Author: heatherhaley07

Naked Toes

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Polish on toes. What is that about? Who decided it would be a good idea and that you cannot dare wear sandals without them being polished? Who made this declaration? Who put these chains on me?!? 

Polished toenails are beautiful, don’t get me wrong. But when did they turn from being a fun thing to do, to a down right chore that keeps me from showing them bare? 

As of late, I have purposely kept my toes unpolished. Wanna know why? A few reasons: 1. I couldn’t stand the thought of doing it. Why does it bother me so much? Not having my toenails polished? What is at the root of this? 2. If I struggled with having my toes bare, who else might? Is there something deeper with this than just the fact that my toes aren’t polished? 3.The idea that this could be really interesting to see what people have to say about it, will they notice? Duh, they’ll notice, but will they actual say anything… Or just think weird things about me? LOL! 4. I’m just weird and think about polishing my toenails way too much. So much, I am now writing about it. 

So, I am still left with the same thought… Why does this matter? What does polished toenails represent? They say- you’ve made time to take care of your toes; you make good money so you can even pay someone to take care of your toes; you’re fashionable; you like to have everything put together at all times; everything is always good when the toes are polished; a woman who has all of the plates in the air spinning in perfect harmony…. These may not be what they say to you, but sometimes these can/are true. Well, at least to me. 

Why is it that I feel like I need to make an excuse to all mankind about why my toes aren’t polished? Why does anyone care? Why do I care? Maybe because I feel like I am showing weakness in myself if my toes aren’t polished…. Maybe it means I am not super woman and that maybe, just maybe, I might not have it altogether. Maybe it means that I really am too busy for taking care of myself and that some of these things in life that demand so much out of me really do need to stop. Maybe it signifies that I AM NOT PERFECT! 

Maybe, naked toes are just the ticket to remind me and everyone around me that God never called us to be perfect…. He called us to be Holy. Maybe, I will keep naked toes until they can find their proper place in my life and in the scheme of eternity. 

Everything we do, whether in word or deed, is to give glory to the One who made us. May my toes bring You the glory You deserve. Thank You for teaching through my naked toes. 
PS. My toes are polished in this pic. 😑 The struggle is real. 

Guest Post: Amanda Day shares her personal story on fitness. 

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Guest Post: Amanda Day shares her personal story on fitness

Why do I work out? 

My whole life into my early twenties, I was bullied for being over weight. I was bullied to the point of wanting to drop out of school, never return, go home, and curl up in a ball away from the world. I had to learn health and nutrition on my own as a young adult. At the age of twenty-two, I began to run and my desires of food began to change. Long story short, this became a huge part of my life, and I lost 63 pounds in a just over a year. So needless to say, my life changed tremendously.  Sadly, more people became my friend.

The scars of my bullies will always be there, but today, I know and believe with all of my heart and soul where my identity is. I am a daughter of the King, child of God, chosen one, beautiful in His sight, fearfully and wonderfully made. I am God’s Temple where His Spirit dwells! 

I was introduced to Zumba, four years ago and at first, I’ll be honest, I thought,”huh,no way, I can’t move like that!”  Well, I kept going simply because I LOVE music and I LOVE to dance! One class led to another and I became quickly addicted to it, in a good way! Zumba changed my life in many ways. From physical form to inner confidence.

Zumba was the only workout I found that I never got tired of.

Then a dear friend came to me about a year ago and suggested I become an instructor for Refit. Refit is similar to Zumba, but I said right away that there was no way I could ever get up in front of everyone and teach. Obviously, I still struggled with thinking I couldn’t achieve anything. I became nauseous just thinking about it! Then she asked me again, several several months later, and I began to pray about it, asking God to show me the way. HE knew fitness was a passion for me and HE also gave me the spiritual gift of exhortation. So I prayed, “Lord, if this is what I am supposed to do for You, please give me the courage and confidence to do it.” Without a doubt, the Lord orchestrated this for my life. So stepping out in faith, believing He would take away my fears and insecurities of teaching in front of a crowd, I registered for training and off I went. I became certified April 20th, 2016, as a Refit Instructor.  Even as my training began, the enemy came and said, “you know that you can’t do this, your too insecure, you don’t have enough talent…..” I became very anxious and almost felt that I needed to walk out and come home. But I serve a mighty God that told me to stay right where I was and with Him, I can do all things who gives me strength. And that is exactly what He did!  I would not be standing in front of my class teaching Refit if it wasn’t for the Lord Jesus Christ working completely through me and my dear friend’s encouragement and belief in me. You see I’m not capable of it at all.   It is only Jesus working through me to give me that confidence that I need to teach other women to be the same way: to overcome their fears, their insecurities, the negative feelings they have about themselves, that they aren’t good enough, pretty enough, fit enough or look a certain way or can’t move like the instructor can, etc….

