A life of balance & purpose!

A dollar is a dollar, memories are for a lifetime by Linda Rodgers

Over the years, my pocket book has been stretched until it looks like a suitcase!   Life is challenging with our world's economy, the cost of living, and the ever present bills that seem to crawl into our mailbox.

 

I have always believed in a comment made to me years ago that it was important to create memories and make that a priority with family. Empires fall, money fades, but we have our memories.   That has been a foundational practice for me as I raised my kids.   My purse may have been empty, but my heart was full.   We created memories with adventures in the park, flying kites, walks along the beach, and campfires with my extended family.   One such special memory was watching my kids bring their backpacks to my bed while I read and they did homework.

 

Sin in our world can create unpleasant and sad memories for us.   Sometimes we cannot choose those and carry heavy scars because of that.   One great thing is that we can create new positive memories ourselves.   We have choices to heal, to move forward, and begin a new page in our scrapbook of memories.

 

I love watching my children open up our scrapbooks smiling and laughing, saying things such as "remember when...."   I didn't have money for trips but what I had for them was TIME.   Time creates memories.       People climb corporate ladders in their workplace.   How about climbing the corporate ladder as a parent?   It takes time and creativity as we fill the pages of our scrapbook.

 

Solomon voiced these words in Ecclesiastes 5:18, "What is the best thing to do in the short life that God has given us?   I think we should enjoy eating, drinking, and working hard.   This is what God intends us to do."   Our time on earth is limited, and each day gives us a great responsibility to do our job, to take care of our bodies, and enjoy life!

 

Memories don't have to be elaborate.   They just need time.   We have had our share of picnics and ants, bike rides, table games, baking in a total chaos, and new family traditions created.

 

Solomon continues to say, "It is better to enjoy what we have than to always want something else, because that makes no more sense than chasing the wind."

 

Summer holidays are coming up.   Vacations need to be scheduled, kids activities need to be prepared to keep everyone's sanity and the scrap book of memories added to.   What a great privilege to look back over the years and smile, though so needy financially and still have had the opportunity to choose positive memories with my kids despite the dollar value.

 

Make a list of memories you can create in the next days for your own scrapbook.   Rejoice that despite the dollar value, there are so many memories that are at your fingertips.   Be positive with your kids as you live out the importance of building memories.

 

Father God, thank you that you love making memories with us.   You cherish listening to our hearts, You always have time for us, and You want us to enjoy the life we have here on planet Earth.   Help us to discern positive memories that we can carry in the scrapbooks of our memories and thank You for those opportunities.   Help us to remember that a dollar has just a dollar value and a memory is a lifetime!   In Jesus' name, Amen.

 

Questions: What is keeping you from making memories with your family? What are your priorities in life? What is the most important thing you can do in the short life that God has given you?

 

How I let technology kill my relationships!

I had one of those moments of clarity that simply suck.  It sucks because now a direct action is required.  A plan for change is necessary if I wish to see something new, something potentially better.

 

Once upon a time I couldn’t wait for time to hang out, laugh and ‘break bread’ with friends and family.  Now a days I can’t wait to check my email, research something and let’s not talk about Facebook and Yahoo Groups.  Reality shows now take place of real life first hand experiences.  TV sitcoms, Shows of Stardom, and the daily news scandals are like food for desperate cravings.  Funny things is I’m never satisfied long enough.

 

Technology has taken over real life intimate connections in my life.  Check us out:  We have 9 TV’s in our home to include 1 in the bathroom and 1 in the kitchen.  We have 4 laptops and 1 desktop computer.  Yes, my 2 year old can navigate a site with her mouse like a seasoned pro.  We have cable on all the TV’s and 3 DVR/HD boxes so we never miss a thing except each other that is.  Let’s not forget about our cell phones that ‘keep us connected’; email, calendars and text, oh my!

 

At any given moment during the day or night I can find my spouse fixated in poor posture at his laptop.  It’s the first thing he touches in the morning and the last thing he touches at night.  I’m sure my oldest daughter would say the same about me.  She’s now slightly infected with this disease (to a degree).  Her and her sister received mini laptops for Christmas…such great parents we are huh!

 

Now I realize I sound like a technology hater but truly I’m not.  By God’s grace, technology and its expansion has put food on our table for many years now.  I also fully appreciate technologies ability to be used in so many life producing facets (too many to list).  No, the problem isn’t technology; the problem is the authority that it has in our home, shucks over our lives.  We’ve allowed it to stifle and hinder our full potential to enjoy ALL that God created.  Things like long talks, long walks, outdoor sports, gatherings, cooking, playing together, reading together, building together, growing together, relationship building, enhanced intimacy, service to others and the like.

