Category Archives: Encouragement

July 7, 2020

Best Seasons

By Christina

img_7922

Fix your thoughts on what is TRUE & GOOD & RIGHT! Think about things that are lovely & dwell on the fine, good things in others.  Think about all you can praise God for and be glad about.  
Philippians 4:8 TLB

Seven/Seven! We have to enjoy the best season ever! Summer is here and so far such a great start. I pray that this season continues to allow us all to flourish into all that God has for us.  I truly cannot complain at all.  I would have to say for myself — I am in one of the best seasons of my life.  “One of the Best!” Because there were so many other challenging seasons that I was able to grow internally & externally.  

However — As I reflect and acknowledge the season that I am in now turning 45 on July 4th, I am grateful.  I am able to do things that I have wanted to accomplish before this pandemic.  Taking care of a lot of house items, organizing and online ministry.  The best for me, is my career.  

I love LOVE loveeeeeeeeeeee being able to work from home! It truly has been such a blessing for me in disguise. I would never have wished for this impromptu crisis to occur but for me it was a cross-over to a greater place for me to flourish in every aspect of my life. I am feeling great…working strategically and more effectively… able to get things done timely with having the opportunity to control my pace and have the quietness I need to get a lot of tasks done. I am more productive.

I invested a lot in this home work space environment.  Furniture — nice desk, office chair, seat pillow, tables, moved my PC and printers.  Organized desk items and brought in all basic supplies that would help me. I even found an old HP Color LaserJet –the good heavy duty kind that prints like a charm!  You don’t even realize what you have until you dig deep in the areas that are hidden right! 🙂 

I am meditating on good things –to keep focused and so I continue in a journey and path to flourish.  I work daily, document progress and plan strategically for all of my items.  I manage from day to day in a balanced method that works well for me.  Strategy is all of it!  From mentors and coaches that I have guiding me along the way -they share with me the insight that will help me to get my mindset focused!

This place that I am in now is an alternate universe to what I was used to.  It is time to pull out all the strengths as I manage the weakness that we can all find.  Tap into the treasure and manage the thorns. If I want to be significant in life — I have to maximize and capitalize on this season that I am in.  Move from being a transactional leader to a transformational leader.  Understand what relevance really is. Do the things behind the scenes and be more strategic. Enforce and Reinforce the things that bring empowerment to the lives of others.

I have experienced where situations, relationships or methods didn’t work well for me.  Lots of places of failure.  But I didn’t stay there.  That I know. There was always more for me.  The moments where I had to walk away was where I met an exceptional strength that I never knew existed.  🙂 Pivotal!

A teacher asked her top A student how he dealt with receiving a bad grade in a higher course that he had taken.  Here is what he said:

“I did feel bad — I did — but I didn’t dwell on it.  I knew it was done. I knew I had to focus on what to do next. So I went to my teacher and asked for help.  I basically tried to figure out, you know, what I did wrong. What I needed to do differently.”
Grit, By Angela Duckworth

So in this season that we are in –it can be wasted if we don’t learn how to do things differently and in a better way. As I pass from one season to the next, there are so many lessons enfolded.  I pull them out, reflect and keep going.  I keep growing. I keep learning. I keep trying to do things more strategically. I do talk to myself YES.  And I talk to my God and look for the guidance I truly need that helps me in the moment that I need it. NOW! 

Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
~Thomas Edison 

Growth & Comfort do not coexist!
~Virginia Rometty

 

3 Comments   |  tags: | posted in Emerging, Encouragement, Grit, Growth, Identity, Inspiration, Mindset, Transition

June 24, 2020

The Habit of Positive Thinking

By Christina

Happy Wednesday!!! We are so excited summer is here. We get to spend more creative and innovative ways to enjoy or family, friends & fatherhood. Here are a few things I would like to encourage you all with:

Stay focused. Stay faithful. Stay purposeful and lastly… stay positive. Positive thinking is a habit.

Habit is defined from dictionary.com as:

  • an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary;
  • customary practice or use;
  • a particular practice, custom or usage;
  • a dominant or regular disposition or tendency; prevailing character or quality;
  • addiction.

Leaning to the positive aspect –we want to create healthy additions.  Healthy habits to improve ourselves in areas so that we can succeed in life.  We can succeed at home, in our relationships, our businesses and even our workplaces.  This positive information I received today from one of my colleagues and I quickly asked if I can “borrow” some of this for my women’s encouragement.

