29th Birthday Celebration

 Here it is......last year of my 20's.  It was bitter sweet for me.  Never thought I would be here in my 20s divorced with no kids, but it is where I'm at and I have to enjoy it to the fullest.  I had a good birthday and had fellowship time with my friends.  It was a laid back, girly birthday, but it was a good one.  I had lots of memories and won $10.00 bucks at the casino!!  woot woot  My friend and I on Friday the day before my birthday went to Logan's and got our toes done.  We went to the Casino afterwards, cause of course I gots to get my free $10.00!!!

Side angles with a bright sun shining in my face wasnt the best picture

She always wins!  I just think Im the good luck charm!

This was my winning machine!

 Now for October 4th!!

My birthday cake (Protein shake)

Trying to teach grandpa in how to use a phone camera....dont judge me with his photo taking....most came out blurry!

Its Stuart!

 So I had a peaceful ride to Ft Worth till I hit Ft Worth.  My phone has its own set of issues and the navigation wont work.  So for an hour Im sitting on the side of the road with Verizon and they cant help me.  They cant fix my phone and I learned I need a new phone.  So I eventually met up with my friend and we went to Cracker Barrel and went shopping and visited with each other.  We are going thru similar issues with life and it was good to talk to a good Christian woman about God working in our lives.  We went and painted and it was very relaxing as there was a kid party in the next room.  Hey....it was triplets on 10-4, they are my kinda peeps!! :)

I cant wait to get this back....it takes 2 weeks and Ill need to make another trip down there to get it.  But itll be darker once its fired.

She didnt finish but she works down the street from here, so she was going to go back....its good therapy!

Dallas night life!

Reunion Tower!

They put Happy Birthday on the wrong dessert, so I got free cookie :)

mine, it was so yummy!

In the elevator

This girl has lost over 100 pounds....she is looking good!!

I silly!

Im never going to grow up fully.....  :)

The hotel lobby...we had fun riding up and down the elevator...

It was late and we were acting silly

She heard me from a previous trip, that I wanted something like this and it wasnt something that I would buy, it was the best!!

My friends :)  they are together in their home now :)

I headed home that night after this long day and it was a beautiful night sky.  I got lost because my phone didn't work and was headed to Abilene.  I didn't get home till 5am, but it was a safe trip.  I asked God to have the angels keep my eyelids open and to get me home safely.  I saw a different scenery for sure!!  I don't know what to do with this phone issue, since no one knows whats wrong with it.

I had a good birthday!!!  Its going to be a good year!

What season of life are you in?

Have you ever looked back on your life and thought, "Why did I do that?" or "I wish I knew then what I know now, maybe things wouldn't of turned out the way they did?"  I'm sure most of us have said something along those lines in our lives, especially as we get older and wiser and learn from our mistakes the hard way.

As I have had this time to learn about myself, myself with Christ and even learn the roles of a husband and wife, I look back and feel so sorry for the way I have treated some people.  God has placed great people in my life and because I was so self righteous, those people were removed from my life.  I think as I learn more everyday, that I just want to say sorry to them all the time, especially my last relationship.  

I'm really not one of those ones that think all the time if I could go back in time and change something, then I would.  I'm more of a person who learns and tries not to do it again.  Sometimes though I need many lessons before it clicking.  Walking the walk I have learned many things with God the past 7 months, I learn with Gods word and devotional type books that line up with scripture.  I can honestly say I wish I was the woman I am today, back then, but then I wouldn't be the person I am today with the lessons and knowledge that I have learned.  Sometimes it takes people walking away or losing someone or just having your feet knocked out from you for God to grab your attention and shake you and wake you up.  We all have a choice to repeat things in life or really take the time, the season God has given you and fully use it to the best you can, to glorify God.  I have felt God lately prepare me to be a wife and even a mother.  I honestly feel like I grew up 9 years of my 20's in 7 months.  

I cant wait to apply what God has taught me and instilled in me, to my future husband.  I want to respect him, honor him, support him and let him lead our little family as Christ leads the church.  I know God will give me a godly man who wants to please Him.  I want to be the wife that pleases God and nurtures and honors her husband and family.  I used to always say I never wanted to marry a preacher or a man in military style service.  I felt one day God kinda tug on my heart and said, "Could you be a preachers wife?" (I felt God smile after that)  I knew in my heart I could be whatever God wanted me to be and if that situation was to arise, I would trust God and stand by my husband and be the wife and woman for that role.  I want to help lead people to the Lord.  I want to be the godly woman that can help reach out to other women and be there in the hardest of times.  I feel that God has allowed me to go through things in life that I could help benefit and encourage other women and to simply just let them know that I understand what they are going through and what Christ did for me.  

I don't know what the future holds or if I will ever be a preachers wife.  I honestly try not to look too far ahead.  I have even went and bought me a planner because I kept forgetting things, because I was so focused in the now.  I was really horrible and living in the future and God loves to show me that whatever I plan far ahead, wasn't His plans and so I just let God know, that its His will for my life.  I sometimes still try and grab the future by the horns, but I quickly let go.

