Happy New Year 2012

With a new year upon us, this is the perfect time for a little self reflection and personal inventory. What things from the past year physically, emotionally, and psychologically should I take with me in this New Year? Last week was a national day called “Good Riddance Day”. This is a day set aside just before the beginning of the New Year to get rid of hurt, pain, anger, clutter or anything else that held you down over the past year or even years. This is a great idea. Why take hurtful or damaging things with you into the New Year if you don’t have to? The New Year is a great time to start over and have a clean slate. This year there are several personal goals I have set for myself; many of them have to do with letting go. Here is a list of some of my personal goals for the New Year, please help me pray and keep in check. I need everyone’s help and support to make sure I am able to reach and maintain my goals!

1. I am going to eat healthier. I have Fibromyalgia and my husband is diabetic. We are both over weight, and have decided it is important for us to start sticking to a healthy diet so that we can enjoy being parents. We also feel it is important to teach Makayla healthy eating now so she does not have so many challenges later.

2. I am going to start working out more even if it is just running around with Makayla outside each day; I am going to be more active.

3. I am going to be more organized. I used to keep my house immaculate. You could literally eat off of my floors. Since I have had Makayla and really since I got married I have allowed way too much clutter in my life. I am currently going through everything and if we don’t need it or use it on a regular basis, it is going out. I am tired of holding on to things “just in case” I need them.

4. I am not going to allow negative people to bring me down. I have come to realize that a great deal of my stress and depression was being brought on by caring about people who didn’t. You cannot help people that do not want help. I am not saying I am going to stop caring. I cannot stop `caring, I love my family and friends too deeply to ever stop caring. However, I am going to stop allowing their actions and words to have such a major effect on me.

5. I am going to be more thankful, and complain less. I have so many blessings in my life. I have a nice home, food to eat, a wonderful husband, a beautiful daughter, and wonderful friends and family. So many people would love to just be able to have the bare necessities in life. I have been blessed to have all I need and most of what I want.

6. I am going to strive each day to be a blessing to someone. I do not always come into contact with a lot of people being a stay at home mom, but I can always be a blessing to my family as well as to the children I care for.

7. I am going to save money more. I always try to save money but always end up spending it any ways. This year I am going to save money and spend less. You never know when you will have an emergency.

8. I am going to do a better job of sending birthday cards as well as sympathy and get well cards. It is important to let the people you love know they are loved and appreciated.

9. I am going to make more time for me. I cannot take care of everyone else if I don’t take care of myself.

10. I am going to read my Bible and pray more! Raising my daughter in a Christian home is very important to me. We are starting bedtime prayers with her now that she is 2 and we are going to start having family time as well.

These are not all of my goals, but these are some of the important ones. I encourage everyone to write down their goals as a visual reminder and put them where you can see them every day. I am going to be going over my list each day just to remind myself. I hope this post is a blessing to someone. Please know I am here for each and every one of you if you ever just need a friend.

Brandi's Top 10 Tips for a Happier Life

1. LOVE Unconditionally: Love God or whatever higher power you believe in, love yourself, love your family, love your friends, love those you do not like, and love strangers. (Loving a person does not mean you have to LIKE their actions.)

2. PRAY daily. Pray for all the people you love, and pray that you can be a blessing to others. If you are a blessing to others around you, you will receive a blessing as well!

3. LIVE life to its fullest. We are not guaranteed tomorrow so live for today! Do not put off things that you could do or say to others that could make a difference. If you have to opportunity to do something you have always wanted to do- do it!

4. TELL the people you love that you love them. You may not have the opportunity to tell them tomorrow. If you have a problem with someone, tell them immediately instead of telling everyone else. Life is too short to hold on to bitterness. The feelings you have may simply be a misunderstanding that could be cleared up quickly and easily.

5. LISTEN to what others have to say. God gave us two ears and one mouth; I do not think this is merely a coincidence. There is a wealth of knowledge all around us, and it would be a shame to miss an important message because we could not hear it over ourselves.

6. BE THANKFUL for what you have instead of always wanting what you don’t have. If you constantly want what you don’t have you will never truly be able to be happy. Count your blessings instead of counting other's blessings.

