Friday, April 29, 2011

Looking back and then looking forward

This last Monday we had a prayer and worship night. We have what we call "the hot seat" where anyone who wants personal prayer for specific things, or even just wants to hear from the Lord will sit in the middle and everyone gathers around them. I had to get to bed early that night due to some early scheduling at work the next morning so they prayed over me first.

I bowed my head and just waited in expectation to hear what the Holly Spirit had for me. When I looked up everyone was looking at me waiting for me to tell them what to pray for. ;-) I just stated that I want to be more focused on my time of worship/prayer/meditation on the Lord because I have felt for a while now that God was telling me, "Annjeri, if you would just focus on me, spend time with me, then all of the things you are worried about and feeling anxious about will come into alignment with ME."

So, we started praying and a friend of mine received this word picture from the Lord which I find interesting because I actually blogged about this very same thing which you can find at the bottom of this post.

Anyway, the word was about how God places blinders on horses to keep them focused on their goal. Not looking from side to side and comparing myself to others, but focus on what He has for me at this moment. I SOOOOOO needed this reminder. ;-)

For me, I feel like the Lord is saying to not worry about tomorrow but focus on this moment with Him. Stop being anxious on whether or not something is going to happen, but just seek His face and find out what He wants; find out what is important to Him. Getting my focus back on the right track is of the utmost importance. Nothing else stands the chance when it comes to Him.

I find myself desperately wanting things like marriage/true love/becoming a parent/being thin/getting out of debt....... You name it. I know we all struggle with things in life and I know they may be the same or different but it's still hard to just wait. I feel that the only thing that truly works is God. HE WORKS. He is the All Knowing, All Powerful, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Counselor, Prince of Peace, Great Warrior, The Good Shepherd... I could go on and on and on.

The flesh can be so week but God IS so Great. He surpasses everything that we need here on earth. Coming to terms with that is sometimes hard. We want something we feel we need to go and get/do it ourselves. Trust is a major issue here. Can we trust God to do what He promised? Can we actually lean on Him and know that we will not fall? Can we dive into His depths and not drown? Trust, Trust, Trust, Trust.

Glory Glory Glory Glory Glory Glory Glory!!!!!!!

Father God, I not only pray for myself, but others who will read this post and are struggling with life. I pray that you will stir up the pot enough for us to realize the chaos and seek Your face instead. You are the Master Communicator here. You speak to us and bring fulfillment to our lives. You bring healing to our hearts. God, your word said that if we seek You we will find You. Even in the darkest places we will find You. Wrap us tight Father and show us the right direction. Amen.

Here is the blog post I was telling you about. I posted it on January 14, 2011. My friend who gave me this word picture actually missed that post so she was unaware how much this word meant to me.

Have you ever wondered what the purpose of horse blinders were for? Well, I have to admit I looked up the official reason why we use them. You’re welcome. ;-)

Blinders, also known as blinkers or winkers, are a piece of horse tack that restricts the horse's vision to the rear and, in some cases, to the side. Many racehorse trainers believe these keep the horse focused on what is in front of him, encouraging him to pay attention to the race rather than other distractions.

It's interesting how we walk through life with certain blinders on. In many cases, someone might have a blinder to keep them focused on a specific goal, and others might have them on because they just haven't dealt with some issue in life and can't seem to see "outside the box" if you will.

God showed me this analogy of how humans tend to deal with things. We walk through life with a certain "winker" on that makes us not see the whole picture, and then there comes a moment in time where God pulls it off and all of the sudden we see the real world. You know what I am talking about? Reality hits us. WOW!--and we think, "Was I really acting like that?" or "Why did I think that way all this time?".

There should be an even balance on how focused we are on certain things in our lives. To put a "blinker" on should mean complete focus on something that we need to correct, or maybe it's just something we want to accomplish. When they put these things on horses it was for a single purpose--to not get distracted and to finish the race. If we decide to guard our eyes and minds from reality, and that is solely the purpose of putting on a "blinder" then we are not only doing ourselves an injustice, but God and others around us. God wants us to be free to receive his healing and possibly move onto a different, healthier path. If we had our eyes blocked from Him (and just focused on our internal torments) then we would never see any other possibility he would have for us.

