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Storms Don’t Last Forever – Vacation Greetings July 2016

Here’s a short video I shot during my recent family vacation. I pray it reminds you that storms don’t last forever!

Hope you’re having a blessed summer!

To view more encouraging videos from some of my past vacations, click here.

“Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” (Psalm 34:8)

Did this encourage you? Share your thoughts in the comments below! And don’t forget to sign up below to have my weekly encouraging blog posts emailed straight to you for free. When you subscribe below, you’ll also receive the free “12 Journal Writing Prompts” PDF I created to help inspire you as you write/journal.

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For more encouragement, read my books Waiting on God Well: How to Prevent Breaking Down on Your Way to Your Breakthrough and Abounding Faith: 30 Bible Heroes Who Will Inspire You to Believe God for the Impossible! To learn how I can come alongside of you as your Life Coach or to invite me to speak at your event, visit my website www.aboundingfaith.com. Check out Abounding Faith’s online store here. You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest.

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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Waiting on God Well’s 1st Anniversary!

WOGW Final Collage

What a year it’s been since the release of the printed version of my first book Waiting on God Well: How to Prevent Breaking Down on Your Way to Your Breakthrough!

I’m so grateful to everyone who has supported my book! I’m touched to hear how Waiting on God Well has blessed you! Thank you to everyone who has bought the book for themselves, written reviews about it, and bought copies of the book to share with friends.

Writing can be a solitary experience, so it’s great when I can celebrate with others. I love that this book has touched people of different backgrounds, ages, and both women and men.

We’re all waiting on God for something, right? I’ve heard stories of folks waiting for a new job, for their spouse to come to the Lord, to meet their significant other, and others waiting for healing in their bodies, etc… Some have said they couldn’t put the book down once they started reading it. Others have thanked me for including the Power Verses and the Action Steps at the end of each chapter.

I love what the Lord is doing in and through people as they read Waiting on God Well! Here’s just a sample:

  • “Waiting on God Well was quite insightful and encouraging. It gave some very practical tools that can help us continue waiting on the Lord and not give up!” – Pastor Lillian Gutierrez, Love Gospel Assembly
  • “Waiting on God Well is a good and simple read with excellent scriptural references/meditation and (my favorite), the action steps. They’re so HELPFUL! I feel that women, men or anyone who’s willing to seek God’s guidance can benefit from you book.” – Manni Lee, Associate Executive Director, Women of Wonder (WOW)
  • “Waiting on God Well is an encouraging book that reminds us that we don’t have to put our life on hold while we wait upon God. The book reminds us that God has a purpose for us even in our season of waiting and is a sweet reminder that He is taking care of us and growing us even in difficult times. This book has been a huge blessing to me!” – Christina Phan, Connect Group Leader, Every Nation Church New York City

You can read and view more testimonies here. You can read past blog posts about the book here and watch a video greeting I did for readers here.

It wasn’t easy writing Waiting on God Well, but it was a necessary step in my journey. And if you’re following my faith journey, you’re getting to see some of the fruit and blessings that God is allowing in my life after this long season of waiting. All glory to God!

God is still writing my story. I look forward to sharing more with you as it unfolds!

I hope my story will encourage you that waiting on God is not in vain! God is working behind the scenes. Your breakthrough will come at its appointed time. God will not be one day too early or too late. He’ll be right on time!

If you’re free, I hope you’ll join me on Periscope this Wednesday at 12:30pm (EST) for Abounding Faith Today’s Midday Praise Break. Let’s celebrate this milestone! I’d love to hear how God is working in your life as well! If you can’t make it live, no worries. I’ll post the replay on Abounding Faith’s YouTube Channel.

Blessings to you and please keep the positive reviews coming on Amazon and please continue to tell others about Waiting on God Well. Help others as they go through their waiting seasons! Help them to see that waiting on God is worth it!

“Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” (Luke 1:45)

Did this encourage you? Share your thoughts in the comments below! And don’t forget to sign up below to have my weekly encouraging blog posts emailed straight to you for free. When you subscribe below, you’ll also receive the free “12 Journal Writing Prompts” PDF I created to help inspire you as you write/journal.

