Our days are numbered

Another great devotional message from Our Daily Bread was shared with me by my very wise husband. He reminds me that our time on earth is limited. I will not live a life of complacency by having the mindset that making changes in my life is something to put off until I'm nearing the end of my life. I do NOT believe that is the way to live because the time is now.



"Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. —Psalm 90:12

In an effort to number my days, I ask myself the following questions:

How can I become more like Christ?
Am I reading the Word regularly?
Am I devoting time to prayer?
Am I meeting together with other believers?

I know God put me here to do something great with the talents and passion He's given me. But my time to do great and to be great is limited and dictated by HIM. So I will live this life with a heart open to His love and wisdom to not just spend my time, but more importantly, to invest it.

Patriotism

Below is an excerpt from Mark Cuban's thoughts on becoming wealthy. I care to do my part in patriotism.

“Being rich is a good thing. Not just in the obvious sense of benefiting you and your family, but in the broader sense. Profits are not a zero sum game. The more you make the more of a financial impact you can have.” (Mark Cuban)

I’m taking my multiple streams of income to: give back to God’s church for His blessings; to give to the less fortunate in the community; and to boost sales for the Neiman Marcus children’s department. Seriously!

Make more so you can give more, and remember to always give back to the ONE who gave it to you. Our economy needs a boost. Let’s show some love to our great country in the form of our hard-earned money!

Postpartum Pounds Part 2

When Isaac was born, I weighed 182 lbs. GASP! Before Isaac was conceived, I weighed 130 pounds. Since my last postpartum poundage report over four months ago, I have lost 13 pounds living life as a stay-at-home mom with absolutely NO dieting and NO exercising. That may not sound like much of a loss, but considering my current lifestyle, I'm quite proud of myself. I spend 85% of my time indoors at home eating everything in sight. The intense food cravings still haunt me at all hours of the day/night. Right now my biggest cravings are for peanut M&M’s and In-N-Out burgers and fries. Since I refrain from ordering a Double-Double-Animal-style, am I considered health-conscious? Does carrying around a gigantic baby count as a workout regimen? If so, then clearly it’s no mystery as to why I’ve trimmed down and am only 9lbs away from my goal weight! Haha!



In all seriousness, I owe the steady weight loss to the past 7 months of breastfeeding my baby. Sometimes I feel like I deserve some sort of recognition at this point. My son’s first two bottom teeth are in…yowza...they really hurt!

I’m a HUGE advocate for breastMILK. I encourage soon-to-be moms to breastfeed your child. Breast is the best and your shrinking post-baby figure will love you for it!

My life is in you, Lord

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Make me a channel of your peace.
Where there is hatred let me bring your
love.
Where there is injury, your pardon, Lord
And where there's doubt, true faith in
you.

These are shortened versions of the prayers I have lifted up to the Almighty Father throughout my life. (I cannot take credit for these empowering words.)

It takes dedication to say them on a daily basis. It takes conviction to trust God’s plan rather than my own. It takes wisdom greater than my understanding to accept life as it is. It’s not about being the best me I can be. It’s about living life pleasing Him and no one else. I think that is the hardest part of all, but I accept the challenge.

Gossip Girl

Some gossip came back to me not too long ago when a good friend confided in me. She said a particular woman in our greater community recently talked about my past mistakes to her family. My friend and I couldn’t believe that after all these years this particular woman had to drudge up the hurtful past.

When the rumor mill churns salacious drama, I admit there is an eerie satisfaction when hearsay pulls people down from their glorified pedestals. But that’s so wrong, and I cannot let my sinful nature find pleasure when he-said-she-said-this-and–that.

Although this woman cannot get past the past, I know I have. I worship a God of second chances and I love who I am today because of HIS promise to me. As long as I make a conscious effort to maintain dignity and remain Christ-like in any given situation, I know I will be blessed.

