Everywhere we went; everywhere we looked…women were tired.  They were pushing the pedal to the metal, but the car was on empty. 

Women were telling us that morning after morning, they were getting up to start the day with the husband, children, pets,  and job, and as they left for the day, they were already feeling exhausted.  

By the time the evening arrived, after a full day at work (or homeschooling) sporting events, supper, laundry and work they had brought home from their jobs, they were not only on empty, but they felt hopeless. 

We realized that we needed to offer help (some Godly solutions for this issue of emptiness), hope (encouragement), healing (prayer and time with God to get back on track and heal from some hurts or even self-induced bad habits). 

At our conference this year, we are focused on offering classes such as:  (Bible) A Study on the Book of Esther, Developing Time for God, Balancing Your Busy Life and Choosing Joy,  Marriage, Parenting and Finances.  We are determined to offer encouragement and help women to find some answers to some of their issues. 

Best Life’s motto is that “every woman matters.”  Each individual walks into our time together with expectations on meeting God, and we take that very seriously.  We deliver times of worship, art and drama, studying God’s Word, and prayer.  And we want each woman to leave our time together, feeling a little lighter, having take aways that give them help to face the next day. 

Our answers must always come from God.   Best Life can encourage women, but we aren’t the answer…God is.   He is our gasoline pump.  Through His Word, His Attributes and His Spirit, we fill up DAILY and are able to travel this road of life. 

How are you feeling today?  What does your gas tank look like?  Are you running on empty? 

Follow us as we continue to dig into the truths of God and the life He wants us to live…our very best.  And please….look for a conference near you, or call us to schedule one at your church or location.  Follow our blogs….sign up for our newsletter…find us on facebook!

Blessings to you today….. fill up at the Pump of Life…. with God’s gasoline…. 

For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will  help  you.
Isaiah 41:13

As a fairly new wife (my husband and I just celebrated our one year anniversary), I am still trying to figure out how to effectively manage my household. I feel like no matter how many times I manage to get on top of the laundry, or the cleaning, or the grocery shopping, there is always more to do. Sometimes I let it go for a little too long, and the junk piles up.

Last week I got really fed up and cleaned out my kitchen and living room. I filled an entire medium trash bag with junk! Little pieces of paper, broken toys, food, and the occasional ribbon destroyed by our new kitten. I found myself being so frustrated! Why is there so much junk? Why can’t this house stay clean for longer than 3 minutes?!?! The reason I was frustrated was because I had allowed my junk to pile up. Instead of working daily to throw away the unnecessary papers and junk, I let it accumulate.

This week I have been preparing for the conference coming up in Rogers next weekend. I am talking about the Journey to healing from past mistakes and how that allows us true freedom through Jesus Christ.

This got me thinking. Are our hearts like our homes? Are we piling up the junk so high that there is no room for anything else? I think we are. You see, our hearts are Jesus’ home. He lives there! If we fill our hearts with regrets and hurts, eventually we won’t have room for Him.

Is your heart full of hurt, regret, and anger? Or is it full of love, obedience, and a yearning for Christ to fill it? I know I have been doing some serious reorganizing and junk removal in my own heart. There are some hurts there that have been there for years. I didn’t realize how much they affected me until they were brought up to the surface. As I have chipped away at these hurts, I have seen a decrease in anger, and an increase in love in my life. I find it easier to forgive, and easier to open up to love. Isn’t that what we all want? To be loved? I guarantee you that you will never find a more satisfying love than that of Jesus Christ. He is the only person who will love you wholeheartedly with no reservations and will never let you down. We just have to make some room for him!

So where do we start?

Start with sitting at His feet and asking for help. Going through years and years of old junk you thought was gone can be very painful. Ask for courage and perseverance.

Then make a list. Ask yourself what is holding you back from loving wholeheartedly and trusting in God always. For me, my list was filled with mistakes and  people who had hurt me.

Pray them away. I prayed that God would forgive me for my mistakes, for those I had hurt. I prayed He would forgive those who had hurt me and give me the heart to forgive them as well.

Move on. Don’t choose to dwell on the past. Instead, dig into the Word. Psalms 119:11 says “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I may not sin against you.” If we replace the junk with the Truth of His Word, then we are guarding ourselves against the sins that come alongside those hidden hurts, anger, and regrets. God wants more for you than what we choose to hold onto from this world.

You just have to choose to accept it.

Okay, I did it.  I spilled them.  He had set the opened bag on my coat. 

