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Blog Spiritual

Grief – Finding Encouragement in God’s Word.

It’s never easy to deal with the death of a loved one. Whether it’s a sudden death or an illness, it’s not easy. I’ve written about grief before, and I’ll write about grief again because once we lose a loved one to death, we never stop grieving.

I don’t like to say that it gets easier with time because it doesn’t. What happens is that life goes on, and once we feel strong again, we learn to cope with the pain. We learn to live with the void inside us, but the grief is always with us.

If you’ve lost a parent, spouse, grandparent, friend, child, or even a pet, you know grief. Because grief is grief, I would never take away from someone’s pain by saying that losing a parent is more painful than losing a spouse. No! I will empathize with them and try to provide comfort in any way. However, the only way to honestly know how someone feels when it comes to grief is if you’ve been there yourself.

Today I want to bring you Bible verses that have helped me in my time of grieving. In a way to bring you hope during this difficult time. God didn’t promise us a painless life, but He did promise to be with us in every situation, even when we grieve.

  • Joshua 1:9 NIV – Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
  • Psalm 147:3 NIV – He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
  • Psalm 34:18 NIV – The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

This verse reminds me of a blog post I read that mentioned how beautiful grief is because that means you really loved that person, and up until that point, I had not thought about grief as being beautiful. And this verse says that we who mourn are blessed.

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

Romans 8:18 NIV

This verse is a reminder from the Apostle Paul that all our sufferings on Earth will be rewarded.

It’s hard to be encouraged or have hope that things will be okay again when we are dealing with grief, but we must remind ourselves to go through the emotions that come with grief to come out on the other side.

On the other side of grief, we have remembrance of our loved ones. We have beautiful memories and moments with them. Stories to share with others, pictures, and videos to keep their memory alive. Their legacy lives on in you.

I want to end this by reminding you that you are not alone in this journey. God is with you, and He loves you. There are others around you who can be there for support. I am here, and you can connect with me if you need someone to listen. You are not alone.

With Love, Heidy

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Blog Spiritual

Be Intentional With Your Time

We are the generation of multitasking, especially women. We’ve always had to juggle much and wear different hats. And last year, 2020, don’t even get me started, that was a game-changer. But for the new year, I don’t want to be a multitasker; I want to focus on one thing at a time and do it well. You see, when you multitask, your attention is divided, so you’re not focused, and little things can slip up. This is why, for the new year, I want to be intentional with my time.

Recently I’ve realized that no matter what I’m doing, I like to do only that. For example, if I’m watching TV, I’ll focus only on watching TV and not be on my phone or reading something. Or if I’m working or writing, I like to focus just on the task at hand because I want to do the best job possible; I cannot do that if I’m also focused on doing something else. Also, anything that I’m doing, I’m intentional with it, meaning there is a purpose behind it. Even things I like to do “for fun” are usually educational, like reading; I love reading about history, memoirs, literature, etc. And watching TV, I’m usually watching a documentary, or a documentary series, even podcasts; I love podcasts, but there is usually something that I get out of them while I’m listening to them. Simply put, I don’t like to waste time, LOL.

For the new year, one thing I want to be intentional with is my time with Jesus.

Lamentations 3 verse 25 through 28 says, “The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young. Let him sit alone in silence, for the Lord has laid it on him, (NIV). I listen to the Bible in the morning, either while I’m getting ready for work or working, but I want to change that. I want to spend dedicated alone time with the word of God. I want to understand what I’m listening to and be able to hear God speak to me.

I submitted a devotional for a prayer journal, and the devotional was chosen to be in it. The journal is available for purchase on Amazon. It is a 52-week prayer journal, which I’m going to use starting this new year as part of my plan to be intentional with my time with Jesus. I also won a planner on an Instagram giveaway. It has a daily affirmation, prayer gratitude, prayer requests, scripture readings, and a devotional/reflection section, which I’m also going to use to be intentional with my time with Jesus.

My point is that I have a plan set to be intentional with my time in the spiritual aspect of my life. This is one of my goals for 2021! Is there a place in your life you are looking to be intentional? Do you have a plan or a goal you’d like to achieve? I’d love to hear about it and maybe even help. Let me know!

With Love,

Heidy

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Blog Spiritual

Identity

We all struggle to find our identity or trying to identify ourselves. We have different titles and different hats we wear, whether it’s in our career or personal lives, but none of this actually defines us. We live in a culture that wants to push agendas about how they think we should be and try to identify us. They want us to look a certain way, act a certain way, dress a certain way, and do certain things. As a result, we add pressure on ourselves to fit in the box or mold ourselves to meet those expectations, thinking that this will give us an identity in this world.

Our identity comes from The Lord. Only seeking a relationship with God will we find our true identity and our purpose in this world. He knows each of us from the inside out because he created us.  Like it says in Psalm 139: 13 – 14, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well,” (NIV).

How beautiful is it to know that the one who created us is the one who we find our identity in? Since he created us he also gives us our purpose, just like it says in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do,” (NIV). Think about this, what talents do you have and how do you use these talents?

