Run at your Pace

Today was my second day running in Destin, FL.

Yes, I am one of those who runs on vacation. Running is my addiction away from everything.

As I was running today I noticed a lot more people out on the same path as me. They were just going on about their run and trying to get to their own personal goal.

I myself had a personal goal of 4 miles. I’m currently running 100 miles this month for a good cause called Stop Soldier Suicide.

I’m trying to get faster and run farther so I’m doing intervals while other walk and run.

I wondered, how many miles is she doing? How many miles had he ran?

Then I thought, that’s really none of my business. My purpose out here is for me.

Whether I run or walk , I have my own pace to do. Same as life, you don’t have to go anyone else’s pace. Go your own pace and finish your own race.

You’re here for your purpose and no one else’s. So whether it takes you 10 minutes or 1 hour, go at your pace!

30 Days of Gratitude

For the month of September, I have decided to give gratitude a try.

The definition of gratitude is the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.

I have come up with 30 days of gratitude and will be sharing all my post on Instagram @coffeewithmrsking and Facebook (coffeewithmrsking)

Here is my list:

  1. Start a gratitude journal
  2. Say what you are grateful for about yourself
  3. Spend time with loved ones
  4. Write about what made you smile
  5. Thank your parents
  6. Write a review for a favorite restaurant
  7. Share a goal you achieved
  8. Write a memory you cherished
  9. Say Thank You
  10. Donate things you don’t use
  11. Share positivity
  12. Tell someone you love them
  13. Compliment a stranger
  14. Coffee Date
  15. Hold the door for a stranger
  16. Return the shopping cart
  17. Post a Gratitude Quote
  18. What do you love most about your job?
  19. What are you grateful for that you recently achieved
  20. What hard lesson are you grateful for to have learned
  21. What friend are you grateful for
  22. What has someone done kind for you
  23. What prayer was answered recently
  24. What change in your life are you grateful for
  25. What skill are you grateful for
  26. Bake a treats for a friend
  27. leave a note of encouragement in a public place
  28. Think about 3 great things the future may bring
  29. Treat yourself to a coffee or beer
  30. Spend time outside & appreciate the beauty of nature

I will tell you after reading over other bloggers gratitude posts I know I do some of these daily or through out my day, however I didn’t really realize how much more I can do.

Please follow and share this so others that may need to see it will and join in with showing gratitude towards others. Also is you are participating in this please tag me in your posts, I would love to share them with others as well.

If you have a choice, choose to be kind šŸ™‚

Learning to Love Yourself

Learning to love yourself is one of the most difficult things to do. Think about it, you will congratulate others, tell them they are beautiful or handsome, tell them great job, and to continue to work hard.

Do you tell those same things to your self? Why do we hype up our family, friends, co-workers, but you don’t hype up you?

Let’s normalize giving your own self props for you accomplishments.

Let’s be ok with showing yourself love for the great things you do.

This is not being selfish, this taking care of your spirit and your well being. How often do you show yourself true love?

A few tips to do daily:

Daily affirmations

Take a few minutes to yourself daily

Accept that you make mistakes and it is ok

Read a daily motivational book

Write this on your mirror ā€œYou are amazingā€

Learn to say ā€œNOā€ – it’s ok, it helps protect your spirit

I will be posting daily on my IG page: coffeewithmrsking

Back in 2005ish, life for me was not at it’s best at this time. I you know you don’t always realize what friendships you have, however I continue to remember this moment. I was going through a lot, and I lived with one of my best friends. I am not sure what I was doing but I walked in my bathroom and she left a note for me written on the mirror in lipstick. I don’t remember all of it but I do remember it said, ā€œyou are an amazing mom and you are beautifulā€ I have never thought of myself as beautiful, an amazing mom, yes, but beautiful nah, and I still don’t, but to realize that you are beautiful doesn’t mean its your looks. Beauty is your attitude, your spirit, your heart.

I am grateful for her and her friendship.

Keep these people around, they’re here to help and celebrate you even when you don’t celebrate yourself.

Take some time today to work on loving yourself and putting yourself before others. Not to be selfish but for self care.

How are you ending the year?

Are you focused on the good or the bad? Make it appoint to focus on the good.

