Overcoming Stress and Anxiety with Worship

You want to be happy but you can’t fake the pain. I get it.
This is for the person who needs someone to look them in the eyes and say …..

“It’s going to be okay. 
You are stronger than you think and feel. 
You’re not a lost cause. 
You are not a quitter, unless you quit. 
I know it hurts to breath. 
I know you can’t get control of your racing thoughts, but greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. He will help you be still and give you that very breath."
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The things you focus on will drain you or empower you so watch what you are doing in those dark moments. 
Breath, don’t bash. 
Calm, not chaos.
Meditate on Scripture, not secular theories. 
Stop asking why and worship. 
Worship the pain into praise. 
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When you can’t sleep, worship. 
When you walk into chaos of circumstance, worship. 
When you feel like you’re drowning, worship. 
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You’ve got this because He has you! Hold onto Him! Don’t give up!! Never forget you have an enemy looking for ways to shrink and sabotage you BUT GREATER is HE who is IN you than he who is in the world! 

Read the Psalms. 
Read Philippians 4. 
Read Romans 8. 
Read Genesis 1.
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Pray and praise! I know it’s hard, but though we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed. 
You are okay and you will have what you need for every next moment. Know that you’re never alone!! He sees you!! He loves you!!”

Be still and know what you know.

I shared a 9 min encouragement today on You Tube if you want an extra hug of love. Check it out HERE.

Blessings and Hugs,
Michele

If today's encouragement hugged your HEART today, let me know in the comments or meet me over
 in my Facebook Sisterhood Community! Feel free to share this blog with a friend who needs a heart hug too!
This is how YOU get to hug my HEART back!

Heart Hugs and Blessings,
Michele

Confidence and Courage to Say No in a World of Yes

Do you ever find yourself wanting to say No but feel you simply can't?!? I get you! 

As someone with a heart for people and gifts in hospitality....and deeply rooted in the old ways Insecurity taught me...saying No was HARD! It felt rude and selfish and yet all the years later, I have come to realize saying No is a humble thing to say.

Culture has a constant demand on our minds, buy this, apply that, go here, join them, automate here... Hobby Lobby and ChickFilA got it right! They follow what God suggested: say No one day a week!

Sometimes we don't realize we are doing but so often we do know it but we don't know how to say NO! Let's practice saying it...."No. No Thank You. I appreciate you thinking of me/asking me, but I have to say No." 

There it is!

We don't say No just to be lazy or get out of things, and if you're like me, you're not trying to! It's quite the  opposite...we want so badly to say YES!!!! When we become everyone's yes, it means we are saying No to something else by nature. What is being avoided or ignored if we don't guard it's yes to it?!? Sometimes it's just our sanity, lol. Other times, we are depleting ourselves to the point of never being able to serve in our mission or calling because we are so busy serving every one else's. I think sometimes people say Yes without even considering it wasn't theirs to say yes to and are stepping into a place meant for someone else.

When our morning prayer is " God lead me today into the Yeses YOU have already prepared for me and give the wisdom and courage to stay focused" we are more easily able to find the right answer at every ask. 

So whether you need to be saying Yes or No, may you seek first what His answer is and follow along His lead! (God doesn't always say Yes to everything we ask either - can we get an AMEN to that!)

Lord, Thank You for giving us Your Holy Spirit to lead and gird us up for our day. In a world of so many opportunities and temptations alike, we surrender our Yes to YOU ALONE so that we can say Yes or No to the world. Give us Your eyes to see the path laid out for us! Amen

If today's encouragement hugged your HEART today, let me know in the comments or meet me over
 in my Facebook Sisterhood Community! Feel free to share this blog with a friend who needs a heart hug too!
This is how YOU get to hug my HEART back!

Heart Hugs and Blessings,
Michele

When You Don't FEEL Happy

Not every day can be a great day. 

Over the years I have learned to be more truthful with my feelings and stop hiding behind the "I'm fine" response which most often translates I am not okay. Saying I wasn't okay seemed to admit defeat or reveal a lack of faith. I convinced myself somewhere along the path of perceived togetherness, it wasn't okay to not be okay. 

My mind would say if I prayed harder, there'd be more Happy. If I listened to worship music and read my Bible a little longer, my circumstances might change which would surely change my heart and mind too. I would never had admitted a bad day for fear of being judged that I was a hypocrite or a weak Christian. How sneaky and manipulative is our enemy.

It took getting stuck in lots of pits and circling the same walls over and over to finally get through them. I've learned to honestly answer, "Not every day can be a great day, and I am not okay, but God is faithful." It is bearing false witness if you say everything's great when it's not. The false joy and perceived peace are not healing hopes. They are deceiving masks. 

When we seek the will of God and trust Him with our hearts, it is here we find the joy, peace and endurance for the race set before us. We cannot always be happy, Jesus certainly wasn't. He too took time to get alone and pray.

To continue the conversation, click over to the video HERE.

"You turned my wailing into dancing; You removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give You thanks forever." 
Psalm 30:11-12

If today's encouragement hugged your HEART today, let me know in the comments or meet me over
 in my Facebook Sisterhood Community! Feel free to share this blog with a friend who needs a heart hug too!
This is how YOU get to hug my HEART back!

Heart Hugs and Blessings,
Michele

Guarding Your Introvert Energy

You will accomplish more things if you learn to calculate and guard your Introverted Energy. We cannot serve everyone when we have nothing left to give.
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Body and Mind Healing Journey with God

Whatever pain you have inside you today, take comfort knowing God is compassionate and sees you where you are. There may remain a thorn or two in your flesh as do many of us, but God...His grace will be amazing if we give into resting in it and not fighting against it. The pain may not fully go away, and that’s a hard one to figure out but who are we to question the sovereign God who has established not only our path, but the course of all time and everything in it.
Read more...
 
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