I'm Moving!

Hello Friends,
Thank you for continuing to read my blog.  I have been with BlogSpot for 3 years now, they will be making some changes that, I feel, will make it harder for readers to find me or continue to read my blogs with out a gmail account. So I made the decision move over to wordpress.   My new blog will be at lifeinfieldtrips.wordpress.com 
I hope to keep encouraging you, my lovely friends, with my life experiences and practical application from God's word through new blogs. By the way some of the old most popular blogs are coming too.

Love to all!
Sherry

Let It Go

Have you ever felt like you can’t get away from a past failure?   I have for sure, a few times.  This latest being more of a heart hurt than others because it effects my passion for helping other women.   I was asking myself why am I crying over this? Now I admit I am a little over emotional at times, and the tears seem to come easily, too easily, in fact, it's almost ridiculous.  This is a real battle for me. I dislike it when the tears flow at inappropriate times, especially during little confrontations. Therefore, I’m always proud when I am able to hold them back, you may even hear a sigh of relief.

 Anyway, back to the question, “Why am I crying over this?” Well,  I suppose at first thought I am hurt by not being included. But that is like stating the obvious.  Could it be that the previous insinuation was different than what actually transpired?  Well yes, and added to the pointed exclusion could be the reason for the tears.

So my next thought is, what could I have done different, I mean what is the opposite and would that have worked better for me and avoid these dreaded tears?  What is the opposite of this inward crush? Outward anger? Woah, yes that is the opposite, but no that is not the way to handle it.  That is a lesson from past failures already learned, I had been that person many years before and have no desire to met up with her again. 

But that comparison helps me to realize why the tears flow. I haven’t found the middle.  I need to discover an emotion middle ground somewhere between the drippy, weepy lady and the angry, crazy lady to call up when my feelings are just hurt.

Now I realize this may sound a bit like a Disney movie, but for now the best thing to do is pray about it, take a deep breath and let it all go. Trust God to take care of it all for you.  In the long run He has the best plan anyway.

So my prayer is this, God I don’t want to be hot or cold in this area of my life, help me to find the appropriate feeling for the appropriate time, somewhere in the middle. I pray that the words from my mouth are always encouraging to others.  And God, please help others not to judge me by my past failures, I am aware of them and I don’t need to be reminded again.  Amen

Why Am I here? Finding your Purpose Part 2

So yesterday I gave you the 5 nesting bowls to think about.  Today I want you to ask yourself some questions.

1. When was I over the moon happy?  What were the circumstances?
2. How do you see yourself?
3. What do you value?
4. What are you passionate about?
5. What do you see as your strengths?

Next ask 5 or 6 people that know you well to answer questions 2-5 about you. Honesty is key in this exercise, be honest with yourself, but also remember this is not a fault finding trip.  What may seem a weakness to you maybe a strength to God and others!

Don’t live the way this world lives.
Let your way of thinking be completely changed.
Then you will be able to test what God wants for you.
And you will agree that what he wants is right.
His plan is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2

When you receive the answers from your friends and family, circle or highlight common words within the pages. Breathe in the love that they are sending to you, feel the lift in your spirit and know that you are made for a purpose.  God has made you into His perfect image to use for His good and others have seen and felt this emit from you.

From all the messages you have received and the words you came up with yourself, you should be able to come up with a vision statement, your Big picture passion of what you would like to see in this world.
Bring that down to what you think God has called you to do in the big picture, where does your personal passion/calling  fit into the vision statement.  This will become your,  "I exist to" or your purpose statement.

Then the mission statement, what tools you will use to accomplish the purpose. And finally the goal statement, the smaller steps to accomplish your mission.


If you are feeling stuck in your life, I may be able to help!  I am now accepting new clients; contact  Field Trips in Life Coaching through this blog page! 

Why Am I Here? Finding Your Purpose

Have ever asked yourself any of the following questions? Why am I here?  What is it that God wants me to do?  What is my purpose in life?
If you have been around the business world, you may have heard them speak of their "Mission Statement".  Have you ever thought that it might be useful to have one of your own?  It is an amazing self-discovery journey that can set you on a path of purpose, wade through some of the questions floating in your head about why you are here on this earth.  While some will tell you to create goals for your life and I agree, we all need to know for what purpose and vision we are setting these goals, in other words, "What am I trying to accomplish?".  You may be confused on how to work this all out, I was, well here is the simplest explanation I have heard.  The visualization makes it so much easier for me comprehend.

Let's imagine a set of nesting bowls nesting one inside the other, this is what they will represent:

Mission is the way to leverage your purpose
in order to accomplish your vision

1. God- The largest outside bowl is God holding everything together.

2. Vision - What you see, the legacy you would like to leave, the big picture.

3. Purpose- What you are passionate about or what you feel is the Calling God has given you.

4. Mission- The ways you will choose to fore fill the purpose

5. Goals- The small steps that you will take to fore fill the mission.

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. Proverbs 16:9

Tomorrow we will talk about questions to ask yourself, so come on back!