I’m thankful to my husband who is always so encouraging. He taught me how to look at the situation with greater wisdom rather than let it bring me down. He challenged me to let this one slide. In the grand scheme of things, it shouldn’t affect my personal values nor can I let it stand in the way of my potential. God has blessed me abundantly, and with this wisdom I grow stronger and become better everyday.

Financial Responsibility

My husband and I have been financially responsible over the past few years. We understand that the money we earn is not ours. As Christians, we believe that God blessed us with financial privileges in the form of our multiple streams of income. But above all, we believe a portion of what we earn goes back in glory to Him. We always tithe to the church. In other words, we follow a biblically fundamental financial discipline in which at least 10% of income earned every month goes directly to the church…sometimes more but definitely no less. We pay the church first before our savings, before our bills, and before ourselves.

You know what is truly amazing about this practice? When we put God’s church before any other financial obligation, we never find ourselves in financial trouble. HE always helps us make ends meet. HE always provides what we need and in most cases, HE gives us more than we ask for. I’m not preaching the prosperity gospel nor do I guarantee God will bless you if you decide to give money to His church. I’m just saying that we give what is expected of us and walk by faith. Even when our eyes can’t see what is to come, our hearts trust that He will always come through whenever we need.

It's All a Test

I believe life happens in God’s time. I’m now at a point where He’s blessing me with several opportunities to once again pursue some “dream jobs.” His timing is impeccable with His blessings. Now that Isaac is a little older, God is blessing me with a chance to find myself professionally with three big-time opportunities. It’s so exciting but overwhelming at the same time.

Within the past two weeks, I’ve been asked to use my talents and interest in sales and promotions for a local TV personality and wedding planning extraordinaire. Also, a former NFL player has asked me to help share his unique sports marketing concept to potential investors. Lastly, a former colleague has personally referred me for a position that demands my marketing/sales background to counsel non-profits in their fundraising efforts. These opportunities combined are basically what I’ve been searching for these past two years since I retired myself out of the corporate world. If I were to fully commit myself to any one, I think I might find great reward and fulfillment. But here is the catch…I believe these are all a test and so far, I’m not sure I can pass.

God has blessed my husband I with this beautiful, healthy baby boy. I’m a mother now and always will be…first and foremost. I would rather NOT put any other J-O-B in front of my motherly and wifely responsibilities. Just the other day I was feeding my son. Instead of cherishing the moment as another intimate bonding experience with him, I was more concerned about the business emails I had to write. At that time, I didn’t see anything wrong with being preoccupied in that sense.

I shared that incident with my husband, and praise God that I did although it was hard for me to admit to him. But my husband got me to see that being preoccupied with anything other than my nursing child at that very moment puts other “priorities” before baby. I didn’t realize that at that moment I was not being a mom first and foremost. So now here I am blogging with insomnia about that painful realization.

For just over three years, I had the dream job working in sports and entertainment. I chose to let that job take over my life. I let that job come over my marriage and family. I managed to make that job my life. As hindsight is always 20-20, I will be first to admit what a horribly self-centered and arrogant person I was when working at that job. It wasn’t my job’s fault. It was my choice to do it all for myself and no one else. Geez, I hate admitting that.

My baby boy is over five months old, and I’m approaching the last few months of breastfeeding. God willing, my plan is to exclusively breastfeed at least another two to three months. Motherhood has been amazing with all of the challenges and triumphs I’ve experienced with this phenomenal child. But with all of these opportunities to take my professional career to the next level, He is testing me to see what matters more, success in business or success in motherhood?

In my mind and in my heart, baby comes first. But in recent situations, that doesn’t seem to be consistent. So now I’m taking the time to do a lot of soul searching and praying. God always sends me signs and I know to ask Him to lead the way. I’m being the best mom I know how to be while realizing there is always room for improvement. I always question everything yet deny the solutions that are best. I LOVE being a mom, but can I be appreciative of the privilege I have to stay at home and raise my child? It’s definitely a test to see where my priorities truly are.