Author: Kris Valdez

Replace Complacency with Gratitude

Posted on by Kris Valdez

Gratitude instead of complacency. What would happen if we approached life with gratitude rather than complacency? Many people think the opposite of gratitude is complaining. While this could be true in some instances, I believe the true enemy of gratitude is complacency.

When we look at life through a lens of complacency, our heart isn’t sold out for the adventure God has called us to. Part of our calling is to be grateful for all God has given to us. I wander through life without seeing the blessings God has put in front of me every day.

Seeing God in the little things allows me to feel the love letter God has written uniquely for me. Yes, the ultimate love letter from God is the Bible. However, I believe God wants to speak with us on a personal level.

To our heart.

To our soul.

And breathe eternity into our lives. He does this by showering us with little and big blessings every day.

I can see someone scrunching their nose and pressing their lips together as they read this thinking, “Um, no, God doesn’t bless me every day. What are you talking about?”

Here’s what I’m talking about, start looking for the blessings with a lens of gratitude.

Is the sun shining today to brighten your day? Thank God.

Are your children healthy? Thank God. (At the time I write this, mine are suffering from the stomach flu. Yuck! Anyone else tired of this cold and flu season?)

Do you have a warm place to sleep? Thank God.

Do you have a full belly? Thank God.

It’s not always in the big things where God blesses us. He wants to see us be faithful in the small things too. This means appreciating the little daily gifts He provides. In Luke 16:10 (NLT) “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.”

I’ve spoken in the past about my daily habits to be faithful in my calling. By creating these small, daily habits, I became intention with my life. Before creating these daily habits, I was complacent with my life. I grew tired of hoping and praying for my dreams to come true, but I wasn’t doing anything to make it happen.

There is a difference in being content and being complacent too. When I’ve wanted to move forward and create change in one area of my life, I’ve heard, “Why can’t you be content with what you have? Stop working so hard.”

I believe God wants us to be content, but he doesn’t want us complacent. Content is resting in the assurances that God has everything in His hands. He doesn’t need our help.

However, He wants our willing actions to be part of the adventure He has called us to through the dreams He has placed in our hearts. In Psalms 119:2 (NLT) it says “Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts.”

Do you need to replace complacency with gratitude? How are you moving forward with gratitude? Share it in the comments below to help others.

Be Set Apart

Posted on by Kris Valdez

Alone. This is what I think of when I hear the words set apart. It doesn’t sound special or cool. It’s being the kid at the lunch table who doesn’t have any friends so you sit alone and hope no one notices you. Not that I ever experienced anything like this. I’m relating this story to a friend. (Yeah, right?)

Most of us can identify with the feeling of being alone or set apart from a group. It could be the cool kids in school, otherwise known as the popular crowd or it could be as adults in the workforce not being included with activities outside of the office or it could be the moms groups that meet at the local playground who don’t think our kid should play with their kid.

These examples are a different kind of set apart than what God had in mind.

Guess what? This is exactly what God has called us to be.

Set apart from the world.

In Romans 12:2 (NLT) it says, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

When I’ve been set apart, it feels scary and lonely. It’s time I looked at being set apart a little differently. God sets us apart for different reasons. Here are four ways we could be set apart.

For protection: As I’m reading through the Bible in a year (I’m actually on track!) I’m reminded in the book of Genesis how God asked Abraham to leave his homeland to be set apart from everything he knew.

In Genesis 12:1-3 (NLT) it says, “The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”

Here Abraham had a choice. Leave what he knew and trust God or stay where he was and be disobedient. Now, some may argue Abraham already knew if he left he would be blessed, so it was an easy choice.

We know we will be blessed if we follow God, but how many of us choose to do what is right in our own eyes?

I know I’m guilty of disobeying what is in black and white of the Bible. God sets us apart to protect us and keep us from temptation, but He ultimately leaves the decision up to us whether or not to heed the call.

For a Calling: In Romans 12:2 (NLT) it says, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” God’s will is part of our life if we allow it to be. By being set apart, we can take the time of being alone to figure out what God wants us to do with the gifts and talents He’s given us. We are to be different. It’s in the difference where we find our calling.

To Be Made New: 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT) states, “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” If this verse alone doesn’t get your heart pumping, we made need to check for proof of life! This means everything we’ve done in the past and everything we will do in the future doesn’t impact our eternal destination.

We will all make mistakes.

