Time to fess up!  Yep, I need to confess to you again.

I have been very quiet for the last two months.  I have tried to break the silence a couple of times with no avail.

I have been STUCK!  Ugh!  I do NOT like to be stuck!  No one does and I am sure that that includes you.

When we are in a season of change it requires a lot of energy, discernment, wisdom, and COURAGE.  We want to make the right decisions for our lives and in doing so it more than likely requires us to move out of our comfort zones, out of our safe little boxes.  And there lies the rub where the wrestling begins.

I have been in a place of wrestling.  I still am really but just this very moment in my time of journaling I wrote these words:

I need to be able to rise above the the congested pathways of my brain, move above it and operate on a higher plain so that I can get moving.

And then minutes later came:

OMG!  I have got to lighten up!  Over thinking and over analyzing stops the flow of everything!  It stops creativity, energy – movement of any kind (think stagnation!).  It puts you in fear not knowing what to do first!  Sucks the passion right out of you.  Holy crap!  That is where I have been.  Where is my fun, my joy, my passion?!

Is that not amazing?!  In one moment I am overcome from the weight of my “brain congestion” and in the next moment my answer tumbles out in excitement in a way that has completely shifted my energy.  The pathways have just opened up.

And, I have to bring your attention to one more thing because in writing this article for you, the above paragraph just gave me a gigantic clue in another area I have been stuck in.

“… I am overcome from the weight of my ‘brain congestion’…”

Wow!  Everything about us in interconnected.  I have not been able to reach my health and fitness goals for months now.  Why?  Because I have been overcome from the weight of my brain congestion!!

Girlfriends, it is time for this girl to lighten up, have fun, and re-connect with my passions so that I experience the joy of life-flow once again.

Sooo … who can relate??

___________

Photo found here =>Kelly McCausey.

What does this video stir inside of you? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.

Breakthrough.  The next level.  Busting through the ceiling. Metamorphosis.

February was an interesting month looking back.  I had to look at my posts and reflect on my past week to begin to put some clarity to it.

February was definitely dedicated to creating.  We started with a fun way to creatively express love to ourselves through Love Notes With A Twist, which by the way I will have a follow up post to that soon.  We started a 90 Day Weight Loss & Fitness Challenge to begin to create health and wellness.  And we created artistically making our love containers and Valentines for our loved ones.  I even threw in soap making.

Plus, February was my birthday month!

All sounds fun and exciting, doesn’t it?  Then why did the last week of the month end up being a very difficult, emotionally raw week for me?

As I look over the month, I admit to you that my personal Love Notes With A Twist has not gone well, but I am determined to pull it out of the tank.  I thoroughly enjoyed the artistic creativity with the Valentines and the soap making which both gave me a huge charge.  And, the 90 Day Challenge is giving me a sense of hope & excitement to get my health & fitness level back up to where it belongs. However, and here is part of the rub,  that requires change on many levels.

With change, in this case personal growth, comes struggle.  We have to really want something in order to endure what’s hard to breakthrough the self-imposed wall, ceiling, padding, etc. to get to that next level.

In order for the beautiful butterfly to emerge from it’s cocoon, it must first become uncomfortable and then break its way out.  The butterfly must do all the work itself because any help will cause it to die, so I have been told.

We want personal growth but just when we are about to experience the breakthrough that we have been waiting for for so long is when the tension is at its greatest point.  We have a choice.  We can back off and lessen the tension to put us back into our comfort zone, or we can stay the course, push through the tension, and bust out of our cocoon allowing the beautiful butterfly to takes its rightful place in this world.

Sometimes we can find ourselves in that place of metamorphic tension and not totally understand where it is taking us.  I find myself in that place now.  The cocoon has become very uncomfortable but where will I be when I bust out of this shell?

As a result I have been asking myself, what IS MY rightful place in this world?  What is MY truth?  What is MY truthful pathway?

And I ask you … What is YOURS?

