It's Our Anniversary!!!

One Year Down...A Lifetime To Go!

July 11, 2015 was one of the happiest days of our lives.  It was the day that the two of us became one. Fast forward 365 days and we are just as happy and in love as we were the day we said I do! We have had a great first year.  We've had our ups and our downs and we've had our trials but through them all we continue to keep our faith and trust in God and allow Him to see us through every situation.  I am so thankful to God for blessing me with such a great guy.  He loves and accepts me for me...flaws and all. He's patient and kind.  He's the hardest working man I know and he's a great provider. He encourages me to go after all of my dreams and he is my #1 supporter.  He's been such a blessing to my life and I couldn't imagine him not being apart of it. I have watched God do some amazing things in his life over the past year and I know that God has much more in store for him and us.  We have grown both as individuals and a couple over the past year.  With God, we will continue to grow.  We believe that the best is still yet to come and we are very excited about future.  I love doing life with this guy and I am looking forward to spending a couple of forever's with him. Happy Anniversary My Love! Forever your Mrs. 

...and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. Mark10:8

It's My Hubby's Birthday!!!

Wishing My Wonderful Husband A Very Happy Birthday!!! You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I pray that God blesses you with many more. I love you to the moon and back!!!

Attitude of Gratitude!

Oh, give thanks to the LORD! Call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples! 

1 Chronicles 16:8

Purpose Driven Women Magazine held a 30-day Gratitude Challenge, in which I chose to participate. In all honesty, I'm usually not good at completing challenges that have a number of days attached to it. Especially a large number like 30 lol. But I thought this was a really good challenge so I decided to really push myself to complete it. I am so happy to say that I did complete the challenge and I really enjoyed the experience!  

The challenge helped me to have a more positive mind set. I focused more on the positive side of things than the negative. When negative thoughts tried to come in I would cast them down and replace them with a positive thought and prayer. My husband and I had a couple of unexpected situations to come up that would originally cause me to really stress out but instead of stressing I went to God in prayer and thanked him for working out the situations even before they were worked out. Going to God helped me to not worry and to trust God with the outcome. I am happy to say that he worked each situation out. After each situation was worked out I would go before God again with praise and thanksgiving.

Having an attitude of gratitude really allows you to put life into perspective. No, things may not be perfect or exactly how you want them but if you focus on what you do have you will realize how blessed you really are. Things could always be a lot worse. I am so glad that I participated in the challenge because it really was a life changing experience. I am more grateful, my outlook is more positive and I am even more excited about the things God has in store for my family and I. My plan is to continue the gratitude challenge and make it a way of life. God has been so good me and I owe Him my praise. 

I encourage everyone to head on over to Purpose Driven Women Magazine (pdwmag.com) and accept the challenge! Dedicate the next 30 days to having an attitude of gratitude. You will not be disappointed!

With Gallons of Love,

J.G.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to the Best Father A Girl Could Ask For!

I am very grateful that my siblings and I had the opportunity to grow up with our father in home. It was a blessing to have a father who was not only there in the home but who was also a family man that participated in our rearing. My dad supported each of us in our activities growing up whether it was coaching a flag football team or being a chaperone at a girl scout camping trip. He was always right alongside my mother. He was also a very hardworking man, he worked two jobs to care for our family up until he was no longer able. Although he worked two jobs, that did not stop him from cooking and cleaning the house.  My dad was present in all areas of our family life. To this day, my dad is still very supportive of each of us and encourages us to be better and follow our dreams. My dad is an awesome role model for my brothers and an example to me and my sister of the type of man we should have. I am proud to say that I found a good one like my dad! I love my father dearly and I am thankful to have him in my life!

I also want to take a moment to wish a Happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband and father-in-law!

Happy Father's Day to ALL the Fathers!!

With Gallons of Love,

J.G. 

Spending Time with God

 

In the past, I would spend a lot of time trying to figure out the "proper" way to spend time with God. I would wonder if my quiet time with God lasted long enough, if I was reading the correct devotional for the day, if I was praying long enough, etc.  I wanted my quiet time with God to be just right. However, it became more of a burden because I was consumed with all these questions instead of just enjoying the time spent. Over the years, God has taught me that there is no specific formula to spending time with him.  There aren't any special guidelines you have to follow.  There is no specific length of time that's required.  It's more about the quality of time than the quantity of time. The key is to just be present in His presence.