God will forgive us and make us into something new. This does not mean we can willfully disobey God with the notion sin isn’t a big deal because God will forgive us. There is no unforgivable sin. God wants our obedience. He wants us to want to live our life for Him. He is molding and shaping us to be more like Him. He does this by washing our old life away and creating a new life in us when we belong to Christ.

For Protection: In Isaiah 54:17 (NLT) “But in that coming day no weapon turned against you will succeed. You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you. These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the Lord; their vindication will come from me. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

To be set apart means to be put under God’s protection. This verse is written on a piece of paper and taped to my computer at work. See, my line of work is incredibly contentious. I work in us versus them environment. Our staff gets yelled at almost daily.

When I read this verse, it reminds me I’m protected from any weapon. To me, this includes verbal weapons. Since I am set apart as a member of God’s family, I can be assured God will not allow anything to come at me without being approved by Him first. He will always protect us.

Being set apart is not about being alone. It’s about being under the loving care of the One who created us for our calling, to be made new and for our protection.

How do you think God sets us apart? Why? Share it in the comments below to encourage others.

Living in the Moment

Posted on by Kris Valdez

Live in the moment. It’s one of my New Year’s Resolutions. Yes, it’s the end of February and I’m stilling working on my resolutions. How are your resolutions going? Hopefully, the resolutions born out of your long-held dreams haven’t crashed and burned yet. If they have, you’re in good company and you need to read this post.

Back to living in the moment. This is something God has called us to do. Surprised? So was I when I decided to study this verse. In Matthew 6:34 (NLT) says, “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

We aren’t supposed to worry about tomorrow or in other words, what the future can bring. Living in the present moment is how we stay in communication with God. It’s about letting go of the need to know everything. If we don’t learn to let go, then we worry.

Ahh, worry. A constant companion it seems these days. The world thrives on stories filled with fear. The scarier the story, the more it’s promoted and shared. Then the more we get scared about what the future could hold. If it’s this bad now, what it’s going to be like in a few hours, a few days, or a few weeks when we have more information?

God has not given us a spirit of fear. In Joshua 1:9 (NIV) it says, “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.” God is always with us. We have nothing to fear because He is in control.

But do we allow Him to be in control?

Therein lies the key to tasting the sweet freedom God has to offer.

When we live in the moment, we are allowing God to be in control. It’s not about trying to rewrite our past mistakes. God has already wiped the slate clean with Jesus. It’s not about wondering what we need to do for the future to turn out according to our plans because God has it handled. But, and this is a big but, we must allow Him control over our lives.

What does this look like? God being in control? Of our entire life?

It means releasing all our worry over to God and living in the moment. Yes, this is easier said than done. Trust me, I have the t-shirt that says, “Let go and let God.” No, I really don’t have a t-shirt, but I should. It would remind me how to live by letting God be in control.

I’ve learned the tighter I hold onto something, the more it controls me. For those sci-fi geeks out there, I compare it to Gollum in the Lord of the Rings. There is nothing more important to him than the “One ring to rule them all.” He even named it, “My Precious.”

It made me think if there are objects in my life I would call, “My precious.” It’s these objects which hold me back from living in the present moment, from fully experiencing what God has to offer me.

When I hold something back from God, He is unable to completely bless me because I haven’t been fully obedient. It’s like when I ask my kids to clean their rooms. I go in for an inspection and think the room is clean. Then I open the closet and everything comes tumbling out at me. Yes, my kids cleaned their rooms in their minds, but it wasn’t being fully obedient.

It this lack of obedience, which keeps us from living in the present moment. Instead of taking the time to clean their rooms properly, my kids were looking forward to the time we were to spend outside riding bikes. They were attempting to live for the future, rather than be present and do the job I assigned them and do it to the best of their ability. We didn’t ride bikes that day. We spent the rest of day sorting through the pile that fell out of the closet.

There are days where I think God is shaking His head as I shove my spiritual closet full of things I don’t want to deal with in the present moment. God always has a habit of opening my spiritual closet up and seeing the mess I’ve created.

We’ve been called to lay everything at the foot of the cross. Instead of hiding it, we are to bring it out into the light for God to see, heal and handle.

By doing this we are no longer being dragged down by past mistakes or worried about the what could happen in the future. It’s about simply living in the present moment.

Do you have a way to remind yourself to live in the present moment? Share it in the comments below to help others.

Creating a Joy Filled Life

Posted on by Kris Valdez

Filled with joy. Doesn’t it sound amazing? To be filled with joy? I think so. There are days where being filled with joy are easier than others.

