Archive for Appreciation

Cherish the Moments

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Living in a fast-paced area, we have learned to cherish any pockets of time in which moments are carved out.  It is like taking a moment as it happens and capturing it so we could remember it forever.

One such moment is when my husband, kids and I visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium during Spring Break.  It is a glorious display of the intricacies of creation!  Marvelous works of fish, birds and seahorses – among much more.

In times like these that are set aside for us to enjoy each other as a family, and get reminded of all the variety there is in the animal kingdom, we are awed yet again at the wonderful variety of humans that God has created in each of us.

There’s a purpose for each and every life.  You may or may not know what that purpose is exactly, but I’ll bet you have an idea of what is important to you and your family.

If you were to sit down with a piece of paper and write out 3-5 things in your life that you couldn’t do without, what would they be?

Connecting Over The Holidays

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At first glance it may appear that most people are quite busy over the holiday season.  There are decorations, festivities and meals to cook.  There are people, Christmas cards and schedules to coordinate.

What about you?  What are your plans over this season?

When I was a little girl, I loved looking at the bright, beautiful Christmas lights.

I imagined a cozy, happy family enjoying being together.

I still imagine it.

And while I’m imagining, I’d like to say: Merry Christmas to you and yours!!

What I treasure immensely is real, purposeful CONNECTION.  It is a theme in my life and a gift that I delight to give.  When there are opportunities to connect with old friends, college buddies and close family, I will be intentional about cherishing those opportunities and letting others know they are appreciated.

After all, we never know how long we will have on earth to let them know that we love them.

This season, I look forward to giving positive time, listening, gifts and words.

What do you look forward to about connecting over the holidays?

Start Tapping into Your Value and Worth

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Hello!  I hope you had a rejuvenating weekend.  My family and I had a lot of fun on Saturday and on Sunday we were in need of naps!

I’ve been revamping my schedule for the summer and you would think it’s more relaxed around the house but what’s actually happening is a soul fire has been kindled and it’s very exciting!

Most of my life I worked through and in spite of my insecurities.  Well now I am harnessing those to become a storyteller.  I’m partnering with a dear friend who’s an author, speaker, teacher and leader to co-author a book that’s scheduled to be released in Fall 2012 – so that means I am holding to a summer production schedule that’s both exhilirating and challenging!  Cuz I get to do what I absolutely love and share my thoughts, own struggles, failure and how to rise from the ashes of burn-out.  In a nutshell.  More videos and articles to come as I learn and produce content as I go.

Here’s a video where I share how to start tapping into your own value and worth.

Leave me a comment and tell me what are your favorite ways to teach value and worth to your children or to those you influence?

If you missed our Ignite Your Vibrancy call in June, you can catch catch it here:  http://bit.ly/M8oVa1

Inspiration Comes, Captured And Released For Good

Sometimes inspiration comes to me while I’m out and about.

Or washing the dishes.

That’s when I grab for a scrap of paper to scribble down the words…

Since I started writing music again, bits of sounds and lyrics would come to me and it’s been so fun engaging this side of me.

I feel so much more connected with who I am, that I’m more apt see the good in myself (rather than being hard on myself).  In so doing, I feel free to see the good in others and bring it out.  Such a fun way to live!

I want to share my latest song with you.  And it’s been a blast working with a dear friend of mine to co-author a book as well!

The hard copy of our book is on its way for Fall 2012, as well as a whole album inspired by this project!  Right now you can sign up to receive a copy of the Queens Journal interactive guide and the song “Beautiful Queen” at:  http://bit.ly/M8oVa1

Closing thought for the day:

Seeing the good in others becomes so much easier when you see the good in yourself.

 

A Beautiful Father Daughter Moment

“Ask and receive.”

“You have not, because you ask not.”

“When you ask, expect to be trained to receive the gift.”

“Ask and receive.”

Have I told you lately how much I’ve been hearing this message in my heart and from others?

Why would I keep hearing this, I wondered?

Could it be I was not asking?

Yes.

Let me tell you how this came about.  One day as my son and I were standing in line at Whole Foods Health Store, a young girl about – oh I’d guess 12 – was happily putting her groceries on the belt.  A man comes upon behind my son and says, “Excuse me, tiger” as my son was blocking the way between him and the young girl.

The girl lights up as the man comes up.  He sees this belly diet headline on the cover of a magazine and he proceeds to make fun of his own belly.  The girl giggles.

I start to wonder, is this the girl’s father?

If he is, they’ve got an amazing relationship.

Not only is the girl super responsive to her dad, she was beaming – her eyes RADIANT – as she makes sure they’ve got everything on the belt they were preparing to purchase.

