How to Take a SPA For Your Spirit

SPAs and retreats have been around for long time. SPAs offer a time of retreat. The dictionary defines retreat as withdrawal. When a person retreats, he/she withdraws from life; gains a new perspective and recharges. Jesus was known to retreat, so why is it that we do not see the need to? We can take a mini retreat any time that we need one. Here’s how to prepare yourself.

·        

 Get disconnected from the outside world.

“Fast” from your cell phone except in emergency situations. Remember, you are creating some “alone time” for yourself and creating more time with God. Technology make us always assessable and focused on too many distractions.

·         Trust and enjoy the silence.

We have become so accustomed to the noise around us. However, understanding that sound distracts ones’ mind and makes you incapable of listening to the inner voice is reason enough to “Be Still” as God commands when we are told to “Be still and know that I am God”. Silence truly is golden and is nothing to be afraid of. Learn to appreciate silence and take it as an opportunity to do some inner analysis. Ask yourself some questions and listen within for the answers.

·         Set realistic goals.

Realistic goals are the key to  achieving success in life. The same applies even to your spiritual retreat. A simple goal like having some time with God will do. Make it as distraction-free as possible. Another goal may be to do some self-reflection in order to plan for the next season of your life.

·         Talk to God

During your retreat, you have decided to spend time with God. Take maximum advantage of this time. Talk to God about yourself, about your family, about your goals in life, about your surroundings and about everything else that comes to your mind. Then, be quiet and listen for His input.

·         Journal about your insights.

Being negligent about this aspect is like letting a thief steal from you. Once you get back to the busyness of life, it’s so easy to forget the gold that was minded during this time of reflection and meditation. Having insights and wisdom written down will encourage you to put into practice the things you learned while on your SPA for the Spirit.

·         You should also be careful when selecting a location. Go for a place located in a scenic surrounding. This will help put your mind at ease and let you disconnect yourself from the outside world  easier.

·         Listen to music that it relaxing and quieting to the spirit.

A spiritual retreat is the most effective way to gain spiritual direction and insight. Prepare yourself and you will get the most from it. Be blessed.

Me Time: Vital for Maintaining Relationships

 

We live very hectic lives. We often have stressful jobs, come home to take care of the children and spouses, pets, and piled-up household chores. There seems to hardly be any time left to relax, let alone keep relationships fresh, exciting and healthy. As a result, many couples start to drift apart. Families start to drift apart. The good news is that does not have to happen to you, my friend.

By occasionally taking time off and spending it at some of the local escapes, you can find refresh, refocus and rejuvenate yourself.  With our limited spare time, it is often difficult to take extended vacations; but, surely you can spend a couple of days on a weekend getaway.  It is important to rekindle your passion for your spouse, refocus on the importance of family, and just plain have some fun with each other. Forget about paying bills, soccer practice, ballet lessons, cleaning the carpet and other things that won’t matter after you’re gone. What your family will have left are the memories that they shared with you. Will that memory be one where you never spent time with them? Will it be one where they felt that everything else was more important than they were?  

You need time to yourself. If you are all spent out, you have little to give to others.  A local coffee shop, bookstore, or park can provide some breathing space and time to do some of the things that you enjoy. You may even book a suite at one of your local hotels and treat yourself to some much deserved rest and relaxation.  How would it feel to go to an unhurried breakfast Instead of the urgency of others wanting you to get up to go make breakfast? Or, you and your spouse could cuddle undisturbed, and sleep until your body is truly rested. Think about it. Life is short, but the memories of your spouse and family are long. 

 

 

God is for the Underdog

Today I'm blogging on a dynamic church in the South-New Hope International in Warner Robins, Georgia, Jordan Poole, Pastor. Bishop Jeff Poole, Overseer, and Pastor of New Hope Port St. Lucie in Florida, did an amazing job of showing how God is with us no matter what our situation may look like. I am providing the sermon notes for you here.

God is for the Underdog (Judges 6:11-16)