 

Like I said earlier…some clarity sucks!  We all know through some issue or another that change is difficult.  I will have to devise a plan, try to get everyone on board, and then execute the plan.  Sounds like fun, right.  In the end I’m sure it will be.  I love technology but a tool is only good when you know how to use it without hurting yourself!

 

AArgh!

 

Kisha

 

 

Walking in His mercy and Living in His grace, Nakisha 'Kisha' Guzman Through My eyes: http://www.balancedandpurposed.com/

A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new!  Albert Einstein

Parenting & Personal Growth: No freaking day at the beach

Hello folks…Here is my thought for this Friday!

 

I have heard it said that parenting is the highest and hardest calling but you can’t fully appreciate the cliché until you have had the experience, until you become a parent.  Nothing in this world can teach you patience, personal development, forgiveness, self-sacrifice and long suffering like raising children can.  In the same breath I say that nothing teaches you how to love, give, share, laugh, be flexible and pray like raising children.  When I see them learning, playing peacefully, and mimicking my patterns; I pause to see the miracle they are and reflect on the privilege that I have been given to be a part of rearing them.  Children require you to go back to basics.  You are literally teaching them how to be God-loving, intelligent, loving, caring, and respectable human beings.  Realizing that one day, you will take the handcuffs off and send them out to fulfill their God-given destinies.  The job is exciting, extremely challenging, fun and tedious and yes, you can experience all these emotions and more in a one hour setting.

 

I am a mother of 5:  one still in the womb due May 8^th 2009, two toddlers ages 3 & 2, a 12 year old and an 8 year old.  I am one of the self titled, Extra Special Parents; I have been tasked with the unique and challenging job of parenting a child who has special needs.  While her strides and accomplishments bring lots of joy, the reality of our situation sometimes dampens my spirits.  I am saddened in the moments when we forego the nice weather because a pleasant walk is seldom pleasant, I get hung up because hanging out as a family with neighbors is not as easy as it sounds, we’ve lost the luxury of attending our church as a family and simply walking through the mall takes tons of pre-planning.  Library visits, child care and vacations also require a master plan and a tall cup of mocha latte but we’re learning to manage.  To all this busyness I add in homeschooling my 6^th grader, which has actually been the easiest of all the jobs.  Unbelievable, right?

 

I am blessed that during this season, it is not required to our survival that I work for anyone else.  I am an entrepreneur though and I find myself using this freedom to pursue many different ventures in my “spare time”.  I am yet to journey into the one venture that ceases all my searching.  I sense that my new vision, my new approach will be fruitful though…I can just feel it!!!

 

I have no idea where this journey called life will take my family but I trust that my loving heavenly Father, who created this universe and everything in it, has a magnificent plan that we will walk out.  My only requirement for success is to seek, rely on, and desire Him above all else.  This is easily said but requires discipline to execute daily.

 

I end this expressive moment with the following lessons I’ve learned thus far:

1.       Age does change your view on life and the view only gets better!

2.       Flowers can truly brighten up your day!

3.       Too much of any one thing is a bad thing!

4.       Laughter really is medicine for the weary heart & soul!

5.       Your best life is found when you abandon your ambitions and talk to God about His plan for you!

 

 

Walking in His mercy and Living in His grace,

Nakisha 'Kisha' Guzman

Through My eyes: http://www.balancedandpurposed.com/

A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new!  Albert Einstein

Idol or Item

The following is a brief test that can help you find any hidden idols in your life.

 

1.        I can not go one day without____________________________________.

2.       I would prefer to spend most of my free-time___________________________.

3.       I think most often about____________________________________________.

4.       My 1^st hour of awake time is spent doing__________________________________.

5.       I spend most of my thinking about and researching ___________________________.

6.       What person, thing, food or idea do I have an unquenchable desire for___________________________.

7.       I sacrifice the most for _____________________________________________________________.

 

Often times we become so self-righteous and unconsciously prideful that we don’t realize the idols we have placed before God. 

 

Priscilla Shirer say’s it so well when she wrote, “Your god is what you seek.  It’s what you love, trust in, worship, serve and allow to control you.”

 

Our God is forgiving and abounding in grace.  Ask him to reveal your hidden areas, repent and make Him the priority.  Your best life depends on it!

 

You're still just a human!

2 Corinthians 12:8-10 (New International Version)

⁸Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. ¹⁰That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

 

I’m on this new thing now.  I have spent the past 2 ½ years harboring or should I say meditating on my failures, fears, difficulties and so forth, sharing my hardships with no one.  Burdened by my religious oppressions.  I see now that this was a pride issue and has made my ‘be-Christ-like’ journey much harder than it had to be.  When I heard these verses yesterday (The Bible Experience DVD’s), it was like I heard it for the first time; must be that Matthew 13:22 thing!!

 

So, for you women I consider prayer warriors (even though I probably never mentioned it to you) expect to get a few more emails from me.  For when I am weak, then I am strong!

