Joy Is Within Us, But It Must Be Released

Joy is an outward sign of inward faith in God's promises.

We should never allow situations to define God. Situations may not be good, but He still is. Being joy-filled does not mean that your life is perfect. It doesn't even mean that your life is great. What is does mean is that you emphatically trust God and believe that He has great plans for your life, regardless of what is happening right now. If we truly believe this, we can't hide it from the world. It cannot be contained, it must be released.

We can do it!  We can sparkle with joy in the deepest, darkest basement, because The Lord is our battery pack that empowers us to smile and laugh no matter how dire our circumstances appear to be.

My joy comes from God and I am so grateful!....Because of Him, I have learned to dance with everything He brings into my life....God may change His directions, but never His promises. 

Blessings,

Dalinda

The REAL Definition Of Success

The real definition of success is totally different than the worldly view of success. 

The worldly view of success says we have to be like "The Joneses". Such a BIG FAT LIE! God loves variety, otherwise He would have made everyone the same. We don't have to compare ourselves to anyone else. Why? Because God doesn't compare us to anyone else. He made us special - to fill a special part in His plan - and no one else in the entire world can fill that part but us. How freeing is that!??!!

Success is simply obedience to God - being faithful where you are. We don't have to be sure of our next step before we move forward. We only have to be certain of the One who is telling us that it's time to follow Him to a new place, a new adventure. 

We don't like change because it threatens to take us out of our comfort zone, which disturbs our sense of security - but He is our ultimate security. 

How tragic to miss God's divine appointments!....Every day, we make a thousand little compromises, avoid opportunities, actions and people--all so that we can stay away from the emotion of fear. But I don’t want to miss moments of opportunity. I want to go where I’m being called. I want to be willing to meet others where they are at. I want to be brave enough to take the next step. And then, I want to do it again the next day and the next day after that....Everyday with Jesus is an adventure - an AWESOME adventure! ✞ 

Blessings,

Dalinda 

A Holy Hangover

I had an amazing weekend at She Speaks! You could say I have "A Holy Hangover"! I met so many women from all over the country and made some really good friends. She speaks was excellent. I had never heard Lysa TerKeurst speak in person, and I didn't realize what a powerful speaker she was until I attended this conference. I gained a lot of knowledge and learned ways to improve my writing skills and my blog. 

I took a huge leap of faith and went to this women's conference alone with a book proposal in hand. There I was among over 730 other women who also committed their weekend and their hearts to be open to receive God's plan for their lives.You could say I was a little bit nervous, considering this was my first She Speaks Conference and also my very first publishers meeting. I had two publisher appointments. The very first publisher LOVED my book idea. I was flabbergasted! She took my book proposal, my one sheet, and the electronic version of my proposal with her back to the publishing company. The next step in the process will be for my proposal to go to the acquisition editor.

If someone came up to me eight years ago and told me that in 2013 I would be writing a book and starting my own business, I would have thought they were crazy.....Never in a million years.....As soon as we think we have it all figured out, God surprises us. I am still in awe of the mighty God we serve!!!!!

What I am learning, slowly but surely, one baby step at a time is this – it is SO worth it to press through the difficult. And still, at times it’s still a struggle for me to live in the moment and to embrace the wait. But when I do, I never regret it. And my life becomes that much richer because of it. 

GOD IS SOOOOO GOOD!

Blessings,

Dalinda

She Speaks

I am excited to be attending:

I am working hard on becoming a:

Blessings,

Dalinda

For HIS Recognition

How often do we charge off in one direction without stopping to see if we are following in His footsteps?

You did not create yourself so your life really is not yours. God has called us, as believers to do things that sometimes go against the flow of the world around us. It's not always easy, either. There are many mighty and miraculous victories that God desires to demonstrate in our lives, if we would only be willing to go against the flow and follow in His footsteps.

So what you think you can't handle might actually be God handing you a gift. He wants to use us but we must be ready for His use! If you are willing to be available, God will do the rest.

Sometimes we do things for God without God. Don't do things for your recognition. Only do things because The Lord wants you to do them. Do them for HIS recognition. 

This weekend, as I attend the She Speaks Proverbs 31 Women's Conference, I want my heart to be opened to His calling in my life. If I never have the following or whatever it is I am supposed to have by the world's view, it has no bearing on the validity of God's calling in my life. 

Thank you, Father, for doing the most remarkable things, in spite of my very unremarkable faith. 