I got LOST watching them.  He side-hugs her and she’s literally filled to the brim with confidence and security in who she is.  Her cup was so full, she could not contain her joy and she smiled at me – a random “stranger” in line behind her in the checkout.

It was overwhelmingly BEAUTIFUL!

I left there thinking, “I want that.”

I want that for myself with my Dad.  I want that for my husband with our daughter.  I want that for each and every father and daughter who’s never experienced that.

I want that.

Dear God, I ask for beautiful father daughter moments around the world- starting with my own.

If you were to ask for something you truly desire in your heart, what would it be?

 

When Silence Speaks…

When silence speaks, listen. You may hear something special just for you.

A lot of changes have been happening with me and my family lately.

With any change, there’s a need to make adjustments.

Adjustments in schedule, priorities, communication.

So many wonderful new people have come into my life to speak life, love and joy…I am overwhelmed with gratitude and feel so blessed.

I’m also being stretched keeping up with the sheer amount of contacts, paperwork and digital accounts.  It’s a good “problem” to have really…

This week I committed to a longer period of silence in the morning.  It has been heavenly.  I feel so much more connected and whole…

Loved and treasured…

And I want to share that with you.

When we live and breathe true LOVE, love finds its way to us. Be loved today my friends :)

Speaking Out About My Most Important Relationship

I’ve been seriously contemplating speaking out more on this blog about God.  It’s been so long since I gave myself the freedom to express my relationship with Him here.  Life has a way of bringing to you and to me those things which are most important and meaningful to us.  God is the most important relationship in my life- in Him I live and move and have my being.  He gives me thoughts, ideas, desires, plans.

When you and I are connected to those desires, thoughts, ideas, then it’s up to us to implement them.  God doesn’t always give you a step-by-step formula.  Sometimes He does.  He wants us to be creative and utilize all the resources He’s given us.  He wants us to be co-laborers, co-creators with Him.

This is the part of personal responsibility and accountability.  Without the action upon God-given dreams and desires, they fall by the wayside and as lovers of God when that happens we get to fight with bitterness (and win!).

In her collection Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Benedicta Ward says that society “was regarded as a shipwreck from which each single individual man had to swim for his life…These were men who believed that to let oneself drift along, passively accepting the tenets and values of what they knew as society, was purely and simply a disaster.”

The following video was taken at Yosemite. It shows a strong current of water that I thoroughly enjoyed watching and…

Depending on where the current leads, will determine whether you and I want to let ourselves drift along, not passively…

But actively engaging in our God-given desires and dreams for He said, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

What about you?  Do you allow yourself to be in touch with your deepest desires?

Merging Artistry with Practicality

I am so excited about life!  This past weekend I heard something that resonated deeply with me from an Easter church message.

God is a masterful Creator, merging artistry with practicality.

I love this.

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It speaks of supreme intelligence, limitless wisdom and amazing conviction spelled out in four simple letters.

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When we grasp love as it truly is and meant to be, our hearts leap for joy!  Never before have you tasted any love so good, so real, so full.  My description is not enough to describe it- it’s akin to indescribable artwork found in nature merged with the practical bridge provided for us humans to walk along in order to admire that beauty.  Something like that anyway.

This past weekend we celebrated a birthday and I got to love on my in-laws.  It is such a wonderful feeling to give something tangible you always wanted to give, that speaks to them, that for a long time had been locked away somewhere (know what I mean?)

Last week during our kids’ Spring Break, our family took a mini-vacation to Yosemite and it was breathtakingly beautiful.

For the next week or so I will be posting pictures with corresponding videos daily to illustrate themes of what I saw in those scenes.  Here’s the first video that goes with the above picture!

Grateful For Love

Feeling grateful or appreciative of someone or something in your life actually attracts more of the things that you appreciate and value into your life.  ~Christiane Northrup

We celebrated a festive Thanksgiving over the weekend with our extended family.  Fun, food, and a time of reminiscing our college years!

It reminded me of something I think everybody wants.

More love.  More peace.  More joy.

May I share something I love with you?  It’s music for the heart and soul.

I encourage you and me to spend a few minutes each day thinking in our mind:
Who and what do we already love?
Let’s watch what happens when we be thankful for these things often :)

Gratitude Creates Vision

“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates vision for tomorrow.” ~Author Unknown

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” ~William Arthur Ward

1.  I give thanks for my family – my hubby and kids who I get to care for every day.

2.  I’m thankful for the ability to take the kids swimming on a hot day at our condo’s pool.

3.  Thankful to chat with neighbors and my kids to play with neighborhood kids.

4.  Grateful to my neighbor for lending me dish washing soap when I ran out last minute.

5.  Thankful to God for giving me strength and vision through intense struggles.

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