Tag Archives: Growth is the key

Kissing my 20’s Goodbye………….

Posted in Kissing my 20's Goodbye by

image
Day 1: This is my very last day of being in my 20’s. Let me tell you how many emotions I experienced just that day alone. I started reflecting during my Daddy-Daughter time aka my quiet time with God like I normally do. But for some reason a huge feeling of gratitude and love was showered on me at once by God during this time. I could not take it all and that caused me to go into an uncontrollable crying and expression of how thankful I am to God for all of these years and all that He has done for me. My heart was so full of joy and love. All of His promises that He has promised me are being revealed and coming true. When you leave your life in God’s hands, He will never lead you astray. No my life is not perfect by any means but I stand confidently next to him and I know that He will keep all of His promises. I have to do my part and keep a relationship with Him at all times and live out my purpose.

So that day I had some sweet kiddos that I was able to speak life into lives. I just thank God for using me where I am and all that I’ve gone through to be able to show who God is to others. I encourage you to do the same, allow God to use your mess to be your message. Someone needs you!!!

My workout session was a good one, I enjoyed typing in 29 for the last time LoL!!!

image

THE BIG 3-0 DAY….
I woke up again very emotional and kind of worried to be honest. I spent my Daddy-Daughter time all in tears of joy. I don’t think I kept from crying longer than a minute. I was so overwhelmed by His love and from the love of others. You never know the impact you have on the people around you. But oh did I find out soon! One of my dear friends posted a video for me on FB and had me boo hooing after I thought I collected myself. God has a way of giving you what you need right when you need it or when you don’t think about it. All of the warm wishes, collages and phone calls warmed my heart. At that point I didn’t know what I was going to do other than run I few errands and  get ready for a night with my girls. My dearest sister-friend that I’ve known basically my whole life, surprised me and took off from work and we spent the day together and did some shopping and chatting. I truly thank God for her and our relationship that we have that continues to grow in God. AND to top it off my dear friend that mentioned before, had lunch with us and we had a wonderful time together. I am truly blessed with some wonderful prayers answered friends. We laughed so much and shared stories and bonded together. New friendships were formed! So after we left eating, we got ready for the night. I wanted to do something different for my birthday so I decided to go to a food truck event at the race track 🏇🏇🏁🏁. I have never been to a race before and had no idea what to do! I had THE best time ever!!! We had a BLAST and shared sooooooooooo much laughter with each other and people around us.

image

I couldn’t ask for a better birthday night with my loves!! 🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂

On Saturday night I had a birthday dinner that was AMAZING… I feel so loved and blessed. I’m going to share some pics from my dinner. I love you all and thank you so much for joining me on my journey to 30.
image

image

image

image

I am LOVING my 30’s stay tuned there is so much more that God has instore…

‘TIL NEXT TIME MY LOVES❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
♡Posted by Sweet Inspirations by Candyce♡

Advertisement

Kissing my 20’s Goodbye……….

Posted in Kissing my 20's Goodbye by

image

Day 6: Started off a little rough which I found out why later on that day. This picture is basically how I spent my whole Saturday at a Tapioca shop. My name was Kenda for the day LOL! I told her my name and I guess she couldn’t spell it but I thought that was too cute! I had a lot of work and things to catch up on. For some reason, I had been feeling less motivated. I was determined to get my fire burning again 🔥 but most importantly ask God why I was feeling this way. OHHHHHHHHH did he show me!!! I just started reading the book Fervent by Priscilla Shirer and it is definitely not a book for a person that is not willing to truly grow their prayer life with God and fight against the schemes of the enemy. So after I finished completing one assignment, I said to myself “oh it’s on sister, let’s do this”. But little did I know that it was EXACTLY the answer to my mysterious passion/drive flame potential burnout. I thought that I had a pretty strong prayer life and I still do but this book has given me more strategies to defeat those moments from the enemy that come up like losing focus and when you lose your passion.

image

Here is the book and I’ve been journaling for a long time so this is my newest prayer journal along with this amazing book!!! Please go get it and read if you are tired of the enemy being victorious in your life. So after reading the first chapter I realized why my motivation was dim. The attacks that the enemy has designed are so strategic and subtle and if we aren’t made aware of them, we will become defeated by the enemy. I am loving this point of my life and I am so excited about what God is bringing me into. I’m even more thrilled to able to share it with you and bring you along this journey to encourage you to make God the focus of your life.