He reminded us with a weekly Positivity Highlight —

circumstances

When building a habit, it helps to have a conducive environment, repetition/practice, and support from others. But starting any habit begins with a decision, a choice, a commitment to yourself.

Thankfully, we’ve helped each other develop our own positive-thinking habits right here! We may not express it out loud all the time, but we share positivity to support each other in several ways.

For us believers, it can be through our testimonies, scriptures, passages, quotes, appreciations, music, exercising and encouraging one another, studying together, sharing our successes and challenges, surprise birthday celebrations, time for holidays, special acknowledgements, listening to each other, and the list goes on.

What we practice becomes more permanent, so take every opportunity to practice gratitude, mindfulness, and positive thinking. It also helps us to create more deeper & meaningful relationships. Let’s honor and value the ones God gave us in every way.

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up,
just as in fact you are doing.”
1 Thessalonians 5:11

So let’s make this a new habit for ourselves.  Let’s throw around the positivity like confetti.  We are in a new season.

Happy summer! As we continue to fight & come out of this pandemic! We are making the most of a whole new way of being with our thinking and living wholeheartedly. Enjoy today and enjoy this start to better weather. We all need it. ❤

#StayPositive
#HealthyHabits
#CultivateHonor

With love,
Cruz-Mendez Chris

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , | posted in Encouragement, Family, Fellowship, Health, Inspiration

May 16, 2020

Outdoors

By Christina
Overflowing

Hope everyone is able to safely enjoy the outdoors in this fantastic weather we are having. Went walking today up the parkway and didn’t get very far. Fully covered, masked, sort of prepared except I didn’t have my walking sneakers and socks on. By the first mile I already felt the blisters boiling. 😞But I kept on.

We did three miles at least. I will definitely be more prepared for next time! I need to listen. Even with the blisters, gotta keep moving. That’s just the way it is when things don’t always work out in your favor you have to walk it out anyway!!

Heard today by Stella Wariso on “Finding Hope in Community” instead of saying “Why Me“ say “Try Me!” In the face of our adversary & in the face of adversity. Stand encouraged.

As we are to be as bold as ever approaching outdoors. We can walk again. We can run again. We can laugh again. We can love again. We can work again. And lastly… we can succeed again & again & again! Just keep walking toward the goal.

God is taking stuff out and putting stuff in us. So that when we are out there again, we may still get bruised and blistered but we will keep going and growing —stronger than ever before. This is a great season for us to flourish! Inside & outside! Indoors & outdoors. Internally & externally. Internationally & domestically.

Time to bring what we have stored indoors —> OUT!! It is beautiful outdoors! So much opportunity! Let’s get it!! Let’s go!! Let’s try it!!!

“but those who trust in the Lord
will renew their strength;
they will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary;
they will walk and not faint.”
Isaiah 40:31

1 Comment | posted in Celebration, Emerging, Encouragement, Faith, Health, Hope, Inspiration, Peace, Reset

April 10, 2020

Day “I Don’t Know” On Quarantine

By Christina

I think this is getting to everybody already. I have rearranged my “home office” again and made it more welcoming and work friendly for myself… what can I say. Sometimes we don’t always anticipate for these things to go this way but they do. And when they do, we try our best to do our best. It’s a fight to stay in the fight right?!

So far today it’s a better day –now Good Friday. I think it took me a couple weeks to just put this one blog together. I want to write, then stop, then move over to do something else. I have all these plans of what I want to do but then adjusting to work from home “requisite” status –another impromptu I got to make the most of this.

That said, I am coughing, uncomfortable, getting pimples and eating a whole lot. I tried workout remotely through Zoom this week and I think I blew out my legs and butt muscles! LOL I will see if I can do some walking later because I need to find a much better pace then these crazy radical moves here. I’m just somewhat of a mess is what I can say. On Zyrtec, Allegra D, Robitussin and more…. Lord HELP! Just HELP us all!

We are praying more as a church and I hope that will make things better for us. Praying for as many people impacted by this situation as they say we are now going to be hitting the apex of this crisis in the next couple days! Let’s all just hope for the best –and that this adversity catapult us into our next best season of healing and OFF of quarantine. I think we are ALL learning a lot here. We are all in this together until we get better. ❤

#stayhome #staysafe #stayconnected #stayengaged #keepthefaith #keepactive #keepgrowing #riseabove #risehigher

With Love,
Christina

Leave a comment   |  tags: | posted in Encouragement, Faith, Health, Inspiration, Prayer, Recovery, Reset, Transition, Trust