Thrive with E

  Your perception on people and circumstances around you is not always what it seems. Looking through a circumstance through a straw verses a telescope makes a huge difference.  Asking questions instead of making assumptions is vital in life.  Waiting, on God and having Biblical wisdom that He is using the darkness or your set back for His glory  will allow you to be refined gently instead of harshly.  If you think God is unfair, unjust, and simply cruel this perception will make you miserable, angry, and full of discontentment. This perception will force a bad attitude.  Romans 8:28 is true and if we fully understand this verse we will take things more patiently, more gracefully, and our attitude will be better allowing us to make decisions that are a God glorifying than choices based on the perception of fear.  Where are your perceptions heading your attitude, towards God or away from God?  God does Not Care about your circumstances as Much as H...

We are all unique and special, and just like tea cups we all come in different shapes and sizes. We all have our purpose.  The dainty cups are for royalty taking in their English breakfast on the seaside. The larger ones are for the writers who are lucky enough to drink from the huge ones that have whimsical patterns  that decorate their desk. The ancient and cracked ones that are stored in museums because they are too delicate to touch.   They all have purpose, they all bring something to our lives. We are like them. We simply, exist in our own beauty. There is not a single person that is not meant to be here. They are all created for special moments that have passed, that are happening, and that will happen. We wait patiently for the Lord to call us from the slumber of the cupboard to do amazing work.   To make people laugh, to teach lessons, to save lives, to wipe tears away, to embrace the hard lives and sprinkle empathy around the world, to make people...

Pain & Pressure Please     Mentally, checking out leads to dangerous   relationships. Often, times we cling to bad people in times of utter sorrow.     We find this truth to be laid out with Samson, Saul, even King David. We often see the circumstances as a crying out of pain. When we do not recognise pain, loneliness, sorrow, or longing in our souls, we become soul tied to evil, and there is no escaping it.     We far too often stuff our pain, giving it no air, and thus it steals the air from our souls. A thirteen year-old Anne Frank knew the importance of airing out pain. This is how Kitty was written. Her brilliant work has challenged almost three generations of people to look at their pain head on. This ferociousness of the inner microscope she held over heart, saved her from dismay, helped her cling to the good, and gave her words that adults cannot even be brave enough to say aloud let alone write.     What are we clinging to? Faceb...

  We all will have days where the devil wins. If you do not believe this statement, I encourage you to read my book, Elevators of My Life. The devil rules this world, and even children are not saved from his purpose.    Maybe, today, the devil did win. Yet, the war is not over, unless you quit. Too many people are quitting. Even children are mastering their end through suicide. This is tragic. It does get better. The issue in society is we believe the lie that if one day the devil wins, we will never win again. This simply is not true. There is always hope for redemption.  It is our job as a Christians to remind people the importance of God’s plan! We are failing the world, we are so focused on The Return of Christ we are ignoring the needs of most people. Churches are doing nil in helping teens cope with divorce, peer pressure, and addiction. Especially children whose parents are not the church “folk.” Do, we really believe in the working power of Christ? Or is it j...

What we believe in our minds imprisons us. Whether, we believe in the good or the bad frees us or puts us  mentally in jail.  The saying is the truth shall set you free? Yet, are we believing in the real truth? Are we really believing in God’s truth to break out of our prisons?  What prisons are you dwelling in? Do you really believe you can be free from addictions, pain, and heartbreak?  Are you really believing that God has His best for you? That you can live joyfully no matter what is taking place?  He wants to break you free the bars that encase your feelings, mind, and emotions. Are you brave enough to simply walk out? To simply just leave the crumbs of the past and step into the feast of abundance of tomorrow?  Life is awaiting you beyond the cell of self- absorption.  You can be established outside the prison. Jesus is not the guard He wants you as a friend. He wants holiness because unholiness brings out the beast in all of us; just like most o...