This is more than having a positive mindset. Although a mindset can make all the difference in success instead of failure. No, I’m talking about a joy filled life where the trials which impact our lives on a daily basis can’t extinguish the light emanating from our joy filled life.

You know those people that seem to glow from the inside? You almost want to go up to them and ask what beauty products they use or what vitamins they put into their bodies. They seem to have tapped the fountain of youth and kept it all to themselves.

I would argue it’s these people who embody the joy of God, the joy of forgiveness, the joy of grace and the joy of eternity. When we keep our eyes on finding our joy in God, we can glow like this too.

How can we cultivate a joy filled life? Here are four ways.

Remember what we have. We can have a personal relationship with the Creator of the universe. He is concerned about the little things and the big things in our life. God was so concerned with us not being left behind He sent His Son, Jesus to take on our sins and create a pathway to eternity in heaven. John 3:16 (NLT) “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

Remember we are priceless. We have been bought at a price. In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NLT) it says, “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.” What was the high price we were bought for? The blood of Jesus on the cross. God wouldn’t have sent His Son to die for us if He didn’t view us as priceless and worthy of eternal life.

Pursue the Gift. God has given us the gift of eternal life, but He won’t force it on us. We don’t have to wait until heaven to experience a joy filled life. We can be filled with joy by pursuing a relationship with Jesus. He is a loving God who wants us to voluntarily come to Him. When we come before Him and ask Him to be part of our lives, we become filled with gifts of the Spirit. One of those gifts is joy. In Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT) it says, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” It’s our human nature which gets in the way of these things shining through us. However, we can surrender all we have to the One who creates a joy filled life and be brimming with the fruit of the Spirit.

Accept forgiveness. Sometimes a lack of forgiveness keeps us from living a joy filled life. It could be not accepting forgiveness which God freely gives. In 1 John 1:9 (NLT) it says, “But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” There are sins in my past which I’ve had problems letting go of, even though I know God has already forgiven me. It took someone praying over me to lift this burden. We also need to accept forgiveness from others. Someone may have forgiven us for a wrong we have done. Instead of accepting this, we continue to live in the guilt of this wrong. Another way forgiveness can keep us from living a joy filled life is not extending forgiveness to someone else. Yes, they may have done us wrong, we could be the only one who knows, and they haven’t come to ask for forgiveness, but we still need to forgive them. By withholding forgiveness, we only hurt ourselves and we will not have the opportunity to live a joy filled life.

Do any of these points keep you from living a joy filled life? How do you live a joy filled life? Share it in the comments below to encourage others.

Celebrate Love

Posted on by Kris Valdez

This isn’t the blog post you were supposed to read. There was another blog post for this week. I struggled with writing it. It wasn’t coming together as easily as other posts. I said to myself, I need to work through it, push harder and just get it done until I wrote “The End.”

Instead, God put it on my heart to write a completely different post. Instead of writing about the upcoming Valentine’s Day and how we can celebrate love, it became about the need for authentic love.

A tragedy hit our small community this week. A teenager didn’t see any other way out than by taking their own life. Our population is relatively small so the impacts of this death have rippled through our community.

I don’t know this family, but most of the people in my office do. Their kids played on sports teams together, had sleepovers or attended school together. Even with all this interaction with friends and the community, this person saw no other alternative than a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

Feelings of suicide develop when someone feels alone. They might not be physically alone, but the sense no one understands them or their problems.

God understands.

God loves us beyond anything we can comprehend. He wants us to turn to Him during the trials of our lives because it’s what a loving person would do. In 1 John 4:16 (NIV) it says, “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”

God’s love and appreciation are everywhere around us if we are willing to look. It’s not only in the sunrise or the sunset and the beauty of God’s creation, it’s when a text comes in from a friend at the exact moment you need it or an article pops up in your daily feed which speaks to your heart. God is in the details of our lives.

Let’s celebrate authentic love. God loves us freely, without strings attached. There is nothing we can give Him which He does not already have. His love is a gift we need to open. We are to love Him and to love one another. John 15:12 (NIV) says, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”

Love isn’t about a certain day on the calendar or even a certain time of year. We need to celebrate love in order to show others how we love and appreciate them; to demonstrate the impact this person has on our lives and how deeply they will be missed if they were out of our lives.

I challenge us during this month of love to stop and think about why we do what we do. What is our intention for each day? I hope it’s to shower those around us with love because in 1 Corinthians 16:14 (NIV) it says we are to “Do everything in love.”

