This morning I awoke to a blessed message, reminder of sorts, of God's unfailing love. I felt fully surrounded and surrendered to the magnificent healing flow as I embraced memories of past experiences.

One of those memories was in the mountains of Colorado, at a high elevation in the spring time. I had taken the drive by myself that day and spent it in full with God.

I stopped along the way up the mountain by an out of the way creek that was carrying the icy cold run off playfully down the ravines and canyons. I walked along paths abandoned since the past summer season and enjoyed every moment of the journey.

Toward the end of the afternoon, knowing I needed to return before everyone arrived home from school and work, I was at the a point in a seasonally well traveled road, that was a dead end for the moment. The signage stated it was closed for the season. I parked my car barely off the side of the roadway and walked a short distance to where my view was unencumbered by the trees. A spring/winter front was moving in over the highest peaks that soared even above the elevation I was at in the moment. I could not only see the storm's approach but could feel the winds carrying it over the top.

However, as I would have expected to feel the immediate chill in the air, it was absent in the moment. It truly felt as though the wind whistling down the mountain peaks was detoured and honestly, wrapping itself around me like a cloak. I had never experienced anything like it before nor again to this day.

As I stood in that moment, I felt as though I was looking into the untamed mountains, that reflected the magnificence and beauty of God's heart. The encircling winds that caught me up into a feeling of embraced love and shelter, as I have never felt before, was the Lord himself, holding me. The tears flowed as I stood in what I believe to this day was a physical embrace through the power of the Holy Spirit.

It may have only been seconds, but it felt much longer that I stood there, not chilled, fearful or unwavering. I wanted it to last, but I knew as did the Lord, I had to get on the road to make the drive back down the mountain to my home.

I share this today, as my morning and day were truly brightened by the remembrance. I want you to be reminded as well... God does truly love you, with his wholeness, from every element of his being! Have you accepted him as Lord of your life, repenting of sin and accepting the free gift of his salvation and forgiveness? If so, you are a new creation in Christ Jesus! He is with you and will never leave you nor forsake you. Remember, as you petition the Lord in prayer, to always seek forgiveness of your sins (known and unknown) ensuring you come to him in his perfected glory shining through you.

Again I remind you, God loves you and so do I!

Vision - an incredible gift that most of us take for granted until we begin to lose it.

But there is more than one type of vision. The vision to see things in the physical form is the most apparent. But we shouldn't underestimate the value of the vision of imagination and creativity.

This is what we can see in our mind, the hopes and dreams we carry with us, sometimes so grand we are embarrassed to even share them out loud after childhood.

The various forms of vision can and do work very well when blended together and that is today's tip!

You have probably heard of picture/dream boards or people who tape pictures of their dream home, boat, vacation etc. on their bathroom mirrors to physically see it every day, several times a day.

Consider, if you get up every day and go through a repetitive routine, lacking motivation, desire and as I've heard many times over, even dreading what you have to do every day; you can't expect your creativity, imagination and dreams to be able to grow or even sustain in such an environment.

Visual tools are empowering and enable the gifts of our minds to focus and create realities from what we feed it, so to speak.

Therefore, feed your mind and grow your imagination with beauty and lovely things for peace and inspiration.

Feed it spiritually with the word of God and love.

Feed it academically with what it has a passion for.

Surround yourself with visual stimulation to begin to SEE the possibilities of your future and then begin to realize your potential as these visual aids become reality.

As you begin today or even this week, think of it as writing a great novel or at least the next chapter of a great story.

After all, your life is a great story being discovered one breath and one moment at a time! You are unique! Remember, there is no one else exactly like you.

But if you are struggling with this step in your personal journey, here is something to keep in mind. All great stories have both positive and negative emotional curves throughout.

If it were not for the low points in a story, the highs would appear empty.

So, if you are challenged with something difficult today, consider how it is shaping your future. Admittedly, when we are in the midst of life's complicated moments, we often can't see anything positive resulting from the circumstances.

Yet, this can't be further from the truth! Therefore, attempt to find the learning curve in each moment. And in these difficult times, remember "This too shall pass..." And the sun will shine again.

Struggling with procrastination and feeling stuck is a common theme for most of us!
Here are a few tips to help you start heading in a renewed direction!
1.) Set short term and long term goals.
2.) Write them down for accountability.
3.) Have someone help out with accountability.
4.) Be sure you mark off goals when completed.
5.) For every goal, set an incentive reward for yourself.
6.) DO NOT reward yourself before your goal is met.
7.) Once the goal is realized, get the reward asap!