It is my great passion to help them to believe in themelves, to love themselves and see themselves through HIS eyes and not their own. As long as we view ourselves through our eyes we will never measure up. I never ever thought I would do what I do now but isn’t that how our amazing the Father works?! He works in us in ways we never thought possible! I have been set free from the bondage of insecurity and self doubt! Do I struggle from time to time? Sure I do. It’s our human nature and the enemy’s desperation trying to creep in. But as long as I have my armor on daily and seek HIS face with all I have, I am able to defeat the enemy. 
So…I workout to have a strong temple for Jesus Christ, to do His work as He calls me to do it. To honor my body as He desires us to do (our bodies are the dwelling place for the Holy Spirit, you know), to encourage other women, make new relationships to share God’s love with them, because I love to dance, I love music, it is my 100% stress release therapy, and to be healthy for myself and my family! 

Not one day passes I don’t thank my heavenly Father for what He is doing in my life through the fitness world. It has become my ministry for Him….who knew?….HE knew! 

I’m humbled and thankful that He believed in me and had this plan for me.

Career Mom’s Guilt…. How to deal? 

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So the battle is real. What happens to the moms that the Lord clearly ordains to have a career? How does a woman deal with that? What does His Word say about it? What do His people say about it? Why is there such guilt and frustration? What is the actual truth about this? 

I am finding that a few years back my world shifted. I was always focused on education and career, but at no point did I ever slow down long enough to ask the Lord about what I do with all of this when babies come! (Plus I had a few extra years to think about it because baby did not come very easily, well at least not in my timeframe). Then she did come. Precious baby girl, Miss Georgia Ruth. I was now called mommy. This was a new title. One I was unfamiliar with. One that had more honor than all others… Except one, wife. 
What do I do with this? How do I manage my time? My thoughts? My heart? My focus? 
I was somewhat angry when I had to go back to work and take her to her new daytime sitters- her Gigi and her Mamaw and Papaw. I know, I’m a brat, how do you complain when you are blessed to have grandparents watch your precious girl??? Eh, anyone can complain about anything at anytime. It comes with our bag of bones… Somewhat natural. 
Anyway, the struggle was real. Since I was young, I would daily ask the Father to give wisdom. I knew early, only by the grace of God, that I clearly did not know or understand A LOT and that I was going to need His wisdom in all things. I wondered why He didn’t tell me “hey dear, you might want to save your money so you can take a few years off when you have children…..” Or I wondered why didn’t some honest, amazing women tell me that. I regretted not planning well. 
And then I went into a season where I was seeking wholeheartedly what the Lord wanted me to do for a career. My prayer was that He would tell me to quit my job and completely live by faith on where each meal was coming from. But He didn’t. My prayer was that He would tell me and Clif to pack up and move to some big adventure on mission with Him- Southeast Asia, NYC, Washington DC, anywhere really! But He didn’t. My prayer was that He would quadruple Clif’s salary and then I would just quit and do mommy stuff all day. But He didn’t.  
He chose to increase my salary and give me a new mission in my career. He chose to give me great opportunity for advancement and great traveling opportunities. He chose to do the one thing I didn’t pray or ask for, but He made it clear where He wanted me to go, what He wanted me to do and where He wanted me to do it. 
So what now? What happens to the dreams of having lunch on a Tuesday with baby girl? What happens to the ideas and desires of having a garden and growing our food and making beautiful flower beds? What happens to being around every time she is sick, every time she does something funny and every time you think she may become a homeschooled child? 
And today was no different. Asking the same ole questions, but today He answered. Today, He spoke words that penetrated to my heart. Stop complaining and be thankful. Stop comparing and be thankful. Stop being so self-centered and BE THANKFUL. Joy cannot be where complaining, comparing and self-centeredness are. Be joyful. Stop looking twenty years ahead and live today. Be in today. Be thankful for today. 
Stop viewing my circumstances as bad and start being thankful for each and every one. 
Enjoy today. Have gratitude today. 
Father, forgive me for my lack of thankfulness for my amazing husband, amazing daughter AND amazing career. Father, did you not make both the career mom and the stay at home mom? Did you not speak to both and give each of them their mission? Will you not supply all of our needs? Do you not take care of the birds, so you will also take care of me? Father, have you not told me that I will face trials of many kinds, but through them all, have joy!?! Lord Jesus, forgive me for all of my failures to say thank you. Father, help me to see every day as a new day and a new set of joy to be walked in. I pray that I never participate in the things You don’t want me to. I pray each day is lived as YOU perfectly planned it to be. Thank you for Your grace. 