Passion is the fuel in the engine of your purpose- Priscilla Shirer

If you have lost your excitement and drive for living out your purpose that God created you for, tap back into your main source… God!

image

Day 5: Family day!!! Where do I begin? Well I’ll start with understanding the true blessing that God gives us with our families. It makes my heart ❤️❤️ smile thinking about all of them. No we are not perfect by any means but love each other dearly. My brother in law was affirmed as Elder at his church and we came to support him. It is such a phenomenal feeling when you can give to others and how God equips you to be able to give without wanting anything in return. I loved being able to see all of my old church family and hugging them. Oh how I miss them and I am even more thankful to hear such encouraging words and love from them. My heart was full yesterday. As you can tell in the picture from above my niece had a volleyball tournament and they won every single game they played the whole weekend! I’m a proud auntie 🙂 of all of my babies.

image

Here is my big baby that is so excited to FINALLY be taller than me!! Sunday was a great day!!!

STAY TUNED…

image

‘TIL NEXT TIME MY LOVES ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

♡Posted by Sweet Inspirations by Candyce♡

Kissing my 20’s Goodbye………

Posted in Kissing my 20's Goodbye by

Sooooooooooooo… I decided to do something a little different with this post since starting from Day 9 to Day 7 has been so emotional on so many levels. I wanted to give some advice and what God has been revealing to me. Well as you may or may not know, I am not an emotional crying type of person and for the longest I struggled thinking that I was incapable of being truly moved by the spirit. OH BOY has it been a feeling of breakthrough after breakthrough in those areas that I have been praying for years about. When God delivers and answers those prayers… I can’t describe the feelings. Just know that those are the moments when true intimacy with God takes place. Even through the ups and downs of this week alone, I know I AM  victorious with Christ. Cling tightly to His hand. Trust His plan and that has been my go to promise for this last week of my 20’s. I know that I am walking into a new season and new adventures and will not let ANYTHING stop me!!!

On a funny note… So today I had some super precious kiddos and one little girl that was a cute and innocent as she could be said “Ms. C you look like you’re 15” I said WHAT??? 15? That’s pretty young don’t ya think LoL! Then she said well how old are you and I told her I’ll be 30 next Friday and her EYES GOT SO BIG AND BRIGHT 🔆 AND SAID WOOOOOW!!! I thought that was too cute. I know I look young but geeze 15???

image

What do you think? 15 or nah

I know that in this current season of my life God is equipping me to do some powerful things and trust me it has not been an easy journey. I am forever thankful for those people that are in my life that support, love me, encourage and grow with me. WOW ONE MORE WEEK TO GO… WHAT SHOULD I DO EACH DAY?!? I THINK I’LL TREAT MYSELF TO SOMETHING SMALL EVERYDAY LEADING UP TO THE BIG 3-0! CAN’T WAIT

imageMY CURRENT MOOD

 

STAY TUNED….

image

‘TIL NEXT TIMEY LOVES❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

♡Posted by Sweet Inspirations by Candyce♡

Kissing my 20’s Goodbye……..

Posted in Kissing my 20's Goodbye by

image

At first I didn’t know why I chose this picture but then it came to me. I think I might see my mother in my facial expression LoL! There’s no denying that I’m my mother’s child.

image

Here’s my twin… I will admit it NOW LOL!! BUT I still think I look like my dad too. Anywho…
Here’s the recap of Day 11: I have learned that when God places someone on your heart, you need to do what He wants you to do because that person or persons really need what you have to say or need that hug etc. Well that’s exactly what I did yesterday. I was able to pass on some wisdom that I was taught by a dear and close person to my heart. As I spent time with this individual, God showed me that He is the same way with us. He helps us when we are in need and He has grace with us. He gives us chances and reveals a new way of doing things. I was in awe of God and His power. I did not take credit for any of it, I know that it’s all God. I am just a vessel and I don’t take that role lightly! Yesterday I was actually very proud of myself and how far I’ve come with God from the areas that I was drowning in before. DELIVERANCE!!! Passing on wisdom and being able to admit faults and struggles speaks volumes to your character. I am forever grateful to God for not giving up on me even when I did 😊😊😊😊😊 .

