Your Life is Significant

Have you ever felt insignificant or that your life doesn’t really matter much? I encourage you to know that Jesus loves you, and your life is significant. Your life… every life, matters.

Seek God

God is strategic. He equips and sets you in positions and places to bless you and, at times, for the purpose of blessing others. You may sometimes find yourself in places and wonder why you are  there. During such times, I encourage you to seek God and pray for increased understanding. Whether or not you understand, stay within the will of God. Pray about what that is. 

Bigger Picture 
When it comes to the things of God, it’s not all about you. There is a bigger picture. It’s about Him and collective us. It’s about the Kingdom of God.

Obedience

Obey and trust God. To obey God is to love Him. I encourage you to consider three aspects of obedience:

1) love for God, 2) humility, and 3) immediacy.

There is no pendulum when it comes to obedience. You don’t get to tarry along. To know that you heard from God and decide to delay means you disobeyed. This is because you’ve allowed your intellectualizing, reasoning, rationalizing, and thinking to influence your decision rather than trust God and immediately act. At that point, you’ve entrusted yourself not God.

Divine Plan

Remember that God says He is always with you. He will neither leave nor forsake you. His grace is sufficient for you. His power and strength are best demonstrated during and through your weaknesses. If you feel stuck or that you’re in the middle of a mess, ask God to show you the way out so you are free to stir up and put into action the gifts that He has placed in your heart. In doing so, you bring joy to His heart because you are fulfilling His purpose and plan for your life and, ultimately, contributing to fulfillment of His Divine plan.

Learning from your mistakes & messes, while loving your magnificence & successes.

Triple Threat: 
Transparency.  Transformation.  Transition.

Faithfully, Sheryl

Unstuck

Do you sometimes feel stressed, stuck, and don’t know what to do because of over self-reliance, trying to do too much, or feeling that things are a mess? Whatever the cause, it is important to embrace and trust in God’s grace and sufficiency rather than solely in your own. Read on for insight about this truth.

Limitations – Not Showstoppers

God uniquely created and chose you to do something that only you can do. You have God-given talents and abilities (gifts) as well as limitations. It is good to work with your limitations if doing so keeps you from getting in over your head. However, you are not to use your limitations as excuses that keep you from doing what God has assigned you to do. That is disobedience, which I will talk more about in a subsequent blog.

Opportunity in Adversity

You will face adversity at times. Still, God knows your limitations and uses them to help you trust in and rely upon His mighty power. You will grow in faith and [immediate] obedience. As you obey, God stretches the boundaries of your limitations giving you access to all the resources needed, again, through His grace and sufficiency. You should never allow your thinking to limit God because He can and will accomplish mighty works, even miracles, through you if you would humbly allow. His faithfulness and works demonstrate His love, mercy, GRACE, power, and promises.

Promise Keeper

As He did with Moses when Moses [eventually] stepped out in faith and obeyed Him in the wilderness, God will stretch the boundaries of your abilities when you step out and act in faith. He will equip you with all you need to do His will (Hebrews 13:21). Keep in mind that commitment, consistency, and action empower faith. You are not alone. Nothing can separate you from God’s love; He is for you, not against you (Romans 8:31). He is not a man so he does not lie or change His mind. (Numbers 23:19).

Stick to It!

I encourage you to hang in there and keep fighting the good fight of faith! (1 Timothy 6:12)

Learning from mistakes and messes. Loving our magnificence and successes!

Triple Threat:  Transparency. Transformation. Transition.

Faithfully, Sheryl

Faith – Let’s Dance 

Faith is a divine dance. Below, I share a song (I Hope You Dance) that is a blessing to me. I share this song as I think about and pray for the beautiful people in my life, including each person reading this blog article. Please pay close attention to the lyrics. From my heart to yours.

Do the Dance
My hope is that you would passionately do the dance of your heart, with all of your heart, knowing God’s hand is upon you. He takes you by the hand and blesses all that you do for His glory. The Kingdom of God awaits and welcomes your gifts (those talents and abilities that make your heart smile, bringing joy, fulfillment, gratification, and blessings for yourself and others, … that to which you want to awaken each morning).