The light in the storm

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As I bounce around in this small piece of metal in the air with Your wind and Your rain, I am reminded of just how small I really am. There are many days that I feel strong, big, in control…. But today, I am just a blip on the radar of Your force and strength. You are bigger. You are much stronger. My body can only bend to where Your creation tells it to go. The wings of the plane bounce. Jolt. Every burst of wind forces this “heavy piece of machinery” into it’s mercy. Your Mercy. The rain falls and the wing gets wet. The winds blow and the wing moves. The light on the end of the wing never stops blinking. It never stops shining and it never stops reminding the creation around it that the plane is coming.  
That it is coming. 
And just like that, the clouds break, the rain stops and the city comes into view. Is the airplane wing different through the storm…. 

Yes, but the light remains. 

Review: Brush of Wings by Karen Kingsbury

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This series has radically changed my life.

The Lord has inspired this series to show us what is truly happening in the spiritual realm all around us. This book is the third in Karen Kingsbury’s Angels Walking series. 

If you are a believer and follower of Jesus Christ this is a MUST READ! In my life, I have seen dramas and books that depict the spiritual real from the demonic perspective, but Karen clearly gives all of the power to our God and His Angel Armies.  We don’t recognize that our God and His Angels (in the Name of Jesus) are all around us on mission for Him. We recognize the enemy only a third of the time that he is actually working. Karen has created a storyline that helps Christians identify when the enemy is   truly at work…. And it may just be more than we think! 

If you like to read, get this series. If you’ve never read, get this series. If you are curious about Angels and Demons, get this series. 

Please note, this book is not the Word of God and I do not equate it to the Word of God.  I do believe this is the greatest series that Karen Kingsbury has ever written and will have the greatest impact on the Kingdom of God.  

 

Is The Church the Body of Christ or just a country club?

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The Church is to be the living and breathing Body of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ intentionally went to the least of these.  His best and closest friends (the disciples He chose) were not among the upper echelon of people.  The men and women that His Holy Book (the Bible) documents that He spent time with were the prostitutes and tax collectors (again, not the well liked of society).

Ephesians 5:1 tells us to “be imitators of God, as beloved children: and walk in love just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, as an offering and a sacrifice to God, as a fragrant aroma.”

“Imitators of God”…. when I walk around and do life, my little girl, Georgia, is constantly watching me.  She says, “hello, it’s nice to meet you!” and shakes hands.  She wants to drink coffee, sing and dance throughout the house.  She wants to read a book and play on her phone.  All because she wants to me an imitator of me.  She isn’t me.  But she wants to be like me.  Just like I am not God or Jesus, but I want to be like them.  So I must follow their example and imitate them.  Paul even throws in there, “as beloved children…”  The Lord and Paul knew that we would need an example.  And since everything on earth is just “a shadow”, of course our children should teach us this beautiful lesson of being an imitator of Christ.

All too often we find ourselves becoming imitators of spiritual leaders- pastors, teachers, writers, speakers…. when our good book (the Bible) tells us to be imitators of Christ.  In order to imitate Him, we must first know Him.

Ephesians 4: 4 “There is one body, and one Spirit, just as also you were called to one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all”.  We are one body.  We are one body in Christ.

We, as The Church of Jesus, The Body of Jesus, must be concerned about being where the “least of these” are and welcoming them into The Embassy (since we are ambassadors) for safe keeping from the enemy.  If not, we are just a country club concerned about our own desires and well-beings…. but we must stop using Jesus Christ’s Name as a banner.

 

the cross

 

Review: 7 by Jen Hatmaker

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Review: 7 by Jen Hatmaker

Okay, there is conviction… and then there is CONVICTION.  This book has challenged me to study God’s Word to see what it means to truly be a disciple of Jesus Christ.  I have been a believer and follower of Jesus since I was 12 years old.  In many ways, I have been blessed with Godly wisdom to avoid some of the major pitfalls of this life.  However, in many ways the plumb line that I had used against myself was not the Living Word of God, and definitely not the Saviour of the Universe.

Now that I have seen, I am responsible.

I have always struggled with how the Living Word was supposed to scrub up against the life of the a 21st Century American Christian.  This book has caused me to focus on 7 major areas of my life and hold them up against the Word of God.  Those areas are: Clothes, Spending, Waste, Food, Possessions, Media & Stress.  At first glace, you might think, “I do okay in those areas..”.  If you feel like you are good and have accomplished all that Jesus has for you, read this book.  If you feel like you are obedient in most areas of your life, read this book.  If you feel like you have no real understanding of what God says about these areas, read this book (and then become a Berean and study it out).

