Confidence

“Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers, you cannot be successful or happy.” Norman Vincent Peale


Confidence is defined as belief in oneself and one's powers or abilities; the feeling or belief that one can rely on someone or something; firm trust; the state of feeling certain about the truth of something.

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.” Jeremiah 17:7

Who is your confidence in - God, man or yourself? The question is not meant to trick or confuse you but to get you to think about your confidence and where it comes from.

I am confident in my ability to perform my job to the best of my ability. I have confidence in my role of a friend, mother and sister – sometimes. I am confident in my belief in God and that he is the beginning and the end and that I should cast my cares upon Him and feel confident that He will see me through.

When my confidence comes from myself it wanes when things get tough or beyond my control. When my confidence comes for God, I am able to stand steadfast through the storms of life and weather them out knowing that He has all things under his control and that no matter what the outcome, it is as He has planned.

Self-confidence is necessary to survive in the world but it is not to be confused with pride and our thinking that we are able to do all things by ourselves without care or thought of God in the process.

My confidence comes from my faith. When my faith is strong so is my confidence but when my faith falters so does my confidence.

Hebrews 10:19-39 talks about confidence and faith in great detail and I have learned a lot about how the two correlate to one another. I am thankful for the word and the lessons found within that help clarify what my role is in this life and how it relates to what God wants me to do and how he wants me to do it.

I am still a work in progress but I am open and flexible in my beliefs that as I delve deeper into His word that my faith and therefore my confidence will remain entrenched in Him as it should rightly do.

“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.” Hebrews 10:35

Beauty

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 1 Peter 3:3-4

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and since the beholder is me then makeup is a necessity. I get up Monday through Friday and make my face up before going to work and on the weekends a little tinted moisturizer and mascara usually does the trick to get me through. My girls complain about the fact that I put on makeup questioning why I need it. For me it’s necessary for a couple of reasons. First I use it to protect my face from the dirt and grime encountered throughout the day and secondly it is a security blanket. Not one to think highly of myself and my looks, putting on makeup makes me feel better about whom I am. It’s amazing what a little foundation, eye shadow and mascara can do to bolster ones confidence.

Today’s scripture made me think about my inner beauty. What am I doing to put forth the best inner me each day. Do I wake up and have a quiet time with God setting my spirit on the right track to handle what comes my way? Do I soak up the word and listen to inspiring and uplifting music that will soothe the inner me and allow that beauty to come shining through? Am I doing things to nourish the inner most portion of my soul?

Sadly I’m not. I don’t have a daily regimen for my inner self as I do for the outer. Yet I feel as though I should. What a difference it would make to have my inner and my outer in tune with one another. Although I don’t go about flashing my gold jewelry and fine clothes I do take great pride in making sure I look my best for the world and since God means so much more to me than this place wouldn’t it make sense to treat my inner self with just as much, if not more, care in my desire to be pleasing to Him. God looks not on the outward man but on the inward man – the heart.

What is the state of your heart today?

“The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

Action

Action –noun: The process or state of acting or of being active: something done or performed; act; deed.
An act that one consciously wills and that may be characterized by physical or mental activity.

The harder I try the more I fail. The more I let Him do the leading and the guiding the easier it becomes. I struggle daily to be a good steward over all that He has given me. I struggle with being the mother, the daughter, sister, friend and co-worker that I know I can be. I am weak and give in to my flesh. I fall prey much like Eve in the Garden of Eden and surrender to the cravings of a idle mind only to fall on my face and cry out in forgiveness. It is the falling on my face and asking for forgiveness that keeps me humble. It allows me to get up yet another day and start all over again. That atoning sacrifice that Jesus made for me on that cross assures me that I am forgiven and that makes me want to do better. Today I walked a mile, tomorrow I might make it two miles and on Friday I might not do anything at all but that is ok. The lesson is this - each day that I get up, put on the amour of God and attempt to walk in the shoes of peace serving Him to the best of my ability for that time and place is all that he requires of me. I am not perfect. I am a work in progress. I am in a perpetual state of motion and that is the key.

What's Up?

Spring break, strep throat, stomach viruses and college visits, oh my! It’s been a crazy month filled with a whirlwind of activities, sicknesses and life in general. We had some really good weather and a lot of fun times over spring break. They went to Busch Gardens and the beach, played Putt Putt, did the movies and ate lots of great food. All too soon it was time to get back into the routine of things and head back to school.

The next two weekends we did the college circuit so that baby girl could make her final choice of which college she wants to attend this fall. It was eye opening to get a load of campus life now and how things were 20+ years ago. BIG difference. Things are definitely more open to the lifestyles of today with co-ed dorms, Starbucks and Chick-Fil-A on campus, drinking/partying seems to be a major for some kids and they tell you in orientation to learn to balance drinking with studying. That blew me out of the water.