Unleashed Potential and Released Talents
To unleash your potential and release your gifts and talents is to fulfill your purpose and walk in your destiny. Pursue your purpose with passion. Some of us may not yet know what our gifts and talents are. That is okay. Take time out to think and pray about it. Take time out to observe and appreciate the beauty of nature and life unfolding all around. You will notice that creativity begins to flow.

Explore and Soar in 2019 

Now is a great time to reflect over the past year. I believe most of us can say that we’ve experienced good times and times we wouldn’t mind forgetting. Whatever our experiences this past year, magnificence and miracles still happen… no matter the mistakes or messes. We can close this year with heart, openness to change for good, and looking forward to 2019 because our Heavenly Father is merciful. His GRACE is amazing and sufficient.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

Consider the following questions in anticipation of 2019 proving to be your best year ever!

1. What excites you or makes you laugh?
2. What saddens you? 
3. In what ways might your experiences help someone else?
4. What are you thinking about when you lose track of time?
5. What do you find gratifying?
6. What do you want more of in your life?
7. How would you complete this sentence?

If I were brave, I would _______.

You are Brave

I encourage you to take even one baby step toward what you want in your life. This could very well mean taking a step outside your comfort zone. In doing so, you demonstrate courage and openness to change for good. Change begets change. 
Desire. Imagine. Dream. Dance.

Triple Threat:
Transparency. Transformation. Transition. 

Song: I Hope You Dance by Lee Ann Womack (other renditions are also available online.)

Lovingly & Faithfully Me, Sheryl

The Woman God Created Me to Be – Part1

This is Part 1 of my two-part blog article entitled, The Woman God Created Me to Be. I will post Part 2 of the article next week. Enjoy, comment, #share, and be blessed!

I was thinking of a prayer that I wrote about vision. In that prayer, I asked God to open my eyes to see the woman He created me to be. Knowing the power of vision, I want to see her so I can be her. I realize that, although I hadn’t seen myself as the woman whom God and others saw, I aspired to be, passionately pursued, and lived my life vicariously through my secrecy of her.

Clarity – A Different Lens

While gaining clarity about my life and this woman, I wholeheartedly considered her despite reservation about worthiness of being this woman. I’ve held her captive! I’ve kept her in secrecy because of doubting that I could be her… that I would fall short of being her. This woman of God I’m created to be has awaited discovery and release, being fully set free! Maybe part of the reason my vision had been unclear is that I hampered the process, stagnating this woman’s caterpillar’rising into the butterfly she is born to be.

Power of Prayer and Relationship with God

I asked God what the holdup is in fulfilling my purpose, my calling. He impressed upon my heart that I am the holdup! I envisioned a river floodgate that was latched, thus hindering flow. I realized there are gifts, talents, and abilities God placed in me for fulfilling my purpose as well as helping to encourage and empower others to fulfill their purposes. I then envisioned myself unlatching the floodgate to allow flow. Though this was key, there’s another part. This part involves the release of “me, ” a butterfly sharing His love, peace, and joy, as well as encouraging others to receive His merciful grace, healing, and freedom through relationship with Him and trusting in His sufficiency. I now understand the connection with unlatching of the floodgate and my vision garden about which I wrote in previous blogs (accessible at my howdareSHEryl blog website).

Reflection

I now ask God to reflect this woman as I look in the mirror of my imagination. I affirm, “I see and know her. I am her.” She’s full of joy, peace, and love, and shares that with others. She’s happy! She’s engaged in life and present in every moment. She’s wise, funny, curious, adventurous, ambitious, and enjoys spending time with people. She’s courageous, bold, brave, and beautiful inside and out. She is calm and confident, trusting in the Lord’s grace and sufficiency. She is free having discovered and living in her destiny! She helps others to do the same!

What about you?

How would you describe the “you” you want to be, your desired self?

Think about “you.”   Write/journal about “you.”   See “you.”   Be “you.”

Triple Threat:

Transparency. Transformation. Transition.

Lovingly & Faithfully Me, Sheryl

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**See the information below to participate in a drawing to WIN BIG!

I’ve made a mess, a valuable mess! (Part 1) 

What an incredible experience! I set out on a creative mission to convey a MESSage about the beauty and relationship of messes and successes. I typically like things decent and in order, tidy and clean, maybe even polished. With this painting experience, I not only stepped out of my comfort zone but totally jumped ship! This is courage in action.

