Top Her Couture

". . . Sometimes we don’t understand the gifts that we receive. It’s so easy to lose sight of why we’re here. That God wants us to live and be happy but according to his plan. And when you receive such a beautiful gift, you should pass it on to others; so they never lose sight of God's plan. . . . But maybe the truth is whispered to us through our dreams like a message from a friend that arrives exactly at the right time telling us exactly the words we need to hear. It’s so easy to get lost. Chasing a life that we thought we wanted convincing ourselves that power, fame, or wealth will make us happy. That we lose sight of what is truly important and all we need is that little push to reveal what has been missing. See it’s the love our family, our friends, and most importantly the love of God that will bring us happiness. We just need to take that first step and reach for it. See its okay to follow a dream as long as we do not abandon those that truly love us. So...

Allow yourself to feel angry .  You may think you need to cover “negative feelings” with positive ones. You don’t. You’re entitled to feel whatever you need to feel. We all are. Make a conscious choice to sit with the feeling .  Oftentimes when I’m angry I feel the need to act on it, but later I generally wish I’d waited. Decide that you’re not going to do anything until the feeling has less of a grip on you. Feel the anger in your body .  Is your neck tense? Is your chest burning? Is your throat tightening? Are your legs twitching? Recognize the sensations in your body and breathe into those areas to clear the blockages that are keeping you feeling stuck. See this as an exercise in self-soothing .  You can get yourself all revved-up, stewing in righteousness and mentally rehashing all the ways you were wronged. Or you can talk yourself down from bitter rage into a place of inner calm. In the end, we’re the only ones responsible for our mental states, so this i...

"Beauty is the mark God sets on virtue.  Every natural action is graceful; every heroic act is also decent, and causes the place and the bystanders to shine." Ralph Waldo Emerson Happy Easter weekend everyone!!

"We are so preciously loved by God that we cannot comprehend it.  No created being can ever know how much and how sweetly and how tenderly God loves them." What we can do is accept the abundance of love around us.  We all have an infinite source to tap into.  We just have to choose to see it and let it in.

So in 2013, if you are already struggling in your resolve to give up or let go, why don’t you join me in a challenge to “let in”? The change of focus may make all the difference. 1. Let in awareness. Use your senses to really appreciate all that is around you. Nature has so much joy to give us on a daily basis if we will stop to watch, listen, touch, taste, and smell. The gift of this awareness is that we stop worrying so much about what’s going on inside ourselves. It is the gift of the present. 2. Let in love. Love and accept yourself as you are so that you are open to receiving love. Sure, you might want to lose weight or be more positive or more confident, but you are still worthy. You don’t need to prove anything to approve of yourself. Letting in love makes you lovable. 3. Let in compassion. Don’t be too busy feeling sorry for yourself (or judging yourself) to make room for others’ comfort. Don’t be too stoic to accept help. Don’t beat yourself up, thinking that you have...

"Finish every day and be done with it.  You have done what you could. . . . Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense.  This day is all that is good and fair.  It is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on yesterday." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

"When I know what it is to abide in Christ and to yield to the Holy Spirit, I begin to learn that God will give power in answer to prayer." Andrew Murray Prayer is not meant to get what we want; it is to answer with what we need.  Sometimes we do not like the answer and sometimes the answer confuses us more because it was not the answer we were expecting.  Take away all expectations when God is at your door step and realize He knows what is best for us.  The gift of change is sitting at your doorstep.

"We walk without fear, full of hope and courage and strength to do His will, waiting for the endless good which He is always giving as fast as He can get us able to take it in." ~George MacDonald Being open to God seems to be a foreign concept in today's society.  We have become so egocentric and selfish, there is barely any room for God to work His will.  There are even less willing to enable themselves for this gift.  Many of us are bred to think we have to do everything by ourselves and choose to build walls that keep out the contrary.  We often sabotage ourselves and end up living unhappy and lonely lives; but we do not have to.  Have the strength to get passed what you think you know.  Let go of ego and the societal norm.  Walk down the path less traveled and let God's will rule your heart, mind, and soul.  realize, you are never alone. . .together we can do what we can never do alone.

"That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend will all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." Ephesians 3:17-19

"Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed  by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans  12:2

"Nothing that happens is beyond the Lord's domain.  Nothing can tough us that the heavenly Father can't deal with, and no event can ruin His plan for good in our lives.  All things, He promises, will work together for our good, if we love Him. ~Romans 8:28

"You never can measure what God will do through you. . . . Keep your relationship right with Him, then whatever circumstances you are in, and whoever you meet day by day, He is pouring rivers of living water through you." ~Oswald Chambers The key is not getting what you want but wanting what you are given.  The first stepping stone to living is having a relationship with Him and soon we will see the ability to develop other relationships and open closed doors.  We are given an abundance from Him each and every day.  Time is short, waste it wisely!

"God sends children. . .to enlarge our hearts, to make us unselfish, and full of kindly sympathies and affections; to give our souls higher aims, to call out all our faculties to extended enterprise and exertion; to bring round our fireside bright faces and happy smiles, and loving, tender hearts."   ~Mary Howitt

"Love is not blind; it simply enables one to see things others fail to see." We are all stacked with opinions, fears, experiences, and wounds that usually have some sort of sway in our decisions.  We tend to be very bias with ourselves and it ends up being us stopping us from what we really want.  We try to rationalize the things we do not understand.  We tend to get selfish in pointing out all the faults of the other people instead of embracing what we love the most about them. A common thing I have seen in relationships is that when something goes wrong or we feel some sort of negativity toward the one we are supposed to care about the most, we quickly find something to fill the space: another relationship, food, drugs, sex, etc.  We are quick to discard the most precious thing in our life usually because we lack the will to try for it.  The more time and energy you put in a thing or person, will be where your heart tends to be.  We have to re...

"Husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies."  Ephesians 5:28 Love is a choice.  Love takes effort.  Today is about putting thought behind your love for others'.  There is always going to be something a relationship needs.  Perhaps they did not have time to tidy up the house.  Perhaps they do not have the means to get that one last Christmas present.  Where ever your friends, family, spouse, or other relationships are lacking; pick up the slack!  Let them know you cherish them.

　 "Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you."  Ephesians 4:32 Being the time of year where giving is key.  Today should not be hard for anyone to accomplish.  In addition to maintaining one's tongue, we should do at least one unexpected gesture(surprise) as an act of kindness.  This could be picking up your significants other's dry cleaning.  This could be paying for the person behind you's coffee.  This could be buying a meal for a homeless person and delivering it.  Whatever ignites your kind heart find a way to fulfill it.

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love."  Ephesians 4:2 Love is communicated in number of ways.  The most common reflection of our hearts is our words.  Our tongues can be vicious and lash out quickly without giving thought to how it may affect those around us.  Today refrain from saying anything negative. If we have nothing nice to say; say nothing at all.

"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us. . ."  Psalm 67:1 Ways to think world-calss and not worldy: Shift our mindsets from self-centered to other-centered thinking.  This is the ability to mature and stop thinking like children. . .we are now adults; let's act like it! Shift our thinking from local to global.  Praying for others regardless of whether you know them or are affiliated is a great step to going beyond are amazing technological outreach.  We are defenseless against prayer. . .so pray away! Recognize here & now are nothing compared to eternity.  Basically-do not sweat the small stuff.  Use that energy to do God's work.  See what is temporary and what is forever! Get creative!  Not all of our purposes or missions have an easy button.  Think outside of the box to accomplish what God has laid before you.  No excuses!! It is almost the New Year and each one of these can be implim...