I know for myself I tend to do this as well. I focus way too much sometimes on the negative things in life and have a difficult time seeing the good things happening in my life. I certainly don't want to walk around like that. I want to see everything that God has for me--it might be things I had to learn from the past (looking backwards), or seeing the good things around me (looking side to side), or just staying focused on the goals that He has for me (looking forward).

So, what Blinders, Blinkers or Winkers are you wearing today? Are they there for self-protection, or are they there to focus on a goal? How has God been speaking to YOU lately?

Jeremiah 29:10-14
This is what the LORD says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Update and encouraging song

Happy Thursday folks! ;-) So much has been happening as of late, I haven't had time to really post anything. First of all, work has been busy with overtime. Secondly, we had easter and the preparationg before that. I had a great time with family.

Third, I want to give a shout out to my good friends April and Kyle on their wee little man named Dawson.


He was born this last Saturday. Most handsome little guy! Myself, along with my other good friends waited in the hospital for many hours for this little guys to show his cute face. It was a precious moment and last night I got to see him again. I love seeing friends have babies. Especially this couple because their marriage is so precious it gives me a glimpse of what true love is. ;-) God is good.

And lastly, here is a new song that I found of by Kim Walker. I know I post a lot of her songs but the presence of God is so rich in the songs she sings. Plus I like her voice. ;-)


I will post more later. Hope you all have a great evening.
Tootles. ;-)

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

He is jealous for you!!!

You know, I absolutely love love love this song. God loves YOU!!!! God loves ME!!!!

OH, How He loves us so!!!!!!!

Happy Tuesday-Cardio

Well, happy Tuesday everyone. Not much too really report today.

Have been doing pretty well with my workouts. Last night I tried to do my Jillian Michaels 40 minute target zone workout. Ya, only made it to less than 10 minutes. ;-) My knees are bad from having so many injuries in my young life, so doing squats do not always sit well with me. (Pardon the pun! HA!)

Anyway, I popped in my walk off the pounds video and did the 2 mile walk. I am going to be sore at some point here. The amount of knee lifts that they have you do in those videos is a killer. Whew!

Today, I am planning on doing 45 to 55 minutes of cardio. I want to try the rowing machine first. My personal trainer told me that it is a great way to warm up. The only thing is, the machines are right in front of the weight lifting area and pretty much everyone can see you. Ugh! I hate that. I like to be incognito at the gym if you know what I mean. The thing that I like about this gym (Gold's) is that they have a "Cardio Cinema" where you go into a dimly lit room and work out in front of a big movie screen. There usually isn't a huge amount of people in there, but when it is full people are so engrossed in the movie they could care less about what anyone else is doing. Like it. Love it!! ;-)

So, today is going to be one of my really busy days. Right after work I have a dental cleaning-then workout- then shower and straighten hair-then meet up with a friend. Somewhere in the mix I need to cook food for dinner and lunch tomorrow.

Here's to seeing how I actually do. ;-)

Friday, April 15, 2011

It's Friday!


Good Friday to you all! Well, actually good Friday is just around the corner but hey, this can be a good Friday too! ;-)

Last night after work I went to the gym for the first time in a little over a month. I know. Embarrassing! Life happens and unfortunately something gets kicked under the rug because of it--that just so happened to be my workout routine! Ugh! I hate being overweight. I know I have said that before. I don't like it when people look at you and you have to wonder what they are thinking. That seriously encourages me to get a move on and shape up! ;-)

Anyway, so I went to the gym and did 35 minutes on the elliptical and then when I went home I kicked butt with an arm and leg routine to boot! ;-)

I figured out a way to get a quick upper and lower body routine done within 10-15 minutes. Believe me, when you are out of shape like me, that is all the time you can handle! ;-)

Here are just some of the ways I tortured myself last night and no, since I couldn't take pictures of myself, these are NOT me. Hard to believe I know! ;-)
I probably did close to 200 reps altogether. I wanted to make sure that each arm and leg got 50 reps out of each excersize I did. A little excessive I am sure, but that's just who I am.






