Category: destiny

destiny, finding God, gifts and talents, God, journey, Life Coach, life worth living, mission, purpose, the butterfly journey, women

I Want to Die Empty

livingwholecoaching

I admire those famous people in history that used their entire life serving people and making the world a better place. Those that we had the opportunity of knowing because their lives were showcased to the world. Some that come to mind are Martin Luther King Jr. and Mother Theresa and there are countless more, many more.

But there are ones who we didn’t get an opportunity to know through history or Are you living your life fully on purpose,mainstream media. Those that weren’t written about in books. Those ordinary people like you and me, just living out their purposes, using their God-given gifts, talents and life experiences to serve others and making their communities something better than what it was before them.

I always knew that I was born for something. I just couldn’t believe for a minute that God would create me just to exist. It took me almost a lifetime to figure out what it was, but here I am today striving to live my life until I am empty. No not empty in the way you may be thinking, but empty of everything that God gave me and created me for to complete while here on this earth. I wish that I could have had someone to come along side of me to help m figure it all out before now. But God always had a plan. (Jeremiah 29:11)

When I first saw the words “die empty” it confused me; as I asked myself, “Why would anyone want to die empty?” But see God has given me a mind that is able to look at things from a whole different perspective.

To die empty to me means to use all that God has blessed me with and all that He created me to be to serve people in a unique way. It means to be passionate about using my gifts, talents, skills and every life experience (good and bad) to help someone else. It not only means to make the world a better place, but ultimately it means to build up God’s kingdom for His glory!

The discovery of my purpose came during one of my life’s storms. Yep, I discovered my purpose through my pain. It wasn’t very clear at first, but the revelation came after the storm, during my healing process. I went through a lot during that time and even though it was a painful experience, I am glad that God allowed something beautiful to come out of it. (Romans 8:28)

For me to find my purpose, my reason for being here was the most wonderful thing to happen to me! It gives me a specific reason for living, it gives me direction and it gives me peace!

The more I seek God, study His word and follow His guidance, the more I learn about life, my life that is connected in Him! I know for sure that I am here to help people “die empty” and most importantly to know God, for He is who we live and die for!

Love Lisa

The Butterfly Journey

http://www.thebutterflyjourney.com

change, destiny, Faith, God, journey, prayer, purpose

Enjoy the Journey

livingwholecoaching

This week has been a whirlwind of excitement!  I met with my editor for the book (The Butterfly’s Journey) and she said the book is awesome!  I started to cry because I never dreamed of writing a book, but when God put it in my spirit to share my testimony in a book I felt unworthy to do so.

I am no Toni Morrison to say the least, but I really want to produce a product that is life-changing for women all over the world.  But as I began to think about the task at hand each week and each month that went by, I started to convince myself that it wouldn’t work.  I couldn’t do it.

The rollercoaster of emotions that I felt along the way were hard to handle.  Almost everyday I had to ask God to give me direction and clarity.  I began learning to walk in faith last year (for real this time) and it has been one of the hardest things that I have taken on in my life!  It seemed as if one thing would be working out and then something different would come along to squash my confidence and joy.

But I am learning each day to trust in Almighty God for every aspect of my life and it has been an amazing journey thus far.  I decided this year I would start a journal of my experiences with learning to walk by faith and not by sight with the Lord.  (just a little secret. . .this will be the base of my second book)!

As I challenge myself to live the best life that I can live; I want to also challenge you to do the same.  Tackling this project is not for the weary at heart.  It is going to require a lot of dedication, commitment, and praying in order to make it through.  I know that if we keep God first and focus on Him we shall be victorious.

My prayer for you and I is to keep our faith strong and never allow the doubts and fears of life stop us from accomplishing the greatest things that God has for us to do.  I pray that whatever comes to slow us down from making the necessary positive changes for a better life, will dissolve before our eyes as we lift up prayers to God.  I pray that every day brings us closer to working in our purpose and walking delightfully into our destiny.

Always take the opportunity to learn life lesson from your every day experiences and enjoy the journey!

The Butterfly Journey ~ Lisa

 

be all you can be, destiny, God, New, spring cleaning

Spring Cleaning

livingwholecoaching

It’s time to do some spring cleaning!  I love spring, the time when everything comes to life again.  The trees start budding, the flowers begin to pop up from under the ground, and we get more sunshine as the last few weeks of winter start to fade away.

Every year I would take a week off of work just to stay home and organize, purge junk and clean everything from the floor to the kitchen cabinets.  It was wonderful therapy for me to get rid of stuff and get everything fresh and new!

