Courageous Radiance

Are You Making Time For God?

If I asked you what are the 2 most important things that you commit to for your physical wellness, would the health of your teeth make the cut? I don’t know about you, but I want the report the dentist gives to reflect no cavities and improvement of my gums, without the dedication. When I short cut discipline, I try to makeup for lost time and get the same results as though I have been committed.Similar to dental visits, and other areas that you could stand to improve, where does God rank in importance within your life? If you are a vase, and the stones sitting outside of the vase need to be placed inside, in order of priority, and the stones are different sizes, what goes in first? Do you place the big stones in first? Should you fill the jar with smaller stones then put the larger ones in at the top? God is the big stone. Even if you haven’t accepted the whole Christianity piece, and in spite of the disbeliefs that may be present. I want to testify that God is the big stone. God in any other place, but the center, the first priority stone in our life jar, means that somewhere, somehow our life is out of balance. Are your procrastinating your spiritual pursuits towards God because you believe that you have time later? This is a risk that is not worth taking. We get to reorient our lives to reflect the scale that God has in mind for our relationship with Him. Will you run after connection with Him and pleasing Him more than anything else, and not just in the crisis?Thanks for listening in!

How Do you Balance God and Money-Advice From a Financial Advisor

There was a song in mid 1990s called “Mo Money Mo Problems”, and it resonates when I think about money. From childhood on, we are trained to run after money, even if not directly said, it can be inferred by way of our laser focus on our career. I associated money with security, and I did a horrible job, for decades, to understand my relationship to money. As we wrap up the prior weeks discussion regarding mind transformation and becoming the “new me” or better version of ourselves, it would be a huge oversight for me to not include my financial mismanagement. From low credit scores, to bankruptcy, and over 100K in student loan debt, in my lifetime I have successfully written the chapters to a book I like to call “What NOT to do with money.” When Christ has invited us to live an abundant life in Him (John 10:10), there is no area in our lives that should go untouched. This week my husband has joined in order to give his expertise, as a financial advisor, along with his own life baggage application as to why we must be vigilant to renew and align our minds with what God says should be our priority. Thank you so much for joining in to the podcast!

How to Combat Insecurities-Transforming My Life

Becoming the better version of ourselves comes with the prerequisite course named “Anchoring in Certainty.”God’s unchanging personhood is that foundation we can latch into for our stability within the constant changing circumstances of life. We can turn on the TV, visit the doctor, or receive a phone call to find out life altering information; nothing is certain. Furthermore, the fickleness of our relationships and interactions with others disqualifies this area as being our go to for security. When battling a bent such as insecurity, it can be an uphill fight to not struggle with constant doubt, comparison, self-hatred, and lack of perfection issues. As we continue to navigate arriving and thriving in the abundant life Christ has invited us to (John 10:10), we are talking through the transformation of our habits (Romans 12:2) specifically dealing with insecurities. Thank you for joining and listening in today! I appreciate you being on this page today! I pray this encourages and challenges you.

Taming Your Anxiety-A “New Me”

I believe that we all are diligently striving to develop into the better version of ourselves. The beginning of change can be initiated as long as you are ready to shed light and recognize that some areas in your life need tending to. It is rewarding and challenging to transition into a stronger “me”! I pray that you are ready to throw out your anchor in this mind transformation process, in order to latch onto the only certainty of your peace and success in this process. Christ is waiting for the opportunity to be tagged into your issues! Today, I am unveiling my bent of anxiety. Do you struggle with this as well? Let’s stop normalizing anxiety as a personality trait and take control of this! Let’s not let one more day pass that we allow our anxiety to rule our decisions, relationships and our lives. We are jumping from Isaiah to 2 Corinthians (and a few more in between) in our reading. Thanks for listening in!!