Although for some it may be hard, encourage others, share your experience. When you focus on the good, the bad will become non- existent to you.

Remember this is your journey and no one else is on the same path with you.

So as the year comes to an end, focus on all the good God has blessed you with. Change your way of thinking and watch how you recognize your blessings.

Have a great day!

Sunday Blessings

Today take a moment to look at where you are right now. Know that this is where you are suppose to be. God has put your here for a reason. Trust his process for you. Thank God for the blessings you have. Someone has it worse than you do.

For those who are at a tough spot, know that God is with you and he will never leave you. Where you are is not forever. This too shall pass.

I hope you all have an amazing day!

Starting Over -I’m BACK

Are you tired of starting over?

I know I am.

You ask yourself why do you keep starting over?

Here is the answer, because you need to.

We often start over because we gave up or just got tired and stopped.

I will tell you, I am very tired of starting over but if I didn’t start over then I couldn’t come back better than I was before.

I applaud those that keep going, but a sis is tired. LOL. I have gone back and forth with this blog thinking should I stop? Should I stop trying? What was the point of starting this anyway? Do I really have time for this? Should I stop since I don’t feel it? And the answer is……

ABSOLUTELY NOT!!

I tell people all the time, someone needs to hear your story. Someone needs to know that others are going through things too. You were put here on earth to share you good and bad. To tell what God has done for you and to let other know you are not alone.

Every story does not need to be about a blessing. It could be a simple as I did it and got through it. So can you!

I have so much to share. Life continues to happen and I am here to share what I can to encourage others.

Stay tuned….oh and I got married February 29th!! Yahoo!!

Are you making room for God’s Blessings?

I am currently reading Jesus and Coffee Vol. II by Tony L. Warrick. This book is even better than volume I. While reading, I came across this ” Is there something you need to release to make room for God’s blessing?”

This made me think of a couple things in my past that if I hadn’t let go of I would not be where I am today. These are the questions from the book that made me really think about what I need to release.

Are you hanging on to relationships that you know you need to walk away from? What about your job? What about the loss of a loved one? Are you consumed in negative thoughts about past situations? Are you holding onto memories that won’t allow you to move forward?

Now those first two questions I can really relate to. My heart kept me in a situationship that my common sense should have got me out of a long time ago. Lord knows I would have never had the courage to leave a job I had so much passion for unless I was forced to do so. I was forced and look at God showing out and continuing to bless me with way more than I deserve.

Everything happens in God’s timing. EVERYTHING!!

We never really see the whole picture until it has passed and we are looking back at where we used to be. I kept my arm crossed and closed a fist. I would not allow God into my life to receive the blessings he has in store for me. I like to think of this time as growth and maturity. Believe me I have a long way to go but God is right here with me.

The question for you is, what are you holding onto? What is keeping you from receiving the blessings God has for you? Are your arms opened or closed? Have you kept yourself away from God’s blessings?

Living a life that God has blessed you with is so amazing.

~Be a blessing~

Enjoy Your Life – 5 mistakes I made

I remember thinking of praying for what I have now. I remember trying to negotiate with God, if he gave me this, I would do this. If I had this, I would do that.

Truth is you can’t negotiate your way with God nor rush his timing. Funny thing is you think you know what you want until you have it and then you’re like ummm…nope.

I feel like I need to share the 5 mistakes I made trying to live life my way instead of God’s way. Of course everyone has a testimony to give however that is how you learn, through others. O encourage everyone to share their stories, share your struggles, so we can learn from them as well and grow closer to God.

No one is perfect, however if we can help the next person not make the same mistake, well then we’ve done a good thing.

