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Encouragement

How to Use Your Mouth to Frame Your Thoughts and Your Day

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Have you ever woken up and found that you were in a weird mood?  You don’t know why, but your attitude is a little bit off.  You can’t even put your finger on it, but you now have somethings on your mind that are making you feel some sorta way.  These feelings are starting to make you wonder if you are going to have a good day or not.  

I want to stop you right there and say that we all have mornings like this.  Now whether that turns into a bad day or not, is up to each person.  

As things begin to happen, you will have to get frame your thoughts.  We normally try to figure out whether  or not it is going to be a good day or a bad day based upon circumstances, but you and I have to be willing to take a step forward and do something that will effect everything.  

We must take control over our thoughts and emotions, using our mouths.

When we feel this way, the Holy Spirit, who is our Helper, will always say something that we must respond to, if we want things change.  He will speak words of encouragement or even the word of God.  

One time, I remember struggling in the morning to get going.  My emotions were all over the place and I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me.  It seemed like everything was going wrong and getting on my nerves.  Then as I stood in the bathroom, brushing my teeth, the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart “bless the Lord O my soul.”  This immediately triggered me to stop for a second and think on the scripture and the Psalmist’s experience in the Bible.  

Let me say that the Lord doesn’t always speak to me in this way, but the more word you and I put in us, the more word He will use to speak to our hearts and direct us.  

I continued getting dressed and took my children to school, all the while contemplating the word that was spoken to my heart.  

Let’s take a look at Psalm 103

Bless the Lord, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

The Lord executes righteousness
And justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the children of Israel.
The Lordis merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor punished us according to our iniquities.

For as the heavens are high above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
As a father pities his children,
So the Lord pities those who fear Him.
For He knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust.

As for man, his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
For the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
And its place remembers it no more.
But the mercy of the Lordis from everlasting to everlasting
On those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children,
To such as keep His covenant,
And to those who remember His commandments to do them.

The Lord has established His throne in heaven,
And His kingdom rules over all.

Bless the Lord, you His angels,
Who excel in strength, who do His word,
Heeding the voice of His word.
Bless the Lord, all you His hosts,
Youministers of His, who do His pleasure.
Bless the Lord, all His works,
In all places of His dominion.

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

David used his mouth to fame his thoughts and to get himself, his soul, in line.  

This is what we have to do.  We have to remind ourselves of God’s goodness and command our soul to bless the Lord.  With this we take charge over our experience.  We frame our minds and our day by what we are saying. 

If you think of a frame, no matter what type of picture you put in the fame, it is going to be perceived by it’s frame.  You could have a children’s popsicle frame or an expensive decorative, each one give you a certain perspective, when you look at the picture.  

This all matters. By framing your day with your words, using the word of God, you can change your perspective and situation.  

So, do as David did.  

  1. Speak to yourself commanding, yourself to bless the Lord and to remember all of His great works.  Don’t forget the benefits of being a child of the King of Kings.  
  2. Remember how the Lord worked in the past because that is His track record.  He never changes.  What He did for someone else, He can also do for you. 
  3. Find the beauty in the world.  Slow down for a moment.  Look around you and notice how all of creation has chosen to bless and worship the Lord. 
  4. Go back and reaffirm to yourself that you should be blessing the Lord with your mouth, heart, and life.  You need to be reminded sometimes.  Tell yourself to do it and then actually do it.

Keep this up and watch what happens within you and around you.  God has given you the power and authority to change what could have been a bad day, into a good day. 

Remember to be Present in Your Marriage

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It’s important to realize that marriage requires 100% participation if it is to be lasting. You have to be willing to give all that you’ve got.

If you want your marriage to work, you have to be willing to grow, develop, and change.

Great marriages are great because both people work to give and get the best in their marriages.

Remember to Be LED by the Spirit

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We must remember to be led by the spirit.

