​Weight gain is a difficult subject to talk about. Some people get offended, and others get embarrassed. Being a person who weighed 98 pounds all my life, I tried gaining weight to no avail. It wasn’t until my late fifties that I began to gain weight. I blame it on menopause and unhealthy eating. Suddenly, I found myself shocked and conflicted. I had never had to worry about my weight and now the script has flipped. Now my weight is bothering me. I read about the millions of weight loss programs, gimmicks, differing opinions, and solutions. I knew I wanted to lose weight but did not know how to go about it or where to begin. Sure, I read countless articles and watched countless videos. Still, I did not know how to begin. Honestly, I believed that it was hopeless. I felt I had to accept this new reality of being overweight because that’s what happens to menopausal women. I was wrong.
 
I became interested in red light therapy and its effects. So, I visited a local chiropractor that was offering a red-light therapy special. While there, they offered me a 20-session package at a special rate. They also suggested a weight loss program called Thinfinity. They gave me a reduced price on Thinfinity because I had signed up for red light therapy. After explaining to me how it all works, I signed up for both programs. This is where my health and weight loss journey began. I was now being offered an opportunity to embark on something I had desired to do but didn’t know how to. The best thing about both plans is that neither involved drugs. It was all natural.
 
Before I started both programs, I had already eliminated bread and candy from my diet. After I went on this program, I basically went cold turkey on carbs and sugar. My diet was strict for six weeks. I lost 15 pounds within those six weeks. I dismissed the first 7 pounds as I assumed it was water weight. But when I continued losing, I began to get excited because I knew it was fat I was losing.
 
I took my journey very seriously, and I was completely committed. Even though the first three weeks were very difficult, I stuck to it. The following three weeks were still strict, but I gradually introduced certain foods to my diet. After six weeks, I was now allowed to cautiously eat what I wanted. However, you can easily gain weight if you continue eating unhealthy foods. Because I worked so hard to lose weight, I was not about to jeopardize my new weight. I do not eat carbs, sugar, unhealthy ingredients, or anything that can cause bloating. I also began exercising.
 
The results are insane. I no longer experience acid reflux, which was occurring almost daily. I no longer get headaches, which I would frequently get. I still eat my favorite pizza occasionally, but it does not affect me. I don’t feel sluggish. I used to wake up with lower back pain every day. Although I still have a lower back condition, I no longer wake up complaining about my back. I also don’t feel the depression I had.
 
I am still on this journey to lose several more pounds. I am also continuing my exercise. I feel great about myself. I began this journey thinking it was impossible to change. Yet I have learned that you can’t say it’s impossible if you haven’t first tried to conquer it. If this describes you, be of good courage. Commit to a plan or program that you think may work for you. Journal every detail about your journey and learn from it. Tweak it if you must, but do not give up. 

There once was a story about a man named Elijah. He was a Hebrew prophet and a reformer (activist for God). He was radical. He stood up against 450 false prophets. He sounds like a tough guy, right? Yet when he was given a message from Queen Jezebel that he was going to be dead meat, he fled into the wilderness. Jezebel was ticked off because Elijah killed all the false prophets. This story is found in the Bible in I Kings Chapter 19 verses 1 through 21.
 
Elijah went into the wilderness (desert) and asked God to let him die. He was utterly discouraged. He was having a pity party. Elijah did what many of us do; we end up in a dry place. We hide under a rock, hibernate in a cave, isolate ourselves from our friends and loved ones, even church. It feels like nothing is going our way, we feel dry; as if God left us. We wonder what is happening to us. We ask why God is allowing everything and everybody to come against us. We feel all alone. But all things work together for our good even being in the wilderness for a time. When we stare too much at our circumstances, it tends to change our perception of it. We lose focus and concentrate on the problem, thereby becoming self-occupied. 
 
God is so faithful that He always meets us right where we are. In verse 5 God sent an angel to Elijah who told him to get up and eat. The angel did this twice because the journey was too great for him. God sends us people to encourage us as well. That food gave Elijah the strength he would need for the next 40 days. We must feed our spirit in order to carry on and make it to the end of our journey. We must strengthen ourselves in the Word of God, in prayer, in worship and in fellowship with other saints. It is what keeps us going in times of disappointment, discouragement, tough circumstances, opposition, and oppression. We cannot make it on our own! We need to receive strength from God when walking through an uncertain and unknown path. We need people to come alongside us and help us through it. 
 