Share in the comments below how you share the love God has put in your heart to encourage others.

Choose Joy

Posted on by Kris Valdez

Choose joy. Those two words sound so simple. Just choose joy. Instead of the worry, the dread, the fear of what has happened or could happen in the future. What if we choose joy instead?

Really, how can we choose joy? Do you not see the pile of bills stacked up next to me? Or the pain I feel from the loss of my loved one? Or the fact I can’t find work?

I can hear your mind working.

No, not really, there’s no need to put on the tinfoil hat to block me out from reading your mind. I know what you’re thinking because I’ve had the same thoughts.

My job can be challenging. In my line of work, conflict is inevitable. Sometimes I lose count in a week how many times I get yelled at. There is a saying around our office when everyone is unhappy with you, it means you’re probably doing your job right.

This isn’t an ideal situation to find joy. God has put on my heart to be joyful, to find the positive in any situation.

Can we make a choice about how we feel?

Can we choose joy?

First, I want to define joy. To me, joy is a state of mind. We can choose our mindset. We all know people who want to find the negative in a situation, even if they had to squint one eye and turn their head to the side to see the circumstances from a different angle. They will find something wrong.

Then we have the people who can see the positive in any situation. Their house could be burning to the ground and they say, “Well, at least I have the clothes on my back. I’m thankful my family is safe. We can always rebuild the house.”

This isn’t about putting on rose-colored glasses and not seeing the reality of a situation. It’s about trusting in God to have the situation under control so we can choose to be joyful because God has it covered in His big, capable hands.

God calls us to be joyful. In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NLT) it says, “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

Going back to the example of the positive person, even when their house was burning, they found something to be thankful for and decided to choose joy. The joy God brings to our life is an eternal one. It can’t be taken away by circumstances. When we rely on Him to bring us joy, it will shine through every aspect of our lives.

We can choose joy.

Will you choose joy? How do you choose joy? Share it in the comments below to encourage others.

The 2018 Word

Posted on by Kris Valdez

How are your New Year’s resolutions coming?

We are one month in and many people have already ditched their goals. The gyms are getting empty. Sales of junk food are back up because in the United States we have the Super Bowl, which has almost become a national holiday.

Setting all the resolutions aside, what if we chose one word, instead of the long list of things which we didn’t really want to do anyway? Or maybe we did want to accomplish those things, but didn’t know how.

I have a challenge for you. Think of one word.

One word to focus on in 2018. It could be trust or love or blessed or forgiveness or whatever is the one word that you believe will sum up what you want to feel for 2018. Notice I didn’t say accomplish. We’ve put so much emphasis on accomplishments, on getting things done and items checked off the “To Do” list instead of how we want to feel.

What if we let go of what we think we should be doing and just be? Psalm 46:10, (NLT) says, “Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.” Another translation of Psalm 46:10 (NASB) says, “Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

What if we just sat with our God? Listened to what He wants our word of the year to be? I recently wrote a post on thriving instead of striving. We are called to stop our striving. Choosing one word helps us stop striving because it creates simplicity. A single point of focus.

For example, my word for 2018 is: Radical

It’s kind of weird word, I admit. It came to me during my quiet time. But the word wasn’t just radical. It came to me with words after it:

  • Radical Faith
  • Radical Peace
  • Radical Adventure
  • Radical Love
  • Radical Fun

In my mind, it was God’s way of saying He wants me to step out of my comfort zone in radical ways. There is a saying, change never happens in our comfort zone. I’m not sure who to credit for it, but the statement is true.

I need radical for my 2018 to kick me out of my comfort zone instead of settling for what’s good enough. I want God’s best, which for me means, I need to get radical.

It seems 2018 is already passing by me in a flash. The goals I created only a few short weeks ago are slowly moving toward fruition. Even though my word for the year is radical, this doesn’t mean I’m going wild.

For me, this means radical faith. Stepping out of my comfort zone and doing something new to achieve the goals God has laid out before me.

It also means, radical peace. A peace in the midst of the chaos where I can be an example of what a relationship with God truly means. It means peace in the middle of impossible circumstances, circumstances that can crush our soul.

Until, I invite a radical, heavenly perspective into the situation. I believe God has a plan for me. He has a plan for you, too.

This year, it’s about being radical.

What’s your word for 2018? Share it in the comments below to encourage others.