The purpose of life is to find our purpose in Christ and do the work He wants us to do. Along the way, we meet people and try to bring them close to God, by sharing our testimonies, our talents, and love towards them.

Do not let this world try to define you. You are a child of God, you are beautifully and wonderfully made, and you have a purpose. As long as you have a heartbeat, you have a purpose, and its never too late to find what it is. Find your identity in Jesus Christ, the one and only who can define you.

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Blog Spiritual

Trusting God With Our Plans

We have many plans for our lives. We have goals, timeline on how we want things to go, but almost always, our plans do not go as we pictured them. Sometimes things go worse, but when you have God in the center of your plans or life, things go much better than what you imagined. I had planned to start looking for a new job, a management position to be exact, at a new company by May 2020. I thought May because by then the wedding would be long over, the honeymoon would be long over, and I graduate from my Master’s degree in May, so that would be under my belt. But like almost always, God had other plans for me. I told myself that this year I will fully follow God’s lead in my life. Well, at the beginning of January, I received an email from Advent Health, one of the leading hospitals in Central Florida, to apply for a position in their billing/collections department. I was confused because I didn’t remember the last time I updated my profile with them since I had applied to the hospital years ago, but I thought about it and discussed it with Jonathan, my then fiancĂ© now husband, and he said it wouldn’t hurt to apply.

So, I applied thinking nothing of it and actually forgot that I had applied. That following Tuesday, I received a phone call from an HR recruiter to do a phone screening for the position. She then invited me for a face-to-face interview for the following Friday. I went and interviewed with the director of the department, and at the end of the interview, she told me she really liked me and wanted me to join the team. That following Monday, they called me back to offer me the position and send over the offer letter to accept. When I informed my then-current employer that I was leaving, my director had a meeting with me to see why I was leaving and if there was something she could do for me to stay. I told her that I wanted to work at the hospital and thought it was a great opportunity.

A few days later she called me into the office again, this time with my manager, to tell me again that she didn’t want me to leave and two new positions were opening up and she wanted me for one of them. She told me to think about it and that she will be able to offer me more money than what the hospital offered me. I’m not money motivated, I just kept thinking about the opportunities available at the hospital. I kept going back and forth on whether to stay at my current job or leave. I interviewed for both positions at my job. But when I went to the HR and health screening appointment for Advent Health, I got excited all over again about working at the hospital, so after that appointment, I made my final decision, I was going to the hospital. The following day I got a call offering me the Team Lead position at my current job with more money than what the hospital was offering, but I went to talk to my director and I declined the offer.

She told me she appreciated me telling her and that it would be a loss for her because she thinks I’m a great employee, but at the end of the day, she wants me to be happy. She mentioned that if the hospital is the route I want to go, then she cannot compete with that, there is no money in the world she could offer me. And she was correct. Something kept pulling me towards the hospital, even when I was trying to make excuses as to why I should stay, I kept getting this pull towards the hospital, and now I know it was God.

He provided this opportunity when I least expected it, but it’s such a blessing. Today I completed my second day of orientation, and tomorrow I start training at my department, and I feel like I am right where I belong. Yesterday before any of the programs began, we prayed, and today every segment started with a bible verse. I absolutely loved that. I genuinely feel like I am in the right place at the most perfect time. I cannot thank God enough for how he moves in my life and how he has moved. I am forever grateful to him, will continue to be grateful to him, and live out my life for Him.

Always remember to trust him in all of your plans and to place him in the center of them. Things may not always come out as you’d like, when you place your trust in Him, they will come out better.

PROVERBS 3_5-6 Trust in and rely confidently on the LORD with all your heart And do not rely on your own insight or understanding_ In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him, And He will

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Spiritual

Only Jesus Saves

It’s not about religion – it’s about a relationship with God. It’s not about rules – it’s about following the life of Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1) It’s not about what you can do for yourself but what you can do for others.

Serve in the name of the Lord, love in the name of the Lord, lead in the name of the Lord, pray in the name of the Lord, and praise in the name of the Lord.

The most important relationship you can have on this Earth is a relationship with God because nothing on this Earth will satisfy you like him.

Surrender to him. Your life, every aspect of it, financial, relationships, career, parenting, everything. You cannot bargain with him – it’s all or nothing.

Let him be the God of everything. He provides all you need, and he wants to provide the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

God is great, faithful, merciful, and loving. There is nothing you have done that the Lord won’t forgive. (Ephesians 1:7) (Isaiah 1:18)

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The person God has for you

God has a person for you that isn’t perfect but is perfect for you. God has a person that will treat you just as you deserve – like royalty. God has a person for you that will make you laugh, the person will listen to you and support your dreams. God has a person for you that will comfort you and will be there on the hardest days. God has a person for you that will become your best friend. A person who is compassionate, understanding, and gentle. God has a person for you that will love you unconditionally, will accept you as you are, and won’t try to change you. God has a person who will pray for you and with you. God has a person who will draw you closer to him – never away. God has a person who will be patient, build you up, and have a positive influence in your life. God has a person just for you. Be patient – never settle. God’s timing is always perfect.