Elijah was once again in a cave resting when the Lord came to him (verse 9). God asked Elijah, “What are you doing here?” Elijah goes on to complain that he’s all alone, he’s the only one who is zealous for God. Again, in verse 13 the same scenario plays out.  God didn’t speak through the rocks breaking or the earthquake. The Spirit Filled Life Bible says He came in a delicate whispering voice. This is why it is so important to be quiet and listen in order to hear from God. When we pray, we need to always give God a chance to speak to us. We need to stop rambling all the time. James 1:19 says, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” 
 
In verse 15 God gives Elijah three new assignments. It’s time for him to get out of his slump, his depression and get back to work, doing the Lord’s will. God also lets Elijah know that there is a remnant of 7,000 Godly people still in Israel who have not bowed down to Baal. Elijah was not all alone as he thought. You are never alone. There are many others going through what you’re experiencing. We must reach out for help and encouragement.
 
So what can we learn from Elijah’s story? We must remember to stop complaining so much when things don’t go as we think they should. God is in control. He is allowing it for a reason. We always grow from trials. Then we are able to minister to those who are going through the same thing. When they see that you came out of it victoriously, they will be encouraged by it, and it will strengthen their faith. Don’t give up. Your ministry is not washed up. You must hang in there no matter what. Those who hang in there until the very end will win the race. We are being molded, shaped, changed, and strengthened. It is an awesome thing.
 
Look at this way, God must really care for you if He is paying all this attention to you and taking the time to mold you. There must be something great waiting for you at the end of this trial. Embrace it and learn from it.  

Have you ever daydreamed about yourself doing something great? Have you ever had thoughts run through your mind that start with the words, “what if I …?” Then you return to reality and think, “yeah right, that could never happen to me because…”  I have thought that way many times. Most of us, think that way. We see ourselves small in our eyes in the same manner that Gideon viewed himself as the least of the least in Judges 6:15. Gideon asked God how will it be possible that he can save Israel if his tribe is the weakest of all tribes and he is the youngest of his family. In the natural, it is not realistic that a person like Gideon can do something great. Yet God chooses people as He sees fit for a certain assignment.

God can take us to places we never thought was possible because in the natural, we fall short. We may lack experience, credentials, education, talent, gifts, etc. Yet God can choose us precisely because of those reasons. That’s how we know it’s a God thing. We cannot take credit for it; God gets all the glory. We must always stay humble and acknowledge it is He who does it through the Holy Spirit that is inside of us. 

God has been blowing my mind lately because of the doors he has been opening for me, the people I have been meeting, and the things I have been doing. I asked Him for something small and He gave me something huge! Now I better understand Ephesians 3:20-21, which says, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, unto HIM be glory in the church by Christ Jesus…”(NKJV)​

What about you? Has God blown your mind by something He has done that you never imagined would happen? 

Ever wonder why you seem to be getting attacked constantly? Why don’t things seem to work out for you? Most of the times they are demonic forces working through the people around you that are doing these things to you. The real enemy may be Satan. He and his demons are working overtime to destroy the believers. Satan has his set of objectives, but we as believers have our own.
 
According to John 10:10 and I Peter 5:8, Satan’s objective is to STEAL, KILL, DESTROY, and DEVOUR:
 
STEAL:  According to Luke 8:12 the devil steals the seed that is planted in us. The seed is the Word of God because he knows it saves us. He will also steal your focus, your time, your energy, God’s blessings, and our joy (by keeping us frustrated). He will cause us to be so distracted that we can’t be effective in what we’ve been called to do. 
 
KILL:  The enemy wants to kill us through life-threatening diseases, and/or accidents. He will try to kill our loved ones too because that would devastate us.
 
DESTROY:  The enemy wants to destroy our marriages, our relationships, our finances, our health, our faith in God, and our destiny!
 
DEVOUR:  I Peter 5:8 says he (the devil) seeks whom he may devour. He wants to destroy us completely by trying to affect every part of our lives and those around us. Many people have become so weary that they stop serving God because they don’t see the use if all they do is suffer.
 
