Power of Perspective

Well, it's that very familiar time of the year. When the world gathers to greet the coming of a new year. For many people, the new year is a new start for them as they set new goals, visions, and make changes in their lives for the better.
After a guilty season of scrumptious sweets, many people are motivated to start to exercise and diet (yeah, you know it's been your resolution every year... come on). Some other goals that are set include to quit smoking, eat better, start school, start a business and other life changing actions.
But what happens in February? Or March? Or by the Summer? Sadly, most people lose their motivation that they had in the beginning of the year and those goals set for the new year are now postponed to be their New Year's resolution for the following year.

Nothing changes.

Except the year.

Last year, I was challenged by a very encouraging church leader to write down my visions for the year in my journal. After several weeks of persistently asking me if I had done it yet, I finally sat down one night in my bedroom, and wrote down all that I wanted to accomplish in the year 2012. Many of my goals had to do with my vision for the music program for young kids God birthed in me a couple of years ago. When I look back and read what I wrote, I am blown away with how much was accomplished and fulfilled in that year. This is because throughout the year, I went back to my journal entry and would read my vision and declare it in my prayer time. I would thank God for answering my prayers before they would even come to past. There is a lot of power when we unleash our faith in that manner.

One of my favorite Bible scriptures is found in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 which reads,

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 

Rejoice always. This doesn't mean to rejoice only in the good times when everything is working out for you. Anyone can do that. Always includes the times when you are facing struggles and feel as if nothing is turning out how you want it to be. This is a difficult thing to do when you are seeing the difficulties before you. However, we are called to see past what our physical eyes see and keep our eyes focused on God's promises for our lives which are filled with only good things. Good things. Very good things!
"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28).
Our perspective when we are going through a struggle should be an attitude of trust through it all.
God allows us to go through tough times not to harm us, but to strengthen us and to draw us closer to Him. Think about it. If it weren't for the struggles, then we wouldn't cry out to Him and trust Him with a situation that only He can handle. As humans, we like to be in control of what happens in our lives. But in a situation that we can't control, we have no option but to trust God. And He is faithful to come through for us. He always has and always will.

Pray without ceasing. Without ceasing, it says. This means continually. Persistently. The more you pray, the more you start to expect your prayers to be answered. It's the power of our words. And every prayer said, is heard by Him. "He who planted the ear, shall He not hear? He who formed the eye, shall He not hear?" (Psalm 94:9).
And don't be afraid to talk to God or to ask from Him! He wants to bless your life, He wants to surprise you, He wants you to fulfill your dreams in Him!
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" (Matthew 7:7-11).

In everything give thanks. This goes back to rejoicing always. Choosing to trust God in the difficult times and knowing that whatever happens is for a reason that is for our own good. If you lost your job, start thanking God because you are now in a position to walk into a job that's even better! God is ready to bless you, so let your thanks and gratitude be present in the midst of your tribulation. "But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:57). 
He gives you the victory!! 

God never stops loving and giving! So accept His love and receive all the good things He already has prepared for you in 2013. I want to encourage you to enter this new year with a different mentality, a prospective that sees the good in the bad and trusts God for the best outcome.  
I challenge you to write down the goals that you have set in your heart to accomplish in this new year. Go back and read your vision declaring them out loud and thanking God for opening all the right doors at the right time for your dreams to become a reality.

This is going to be your best year yet!! Declare it, believe it, receive it!

Love,
Ivette

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths."
Proverbs 3:5-6

And Then You Wonder, Why?

So you dress up in a tight leopard patterned mini skirt with a black top revealing your hour glass figure.

You find the highest pair of heels that sparkle in every strut you strike. 

The only thing you cover up is your face with intense blush, dark eye shadow and bright red lip stick.

You call up your girlfriends and plan a night out at the livest club in South Beach.

Those girlfriends call up all of the hottest guys they know to meet up on the dance floor.

You get to the club with your fake ID and are granted access inside of the party scene.

You meet a fine guy with tattoos and piercings that cover up his body more than your clothing does your body. His words and confidence reveal his experience with sweet talking ladies. He says all the right things, offers to bring you a drink and you have decided that you are going to make this guy "the one."

Excited to have a met someone you take up his offer and before you know it, you are no longer fully aware of what is happening.

You have a handful of drinks, dance with a few different men, and end up leaving the club with a man whom you had never even seen before that night.

All of your friends go home with a guy and are just excited as you are to have found "someone" to be with. 

Someone to make you feel special. Someone who tells you how hot you are. Someone to hold you… but what you don't realize is that he is someone who you will probably never see again. 

One moment of intimacy will become nothing but a short moment of pleasure for him and a dreadful regret for you. The only reason why he'll have to see you is because you are now the mother of his baby girl.

And then you wonder, why? Why did this happen to me? Why are men such jerks and players?