7. LEARN something new every day. There are unlimited sources around us that can teach us important lessons. You don’t have to be a student in a school or college to learn just be a student in life.

8. GIVE as often as you can. You do not have to give anything that costs money. A simple hand written letter can be the greatest gift a person could receive. The gift of time is also something that cannot be replaced.

9. HELP those around you that are worse off than you. Volunteering at a homeless shelter or donating to local charities will keep you in the Holiday spirit all year long. No matter how bad your situation is, remember there is always someone else who has it worse.

10. TIME for yourself is important. It is important to make time for the things you enjoy in life. Sometimes a little quiet time and a bubble bath can be so therapeutic. You cannot take care of others if you cannot take care of yourself.

God Uses Ordinary People to do Extraordinary Things

Yesterday when I woke up, I was feeling absolutely HORRIBLE. My body was aching, I was coughing so hard I felt as if I would cough up a lung at any moment. Makayla had been coughing very hard all night as well, and I did not want to get out of bed when the alarm clock went off. I had seriously contemplated staying in for the day and just resting because of the Thanksgiving Holiday quickly approaching. I finally managed to roll out of bed, and then I started thinking. I know I have not had a fever and I am not contagious so not going to church would only hinder me. Then the little devil on my shoulder reminded me how nice a day of rest would be, and the angel reminded me how I could really be missing a message God wanted me to hear. I then decided I was getting up and getting ready. I did not look great, no make up and hair pulled back, but God loves me anyways. He just wants us to come as we are.

I am so grateful that I made to conscious effort to rebuke Satan. The worship service was amazing and you could really feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. The sermon as suspected really spoke to my heart. The speaker reminded us how God always chose ordinary people to do EXTRAORDINARY things! If we just listen to that Still Small Voice, and do as He asks we can make a difference. Even if we only make a difference in one person's life, that person can pass on the blessings, and the next and so on and the next thing you know you could have an amazing movement!

One thing I have noticed lately is all of the hate and violence in the world. My goal is to be a witness to everyone I meet simply through my testimony. Most of the people I know who are non believers only have the views they have because they have been severely mistreated by people who go to church, but are not exactly acting as a Christian should. These people do not want to be preached to. They know what the Bible says, but they have been hurt. I feel that living and speaking the right way will influence much better than preaching to them will. Showing them that not everyone who professes to be a Christian is going to treat them the way the ones in their past has. Unfortunately there are so many "Christians" out there who are very judgmental and act "Holier than Thou". This is a major turn off, and can really hinder people from wanting to be a believer in Christ! Why would they want to be a Christian when every Christian they come into contact with is rude and judgmental? As a person they act better than the so-called Christians they come into contact with.

It is not our job to judge people. It is our job to LOVE people. We can love people and still hate the sin. Everywhere we go there are people that are in pain. People are suffering everywhere. You may not be able to tell who it is that just needs to be shown some love! It is important that we show kindness and respect to everyone we come into contact with. We never know who needs just a little kindness. I always try to remember that no matter how bad my situation is at the moment, there is always someone who is in a much worse situation. So my biggest challenge to myself and to everyone else is to show a little kindness to a stranger. You never know when you may come in contact with an Angel!

Thanksgiving Season

The Thanksgiving Season is one of my favorite times of the year. I personally do not like the turkey and the traditional Thanksgiving foods. What I love about this time of year is how it causes me to stop and think about all of my many blessings. All too often we take so many things for granted. Even on my worst day, I am still far better off than millions of people in the world. I have made a personal challenge to send out a message each day this month about one thing I am thankful for. So far it has been going very well, and it has really helped my attitude. I find myself much more grateful for even the little things. I love the fact that I see many others doing the same thing on facebook. It does my heart and soul good to see people expressing gratitude instead of complaining about everything.

It seems that especially with the social networking the world is full of more hate, rumors, and drama than ever before. I have personally considered discontinuing my usage of these sites because of this, but then I decided that would be allowing Satan to win in a way. I can be a blessing and a testimony by remaining positive and being there for others. The ones that only cause drama can easily be ignored. My hope is that my attitude will be contagious and more people will start giving thanks for the small things.