 

Walking in His mercy and Living in His grace,

 

Kisha

Do you really trust, do you really believe?

Our thought for today comes from Exodus 12:10-13 and it reads:

¹⁰ As Pharaoh approached, the people of Israel looked up and panicked when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them. They cried out to the Lord, ¹¹ and they said to Moses, “Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt? ¹² Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!’”

 ¹³ But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. ¹⁴ The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”

Does the comments of the Egyptians remind you of anyone?  It reminds me a lot of today’s Christian.  When we see just an inkling of trouble we want to retreat, run back to the familiar, even though we’ve seen God perform supernatural interventions in our lives, even though we got the word on something; we get scared and want to turn back.  We treat God as if He is of the human element.  It is like we believe He does not love us and desires the best for us.

 

In Exodus 13:17-18 we read this: ¹⁷ When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land. God said, “If the people are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” ¹⁸ So God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea.

 

Often times God leads us in a ‘roundabout’ way to our victory, to our calling, to our freedom, to our goals, and our prosperity.  He knows that the short path may have too much adversity or we may still require more character building.  In an effort to fully prepare us, he directs us on a path that leads to his blessings but prunes and strengthens us in the process.

 

So, when things feel slow, the journey seems long, and the enemy throws darts at your mind; remember this lessons from the Israelites leaving Egypt, then begin to dig deeper in your Word, pray harder, fast longer and know that God is on your side.

 

Indebted To Christ,

 

 

Nakisha 'Kisha' Guzman

Recognizing your flaws

Proverbs 10:16- The earnings of the godly enhance their lives, but evil people squander their money on sin.

 

Do your earnings enhance your life?  Usually ours does but often times I go over my bi-weekly budget and find myself frustrated for failing in this area.  I believe I have been enlightened on why this is happening.  You see, I set aside money each pay cycle that I am to use for purchasing little simple pleasures for my family.  However, more often than I care to admit, this money is used on my ‘sin’.  Lately, my sin is laziness and gluttony.  If I am too lazy to cook, I order out.  If I enjoy the food,  I may eat the same thing 3 days in a row.  This pattern takes me over our money designated for food.  In order to maintain I end up using the money God gave us to “enhance our lives” on my silly sin.  All this time, I thought I should eat out if I wanted to.  This is an arrogant and undisciplined way of thinking.

 

So, are there areas of your life that need a little more discipline?  Sin is sin, not big or little to God.  Just sin.

 

I hope this will help me to be a better steward of my blessings, turn up my spiritual sensitivity to place me in a  lifestyle of discipline and help me turn my back on laziness, gluttony & undisciplined living.

 

 

Indebted to Christ,

 

Kisha Guzman

A show of appreciation makes the heart happy!

Often times as humans we tend to neglect the people we love the most.  Although we see their efforts to make our lives easier or more enjoyable, we don’t give them the encouragement they need, the encouragement we all need.  I would like to take a moment of your time to shout praise about my closest earthly companion.

 

This person can always make me laugh with the silliest of jokes or gestures.  It’s one of the many qualities that kept me ‘coming back’ early on in our relationship.  I would ask this person to tell me the same joke, in the same moment over again…just so I could laugh one more time.  While the individual thought I was off my rockers, they’d happily oblige! 

 

I am especially attracted to this persons innate understanding of the Word of God.  Like no other, they can help me to peel away by legalistic thinking and see the beauty and pure love of our Heavenly Father.  When I see this individual being so submissive to the Heavenly Father, it makes the feminist in me shrink down and I too can serve this person; with trust, ease and gladness.

 

While growing up I’d never met anyway who knows so much about everything.  Now-a-days I often take this talent for granted.  I simply expect this individual to do good at everything.  However, since experience is the best teacher…I was given the opportunity to learn a lesson in this area.  When people expect great things from you and you deliver, high praise is still warranted.  We tend to praise the black sheep’s in our family for the little things and negate the hard work, diligence and persistence of the ‘high achiever’.  With all that being said, I’d like to say I am so proud of the hard work and accomplishments that this individual has made in their very political, corporate work environment.  They not only have to be a light for Christ but they must overcome with tact being a minority and being younger than the rest (usually by a decade)!  I know that Christ has a special hand on this individual but like the prophets in the Bible this person must still work hard.  They too were blessed and highly favored but grueling hard work did not escape them! 

 

This person is also a community servant.  While others exploit their connections for selfish gains, this person uses theirs to help the poor, homeless and less fortunate.  I am so impressed with his diligence in this area of his many callings.  This person can sense a legitimate need and knows when people are just getting over or being lazy.  When he senses a real need…he always seeks to fill it.

 

Growing up, I never saw children engaged in play and conversation with their fathers.  I’d never experienced the closeness and high level of involvement that this person delivers to their children.  It was very foreign to me at first but as I grew in my knowledge and wisdom, I can see that this quality is a thing of beauty.  A balance that is needed to help fill certain needs within the a developing child.  A great father indeed!

