BSFP, Inc.

God says: "There is a pace I set for you, a pace where you feel most at home, I want you to find it and keep hold of it, it holds great promise and reward. It is a pace that doesn't require you to rush to get to the finish line, it's a pace that doesn't stress you or cause you to worry...it's a pace that allows you to get to where I intended for you to be at the time I have set for you to get there." Trust that! "Trust that God is with you and wants to do things together with you where you don’t have to race to keep up."  I have learned that if you are racing, it's clearly outside of the rhythm God has placed within your heart and that's why you're not happy or content when you finally reach the finish line. "The race is not given to the swift or the strong...it's given to the humble and patient."  Remember the story: "the tortoise and the hare."  Everything has purpose!

"When you embrace your value and God-ordained purpose in life, you will be able to walk in strength and confidence." Remember: "The enemy will take notice of a person once riddled with insecurity standing strong, and he will come at you like a thief in the night with his arrows of discouragement to break you." God's word says: put on the full armor of God to protect yourself from dangers and attacks. This armor is a conscious outlook training our thoughts, our words, our attitudes and our behaviors.  Mediate on my word day and night, let it always be with you - for it is your most powerful weapon.  God loved you so much, He made provision to keep you safe. He never said the road would be easy, He said no weapon formed against you will prosper/succeed. He said pain will endure for a little while but joy, joy will always comeback!

The Real Battle is our mind and the thoughts that consume it and us. To find peace, we must replace our fears, anxieties, defense mechanisms, and controlling behaviors with prayer, Scripture meditation, and thanksgiving. As easy as this sounds, it holds so much challenge because our flesh is weak and easily influenced by our surroundings and society. Our brains will not stop thinking about something just because we tell it to. Our minds are like computers, they process what is downloaded into them. So, if we don’t replace our negative thinking and behaviors with something else, those anxious thoughts will just continue to play in our minds. This will hinder us from achieving the levels God intended for us to. We will be held captive by the things that are not even relevant or of any true value today or down the road. We will lose out on relationships with those who truly care about us; God will raise someone else up to take up the charges that we haven't. G...

Who are you when no one is looking? That's who you are... "If you build your identity on anything that can be taken away from you, you’re going to be inconsistent and insecure, and insecurity can lead to depression and anger." You will forever be on a mission to please others, be like others, depend on others to determine and establish who you are. That's not fair to you or God who created you to be: special, different and unique! Remember this: "Until you start feeling secure about yourself, people are going to be able to push your buttons and shape your identity." "When you know who you are and WHOSE you are, people can’t tell you who to be, how to be, what to be nor can they push your buttons." They can’t get to you. You are secure and sure-footed in Christ. 

When it comes to friendships, 'we give them confidence boosts when they don’t feel their best.' We’re supportive of them when they fail at something and encourage them when they’re unsure of taking new challenges.  This type of behavior pattern comes as natural as breathing. So, why is it so hard to do this for yourself? It’s been proven that when we treat ourselves with the same kindness, patience and generosity we show others, we live healthier and happier lives. It is time to turn this around and adopt a few new habits. It’s time to improve your own quality of life (3 John 1:2). Accept yourself - focus on your strengths. When you identify things you are gifted at, it is a boost to your morale. Begin to list those strengths, make them visible (Philippians 4:13). Be patient - have compassion for yourself (Luke 12:35). Track your goals and accomplishments. Make them visible (Habakkuk 2:2). Become your own cheerleader. Avoidance no more - stop procrastinating...

To love isn’t about knowing all of the right things to say or do or obeying a list of rules that tell you how to love. It’s something more, something costlier, because it involves being present and making a sacrifice. Giving up the "you" for partnership. The world can make you think that love can be picked up at a garage sale or enveloped in a Hallmark card. That's definitely not the case! Love is action, Jesus died for our sins because His father loved us that much. He walked on earth and was present with us because He had that much affection for us and wanted to be present. Love doesn't say it's going to...it just does. Love is action, not words. Today, "I love you" has lost its meaning because it's used out of context. I messed up, I'm sorry but I still love you. I love you so much but don't know why I did what I did or said what I said. I should have known better but I acted in a moment of weakness, it doesn't mean I don...

Time... No matter who you are, we are all given only 24 hours in a day. The demands of the day may leave us overwhelmed and we find ourselves saying 24 hours is just not enough. The choices we make concerning our hours today do in fact influence the foundation of our future. We do our best to be over “productive” creating extensive to do lists and find we barely get through the first two items. Something new always come up. “Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.” ― H. Jackson Brown Jr.” Staying busy doesn’t necessarily mean we are working harder and going to be more successful, it means we haven’t quite mastered the “work smarter, not harder” tactic. I have spent my life constantly running around, “staying busy” until I realized it was leading me to mindless “productivity”. I did a lot but...

I’ve thought many times about how different my life would be if I’d given up when I wanted to. My story could’ve become something like, “Yeah, I used to think I was supposed to be this, but I gave it a shot and things didn’t work out. That’s just how it goes.” I’m certain you’ll have to wrestle with occasional challenges in different seasons of your life: a boss you don’t think you can stand another day, a relationship that’s suddenly hurting, a dream that’s running out of resources, a move that’s failed your expectations. When you face difficulties, it’s natural to reconsider your huge, life-altering decisions. You might ask questions like these. Should I take my chances, quit this job, and look for something else? After my spouse’s affair, is it time to move on? Am I really cut out to run a business? Should I cut my losses before things get any worse? In each of these examples and with most major life choices you’re at a crucial fork in the road, and it’s time to decide: sho...