We have to pay attention to our surrounds and influences. We must be selective about who we follow and walk with. The enemy often sneaks in unannounced and begins to guide the paths of those that are unaware. Just because it looks good, doesn’t means that it is good. Just because it sounds wise doesn’t mean that it’s wisdom. All things should be held up to the Word of God and tested. Making these decisions are hard, but the Holy Spirit will help you in it. Remember Galatians 5:7-9 says “You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump.”

Look at who influences those that influence you and begin to ask the Lord to reveal to you whether or not you should be linked up with them. Trust His leading and be prayerful in everything.

Romans 8:14 says “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”

We have to choose to be led by the spirit. The flesh will fight us and so will the world. Still, we must decide to turn from the lusts of the flesh. We must decide to say no to the influences of the world. We must listen to the still inner voice within us. We must follow the “I don’t know how I know, but I know” unction from within.

This is not easy, but remaining in the word and being prayerful enables your spirit to become stronger. Taming your flesh allows you to line up with the word of God.

You can do this! Meditate on this word. Think and ponder on how you can apply it to your life. Then do it, everyday. See…this does not end. We are all making sure that we are walking in the spirit and submitting ourselves to the Lord. This is how you win.

It’s so easy to get lost in the noise. The best thing to do is to remember God’s perspective of everything. Don’t forget that it’s what He says that matters most.

Sometimes the easiest thing to do is walk away. You want great things to happen, but you may feel like it requires too much work and effort. When you desire great things to happen, you must have certain expectations of yourself too. You have to step up to the plate and give what’s required of you. In most situations, the best place to start, with giving of yourself, is prayer. When you spend time focusing on the need, how it can happen, and submitting that to God, you invite His will into the situation. Your participation calls the kingdom of heaven to earth in your life. From there, I’m sure you’ll get direction as to what you can and should do next. If you aren’t sure, go back to step one and pray. The clarity will come, as you continue to involve yourself.

Positivity does not come about on accident. When you want a good life, you must choose to be inspired by what beautiful, gracious, and lovely. Realize and make a choice to love what is good and live a positive life.

Remember to Live by Faith

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You have to remember to live by faith. You have to stay encouraged and keep moving forward. Sometimes life tries to punch you in the face. It attempts to try you and test your faith. Hold on. Be strong and be resilient.

Remember to walk by faith and don't walk away from a challenge

Let’s be honest. When fear steps in, everything looks like a mountain, but one of the most important things to do is change the way you see the situations that you are facing. Stop looking at it like mountains that you have to climb. Instead look at them as mountains that you get to tell to move. Walk in faith and watch what happens in your life. I dare you to try.

Remember to walk by faith and let God stir you up

When God gives you hope and a dream, He’s stirring you up. Don’t be afraid of what’s coming next. Just receive what He is giving you. Don’t be afraid to dream big. Don’t be afraid to do what no one else has done. Don’t be afraid to set a new standard. Look at your life, marriage, children, calling, and purpose as opportunities to use your faith and do great things for God in this earth. He has called you. Receive it, so He can help you to walk in it.

5 Tools You Need to Plan Your Day

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Ever wake up in the morning feeling a little frazzled and chaotic? Maybe you had a long night, the night before, because the baby wouldn’t sleep or one of your kids had a nightmare. Perhaps, you have too much laundry to do, groceries to pick up, and the kids have practice. Don’t forget that you still have to decide what to make for dinner, oh and lunch…but you should probably take care of breakfast first, right?!

If you ever wake up feeling overwhelmed by the thought of what you have to do for the day, you need to make sure that you are planning. Not just pretty planning, although that makes it fun, but actually planning your activities.

There’s a lot of talk about this topic of planing today, but it really isn’t anything new. Someone has just put a spin on it.

When I was a little girl, I remember seeing my mother with this big black book. It may not have been that big because looking back, I realize the my perception as a child was a bit skewed. Almost everything looked big to me.