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For more encouragement, read my book Waiting on God Well: How to Prevent Breaking Down on Your Way to Your Breakthrough! To learn how I can come alongside of you as your Life Coach or to invite me to speak at your event, visit my website www.aboundingfaith.com. Check out Abounding Faith’s online store here. You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest.

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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How to Wait on God Well – Announcing My New Ebook!

You'reGoing toMake it! (1)

I’m delighted to announce the release of my first ebook Waiting on God Well: How to Prevent Breaking Down on Your Way to Your Breakthrough!

So many times I’ve written here about waiting on God’s timing. Now I’m sharing how to wait. We all go through dry seasons in our lives. Times where we feel like we’ve been forgotten in the back side of the desert.

What are you waiting on God for?  To move, get married, be healed, become a parent or to have a wayward child come home?

I pray this ebook will encourage you to not quit in the middle of your journey! It’s always too early to give up on the dreams God has given you.

As 2014 winds down, I must say this has been a year of joy! It started with Moving Forward and launching my website AboundingFaith.com and included a short-term missions trip to Peru and winning Our Daily Bread’s Facebook Contest for Readers. Now it’s ending with my ebook. Glory!

Thank you for taking this journey with me! Here’s a little peek at what things looked like earlier this year as I was getting my manuscript ready:

I wasn’t sure if I could get everything finished by the end of the year, but the Lord opened the door and I walked through it.

I’m already praying about what’s next. I’m excited about what’s to come.

I pray you will end the year strong knowing that God loves you and is with you! Let’s see what the Lord has in store in 2015!

If you read my ebook and like it, please leave a review and rating on the site you buy it from. Blessings to you and as always, thanks for reading!

“Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her” (Luke 1:45)

Did this encourage you? Please hit “like” and don’t forget to sign up below to have my weekly encouraging blog posts e-mailed straight to you for free. When you subscribe below, you’ll also receive the free “12 Journal Writing Prompts” PDF I created to help inspire you as you write/journal.

button (24)For more encouragement, read my new ebook Waiting on God Well: How to Prevent Breaking Down on Your Way to Your Breakthrough! To learn how I can come alongside of you as your Life Coach or to invite me to speak at your event, visit my website www.aboundingfaith.com. You can also find me on YouTube and Pinterest.

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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Living Beyond the Fog

Kayak 2014
One of my favorite pics from Summer 2014

A special welcome to those of you who are joining me after reading my post on Our Daily Bread’s Facebook page on Friday, September 26th. It was truly an honor to be featured there. I pray you will feel at home here and that you will be encouraged. Blessings!

I had such a lovely time vacationing with my family at a lake in Upstate New York this past August. It was such a time of refreshing especially for me as I love being by the water, and I had just come back from my short-term missions trip to Peru.

I made sure to go kayaking several times while I was there. The more often I went, the braver I got and the further out I ventured.

On one particular day, I kept feeling led to keep Moving Forward. All I saw ahead of me was the open sky pictured above, the peaceful water, and the outline of Vermont’s skyline in the distance. I could have stayed out there for hours.

As I kept paddling, I felt the Lord showing me that this is what’s ahead for me. Just a wide open place that He has prepared. The recent storms I have been going through are over, Praise God! The fog has lifted, Amen! Now I can walk in some of the promises I have been waiting on God for. Glory!

I don’t share this to brag, but to encourage you. Whatever storm you may be in right now please know that things get better and brighter. It may not happen overnight. Your situation may not change in an instant. But do trust that God is working in you and through you during your tests and trials, and that He has a beautiful plan for your life!

Keep paddling forward even if the water feels choppy at times. Keep following God even if you can’t see a clear picture of what’s ahead. He will lead you to still waters and safe pastures! He knows the way. In fact, Jesus is the way so let’s keep our eyes fixed on Jesus!

“He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.” (Psalm 18:19)

Did this encourage you? Please hit “like” and be sure to sign up below to have my weekly encouraging blog posts e-mailed straight to you for free. When you subscribe below, you’ll also receive the free “12 Journal Writing Prompts” PDF I created to help inspire you as you write/journal.

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For more encouragement and to learn how I can come alongside of you as your Life Coach or to invite me to speak at your event, visit my website www.aboundingfaith.com. You can also find me on YouTube and Pinterest.

