Day 2 – Good Morning, Gorgeous! (Speak Life)

//  She woke with a start, the sound of the alarm slicing through the silence like fingernails on chalkboard. How could it be morning ALREADY?

The restlessness of the past six hours showed in the dark circles under her eyes. Tossing, turning, and praying desperately for relief from her racing thoughts. Too much to think about, too much to do. The snoring coming from beside her was a cruel reminder that she wasn’t sleeping… again.

She desperately wanted to collapse on her pillow and let unconsciousness take over… but she couldn’t!

Sit up! Shake off the sleepiness. She had work to do, deadlines to meet, responsibilities to take care of. There’s no time for slumber today.

After dragging herself from under the warm blankets and stubbing her toe on the corner of the bed, she staggered into the bathroom. This exhausted woman who looked like she had just run a marathon and then been hit by a truck,

looked at herself in the mirror,

took a big breath

and said,

“Good morning, Gorgeous! You are totally gonna ROCK today!”  

Haha! Can you imagine that? What resolve she must have to speak GORGEOUS instead of BED-HEAD!   //

But my friends, isn’t that exactly what Prophecy is? Declaring what isn’t yet AS THOUGH IT IS!

As I’ve been diving into this whole topic of walking in UNFORCED RHYTHMS OF GRACE, I’ve realized some things…

• God has unlimited grace for me. He loves me even in my bed-head state.
• Unforced rhythms seem impossible only because I don’t have grace for myself.
• Stress and pressure often make me quick to criticize and slow to praise.
• I need to be nicer to myself.

Have you been there?

Skepticism is your Enemy

Skepticism and negativity are human nature—they’ve been around a LONG time.

Do you remember what happened when the twelve spies brought back a negative report to the children of Israel? The people became so discouraged.

“Where can we go? Our brothers have demoralized us with their report. They tell us, ‘The people of the land are taller and more powerful than we are, and their towns are large, with walls rising high into the sky! We even saw giants there…!’” (Deuteronomy 1:28 NLT)

God takes negativity VERY seriously! In fact, because the Israelites believed the negative report instead of His promises for them, they spent an additional forty years in the desert!

FORTY YEARS!

My friends, we don’t have forty years to waste being grumpy and negative. Negativity sucks away our hope and joy, and criticism makes us click into ‘performance’ mode. And we all know how exhausting that can be.

Perfectionism and Unforced Rhythms are diametrically opposed. They are enemies.

• Unforced Rhythms say, “Peace, my darling. You are beautiful in all your ways.”
• Perfectionism says, “You’ll never be enough.”

It starts with speaking LIFE!

You have a choice – Speak Life!

1. Speak Life to your Children

• Tell them what they’re doing right and how proud of them you are.
• Teach them what God says about them—how He loves them and has the best plans for them.
• Remind them of God’s goodness to your family—remind each other of past answers to prayer and past miracles.

“Tell your children about it in the years to come, and let your children tell their children. Pass the story down from generation to generation” (Joel 1:3 NLT).

2. Speak Life to Others

Don’t believe the tabloids—people WANT to hear good news! They are desperate for hope and purpose, and they want to hear what God thinks of them.

Do you remember when the Israelites were too scared to hear God for themselves? They sent Moses to the mountain and said,

 “Go yourself and listen to what the Lord our God says. Then come and tell us everything he tells you, and we will listen and obey” (Deuteronomy 5:27 NLT).

3. And finally… Speak Life to Yourself

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you may have noticed that I’ve recently given myself a new moniker…

“SUPERMOM OF THE INTERNATIONAL FAMILY!”

(Haha, it still makes me smile when I see it written down. How funny!)

At first, I was a little hesitant to use the title SuperMom out loud. What if someone thinks I’m arrogant, or full of myself? What if people think I’m PROUD?

[cue dramatic music]

Does calling myself a SuperMom mean that I’m perfect? NO, not at all. But no one needs another reason to be critical of themselves.

WHAT WE DO NEED IS A REASON TO SAY…

• Well done! You had a terrible day but you haven’t quit your family, and you’re NOT on a plane right now.
• Well done! You are exhausted and would love to be selfish right now, but you just cooked a kickin’ supper.
• Well done! You played taxi-driver for your kids all afternoon, and you kept a smile on your face.
• Well done! You just served someone with a great attitude.
• Well done! You are not a quitter.

Say it with me, “I am not a quitter!” Girl, that makes us Super!

And if putting a picture of Wonder Woman on my phone reminds me that I’m a Winner and not a loser, then so be it. 🙂

And at the very least, we all need to look ourselves in the mirror and say,

“Good morning, Gorgeous! You are totally gonna ROCK today!”

Good morning, Gorgeous! You are totally gonna ROCK today! Click To Tweet

I believe in you!

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Today is DAY 2 of the 31 Day Challenge, and I am using it to explore UNFORCED RHYTHMS OF GRACE—how to live an amazing life without burning out or losing my joy.

Am I perfect at this? Definitely not, but I’m on a mission to do it better. Thank you for joining me on this journey!

You know the drill… Five minutes of free writing, no editing, and then let the creativity flow. // marks the start and stop of the timer.

Today’s prompt word was TELL, and we are linking up with the writers over at Five Minute Friday and Crystal Stine’s Write 31 Days.

To read more 31 DAYS OF UNFORCED RHYTHMS, click here!