 Love for me was not displayed by family. Love for me was not kind words or tons of affection. I saw more stuff take place; than in a Stephen King novel.   Yet, I thrived. I thrived to the point I maintain a marriage, I can love my son no matter what he has done. I can see him. I can go above and beyond for my husband not because it was shown to me; rather, it was taught by The Author of Love.   The Bible calls us over-comers of the world. Why? Love, His love, forces us beyond what was never taught.    The cycles of abuse can stop when we are bold enough to step out of the way and learn. Learn to live beyond the mediocre. Live huge to the point you walk into a room; and know exactly who is a Christian. To shine means to have people take notice. You are extraordinary in the way you speak, carry yourself, and hold people just by looking at them. This is what it means to literally put Christ on.  Just because your parents hated you, you remained in f...

When I was four and I got adopted we were staying at a five star hotel at the Riverwalk. I remember the bathrobe. Oversized, warm, and fluffy.   This is how we should make people who are hurting feel. We should make comfort be abundant, let our comfort take the chill off the hurts, and it needs to be soft words to let them sink into the comfort of Christ.   Far too often; it is not the case. We leave people shivering in the coldness of their pain, are words are like sandpaper to their parched skin, and being with us is more like them sinking unto a board with third degree burns.   Christ comforted Peter with bathrobe comfort. He never let Peter go on without knowing his identity and more importantly that he was completely loved.   To Thrive we must comfort people with bathrobe comfort. We must rely on the Holy Spirit to help us to know when to remain silent and when to talk. We must get into the habit of just holding people where they are.  ...

 Bullet holes are all different. You get grazed by them, they can fragment, they go deeply. Yet they all have the potential to kill.   They are like words. Right now a Youtuber named Angry Joe is being accused of sexual harassment. It is a lie. The victim could have left at any time. She had her phone with her.  She could have left at the hotel; at the dinner, not once did she contact her bf at anytime. This accuser contacted Angry Joe first. He was in the shower and she never left the hotel room. She had several hours to leave. Five hours to make a phone call. If someone takes your purse and phone you would tell someone and ask where it went. She stayed with him through a lunch a car ride, and a party. She claimed she was threatened but was drinking of her free will. She randomly found her phone. She had not spoken to her bf in eight hours. What!!!??? Eight hours without your phone. Yet claims Angry Joe was glued to you and making you uncomfortable and you lie again...

   We often think of set backs as horrific things in life. We often see them as signs that God the Father does not love us, and that we feel abandoned.  When I think of abandonment. it was when I was eleven and being left an airport with a complete stranger never to see my biological brother ever again.  A very huge set back. What I did not know is that was going to be God's set up for me to have empathy for people who feel alone and afraid.   If we look in the Bible, lots of people had set backs. So, let us look first at Abraham. He was old, and Sarah was was also old, yet God made it seem impossible for them to have children. Was it a set back, yes to them definitely. However, for God it was a set up so He could be glorified. A set up for the biggest illustration on patience, and faith.   Let us look at another example Ruth. I can identify a lot with Ruth.  I have lost three families in one lifetime. I always felt like an outcast. So, there...

So, I am in a FB group for writers. A young girl of thirteen is following her vision to write and illustrate. I was so thrilled on the adults who were encouraging her. This encouragement will last in her memory for years to come.   Encouragement, is buying Girl Guide Cookies because you know the young girls are trying to earn badges, go on that trip, and every time you buy one you are boosting her self -esteem.   It comes gently in the form of helping your teen navigate first job and pressures of school; and just being a cheerleader for them emotionally and spiritually.    The real issue in life is that we rarely have Barnabas, that encouraging spirit around us. We have the dream slayers, the doubt screamers, and lie tellers. Though the Bible is the dream slayer, doubt screaming, and lie telling conqueror, we need the cheerleader in physical form.   The Apostle Paul the faith giant himself who conquered PTSD like Hilary Swank in  Million Doll...

   War, it is costly, takes trust in your platoon and squad, it takes guts. My youngest brother did two tours in Iraq and it took a toll on him.  We all have a war we are facing. War makes heroes or it makes us wimps. Emotional, depression, suicidal ideation, and divorce. We all have invisible wars, how we handle the battle will determine if we win the war or lose the war.   The war we fight emotionally and spiritually are more vital than those that are fought in fox holes. Eventually, you will leave the fox hole, but you cannot leave your mind. People that fight in the fox holes understand if their mental state stays in the foxhole they will never have a thriving life.   Yes, God is with us but we have to do the battling. We are the ones that have to focus on our words, memorize scripture, stay focused on the cross, make the perfect choice to forgive, control our tempers by leaning into him. God gives us the battle plan to win the war if we follow His...

