livel0veliv

[livel0veliv]

Living here for over four years and not one solid friend. I got into a motorcycle accident and realized just how alone I was here. It's time to go. Thankfully, I'm okay. My bike isn't. But if something had happened to me...God always has me when no one else does it when my friends live too far away to be there for me. I can't do this anymore. It's time to move.

[livel0veliv]

Once you leave what He [God] has called you to do, and you try to rule other people's worlds, you are on your own. God is not interested in helping you advance your own kingdom, someone else's kingdom, or to rule someone else's world. God has a kingdom, and in it He has designated specific authority for specific individuals to work according to a specific plan to best advance His kingdom.

-Kingdom Man by Tony Evans (Ch 8)

#wisdom #advice #christianity #purpose

[livel0veliv]

So basically, I won't be able to identify a man aligned under the will of God if I myself fail to live every part of my life under the will of God.

#wisdom #advice #christianity #life #faith

[livel0veliv]

I don't want it, if it is not from God.

[livel0veliv]

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

1 Corinthians 13:4‭-‬8 NIV

#bible #bible verse #wisdom #advice #bible study #life #love

[livel0veliv]

Courage is simply doing it scared.

#wisdom #advice #qotd #courage #fear

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Fear is a liar.

#wisdom #advice #fear

[livel0veliv]

"The hidden cost of faking it is isolation, but the payoff of vulnerability is community. "

Bob Goff

#wisdom #advice #vulnerable #friendship #best friends

[livel0veliv]

"I LOVE YOU" MOMENTS FROM GOD

I rarely use an alarm clock. Like when I need to catch a really early flight or take medication. I think He takes offense to it when I use an alarm, TBH. Like child, I've been waking you up all your life. Why doubt me in this scenario? If I say I need to get up at whatever time for a flight. I'm probably wrong, and He wakes me when I actually need to be up and out and everything works out perfectly. 99% of the time, God wakes me up when I need to be up, and He gives me enough time to spend time with Him before the rest of my day starts. It varies. Sometimes, he'll wake me in the middle of the night to chat with him and then I go back to sleep. But when he wakes me up literally JUST IN TIME. That is an "I love you" moment for me because I wake up refreshed. It's gentle, and He gives me as much time as I need for rest. For example, if I go to bed later than I should, He still wakes me when I need to be up and makes my sleep sweet.

On the roadtrip a rest stop would show up exactly when I needed it, to pull over and use the restroom or just nap. Perfect timing.

When a fast food place I love but don't live near back home would pop up and I was hungry and ready to eat.

The mountains the scenery on the longer drive segments.

Having good convos with friends when my mind needed to be engaged so I could stay alert

Eating really good food at a place I visit for the first time

Making a new amazing friend

Candles and a good smelling room

80° weather, nice breezy and clear skies

Being able to rest on a rainy day

Making it home safe, especially when there's ice and snow on the road

An answered prayer

#christianity #life #faith #god loves me

[livel0veliv]

...while the ungodly rich were prospering at their expense.

[livel0veliv]

As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

James 2:26 NIV

This verse popped into my head. And I wasn't sure if it was "dead" or "doesn't work" but I said to myself "dead" carries some rather significant weight. Makes me think of the phrase "dead in the water" and when I think of water I think of God. Putting those to things together. God can show me so many things but if I don't put things into action, if I don't work and do my part. All that faith, all that potential, all that promise is dead with God. He could pass it on to someone else to gain life.

All these ideas. Remain dead in the water until I put things in motion.

#ideas #destiny #bible #bible verse #wisdom #bible study #life #faith #grind

[livel0veliv]

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Proverbs 31:30 NIV

As long as God is proud of the kid.

[livel0veliv]

...the prettiest thing

#Spotify

[livel0veliv]

CDs + Roadtrips

This roadtrip I'm on has in part been a trip down memory lane with my 2005 car having a CD player and no AUX port I pulled out my massive CD binder and have been listening to some music I started collecting at 12?

Anyways...

About an hour into my drive, I wanted to pull over and rest, but I don't like driving in the dark, so I kept going. I listened to some classical and movie soundtracks, but it just wasn't doing it for me.

Then, with two hours left and it was dark, now I pulled out all my Canton Jones CDs. It took me back to high school. There's this song called "Holy Ghost Girl". If there was ever a song to partially embody the type of woman, I thought that I would be at 14, that's it! It was who I was until life hit me with a two-piece, and I'm not talking about chicken! I really fell off for a solid seven years. I am happy to say that for the most part that's me...for the most part. Sometimes a trip down memory lane is good to remind yourself of some of the goals younger you had.

I think it's time to put away childish things like the way I dress and step into the woman that I am. Be that Holy Ghost Girl of course but grown and...Holy 😆 yeah Holy.

Let's make 14yo me proud!

#grown and sexy #canton jones #cds #high school #sanctifiedly #holy ghost #christianity #life #faith

[livel0veliv]

God preventing me from getting what I want, to give me what I need, and me not feeling some way about it when I didn't get what I wanted when I tried to get it, is growth. Really learning to trust Him and understand that when something is blocked or delayed, it is all for a REALLY good reason.