Well this year I am spring cleaning my life!  I am taking inventory of the habits (good & bad), my relationships, my career,  my health (emotional & physical), and my finances so I can make changes for a better self.  Yeah I know it is easier to just clean the refrigerator out or donate a bag of clothes to the Salvation Army, but self-cleaning is necessary.  I want to live the best life that I can live and if I have stuff that is not doing me any good to reach that “best life”; guess what. . .it has to go!

I am always praying and asking God for divine wisdom and guidance for my life as I desire to be everything that He ordained me to be.  Sometimes the changes are hard, but I realize in the end the reward is greater.

I am going to start a journal of my experience as I blossom into the person that God wants me to be.  Perhaps this will be the making of my second book!

I think that it’s necessary to evaluate the present state of your life in order to reach your full potential.  Asking God the whys of your life and listening for clarity are lessons well learned.  He will give you everything you need to push past hurt, pain, and unforgiveness and give you the desire to walk in your destiny!

This spring will be the best start for my new life!  I pray that you will do the same.  Happy spring cleaning!

The Butterfly Journey ~ Lisa

depression, destiny, God, prayer, purpose

It’s Not About Me

livingwholecoaching

My challenge this year was to post new blogs everyday of the week.  Unfortunately, life comes at you and changes things.  More important things have arisen to take my attention.

As I begin to understand the full spectrum of this ministry that the Lord has me involved in, it is not going to be easy.  I didn’t believe that it would be, but I know that God is with me every step of the way.  And so I push on.

This ministry – The Butterfly Journey; is not about becoming famous and living in the lime light of TV or books or anything else.  It is about helping women become healed from the hurts of life and move into a new place of purpose in God.  It is about interceding in prayer for the women that come to me with their hearts broken and their fears magnified.  I want the women that come to this ministry to be drawn by the love of God that is in me.  I pray that my spirit will always be in line with what God wants, not my own agenda.  It has nothing to do with me really.

My prayer is that every woman who comes in contact with me and this ministry  will receive the restoration that they need to move into their purpose and walk out their destiny with God.  My compassion for them is so deep that I understand that I will have some sleepless nights.  I understand the role that God wants me to play for them, the message that He wants me to share with them.  The prayers that I will need to pray over them and for them.  It won’t be about nice clothes and pretty faces, it will be about the condition of their heart that God (and I) are concerned with.

I had to write this out today because it is a reminder to me of how important each woman who I come in contact with is, especially to God.  I can’t take one moment for granted.  I can’t get caught up in the hype that is all around me.  I can’t look at success in numbers, but in transformation of souls.  I took on this mission because God asked me to share all that He has done for me.  When I was in my place of darkness and depression, He saved me for His purpose and this my friend is an honor for me!

The Butterfly Journey ~ Lisa

 

 

 

 

book, Denise Hall Brown, destiny, dream bigger, Faith, God

Dream Bigger!

livingwholecoaching

What does faith have to do with dreaming bigger?  Everything, we can only dream as big as our imagination can take us.  Beyond that point we have nothing. We can strain and squeeze our brains all we want and we are never going to be able to imagine more that it can contain.  But with faith you see anything is possible.  God is able to do above and beyond our wildest, most creative dreams.

My good friend decided to step off the cliff into a “faith walk” that God had prepared for her.  I was so scared and happy for her all at the same time.  I envied her tenacity to make such a bold move with her life.  I wanted to do the same thing, but I didn’t have the nerve that it took to even get to the edge of the cliff.   But my friend Denise said the urge to step into her destiny was so strong she felt she had no other choice.  So she took a quantum leap with God and the results have been more than miraculous.

You see, my friend, Denise Hall Brown, has suffered a tremendous amount of lost and tragedy since the time that I met her.  Years before I even knew who she was or her story, she had lost her mother to a tragic accident with a drunk driver.  Her mother was her world and at her tender age, it was a devastating event that would rock her world.

Years later, when I did have the opportunity to know Denise very well,  is when she suffered the untimely loss of her 6 month old baby boy,  Isaiah.  I remember that day just like it was yesterday and I don’t think I will ever forget it.  My heart broke in a thousands pieces for her and her family and I feel like a part of me will never be the same.

Yet in still she rose to the top and she survived and she began a deep walk with the Lord.  She opened her heart to Him in such a humble way that it amazed me to see her grow so fast in her spiritual journey after all that she had endured.

Then again tragedy struck when one winter season not very long ago, she lost her husband.  I began to wonder too what was God doing in the midst of this sisters life.  How could she take anymore upon her soul?  But she continued to grow in her walk and she grieved and grieved.  She was down but she wasn’t out.  You have to read her full story in her book: 2Grieve 2Gether for the rest of her journey.   More about Denise’s story and how to purchase her book:  www.2grieve2gether.org or www.amazon.com

Today, she is not only surviving, she is thriving!  If you ask her I am sure she would tell you that she never would have dreamed that she would be in the place that she is today.  Her story/book has just been nominated for: Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author with the 43rd NAACP Image Awards! (www.naacpimageawards.net)  She wrote that book to help other survivors and supporters get successfully through the grieving process.  She understood her purpose and destiny and she humbled herself to give to others.  In the midst of that God has shown her favor.  And because her mind could only image so much, God took over and helped her to – Dream Bigger!