Carve out time in your day for just you and God, away from any and all distractions.  Allow the Lord to lead you in what He wants you to do during your quiet time.  I ask God what He wants me to do and I do whatever I feel like I'm being led to do.  My quiet time now differs from day to day. I don't have a set amount of time and I don't have a step by step guide that I follow.  I just allow the time to be led by the Holy Spirit.  One day I may be led to listen to a sermon, the next day I may be led to put on some worship music and write a gratitude prayer, the day after that I may be led to blog, and the day after that I may be led to study a particular verse.  I've learned to just follow the Holy Spirit's leading and I get so much more out of my quiet time with God.

My advice to anyone who may struggle with their quiet time routine is to just be led by God.  God will meet you wherever you are.  He just wants time with you.  So don't get caught up on all of the specifics and particulars.  Just show up with an open heart and He will surely guide you.

With Gallons of Love,

J.G.

Happy Mother's Day!!

On this special day where we celebrate all the awesome mothers, I had to take a moment to wish My Favorite Girl a Very Happy Mother's Day!!!

I thank God for blessing me with such an amazing mother.  I don't know where I would be if it weren't for my mom.  She has done so much for me throughout my lifetime.  She is always there when I need her and I can count on her to be there through the thick and the thin.  She has always supported me and encouraged me to pursue my dreams. She has a big heart and is always willing to help anyone in any way she can.  What I admire most about my mom is her "go-getter" and "getter-done" attitude. My mom doesn't play when it comes to getting the job done.  She wears many hats and plays many roles in our lives and she is not afraid to tackle any task.  She is THE BEST mother I could have ever asked for and I thank God for her.  I pray that when the Lord blesses me with children, I will be half the mother/woman that my mother is.  I love her to the moon and back and I can't imagine my life without her.  I'll ALWAYS love my mama, she's my favorite girl...Happy Mother's Day Mom!!!  

I would also like to wish ALL of the other wonderful mother's out there a Happy Mother's Day!

Stand on the Promise!

A story in the bible that intrigues me is the story of Abraham and Sarah.  I'm pretty sure most people have heard or read their story.  In a nutshell, God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations and that his wife Sarah would give birth to a son despite the fact that Abraham and Sarah were advanced in years.  Eventually, Sarah did give birth to a son when she was about 90 years old and Abraham was about 100 years old.  I would suggest reading it if you haven't already, it's a good story with a couple of twists and turns.  You can find it in Genesis.

What was most intriguing to me about the story was not the fact they were able to have a baby despite their advanced ages.  I was mostly intrigued by the faith of Abraham.  Romans 4:19-20 states "without weakening in his faith, he (Abraham) faced the fact that his body was as good as dead-since he was about 100 years old and Sarah's womb was dead.  Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had the power to do what He had promised."

Abraham was an awesome man of faith.  He basically said that I know me and my wife are so old that we are close to the grave but I'm not gonna focus on that because God gave me a promise and there is nothing too hard for him.  So I'm gonna believe God and praise Him in advance for the promise that is on the way.  That is exactly what Abraham did and God saw him as righteous.  

It took MANY years for the promise to manifest, but Abraham did not waver in his faith.  He stood right there on his promise and he waited patiently for God to move.  He didn't consider his circumstances nor did he complain about how long it was taking.  He just stood on the promise and praised God.  Abraham was fully persuaded that God had the power to do what He promised to do. That means that he completely believed God.  There was not a doubt in his mind and he didn't struggle with unbelief.  I imagine it was like having tunnel vision.  He blocked out everything around him such as naysayers, doubt, worry and unbelief and he looked straight ahead focusing only on the promise of God.

Anybody out there want to be more like Abraham? I know I do.  I would like to get to a place where I stop wavering, stop doubting, stop being impatient, and stop allowing unbelief to steal the hope and joy of the promises that I know God has for me.  I want to get to a place where I can praise in spite of how long it's taking instead of complain.  God honors faith not complaints.

So, let's be more like Abraham.  Let's get rid of  the doubt, worry and unbelief and begin to praise God in advance for the promises that are coming our way.  Stand strong in faith on the promises that you know God has spoken to you.  I would even suggest writing them down and during those times when you're feeling like nothing is going right, pull out those promises, praise God for them and become strengthened in your faith. God is not slack concerning his promises. 

With Gallons of Love,

J.G.