A song of peace is being sung over our family and it is such a breath of fresh air. And all it took was a whisper of hope.

Protection

Xander got a concussion from getting tripped at school and smacking his face on the ground. When he arrived home from school he had no memory of the day or the past week and was repeating phrases over and over like a broken record. It was scary! As Hunter and I rushed him to the ER we prayed constantly over him and spoke the word over his body. His little broken record statements made the tears roll for us be we rebuked everything coming against his little body and spoke LIFE over him. Praise God his scan showed no visual damage or bleeding. 

I had to wake him up every 4 hours throughout the night to double check he was okay and the night went smoothly. Today he has stopped repeating himself and his memory is starting to return. The doctor called and told us to keep him home for approx a week and to keep him from reading, playing video games, going to school or exerting much energy to let the brain totally heal. This is his 3rd concussion is a years time. I guess this is what being a mom of boys is like. So very thankful to be working from home so I can be with my little guy and keep a close eye on him. I am overwhelmingly thankful to God for His protection over Xander and his brain. I am grateful that God gave us the power to move mountains with our words and that no weapon formed against Xander was able to prosper. Our God supplies all our needs! We love you all and thank you for your prayers and support. Now we are off to snuggle and have a Gilmore Girls marathon

Are you still en route or are you content at your current destination?

Why is it when we become adults that most of us quit dreaming?  I'm not talking about in bed at night, I'm talking about goals and aspirations. Why is it that most of us past the age of 25 or 30 something feel that our potential is reached and now we just "settle down"? God never intended us to quit dreaming! In Philippians it talks about "forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead!  We were meant for so much more than our earthly minds tend to realize.


Some people have that natural drive to make all their dreams come true and to dream big, but many of us don't see past our insecurities to find our real potential. It's kind of crazy to think how many people have lived and died to never know their high calling.  I ache to know and fulfill my high calling.  Do I know what my high calling is at this time? No, but I have an idea of the direction I am supposed to be headed and so I've begun walking towards it. Do I know where it will take me? No, but God knows the very destination down to the very pin point on His map.  And His directions are a whole lot clearer than Siri...  All He's asking us to do is start walking.  Back to the scripture in Philippians, it says that we strain forward to what lies ahead.  It's not always just a simple walk in the park is it?  A lot of the amazing places that we have been led to in our lives have come after much struggle to get there.  Knowing what direction we were supposed to be walking at that time is what helped us to push through the woods, climb that mountain  or trudge through a dark valley to get to a smooth, comfortable path.  Our path still has rocks on it  that may trip us up and there is an occasional up hill trek but we are on the journey that was planned for us.

Now you may be sitting here thinking about all the wrong turns and mistakes you've made in life. Who hasn't made a wrong turn?  I know I've made plenty! When you're driving in your car and you make a wrong turn you either turn around or you find the nearest route to take you back on course, right?  What about the dead ends? Yes, there are roads that lead to death whether that be ultimate death or the death of your happiness and joy.  But have you ever been on a road that has a dead end that there weren't signs posted along the way that warned you to turn back? God has made the same type of warning signs in life! A map is a beautiful thing because there is nothing that can keep you from your course if you choose to take it. Just turn around!!  Ahhhh, that just gives me goose bumps to think that He made it so simple.

So the question that leaves us with is, how do we know which direction to go? Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In ALL your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths."
God has given us the Holy Spirit to lead and direct us where to go.  He is our compass.  If we be still and quiet and ask him to show us the direction, much like a compass he will point us where to go. So are you content with your current destination or are you going to get out your compass and see where your next adventure leads?

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Comparison Is The Thief of Joy

Galatians 6:4

 Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else.

As women we are all born (or at least most of us) with this little nagging voice in the back of our heads that tells us we have to "be like her" or compete with other women around us to be "the best". Maybe it's the way she dresses or does her hair, the salary she earns, the talent she has, the sexy body she's built or her cooking skills. Comparison is SO ugly!  When we compare ourselves to someone else the only person who suffers is us. If you spend you days wishing you were something other than you are, you've wasted time finding out how amazing God has called you to be! 

There's nothing wrong with aspiring to have similar characteristics of someone - for example I have a friend that refuses to ever say something negative about someone else.  When I first met her and a group of people at work would start gossiping about someone -she would always jump to that persons defense and at the very least say nothing at all.  This was a characteristic that I desired in my own life. I never want to take part in the war of words -  aka gossip. (Oh my that could be a whole new post.)  Again it's easy to get caught up in gossip but she was proof that it was possible to steer away from it and so I have done my best to follow her lead.  But when it gets to the point that your thinking of that person and comparing them to what you consider your own shortcomings, then you are letting it steal your joy. 