If you are feeling stuck in your life, I may be able to help!  I am now accepting new clients; contact  Field Trips in Life Coaching through this blog page! 

Did God Know that?

If you are like me you may have wondered  "Why is God asking me to do this? Doesn't he realize that I am not qualified to do that?"
Well, let me ask you- "Has it ever occurred to you that that never occurred to God?"

Moses answered God, “But why me? What makes you think that I could ever go to Pharaoh and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?” Exodus 3:11

Moses didn't feel qualified either. Moses was no public speaker; he stuttered, he had killed a man and now God wanted him to be a leader to the children of Israel, taking them to freedom. In verse 12 God says that He will be with Moses and he will be with you too.

Go not because of who you are, but because of who He is! Walk On Child of God, Walk On!

Who Is Whispering In Your Ear?

 I hate to admit this, but I let the evil one get on my shoulder and whisper in my ear.  That's right, in the fight against Satan in this area I failed horribly this week.   I have been honest about this before in this blog, and it continues to be one of the things I struggle with at times.   

What is it that takes us (me) to that point?  It could be any number of circumstances that bring us to listening intently to those whisperings.  Satan likes to use people to chain you to your past, or  he will use the world so you can see how you are sizing up against others. No matter what he uses, it is likely to evoke fear, grudges, hate or jealousy, it is important to remember these are not new to God.

Fear
 In Numbers 13 we see twelve men that were sent to explore Canaan by Moses.  They return to Moses and report that it IS the land of milk & honey that God promised. But.  There is always a but  where fear is concerned is there? "But, the people that live there are strong and the cities are fortified and large."Numbers 13:28.  Fear had caused them to listen to the whispers.  


Grudge/Hate
I think I could add "jealousy" to this category too.  Genesis 27 explains the hate or grudge (jealousy)that Esau had for Jacob.  Esau so disliked his twin brother that he stole his birthright through a trickery encouraged by his mother.  Wow!  That would be two people listening to the whisperings.
Another example of jealousy is in Genesis 29 were two sisters Leah and Rachel, jealousy over love divided them.  Fear, grudge/hate and jealousy,  tricks satan has been using on humans for years before we came into this world.

There is good news!  God whispers to us promises to fight the battle. This is a good verse to remember as a tool and promise in the fight!

"But whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm." Proverbs 1:33. 

God whispers to our Spirit words to guard our heart against Satan. If the whispers are from God they will contain the fruits of the Spirit.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." Galatians 5:22-23

God wants to use our hurts for his glory!  He whispers words of comfort and encouragement. The Message says it best for me, keep these verses close to be encouraged and remember to comfort others-

3-5 All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too.6-7 When we suffer for Jesus, it works out for your healing and salvation. If we are treated well, given a helping hand and encouraging word, that also works to your benefit, spurring you on, face forward, unflinching. Your hard times are also our hard times. When we see that you’re just as willing to endure the hard times as to enjoy the good times, we know you’re going to make it, no doubt about it. 2 Corinthians 1:3-7

Learning to Live in Balance

We live in a world of instant gratification. Press a button and the TV comes on. With our smart phones we are never far away from anything we want or need to know.  Yet so many people are more dissatisfied, discouraged and distraught than ever before. Why?

Gandhi is quoted as saying "There is more to life than increasing speed." Is it possible that we have been increasing our speed, allowing us to cram so much more into a day that our mind and body just get caught up in the keep up mode?  Have we become stuck in this rotation of life, the rush that happens from pre-sunrise to well past sun set?  Have we fooled ourselves into thinking that this is what life is all about?

Psalm 127:2  It is useless to work so hard for a living, getting up early and going to bed late. For the Lord provides for those he loves, while they are asleep.

I know we all have to work, in fact there is a verse in Proverbs that speaks of idle hands being the work of evil. But the Lord doesn't want us to be so unbalanced that we do not enjoy life, that we have no time to spend with Him and the ones we love.  Balance in life may seem like an elusive thing to us, but it can be attained. However there is no magic formula that you can follow, I can't spell out how to do that for you. Everyone is different with different values.  The first thing to visualize is what balance looks like to you.  Clarify your vision for a balanced life by starting with the things in your life that you truly value and everything that arises from them. Discard the not so important things or things that hinder you reaching your goals.  Remember that what may seem as balanced to you now may not be the same in a new season of your life, so evaluate in each new season.

Proverbs 11:1 A false balance and unrighteous dealings are extremely offensive and shamefully sinful to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight.

Jesus was an expert at balancing life; in the middle of  doing miracles and preaching, he stops to take a rest though there was much work to be done. Following his example for rest should help us in creating a balanced life for ourselves.

Mark 6:31 There were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his disciples didn't even have time to eat. So he said to them, “Let us go off by ourselves to some place where we will be alone and you can rest a while.” 

So if you find yourself in a place like I have been and feel like you're stuck in life's rotation, the spinning wheel that you can't seem to get off of, it may be time to rethink what is valued most in your life; schedule some time for you in the day. Pray, trust God to help you find that balance that you long for.  Because life is for living joyfully.