In Order To Be Successful You Have To Be Reliable

So many times we dream about things we could do or be, only to give in too easily to despair and hardships on our journey. If we really want to succeed, we need to remain reliable to our dreams and ourselves through the good times and bad. Setbacks happen to everyone making success seem like smoke on the horizon...something we think we see but we're unsure of how to go about achieving it. Or we know how to achieve it and stumbling blocks shorten and delay our stamina. To succeed, we must keep our dreams just ahead of us and continue to strive, to be reliable!

In order to be successful you have to be reliable by Diamante Lavendar

We hear overnight success stories and they do happen from time to time.  More often though, we have to work tediously and slave for our dreams to become a reality.  I am reminded of the saying "nothing in this world worth having comes easy."  The seemingly overnight success stories often are built on a platform of hard work behind the scenes.  Even the singer who wins the reality show has spent years perfecting his/her voice.  Overnight success is rare.  Very rare.

Never give up.  Unreliability and irresponsibility will kill a dream every time.  Believe in yourself and know you can achieve whatever you believe you can.  Then, if you persevere, chances are you will succeed...if you don't give up.

And never be afraid to lend someone else a helping hand.  You never know when the favor will come full circle to bless you in the end!

Brokenness

There is nothing worse than the feeling of a dry, barren soul. A spirit that is broken. Bare and lonely, empty and despised.

When we feel that nothing can help us, that life will never get better, that is when we need refreshing. Many of us feel that we need a vacation, and maybe we do. But a vacation will never permanently rejuvenate us. We feel like a desert; dry and barren. Like a land that needs rain to seep into our pores for weeks on end. But there is no rain.

Nature can refresh. So can loved ones. But the biggest refresher is God. Only He can fill the dry, empty cracks inside of us. We can seek to find relief anywhere else and it will never fully recharge us.

The Tears Of The Broken by Diamante Lavendar

So the question is: where can we find God? The answer: in your heart. He's not in a building. He's not in any specific place. He's everywhere around....in the trees, in the breeze, on the face of the person who smiles at you at the grocery store. He's in the helpfulness of the man who holds the door open for you and in the woman who tells you she loves your hair. He's everywhere. His essence can't be held by any specific thing for He's omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. That's the beauty of God. He's everywhere all the time. He even sings to you through music. He tells you He loves you when you feel the peacefulness of an ocean roaring. He fills your heart as you listen to birds chirping happily in the trees. And when you read His word, the Bible, you find out just who He is and what he stands for.

As in any relationship, you must know Him. Just as you build a relationship with your spouse, your children, your friends, you must also build a relationship with Him. The difference is, your relationship with Him will rejuvenate you throughout your entire life. It won't wax or wane unless you allow it to. It is completely up to you as to how well you get to know Him. And then He will fill your brokenness, your dry places like nothing else and no one else can. When you get to a point in life where nothing can satisfy you, that's when you will realize the beauty of God. For He can satisfy anyone. Anytime.

I spent many years broken beyond the point of repair. It was extremely difficult. It was excruciating. I didn't realize He could fill my broken pieces like glue. How I wish I would've understood so much sooner what He had to offer. I would've been able to mend so much more quickly. But, as roses have thorns, we have our problems. And sometimes those problems are necessary in making us change for the better. It's painful. That's why I'm sharing this with you. So you know there is a solution.

Focus on Him. He is the way, the truth and the life. He is the solution. For everything. We just need to trust Him to light the way.  For only He knows how to enlighten our understanding in just the right way to make us take notice.  Only He can fill in the cracks of our desperation and need.  And only He can give us peace to make our despair disappear.  He is the ultimate answer.

God Gives Us Heart Warmers

When I say "heart warmer", I am thinking of those people who God puts in our lives to make us happy, to make us believe in ourselves more and to give us a heart glow like nobody else can.

It's not every day that we receive a heart warmer. Usually it is a rare occurrence. A sibling, a parent, a child, a grandchild. Someone that makes our heart beat with more purpose. Someone that makes us laugh without trying. Someone that brings tears of joy to our eyes without even knowing. Those people are precious....and they are rare.

Heart Picture for Blog

When you receive a heart warmer, embrace them. They are a gift...a true gift from our loving Father. He knows we need people here whose hugs are monumental and whose kisses are sweeter than chocolate to our souls. Those are the people who God indwells in order to physically meet our needs of love.

I was always told that if we have made at least five good friends in our lifetimes, we have been blessed. And they don't all necessarily stay through the course of our lives. Some are only around for a few years. Some last longer. But those who are heart warmers live inside of us all of the days we fulfill on this earth. They are cherished. They are precious.

Some of my heart warmers were loved ones who passed away.  They changed me in profound ways and still linger with me through each day that I spend here on earth without them. Luckily I have more heart warmers that are with me, living on this earth, their hearts beating in unison with mine. They are my children. And my grandchild. The most precious things God has ever given me.

Some of my heart warmers have only been with me a short while.  But still they live inside of me.  I have experienced authors who have been heart warmers.  Their words have etched marks upon my soul.  I am grateful for them.  I am also grateful for the friends I have met over the years...all heart warmers of one degree or another.  That's the wonderful thing about heart warmers.  They all change us in some way for the better.  We don't even have to know them personally, or for very long.  We only have to internalize their words, their emotion, their caring, their love.

I consider myself fortunate for all the heart warmers I have known. Through the years I have been blessed. And I wish to be a heart warmer for others. Those who feel the words that I write in their souls and spirits; those who can empathize with what I express. I challenge you to take notice of your heart warmers. God, in His wisdom, knows exactly the kind of hugs, kisses and encouragement we need to keep our hearts beating with His love. He loves us. Our heart warmers love us. We love each other. And that's what it's all about at the end of the day. Love. And truly loving. And being grateful....for love.... and for our heart warmers, His gift to us.