The Butterfly Journey – Lisa

 

all or nothing, change, destiny, Faith, God, mission, women's conference

Its All or Nothing

livingwholecoaching

When God gave me another chance to change my life to something extraordinary, I took the challenge.  I am all in.  I never knew that some days would be so challenging that I would want to turn back.  As I was reading the Bible the other night about the story of Abraham, I started to think do I have what it takes to please God no matter what?

A few months ago God woke me up to give me specific details of the things that He expected of me to accomplish through Him.  While it was very exciting to be chosen and spoken directly to by God, as the words unfolded on the paper, my mind began to think “I can’t do this”.  And no I can’t, not in my own might or strength or wisdom, but God said to trust Him.  So I am.

As I immediately began to set out on total faith to begin the plans of what the Lord wanted me to do, He opened doors for me that I can’t even begin to explain.  One of the major things God asked me to do was hold a conference for women to introduce the ministry that He asked me to coordinate – The Butterfly Journey Ministry.  But wait not only shall I host a conference, but it was to be in Seattle, WA (somewhere I have never been) for 1000 women.  I decided not to tell anyone but a few close spiritual friends that would be praying for me and coming along side me to help me see this mission through.  My bank account doesn’t show any signs of opening up with huge amount of seed money to pull this off, so by faith we shall do this.

I connected with an event planner in the Seattle area who has been a true God-send.  I told her up front that this was being planned on faith alone and she never thought I was crazy or anything.  As a matter of fact she embraced the idea and said even if I didn’t use their services to get this event together that she personally wanted to attend because she was so drawn with my testimony.  A few days past as she went to consult with her boss about taking on my event and came back to me to say that her and her boss would be not only helping me to plan this event, but they would be praying on that end of the country for the success of the event.  They have taken hold of the vision for the ministry that God has given to me!  Wow, I am way past amazed!

Needless to say that they have found a wonderful venue to hold the conference and the facility personnel is all in to help me make this vision come to life.  Now I need the women, I don’t know where they will come from but I know that they will come if God ordained this conference.  He wants to give them something that they need, that they seek, He wants to change their lives forever!

Because the outcome is going to so great and far beyond anything I can imagine, I can’t turn back.  I have to fulfill the promise that I made to God that I would lead this ministry for the women of this world.  I want to be the catalyst that will help women heal, find their purpose and move into their destiny.  The mission is more important than anything that I have done in my life and I don’t take it lightly.  It’s all or nothing.

Can you help me find the women that God wants to move in their lives, to change from the inside out, to fill that void that nothing else can fill but Him?  I need your help on this one, to stand in agreement with me that we can do this and lives will be changed and God will get the glory!

It’s all or nothing!

The Butterfly Journey – Lisa

 

depression, destiny, dreams, purpose, seeking God

Where Are You?

livingwholecoaching

One of my favorite phrases was; “I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.”  And I used that phrase up until a few years ago!  I have been grown for quite some time, but I never really knew what it was I was supposed to do, or that I was good at.  I used to envy those who said they have known since they were kids that they wanted to be a certain profession or accomplish a certain thing in their life.

I figured out that if I had stopped and reflected on my life and my experiences I may have understood what my role in life was far before now.  However, I was too busy doing life, working, taking care of my family, and just being.  I had dreams and aspirations, but I still didn’t know exactly what they were.  But I knew it was more than what I was experiencing.

I had to find out where I was in order to understand where I was going.  And God helped me with that, but it was after a terrible, long, bout with depression that He showed me my purpose.  Seems ironic I know, but until I knew where I was or had been and understood all the experiences that I had suffered I couldn’t grasp the purpose that God had for my life.

The first thing that God had to show me was me.  Like the caterpillar’s journey to becoming a butterfly, my life had to be broken down (literally it was during the depression) just like when the caterpillar goes into the cocoon.  When the caterpillar goes into the cocoon (chrysalis), its safe place, it is broken down and liquified and it begins its change.  There in the midst of the depression I began my change.  The caterpillar knows their purpose and destiny is to become a butterfly.  But for me I didn’t know what my life would become after that.  I didn’t even know if I would make it out of that stage of my change.  But you know what, I only could depend on God that He would see me through and that my friends was my life-changing lesson.  God was the only one that I could depend on from that point forward.

