The Pressure is Off ~ by Debra Courtney

Creative Commons by wwarby

The Pressure Is Off

by Debra Courtney

"Cast your cares on the LORD..." Psalm 55:22

I have just taken on a new class, one that is so challenging.  I asked myself, "Girl, what have you gotten yourself into, by thinking you could do this?"  I felt and am pressured!  Has this ever happened to you? 

I am reminded about the time a family member and I went to Dublin, Ireland.  We decided we didn’t need to take an all-inclusive bus trip like the other boring tourists.  No, we would just tour Ireland on our own at our own pace and enjoy the trip so much more!  So we flew into Dublin’s airport and went to get the car at the car rental place there on the airport grounds.  I asked for a map of Dublin, and when I looked at it I could not believe what I saw.  I said to myself, “Girl, what have you gotten yourself into?”  Then when we get to the car, the steering wheel was on the left hand side, and I had to drive on the left hand side, I looked at the person with me and said, “Girl, what have we gotten ourselves into?!”  Needless to say we were pressured with what we had gotten ourselves into!  Back in the States before I booked the trip, I thought to myself, “I can handle this," but when it came time to handling it, I was extremely pressured.  My stomach was all in knots the whole trip while I was driving.  It was a pleasant trip when I was not driving.

Now I find myself in the same way, but this time I really prayed and asked for and got many counselors in order to obtain wisdom before even signing up for this class.  I am in my second week of this writing, and let me tell you I am experiencing the pressure.  This is a challenging class.  One-fourth of the class is on their 2nd or 3rd time of retaking the course.

I woke up early this morning thinking about this class.  I usually wake up in a spirit of prayer and worship, but not this morning.  I woke up in a spirit of pressure and thinking about this class.  Had I really missed it in my prayers?  Had I really missed it in listening to my many counselors that told me this class is a challenge?  I was at peace when I signed up for it.  I was at peace when I prayed about it way before the class started.  I had told the Lord, "If this class is not for me, shut the door.  If it is, open the door.  I am here to do your will, not my will.  The decision lies with you, Lord, not me." 

Have you ever had something happen in your life when you really thought you had to come through?  This was my thinking this morning.  After I had gotten up from my quiet time, I went and got a cup of coffee.  (I don’t like coffee that much).  I didn’t go to the new workout class I had just signed up for.  I was feeling the pressure of this other class.  Then it came to my spirit.  “Debra, why are you under pressure so much?  The pressure is mine.  It is my job to see you through this class.  Roll your pressure upon me.  You are to do your part and trust me to do my part.”  Talk about a revelation!

These things we know about giving our troubles to the Lord and laying them at His feet for He cares for us, we hear this preached and taught all the time, but I had gotten myself into such a state of panic and pressure that even my time alone with the Lord (my Quiet Time) was disrupted by thoughts of defeat.  It is not like me to be that way.  Nothing is to take first place in our lives.  First place belongs to God Almighty, then all the rest falls into its proper place! 

Now I have “NO PRESSURE!”  The “PRESSURE” is the Lord's; He is my provider.  He can handle it!  Girls, do I breathe better!  

• What in your life is causing you pressure?  
• How have you been handling it thus far?  
• What is the Father encouraging you to do even now to roll that pressure onto His capable shoulders?

Debra Courtney’s life goal is to inspire and motivate women globally to become all they have been created and designed to be by using the guiding principles of their Creator’s word in gaining wisdom, understanding their designed-given personality identities, and creating their independence!  

“I want women today to be transformed out of your lack of fulfillment, frustration, and pain through the benefits of coaching; to stand and run with the promises that have already been promised to you by your Creator; to be challenged and to be stirred up to go places that you have never dreamed of; to be motivated in wisdom where you can live a life above and beyond in the exploration and discovery found in the “who” of how you were created. 

Coaching is ideal for taking you through this process, for closing the gap between your “Here and Now” to “There”.  Coaching gives you the ability to explore and discover the life you were designed to live according to the values and priorities that affirm your purpose  and passion and define “who” you are!” 

Your words create an environment to enhance your living experiences in ways this world cannot.  Your words create an environment to enhance your journey in ways this world cannot. 

Click here to view Laura Story's video "I Can Just Be Me"

Laura Story - I Can Just Be Me (Official Live Video) from laura-story on GodTube.

Letting Go ~ by @emilylaney

Photo credit: Artotem (creative commons)

LETTING GO 

By Emily Walters Laney

“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you, and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”  
Proverbs 3:5-6

I’m going to start this post out today by confessing something to you all:  I’m a planner.  Okay, if I’m being honest, I’m a bit of a control freak, too.  I am really good at planning out my life, my family’s life, my career, my year, my day.  If you name it, I’ve probably got a plan.  Twenty-year plan, ten-year plan, five-year plan, yearly goals, daily to-do list - Yep, got those.  I really enjoy task lists, plans, schedules, and agendas. 

It’s not bad to be a planner.  It’s not sinful to be organized and task oriented.  In fact, planners help make things happen.  Organizations with strategy and mapped-out plans tend to reach their goals.  Many successful people have goal lists and a personal mission statement and plan.  It’s important to have purpose and goals for your life.

There’s a catch.  When we get engrossed and obsessed with our own plans, we can miss the powerful plan God has for our lives.  I know that I have the tendency to go to God with my plans clenched tightly in both fists.  I pray, asking God to reveal His plan and His purpose, but I refuse to open my hands and drop my ideas at His feet.  They stay clenched at my side, a death grip on the "perfect’" plans that I have.