 To thrive we must kill our secrets. We must  become  vulnerable.   The Holy Spirit is feminine in nature. Like a woman, He is patient. He washes us gently and bandages our wounds.   Before, we get into the Healing Waters  we must shed the secrets buried into our hearts. We must become naked emotionally.   The human condition is used to hiding behind secrets. We refuse to tell anyone our secrets of shame  because of judgement, ridicule, pain, and anguish.   We have to be bold enough to shed our secrets if we want to thrive. We have to stand boldly when someone tells us something hard.   The Holy Spirit does not flinch or become awkward when we tell the truth; neither should we.   To thrive we must be able to peel the secrets back to reveal the new man God is forming.   Secrets are like sunburned skin, that needs to be peeled away to reveal healthy and undamaged skin.   What secrets a...

  Sometimes, with God, He does not always expect you to dive in, rather, He just said expects a toe dipping kind of faith.   I recently experienced this first hand. I really felt called to blog and podcast. I jumped in, First thing this morning I woke up to money being sent by Western Union. I simply dipped my toe in, and God was faithful in showing up lighting up my path.   We become afraid, like Peter, who saw the waves, but we forget that he did get out of the boat. No other disciple walked on water. He dipped in his toe and walked on water.   To really thrive, sometimes, it is just a matter of putting in our toe in the water. Have you, stuck your toe in today? Are you growing in faith or growing your fear?    God is faithful, He never leaves us poolside, He takes our hand and as we jump in he holds our hand and He gently says, “Follow Me.”   Today, I encourage you to dip in a toe to thrive! Stop allowing your fear to rule your l...

 Hope floats when you focus on the good in the world. The movie of the same name completely illustrates this. That life gets better if you focus on the good!   When you focus on the negative your whole life begins to sink.  To thrive completely you have to see the cup half full; no matter what.   The majority of the world’s issues and reactions stem from negative thinking. Positive thinking changes feelings, then feelings change behaviours.   I have been through horrific circumstances. I could have thrown up my hand and said, “I am done.” I had to understand if I focused on just the fact I was born out of rape, I would not have had the desire to figure out a God’s purpose on my life.   If I only concentrated on the grim reality of being sexually trafficked as a toddler my joy would be depleted on a daily basis.   To really thrive check your thoughts. Are they aimed at the good or the bad?  Stinky thoughts lead to a stinky ...

  Michael Jackson’s famous song; Man In the Mirror. I love the line,  I’m asking him to change his ways. The one that says,  gonna make a difference. This song is sort of my mantra.   The Bible uses the analogy of the mirror as truth. Everyday, we must look at His truth and say am I going to transform myself to make a difference.   Far too often, we look to people to change or transform. By doing this we are not really thriving. We stay in a status of complacency and laziness. We want other people to change because once they do the work we can sit and judge them on what we would have done.   This is never so true with civilians looking to leaders. We expect them to be perfect, and have all answers. Yet we as civilians refuse to volunteer, donate to local organizations that fill needs government is not even aware of yet.   I remember, I was in Barrie, Ontario and a homeless man crossed our path. The person I was hanging out with said...

My cat, Atticus, loves fresh food in his bowl. He always leaves the bowl a quarter full. Once he can see the bottom of the bowl, he meows vivaciously demanding more.  In life we always demand more! More clothes, more jewelry, more cars, and more everything! Yet, we really fail to realize how much people really do not have! In the Philippines there is a dish many are forced to eat pagpag. It    is made from thrown out food in garbages, which is collected, reboiled several times, and then consumed. This is eaten by more households than whole city blocks in certain western world cities. How grateful I am to have more and in abundance. I have never had to eat anything close to  pagpag  delicacies. We all act like my picky cat. We all demand more, yet, if we shared more than what we really need the world  would be in a better place.   We need more contentment in our world we call life! We need more, “I have enough, thank you, pass on the good to ...