Let's let other people inspire us while keeping in mind that we were all made so differently and each with a different purpose. Look at yourself in the mirror of your heart and make a mental list of everything that you desire to be - then do those things! Practice makes perfect!  You can be or do anything you want to do as long as you are pulling from your natural God given talents.  Then and only then will you reach true satisfaction in your life and who you are as a woman.

All in all its just another brick in the wall

Relationships are like brick houses. I know, that's a really weird statement. But if you think about it we build our lives  with those around us by little events - brick by brick by brick. Each of your bricks are invisibly labeled. Some of the bricks you find in your walls are those  of trust, loyalty, honor, love, integrity, peace, joy... And the list could go on and on and on.  

Everybody has a foundation with each person they know. Some  are just single walls that are tiny and don't receive a lot of attention and other are great big structures that are built over years with close friends and a lifetime with family. As you positively interact with people these invisible brick walls start supporting your relationship - if you are adding good things than your structure gets tall and strong and can withstand the storms of life while your relationship is tucked safely away with the walls you built. But if you are responding critically and negatively than you start pulling those walls down brick by brick. 

In a good strong marriage - the way they are meant to be - those walls can be built so strong and so high that the greatest of forces cannot knock it down. They may cause damage but you are able to rebuild it. And yes it's a slow process because it is brick by brick, day by day.  There are some structures we choose not to rebuild because the damage is so great that you choose to relocate that structure. But EVERY structure (relationship) can be rebuilt if you are willing to pay the cost of repair.

In a child's life the parent is responsible for building the foundation of this structure. Each time your nurture and teach your child, he or she becomes that much stronger to withstand the storms of life. As a teenager or young adult your child may choose to chip away at those bricks but you pick up the mortar and start mending them back together bit by bit, while reminding them of the worth of that wall.

You can see why a neglected wall never becomes that sturdy structure. It hasn't had the time and energy that it takes to build it. You can't just expect because you are family or have been best friends with someone since your were 5 years old that you automatically have a strong structure with them. No, you have to build it and you have to protect it from the damage the elements of the world brings. If you don't do upkeep on your physical house, it will deteriorate. Why are relationships any different?

Everything we do is adding or taking away from the structure of our relationships.

So what I ask you to think about tonight is - what relationships do you need to add some more bricks to or repair the ones that are there? Are you spending so much time at work trying to build those structures that your children are lacking the foundation?  Are you pulling bricks down in your marriage or adding new ones each day? Are your seeing the worth of your own wall or tearing away at it with harsh self criticism?

We need to be master carpenters in our relationships and become experts in what builds up and tears each other down. 

Now go find someone around you and add a brick of joy to their lives even if its just with a simple smile or I love you. 

I EARNED THEM!

Today in our FEARLESS girls fit group I asked a question about imperfections- "What is your least favorite part of your body?" This question was brought on from chatting with a dear friend about her own insecurities... her stretch marks. She has worked very hard to get her body fit but these are one thing that she can't just whip into shape like the rest of her. She shared her insecurity with the world wide web today and I wanted to share mine with you. We are not striving for perfection in our fit fam. Perfection is ugly in my opinion because it's fake. There may be people that we see like fitness models, VS models etc that "look" perfect but most of them have imperfections that we cannot see because they are covered or airbrushed out. My hope is that you will embrace the body God has given you and strive for progress not perfection. I pray that you will enjoy your journey and not wait till you've met your goals to appreciate your body. YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL - IMPERFECTIONS AND ALL!

This is my insecurity and here it is for you all to see. I will NOT pretend to be perfect or fool you into believing I just woke up fit one day. NO! I have imperfections but I still choose to make the best out of this body. Every one of these dumb stretch marks bother me (I know Isaac is gonna be shocked I even am showing them because he knows I hate them) but I tell myself that I earned my tiger stripes! I also remind myself of the type of example I want to be to my daughter as well - she has an 8-10" incision down her belly from a life saving surgery. How superficial and vain would I be to let some dumb stretch marks bring me down when she is proud (or trying to be) of her battle wound? Beauty is SO much more than skin deep. I hope tonight you see past your imperfections. I hope you choose to be a FEARLESS girl and love your body even if it doesn't match the worlds standards.

Email me at jilliangallegos@me.com if you would like help getting fit with the support of an amazing team of FEARLESS ladies.  You will be encouraged, loved, accepted and inspired.