So you see, knowing where you are right now is very important to your process of transforming.  This is your opportunity to seek God for what it is that He has for your life and start living an extraordinary life with purpose!  I wouldn’t have chosen the path of depression as my lesson to find out my purpose and my worth, but today I wouldn’t change my experience for the world.  It was there that I learned to cling to God and our relationship has become one I would never want to lose.

Where are you today, do you know?

The Butterfly Journey – Lisa

 

 

2012, destiny, Faith, New Year, purpose

2012: Accountability

livingwholecoaching

Yesterday I spent some quality time with my best friend, my mom!  She is so full of wisdom and love for me and others.  I adore her.

As we were taking our adventure trip to her  doctor’s appointment, she gives me some ideas to becoming financially savvy.  She then goes on and says that she will be keeping me accountable and that she will be my accountability partner.  I started to laugh because I didn’t ask for an accountability partner, but am thankful that she has decided to take the position anyway.  You got to love mothers for giving you what you need, not necessarily what you ask for.

So as the New Year unfolds I see a common theme that God wants me to incorporate into my plans; accountability.  Without even planning for this I now have a prayer partner, a bible-study partner, a ministry development partner, an organizational partner, business development accountability partners, and a financial accountability partner!  God is grand!  He knows what I need and He made it all fall into place.

Having someone or others to come along side of you to help you stay on the course that you desire to see for your life is priceless.  I have always had a problem with staying on tasks and this year I vowed that I would be FAITHFUL and walk by FAITH, then God decided I needed one more level and that is ACCOUNTABILITY.

If you need someone to push you into your purpose and help you figure out your destiny, consider joining and participating with The Butterfly Journey ministry.  What is it that you want to accomplish in 2012?  We are here for you!

The Butterfly Journey – Lisa

 

change, destiny, Faith, God, grace, life, prayer, preparing for transformation, seeking God

Preparing for Transformation

livingwholecoaching

Before we can begin to start our “butterfly journey”, we must first prepare for transformation.  How do you do that, you ask?  It’s not easy!

First we need to change our mindset towards ourselves and recognize that we can’t do this alone.  That there is more to life than just living the way we have been.  We need God to help us through and we need each other to encourage one another along the way.  We have to build trust in God’s process.  Most importantly we need to desire the change.  We have to get tired of being tired of the way that things are with our lives.

Our desire to seek our “true” destiny has to be stronger than turning back or remaining in a life that is dead and unfruitful.  We need to acknowledge that we don’t have all the answers to life and we need God to help us.  We need to begin the purging process and that takes a lot of courage.

You will need to dig deep into yourself to identify the places in your life that need to be understood and then buried.  Asking, praying, and seeking God for those answers is our key to moving beyond our past and starting anew.  I literally had to relive those places in my life that were not so wonderful and ask God to show me why I made the choices that I did and how to move past the hurt and disappointment that people had left in my life and things that I myself had deposited in my spirit.  I had to allow Him to purge me from those things that were keeping me from understanding my “true” worth in Him.

We can’t skip this part of the process because it prepares us for the transformation stage; which in itself is a tough process.  You have to put your trust in a God that you can’t see, but you can feel His love, grace, and peace all around you!

It’s time for you to prepare, let’s go!

The Butterfly Journey ~ Lisa

 

 

change, destiny, Down the Path of Worthy, God, God has ordained, hurting women, journey, life, purpose, the butterfly journey, worthy

God Is Not Through With Us Yet

livingwholecoaching

Several women joined me for a virtual journey this month called – Down the Path of Worthy.  This week marks our final trek.

We have only begun to scale back the pieces of our worthiness during this journey.  There is so much more work that we need to do.  We have found out that it is not an easy task walking back to places in our lives that have caused us pain.  But we had to go there in order to re-write the scripts of our lives back to the original content that God had written for us before we were even a thought in our mother’s womb.

We have realized that this process of finding our true worth in God was more exhausting than we thought it would be.  But we are dedicated to reaching the place that we most desire and that is figuring out our purpose and destiny.

Sometimes the emotional journey is too much and we have to rest along the way.  It’s okay, we understand that we have to press to reach the top of the place that we want to be.   We have to dig deep!  We trek on!  We won’t stop here we will push ourselves with the strength that God gives us to make a difference in our lives and the lives that we touch.

We are not convinced that everyone will understand the process but we hope that all will trust it.  We share this experience because it is the very thing that has helped us; it is our testimony for others to know that it can be done.  God can and will turn our ashes into beauty!

We encourage all women to join us in this journey of a lifetime.  It is not about changing our habits, but it is about transforming our lives for a better life that God has ordained for us to live.

Be encouraged, God is not through with us yet!

The Butterfly Journey – Lisa