Godly Character Quality #13: Punctuality!

I’m sure none of us are strangers to this character quality. For some of us, it’s an ongoing daily struggle. Character Quality #13 is none other than: Punctuality vs. Tardiness: Showing high esteem for other people and their time. – Ecclesiastes 3:1

That definition just screams a certain profession to me. Do you know who I’m talking about? Doctors. I’ve never had an extreme problem with it, but let’s face it: Doctors are almost never on time. My dad gets extremely annoyed by that.

However, I don’t hold it against doctors. I mean, they have tons of patients and I’m sure they really want to build a relationship with each one, but it’s kind of hard to fit that plus an examination into a mere 15 minutes. J

This post isn’t really about doctors though. So lets move on… to us. Are you punctual? Do you respect other people’s time and commitments? I’m an it’s-better-to-be-way-too-early-than-to-be-way-too-late kind of person, so I don’t really struggle with this a whole lot. The thing I do appreciate punctuality with, though, is e-mails. Don’t ask me why, but I’m e-mail obsessed. I get different kinds of e-mails all throughout the day and I obsessively check them. That’s why I say that if you e-mail me you will get a reply very shortly! If you don’t specify a time I don’t mind, but when someone says they will get back to me soon, I’m so antsy! It bugs me if they take an entire week to respond back.

So we’ve hit doctors, ourselves/others, so what’s left? Oh right, GOD! How do you budget your time with God? When you commit to do something, like say, read the Bible at least 15 minutes a day, are you punctual with it? Or, like me, tardy? I really need to work on that. Above anything else, you should value your time with God the most. In the last few days I’ve really gotten more into my Bible reading and I’m really happy. I’m the kind of person who throws myself wholeheartedly into everything I do.

(Think J.O.Y: Jesus first, Others Second, Yourself last!)

The truth is, I really love punctuality and it’s an easy way to please me. (Or more like it’s an easy way for me to please myself.) J Let’s face it: If you are able to pull it off, everyone enjoys being punctual.

Blessings!

A Day to Save Olga

Remember this little sweetheart?

Or rather, this little heartbreaker?

Oh, Olga. I can't even begin to tell you how many nights and days I have spent thinking about Olga. About orphans.

Today is about Olga. If you haven't stopped by yet, visit Olga's family at Saving our Starfish. I am so overjoyed for them as they take this journey of courage and love. This journey of bring Olga to where she belongs, away from the image and emotions of orphanages.

We all know adoption is no easy process. We can't just exclaim, "I'm adopting! Let's jet over to Europe and pick up our next little darling!" I wish. It takes a whole lot of money. More money than any of us has individually. But together...

Our amazing Patti has already played a giant part in saving over $13,000 for Olga!!! Be proud, Patti. :)

Chris and Jenn are still in need of quite a bit of money, most importantly dossier money. $7,000 worth of dossier money.

Today is a Day to Save Olga. Donate whatever you can... $1, $27, $53, $101, really, whatever you can. 

So today, while I'm out and about, at work, at the grocery, right here in bed, I really won't be. Because my heart, my brain, my thoughts, my prayers.... are all overseas with Olga. I'm praying that yours are too!

The book I'm currently reading, Choosing to See by Mary Beth Chapman, does a great job of of explaining it all. Before they adopted their first little girl from China, Shaohannah, Mary Beth was down right scared. She had suffered from depression for years, and she didn't know how on Earth she was going to handle it. She was ready to call herself downright crazy. She was terrified. Terrified she couldn't live up to the expectations of an adoptive parent. But the thing is, there really is no adoptive parent. Parents are parents. And with that said, Children are children. Mary Beth had been afraid she wouldn't love Shaohannah as much as her biological children, but as soon as she laid eyes on her she knew that was false.She loved Shaohannah with all her mind, soul, heart, and being.

I don't want anyone to be afraid of adoption. When I read that part of the book, I almost cried because it was so sweet. I know I'm not afraid. I'm really, truly, not.

I'm 18 years old. I have a long way to go until I can adopt.  But I'm not scared at all. I know that when I am able to adopt I will. Why? Because in the end, all that truly matters is the moment when your child is put into your arms. And you realize that you could never love them any less. You realize that you have truly saved a life.

This isn't about me. though. No way. Today is selfless day. Today is all about OLGA!!!