God is such a good and merciful God. He blesses us beyond measure and so many times we don't take time to really look at His bounty. We need to become less interested in wowing others, and more focused on being wowed by God. With less of ourselves, we see more of God. I want to live the words that made me who I am; I want to live the words that are still making me. 

You and I have been given a job. To tell others about the immense joy of knowing Christ, but more than that to impact a world with a message that God is Who He says He is, and to bring that message to the broken hearted, to the bound, to those impoverished, to those blind to His power and His love. 

I can't wait to see God move in the lives of 600 ladies at She Speaks this weekend. May we all be open to hear His calling for our lives. GOD BLESS!

Blessings,

Dalinda

There Is No Victory Without Surrender

What if we gave it all to the One who holds it anyway? 

In our humanness, we think of surrender as a negative thing. Like we lost the battle and surrender means we will be taken prisoner. And often, in my walk with Christ, I cling to things, because I subconsciously think that if I let go and give it to God, I will be losing something - but this is so not true! 

For the past few months I have really come to terms with what this truly means. When we sit too long in one COMFORTABLE place, it tends to make us too reliant on what WE know. What if we loosened the chains we have on the "false control" for which we struggle? What if we trust, even if the answer is a whole new way that has never been seen before? 

My measly, mortal mind cannot possibly fathom God's ways, but He is teaching me (again) that He is able, faithful, trustworthy, and true. 

You will never receive that which you are not willing to give....If you don't give it, you won't get it.

God has something in store for each of us that He cannot accomplish unless we are willing to let go of our safe haven, our comfy stuff, our normal routine. 

For when we rely on our heavenly GPS (Guidance of a Personal Savior) we will always end up in a good place....God is active in BIG ways! I am gearing up for the She Speaks conference Friday, getting Jake ready for his mission trip on Saturday, and continuing the process to get our Whole Body Vibration Studio open very soon. One thing I have learned during this journey is: Growth takes action....It's a "walk of faith" not a "sit on your butt of faith". Revelation comes while we are en route to the destination. ✞

Blessings,

Dalinda

Fun Day At Carowinds

God's Vision Is Different From Ours

God will do whatever it takes to get your attention. He will not let you continue down a dead end road.

Almost four months ago, my husband lost his job. After a few days passed he told me that losing his job made him realize he had been working hard on the wrong things. Maybe the answer to trying to give my best to everyone begins with allowing God to give Himself to me. 

A job can become a idol. When we exhaust our best efforts on the job, we are empty when we are home. But no job brings you fulfillment, only God can do that. When we depend on man, we get what man can do; But when we depend on God, we get what God can do. Man says, show me, and I'll trust you. God says, Trust Me, And I'll show you.

Faith is the bridge between where I am and the place God is taking me.

Throughout this trial, our family has come to realize that God's plans for us are not altered by other people's choices....Sometimes God deletes stuff from our hard drive to make room for an upgrade.

My husband and I are so blessed! God is leading us down a path that we never dreamed we could ever be. God has given us the opportunity to work together in our own business, one that Jody and I are very passionate about. We are opening our own Whole Body Vibration Studio. Both of us have seen tremendous results doing Whole Body Vibration. Jody has lost 36 pounds and no longer has high blood pressure. I have lost 37 pounds and am continuing to detox from mercury poisoning. My peripheral vision is almost completely restored. Hallelujah! 

So you see, God's vision is so different from ours. He examines us and sees the potential that others might not recognize. God looks at each of us and sees what we can become if we will only yield ourselves to His purposes....And many blessings pour down upon you! ✞ 

Blessings,

Dalinda

Get Up, Get Moving, And Follow God Where He Leads

God has given us a spirit of a sound mind and leaves it up to us to either exercise growth with a desire to move beyond where we are, or choose idleness and complacency. Satan hates it when we choose against complacency. 

Satan deceives us into believing that as long as everything is going well we can sit back, enjoy life, and do nothing at all. He loves it when we are comfortable and he is constantly working to slow or even stop us from growing and accomplishing greater things. 

Satan knows I am about to go to She Speaks, the Proverbs 31 Women's Conference, next Friday. He has tried his best to discourage me and make me think that I am no good enough. Satan is constantly working to slow or even stop us from growing and accomplishing great things through Christ. We can’t become complacent and lazy with where we are because God has so much more for us to do, and He will provide everything necessary to complete any task....Get up, get moving, and follow where God leads. When you do, He leads you someplace beautiful.