I struggled to reach in my purse for the coupons, and as I pulled them out, I could still remember the day I clipped them out.  I was sixteen and sitting at the kitchen table, where my mother was baking bread.  “Here, honey,  there’s a coupon on the back of the graham crackers for condensed milk.  Can you clip that for me?  We’ll want to redeem it.”

 A coupon for .35 was a good coupon.  I set it with all of her others.  The nice thing about this coupon…….No Expiration Date.

 My daughter, Lexi, is the extreme couponer in our family.  I was the recipient of many free items over the past six months.  Catsup, crackers, chips, Tide, spaghetti sauce, and cereals.  What a blessing. 

But her coupons expire.  As a matter of fact, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen any coupons with no expiration date.  I still have Mom’s from 8^th grade. 

 Why didn’t we use them?  We seem to forget.  We head for the store, do the shopping, and somehow, year after year, I just don’t take the time to grab that coupon and use it.  I think, oh, well, I’ll do it next time. 

But today, I remembered, and the woman had to call the manager, because two coupons for Nestles’ chocolate chips and Eagle Brand condensed milk (yes, I’m making those yummy bars of Grandma’s) with no expiration were in front of her, and the clerk said to me, “We just can’t take those.” 

I know better.  If the company tells you there is no expiration, then you get to redeem it.  I was standing by their word to me.  No expiration.

 The manager apologized profusely,  and said “Of course!  We’ll redeem them.  They are the manufacturers.  They always stand behind their coupons.” 

And then it hit me. 

Jn 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, has eternal life.”

 It’s your promise from the Creator….the manufacturer.  It never expires.  It’s marked “.New Life in Christ” …..Salvation.  Don’t wait years.  Redeem it today.

Are You Jealous?

To listen to this one minute Best Life Thought, turn on your speakers and click on the play button below.

Hi, This is Kathy Weckwerth from Best Life Ministries.  Here are some thoughts for living your best life…today.

Have you ever looked around and noticed that many people seem to have things going their way?  Good jobs, a great spouse, well-behaved children, a mowed lawn?  And then you drive up to your driveway and think, what’s wrong with my life?

When I was younger, I did a lot of comparison shopping.  I don’t mean at Nordstrom’s…I mean my own life.  And then one day my daddy sat me down and said, “Here’s what I know about life, honey.  There will always be someone with more things, more talent, and better at what you do then you are….and then there will always be people who don’t have as much and just can’t do what you do.  You must embrace who you are and your gifts and settle in to being content.  It will never do you any good to compare.  It will always leave you feeling empty.”

Webster’s dictionary says that content means happy and satisfied. In a world where the media tells us we need the latest and greatest clothing, furniture, car or computer….we just can’t keep up.

But if you notice, the people who are always comparing and never satisfied with what they have…are jealous.  They seem to be the ones that people don’t want to be around because they’re negative and ungrateful.  I don’t know about you, but I don’ t want to be like that.  I want to be grateful for everything I have…and content in my own life.  I don’t need anyone else’s.  If I’m not happy, then I need to work to change it and make it better.

Phil 4:11, “I’ve learned now to be quite content whatever my circumstances.”  Being happy with what we have makes life better. 

It’s never too late to make changes. Start today. Start living your best life.

Running

To listen to this one minute Best Life Thought, turn on your speakers and click on the play button below.

HI, This is Kathy Weckwerth from Best Life Ministries.  Here are some thoughts for living your best life today: 

Everywhere I look….people are running. They’re running to their jobs, their next appointment, their kid’s baseball game, and whatever’s next on the list.  But they’re at the end of their rope…and that end is very frayed.

 A couple of weeks ago, my friend called and said she couldn’t do it anymore. ….she could no longer run fast enough, to keep up with the pace of her life.  No longer was she controlling her life..it was controlling her. 

Have you ever felt like this?  Like you couldn’t fit another thing into your schedule?  Do you ever feel overwhelmed with the busyness of life and at the end of your rope? 

Overextending ourselves today is a big problem.  It can lead to health issues, broken families and even depression.  If we get too many things on our plate, we can’t really live our best life because we’re not being good at anything. 

This week I want to encourage you to sit down with your family and look at your schedule together.  Are there things that you can delete?  Can you focus on a couple things that you’re really gifted at and just do those? 

The way to live your best life isn’t by being busy and adding to your calendar, it’s by defining who you are and what you want to do…and when you do, you begin to live your best life.

 Psalm 116:7 says, “when I was at the end of my rope, God saved me.”