Let's do some good today. Let's bring home an orphan. :) I smile just typing that.

In the end, we're all a little clueless. A lot clueless. WE don't know everything, we don't always do the right things, but there is someone who will lead us wrong. The One who deserves ever single morsel of credit for the miracle of adoption and saving lives. Just know that...

God is Good, ALL the time!!!

Rejoice, because today is the day. It's Olga's day. What a lovely day it is.

Blessings!

Even God has a Sense of Humor

Yesterday, I was making a quick dinner for my family. Bisquick Chicken (that I DID NOT eat, being a vegetarian), a few packages of chicken flavored Lipton pasta sides, and some green beans. Very simple.

The noodles were done cooking, so I set the lid on top and went back to my laptop. My sister heard a big popping noise, but I told her it was just the oven.

A few minutes later, I went back to the kitchen to check on everything. I grabbed the handle of the noodle pot and pulled it off without even glancing at it.

{Cell Phone Pictures. Sorry for the horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE quality, but you get the gist.}

Shattered. That’s right all the glass in the lid shattered into a thousand pieces. Miniature glass pieces went flying. I could not have been more shocked. As you can see, the glass was all mixed in with the noodles, making them inedible. 

Truthfully, the effect of the shattered glass did look pretty cool. What is not cool, though, is that apparently some of those glass shards landed on the floor. And I stepped on one. My foot hurt for the next thirty minutes.

This was definitely an unexpected surprise in my weekend. I’m just thankful that no one got hurt, because broken glass is definitely a hazard. It could have easily gotten into someone’s eye, but luckily we had someone looking out for us.

Afterwards, when we had eaten dinner (with white rice instead)  and cleaned up the glass, we all had a good laugh about this. I mean, really, who has ever seen the lid the a pot  just spontaneously shatter like that?

So the lesson I’ve learned coming out of this weekend? God has a sense of humor. Isn’t that such a relief?

Blessings!

Godly Character Quality #12: Enthusiasm!

12… out of 49.

I’m pretty sure that if I actually kept up with this series and posted 3 character qualities a week, we would be half way through. Obviously, that didn’t happen, but I’m going to change! Unless I have this burning desire to post something else, then I’m going to start doing Character Qualities every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. Remind me!

So I felt like this series was really lacking. The posts are so irregular that no one (including me) is really able to get… what’s the word? Oh, enthusiastic. So without further adieu, Godly character quality 12 is… Enthusiasm vs. Apathy: Expressing with my spirit the joy of my soul. – 1 Thessalonians 5:16, 19.

God loves us. He chose to let us live in this great world, and for that I am so grateful! Whenever I’m having a bad day, and I’m just totally stressed out and ready to give up, I ask God to renew my spirit. I think of all the wonderful blessings I’ve been given in life, take a deep breath, and try to express the joy that is always in my heart. Previously, I have let my joy just sit idle inside of me, but I’m done with that.

In my nightly prayers, I always ask God to present me with a way to help others. I understand the importance of showing compassion to my peers. I know I don’t do it enough. I want people to be able to learn from me and look to me as a role model. I want it to show in my countenance that I am radiantly happy to be where I am.

I’m going to focus on showing my love for the Lord more prominently. Because I do love Him. I will strive to always be of a joyful spirit. Otherwise, people might look at me, assume that I am unhappy and unfulfilled in my life, and worst of all, that I don’t truly love God.

I’m so deeply joyful to be a child of God. Are you?

Blessings!


P.S: Right in the middle of this post, I took a break to go blog surfing. Kind of random, but I'm SO glad I did. I stumbled upon the most perfect post ever. It seriously melted my heart. It sums up all I am trying to convey with this post in an easy, beautiful way. Please read this lovely post from Sweet Blessings about a woman who is so totally fulfilled in her life and proud of it, too!  I hope you are as inspired as I was.

Does He give up?

Today, I was at my 11 year old little sister's middle school to pick her up. I don't usually do this... but its Friday, so why not? I also had to bring over the permission form for a field trip that she had forgotten to bring with her this morning.

I navigated my way down the hall to her locker, where we met up. She said to me, " I have to lend my friend my notebook so she can get some notes from when she was sick. Will you go turn in the permission slip for me?"