Comparison Kills

Posted on by Kris Valdez

Comparison kills our dreams. So stop it.

I could write, “The End” for this post right here. Saying, just stop it is easier said than done.

I know.

I get it.

Been there, done that.

I have the t-shirt.

Comparison is the enemy’s way of sidelining us from the path God wants us to take towards our dreams. The act of comparing ourselves to others creatives a negative whirlwind of damage in our lives.

Here are a few of the things that start to happen when we play the comparison game:

Resenting God: We wonder why God is moving radically in another person’s life. Why isn’t He doing amazing things in our lives? When we start questioning God, the enemy gets a foothold in our spiritual selves create distrust in God.

We question if God is holding out on us.

This is the same lie the enemy used in the Garden of Eden. Why? Because it’s effective. It speaks directly to the desire of not wanting to miss out on anything and coveting what someone else has. Instead of keeping our eyes on the blessings God has put in our path, we start to feel sorry for ourselves, which leads to next destructive tendency.

Pity Party: We throw a huge pity party for ourselves with streamers and balloons. Other people get invited to the party whether they want to or not because we emotionally vomit our resentment about our situation to them.

I know this because I’ve done it.

Repeatedly.

In my life, I find one of two things start to happen. I make the pity party bigger and feel even more resentful because I’ve found people that rally to my cause of feeling sorry for myself or I try to keep up with the other person which leads to my next point.

Running on Empty: We run ourselves ragged trying to catch what the other person has; sometimes to the detriment of our health or our relationships. We look through the carefully crafted window on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or whatever social media platform we follow, we think that’s the life I want.

It looks perfect.

Let me share something with you. Social media is a place for people to put their highlight reels, where we compare our daily grind. I recently read a book where a woman took over thirty selfies to get the one “spontaneous” shot for Instagram. Thirty different attempts to look perfect. It’s exhausting to even think about.

So what are we to do to stop comparing ourselves to others? Here are a few suggestions:

Trust God: Instead of resenting God for what we perceive as Him holding out on us, trust that He is giving us what we need. I admit, this has been an area of growth for me. I see other blogs or writers that have started after me, see success quicker and yes, I’m generally happy for them. But I wonder, “God, when is my time for success going to come?”

Instead of heading down the path toward a full blown pity party, I pray for God to give me patience and grow my trust in Him. This trust includes walking down the path He has uniquely crafted for me. He has a unique path for you too. We just need to say yes to the adventure.

Giving Gratitude: The enemy of the pity party is gratitude. When I start to feel sorry for myself, I take a step back and look at all that God has blessed me with. He has given me an amazing husband who puts up with my level of crazy, three beautiful, healthy children, a home in the mountains of Colorado, and a platform to share my writing. These are a few that come to mind right now. When we change our perspective to one of gratitude, we can be thankful even in the trials because we know God has a plan.

Give It Up: The pressure to look like we are keeping up with our friends can be overwhelming. I get it. But I ask myself, why does it matter? What makes me think I need to keep up with someone from my past that I haven’t seen in 15 years because I see them having fun on Facebook?

It’s because I’ve taken my eyes off the One who provides everything I need. When I keep my focus on God and give up what I don’t need or what could steal my joy, I’m able to be content with what I have which eliminates the need to compare myself to others.

Do you compare yourself against others? How do you combat comparison that kills? Share it in the comments below to encourage others.

Finding Joy in the Journey

Posted on by Kris Valdez

Life is a journey. Hopefully, we are all able to take a long journey. But, are we finding joy in the journey, no matter how long it is?

It’s one thing to go through life as if we are trudging and dragging our feet in mud; shoulders drooping from the weight of our problems. It’s another thing to move through life, understanding there are trials, but instead of struggling with overwhelm, we accept what comes our way and let it go. Allowing it to pass through us to the waiting hands of God.

God knows we would have troubles in this world. In John 16:33 (NLT) it says, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

The victory is already ours to proclaim.

But are we trusting in this promise?

God has already overcome anything this world can throw at us. Does this mean it will be easy? Absolutely not! I’ve found in my own life when the trials are bearing down on me, causing me to question my choices and what brought me to this place, this is the time when my relationship with God deepens. It’s during these times of gut wrenching struggles that God walks beside me and holds me up with holy hands. He allows me to feel His presence in a deeper way.

It’s also during these times of trial that God allows U-turns. Nothing comes as a surprise to God. God doesn’t sit in heaven, wringing His hands, saying, “Wow, I didn’t know Kris was going to go in that direction. I hope she can figure out that she’s supposed to be going the other way.”