So anyway, I know some of it worked because I am beginning to feel the abuse today. ;-) But, if this is the type of abuse I have to endure, then I can take it. I am off to more of it today after work. Maybe an extended cardio time as well. I think I might work the stair master for a while and hope I don't fall off.
Have a great weekend everyone.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

New Life


So many of my friends are having babies right now. It really is amazing when you think about the intricacies of a new baby. How God has his hand in every part of it. From the time the cell is formed to the time the baby is born there are so many minute details involved.

Matthew 10:30-31 "And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Have you ever sat back and wondered how a person is created? I mean, we know how a cell is formed and how the sperm meets the egg and so on. But I mean there are so many intricate details involved in "building" little people. They all have different personalities, facial features, facial expressions...body language.

I have 2 nieces and 3 nephews. They are all extremely precious and yet all so very different. Some of them have facial similarities but not one of them are alike. Interesting isn't it? They all came from the same womb but they turned out to be so very different.

Psalms 139:13-17
13 "For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God!
How vast is the sum of them!


Another element in God's view of the unborn is the identification of children as a blessing. In Psalm 127: 3-4
3 Children are a heritage from the LORD,
offspring a reward from him.
4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are children born in one’s youth.


This is my prayer for all of the children out there about to be born and to my friends and family now pregnant.
Psalms 71:5-8
5 For you have been my hope, Sovereign LORD,
my confidence since my youth.
6 From birth I have relied on you;
you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.
I will ever praise you.
7 I have become a sign to many;
you are my strong refuge.
8 My mouth is filled with your praise,
declaring your splendor all day long.


Apparently, God knows each of us in the womb and sees our future course as if it were present. Those whose hearts will turn to Him, he nurtures from conception; those who will become His enemies, He nevertheless leaves free to walk their path of choice. God's sees our children as His precious Creation.

So I dedicate this blog to you, Mama, and I pray blessings over you as you journey through the beautiful art of pregnancy, and then on to motherhood. Hugs.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Things that make you go hmmmm..volume 2

Top 5 things that make you go hmmm.......

#1. Your first trip to Costco is like any other important experience in your life: not easily forgotten. Awed by the endless aisles of various packaged foods and commodities, the bewilderment of walking through America's largest membership warehouse club surfaces somewhere between the crab cakes and the caskets. None more so than recently, however, because Costco has announced they will now be selling a diamond wedding ring for the steep price of $1 million.

Their last, larger diamond was sold back in 2005. Appraised at $264,765 and sold for $180,000, the yellow diamond ring didn't come close to touching the price of this new rock that has been valued at $1,601,875.

Sure, it's one hell of a bargain. But one can only imagine the reaction a proposer might get after asking their beloved to marry them:

"Honey, this is such a lovely ring! Where did you ever find such a thing?"

"Costco!"

Good thing the nice people at Costco are willing to let you return it, free of charge, as long as it hasn't been tampered with.

6.77 carrot diamond


#2.

#3.

#4.

And the Grand Finale
#5.

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Ponderings....

It's finally Saturday! Woot! ;-) I am sure almost everyone loves it when Friday night comes around and Saturday you get to sleep in. Unfortunately for me I didn't sleep in. I had too much to get done because I was finishing up a house sitting job and needed to be out of the house this morning.
___________________________________________________
I have been contemplating this verse that I posted in my last post titled "Image".

Psalms 52:8 But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.

A commentary quote from biblecommenter.com said:
But I am like a green olive-tree in the house of God - I shall be in the house of God, full of spiritual vigor, bringing forth evergreen leaves and annual fruit, as the olive does when planted in a proper soil and good situation. It does not mean that there were olive-trees planted in God's house; but he was in God's house, as the olive was in its proper place and soil.

I trust in the mercy of God - The wicked man trusts in his riches: I trust in my God. He, like a bad tree, bringing forth poisonous fruit, shall be cursed, and pulled up from the roots; I, like a healthy olive in a good soil, shall, under the influence of God's mercy, bring forth fruit to his glory. As the olive is ever green, so shall I flourish in the mercy of God for ever and ever.