"Well, okay but meet me out front in ten minutes." I told her. I wasn't crazy about squirming my way down the hallway, the only 18 year old amongst a bunch of 11, 12, and 13 year olds, but whatever.

I was actually kind of excited because the teacher I had to turn the form into had been one of my favorites. She always loved me back in my middle school days, so I figured she would appreciate a visit.

I walked into the room and was immediately greeted by an exclaim of surprise. "Sydney! How nice to see you again! Class, this is Sydney, one of my favorite students from about, what, 5 years ago...?" I was embarrassed, but it was sweet.

Anyway, we chatted for a few minutes and I gave her the form. There were still kids in her room, as they were staying after school to finish missing assignments.

I had heard a snippet of a rather disturbing conversation between 2 boys. They were talking about...um... well, where they were going to get drugs. And some other inappropriate things as well. Cringe. As I passed their table on my way out, I heard the one boy say, " Well, God gave up on me, so..."

That's it. Just those seven simple words. I couldn't believe it. I know in my heart that I was meant to hear those words. To come to this great revelation about God. I drove home in a daze (don't worry, I was still paying attention to the road!), and now here I am, writing this post.

None of us are perfect. None of us are truly *worthy*. Our great God though, He give us His unending grace anyway. I firmly believe that he doesn't give up. No matter how many mistakes we make, how many times we have to ask for forgiveness, He will always love us. God is mighty, His grace infinite.

"In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit," - Ephesians 1:13

So to this young teenager (whose name I know is Alex) : God hasn't given up. He's just been blown out of perspective, made to seem unattainable, but he ISN'T.

Repent. Ask for God's grace and His guidance in your life. We've all done wrong, but God is willing to give us a new life. A clean slate.

"For sin will have no domain over you, since you are not under law but under grace."  - Romans 6:14

Don't lose perspective. Closeness with God is something we can all achieve. Really, it's US who give up on God. Don't give up. Change your life!

As I was writing this post, the words to the song, Give Me Your Eyes by Brandon Heath, came to mind. We have to open our eyes, and choose to see what God wants us to see in our own lives and the lives of others.

Look down from a broken sky
Traced out by the city lights
My world from a mile high
Best seat in the house tonight

Touch down on the cold black top
Hold on for the sudden stop
Breath in the familiar shock
Of confusion and chaos

All those people going somewhere
Why have I never cared

Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me you heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see

Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah

Step out on a busy street
See a girl and our eyes meet
Does her best to smile at me
To hide what’s underneath

There's a man just to her right
Black suit and a bright red tie
Too ashamed to tell his wife
He's out of work, He's buying time


I’ve been here a million times
A couple of million eyes
Just move and pass me by
I swear I never thought that I was wrong
I need a second glance
Give me a second chance
To see the way you’ve seen the people all along

So there you have it: God NEVER gives up! His grace is more than enough. 

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness." - 2 Corinthians 12:9 

Blessings!



Thoughtful Thursday #2... If today were your last day...

I have a good friend who always says," I could walk outside and be hit by a bus today." For me, that applies here. Even if I knew for a fact (like that's possible) when I would die, I wouldn't live any differently than I am now. This is my life, and I wouldn't give it up to be reckless in my last few weeks/months/years. I know that I am loved my so many people and most importantly, by God. Knowing that, I am fulfilled.

My parents, My sister, My grandparents, My cousin, My best friend. I decided on her because she's the best :) I don't feel like I'd need to make a big speech to my entire family. They know I love them. I would call my best friend (Sabrina) and let her know that I love her and I am so thankful for our friendship and the way she is always so supportive of me in everything.

Absolutely. I would want to spend the day with my family and friends, cherishing the last few memories I was able to make. Though I have a bucket list, and I do want to do those things, I wouldn't want my last memories to be of a mad scramble around the world trying to get everything in before I you-know-what. So yes, I would take the boring road and stay right where I am rather than going skydiving and on a trip to Australia.

Heaven is the place we go when we are done here. It's the perfect place, where we can live in harmony with God. Heaven is... indescribable. It's paradise. It's... well, I won't know for sure until I get there in 100+ years. (No, I don't think I'll be able to blog about it from there!) 

                                                               God's Sanctuary.

And an extra one just to reinstate your happy mood (sorry about that)...

