1.) Create a Money Management System

I've seen so many posts and heard people talk about how they have to cut people off to protect their peace. In their eyes their way of protecting their peace is shielding themselves from all negativity and people who they judge are toxic. When you think about it, that doesn't sound bad, who doesn't want an easy-going life free from drama. But to what extent are you "protecting your peace" and becoming toxic in your own way? Sometimes we have the mindset of viewing others in a negative light but viewing ourselves as morally superior therefore, wanting nothing to do with other people. We'd rather cut ties than seek true peace with others. True peace involves accepting hat we can't change others to our liking. We can give advice, we can listen, we can teach and be the example, but change starts when the other person begins. So, getting rid of the expectation that we have for others can help or at least realizing that people are capable of failing our expectations. Doing this can help you personally from getting hurt. As a Christian, having your hope in Christ can help because we're able to pray and leave our burdens with the Lord. I used to think that was easier said than done but overtime it became easier because the alternative is stressing yourself out. We have the opportunity to pray for those in our lives and pray for ourselves. I know some people may not be Christian, but I know no other way to have peace but through Christ because he is our example to follow. Through Him, I personally was able to have more confidence, discernment, strength, and guidance. We can overcome many internal and external challenges in Christ. Knowing that pain in this life is temporary, because we put our hope in Him and that our eternal dwelling place is with Him, helps. All of that to say that I do not agree with the trend of protecting your peace. There is a right way to go about it, and I do recognize that there are situations where you would have no contact with people.

Sometimes or a lot of times there may be situations where you don't prefer to be around certain people. Maybe it's at work, school, family, or even church family. I can admit that I have experienced all of these, but we have to ask ourselves why this occurs. What draws you away? Is it their personality? Did they hurt you? We have to figure out exactly what it is so that we can overcome it. Some people may not want to overcome it. They may think that they know who they want to be around or talk to, and they'll just avoid the ones they don't particularly like. But what if you're a Christian and you follow Christ? Now the game has changed. Because a Christian with a non-Christian attitude doesn't make sense. Shouldn't you want to have peace with others as best as you can? I mean scripture does talk about that. Besides, in my experience, it's more stress on you physically, mentally, and spiritually to harbor bad feelings toward someone. I know it doesn't come without difficulty, but we have to learn to let things go if we hope to make it to a better place after this life. What truly can help in situations that are lacking peace is prayer. Whenever we have a bad feeling, or we are feeling pain, we have to go to God about it and leave it with Him. That's not to say that the problem will go away immediately because of course things take time, but it is a good time to draw closer to Him.

1. Expect Diversity

I watched a video on YouTube titled "Why do the British Look Down on Americans?" and in the video you hear many stereotypes for both sides. I knew about how Americans view British people but not how British people view Americans and from a world standpoint, I will say that in the U.S. we do have many liberties that other countries may not and on the other hand we may do some things that don't make sense to other folks...But it's all up for debate. 

For many people exercising can be a dreadful topic, especially if you haven't implemented it into your lifestyle. I'll be the one to admit that I am no athlete. I mean I played lacrosse and soccer, but I haven't kept up the activity outside of high school. Now I'm in my mid-twenties and I realize that I simply have to work out and keep busy, which can be a challenge because my comfort zone is resting on the couch. I've gone through on and off periods of working out throughout my life but recently I decided that I have to keep up with it. The reason for that is because I reached a certain weight and when you reach a certain weight and you're inactive, the harder you have to work to lose it.

The word "loser" stuck out to me today because for my ladies' class on Sundays, we each are assigned a letter and words to go along with the letter. For the study we have to apply that word to the bible and teach the class. I noticed that I had the letter "L" and one of the words that I had was "loser". That stuck out to me because I remember two people talking around me about how as a Christian you are a loser, or you might be viewed as a loser. I know that might be stunning for many to hear or read but when you think about it, it's true. As a Christian you might not have a fancy degree or be a professional at something but at least you have God. I know a lot of Christians who didn't go to school or didn't end up getting a degree. I remember being in school at the time when I converted over and feeling really awful. I had to work while being in school and thinking about how I had to get my degree in order to be secure both financially and emotionally. I was thinking how there wasn't anyone in my immediately family who had a college degree and I definitely wanted to make my mom proud. There was even an instance where someone I know (who isn't a Christian) shamed me because I wanted to get a particular job in college to support myself. I didn't realize at the time that she was putting her insecurities on me. If I had the confidence I have now, I would have done that job and not given attention to what she thought.

Learning a new language can take time and commitment but it can also be fun. Personally, I'm learning Spanish and Hebrew. Spanish because that's what I learned in high school, and I always wanted to finish it because it was easy, being that the alphabet is similar to English, and it is the second language in the United States. Now, I am trying to learn Hebrew as well because I have been studying scripture and thought it would be cool to one day read Hebrew. I don't know if I will be fluent in either one, but I do now if I can learn one of them, I would feel accomplished.

This has to be one of my favorite things to talk about in this blog because it's something I've been working on for a long time. I have shoulder length hair at the moment, but my hair did go down my back until I used coconut products in my hair that broke it off. However, I do want to share some tips that helped me throughout the years to gain length and keep healthy. By the way, I do have what you might call 4c hair, but I don't go by those labels and my hair is low porosity. 

First off I know this may seem like an odd title, but I made this the title because this is what we're going through at the moment. Someone we know, called my husband and I and asked us to take care of two children because their single mom is having a difficult time. They also stated that they couldn't think of anyone to ask in the moment. I want to share some things that came to our minds so far.

I'm not new to writing if you consider writing for school. Definitely new to free writing. I'm not used to sharing my thoughts very much amd sometimes it's weird to read it for myself. Since I do stay at home now, I thought this would be a good hobby. Sometimes I don't know what would be best to talk about starting out but I'll try my nest to keep this up-to-date. Also, since I'm staying home now, I do have the opportunity to read my Bible more which is a blessing. This is a great opportunity to draw me closer to God and his word, so some of my topics may be scripture related