Day 10: TAKE OVER
I have been blessed to my core today! When you pray for God to take you to another level of intimacy and having Him touch your soul with songs of praise, it gets overwhelming!!! Tears of joy flowed today as I drove to a school listening to a song called “TAKE OVER” by Anthony Evans feat. Tamela Mann. It completely took over me and me surrendering EVERY area of my life to God. I highly recommend this song to you.

image

Clearly this was before I put the song on LoL!!
So as I get to the school, I always say a prayer for the kiddos that I will be with. And I pray for myself to remain calm and showing Christ at all times. As I said before, I believe that kids can see your heart and if you are genuine. They will tell the honest truth!!! I had a fantastic group today. I played a little game with them called can you guess Ms. C’s age. I got guessing like 18 up to 36. There was 2 girls close and one actually guessed I was 29 and another one said 31. I told them I’ll be 30 in 10 days and they all *GASP*

image

I wanted to burst out laughing at the little boy that said 18! I had to put my HIGHER PRESCRIPTION GOD-GGLES (God goggles) on for some of the students LOL. But at the end of the day, they turned their behavior around. God always has a way of surprising you with how your react differently when you are walking with Him. I thank God for the growth. I can’t stop saying that, but it’s the truth!! Leaving a lasting memory is what it’s all about. After I left the school I headed home and got ready for the gym. I went to work out and I can totally feel my confidence level rising the more I go there! Then I went to a Bible study that was talking about self-esteem and how we are viewed through Christ. Today has been an emotional day for me for some reason and I am thankful for them because I’ve been in my Father’s lap all day. That’s my favorite place to be! I’ve been experiencing some different feelings lately and I’m not sure if it’s the 30’s creeping in or what. I know God is taking me to higher levels but I’m not sure where. I’m singing TAKE OVER LORD TAKE MY MIND AND MY WILL! I GIVE IT ALL TO YOU AND I NEED YOU MORE…. PRAISE GOD 🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙏🙏🙏🙏

STAY TUNED…..

image

‘TIL NEXT TIME MY LOVES!!!!!!!!!!!!

♡Posted by Sweet Inspirations by Candyce♡

Kissing my 20’s Goodbye…….

Posted in Kissing my 20's Goodbye by

Day 13: I am very PROUD to announce… I was sleep by 11:30 the night before! And I slept through the night until 6:36 AM. I know that sounds like something mother’s of babies would say, but I felt the joy!

image This is how I felt LOL!!!!

 

Any who…my day 13 turned into a heart breaker 💔. If you really know me, you know that I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE my Houston Texans. Well unfortunately they did not show me that deep love in return yesterday when they lost to the Chiefs. I always knew that I hated losing but yesterday really hurt my heart. I thought to myself that I was just being dramatic but NO I really was frustrated and took it personal.

image

I know that sounds very strange but it’s a flaw of mine that was brought to the light last night by God. One of my prayers has been for God to show me those flaws in me that need adjusting. I have always hated losing ever since a child and I guess I never really thought of it like I did last night. In the midst of my frustration, I couldn’t think straight and that made me even more upset. I finally said a prayer to calm my nerves and it was almost instantly I could think clearly. It was like a conversation you have with your best friend that says “girl calm yourself down, it’s not that serious and be thankful for how far they came”. At that moment I really had to laugh at myself because I really took it serious like I was JJ Watts or an actual person that is a part of the organization. That made me think, inspite of my flaws and shortcomings, God gives me another chance and it might not be my time to “win” something great like a important football game LoL but look at what I have won and how I win with Christ by my side DAILY. AND that God is still growing me into my purpose. Maybe you are struggling with finding your purpose. Let God reveal who you are and let him fix you into the person he created you to be.

Oh and I was so frustrated last night that I was determined to go workout afterwards to blow off some steam. Well God is something else because I got home, changed quickly and zipped out the door to pull up to a CLOSED GYM! Boy I tell you… He is so funny! I could picture His face and how He was laughing at me but loving me inspite of it all! 😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆

Day 12: Oh has today been a day of challenges (not in a negative way)! It started off with me actually going to bed at… welp I can’t remember the time and waking up at 6:58 AM. I told myself to go back to sleep and wake up when my alarm went off at 8:15. Which I did for just a few minutes. So I woke up and told myself that I need to start moving because we started a new adult Bible study group rotation and I was not super thrilled about starting it (just being honest) only because I didn’t know what to expect. Boy did God blow my mind this morning in class. I was in the right class and needed to hear exactly what the teacher was teaching on. I’ll share a little bit of it with you guys. We are studying the book of Exodus and started off with Moses and talked about the start of his life. My main take away was how are you allowing the holy spirit to guide you? I did a reflection over my life and my present. I can say that I allow the Holy spirit to lead my life now more so than I have in the past. I have to get out of God’s way and allow Him to keep moving in my life. I have come to far now to turn back. THANK YOU GOD!!

