcomings.

God has promised to turn your "hours of stressing into showers of blessing."

We all have things in life we have to do, but we can choose how we want to do them. It's up to each of us. I can tell you this, though. There's only one way to have joy...by doing everything "as unto the LORD."

Perspective is everything.

Keep the faith,
Dalinda