Anyway, my mother had a black leather binder that she kept with her all the time. She wrote phone numbers in it. I saw her taking notes and keeping track of her bills. What I didn’t know until recently was that it was a Franklin Covey classic binder.

That might not be a big deal to you, or it might, but that’s big in planner society.

There I was, a little girl, witnessing, first hand, what it meant to take charge of my day and my life. I didn’t know what an impact that would have on me, until many years later.

Fast forward to today, I have my own Franklin Covey planner. Let me correct that. I have multiple planners in multiple sizes and they all have helped me get the job done.

My mother was a single mom and she got the job done. She had to do her job at work and then come home and get the job done at our house too. I never wondered how she did it as a child, but when I became a mother, I wondered. I realized a few years ago that she remained focused by using that system of writing down her thoughts and plans to stay focused on her goals.

See, we all wake up in the morning a little frazzled. We have to take the time to gather ourselves and focus on what’s important. We should not wake up on 100. We have to pace ourselves, or else we can get drained before the end of the day.

You have to put things in place to assist you with leveling up. Like my mother, you need the things that you are going to keep with you, so that you can focus and feel less overwhelmed.

5 Tools You Will Need

Here are the five things that you need to plan your day. I’ll go more in detail in a future post, so make sure to subscribe to get notified when it publishes. The list is below.

  1. The right mindset. You have to decide that you are going to have order and focus in your life. If you don’t take charge of somethings, disorder and chaos will wreak havoc in your life.
  2. A prayerful heart and your bible. You must have your bible, or bible app, to help you frame your thought patterns for the day. This coupled with a prayerful heart will help you make a well thought out and executable plan of action.
  3. Commitment to move forward and progress. There is no point in planning your day, if you aren’t going to be committed to the tasks. Everything might not always go according to plan, that’s life, but you have to be committed to moving forward and progressing.
  4. A notebook and a beautiful pen. These could technically be two different tools, but you can’t use one without the other. The beautiful pen doesn’t have to be beautiful to anyone else except you. If you like the way that it writes and glides across the paper, it will work. These two items will help you to focus your thoughts before you actually start planning. They will also help you not to lose focus while you plan. Let’s be honest. Things come up. People have requests and we can get side tracked, if not careful.
  5. A planner to write down your plan, track your progress, and review for hindsight. There are so many different types of planners out there to choose from. However, I suggest that you get something that is aesthetically pleasing. You will be using it daily. It also needs to be functional and durable. Don’t get anything that might fall apart on you in a month or six months, at that.

Again, we are going to go into more detail about these five things, in a later post, so make sure to subscribe, but for now, start thinking about what I’ve shared with you today. If you don’t already have a planner, begin looking around to see what’s available. Don’t purchase anything just yet, because we are going to discuss your options…and there are a lot of them out there.

If you have any specific questions that you’d like me to address in the future, regarding planning, post a comment below or send me an email at makeda@beingmrsmom.com

Will You Answer the Call and Fulfill Your Purpose?!

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When I first became a mother, I had no idea what it was going to be like.  I couldn’t imagine the amount of responsibility that I was going to feel for the lives of my children.  I went to a class for a few months that taught me a few things that I needed to know about taking care of my newborn baby.  I then acquired the “What to expect when you’re expecting book.”  However, that book stopped once the baby became one years old.  There have been other books and resources come out since then, but the truth is that many of us are still learning what is required of us when we answer the call of being a mother.  Yet, as you find out, will you answer the call and fulfill your purpose?

Yes!  It is a call.  

It’s not just flower peddles and roses.  It’s a calling.  If you are a mother, you were purposed to birth and raise your children.  (If you are not a mother, please keep reading because you may have a mothering spirit.)  Now that is the most general way to put it, but it encapsulates so much more.  It starts from day one of conception.  If I am to be real with you, it actually starts before our children are born, with taking care of ourselves.  I could go really deep into this, but let’s just briefly think about it for a moment.  