The believer’s objectives [as commanded by Jesus]: 

• Matthew 28:19-20 tells us to make disciples of all the nations, baptize them, teach them, heal the sick, and expel demons.
• Mark 16:17 says that in Jesus’ name we will cast out demons, will speak with new tongues, lay hands on the sick and they will recover.
• Matthew 10:1 says, “He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.”
• Luke 10:19 tells us that Jesus gave us the authority over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt us!

 
Distinguish where the attack is coming from:

• The devil’s most effective methods are deception and offenses. Try your best not to be offended; be aware that it is a tactic of the enemy.
• We should not be so quick to run to psychiatrists and be put on medications when it’s just sadness or discouragement.  We need to run to God, His Word, and to those God placed over us and around us to help us through attacks. See James 5:13-18.
• Get the focus off yourself. Don’t take things personally. Look beyond the flesh. (Eph. 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood…). Deal with the pain but don’t stay in it! Otherwise, it turns to bitterness and unforgiveness and the enemy succeeds in keeping you ineffective.
• Don’t open a door to the enemy. Keep your heart clean from sin. James 1:14-15 says, “But each one is tempted when he is drawn by his own desires and enticed. Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death.”

 
How to protect yourself:

• James 4:7:  Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
• I Peter 5:8:  Be sober, be vigilant.
• Memorize the scriptures and use them as a weapon at any given time. 
• Eph. 6:11:  Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
• I Peter 5:9: “Resist him (Satan), steadfast (strong, firm, immovable) in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.”
• Avoid bitterness.  It is like poison, and it springs up trouble (Eph. 4:31; Acts 8:23; Heb. 12:15).
• Repentance and forgiveness are necessary (See Luke 17:3 and Matt. 18:15-19).

 
Most importantly, “Test all things! Hold fast to what is good” (I Thess. 5:21). Do no give place to Satan. Live a consecrated life. You have been given the Word, power and authority as weapons to fight against the enemy. In the end, you will be victorious.

When you hear the word “womanhood,” what comes to your mind? When I set out to write my book, “Purposed for Womanhood," I was appalled at what I found on the internet as I searched the word “womanhood.” The results were erotic and perverted. It was certainly not what I expected. It’s no wonder many church-going women buy into the latest trend of showing lots of cleavage or their breasts. They don’t have a Biblical understanding of womanhood. 

Biblical womanhood calls for decency, dignity and self-respect. Some may think they have to give up fashion and dress like the Amish women (no offense to them intended at all). We certainly don’t have to go to the extreme. But we are called to use wisdom and discretion. It breaks my heart to see young women (who claim to be Christian) dressing in a manner that illustrates they are still allowing the world to dictate their fashion picks.  Ladies, if you are in ministry or are a church leader, please be the example the other women desperately need.  Don’t show cleavage or your breasts.  If you do, you don’t have the right to complain that people are looking at you a certain way or that men are being aroused by what you are exposing. I’m even seeing this type of dress on Christian television.  How sad and disturbing that the network even allows this.  ​

Let’s respect and honor our God. Let’s be the example the church needs. Only then will we be the example the world needs. We cannot bring the world into the church.  We are to be the light they desperately need.

A few years ago I attempted to sign into my Wordpress blog account. I tried and tried but to no avail.  I researched the web to find a justifiable reason for my blog site not opening.  It turns out that when I was in the midst of switching web hosts, my blog was deleted because it was linked to the host of my previous website.  Frustrated?  You better believe it!  I wrote for five years in that blog and never even thought I would need a backup of all my writings.

So here I am, starting from scratch. This inconvenient circumstance reminded me of when I had to start my life over after being married for 20 years.  We all, at one time or another, are forced to start over because life throws curve balls at us.

How do you handle curve balls?  Change?  Crisis?  Loss?  In order to stay sane in this insane world we live in, it is crucial that we learn how to handle change in an effective way.  Many people choose to become bitter and angry at what happens to them.  They don't realize that anger and bitterness robs them of joy.  

Don't allow unexpected circumstances to defeat you.  Just like when I educated myself on the blog issue, you should educate yourself on whatever change life has thrown at you.  Learn how to handle that change, embrace it, and find the good in it.  As my hubby always says, "flip that baby!"