I want to ask you all a question, what season of life would you consider yourself in right now?  Scripture says Ecclesiastes 3:  To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to week, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep and a time to cast away;

A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love and time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Every aspect of our lives is as to a season.  And there is a purpose for those seasons.  There is a reason for the season.  There is a purpose for the process.

If I look at my life right now, it wasn't how I planned at the beginning of the year.  I would be days away right now marrying the love of my life, instead I haven't seen him in 7 months.  God knew that I couldn't be the wife that God wanted me to be if I didn't go through this season of my life.  I'm pretty sure I would never of grown or gotten this close to God if I was still in the relationship without this season.  I would of never found who I was in Christ or even found my own self worth.  I probably would still depend on a man to make me feel beautiful instead of me knowing I'm beautiful because I am who God created me to be and to look like.  Was this process a difficult one?  Of course!  Did I want to go through this?  Heck no!  Am I glad I did?  Most definitely!  Now that I feel secure with myself in Christ and Christ alone, theres a comfort and peace I never felt before.  I explain it as being stripped, and no one likes to be stripped of everything you have ever known.  Its honestly the best way God can use you and to help you become the person He wants you to be.  

I don't know what the future holds.  I try not to worry about it, but I'm human and at times I feel like I'm always going to be single or that my prayers are all for nothing, but I'm reminded that's the enemy feeding me those lies.  Truth b
e told, God cares about my love life and he cares about your love life, and I know that I'm trusting Him that He is molding me for my future husband and Hes molding my future husband for me.  I pray for him everyday, 100 times a day and I hope he is doing the same for me, but if hes not, then that's okay!

Whether your single, in a relationship or married, just remember to keep God first and foremost.  Honor, respect and love the mate in your life.  If you are struggling with something, go to Mardels or pray about which book that you might can read that will help with the struggles you are facing.  Also, don't forget to go to God and pray and ask for His help first and foremost.  

Remember that the devil is roaming around trying to destroy all God given relationships that will help further Gods kingdom.  He is also roaming around to steal, kill and destroy and try and not let the evil of the world get in the center of your relationships.  Lusts, sex and temptation is out there, but with Christ, He will tug your heart and allow you to escape.  I have met with a few friends who struggle with certain things, but we cant allow our human desires to overcome the be

st of us.  I honestly pray for God to help me with my sexual desires, because I want to be able to save them for my future husband, he deserves the best of me!

If you arnt sure what season you are in life, maybe ask God, so He can show you and so you can get your guidance and direction with where you are at in life.

Weightloss, Spiritual Growth and Arbonne!

The past 7 months has been bitter sweet.  Its not exactly what I thought at the beginning of the year it was going to be like, but I guess you could say I wouldn't take it back for anything.  My growth with my Heavenly Father has been very strong and rewarding.  I can honestly say Ive never been this close of a walk with God in my whole entire life.  Its been rocky and sometimes I still struggle, but that's what living in a fallen world does.

Growth
I knew losing the man I know God had given me really woke up my eyes.  Looking back, I was a horrible horrible person who honestly thought she was walking the Christian walk.  I look back at myself and am embarrassed and ashamed, but I cant change anything.  I can only take what I have learned and what God has shown me about myself and keep being a better me.  I honestly try my hardest to be the best person I can be each and everyday and be an example for others in any positive, spiritual way I can.

Weightloss

I knew one of my biggest issues when I was in a relationship was my insecurities.   I was a very mean insecure woman, who judged people just to make myself feel better and that's horrible.  Like I said before, looking back I'm just ashamed, but I refuse to ever be that person again.  Now when I see a beautiful woman of any size, I think their beautiful, instead of thinking or maybe even speaking bad things about them.  Losing weight has really helped me feel comfortable of who I am in my own skin.  I used to think that a man could make me feel beautiful, but in reality, I needed to feel beautiful for myself.  Some days are harder than others, but I now know my self worth and I'm worthy enough for someone to be with me, I'm worthy enough to be successful, I'm worthy enough to have Jesus die for me. 

How I lost weight
I have been going to a hormone specialist who has helped me in areas with blood work and diet.  I think anyone if possible should go get an exam done to see where your blood levels are, so you can know where your body stands.  I actually had a lower thyroid and a higher testosterone levels.  I realized just recently that I cant work out as long as I'm trying to lose weight.  I know that sounds crazy, but I actually had gained 6 pounds when working out, because of my muscle mass growth.  I lost 8 pounds when I stopped working out.  When I reach my goal, I will then start toning.  I will keep being active of course, but not hit the gym hardcore like I was.  My Dr put me on a cleanse back in March.  It was supposed to be a 21 day cleanse, but I ended up doing it for like 4 months.  In that 4 months I lost 34 pounds just with eating clean.  You could eat alot of foods, but you couldn't have sugar, caffeine, pineapple, corn, dairy, fried foods, alcohol, breads or starches.  I know you might be thinking, well thats everything, but not really.  There are alot of choices still left, like steak, chicken, all sorts of fish, fruits and vegetables.  You can have brown rice and soy milk. 