Such a drastic change from 17 years ago when I experienced a life tragedy and stopped thinking that God had my best interests at heart.

I was a teen in Christ who had faced some difficulties at that point but now as an adult to know that even when things don't go MY way as long as they go GOD'S way everything will be okay.

#wisdom #growth #faith #life #Jesus loves #god cares

[livel0veliv]

Know > Feel

Fall 2021 God placed it on my heart to go back to grad school. An idea I wasn't particular fond of because: homework. [Insert rant here]

So I just knew this was from God's heart and not my own desire because why do I want to do work for free?

So you can imagine how mad I was when I didn't get in after literally applying at the last minute. I submitted my application on the last day. It wasn't exactly the program I wanted, but it was close because I still wanted to work. I didn't want to go full time. The program I really wanted would require me to put my life as I knew it on pause, and I didn't want to.

This was honestly the first time God told me to do something and things didn't come together, so I just knew something was wrong, but I did everything He told me to do. Right?

Well, faith without the [RIGHT] work is dead.

So I went to Phoenix for two weeks to "hear God more clearly" and I mediated on the Word, I stayed away from electronics as much as possible. I wanted answers and got nothing. Nothing.

That was also a first. Which made me mad, confused and I felt so lost. Why would God tell me to do something, not make it all work out for me and be silent after?!?

So I did what I knew He wanted. I continued to follow the last objective He gave me. The previous directive I knew came from Him, because as I said, this one to attend grad school didn't come from me, but that didn't pan out. So I ignored it for six months.

I was still very much hurt. I hid all of my college gear (they're my fav football team) and I couldn't stomach going to the city either. I was very hurt and in my feelings about it all.

So I took another trip, to be gone for 40+ days and it was cut short. When I got back God had another directive. To build my community. And stop traveling for a while. Around that same time, my workload tripled, and I would have started grad school at that point. There was no way. No way, I could have done that. Work and school?!?! I was crashing right after work. Didn't hit the gym as often. Ran to release stress. It would have been a crap show.

God knew.

So I'm stayed put, building a community I can lean on. July comes and my friend who helped me with my application brought it up while she visited, I told her I was still hurt, but had made my peace. Early August I went and looked up the programs again. At this point, I hadn't been out of the country for over a year, and I was a feen. The deadline for the international program, the one I really wanted, the one that was harder to get into than the last program I applied to, had a deadline in a month.

I dismissed the thought. A week later I think on it and just thought it was going to be more difficult, but I eventually caved in late one Friday evening and started my application. Looked up so many "how to" articles to find that I had done so much wrong in my application process the first time.

This time I inlisted my community [see what God did there] by Monday morning three friends that had attended grad school or are actively attending had looked over everything and gave me pointers. Because I was so active in the community lately that was added to my resume. I became more desirable to the college.

I submitted my application a few days before the deadline, when it was ready for a few days, because I wasn't sure I could take another rejection. So I had to work on my feelings and mindset and tell myself that I'd be okay if I didn't get in.

I got in. I was the only American to get into the program. I was one of four females to get into the program. The hardest program. Me. This kid from the poorest town of all of Michigan. Got into one of the best international business programs in the World.

God did that.

But I almost missed out on that because I was operating from on how I felt versus what I knew. I knew this was God's direction and not my own because I hate, HATE, homework. For months, I dwelled on my feelings. Instead of asking what I was missing, lacking, what do I need to make this work?

Well my story doesn't stop there, because although I got in, I had to make the hard decision to defer. Which made me feel lost all over again, because this is God's plan everything was supposed to work out.

It didn't. All those months I wasted being in my feelings meant I wasn't trading because I can't trade successfully when my feelings are a mess and they were a HOT MESS. And I was hurt and low-key angry at God. (I can admit that now)

All those months the market was beautiful, I could have made all sorts of money to not be the broke college student I was destined to be of I didn't defer. So this year that's my focus.. one of my focuses.

And lastly to show that the timing was off not just the first time but also the second time. I accepted a contract in Fall 2022, where I get to work under not just a manager but a director and VP all with a background in my line of work. Something I have been hunting for, for 9 years. NINE WHOLE YEARS. So I was bummed that I'd only get three months with them and not get the mentorship I had been seeking for years. It was finally in my lap.

So now I get a little over a year with them. This was what I wanted to get this kind of exposure before I transitioned into this next phase of my career and life.

So I said all that to say when God places things on your heart from His, make sure you move like you know it's coming from Him. Don't make moves based on your feelings. And also reflect, consider on what "work" you need to do to support your "faith" because I was really out here doing the bare minimum expecting God to cover everything else. God couldn't help or show me until I asked for help and asked the right questions. He's a gentleman like that. He will give me everything I need, I simply need to ask for it. But don't just ask for anything you think you need. Ask Him for His best.

So I'm excited now.

I know that He's preparing me. He has been preparing me all my life. I'm coming to the end of this third book in my life (like John the Apostle with all those books in the Bible). I feel it, in more and more areas of my life, that a shift is about to take place. I don't know what the next book will look like, but I'm going to enjoy this one and end it with a bang!

#God cares #jesus loves you #faith

[livel0veliv]

Romans 12 has been helping me navigate life these past two weeks.