Blessings,

Dalinda

This Little Light Of Mine

The message of God's people is not merely to go into the world and tell people to love one another or put bumper stickers on our cars that exhort "coexist". Why not? Because the world knows this already! What we and the world need is to know the source of the power of love. Our message is not simply love one another. The gospel is not about the "human potential movement." It is about the grace of God that gives us power beyond our wildest imaginations. Only through God's grace is where the power comes from. Because we can not love one another without His grace. For love to be genuine, it must be righteous.

When we lay aside our petty differences, stand together with one spirit, and love as Jesus loved, then we are living worthy of the Good News.  

They will know we are His disciples by our love . . . 

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!

Blessings,

Dalinda

Don't Put God In A Box

How can my limited mind understand the limitlessness of God? It can't! 

Don't get caught between God's unlimited potential and power and your nearsighted vision of the situation....Don't put God in a box! 

It all starts with accepting Him for who He is, not who we want Him to be. 

I discovered that to really know God I had to stop trying to make Him fit into my world view. I couldn't define Him based on my values, or disregard those aspects of His character that didn't fit into my pretty little picture of Him. I had to accept God for who He is. 

I am sure that God can and does use anything and anyone to accomplish His purposes, sure that if you obey Him even when it seems like no one sees and no one cares, He will honor your obedience, sure that when you focus less on what others say or think and commit to following where He leads, He will open doors you never dreamed or thought possible. He will take your words, your life, your story, your obedience, your faithfulness and use it, in spite of the impossible smallness of it all.

The is no limit to what God can do through you, provided you do not seek your own glory.

Blessings,

Dalinda

Faith Is The Opposite Of Feeling

The kind of faith I want....Faith that is not dependent on circumstances. I want to trust God, to know He's got things covered no matter how much darkness I see. 

There are some things you don’t have to know how it works – only that it works. While some people are studying the roots, others are picking the fruit. It just depends on which end of this you want to get in on. - Jim Rohn

Adversity should never be the end of our faith. It should be the beginning.

Faith is not the opposite of sight; it’s the opposite of feeling; it’s the opposite of hallucination—things we make up, believe and perceive when we look at things from the wrong vantage point—any place apart from Christ.

Change and new situations used to overwhelm me (on occasion they still do). My knee jerk reaction to change is to become somewhat fearful. In the past, even the smallest change from my normal routine would fill me with some level of anxiety. Over the last several years, I’ve focused on altering my perception of change.

I ran across this quote and loved it! "An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." GK Chesterton 

Blessings,
Dalinda

God's Revelations Are Awesome

To God, my waiting is His working—on me—to make me ready for the answers.

Over the past 15 months I was searching for answers to why I was feeling so bad and why I had lost my peripheral vision in my right eye. As I reflect over the long journey, I have learned many things:

God doesn’t need time; I do.

God doesn’t need help; I do.

God doesn’t need work; I do.

My waiting is God’s working, not on the issue, but on my issues.

My waiting is God’s preparing, not the world for me, but me for the world.

My waiting is God’s timing, not the plan for me, but me for His plan.

God has opened many doors for our family over the past few months. We've been praying for His direction and today, He revealed to us the door He wants us to enter. We are sooooo very excited to watch His plan unfold! ✞

Jody and I are opening a Whole Body Vibration Studio in Simpsonville. We've been looking for a location and put a letter of intent on two places. Today, God revealed the location that is right for us....more details to come soon. God's revelations are awesome!

My waiting is God’s planning, not the assignment for me, but me for the assignment....No wonder it’s taking so long!

How would our lives be different if we were to live as if God’s promises are not maybe, but is?

David beat the giant because God was with him, and because he in turn trusted God, rather than the ways of men. How often do we choose a path of defeat, precisely because we are trying to win with man’s ways, rather than walk the path God has prepared for us?

Walk with David’s faith. That is my prayer for myself, for my family, and for you.

Blessings,
Dalinda

God's Creation

A Hammerhead shark came ashore while we were vacationing in Destin, Florida. Thankfully, everyone got out safely. This was our third shark sighting. The other two were Spinner sharks. 

Drew doesn't seem phased...

Kayakers trying to guide the shark back out to sea. Not a job I would want to do.  

Hammerhead bumps one of the kayaks. Scary moment! The girl standing fell off into the water one time but got back on the board safely. Praise God! 

Blessings,

Dalinda

More Beach Blessings

Blessings,
Dalinda

Beach Blessings

I am so thankful to God for leading me to Whole Body Vibration in February. I have lost 36 pounds and my peripheral vision in my right eye is improving. My body continues to detox from the mercury poisoning. Thank you Jesus!

Blessings,

Dalinda

Making Family Memories in Destin, FL

Blessings,

Dalinda