Whatever our breakthrough truth is for each of us, it is ours to own, embrace, and thrive in with amazing joy and peace!  Let’s not sink back into our comfort zones, but instead step up to the plate to endure this metamorphic tension so that we can joyfully grace our world with the beauty that is intended for us.

The world is waiting for each of us to take our own rightful place, and when we do there will be a hush of amazement!  Can you hear it?  Can you feel it?  Go for it!

The Luminous Green Butterfly image is from Fantastic at picable.com

Here we are in the month of February already. The time of year we typically think of love and romance.

This year I would like to suggest something that may be a little different for you.  I suggest that you express love to yourself filling your own love tank regardless of who may or may not be around to do that for you.

Valentine’s Day is about love.  Women of Wonder, let’s step it up a notch or two by falling in love with who we are, embracing, and celebrating the wondrously unique creations that we are … so THEN we can give love to others from our overflow!

I introduce to you  … “Love Notes With a Twist”.

Everyday write a love note or a love quote to YOU! Yes YOU!  Write about all the things you would love your secret admirer or lover to say to you.  Write about all your great qualities, all the things that you appreciate about you. Write about all the things you wish others would say to you and appreciate about you.  This is the time to celebrate YOU!

Each love note is going to go into a special love container.  It can be a secret treasure box, a decorated jar, a beautiful vase, etc. You will have a month’s worth of special notes to yourself that you will use throughout the rest of the year when you need a lift or some encouragement.

So what’s the twist?

“Love Notes With A Twist” is a gift from YOU and for YOU that will keep giving all year long!  And, of course, you can continue to add to the love container throughout the year as you think of things to celebrate about yourself.

Don’t wait until you find the perfect container.  Just start now and put them in any jar or mug for now until you land on that special love container.  That is my plan.

Whatever you decide on, take a picture of your finished “Love Note With A Twist” container and send it in to me and at the end of the month I will feature a couple of them with the hopes of inspiring others to do “Love Notes With a Twist”.

Below are a couple of really cute love container ideas and where you can find directions on how to make or buy them.  You don’t have to get this elaborate, but for those of you who are creative I thought you might find these ideas fun.

There is a video on facebook that will show you how to recycle any kind of  jar.  Click here => Love Jar Facebook Page

Love Letters Mailbox from I Love Nap Time

Love Jars from One Lucky Day

DIY Custom Valentines Day Sweet Love Notes Jar

Are you in?  Let me know in the comment section below if you are going to do  “Love Notes With A Twist” with me so that we can be an encourage to one another!

Related Posts:  Filling Your Love Tank On Valentine’s Day

For the next few minutes as you watch this clip from Charlie Brown Christmas, be still. Let everything go for the moment, and allow this simple message to penetrate your spirit. Allow the simple message of Christmas to bring you Christmas joy and peace filling your soul with hope.

What does the message evoke inside of you? What does it cause you to want to do? How might you relate to the different characters, even to what we refer to as the “Charlie Brown Christmas tree”? I love it when Linus says, “… all it really needs is a little love”. The gang proceeds to give the ugly little tree some love and suddenly the tree shines. What might we learn from this?

Again, be still in the moment and be blessed by this little 5 minute clip. Don’t judge what might come up .. just let the thoughts come and go and in the moment let all be right in your world.

You can make your own little Charlie Brown Christmas tree as a reminder that there is always hope and with a little love, anything can shine.  Let us remember that even about ourselves … offering ourselves love in a way that will allow us to shine!  Click here for instructions => Instructibles

What does this video stir inside of you?  Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.

I want to thank Chaplain Donna from Empowered Peace for sharing this video on Twitter today.

Spring is finally here.  That alone is enough to make my spirit jump with joy.  This is, no doubt, a gorgeous time of the year as nature comes alive with new birth.

With spring comes spring-cleaning.  We all seem to naturally want to clean things out, freshen things up, and make our homes sparkle after a long winter, at least to

some degree.  Making things beautiful inside and out, we want our homes to be fresh and new just like outside in nature.