Underdog- a person who is expected to lose. We've all felt like underdogs at some point in time; overwhelmed, out numbered, like the situation is out of control, like you can't make a comeback. People under-estimate what and Who you have inside you. But this can be a positive situation. The Bible says that a righteous man may fall seven times, but gets back up; Darkness cannot put your light out. You can extinguish what is trying to put you out. We Americans spend $8 billion on makeup each year. We care about our appearance. And, we should. But we can appear ok on the outside, but the inside is not ok. People under estimate the value of who you are. Vs. 1 tells us that for 7 years, the Middionites have the Israelites live in dens, caves, and strongholds after God had already delivered them- put them back in bondage, robbed them of what they had sown. How often do we see our efforts no turn out like we want them to? When we see that happen, we begin to withdraw and hide ourselves. But you're still in the game, in the war whether you want to be or not. We may take ourselves out, but God never takes us out. The enemy never leaves us alone! Israel and the Middionites have a history. It's not their first encounter. The Middionites now want revenge. The enemy is not happy when we defeat him. Don't think it strange the fiery darts that come against you. We, too, have a history with the enemy. The Israelites cried to the Lord because of trouble, because of the enemy. There's nothing like trouble to get you to pray. They cried out to God and He sent a prophet. They had a history with God, also. He said, "I'm the one that brought you up and out". We have a history with God, too. Because of their history with God, He sent an angel. Be careful how we treat strangers. They may be angels unaware. Gideon was doing something in hiding that he should have been doing in the open (threshing wheat) because of fear of the past. Fear can fuel us or intimidate and paralyze us. How many of us have become inhibited because of past battles. He was supposed to be threshing wheat in the open on a hill so that the wind could separate the wheat from the chaff. But he was next to a wind press, a hole in the ground where wine was made. How often do we expose the things that we should hide and do openly and vice versa. We shouldn't hide our joy and peace, our faith, our victories.

You cannot do anything without wind, the Holy Spirit. Quit trying to control everything in our life. Let the sails up in your life and let the wind guide you. If you let the Spirit of God control your life, He'll blow things that have been there for years. The wind will separate. The angel of God said to Gideon, "The Lord is with you, you mighty (strong, champion) man of valor (power, efficiency, wealth) while Gideon was still hiding, before he showed these traits. This is because God sees us as we are in Him, as a victor.  Gideon says, "If the Lord is with us, why is this happening?" But, some things we will only know in part. Our situation causes us to not feel God. We can question God. He let's us get it all out, our whining and questioning, then still says "Go" without addressing our questions. Then He says, " I sent you". He'll never send us anywhere to lose. Ask yourself, " How do I see myself? A winner, victorious, intimidated? Israel couldn't see themselves the way God saw them. Ask yourself "What if"? and fill in the blank. Martin Luther King had a dream, not a plan. Think about it. It all has  to begin with what's in you. Gideon says "I can't do it. I'm weak (needy)". (Needy people will drain you). God called Gideon. He had no gear, but he had game. He felt insignificant, but that's not how God saw him. We need to have dreams. Bishop used the example  of Maurice Alexander, who was kicked off the college team because of a mistake he made. He said that he got a job working at the stadium where the team played, and a job cleaning the stadium, cleaning toilets. He didn't let this defeat him. He worked hard, didn't let his failures 
and mistakes paralyze him.  He went back to college, played football, and was drafted for the NFL. He's now on the St. Louis team, not in a janitor uniform, but in a football uniform! 2nd Corinthians 
says we have treasure in earthen vessels, cracked vessels, imperfect vessels. Our present 
situation does not define who we are. He also used another example of a footage of Autistic Jason (J Mack) on that played on CNN. We're still in the game in God's eyes, even when everyone else 
counts us out. 

                  Be blessed and keep your dreams alive!       

Make Today Count

Let's make today count-each moment, each second, each hour!

Finding success and finding your "why" in life is all about taking action.

You can read all you want about success and read about "finding your why", but nothing will happen until you begin to execute; begin to take action.

That is why today, I’m inviting you to take some needed action.  Instead of reading my blog, I want you to make a decision to do something – right now. Do something for your blog, your business, your goals, your book or your life that will get you moving forward, create momentum and help you reach your goals?

All I ask is that you leave a comment below about what you’re about to do (sort of like a pledge or accountability pact), and let’s see how much we can all get done today.  Wishing you much success!!!

 

 

Family Reunions...A Southern Tradition

Something truly southen. Families meeting for good food and seeing family members that you haven't seen in "a coon's age". That's a southern saying, in case you don't know it. It means "in a very long time".

We recently held our Canady, Lewis, Jackson Reunion in Warner Robins, Georgia. Family showed up in droves! The small kids got to meet and play with cousins that they did not know. It was an awesome sight to behold-the next generation. We were amazed at how we have turned into the elders that we once looked upon with awe and were saddened that so many of them are no longer with us. We ate sooo much good food, worshipped together and made plans for the next reunion in 2016 in Miami, Florida. Just in case you haven't started the family reunion tradition, here are some resources that I have found helpful. Happy planning!

1.  celebrate.myevent.com has a basic package that is free and enables you to accept registration and social media integration.  Paid packages allow for an address book, family tree, emails, memorials and other neat features.

2.  family-reunion.com is Mister Spiffy's Reunion Planner. It includes everything from reunion software to free resources to planning tips.

3.   reunionsmag.com is for reunion planners of every kind-from families, to classes, to military and others.

4.   http://issuu.com/premier/docs/reunions_2012_12th_edition_lr (a reunion workbook).


Me with one of my daughters and some of my grands at the reunion