Kill Them With Kindness//#WIW Wednesday

Happy Humpday, Ya'll!

IDK about you- but my summer is flying by! I wish it would slow down a bit. Luckily, I have a 4 day weekend this weekend to celebrate the 4th so I will actually get to enjoy some of the weather :)

I sometimes catch myself having a bad attitude, or just being unkind for unknown reasons- "because I am crabby". I would sometimes let someone push my buttons so much I would throw kindness and self control out the window. I would add fuel to the fire instead of find a way to put it out. Have you let this happen?  

Well, I think we all probably have.  Sometimes I have let my frustration get so out of control with someone that I end up saying things I don't mean, I yell, or hold bitterness in my heart.. 

One thing God has showed me is something that has to do with a very common phrase. 

"Kill Them With Kindness"

No- not actually kill them- but God helped put it into perspective that you are killing the situation or the negativity with your kindness. Kindness comes from love- I mean its the first word that is described in the definition of love (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). Love is what truly changes things. 

Then I read about the fruit of the spirit:

"But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Against such things there is no law."- Galatians 5:22-23

When you portray yourself as one who bears the fruit of the Spirit, people will not be able to help but see the Spirit within you. Not only that, but the fruit of the Spirit only bears great things- so when you act with the fruit of the Spirit, you too will bear great things. Isn't that amazing?

So I started practicing always showing kindness first. I stayed focused on being the fruit of the Spirit. What amazing results I saw! I started seeking kindness over anger or getting my point across. Not that I always get it right, but I could see how conversations would change, how arguments would simmer, and how I wouldn't want to say things that were nasty- because my focus had changed. It was no longer to "prove" something, but to "be" something- the fruit of the Spirit. 

I saw it's a path that only leads you closer to Christ- & that's what makes it sooo worth it. When you always act on the fruit of the Spirit, you will bear good fruits, that will help you see the beautiful results of God's Word. For me personally, it brought me closer to God because when I saw how His Word was so true in my life, I kept wanting to "kill them with kindness" because I knew the results would be successful. It built my faith in God, my trust in Him, and it ultimately put Him in the middle of every person or situation I encountered. All at the same time being a light and showing the world Christ.

I think it's safe to say God knows what He's doing! :) 

Who knew such a simple phrase could make such a big change. 

It's not always easy. It takes genuine effort to be kind and loving- especially when someone is just pushing your buttons! 

& it's often difficult to practice for everyone-because there are so many different types of people!

Jesus Christ emphasized that we must be kind to everyone, not just our family and friends (Luke 6:31-35). If you do this, “your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For God is kind to [even] the unthankful and evil”

So you heard it- even the Most High is kind to the most unthankful and EVIL. He is perfect and has the right to judge and be angry at all of our wrong deeds- but He chooses to love us and show us kindness. But that is simply why He is all together lovely- because He loves and is kind to everyone! 

So now for me it's not a matter of being kind to get great rewards, it's to please God and to strive to be more like Him.To be in line with His will and purpose. Because He is so wonderful to me when I know I don't deserve this kind of love. 

It's such a blessing we have such an awesome example on how to love, be kind, and live. 

Who knew one word (Kindness) could go SO deep!

Being someone who grew up being an "angry" person, to see where God has brought me from astounds me. & that is why I can't hold back in telling my story on a simple phrase He taught me. How that simple phrase was used for Him to teach me how to block out the anger, negativity, and evil thoughts and instead focus on letting kindness flow out of my heart. I am still learning; I fail - and I will never stop learning, but He has brought me a loooong way and for that I am forever thankful. We truly have a great God!

I hope you guys have a great Wednesday and I hope you link up for Let Your Light Shine Thursday tomorrow!!

xoxo,

Aisha 

Weekend Recap

Hey Loves! 

Happy Sunday!

I hope you had a great weekend.

As every weekend seems- it went by so fast. But I love weekends like these. No plans, spending time with friends and family, and an added bonus of shopping! 

My weekend started out with having some girl time! my favorite girls & I met up for some good breakfast at our favorite place, Fat Nat's Eggs!

best coffee in the twin cities!

After I got to do some shopping with them and found some goodies!

I got a new jean jacket, some new jeans and a winter cardigan. I can never have too many cardigans- I have a feeling this one is going to be worn ALOT!

Both Jeans and Sweater from Len.

But the jackpot came when we looked at shoes. I fell in love with three pairs from Aldo and I am debating on going back and buying them all! Which would you choose? I have favor towards the leopard print... what do you think?

I think all of them would look really good for the fall season! I could definitely picture wearing the red pair and leopard pair to work all the time, hehe.