I like this very much because as long as I am under God's umbrella, I am safe and secure. It doesn't mean that hard times or sadness won't come upon me--no, it means that He will rescue me and comfort me, that when I fall I won't crumble. It means I have safety in him like no other. I draw strength in his love.

A couple of day's ago-while I was house sitting in Monument(forest area), we had a great wind storm over most of Colorado. Some places got up to 70 to 80 mile winds and it was crazy. I personally thought that the house was going to blow apart it was so strong. This reminded me of a healthy tree, one where the roots run deep and wide with a trunk as thick as 4 big trees put together. THAT tree would not break in the wind. Oh, some branches might break or crack and leaves would certainly be blown away, but it would still be standing.

That's how I see us who are thriving in Christ. We hold strong thru Him; because of Him. He is our nourisher and provider. When we allow Him to, he gives us good soil and fresh rain so that we can grow stronger and stronger--reaching out our branches to draw closer to Him.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Image

I had a wonderful conversation with a friend from work about body image, how we truly see ourselves and what God thinks of us.

It's amazing how easily it is for us as women to believe the lies that if we are not perfect in our personalities or physical appearance, we are not worthy of love and respect. Amazingly enough, most of us have had someone say something to us that hurt to the core. Stuff like "You won't find love until you lose that weight", or "Your ugly because your fat". I could go on and on.

When I was a small child, I remember sitting at the dining room table with my family. My Great Aunt, and Nanna were visiting from out of town. I don't remember what all was said, but I do remember my aunt looking directly at me and saying something like, "If you don't get your weight off you won't find a man". I remember that day so clearly because that is when I took that lie and put it as a truth for myself. It hit me to the core. It scared me so deeply that for my entire life I have believed I am not good enough, not pretty enough to be worth it. The vow I told myself through the years was "I was not going to let a man get too close to me until I was skinny".

Recently I took a class on "Co-Dependency" which has taught me quite a bit about myself and others around me on how we act. What I mean is there are so many of us that have wounds that go so deep, that we cannot function as the people God created us to be. Either we put on weight and use that as a "keep people arm’s length" distance, or we are using something else to hide who we truly are.

Here is what I have come to realize--and I have been thinking this thru for quite some time. We-all of us--yes YOU--are BEAUTIFUL! We were made in the likeness of God! How much more do we need to strive for?

Genesis 1:27
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Psalm 52:8
But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.

2 Thessalonians 3:5
May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.

My sisters--fellow perseverer’s--Beautiful Women! I want you to know that you are loved, and YOU are created TO love! ;-) I know that it was NEVER God's plan for all of this hurt to come upon us. He never intended for painful words or actions to hurt us to the core--Yet He hurt’s with us. I know He does because at times of intercession I have felt His pain.

One of the dangers of going through periods of distress, hurt, and heartache is that we’ll begin to doubt God’s goodness, and to think that He doesn’t care. Nothing could be further from the truth. And this is one of the reasons why it’s essential for us to spend regular time in God’s Word. Scripture says: “In all their suffering He also suffered, and He personally rescued them. In His love and mercy, He redeemed them. He lifted them up and carried them through all the years.” (Isaiah 63:9) God hurts when we hurt. Remember Jesus weeping when He saw Lazarus’ family grieving? (John 11:35) The Bible clearly states that the Lord sympathizes with our weaknesses. (Hebrews 4:15) But He doesn’t stop there. As Isaiah says, He personally rescues us, lifts us up, and even carries us in times of hardship and pain.

Just as God allows pain to enter our lives, He sends healing and restoration. Is there anything you and I can do to help this process along? Yes, there is. We can cooperate with God by earnestly seeking Him in prayer, praise, and the study of His Word. And we can ask Him to speak to our hearts, and to help us learn whatever lessons He has for us in our struggles. As we faithfully follow His lead, we will minimize the intensity and duration of our trials.

For myself, I am tired of all of the hype that's out there that you must be a certain weight or look a certain way to be accepted. You have to act a certain way for people to like you. We are who we are because Christ created us to be different. Each of us has different personalities. We each look different and have different body types. Our bodies all are created differently.