Expectations at some schools are very high freshman year and in others it wasn’t mentioned. Parents were told to drop off their kids and don’t look back at one school while another said keep a pulse on them at least during the first year. I left feeling overwhelmed and insecure at one and I’m an adult to feeling right at home at another. It is definitely worth the effort to visit these schools and get a feel for the lay of the land rather than just shipping your kid off and hoping for the best.

Strep got three out of the four and one had a stomach virus these past two weeks. It’s been fun. Things have started to settle down just in time for May to begin. Warmer temperatures are expected this week and it looks like spring might get pushed out of the way early for summer to roll in.

Time is quickly winding down to prom and graduation. I’m not sure I’m ready for the end of one chapter and the beginning of another but ready or not it’s coming so I better get prepared. I can’t believe my first girl is getting ready to leave the nest. Boy what a big change that will bring in the house.

As for me, I finished my Intro to Marketing class and hated it. The professor was good but the workload was over the top; way too much to learn and do in 5 short weeks. Things have settled down with Business Management but our class has dropped down by 4 students and I’m losing two from my study group in the next rotation. Change is in the air and I might as well get used to it. I passed my one year anniversary and still feel good about school and the progress I have made. I made the President’s list for carrying a 4.0 GPA which was really nice. The summer will be busy with class and juggling the kids out of school but hopefully I have it all worked out so that everyone will be pleased.

What’s been going on in your world?

Lent

As Lent winds down there is time to reflect on what this season has meant to me this time around. I've been reading off and on and when I have there have been great insights to be found in His Word. I am thankful that I started reading again and asked for my spirit to be open and receptive to the Words that I was reading. My prayers have been answered. He's such a sweet and loving God and I am thankful that I know this.

My biggest take away from this Lent season is forgiveness. There is no condemnation from God for my sins. I am forgiven wholly, fully and completely. Nothing I do can separate me from Him and I am thankful for that knowledge and finally being able to accept it. I have let it marinate in my spirit and sink into this hard head of mine over these past few weeks and it has put me in a better mindset. That's not to say I won't have to be reminded of that time and time again but the rudimentary knowledge is finally there. My heart is full because of this wonderful gift and all that Christ endured on my behalf to have it.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you^[a] free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,^[b] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. (Romans 8:1-3)

A Confident Heart

It's been a good week. Busy as usual, but good. I had a wonderful session with the counselor, been running everyone around town to doctor appointments and school activities and working all the same but its been quiet as far as the drama goes. It's like we are in a good spot for a little while and I am going to bask in it for what its worth!

The kids are out next week for Spring break and I am actually going to take some time off and spend it with them. Doing what? I have no idea, but I'm sure we'll make the most of our time together. This weekend it will be Easter egg hunts and church. No soccer practice or games due to the holiday.

I've been writing my son and praying over him that he is learning from this place he finds himself in right now and I have peace in my heart over it. I'm not lamenting or allowing myself to take on the blame game. I know that I have done all that I could and that the rest is up to him. I'm letting go of the guilt that I have held onto because of life's circumstances when he was younger. In looking back and I'm realizing that I was learning and growing up just as he was and instead of beating myself up I am telling myself that I did pretty good considering the circumstances and letting go of the dead weight. It feels great!

I owe a great deal of this peace and insight to Renee Swope who's book I just finished reading and will re-read many times over called A Confident Heart. It was a great read and it blessed me tremendously. I read it on the Kindle but plan to purchase a hard copy so I can highlight and mark it up. There were so many little nuggets in there and the last chapter gave me so many scriptures to situations in my life that I know where to turn in times of turmoil, grief and pain. It also reaffirmed that I am loved. I am needed, wanted and worthy of all He has for me in this life.

I highly recommend this book to everyone and plan to make it a gift to those that I encounter that are suffering as I have from low self-esteem, self doubt, loneliness and isolation from God.

Warmest blessings,

Kimberly

When I grow up...

I’ve found my passion, my purpose, my goal and now I have to channel it in the right arenas and allow God to direct my path so that it can be done for His glory.

When I grow up I want to be a life coach and trainer. I want to share all these wonderful experiences I have had in my life with those that are going through similar situations. I don’t want them to go it alone, not when I have so much experience, empathy and sympathy that can be shared with them.

I love helping people. Encouraging them and being their voice when they don’t have one.

I like to talk with them and get them to see things from a different perspective than what they may be currently seeing it as and succeeding in working through the situation and coming out on the other side better, stronger and happier than they have ever been.

I like figuring things out. Teaching and training people to trust themselves, their instincts and the voice of reason that most of us have but at times fail to use or listen to.

I love posing questions and watching them figure out the answers, especially when they are stuck. To see the results that come from within when I knew they had it hidden deep inside them all along but we just needed to work at getting it out is so satisfying and fulfilling to me.

There is great joy in seeing other’s accomplish their dreams. To realize that life is good and they can have the best life ever if they work for it just a little harder, smarter and with passion. And mostly, they don’t have to go it alone.