 

This person can read my emotional state from across a room.  They make every effort to heal my frustrations or help me see them in a positive light!  They know the beautiful and the ugly about me and they shower their love on me anyway.  Connected with our souls, we’ve overcome much adversity.  We are growing up together and we love it!  The similarities in our families is amazing.  The radical occurrences that led up to us meeting in Texas (of all places) was clearly divinely orchestrated.  Most times just being in the same vicinity of this person is enough to quiet my soul.  It is the little things that this person does that melt my heart.  The big things are icing on the cake. This person demonstrates their feelings for me in so many unique ways.  This person is another reason that I know my Heavenly Father wants the best for me!  He gave the best man in the universe to be my soul mate and life partner.

 

You may know him by Ray, Ramon, Son, Brother, Daddy, Champ but as for me I call him Boo and I will always be his Baby.

 

Note:  While he does not always agree with everything I share with the world via blog or email, he is my editor.  Obviously I couldn’t have him check my grammatical errors or wordiness for this one.  So I ask that you please excuse my little faux pas!! J

 

Indebted to Christ,

 

Nakisha 'Kisha' Guzman

"I am only one, but still I am one.  I cannot do everything, but I can do something." Edward Everett Hale

Mama Venting

Some days it’s so noisy on my car rides that I can’t hear myself think.  There are some days when I simply want to turn on my music and travel to our destinations without saying a word; with toddlers this doesn’t happen often.  My toddlers are now three and two.  They are just about 15 months apart.  Our car rides are loaded with crying, loud talking, screaming, singing, coloring, playing and on rushed days lunch!  I wasn’t prepared…point blank.  Some days I long for a break; a moment to relive the working mothers role that I once played.  Funny thing is I desired a break from that role too.  I’ve realized everybody desires this break…on some days.  We humans are never truly satisfied nor will we be this side of heaven.  Think about it for a moment.  Can you recall those times when you said, “ If I could just fill-in-the blank and once you attained that something…it wasn’t good enough, it wasn’t what you thought it would be or you were simply ready for the next new thing soon after.

In my spirit I know that my diligent and purposeful time invested now will yield great returns later.  So with this in mind I tighten up my boot straps, grow a stronger set of ovaries, and continue on my mission.  Praying at all times, treasuring the good times and growing as a women during the tough times.

Thanks for listening.

Grace and peace to you all,

 

Kisha

Motherhood

Motherhood, it’s such a high calling and a great challenge.  It is a beautiful calling and a never-ending journey.  In my day of growing up most parents I knew merely desired for their children to graduate, go to college or secure a job and not have children before marriage.  Even for the Christian families I knew, going to church every Sunday and quoting back scripture was what being a Christian was all about.  As I grow in my understanding of the Word and I stumble along this path laid for me; I realize my role as Mother plays a determining factor in how the world will tarry.  Of course this role is not exclusive to me; it is the responsibility of every Mother. 

 

For the Christ following Mother, we must not only battle the pull to follow cultural norms but we must install in our offspring a desire to build a relationship with the Trinity (Father, Son & Spirit).  We should desire this relationship to be stronger than that of ours to them.  We cannot simply drag them to church and hope all is well in Christianity, we must purposefully and intentionally promote Bible study, devotional time, service oriented opportunities, prayer in every situation or decision, clean programming, and constructive time usage.  We must make God alive to them in a World that teaches everything opposite of Him & His guidance.  It is a challenge that many were unprepared for upon first becoming Mothers and it’s a battle that is ongoing lest we conform to the ways of the world and perpetuate the cycle that curses generations and our children’s future. 

 

I pray that with all my getting, I continue to get knowledge on how God wants me to interact, train & lead the various callings & giftings that are woven into the core of my children.  I pray that while my flesh will rise up in its selfish, what-about-me manner;  I will remember the sacrifice my Lord made for me.  I pray that all Mothers who are followers of Christ will return to the standards of the Word in our rearing.  Even when popular media would impress so many facets of deceit upon us and the minds our babies; I pray that we can pull from the inner strength, our spirit woman to lead us with hearts convictions not religious babble. 

 

While for many of us we will still anticipate the day of tears as our blessings walk into their college dorms (or the like); we know that our job is still not done.  We simply go into the next phase of Mothering…No longer COO’s (since God is CEO)!!!  Our role becomes more of a support role, a role that will inevitably include lots of prayer for them and with them, offering advice while being prepared for it to not be followed, always having an ear to listen, and always showing love despite the cost.  If we are blessed beyond measure, we will at some point be offered the opportunity to usher in a new-generation through grandchildren…a much more fun role might I add! 

 

Indebted To Christ,

 

Kisha