Ah. Coffee! The ironic thing is that I absolutely hate the taste, but coffee grounds smell amazing to me! Seriously, the smell that comes wafting out when you open up a fresh container is pure paradise.

Blessings!

P.S: Don't forget to enter the giveaway!

My Very First Giveaway!

Hi Everyone!

Today I am excited to announce that I will be hosting my first giveaway: $20 to CSN stores! CSN has over 200 online stores where you can find anything  you want from lights, to baby equipment, to a pair of cute shoes!

To Enter:

• Tell me one thing you would buy if you won the giftcard.

Optional Entries:

• Become a follower of Faithful Always (If you already are a follower, then that's perfect too!)
• Follow me on Twitter @SydneyGrace121
• Follow Faithful Always on Facebook
• Post about my giveaway to your blog / Twitter / Facebook.

This giveaway end next Friday, March 4th, at 11:59pm! I hope you win! :)

Blessings!

My First (Very Off Topic) Vlog

The Accent Vlog Questionnaire

• Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting Image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught, Roof

• What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?

• What is the bug, that when you touch it, it curls up into a ball?

• What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?

• What do you call gym shoes?

• What do you say to address a group of people?

• What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval shaped body and extremely long legs?

• What do you call your grandparents?

• What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?

• What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?

• What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

So, I've been thinking about doing a Vlog for a while. I finally went through with it today! Ignore the ugly screenshot (None of them looked too great)!

I know this is a bit off topic (a lot off topic) for this blog, but I wanted to do it! A lot of my words are hard to make out, but overall I think I did okay with the talking slower thing!

ALSO...

I am introducing guest posts to this blog! It has always looked like a fun thing to participate in, and so I've decided to branch out and do so. If any one would like to guest post (about anything) here, then just leave a comment or e-mail me!

"Not that we are sufficient on ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God," -Corithians 3:5

Blessings!

Alexander's Family News! (Trying to contain my excitement...!)

Okay, so I have seriously been DYING to post this all day!

I saw this awesome news on A Perfect Lily this morning. I wanted so badly to post it then, but I had to get ready because I was one of the few people not off today. Ugh.

No big deal, I thought, I can do the post from my cell phone! Well, it turns out that my phone was laying under a recliner chair in our living room (How? Why? Don't ask me!) all night and the battery was dead. Lovely, right? So I had to be patient and wait until now.

Go watch this video, now, before reading on... it's only 17 seconds! (I can't get it to post here!)

Yes, if you were wondering, that is ALEXANDER!!!

Alexander, the sweet little boy who captured my heart a few weeks ago... and subsequently got a family committed to him!

Apparently, I was not the only person who fell head over heels for this little cutie. Someone else, a lovely lady named Christie (Visit her sweet blog, T-cubed: 3 boys, twins, and Trisomy 21), saw him too. She was lucky enough to be part of the over 25 crowd, of which I am not, that is eligible to adopt, so she and her husband Shawn committed to him! (Read the full story here.)

I love her story. I love adoption. I love orphans! Funny(ish) story:

Last weekend I was checking out some cute photos at Dear Laura... Love Sissy, when my sister came into the room. She saw what I was looking at and said, "Why are you so in love with babies that have Down Syndrome?" I didn't really answer her, but I knew the answer. I love orphans because they don't have anyone else to love them. As for the Down Syndrome part, well I just can't stand that a simple extra chromosome would give parents cause to give theirs kids up and send then off the a life in an institution. It's a sad beginning for those kiddos... but I want to do all I can to make it a happy ending!

I'm just amazed by what God can do. He can save lives. He can answer prayers. He can do whatever he wants, people! I'm just so thankful to have seen Alexander, and I will faithfully follow the Taylor family on their journey of adopting him.

"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." -Luke 18:16

God is so good, everyone!

Blessings!


P.S: Alexander is not on my sidebar anymore, but it's not because I stopped caring about him (never)! I transfer all the Reece's Rainbow cuties that find families over to my Rescued Angels page. I still pray for them everyday! I would have kept them on the sidebar, but you know, room is limited...

Perfectly Imperfect

I'm sure it's no secret to you that Nobody's Perfect. Everyone has their flaws, and those parts about themselves that they would love to be free of. Everyone strives for perfection, and then feels hopeless because that perfection thing isn't quite working out.