It’s never too late to make changes. Start today. Start living your best life.

Glass Half Full

To listen to this one minute Best Life Thought, turn on your speakers and click on the play button below.

HI, This is Kathy Weckwerth from Best Life Ministries. Here are some thoughts for living your best life today:

Have you ever had someone in your life who is continually negative?  The glass is always half empty and everything looks gloomy from their perspective?

Maybe you have a co-worker like that, or your best friend, or maybe even your spouse.  After while, you notice it’s really starting to drag you down.

Webster’s Dictionary says that the word negativity means-unconstructiveness.  And when we’re not constructive and seeing the best in every situation, it’s not living our best life.

This week, I want to encourage you to counter negative remarks with positive ones.  Each time you hear something negative about a situation or a person, bring up a positive thought about that same circumstance.  And keep doing it over and over.  You might not completely change that negative person, but it won’t be destructive to your own attitude.

Be constructive…..not destructive this week and take the time to speak words that are positive into your life and the lives of those around you.  That kind of personality is attractive and draws people in. It will make other people feel better about life, and that just makes life better.

Phil. 1:22 says, “As long as I’m’ alive in this body, there is good work for me to do.”

It’s never too late to make changes. Start today. Start living your best life.

Alone?

To listen to this one minute Best Life Thought, turn on your speakers and click on the play button below.

HI, This is Kathy Weckwerth from Best Life Ministries. Here are some thoughts for living your best life today:

Have you ever been out some place with a really big crowd of people and yet you still felt very alone?  Maybe you just lost your husband, or you’re new to the area.  People are smiling at you and saying hello, but you still feel like the only person in the room without a friend.

I want to encourage you today that if you want friends, you’re going to have to reach out to make friends.  If you already have your fill of friends, then I encourage you today to think about someone in your life…someone who is at your job..someone who lives on your street, or someone who doesn’t have nay friends….and pick up the phone and make a call to them.  Just say hello.  Bake a cake.  Put a note in the mail.  Invite them over for a barbeque.

Everyday there are difficult things happening in all of our lives.  We need help, we need friends, and we need each other.  If we could just take the time to look outward at the people around us, I bet we can find someone really close to us who feels all alone in a big crowd.

And if you’re the one feeling all alone, start reaching out to people.  Ask them to take their lunch break with you, or grab a cup of coffee together.

Rom. 12:9 says, “Love from the center of who you are.”

Take the time this week to encourage someone and let them know that they’re not alone.  When you do, you’re reaching out, and it can make someone feel better about life.  And when we care about people….it just makes life better.

It’s never too late to make changes. Start today. Start living your best life.

I distinctly remember in the spring of 2004 having a conversation with my son, Reed.  We were listening to all the hype surrounding the NFL draft.  Most of the “talk” revolved around one young man, Eli Manning.  Reed was dismayed to hear all the analysts talk so poorly of a guy who was predicted to be (and later was) the #1 draft pick.  Most of the talk went something like this, “Well, he’s good, but he’s no Peyton.  He will be an NFL player, but he will never, mark my words, never win a Super Bowl.  He just doesn’t have that kind of talent.”

I remember how perplexed Reed was by all these not-so-nice comments.  Reed and I had a long talk about how controversy creates buzz, and buzz sometimes creates dollars in this world of instantaneous entertainment.  I also told him that I believed that the Manning family members are Christians that as Christians we don’t have to believe what our world is telling us.  We also said that we shouldn’t define greatness by the world’s standard.  Reed’s heart was cheering for one whom many perceived as the understudy, and he didn’t like that he was being beaten down when he hadn’t even started his NFL career.    

Unfortunately the talk surfaced again, when older brother Peyton and his team (Indianapolis Colts) won the Super Bowl in 2006.  “Blah, blah, blah, it’s too bad that little brother Eli (of the New York Giants) will never have a Super Bowl ring like his big brother.”  And on and on, it went.  That is until two years later, when the little brother and his team won the 2008 Super Bowl. 

I was so glad that Reed was still alive (as it was his last Super Bowl to watch on earth) to see that win. Despite all the dire glass-ceiling predictions about Eli, he had the kind of fortitude to just keep showing up and using the talents that God has given him. 

Last night’s victory led by the “lesser talented” Manning must have made one little red-head in Heaven laugh out loud.  Not only did Eli win a Super Bowl in 2008, but he and his teammates went for an encore performance four years later, winning in 2012. 

Recently, as I have been reading through the Bible, I came across a verse that made me sit up straighter and do a double take. 