  1. Relying on yourself – For the longest I went through life doing what I wanted to do and not once asking God what I should do. I would do things thinking it would be ok or it would work itself out. I would base my decisions with the amount of money that could come from it or where it would take me. I was a single mom of 1 son and a dog and they needed me. Higher position meant more money and I could make. I didn’t truly believe that but for the time being it worked. I would later ask myself “why did I do that?” Being able to be independent is great but you need God to show you the way so follow him. I knew money was important, it’s what you need to survive, however the Bible does say he will always provide, and I failed to trust him on that.
  2. Don’t move before asking – everything isn’t for you. Although it may look good at the time, in may not be what is best for you in the long run. “Everything that glitters isn’t gold.” Never make permanent decisions with our praying first. Ask God and keep asking God until he gives you the answer. I would ask God but I never waited for his answers, and a lot of times it got me in a lot of trouble. Going through life with out following the teachings of the one that matters is a scary thought.
  3. Never make decisions based on feelings – one of the worst things you can do is make your decisions based on feelings. It took me a while to learn this one. I would always react first and then look back and think, why did I do that? My mouth was quicker than my thinking. Lack of faith and immaturity played a huge part in this as well. At that time saying sorry was difficult. With growth and a lot of prayer, I am not able to think more logically and not react so quickly. Self control is plays a huge part in this. You can only control what you can control. My favorite saying is “I’m saved, but these hands work.” I’m still growing as you can see.
  4. Thank God for the bad as well as the good – too often we thank god for our blessings but how often have we thanked him for lesson? I remember praying for something and then receiving it and never thought twice about saying thank you. I have also blamed God so many times for my down falls. I forgot somewhere along the way I did make my own choices and it got me no where. Also, for the unexpected times things didn’t go my way, those are the lessons I am talking about. Those lessons make you stronger, they make you wiser and when you come out of those lessons, you see life differently. You’ve gained so much growth from that lesson that you are now at another level to handle anything that comes your way. Learning is leveling up. So keep learning and keep going.
  5. A negative mind will never give you a positive life – so you listen to the bad before the good. Oh you don’t, name one thing about yourself right now…was it positive or negative? If it was positive, YAHOO to you!! You’ve accomplished what many of us struggle to do, give props to ourselves. If you said something negative about yourself, let’s turn that thinking around. If you think negative of yourself you will soon see the world negatively. It’s not easy to talk great about yourself, it took me more than 20 years to realize I am diamond, let it not take you that long. I am a child of God and he makes no mistakes, I have a purpose and I am a blessing to others. Challenge yourself everyday to say something good about yourself. Then once you have that down, go out there and make others feel that same way. We forget about ourselves and try to help others, but keep this in mind, “you can’t pour water from and empty pitcher.” Don’t be the empty pitcher, take care of yourself so you can take care of others, start by being positive and the positivity will change how you see things, and this will change the whole outcome of the situation.

Enjoying life the way God wants you to enjoy it is a blessing some don’t get the chance to see. I encourage you to look at where you are now and see what you can do to make things easier for you and live the way God wants you to live. Set backs will always happen, things won’t go as planned, however depending on how you look at the situation will determine how you will handle what comes along.

Think positive. Live Positve. Be Positive.

Blessings.

Finding God in your Tough Moments

How do you handle things when they don’t go your way? Do you talk to God?

Do you ever ask yourself, “God what did I do wrong to make you punish me like this?’

Through out my life things have happened that I was defiantly not thrilled about. The old saying comes to mind, “you win some, you lose some.”

During my path of growth and faith maturity, I have learned a couple of things, 1. things happen and there is nothing you can do about it. 2. It all depends on how you see the situation.

The definition of turmoil: a state of great disturbance, confusion, or uncertainty.

I know a lot of times I used to get mad when things happened that disrupted my life. I would automatically blame God when things went south. I would even question his very existence.

I’m telling y’all, the devil has a field day with my thoughts.

But the truth is, it’s our own feelings and actions that cause us to think this way. If we are thinking of he bad all the time, how can we see the good.

When something doesn’t go your way, how do you react? Think of the last time you experienced something that was wrong or it changed your day completely. Did you say “God why me?” or did you say, ” God, what is the lesson you are trying to teach me?”

I used to always ask “God, why me?”

Failed relationship, “God why me?”

You know I am broke, how am I going to pay this bill? “God, why me?”

I have to work longer hours, and I want to go out, “God, why me?”

When in reality, this is what should have been my thought process.

Failed relationship – God was protecting me from a person who wasn’t meant for me

No money – God, I promoted you to a higher paying position

You know I am broke – God, how are you handling your money? How can I bless you with more if you are not being careful with what I have blessed you with.

I have to work longer hours – God, you were complaining about money and now I have made an opportunity for you to make more money.

It really is all about how you see the situation.