Jen doesn’t seek to be the end all, be all about these issues mentioned.  My understanding is that she just wants the American Church of Jesus to study out how our lives actually line up with the Word of God.  Our view of Christianity is skewed by an American worldview, and not a Jesus worldview.

If you dare to go and pick this book up, be prepared to be challenged.  Be warned, this book is not for the weary.  Actually, the weary might just be the very one intended to read it!

Happy to you in finding your alter to fall upon with all of your idols!  Get ready!  Don’t say I didn’t warn you… (btw we all have idols).  Remember we have a loving Saviour who is willing to show grace to all, may repentance be near.

seven

Review: Sons of Encouragement by Francine Rivers

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Review: Sons of Encouragement by Francine Rivers

This book.  This book.  Wow.  This book.  Okay, so my girl Francine Rivers has challenged my knowledge of God’s Word once again.  Francine writes a beautifully anointed book in exploring every avenue of scripture.  She doesn’t just focus on the text, but the historical, physical and sociological climate of our scriptures.

This book explores the lives of five men in scripture: The Priest (Aaron), The Warrior (Caleb), The Prince (Jonathon), The Prophet (Amos) & The Scribe (Silas).

These men each faced extraordinary days in walking with the Unseen God of the Hebrews.  These men were placed in positions that no one else had ever faced and were forced to choose- follow Him faithfully & fearlessly OR disobey and walk away from the only peace and truth they’d ever known.

Not only does Francine challenge us with her sanctified imagination of scripture, but she follows up each section with a dive straight into the Living Word of God.  It is always important to decipher between what we actually know from scripture and what is sanctified imagination, but Francine paints crucial pictures for all believers everywhere to study out further.

This book has challenged me in ways I never could’ve dreamed.  It has also taught me how to view each person in our Holy Scriptures: real, sinful people born of the same dust as me.  These people were not super heroes.  These people were common.  These people only accomplished what they did for the Kingdom because the Spirit of the Living God was upon them.  Lord, may I be one who is known as a girl with the Spirit….

 

sons of enc

Presents for the King

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birthday bookLast night as I was reading to Georgia before bed, the Lord spoke.  We were reading an awesome book about birthdays, not because I am some great mom theologian teaching about Jesus on Christmas Eve… but she picked it out because it is one of her favorite books.  Throughout the book it speaks of hanging the decorations, sending the invitations, opening the birthday presents & the birthday cards and then at the very end it speaks of how thankful the little girl was for spending time with her at her birthday party.  And that is when it hit.

Has Jesus ever told me “thank you” for spending time with Him on His Birthday?

This year, Christmas has been completely different for me.   This year, I forced myself to be less busy and to truly focus… and it has changed my Christmas.

When I was a kid, and even many years into my adulthood (honestly, until last year), Christmas was really only about the presents.  I would get so excited about what I would open and what I would get to take home with me.  But this year, after spending more time with Him in His Word than ever before, this Christmas is truly about so much more.  Even when you look at your grandparents and how they celebrate Christmas.  They literally only want to be around you and family.  They want your presence, not your presents.  Maturity equals a switch in focus.  Time with Him changes your viewpoint on life and then on Christmas.  Jesus wants our time.  Jesus wants our presence.

This December has been the best December in my entire life.

If I were to give Jesus a birthday present, something that He has never had before… what would it be?  Today, in this early morning moment on Christmas morning, while my house is still and quiet and the only thing on is my Christmas tree lights and my coffee pot.  Today, I want to give Jesus the one thing that he really wants… my time.  The first hour of every day, may it always be devoted to Him.  Happy Birthday, Jesus!  Happy Birthday.

P.S.  Thanks Georgia for choosing the absolutely perfect book to read on Christmas Eve!

Teaching Jesus in a Santa Claus world

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Teaching Jesus in a Santa Claus world….
“The God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers”
Our second biggest celebration has been hijacked… And we’ve allowed it. Not by Santa & his elves, not by our families nor by the shopping phenomena or the decorations. Our celebration, our joy has been taken because we are distraction from what it is all about…. The birth of the One Who is the Living Word of God, Who brings salvation to all mankind. 
Christmas is not exhaustion. Christmas is not debt. Christmas is not stress. Christmas is not overworking, overdoing. Christmas is not productions and busyness. Christmas is not Santa Claus. 
Christmas is Jesus Christ, His birth and His redemptive power. 
I love Santa and who the original Santa was and what he stood for and did for children in need. I love the Spirit of Santa, but our children (my child) cannot be more excited about a man who brings them gifts instead of the One that created the gifts.