Arbonne
Because of my weightloss and people at work seeing me transform, God really opened a door in my life one day.  I had a coworker come up to me and tell me about Arbonne.  I never heard of it in my life, but she wanted me to go to a party her niece was having and she pretty much threw this whole party around me and I ended up being the only one to show up, but it was a gift from God.  The woman who threw the party, I felt like I knew her my whole life within the first couple of times we met.  I prayed and prayed if this was something that I wanted or that God wanted me to do and I never heard an answer and was very confused because I had prayed for weeks.  In my heart, I really felt like God gave me this gift and I can use it wisely or throw it away selfishly.  These products are all vegan based products that don't have all the toxins in them that most products people put ON them and IN them everyday.  While I have learned over the past 7 months how to eat clean and right, God has really opened my eyes to the toxins and ingredients that we are putting in the body God created for us.  I have had cancer before and I don't want to put anything in my body that will activate my cancer cells.  My body is precious to me and I will try my hardest to take care of it. 
Now I know most of you reading this, HATE looking into certain things people try and sell you cause its all out there.  You have AVON, Scentsy, and other things people try and sell you.  I am a consultant for Arbonne and would LOVE for you to talk to me about the products and to maybe throw a small shindig just to LEARN!!! I am honestly not trying to sell you anything, but to teach you what I have learned and my leader has so much more information.  I wouldn't even bother selling a product or be a part of a company, because I have 3 other jobs, but this is something that I will stand by.  I want everyone to feel as good as I do and Arbonne is part of that reason. 
On top of these products and what they stand for, I get to fellowship with Christian women and even some men for you men out there who might be interested.  Most of these women give their credit and their success to God and thats what I want to be a part of. 

I did step away from alot of Social Media sites to grow closer to God and have distractions taken away.  I needed this time for me and I needed to see the person that I had became.  I was not happy with myself and I never faced my past issues and hurts.  God really gave me this time and I used it as wisely as I could.  I love the person that I'm becoming and I will try to become the best Godly woman that I know till the day I die.  Its when you feel like you lost everything is when sometimes all God wants is your attention and He can work on you the best.  I know my God is a jealous God and I didn't give Him everything like I should have.  I tend to learn lessons the hard way, but this time my eyes are focused on God and I refuse to take them off.  He will be first for as long as I live!

I will love to talk to anyone about anything that I have mentioned or if you have anything else you would like to ask about weightloss or growing closer to God or something else you may have seen.  I want to help anyone and everyone become the best them possible.  Just remember that losing weight should never be a DIET, its honestly a lifestyle change.  If you want to learn more about Arbonne and what it has done for my life, ask away.  If you want to know about Christ if you don't know Him, I'm your girl! :)    If you want to know the changes I have made in my life and what God has shown me, then I will be a full blown testimony! 

God Bless!

Back to facebook....

As many of you may or may not of noticed that I haven't had my facebook in some months.  I had to remove myself for a few reasons, some personal and some spiritual.  I knew I needed to take distractions out of my life that were taking time away from God.  I also knew that I needed to run to God head first and have a time of growth in my life.

Over the past 7 months, I have changed inside and out, I would say for the better!  I had alot of deep rooted issues in my life that I needed to face before I could ever move forward.  I knew God needed me to dig deep so I could grow in His strength to be used for His kingdom.  Alot of my issues were floating at the surface that I couldn't see pass them to see God.  I had issues of my body, I had issues of trust, I had issues of selfishness, I had issues of control, I had issues of fear of being all alone, and more.  I am after all, human.  But because every 3 years it seems like I am faced with some sort of storm, I never really had time for just God and myself to look deep within me and face them.

I know I will always be a work in progress till the Lord takes me home and my time on this earth is done.  Throughout these 7 months, I have found my worth again in myself.  I'm not to where I want to be, but each day I strive closer and closer to becoming a better me and hopefully one day a wife and a mother when God sends someone my way.  I am in no need in a hurry, because I know God has me right here where I am for a reason.

I'm a little scared to get back on a social media website, I wont lie.  I don't know if it will work out for me, but I do miss my friends and wonder all the time whats going on with so and so.  I do know, if I check it before I check my devotion or I somehow pick it up and click the facebook app, then I probably will remove myself again.  I'm one of those people who watches for signs before the addiction arises and I will cut my hand off or pluck my eye out if that's what it will take for me to not get to the point of addiction.

So In a few minutes my birthday will begin and I want to start off being 29, facing what I have avoided, strong in the Lord.  I am blessed to have lived 29 years on this earth, 4 shy away from how many Jesus lived.   I want to share with others what I have learned, my weightloss journey and how I lost 40 pounds in 7 months and encourage and pray for anyone who needs it. 

Remember if for some reason I do delete my facebook, you can write me on here or email me at JoyRachelsHeart@aol.com.