Spring is a time to come alive.  To come alive is exhilarating … especially if you have not been in that state for a while whether from a long hard winter in nature or from life’s hard knocks.

Below is a facebook status update from my girlfriend that I would like for you to ponder …

Spring has come to Pennsylvania. As I was clearing away dead leaves and debris in my flowerbeds, I was reminded that now is a prefect time to do the same within ourselves. ~ BI

No matter what emotional state you might find yourself in and for whatever reason, how can this beautiful season of spring, spring you forward into a higher exhilarated state of being alive?

As you become still and ponder my girlfriend’s thought, what debris in your own life do you need to clear away?  There is fresh soil under the dead leaves and debris.  What might you find after you have cleared it out?  How alive might it make you feel once it is all gone?  What’s the first step you need to take towards making it happen?

Spring is a time to come alive … Go for it!!!

The following story was taken from Mark 5:21-43

Jairus, a synagogue ruler, fell at the feet of Jesus begging him to touch his dying daughter. At one point in the story men who had come from Jairus’s house went to Jairus to tell him that his daughter was dead. Jesus ignored what they had said and told this grieving man, “don’t be afraid, just believe.”

When they had gotten to Jairus’s home Jesus told the people there that the daughter was not dead but that she was just sleeping. They laughed at Him! Can you imagine! Obviously, they had no faith … maybe they had no idea who Jesus was.

The child’s parents, a few disciples, and Jesus went to the child where she was laying. Jesus took her by the hand and said, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” Immediately she stood up and walked around. She was healed!

How many stories do we read where Jesus, in some form or another, touched someone to heal them? Touch is obviously very powerful.

In reading and meditating on this story today it occurred to me that if Jesus can raise the dead, can He not raise what appears to be dead in our lives today? Do we not all have situations that are sick, next to death’s door, and even dead?

Finances … relationships … health … marriages … ministry hardships … children … the list could go on.

I encourage you to seek Him out, run to Jesus and throw yourselves at His feet and plead with Him to touch your situation. “Do not be afraid, just believe!” All it takes is a touch from Him. For the woman who bleed for 12 years all it took for her was to touch the hem of His cloak and she was healed.

Beloved, seek Him, run to Him with all of your being … touch Him and allow Him to touch you. He is The Great Physician in all things.

Don’t be afraid, just believe!

What would it look like for you to run to Him to receive His healing touch?

What might that healing look like?

Take heart!  God is doing something new!!

In my last article, Do You Value Yourself?, I wrote about how the hardships of life can take it’s toll on our self-value.  But, Isaiah 43:1 tells us that we belong to God and He knows our names.  God’s love and value for us is like no other and it is this knowledge that carries us through the rough points in our lives.

Today I am writing about those rough points.  Times are rough for so many right now here in our country and certainly in other parts of the world with Haiti in the forefront.  May the Lord be with them providing miracles of provisions, healings, and salvation both physically and spiritually, and much comfort.

I don’t know what you’re struggling with today, but I encourage you to stop wrestling with the issue in the sense of wanting things to go back to the way they used to be.  Don’t we do that?  I know that I will find myself in that position from time to time.

We say things like if only this didn’t happen or that didn’t happen.  If we could just get things back to the way they used to be then life would be easy.  We will even make a plan on how to get it there, but does it really ever work out?  No.  Why? …

… Because life is forever changing.  Change is a good thing.  The quicker we wrap ourselves around the change that we are in the middle of the better off we will be, along with those around us and our situation.

“This is what the LORD says— he who made a way through the sea, 
a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.See, I am doing a new thing! 
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? 
I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.

The wild animals honor me, 
the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.”

~Isaiah 43:16-21

Take heart!  God is doing something new!!

Whatever your situation is, embrace it!  Instead of dwelling in the past, look up and out!  God is doing something new in your life!  He is making a way for you in your desert.  He is making provisions for you, His chosen, so that you can proclaim His praise!

Glory be to God!