Embracing the “New Me” (Life Transformation): Forgiveness

Real quick, in 10 seconds, tell me one person that you have a difficult relationship with?Who pushes the buttons for you? Are you easily offended? Can you recall past relational pain that has severed your ability to maintain healthy relationships?In Romans 12:2, we are encouraged to embrace the sacrificial life that Christ has ahead of us, but only by first taking ahold of your thinking and establishing healthy habits centered around mind renewal processes. On this episode let's discuss empowerment in becoming our "new self" (Colossians 3), through renewing our mind and tearing down old habits that are not beneficial for this transformation. This week we are talking all things forgiveness. Can you identify any challenges involved when there are remnants of unforgiveness? I cannot imagine the pain that is very real in your story, and I do not believe that the process of forgiving and moving ahead is easy. Forgiveness is difficult, and even though it is NOT easy to abandon the need to build up emotional walls and withhold displaying love to others, Jesus adds a "but" on the playing field, which invites us to an emotional unleveling to be undertaken. I appreciate your listening and being here!

Align Your Thinking

I’m so glad you’re here!! Are you subscribed to weekly podcast? Have you ever, or do you regularly reassess your view of Christ? Who do you believe He is (Luke 9)? What we think about God aligns with our faithfulness to obey and stay the unique path that He has given us. We are discussing King Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 29-32) again from the vantage point of both his success and pride.Is Christ at the forefront of our lives or do our thoughts and values get in the way? Who ranks first: you or Him? This week we are dealing with the value of nestling ourselves under the loving guidance and protection of Christ. I hope you will stick around! Thanks for listening!!

How to Excel (In Him)-More Connection

Thanks for landing here! We are discussing the life of King Hezekiah; his running start and his success in a BIG way. What was his secret? Not only is it noted in 2 Chronicles 29 that he was a king in alignment with God, but that he was consumed with his life being deeply rooted into his "hub".   God, as the center of our lives, will align us and therefore He will empower us to have success in the purposes that He has planned for our lives. Success and prosperity were given to King Hezekiah, 2 Chronicles 31, however it was only after his life was fully engolfed into a life connected with God.   What do you envision for your life? How connected are you to God? The motivation of our connection is not a demandingness for worldly defined success. Our driving force is humility, and a surrendered heart should be the essence of our posture.I want more connection! I want to be all that God has created me to be!Thanks for listening.

How to Win in Marriage-Love and Submission

Thank you for landing here! I hope you will stay for this 2nd part of "And they Lived Happily NEVER after." We are discussing for another week the difficult topic of mastering love from a Biblical view. Love is the first listed Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5, and it can be very challenging, yet the Bible talks about how much hinges on us exhibiting this fruit in our daily lives.  Our marriages are no different from the importance of knowing how to flesh out love in a dynamic way.My husband joins me yet again and I am excited to have him be a part of the weighty topic of love + marriage + winning. Our win is defined in Ephesians 5:21, so join us for what it is that this says. No children to distract us, just the bothersome background noise of our fellow neighbor, a train, so let's jump right in!

And They Lived....Happily NEVER After (Part 1)

I am SO grateful that you have found your way here! Did you get married and say to yourself "Life is going to be better because of (insert your spouse's name)"? If you don't want to own the idea that, your life has arrived or get's better as a result of your boo, I will raise both my hands and take FULL credit for this false assumption for you! Almost 14 years later, we have swam through years of infidelity, anger, unforgiveness, and strife. Not to mention, we had to deal with combined failed expectations as a parent when both of our sons were diagnosed with Autism. My husband Eddie has joined me to discuss yet another fruit of the spirit, love which is so fitting post Valentine's Day. We are tackling this discussion about love from the perspective of what love even is, where does it fit into a marriage, and how do you navigate the growth of this Fruit of the Spirit when the one you love is not deserving.Join me for another discussion! Thank you for listening!

Girl, Have a Seat

Raise or wave your hand if you can relate to this; I do not like to wait. If you have mastered this art, then I am impressed, this remains an area that needs stretching and testing.  It's up for debate if the difficulty in waiting on God, or a career, change in relationship status, or even if in the back of the Chipotle line is hard because I am productive and feel as if I am wasting time, or if I can attribute it to the influence of the culture around me. Maybe it is a blended version of them both. Waiting is not easy, convenient and it is hard to surrender to the unknown of how it will all work out in the end. However, there is a solution to the pressing issue of patience, or lack there of, have a seat. The absence of moving does not suggest lack of productivity, but rather it reframes the your sitting as doing more, not less.  Join me for another discussion within the topic of The Fruits of the Spirit!