Part two of my day was when I met up with my bestie/sister Moni to go to a women’s ministry kickoff program. It was so what I needed to hear at the perfect moment. We as women have such a negative outlook on other women which causes a great division among us. But it goes much deeper than the surface. We must allow God to work on our core and wear the full armor of God at all times. The enemy wants to destroy you… Don’t let it!!! 💪💪💪💪💪💪 I love talking to Moni and how we encourage each other. She is such a blessing to me and I thank God for all of my sister-friends!!❤️❤️❤️❤️

STAY TUNED….

image

‘TIL NEXT TIME MY LOVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

♡Posted by Sweet Inspirations by Candyce♡

Kissing my 20’s Goodbye….

Posted in Kissing my 20's Goodbye by

image

Day 18: My day began very chill then out of no where I burst into *cues music*…TURBO CLEANER!!! But this was a different turbo cleaner mode… It was all in my head!!! I had all of these great new ideas on what I wanted to clean and organize but in real life/time I only did a portion 😐 . It made me think about turning 30…as you can tell everything nowadays is making me think about my older age. I wondered if my actions were not going to equal up to my thoughts due to changes in my body. But then I thought to myself, my age is not the deciding factor to my actual work whether I’m pumped about it or not. It’s all about my attitude to keep pushing even when I get tired or unmotivated. So lesson learned…

Day 17: Well I have always said that kids keep you young and on your toes. I am blessed to be able to work with all different age groups of students. And oh was today one of those comical “keep you on your toes” kind of day. If you want to know the honest truth ask a child and they will definitely let you know. I just thank God for all of the kiddos and teaching me more about myself. After yesterday’s TURBO CLEANER MODE failure, I decided to put that back into play but this time plan it out a little bit differently. I’m not going to reveal what it is just yet but know that it’s under construction right now🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧. My only thoughts about age today was I don’t think my body is adjusting well to this age thing because I’m still up all hours of the night. OH I just thought about my first thought of aging today… Well after I washed my face this morning it was dryer than its been before so I’m not sure if that happens once you knock on 30’s door. Ok I’m done LoL!!!

Lesson of the day: Confession time: I have been struggling with spending money on myself. Meaning I find myself nowadays second guessing if I should buy something for myself that is a treat/reward like shoes or clothes. So today I literally debated for hours if I thought I deserved those few items. I’m happy to say that I won and bought a few items for myself. It made me thank God for the growth that I’ve experienced because there was a time when I would just spend money and not think twice about it. That’s definitely a THANK YOU GOD moment. I’ve learned that maturing comes from being deeper in God and not with age. I love giving more to others than myself, which is another THANK YOU GOD moment. Deliverance is what I long for!!! It felt good to treat myself and I know that it won’t happen again for a while LoL!!

Stay tuned….

image

♡Posted by Sweet Inspirations by Candyce♡

Grabbing the hand of Jesus

Posted in Devotionals, God's word, Jesus Christ by

image

I wrote this post last night and sent it out to my message receiving crew and it was such a joyful feeling when I recieved several messages stating:

“I really needed that!” “Amen” “I was just praying and I really needed that”

Let me tell you how God is… If you don’t have a relationship with Him, please get one because He will lead and direct your life to where all you have to do is sit back and kick your feet up👣! I know God is leading my life and I’m being obedient simply by those responses from my crew.I am no where near them and have no idea what’s going on in their lives. But God does and he will use you as a vessel, if you let Him! Let God use you so He can get all of the GLORY 🙌

Mark 4:39 NIV

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

THINK ABOUT HOW YOU RESPOND WHEN STORMS COME IN YOUR LIFE. DO YOU START TO PANIC IMMEDIATELY? DO YOU GO DIRECTLY TO GOD FOR STRENGTH? OR DO YOU TELL GOD TO REMOVE IT RIGHT AWAY? DO SOME SELF REFLECTING AND PRAY 🙏 FOR STRENGTH TO GO THROUGH IT WITH HIM! THERE ARE REASONS FOR STORMS IN OUR LIVES, MAKE SURE YOU GET THE MESSAGE!

HAVE A BLESSED DAY!!

‘TIL NEXT TIME MY LOVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

♡Posted by Sweet Inspirations by Candyce♡

Do you see it? Take a closer look…

Posted in Are you listening, Christians, Disciples of Christ, Loving yourself, Spiritual growth by

image

Do others people see it in me? 🙈🙉
Do I see something different in myself? 👀
Am I allowing God to be the head of my life?