This of course is not discounting the disappointment that we feel when someone chooses another person prettier than us, or that we are not as likeable as the next person beside us. I get it. I feel it. I have suffered from the pain of rejection. Those feelings are very real and VERY prominent in our society today.

There is nothing wrong with working on our outward beauty in itself. We are children of the King so why not look the part? We should always do our best and look our best but many times we forget about the inside and the way we project ourselves. What I am saying is, let yourself come out of the shell of hurt and let people see who you really are. Let us love on each other and be real with each other. There is going to be pain and there is going to be joy regardless of how big or small we are.

Proverbs 11:16 tells us that a gracious woman retains honor, so a beautiful women demands to be respected. We cannot allow others to take advantage of our beautiful and disrespect us with rude remarks.

I found this poem that truly hit home called "Who Am I?"

Who am I?
My first answer would probably be my name.
But, my name does not describe who I am on the inside.
I could then give the title of my profession.
But that is what I do.
I could then tell you I am a wife, a sister, and a daughter.
But those are my relationships.

I ask again, who am I?

I could describe myself as an extrovert and outgoing.
That is my personality.
I am organized in planning events.
But that is a gift God has given me.
I could describe my appearance, but that is not who I am either.

So many times I have believed what others say I am.
If I receive affirmation, then I feel worthwhile.
However, when I receive criticism, then I feel like a failure.
I have chosen to ride the roller coaster of emotions,
Instead of believing the truth of what God says about me.
I have tried to work harder to prove that I am worthwhile.
Yet every time I mess up or fail, I am reminded that I will never measure up.

I will never be pretty enough or talented enough.
I will never be skinny enough or do enough good things of the church.
I will never be a good enough wife or sister or daughter.
But, I keep trying harder and harder.
I believe the lie that if I continue to try harder, I will finally be "good" enough.

One day, God gently said to me,
"Stop trying so hard to prove yourself to others.
Get your worth from me. I've already given it to you.
Remember my grace.
It's a free gift and nothing you can achieve by trying harder.

Rest in my grace.

You are working so hard to have a certain position in the eyes of others,
To be well-liked and to have popularity.
You want to be appreciated for what you do.

But I want you to know that you already have an elevated position.

Because you have a relationship with my son, Jesus Christ,
You are a part of my kingdom as my daughter, and co-heirs with Christ.
Because you are the daughter of a King,
You are given the position of being a princess.

You are my princess, a royal princess.

Remember that an earthly princess is not special because of who she is or what she does.
She has status and position because of who her dad is, a king.
She has royalty in her blood.

You have royalty in your blood as well.
You are the daughter of a King.
And no matter what you do, your status will never change.

I have chosen you and I have a plan for your life.
I will not forget you and will be with you always.
I have engraved you in the palm of my hands.

Rest in the knowledge of who you are in me.
Nothing else will ever be enough.
You are my daughter and I love you!"

by Shelley Hitz

Friday, April 1, 2011

The Hum Drums

Happy Friday everyone. I cannot tell you how nice it is to have the weekend FINALLY be here.

This week has been brutal. I haven't slept the greatest--I keep having intense dreams that most of the time I don't even remember and those that I do are so disturbing! Ugh! Work has been busy and I am gearing up for a baby shower for my friend April.

The preparations that I am doing are fun but let me tell you I am EXHAUSTED! I think my body is trying to tell me it's fighting something so today I didn't make it to work. I feel bad about it too because it's month end (here's to hoping my back-up person actually does there job!), but I tell ya, I could not get my brain nor my body to move! My eyes have been puffy all day and I just haven't been able to shake the fog I am in.

Anyway, I know this will pass. I cannot wait to get back into a normal eating and workout routine. I have finally gotten to the point where I am absolutely sick of not feeling well. It's not a "feeling yucky from a cold" but a "feeling yucky from food intolerance". So, here is to more salads and lots of other yummy veggies for me. Oh, and hummus....I LOVE hummus. ;-)

Anyway, after the shower I will post all of the fun stuff I have been doing for this baby shower. My creative juices have been a flowen'. ;-)