John 1:43 – 46 (NCV)

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Philip was from the town of Bethsaida, where Andrew and Peter lived. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the man that Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets also wrote about him. He is Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” 46 But Nathanael said to Philip, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

Oh no – he didn’t! But, yes, he did!  Can anything good come from Nazareth?  You have to be kidding . . . but he wasn’t.  This Jesus couldn’t be as good as Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, and all the other prophets. Nathanael then finds out that Jesus is the real deal, but his initial thoughts were simply on this rival town and nothing good comes out of that.  After learning the truth by meeting Jesus, Nathanael becomes one of the disciples and follows him. 

There are other countless examples throughout the New Testament of Jesus standing living and breathing right in front of people, yet they would not believe that he is the Messiah.  At times even his own family doubted him.  The Pharisees, the Sadducees, the high priests, the government officials, and just average people – all doubted him. 

He continued to walk humbly and serving God his father, and people doubted and diminished his works.  People denied his abilities, and denied the prophetic claims that he was the one true Son of Man.

I, in no way, wish to imply that Eli Manning be equated with godliness, but I do want to parallel how we all have the tendency to miss the boat. This Jesus cannot be who he claims to be because it just doesn’t fit our (historically and now) idea of greatness. 

The Savior of the World, this Messiah, should be powerful, debonair, suave, magnanimous, and larger-than-life goes our thinking. He would deserve a 60 second Super Bowl ad.  A loving, caring, and humble servant does not seem to fit the picture of the “idols” we have today.  But oh, we would be so wrong. 

The hands that cradle us in our weakness were strong enough to take the nails for the sins of the world.  The heart that loves us despite our flaws (and right we are in life) was large enough to take on a burden that no other ever would be willing to take.  No, nothing good ever came out of Nazareth, but something absolutely, positively SUPER did! 

This past month, I have listened and prayed with several friends who have been struggling.

 People are telling them to do this.  To do that.  They are stretched, pulled, and cornered. 

I know how they feel.  Perhaps you do as well.   There have been times in my life when well-meaning people thought they knew what was best for me.  No….let me rephrase that.  There have been many times when others have told me what to do, whether they really thought it was best or not….it was what they wanted for me.  Not necessarily what God wanted for me.

I have listened as people have told me where to live, where to work, what to be when I grow up, who to have as friends, where to go to church, and why God likes this and doesn’t like that. 

And it took me a long to realize this: 

Yes, I said that.  No one really has the answers but God, and He’ll tell you, if you just seek Him and listen. 

Here’s the lesson learned:  You’re living this life.  Others are not living your life.  They have not walked in your shoes.  They don’t know the days and nights that have made up your life.  They don’t have a clue about the details of how God’s wired you, what your past has encompassed, or why some things feel like they hurt more than others.  But God does.   Some of the best intended suggestions are some of the most harmful for us.

And so this week, I told one dear friend that she would be okay.  She looked at me with a tear stained face and asked “What do I do?”  I said, “Pray.  God will lead you.  His Word, His Spirit, His Voice.  Listen for it.”  As people were pushing her, guilt- tripping her, and trying to control her, I just said to her…..”Lean into God….walk strong…and keep moving straight ahead on the road He’s put you on.” 

One of the best suggestions my friend Joel once said years ago is this….never second guess yourself.  Make your decision with God and stick with it.  Keep moving. 

It’s your life.  If you’re going to live it, and live it to the very fullest (what God wants), His voice is the one to listen to.  His direction is the one to take.  His advice is the advice to adhere to.  He knows what’s best for You.

This week has been a difficult one.  I am only to Wednesday.  I’d like a call.  A call from God. 

And then, as I ponder just hearing a whisper from Him….the emails dings and the phone rings.

 I heard from God today.  I heard him in the warm prayer and comfort of Gary’s voice through the phone, the encouraging love and belief through Sheri in her email, and the loving words from Grandma Mary.  I heard from God in the deep prayers of my friend, Lynn, and in the quiet check-in from the text message of Kathleen.

I heard from God in the gentle kiss of my husband this morning and in the hug of my child. I heard from him in the gentle email of Deacon Aaron and the glorious praise music that is floating through the office. 

 I watched Him call out to me as the sun was shining warm on my neck and as I read His words from Isaiah 41:13  when He said to me, “For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do Not fear; I will help you.” 

And I knew something.  Something so great, so strong, such a truth. 

And I decided for today to quit complaining and just realize that God’s calling me.  

And I look up to the sky and answer……hello?