I, am one of the least perfect people out there. I make mistakes, I have more flaws than I care to discuss, I don't always make the right decisions, and I get stressed out with the best of them. However, with all that said, I would never want to be perfect. Yes, I'm saying I would rather be IMperfect.

All those flaws, character flaws, appearance flaws, etc. are not MISTAKES. Sure, I make loads of mistakes, but I am not a mistake. Neither is anyone else. We are just who we are supposed to be.

A beautiful thing is never perfect. - Proverb

I couldn't agree more. What would be the fun in living in a world where everything is ultra flawless? Where you are expected to uphold to a certain standard of perfect? Well, I don't know about you, but I certainly wouldn't want to live in that kind of world.

"The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself." - Ann Quindlen

Our imperfections are what make us, US. We have to embrace them and make them useful. They are a part of us.

So, sitting here today, I know that I'm going to try to be less intimidated by all of my flaws and to make them a part of me. This is the way I'm supposed to be, so I'll take it. If I can't be perfect, I'll gladly be perfectly imperfect.

But whosoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him. - John 2:5



God Bless,



Remodel Complete!

Yay! The redesign is officially complete! What do you think? I'm really liking it!

Above is the image I decided to use as the official header. Notice that I have a new tagline: Living life the Christian way in this crazy world! That has always been what the blog was about, I just wasn't organized enough to have it "written down" yet!

I still really like the, "As for me and my blog, we will serve the Lord!" I will probably use that last image for a future header. Anyway, it's all an improvement from my previous, generic picture of a sunflower with words photoshopped onto it!

As for the grab button, this is what I came up with:

Along with this new design came tons of new inspiration for posts. I'm excited to share that with everyone.

Overall, I had a busy weekend filled with designs, codes, websites, (oh, and some real life shopping too)! I'm just glad I got to work and didn't procrastinate any longer. I actually finished even earlier than my deadline, which was by tonight!

"Whatever you do, do it heartily, as for the Lord and not for men," - Colossians 3:23

God Bless,

Progress Report and Some Giveaways!

Wow! I'm sure you've noticed some changes around here today. I'm still experimenting with the design and I have a lot more to accomplish. So basically, just ignore it all until tomorrow evening when I'm finally finished!

I've created 5 different headers (I'll post them tomorrow) on Scrapblog. Don't get me wrong, I like Scrapblog, but to much of anything is not a good thing. I'm so tired of designing headers.

Anyway, I thought I would tell you everyone about a few great giveaways going on right now! Giveaways are a win-win situation: you get to help someone out while getting the chance to win a great prize all at the same time!

• Sugar in my Grits: Jessica is hosting her first giveaway with the lovely prize of a $30 CSN stores giftcard! She hasn't had too many entries yet, so head over and enter! A giftcard is a pretty great thing to win; it's endless possibility! Ends on March 4th at 11:00pm.
• Living in the Light: Lisa is hosting a huge giveaway to help bring Yana home. The giveaway includes an Xbox 360, an iPod nano, books, a very cute necklace, a Starbucks giftcard, and more! Go enter to help support Yana's family in getting her home as soon as possible. Ends on February 28th at 12:00pm.

Also, two other amazing bloggers are trying to win contests. Go vote for them!

• A Perfect Lily: Patti's blog is currently #1 in the special needs category of the Top Mommy Blogs contest! Go vote and show your support for her spectacular blog!
• Eisy Morgan: Ashley was nominated for Blogger of the Month! Visit the For the Love of Blogs contest and simply comment that you are voting for Ashley at her awesome blog, Eisy Morgan.

Lot's going on in the blogging world this weekend! Please go help all 4 of these lovely ladies out! I know they would appreciate it. I'm off to finish this remodeling thing...

God Bless,

Godly Character Quality #11: Orderliness!

I recently decided that my weekend project would be to remodel this blog. I knew the current design would be temporary for me. Now, I'm on to bigger and better things!!! The remodel should be completely finished by Sunday night, so check back then to see what I've done with the place.

Anyway, with a remodel comes some disorganization. For this reason, I decided to make character quality #11... Orderliness vs. Disorganization: Preparing myself and my surroundings so that I will achieve the greatest efficiency. - 1 Corinthians 14:40

It's a pretty simple concept. I know that I need to establish more order not just here, but in my life too. I know I am not as efficient as I could be. Although I try to stay organized, sometimes that just isn't reality.