The Unexpected

I was a little tense going into the experience, feeling vulnerable to the unexpected. Having completed it, I realized that I was more relaxed. One of my goals has been to grow in playfulness, which isn’t as easy for me as for some people. I started doing things to help me grow in that area. This experience has proven to be one of those things. My children gladly participated in making a mess of me! They enjoyed the whole experience such that they asked me not to put the materials away so they could continue to paint together. I watched them explore, create, and develop artwork, though more importantly, develop their relationship. That is quite an accomplishment. What a beautiful, rewarding experience, even in ways I had not expected.

Courage – Leaving the Comfort Zone

Honestly, it wasn’t so fun, initially. I kept saying, “ew!” while I was engaged. My daughter asked why I was saying that. I told her it was because that’s how I felt. She was surprised but noticed that I gradually became more relaxed. I can’t say that I reached the point of total relaxation, but I can say that there was an overall calming effect. Once I completed the exercise, I was glad I decided to do it. I felt as though I successfully made a mess of myself! And, I’m proud of it! Nevertheless, what started off as a potentially dreadful experience turned out to be magnificently successful! I am braver, more courageous and curious, stronger, and wiser than I was before this experience.

No Judgement. No Perfection.

The MESSage at the heart of this experience and my sharing it is that there is beauty and opportunity in our messes and our successes, and God is in both. He will make something magnficence of our messes if we allow. We take what we learn from our messes and apply the knowledge and experience in ways that help us to grow, better handle situations in the future, recognize what’s important and what’s not, as well as embrace the reality that no matter the mess, we have what it takes to recover and move forward. You and I are brave and courageous each time we take a step outside our comfort zone. We are resilient.

Love, Kindness, and Self-Grace

God made each of us. He makes no mistakes. I encourage you to be loving, kind, and forgiving towards yourself and others. Self-grace is unselfish, disciplined, and rooted in God’s merciful grace and sufficiency. Indeed, some mistakes are more difficult to deal with than others. Even so, we can experience hope and healing. The next time you believe you’ve made a mess, embrace the fact that you are human, imperfect, and will make mistakes. Consider what you can learn from the mess and how you can apply the lesson going forward endeavoring not to repeat the mistake. This is true for each of us. We are Magnificent Messmakers!

Reflection – Hindsight (Part 2)

A few notes of reflection. Painting with my children was an amazing experience. However, I realized I neglected to capture some very important aspects of the experience. These include taking before photos, photos of my children making a mess of me, photos of them painting together, photos of us laughing/having fun, in addition to photos of me smiling and during the more relaxed moments.

As I reflect, I am aware the importance of ‘everything’ that being in the moment encompasses. I’ve learned that being so focused on accomplishing a specific goal can detract from a truly organic experience or cause us to miss precious details. When I realized I had not captured these moments, I was hard on myself. I then realized the wonderful opportunity that resulted… I learned to be sure to capture the essence… the important aspects the endeavor at hand. This requires mindfulness, awareness, and being fully present in each moment. It involves relinquishing control of how things unfold and allowing for organic unfolding. Though I set out to accomplish something specific, there was more in store for me. God is showing me that it wasn’t just about demonstrating or conveying a message. It was also about mindfully, attentively, freely seizing the moment and everything in it… engagement, creativity, relationship, lessons, mistakes, messes, successes, and the like. Some beautiful take aways are that I learned that my children and I enjoy painting together; it is relaxing; and it was worth it to indulge. I can reflect upon the experience for self-encouragement when needed, and I smile each time I recall the experience.

Learning from our mistakes and messes. Loving our magnificence and successes!

I am thrilled to have experienced what I call the Triple Threat:

Transparency. Transformation. Transition.

My hope is that this MESSage encourages and blesses you!

Your Turn!

Drawing to win a complimentary workshop registration (with a paid registration) or a complimentary 45-minute to 1 hour coaching session! 

INSTRUCTIONS: To participate in the drawing, please

1) register for the workshop and

2) respond in the comments to the following three questions (providing a full sentence for each question.)

The drawing will close on August 24th, so please don’t delay! I will contact the winner(s) by August 31st. Let the courage and fun begin!

What is your best takeaway from the article?

What step will you take outside your comfort zone?

In what way(s) will your life be different upon taking that step?

You have what it takes. Just do it! You’ll be glad you did.

Lovingly & Faithfully Me, Sheryl