We all believe that we’re right about whatever a situation is and the other person is wrong in whatever wrong we believe they committed. The thing is, at the end of the day, we all should make peace with the apologies we’ve never gotten. The apology that never comes or you're taking time away from living a life you truly deserve to live, peacefully. Sometimes we recognize when we’ve done others wrong and fully admit it, but there are other times we may not know it, or just don’t want to admit it. Our ego tells us that we were justified in whatever we did or said. We were right and they were wrong. End of story!  At that point, we truly aren’t aware of how our actions or behavior affected or hurt another person, it’s not the focus, proving we are right in our actions and words, it the focus.  The person on the receiving end might feel like it’s incredibly obvious what we did, but we genuinely don’t see what we did wrong or that the way we behaved warrants an ...

For the past 13 months (likely has been longer if I'm honest) I have gone through a cycle that I can honestly say has turned out to be the most challenging, painful, stressful yet life changing and rewarding time of my life. I thought I knew struggle prior to this season but my perspective has significantly changed in this last year and some months. Especially when every single past storm, slightly resolved and those unresolved all came together in this one season. It was around August of 2015 when the warmth and sunshine of my life started to turn into clouds. It's as though I was anticipating a storm I just didn’t know how bad it would be or how long it would last. Prior to, I was living a pretty happy, healthy, purposeful, financially stable lifestyle with a thriving career and organization and a passionate pursuit to make a difference… when subtly clouds started to come in. However, for some strange reason I wasn’t surprised. Life is full of unexpected challenges. ...

I felt compelled to write and share some thoughts on this topic because it seems to be truly plaguing our everyday existence, even more among our children. Most people struggle to come to terms with who they are and become concerned with what others think of them. We post glam pictures on social media, noting how many likes we’ve received and comments made. We disguise ourselves to be / to look like someone else. Why? Because, in a world where people can virtually sell their soul for a virtual like, glimpse of success and, where television is dominated by a constant bombardment of false reality TV shows; how can we remember not to be overly concerned by others’ opinions of us? Just like other habits we create in our lives, the habit of conforming to other people’s expectations can easily lead to a life habit, to a place where we have no clue who we really are or what we even want anymore. We can quickly find ourselves getting so comfortable learning to live in the image of t...

It is so important to gain control over your emotions; refuse to let them rule. When you put your feelings in the driver’s seat, you just might find yourself starting to go places you have no business going. The impact of rash choices not only affects you but those closest to you.  You can find yourself making decisions you would never otherwise have made when you were in a spiritual high season. You can find yourself saying things you would never say without thorough thought.  It's critically important to understand that just because your feelings pull strong now is no reason to follow your feelings.  Guess what: Sometimes your feelings are not just wrong, but just plain foolish and will play tricks on you.  What we need is a true gut check where our heart and head are running at the same speed, as a team. Working together to think and feel (Proverbs 4:23). Remember, Satan does his best work when we’re off balance. Don’t give him the weapon wi...

Patience a virtue...?  This quote has helped change my understanding of patience: “Patience is not passive; on the contrary, it is active; it is concentrated strength.” ~Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton I was taught growing up that patience was a virtue (Galatians 5:22-23), but I was never taught why. Why was patience a virtue? Most people get it wrong; they believe that patience and waiting are the same thing. Well, that's not true. What does patience really mean? Patience has nothing to do with waiting. Patience is all about "working hard while waiting for the results." Patience is understanding that the only way to get to where you want to go is to do something without anticipation. In my experience, patience meant, I would miss out on something I desired. So, I became the hare in the race of my life and would fast track myself through career choices and opportunities and even relationships for fear that I would be forgotten and miss out on something (avoidance)...

A nagging thought, followed by another nagging thought followed by a few more nagging thoughts…now all I’m thinking about is this nagging thought. Do you ever worry? I mean really worry to the point of losing sleep or developing a massive headache, or high blood pressure? Well, the word worry means in short "to choke" or "to strangle." Now, isn't that a suitable description of what worry does to us! What else does worry do? It makes a small problem look big. It keeps you from enjoying life; creates stress which can lead to health problems. Worry is that hard to reach itch that knows you can’t get to it so, it keeps coming back in that same place. Until you change tactics! You may be facing a few frustrating situations in your life. Even be looking at some circumstances that seem impossible. I believe no one likes the way constant worrying makes them feel, so why is it so difficult to stop? In the spiritual sense scripture says that we are to “cast all ...

Every day we have decisions to make. Some decisions don't require much thought. Yet, people often say that they find it hard to make decisions. I’ve been one of those people. Unfortunately, we all must make decisions all the time, ranging from trivial issues like what to have for lunch, where to eat, what to wear, how to spend our time right up to life changing decisions such as where and what to study, where to move, should I move, what career/profession should I choose and who to marry.    Some people put off making decisions by endlessly searching for more information or getting other people to offer their recommendations. You must make your choice, and even if it’s not the best decision, the potential consequences are rarely worth breaking a sweat. That’s what we call “trial and error”, “if at first, we don’t succeed, don’t stop there…try again.” For a while I constantly kept relearning that the more you ponder a decision, the more confused and stuck you feel. You...

Do you ever notice that when you're in a good mood or spirits everything seems perfect and bright? However, when you're not in a good mood, everything gets on your nerves, drives you mad, and becomes annoying?    That's because our feelings tend to affect our attitude.  Emotions that are freely experienced and expressed without judgment or attachment tend to flow fluidly. On the other hand, repressed emotions (especially fearful or negative ones) can zap mental energy and hope and lead to health problems.  Therefore, it's important for us to recognize and identify our thoughts and emotions, and to be aware of the impact they have not only on each other, but also on our bodies, behavior, and relationships. As our awareness increases, we can find it easier to recognize what we are thinking, how we are feeling, and our attitude towards the experience. This can then help us choose to adjust our thoughts and emotional responses. Is it easy to always remai...