But why don't you ask the big 'why' question to yourself? Why was it that you dressed up like that? Why did you choose to hang out with ladies who sought that sort of attention? Why were you surprised to end up with a guy who was only after your body since after all, that is what you were selling yourself as? 
What makes you think that you are going to find a respected gentlemen in a club in South Beach? Why do you feel you have to post photos revealing your "sexiness" to be called "beautiful" by men who only care about your outward appearance? Why have you agreed to lower your standards?

It's time to stand up for who you are as a lady. You are not an object. You are not just a body. You shouldn't have to reveal your body to grab the attention of a guy. And if you do have to, then that guy is not worth your time. 
Ladies, don't give yourself away to anyone through the way you dress or the photos you post. You don't have to sell yourself. 

Show yourself to be the elegant, classy lady you are and you will find your gentleman. 

But if you are selling yourself short then you will always find a cheap bidder. 
You are worth so much more not just because I say so, but because your Creator designed you to be priceless! 

You are beautiful. Not just because of your looks, but because you have a beautiful and unique purpose to fulfill in this life. I pray that God will open your eyes to see your true value. Start respecting God in all you do and yourself as a daughter of the King and you'll see. Someday you will find the man of your dreams who will treat you like the princess you are. You will find the man who will look at you without makeup and still think you are the most beautiful woman in the world because to him, you are. A man who truly loves a woman sees her internal beauty which never fades.

In the mean time, don't do things that you will regret later. Be patient. Save your love and yourself for your future husband. It will be worth it because YOU are worth the wait.

Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. 
The heart of her husband safely trusts her; so he will have no lack of gain. 
She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.Strength and honor are her clothing; She shall rejoice in time to come.She opens her mouth with wisdom, And on her tongue is the law of kindness.She watches over the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness.Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her:“Many daughters have done well, But you excel them all.” Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.Give her of the fruit of her hands, And let her own works praise her in the gates.

Proverbs 31:10-12, 25-31

You are beautiful!!

Love,
Ivette

I Will Wait

Holding hands on the beach.

Late night conversations.

Cute notes to each other. 

Actions that demonstrate your love and affection for another.
These are cute gestures most people desire to share with that special person. To lay in the arms of the one you love and that loves you in return. Just the way you are. Because we all desire these things, we often fall in the arms of the wrong person and end up with a broken heart. 

This process tends to repeat itself over and over and over again.

What if you were certain that you would eventually find that right person? What if you were told to just WAIT and stop trying to make the wrong person “the one?”

I think if people were positive that eventually they would find what they desire, then they would stop wasting their time trying to make things work out on their own. Ladies would stop giving themselves away to the wrong man in exchange for the comfort of feeling "loved." That party scene with drinks, passion, drugs and lust is not where you are going to find the pure and genuine love you are seeking. All that is just a waste of time.


The truth is that there is that right person for you. Not because I say so, but because our Creator designed us with those desires so that He may fulfill His good work in us. See, God wants us to be happy and to live a blessed life. He wants you to fall in love the right person He has designed for you, get married and have a family. 

Did you catch that? 

Yes, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage. 

In that order. 

It’s not baby, love, then marriage. Or love, baby, then marriage. No. 

There is a perfect order because that’s how God designed it to be. It’s all for our own benefit that we may experience His goodness. When we live and walk a life according to God’s will, God promises that He will bless what we do. Obedience to His will brings the blessing. When we walk out of His plan and try to come up with a better plan on our own, we fall short. We miss the mark. Because we are flawed. We are humans. Therefore, I rather follow the plans of a perfect God instead of an imperfect human being. I rather let the Almighty Creator of all things good be the architect of my life.

I have great faith in God to continue to fulfill all the promises He has made in His word. So I am completely certain that the right man will come in His perfect timing. I don’t want to meet him until I am ready to be the wife God has called me to be. No matter how much I long to be in his arms now, I will wait for the promise.

I won't entertain my desires by substituting a perfect will for my own. I won't fulfill my desires by dating other guys while I wait for the right one. I refuse to let my husband find me in the arms of another guy just because I wasn't patient enough to wait for his arrival. No matter how long it takes, I will wait. I know there is a perfect time for everything.

A good friend of mine always says, “The right thing at the wrong time, is the wrong thing.” She’s absolutely right. I don’t want our paths to meet until we are both ready for each other. I am reserving my heart, my body, and life for only one guy. And that’s my husband. 

As I wait for him, I will not miss out on the plans God has for me to achieve in this season of singleness He currently has me in. Don’t waste your single life by trying to “fix” your single status. Nothing is missing or broken. This is your time to allow God to prepare you for the future. You can live out your dreams now! Work on that book you wanna write, start that business you desire, work on getting the education you long for. Know that God is a perfect and good God and will be faithful to you. He wants to write your love story. Just learn to love God first. When we learn to love Him and be loved by Him then we will know how to love our future spouse.

I find this amazing spoken word to be so encouraging. You are not alone in this wait. Hang on to God's promise :)

Love,
Ivette P.


"Do not stir up nor awaken love until it pleases."
Song of Solomon 2:7.