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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Stay the Course!


splorp / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

 

Last week we had some unusually cold, rainy days. On one of those evenings, I was battling the elements on my way home from work.

I was two blocks away from my house when this big gust of wind almost knocked my umbrella right out of my hand. It was pretty brutal that day.

The easiest thing for me to do at that moment was to turn around and go in the opposite direction of where the wind was blowing or to run into a store for shelter, but as I mentioned I was almost at my destination. It would have been silly for me to go anywhere else but straight ahead.

So I squared my shoulders, made a decision to keep moving forward and kept on walking towards home. As I took one step at a time, I felt the Lord showing me how important it is not to let anything stop me in my tracks. Especially not when my goal was so close in sight!

Isn’t that what happens in our lives though? We’re going along fine, minding our own business and then some wind comes to distract us or to force us to make a detour.

I’m here to remind you that the Lord knows the plans He has for you, and sometimes the best thing we can do is to persevere and to stay the course!

Don’t make sudden moves or changes. Pray. Wait. Obey what God says to do next.

Sometimes we just want to give up or run away. But God knows what He’s doing even when it looks like you’re heading into a storm. And His purposes for you will be fulfilled in His perfect timing.

Blessings to you as you purpose in your heart to endure and to keep going! Your journey may be tough right now, but it will be worth it!

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Did this encourage you? Please click “Like” or leave a comment below.

To get these posts e-mailed straight to your inbox weekly, and to get my free e-booklet MiraculousLovely Abroad: Lessons and Snapshots from the Mission Fields, click here.

For more encouragement, and to learn how I can come alongside of you as your Life Coach, visit my website www.aboundingfaith.com.

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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P.U.S.H.

sign

I was walking past a church a few weeks ago when the sign for one of their upcoming sermons caught my attention.  It spoke to me so much that I had to take the photo that’s included above.

“Pray & Never Give Up!”  I love how they even added an exclamation point at the end of the statement.

It reminds me of the acronym P.U.S.H which stands for Pray Until Something Happens!

I honestly believe that once we understand how much power there is in prayer, we’ll be praying non-stop morning, noon, and night! It won’t feel like a chore or duty. It really is a conversation with our Heavenly Father.

And it includes the whole trinity! We have access to the Father through the name of His Son Jesus (Ephesians 2:18), and the Holy Spirit helps us pray according to God’s will. Glory!

There’s nothing super fancy about how and when you should pray. Just be honest and tell God what’s on your heart. He already knows, but He wants you to spend time with Him.

Below are just a few Bible verses about prayer to help jump-start your prayer life.

When should we pray? The Bible says we are to pray continually. (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

What should we pray about? “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.”  (Ephesians 6:18)

What should our attitude be like when praying? “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.” (Psalm 100:4)

We can approach God’s throne of grace with boldness because of Jesus.  “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:17-16)

Remember, Jesus is interceding for us! “Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” (Hebrews 8:34)

Not sure what to say? Let the Holy Spirit help! “… the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27)

Yes, God is sovereign so we can’t boss Him around and twist His arm to do what we’d like, but He does hear His children!  He hears us when we cry out to Him and call on the name of Jesus!

Just think of all those times you whispered, shouted or ran through prayers in your mind. Think of how you received answers to those prayers. Seriously, think about that mess He got you through, that loved one He healed or that bill that got paid right before the deadline. Think of that door that closed because something better was coming, that accident you avoided or that unexpected surprise that could only have come from God Almighty!

Yes, God answers prayers! His answers are either yes, no or wait.

So what have you been praying about? Are you thinking of quitting? May I encourage you to P.U.S.H.!

Our Heavenly Father loves to hear you pray. As the sign above says, Pray and Never Give Up!

Not sure where to start? Let’s pray right now:

Father, I thank you that you love us and hear us. I thank you that you have a Great Plan and Purpose for our lives. Help us in our time of need and forgive us when we say or do things that aren’t pleasing to you. Thank you that you have promised to never leave us nor forsake. Give us the grace we need to face any trial that comes our way knowing that your Grace is Sufficient! We ask this in the Mighty Name of Jesus, Amen!

I hope this encouraged you. If so, feel free to leave a comment below.

If you’re just starting your walk with the Lord, congratulations! Please feel free to click here to learn more. 

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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