Well these are some questions that you should ask yourself when you start to question how far you have come on your journey with God. The IT that I am referring to is change in you that has taken place because you are allowing God to shine through your life. At times we get down on ourselves because we start to feel like we aren’t growing at a certain pace that we “feel” that we should be keeping with. I encourage you to stop ✋, take a deep breath and exhale those feelings. Those are those subtle attack 👊 methods that the enemy will make you believe. You will start to feel like you are going backwards instead of forward, you will be reminded of your past mistakes, you will start to compare yourself to others around you and look at their life, things will trigger old habits and thoughts that once kept you captive to your sin. Please be clear that these will come up when you are trying to grow. The enemy is not going to attack and fight if there’s no real competition to keep God’s Kingdom growing instead of his.

My dear brothers and sisters please look to God and be reminded of your journey thus far. Look at the change that has taken place whether it has brought you closer to God or sin has continued to keep you in bondage. Always look at the positive first and use that to motivate you to keep growing spiritually. Our sin should not keep us from reaching the full potential that God has placed in us. Take my word for it, it’s not worth it! We are all sinners BUT sin should not control our lives. Encourage others to see the positive change in their lives as well because we are called to be the light of the world! Sin = darkness

Matthew 5:14-16 MSG
“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

‘TIL NEXT TIME MY LOVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

♡Posted by Sweet Inspirations by Candyce♡

growing, Growing, GROWING!!!

Posted in Fruitful living, Loving yourself, Purpose Driven life, Spiritual growth by
Grow in God before growing a relationship!

Grow in God before growing a relationship!

I remember back when I would bounce back and forth between the idea of marriage and if I wanted to be or not. My indecisiveness caused more confusion and my heart to become hardened to the idea. Dating different guys only reassured my heart that I should not. Instead of using those times to prepare my heart for it, I ran from it and took it for granted. Thinking back on alot of those heartbreaking situations that I experience were due to my heart not being pure and focused on God like I should. Throughout my journey I can say that God is still working on me for the day that if it be His will, I will be married.

I know for a fact that everything that I am going and growing through is preparing me for my purpose whether it be married life or single life. Since I am in my season of singleness, it has been full of service and ministry. I thank God for using me and my gifts to serve. If marriage is in the will of God for my life, I will truly understand and appreciate the preparation and lessons that I need. I was very immature in my thinking before on the thoughts of dating and marriage and I thank God for the maturity that I have gained. Marriage is not about selfish gains and to have the perfect wedding and ring. It’s about having a ministry together and working together to help build God’s kingdom. I know for a fact that whomever I marry MUST be a strong man of God full of purpose because he will have to lead our household. My relationship with God is stronger than ever and he will need to have one stronger than mine. Encouraging each other to keep God first and work together will be the core and foundation of our lives.

Now you are probably wondering what that picture is all about. LOL Funny story, a few years ago the family joke was Candyce are you ever going to get a man? So a couple years ago on vacation we stopped in Pensacola beach and went inside a souvenir shop to get some things. So at the counter there were these little grow a boyfriend  toys. I looked at it and laughed and thought well I guess this is about right LoL! Then I was told this will be as close as you will get to having a boyfriend LoL! That picture

Thinking back on my earlier single life that is the thoughts that I really held onto, I am now grateful for my singleness because I would have been a toxic person in any relationship. I had not grown or received the proper healing from my past hurts which would have destroyed them all. I thank God for placing those men in my life to help grow me up because I did meet great men. So if you are struggling with being single or if you’re in a relationship but you don’t feel like it has a ministry that can be carried out, pray to God for His will to be revealed. As Christians single or married, you are called to help build God’s Kingdom. Make sure you’re doing your part. If you notice in the title of this post I show the word growing in 3 different sizes. I showed that as my growth in thinking about God, courting and marriage! That represents how your way of thinking and actions in God should be. No matter how hard or long that you take, it will be worth it in the end. Keep GROWING, keep PRAYING, keep L♡VING and keep SEEKING GOD’S WILL FOR YOUR LIFE! I will leave you with this scripture Proverbs 16:3

Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.
Proverbs 16:3 NIV

TIL NEXT TIME MY LOVES!!!!!!!!
💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓

○●I will add another post about relationships later●○ ☺

♡Posted by Sweet Inspirations by Candyce♡