It is always easier to see the bad in a situation, however we have to train our brains to look for the good in every situation. Look for the blessing over the burden.

God will bless you in his timing, not yours. You are here to serve God not the other way around, We put our focus on way too much of the worldly things, rather than focusing on what God wants for us.

Take a few minutes today and think on what has God saved you from. What happened? How did is play out? Did you notice the blessing in disguise?

Here is my testimony:

I was 20 and in love. Gosh, I thought I knew everything. I had a good job, a great guy, attending and very much involved with my church. I made a few doctors visits and was told having kids maybe difficult for me. I don’t even remember if PCOS was a thing then. At the age of 21, I found out that I would be having a baby and couldn’t have been happier. On 12/09/02, at the age of 22, we welcomed our son into the world. I had a c-section and I remember telling my then husband, don’t let him leave your sight. I was already being over protective, but hey that’s what moms do. A year went by and well, life changed. Before I knew it, I was divorced by 26. Oh man did I blame so much on God. How and why could this be? Around the age of 24 when we separated, I began talking to someone instead of focusing on what I needed to be focusing on, and that was my family. Once everything was done, I began life as a single mom trying to make things work. I wouldn’t say dark days, however some of those days weren’t the best at all. Some days were worse than others, but I will say this, the one thing I do remember was that I only spoke to God when I absolutely needed or wanted something or it was to blame him for the life I was not happy with. Finally at the age of 35, I decided to put God before everything. My decisions, my life, before I even spoke, I talked to God and you know what, things still went wrong. However, the way I viewed life with God on my side was different, how I looked at the situation and reacted was different. My friends changed, some people are still here others are gone. The guy I thought I couldn’t be without, and who was completely wrong and toxic for me, was gone. Don’t get me wrong, he was a good person, he just wasn’t good for me. Little did I know the biggest test of my life would be on March 13th, 2017. On this day, which is also my dad’s birthday, I would be terminated from my job. Still a single mom running on Jesus and Coffee, I was unemployed. Talking to my son about it was one of the hardest things I think I have had to do. To reassure him we would be ok and there wasn’t a need to worry. After about 30 days, I knew my life as a dispatcher was over and it was time to retire. Listening to others issues and problems for 18 years was long enough. I do applaud all the ladies and gents who are still able to continue to work as a 911 dispatcher. You are the real silent heroes and I will forever back the thin gold line. So, the job searching began and disappointment followed, but I stayed praying to God. Cutting back and not spending money like you usually can is harder than you think. Not having a job is a humbling experience. On August 21st, 2017, I started the next chapter of my life and started my first day at my new job. Not only that, it was everything that I had been praying for. No more working holidays, working shift work, and if I do have to work a holiday or weekend, it’s from home and I can be around my family. Being terminated was a blessing in disguise, I would have never left with out being pushed out the door. God knew that too. He knew how passionate I was with helping others. 911 was my life, and I was hurt, I was mad, and I needed answers. When all was said and done, only God knows the plans for your life. (Jeremiah 29:11) Although I wasn’t where I wanted to be financially, I was going to make it. I made it through training, and with all my years of supervising at my previous job, I was promoted to a supervisor within a year. Please understand, when God has yourbest intentions, he makes sure to put you at levels where you belong and absolutely nothing can stand in the way of the blessings God has for you. Even with all these blessings, do y’all know I still had the audacity to ask “where’s my Boaz?” However when it did come to finding a person who is for me, I seriously thought my bad decisions from my past was why I was still single and it was haunting me. I will share something else with y’all, when I was married, I would always say that I wanted a house full of boys, and after being blessed with my first son, I wasn’t able to get pregnant again. Now I spoke this to God back in 2002. Today, guess what, I am engaged and I have a house of 4 young men and a dog named Reggie. God knew having boys at that time was not in my best interest and look now almost 16 years later, prayers answered.

The reason I am sharing my story is to show you God always has your best interests. Everything happens for a reason and in its own timing. Just because things aren’t going the you think they should, does not mean they won’t happen. Don’t block your blessings thinking negatively.

Remember, it’s a bad day, hour or week but it’s not a bad life.

Don’t lose sight of your blessings looking at what went wrong. Focus on the blessing and don’t allow the burdens to overcome you.

God loves you.

Blessings.