There is Love

Circumstances are lesson plans for your journey. I heard a church teaching; it explained how, ‘things happen for you, not to you.” Let this teaching phrase soak in our minds.

Things happen for you. So, even if we don’t like a certain circumstance, we can rest in confidence that the experience is (in the end) for our benefit. This is comforting news. Don’t take things personal, because life is just molding you piece by piece to make you better; of course the better part of you develops if you choose to handle your circumstances with a good attitude and openness for growth. There is love in your cross.

If you honestly reflect over your life, then you know the exact issues God is working you through. Maybe HE is working you past fear, or un-forgiveness. Maybe God wants you to let go of certain behaviors or attitudes that are holding you back. As difficult as your issues are, there is love in your issues.

Can you see your issues?

Don’t mistake your circumstances as your problems. We can wish for everything around us to change and improve before we will be happy, but this is misleading. If you want to see change and improvement, then you must make the change in yourself. If you make an internal shift, then you will see an external shift in your life. There is love in your circumstances.

God is good and he wants to see you advance, so allow God to bring you up higher through these life lesson experiences.  

If you were always in a state of “winning” and everything was smooth and glossy like an air-brushed magazine ad, how would you ever grow???…how would you ever know what you were made of???…how would character ever be developed??? There is love in your trial.

Be thankful for your challenging times, your rough patches, because that is what makes you strong. Your rainy day helps develop your rainbow; and there is always a pot of gold at the end of rainbows. In other words, your reward will be there if you follow through your storm…because, “things happen for you, not to you.”

There is an issue, there is a circumstance, a cross, trial, and a storm or two, but rest in knowing there is a God, and when there is God…there is love.

It’s Coming!

God is with you

Trust that God is directing your steps

Pray to God all desires of your heart

And watch

Something good is coming…..

…believe it…

…trust it…

…long for it…

…declare it…

Something beautiful is around the corner

Quote

"He who cannot change the very fabric of his thought will never be able to change reality."

~ Anwar al-Sadat

Quote

"It is never safe to look into the future with eyes of fear."

~ Edward Henry Harriman

Feel Your Pain

Can you feel your toes wanting to curl up and run? Do you feel like pulling up the covers over your head and hiding from the day? Is there a situation you don’t want to face? Is there pain that you don’t want to deal with?

Life can sometimes feel like a pressure cooker. Yes, there are situations in life that would validate your wanting to stay in bed all day behavior. There are even unhealthy behaviors that we develop believing it helps us cope with unruly situations.

The best advice I can offer is to feel. Feel your pain. Do what is right even when you don’t want to face the day, problem, or situation. Validate what you are feeling...don’t mask them or cover them up. Once you allow yourself to feel, then allow yourself to move on. Feel your pain and move on.

You can’t always wait until your problem is a-okay to peak from your shell. No, God has made you to be a champion, and he has promised not to give you more than you can handle. Look at your life and remind yourself that God is giving you all the graces for you to be in your situation.

Don’t mask your feelings and don’t run from your feelings: Feel. Don’t swim in your pity and don’t live in despair: Move on.

If you stay focused on God and all his promises, then you can feel your way through the pain and move on to the other side. What’s the other side, you ask? Promotion! Remember, God works ALL things together for our good and his glory.

Are you saying, “Elle, it’s so hard to face my feelings!” I know…I feel your pain.

Thank you!

I want to use this post to say thank you to all of my visitors and readers. Recently my lovely friend gave me the nicest thank you. Something as simple as saying thank you can be all the validation you need to hear.  My friend is a very special person and I think she has such a beautiful heart. She is the one who encouraged me to start Renewed Corner. So I thank her for being a great friend and reminding me how good it is to hear…thank you!

So I want to thank all of you who visit and read Renewed Corner. I am thankful and deeply touched that there are people out there that have found comfort in my blog. If I have helped, inspired, brought hope, created a smile, developed insight, to anyone even once through this blog and with my words, then it has all been worth creating a blog.

I’ve read all the comments that I have received, and I have even replied once or twice…but this is my reply to ALL of you:

Thank you for being a part of this journey with me. Thank you for reading my words. Thank you for the comments. God has helped me with subjects to address and words to fill the posts, and I want to thank HIM for using me in a way that is hopefully helping you.

I’m with all of you in my heart. If you visit my blog, then know that I think about you and want the best for you.

I wish you all a wonderful weekend. As you go about your weekend, try to pass along a thank you every now and then.

Thank You Readers!

~Elle

Friend? Or Foe?

Friendships are important…but to what degree? I’ve noticed how everyone seems to have a cell phone, and everyone is on their cell phone. Have you ever wondered who everyone was talking to? I’m hardly on the phone, so maybe I have the time to notice everyone’s conversations. Some people seem to be talking to boyfriends or girlfriends, their friends, and even the occasional co-worker or boss. We are surrounded by people and engaging in conversation with others, but how do you know if the people on the other end is a real friend or a body with a lending ear.

I heard that everyone you meet is by divine assignment. Everyone you meet is there to help teach you something. I like the concept of that, because life is always there to make you grow and mature, if you open your eyes for the opportunities. Is that person a real friend or is that person in your life to teach you something; A teacher in friends clothing. Either way, lessons are to be learned in both friends and foes.

Friends should make you feel good about yourself. A real friend is there for you in all areas of your life. A foe friend is the one in your corner when your corner happens to be of winning success. A foe friend likes to gossip to you (and probably about you) and never considers your feelings. There are countless examples of friends or foes; you can probably list a few personal experiences.

I’ve learned that God is the best at picking my friends for me. God knows everything, and he knows who has the right heart to be called a friend of mine, and he has that for you too.

I’ve learned that it’s okay to have few friends, as long as they are true. True friends come and go, but the one friendship that I can always count on is God. God can give us favor with people and can soften people’s heart towards us. It’s great to have earthly friends, but if I only had God and my heavenly family as friends, then I know I have a great support team on my side.

Think about what real friends should be like, look like, act like and sound like. Not only should you think about the quality of friends you have in your life, but think about the quality of friendship you bring to your friends.

God is our friend, he’s always in our corner, and he’s always there to talk to…no cell phone plan required.