I am sad I missed church today, but I got to spend some quality time with my family- which is hard to do during the week! Michael, my nephew, got to meet his great uncle and aunt from Iran which was really fun to see!

My sister and I ended the night cooking some yummy Chicken Marsala! Took only about 30 minutes to make!

We made it with some zucchini, asparagus and rice. Nice and balanced! 

Im excited I have leftovers for tomorrow's lunch!

All in all, it was a great weekend! 

I hope you all had a great weekend and have a great week! 

MBFW is going on now and I cant wait to do a post on my favorite designs for the upcoming season!

So stay tuned for that! 

xoxo,

Walking by Faith

How was your weekend?? The weekend always flies by, doesn't it? 

Mine sure does.

This weekend was great.. 

I hung out with my sister and nephew, hung out with my dad, saw my girls after not seeing them in awhile and welcomed my favorite aunt in town from Wyoming! A weekend full of many people I love! 

This weekend, something special happened and I have felt compelled to share my story of how God is showing me how walking by faith and not by sight can do wonderful things. Here is my testimony..

My mom and dad have been split up since I was 4, so growing up with separated parents was always normal for my sister and I. But growing up, my dad has always been really harsh and it has effected my sister and his relationship a lot. Well anyway, they havent really had a good relationship for about 10 years, and havent spoken in about 2 years. My dad hadn't met his grandson who is now 13 months and my sister was getting to the point where them meeting just wouldn't happen at all. I understand why, but God has showed me that with people, you need to forgive them and need to be the light to people who don't see it. Jesus told me when I first got saved that I would be that light to my family and that I would be the bridge to reconnecting my family together and bring them to salvation. Seems like a tough job, right? Believe it or not, Jesus has been working everything out, all in His perfect timing. 

Anyway, this weekend I had so much going on, but my dad called me last minute to go out on the river with him. I didn't want to go- but I felt compelled to go. He had been talking about meeting Michael (my nephew) for about a month now and while out on the river, he brought it up again- and he even bought him a carseat earlier that day. God has been telling me through this whole process to show my family his goodness, and only speak the goodness of people because He has showed me how one negative comment can cause a negative domino effect of thoughts and emotions. So, in these months of sometimes feeling like a messenger between them, I would speak as many good things as I could to them. I went along Saturday thanking Jesus for another opportunity to talk to my dad about God, how family is a gift, and praying for their reconnection. I then went home and told my sister that my dad got Michael a car seat. Not knowing what Jesus was doing behind the scenes, I didn't think about what was to come from talking to my dad.

I woke up today thinking I was going to go to Sunday school then to regular church service and it would be a regular day. But something told me I wasn't going to go. To be honest, I did not think it was God at first because He wouldn't tell me not to go to Sunday school, right?? (so I thought in my head) but then he clarified to me that He had somewhere He needed me to be instead of Sunday School this morning. So I was going about my morning wondering if anything would happen to make me not go to Sunday school. All of a sudden when I was eating my breakfast, my sister walks out of her room and says " I think I am going to take Michael to meet dad today." I paused and in my mind was saying WOW Jesus! So I said, lets get ready and go this morning. I prayed a quick prayer of it being a pleasant meeting and off we went. 

My dad finally saw his daughter after 2 years and met his grandson for the first time. Two people who refused a relationship with one another- were now face to face. I couldn't help but tear up because you could feel the joy they had. And it was beautiful how my dad fell in love with his grandson the moment he saw him. God is so good, isn't he? I am so proud of my sister, because as much as she could have held a grudge, she opened her heart to show compassion and love- and forgiveness. I have seen how God is working in her and it is truly beautiful to see and I am so excited to see what He has in store for her.

The moral of the story is, that walking by faith and not by sight ( 1 Corinthians 5:7) truly makes a difference. 

When you have faith, nothing is impossible. 

Jesus says that if "you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." ( Matthew 17:20)

Although it may not seem to the human eye that my dad is close to salvation, or that my dad & sister would have a good relationship again, but when you look at it by faith, you see Jesus working and having things come to pass and answering my prayers. But faith is just that - 

"..being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."  (Hebrews 11:1)

And even though they may not see what I see, I trust Him with all my heart and this is one of many prayers He has answered. But to think how fast He can make changes for us is truly amazing. I continue to have faith because I rust Him,  it reaps many benefits and lets Jesus work. 

I am all around grateful and overwhelmed with how AWESOME He is to my family and I. His love knows NO bounds and I cant help but want to share how God continually changes my life and the lives of those around me. HE IS SO GOOD! So good. And I lay my head tonight in awe of his faithfulness and grace. I am Thankful!! 

I thank my sister for allowing me to share a personal testimony. 

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Goodnight!!

xoxo,

Aisha