You’d think that after years and years of God rocking my world with crazy awesome twists and turns that I’d have figured out by now that His plan is so much better than mine.  I’ve gotten better at surrendering, but sometimes it’s easier to stick with what I think is the ‘best’ option.  The irony of this mindset is that usually our plans are not the best.  I’ve just ended a season in my life where I really thought I had a perfect plan figured out.  That plan didn’t work out the way I thought.  I was left wondering what on earth God was up to, and I was disappointed.  

“Lord,” I said, “I really thought I had this figured out.  Why am I sitting idly?  Are you going to come through?” I felt in my heart the Spirit say, “Wait.” 

Well, I waited, and waited, and waited.  I almost lost hope, but in the end, God came through in ways that I wouldn’t have even imagined.  So on the date of this post’s publishing I will be starting a new adventure at a new job, and it is better than I ever would have thought.  It’s perfect really, and God knew all along.  He used that season of waiting to mold and shape me, to show me His provision, and to remind me of the amazing people around me who care about me.  It was stretching, but it was oh so beautiful.

God is so powerful, and the Holy Spirit does amazing works through God’s children.  When we understand God’s power and the power of Christ in our lives, we will fully understand our potential to change the world for the glory of Jesus.  If your hands are clenched right now, loosen your grip, drop your worries, plans, and burdens at the feet of Jesus, and let Him lead you down the path towards a surrendered and powerful life.

Emily Laney is a social worker, educator, and justice seeker.  She has worked with vulnerable populations in the United States and abroad and loves to help startup nonprofits reach their goals.  She is a Passion City Church door holder and leads a team of abolitionists at Not for Sale Georgia.  She loves her husband Brent and their rescue pup Biscuit.  Sunsets and Sushi make her happy.  

You can connect with Emily on twitter @emilylaney or on her blog www.emilylaney.com.

Click here to enjoy Jamie Grace's "You Lead"

Jamie Grace - You Lead (Lyric Video) from goteerecords on GodTube.

She's Outta Control! - Guest Post by @JennySulpizio

She’s Outta Control! 

An excerpt from "Confessions of a 
Wonder Woman Wannabe” 
By Jenny Lee Sulpizio 

A few weeks before my husband and I were set to be married, and as I was in the final stages of preparing our wedding plans, I came up with what I thought to be a fabulous idea - to send out itineraries to each of the attendants who made up our wedding party.  It was a schedule of sorts, complete with the times and places they needed to be on our big day.  Basically, with the information I was providing, everyone would know the who, what, when, where, and why during the eighteen-plus hours that would transpire over the course of this special event.  

I thought I was being helpful, not controlling.

That was until one of our groomsmen emailed my hubby-to-be to ask him if there was a moment during the day in which he might be able to take a potty break. He didn’t see a spot on the itinerary for one and was hoping I could make an allowance in the schedule “in case he had to go.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, but that’s when it hit me that maybe, just maybe, I had a bit of a control issue. Okay!  I’ll fess up and claim that throughout most of my life I’ve been what others commonly refer to as a “control freak,” whether I’ve intended to be one or not.  As a Christian, I know better, but as a Wonder Woman Wannabe, who’s in charge of planning meals, appointments, activities, and schedules throughout the day for her family, being somewhat controlling often seems necessary, doesn’t it?  

But I’m not in control (nor have I ever been).  

None of us are. 

As scary as that might sound, there’s also a reassuring sense of freedom knowing that we’re not in charge, that we’re never alone, and that the peace we seek to secure by attempting to control the environment around us just doesn’t exist.  You see, our inner peace can’t come from a clean home, an organized closet, or even a completed load of laundry.  It doesn’t come from watching a television show, buying a new pair of shoes, or eating a delicious meal either. 

Nope.  Inner peace originates from the Lord above, Jesus Christ, Himself. 

So, as hard as it might be to dismiss our issues with control, every Wonder Woman Wannabe must learn to surrender to the One who created us, the One who knows us even better than we know ourselves.  Our identity resides in Him, Girls . . . not in the broom, the mop, the disinfectant spray, or the vacuum.  Your identity isn’t even in the children you raise or the husband you accompany.  

Your identity is in Him and Him only. 

Girls, we weren’t meant to do this job alone.  God did not create mankind in His image just to cast us aside, only to meet us on the flipside, when our lives came to pass.  God breathed life into every single one of us, and in return He asks that we obediently submit to whatever His will might be for our lives. 

So maybe it’s finally time we lose control, or our issues with it at least, and start stepping out in our faith instead.  

Amen?

Author Bio:  Jenny Lee Sulpizio is a wife and mother of three, who enjoys writing about anything and everything under the sun, but especially loves to instruct, motivate, and guide other moms with practical advice, tips, and a whole lot of comic relief in the process.  Jenny is a contributing writer for The MOB Society and Moms Together and is the author of the recently released guide for all mamas titled, “Confessions of a Wonder Woman Wannabe:  On a Mission to Save Sanity, One Mom at a Time.” 

To find out more about Jenny or to follow her blog, visit www.jennyleesulpizio.com.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jennyleesulpizio.author
Twitter: http://twitter.com/JennySulpizio
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/jennysulpizio/boards/