Your mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health are all time stamped in your child, when they are conceived.  These are the things that will be a part of their reality, when they are born.  Once you find out that you are pregnant and begin to make the necessary changes, your child has a greater chance at living a healthy life.  Still, there is a lot that falls on our shoulders as mothers.  I don’t say this to remove fathers from the picture, but I am talking to you…the mom. 

From day one, we are feeding our children.  We are training them how to be emotionally fit.  As we listen to music and experience life, our children in the womb have those experiences.  None of this goes away once the children are born.  They are just no longer housed within our bodies.  Instead, we see them and have now gained the ability and responsibility of teaching them how to live, apart from our physical bodies.  We are still responsible for the feeding and nurturing of our children.  

No matter what the world wants to tell you about the relationship between a mother and her child, the truth is that mothering is one of your highest callings. 

I could sit here all day discussing some of the things that are required of us as mothers, and I can add to this at another time, but today I have one primary focus.  I want to sir you up in your innermost parts.  I want to call you to a place where you realize that you are needed inside of your household.  You may feel like you are called to do many other things, but they should never take you away from the call of being a woman of God, wife to your husband, and mother to your children.  You have a very high calling, sister.  

You and I cannot get distracted with the things of this world, that we are not able to recognize the ways in which God has assigned us to build up His kingdom.  Your children are apart of His kingdom.  Your calling is to man the post of your home.  You are supposed to cover your husband and children in prayer.  You are supposed to oversee what comes in and goes out of the home.  You are supposed to pay attention to what they are eating and taking in one a daily basis.  You are supposed to recognize the struggles that they have and go to war for them in prayer. If it’s required, you’re also supposed to go to war for them in the natural. 

When you feel like the burden is too heavy, you are supposed to wail for your children.  When you recognize that the future is too harsh for them, you are supposed to cry out to God, asking Him to fix it.  I know that you are probably saying that prayer doesn’t fix everything, but let me tell you God does and prayer is how we connect to Him. 

In His word, God makes it very clear.  He tells us that He wants to help us and gives us exactly what we should do.  

If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. ~2 Corinthians 7:14

Children are dying everyday.  We hear about the shootings, killings, cancers, diseases, and so much more.  Beyond that, they are being exposed to things that enable a slow deaths and are robbed of the blessings that God desires for them to have. 

The truth is that when we take the blinders off, our world isn’t so beautiful.  I tell you to find the beauty in this life, but don’t turn a blind eye to what is wrong in it.  It is too easy to be entertained and forget that our world needs us.  You and I can’t just sit by and watch what is happening.  I’m not calling you to request gun control.  I’m not telling you to leave the country and feed the hungry.  No!  I’m telling you to stay home and fight on your knees.  Start where you are, with what you can do.  Give your children a change.  Start there, and from there do whatever else God calls you to do.  

Pray that you are forgiven of your sins and the sins of your mothers and fathers before you.  Seek the face of God and ask Him to make a way for your children.  

Look!  You and I are not SUPER-WOMEN!!! We are not, but through God we are mighty and powerful.  (Ephesians 6:10-18)

Do you want to change the world?  Fall on your face and pray.  

Do you want the massacres to stop?  Seek God and cry out for the children.

Turn off the television.  I’m not saying that you can never have fun, but while we are busy playing, the enemy is executing his plan for our children.  Yes! I said our children.  

What are we going to do when they look at us and ask us to explain why their world looks the way that it does?  When our grand parents are gone and are no longer able to be held responsible, the burden falls on us. What will you say?  How will you help and still be in their lives?  How will you answer God when He says that He gave you a work to do, but you never did it and children died.  

Even if you don’t have children, you have a calling.  

We have to do something!  It goes beyond what we can see and into the unseen.  It goes into what we eat and drink.  It goes into what we hear and speak.  It goes into our spiritual and relational lives.  It has to do with God.  

Woman, wake up from your slumber and do the work of the Lord!  Your responsibility is great and you must answer the call!