Tuesday, June 3, 2014

In ward focus, Forward Movement!

 

Today, I arrived to the gym excited about what I was going to accomplish today, so that I can share it with you. Well, I got there and realized I forgot my head phones and was not going to be able to listen to my worship or get my praise on. I was bummed and really did not feel like working out, but I thought about how well I slept last night, I thought about my quest for becoming more healthy, and I thought about my commitment to myself to try to work out when I can.  I made up in my mind that I was going to still work out. Again, it was hard, but I kept my inner focus. I realized that there comes a time that we must do the work in spite of! There are going to be times we do not have our music, friends, family, and whatever we feel we need to pump us up, encourage us, and/or give us wisdom that directs us.

I thought about something else today, my husband loves to work out and he is always telling me to work out and eat right, but I use to be so frustrated with him. The reason being is because I felt like he was not trying to help me. We would go to the gym and he would do his own thing and not try to motivate me, give me a workout plan, and when I finished he never said good job sweetie. Now, I know my hubby loves me and he is there with me, but I felt as if I could not do this without him doing these things. I started to think about God, He is Omni present, but there are times we feel distant from Him, times we question, "Why are you not helping me?" "Why are you not giving me a plan or direction?" "Do not just bring me into a situation and leave me." God just like my husband is there! He will never leave us or forsake us, but what my hubby was trying to say is "baby, it is time to do the work." It is time to take a hold of what you want and it is going to take more than me telling you that you can do it! You must believe you can.  If something went wrong with me in that gym my husband would be right there! He showed me a while back how to use the equipment, so now I have to do the work. God has given us the necessary tools to do the work!  It might be hard, but you can love! Each of us have a different routine when we work out? You might have to start with the treadmill of forgiveness, you might be one that has to stand tall and step up on that beast ( stair master) and ask for forgiveness; burning away that pride. You might even have to shoulder the weights of obedience!  I am not sure where you are at; it does not matter where you start, but what matters is that you start!

Faith without works is dead – Inner focus produces forward movement! # Persistence & Progress.

 
 
Tiffany James, Encouraging Touch Enterprise
"Give a gift that creates a Legacy to Encourage, Inspire, and Bless those you love for a life time"

Monday, June 2, 2014

Compelled by Love Week- " It is not always easy, but it will be worth it"

Today, I went to the gym, put the song "The more the seek you" by Kari Jobe, and decided to do 20 minutes on the stair master ( it is a beast). Now, let me tell you that I damaged my Achilles tendon in September and ended up in a medical boot in October for several months. So, I am just now starting back up in the gym and getting on the stair master seemed to be a not so good idea. I was listening to my worship and 5 minutes had passed, and it seemed as if I would not even last one minute longer. It was hard and my legs were hurting. I said to myself, "as soon as this beautiful song end I am going to get off this thing and I am going to do something else," but when the song stopped at around 6 1/2 minutes in I felt prompted to put on this song by Isaac Carree, " In the middle."  It is an upbeat praise song that reminds you no matter what you are going through praise God in the middle of it. Well, all of a sudden I started praising Him and made it through that song, which ended around 13 minutes in. I said, "I will just go to 15 minutes" and would be proud that I made it that far. I do not know why, but I repeated that song and felt like I could do it. Guess what? I completed my goal of 20 minutes, not only that I did not have it on manual (slow pace), I had the nerve to have it on the aerobic setting. I got off that thing feeling like I conquered the world.
 
Now, you might say what does this have to do with Love. Remember, yesterday I posted that Love is a muscle that must be exercised. Sometimes when we choose to love after we have been hurt and our heart have been damaged it is so hard to attain the goal to Love! You ask yourself, " can I really do this?" In the beginning you might say, "man I have done my part and it is enough," so you began to slow down or maybe you decide to give up all together. It seems impossible, but with God nothing is impossible. The thing I love is that when I started it was my worship and my desire to be one with Him that caused me to not even care about the pain in the first place. I was caught up in worship! My focus was on Him when I got on that darn machine, but I am not going to fake the funk, once I was going for 6 minutes the reality of what it cost once I started the process of working out feels as if it is not worth it! We have an inner strength that I can not really explain. When we do not even realize that with every step of courage we take to exercise even when we do not want to, when it hurts, and when it seems impossible is strengthening our core. You get it? With every act big or small towards your goal to love is strengthening your core. You do not always see immediate results, but you are building your muscles and burning away a lot of access fat that is weighing you down.
 
So you can do it! Ask God to help you Love like you have never been hurt before! I worked out today as if I never hurt my ankle. Yes, it might hurt in the beginning, but if you can praise your way pass the pain you can reach the goal to Love. It is not easy, but it is worth it. Find the courage and strength to Love today! You will be amazed at what else you can do! I started with the stair master today, but I did not stop there.
 
Be Encouraged.  "It is not always easy, but it will be worth it"
 
Tiffany James, Encouraging Touch Enterprise
"Give a gift that creates a Legacy to Encourage, Inspire, and Bless those you love for a life time"

Compelled by Love week! 6/1/2014

LOVE IS A MUSCLE THAT NEEDS TO BE EXERCISED, SO LETS GET TO WORK! IT WILL BE THE BEST WORK OUT YOU EVER HAD AND YOU WILL BECOME STRONGER THAN YOU CAN EVER IMAGINE. A INNER IMAGE WORTH HAVING! ~Tiffany James
 
Tiffany James, Encouraging Touch Enterprise
"Give a gift that creates a Legacy to Encourage, Inspire, and Bless those you love for a life time"