No, God in sometimes subtle ways or sometimes our mistakes are on full display for the world to see, He helps us go in the right direction if we allow His still, small voice to penetrate our hearts. God can allow mistakes in our lives to challenge us, to draw closer to Him and to shape us into the people we are meant to become.

I am a very black and white person. Living in the gray areas of life are difficult for me. Indecision makes me looney. My attention to details, my need to make anything fun and filled with laughter makes those around me looney.

But, I’m also the first one to admit that organization is not one of my strengths. I’d say, ninety percent of the time, my house looks like a tornado went through it. Here’s hoping you stop by during the ten percent timeframe when it’s neatly organized.

But God didn’t call me to be the organization queen. There are some awesome blogs out there on organization, but I’m being real here, I probably won’t be one of them. Ever. Neatly displaying a before and after picture of my drawers and closets isn’t in my future. I’m fortunate when I can walk into my closet. Organization is not one of my gifts. Thank goodness He’s given my husband this gift.

Here’s the thing. I really wanted the gift of organization to come easily to me. It doesn’t. I wanted to be the organization queen. I was making myself miserable trying to be something I’m not. Instead of focusing on the journey God has called me to walk, I was walking down another path meant for someone else.

It stole my joy.

Trying to fit into a mold that wasn’t created for us, is a killer of our joy. No matter how hard we work to create something apart from God, He will not bless us with joy. We find joy in our journey when we are connected to the gifts God has given us and we use those gifts to point others to Him.

Are you finding joy in your journey? Or do you need a God inspired U-turn? Share it in the comments below to encourage others.

Creating Success with Habits

Posted on by Kris Valdez

Congratulations on making another trip around the sun! It’s a new year! This probably isn’t news to you. The Christmas decorations are being put away, guests rooms are being cleaned and we are getting back into our daily routines.

How are those daily routines? Do they draw us toward our God given goals that we talked about last week? Or are they drawing us father away from what God has called us to do?

Our daily habits present us possibilities for success. We all have habits. It’s in our daily routine where we create small, subtle changes. It’s in the choices we make everyday. Habits are things we do without thinking about them. As you well know, some habits can bring us success, while others can bring ruin to our lives.

I’m challenging myself this year to be present in my habits. Instead of being on autopilot throughout my day, I’m present and fully conscious in my life. For me, I’ll admit, this is easier said than done. Autopilot in my life is easier, but being on autopilot doesn’t lead me to God’s best for my life.

Some habits can be good and create success in our lives. Last year, I decided on eight daily habits I was committed to completing before my head hit the pillow every night. Now, those eight things I do automatically. I get a twitch if I don’t finish them in some form or fashion.

The eight habits I chose for myself were as follows: have a daily quiet time, review the vision mantras that I created with God, exercise (yes, I exercise everyday, even if it’s a 30 minute walk around my house), write, read 10 pages of a nonfiction book, take my vitamins, read a chapter of Proverbs and write out five things I’m grateful for at the end of the day.

Creating these habits at first was difficult. There were some days I decided I was too tired. Then I would look at how long I’d kept the streak alive for my daily habits. Since May 19th of 2017, I haven’t missed a day of completing each one of these habits.

I’m not writing out this list to brag or to put pressure on someone else to follow this pattern. What I’m saying is, this is what I believe God has lead me to do in my life to create healthier habits for myself. In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, (NLV), it says, “Do you not know that your body is a house of God where the Holy Spirit lives? God gave you His Holy Spirit. Now you belong to God. You do not belong to yourselves. God bought you with a great price. So honor God with your body. You belong to Him.”

My daily success habits weren’t to create a new set of “To Do’s” but rather to replace my unhealthy habits of Netflix binging, spending time scrolling social media or playing games on my phone. When I needed to work on one of my daily success habits, I didn’t have time for the things that were keeping me from living the life God had called me to.

I have been bought at a price. You have been bought at a price.

The price was the cross.

Jesus bore unbelievable pain so I could be with Him for eternity. He has called me to live at a higher standard than simply taking up space in this world.

Now that’s it’s 2018, I’m reevaluating the daily success habits. Is this still where God wants me to be spending my time or is there something else that He wants me to stretch out and do through these small, subtle changes on a daily basis? This is what I’m working on in January.

Are there habits you need to change to create success in your life? Share it in the comments below to encourage others on their journey.