However, I don't worry about it because I know everything always works out in the end. When I feel overwhelmed with all I have to do, and I just want to scream my head off (sometimes I do) because I can't get anything done, I just take a deep breath and tell myself it's going to be okay. I can be a neat freak when I want to be.

I have a friend, Julie, who, bless her heart, just cannot get organized. I mean, she has papers everywhere, she has binders with random things sticking out every which way, she's pretty much a mess. That's to me. Julie, though she would love to get more organized (and recently asked for my help, actually) is totally content the way she is. She gives it her all, and that's all she can give. She is not trying to please anyone else. That's the thing I love about her.

God made us and we are perfect the way we are. He doesn't care if we aren't always the most organized and on top of things, so why should we?
Being orderly can be tough, but just remember: if it feels organized enough for you, then it's perfect. Who cares if other people are way more organized than thou? Not me!

In honor of my remodel, I have decided to try and be a little more orderly. To start, I will list out my checklist in an organized manner:

                                                                 Created via SuperStickies

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. - 2 Corinthians 5:17

God Bless,

Thoughtful Thursday #1

Everyone exists...

But not everyone really lives.

For me, the difference is making a difference. That's my ultimate goal... to make a difference in someone else's life. I don't need to be a celebrity... I don't want to be a celebrity. I just need to know that I have done something to impact someone else's  life, and I will have lived.

Nothing is out of reach.

I can accomplish anything I want... I just have to try. I'm a firm believer that anything is possible if you just believe that it's possible.

I know I don't always stretch far enough. I'm a chicken... I'll admit that. I've missed out on some good things because of it.

I'm done with that. i want to reach and accomplish all my goals... because if I can't do something with my life and make something of myself, what's the point?

Faith, joy, love, hope and happiness.

God Bless,

Sydney

P.S: All of these lovely questions are from Thought Questions. Great website! Anyway, this is merely Thursday one in a long line to come. I will post a Thoughtful Thursday every Thursday for the time being (Okay really, did you expect me to say every Wednesday?).

The Whole World... in a Simple Gesture

Note: Turn off my music at the bottom of the page before viewing!

This video was recommended to me by a friend. I just watched it... wow.
It just got me thinking...life is not all about us! There are what... 6 billion people in this world? My life is not all about me. A smile, a thank-you, a few kind words, a few minutes of your time, can literally mean the world to someone else.

I'm going to focus on putting others before myself.

"We can never judge the lives of others, because each person knows only their own pain and renunciation. It's one thing to feel that you are on the right path, but it's another to think that your is the only path" - Paulo Coelho

We don't know what kinds of things other people have been through... so that's why I'm vowing to flash that smile to everyone I see.

God Bless,

Sydney

2 hours and 42 minutes... with God?



A few months ago I was listening to one of Joyce Meyer's Enjoying Everyday Life podcasts. (I was listening to them every night for a short while... that didn't last.) Anyway, I head something that really sparked my interest.

Most of us would have NO PROBLEM watching a 2 hour and 42 minute movie (this was just the random time she used in the podcast). We would enjoy it. We could spend 3 hours on a computer or watch t.v easily and without complaint.

What about spending approximately 3 hours praying and worshiping God, though?

Most of us would complain, saying, "UGH. I can't do that! I don't have the TIME!" Well, you had time to watch the movie, didn't you?

That's the thing i love about Joyce Meyer. She keeps you thinking. Her podcast is not boring. She definitely makes you think in a way you never would have otherwise.

Fact: The average minister spends only 4 minutes a day in prayer. She's talking real prayer... we all know ministers stand up in front of the congregation and give sermons, but how much personal time do they truly dedicate to God?

Obviously, Joyce Meyer isn't saying you need to pray for 3 hours a day. There really isn't enough time in a day for THAT. It just a realization. How much time do you truly give to God everyday? 

I think that was my favorite podcast ever. I don't remember it all, but I'm going to try to find it.

Evaluate yourself: do you spend enough time in prayer? Do you give it all up to Him?

Something to think about.

God Bless,

Sydney

P.S: Eat the cookie... Buy the shoes by Joyce Meyer (pictured above) is a really good book. I highly recommend it. Giving yourself permission to lighten up... isn't that what we all want?