Lifestyle

Healthy and Happy

Healthy and happy is way better than skinny and sad.

There’s always that little voice inside that can trick us into thinking that losing 5 more pounds will make us happier.

Don’t listen to the lies that society tells us. Skinny does not equal happy…and skinny does not always equal healthy. On the same note, if being skinny causes you to be mentally unhealthy that is just as bad.

lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

I would love for you to follow me on TwitterInstagram,  Pinterest, and Facebook. You can find me as Looking Joli Good on all four.

skinnyHealthy

Lifestyle

Is There Still HOPE?!

Barbara HOPE | lookingjoligood.blog

HOPE: /hōp/
noun
1. a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.
synonyms: aspiration, desire, wish, expectation, ambition, aim, plan, dream,
2.a feeling of trust.
verb
1.want something to happen or be the case.
synonyms: expect, anticipate, look for, wait for, be hopeful of, pin one’s hopes on, want

I lost a good friend last week, Barbara.

I had so much HOPE that God would heal her, HOPE that she would be whole again, HOPE that things would return to normal, HOPE that cancer would lose and we would win her back again. HOPE that this would be the end of a chapter in her life and not the end of life.

That wasn’t God’s plan.

Does that mean that I have lost HOPE?!
Absolutely not! I HOPE that I can be as kind and friendly as Barbara was. I HOPE that like Barbara when people leave my presence they feel better and happier for having been with me. I HOPE that I can praise God despite not being able to breathe. I HOPE that my life can be like Barbara’s, at the mention of my name people cry because they miss me but quickly start to smile and laugh because of all the happy and good things. I HOPE it can be said of me “well done.”

Today we will celebrate the wonderful and full life of Barbara. I have HOPE because I will see her again in Heaven.

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a HOPE.
Jeremiah 29:11

HOPE | lookingjoligood.blog

lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

I would love for you to follow me on TwitterInstagram,  Pinterest, and Facebook. You can find me as Looking Joli Good on all four.

Lifestyle

Cancer Cannot!

Cancer cannot | lookingjoligood.blog
I’ve spent the majority of my professional nursing career fighting cancer. Sometimes it seems as if I’m helping in the battle, and sometimes Cancer has the upper hand.

Cancer is a thief, a time stealer, a heartbreaker.

Cancer thinks it is so strong. Cancer feeds off of fear. Cancer knows hearing its name attached to the one you love will knock you off your feet and send your head spinning. Cancer thinks that it’s is unstoppable.

There are so many things that cancer cannot do.

Cancer Cannot | lookingjoligood.blog

Cancer cannot annihilate love,  terminate peace, trample hope or diminish faith.
Cancer cannot silence praise or quitet laughter.
Cancer cannot destroy friendship or remove memories.
Cancer cannot squash courage, suppress motivation, or cripple inspiration.
Cancer can weaken the body but it cannot conquer the soul or destroy the spirit.
Cancer can shorten life but it can never steal eternal life.
God's Way Is Perfect | lookingjoligood.blog
It is hard to believe anything good can come from the disappointment and pain of loss.  Trusting God in difficult times leads to a stronger faith. He’s always with us and will use hard times in our lives to make us stronger, wiser, more patient, and more compassionate, more like Him.
I lost a close friend to cancer today. Cancer may be able to separate us here on Earth, but it cannot take away our eternal life together in Heaven.

lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

I would love for you to follow me on TwitterInstagram,  Pinterest, and Facebook. You can find me as Looking Joli Good on all four.

Lifestyle

The Single Most Important Question Ever

The single most important question ever | lookingjoligood.blogWhat happens when I die? Where will I spend eternity? The single most important question that you will ever answer is this: “If I were to die today, would I spend eternity in Heaven with God?” Your relationship with Jesus Christ is where you will find the answer to that question.

The Bible tells us in 1 John 5:13, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life…” God wants you to know where you’re going to spend all of eternity!

In order to spend eternity in Heaven with God, you must personally receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

The Bible teaches us that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, that He was buried, and that He rose on the third day. Jesus’ sacrificial work of redemption made it so that all people can be saved!

Bible tells us that eternal life is not something we can earn or buy, but instead, it is a gift.

God’s gift is eternal life with Him.

Romans 6:23 | lookingjoligood.blog

The thing about this gift is that before you can get it, you first have to realize that you need this it. Romans 3:23 tells us that “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

All of us have sinned by breaking God’s rules.  Some of the rules are broken by things that we have been doing, and some of the rules have been broken by things that we haven’t been doing.  We have all sinned in one way or another.Romans 3:23 | lookingjoligood.blog

Romans 6:23 tells us that the price for those broken rules is death.  That death isn’t just talking about our physical body dying, but about our spiritual body as well.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

When our physical body dies, our spiritual body will go to one of two places, either an eternity in Heaven or an eternal death apart from God in Hell.

God doesn’t want to be separated from us! Romans 5:8 says “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” 

Christ died for us | lookingjoligood.blog

The price of our sin is death, but Jesus Christ already paid the price for our sins when he died on the cross.

Jesus came to earth as God in the flesh. He lived a perfect life and voluntarily took our place on the cross, all because He loves us!  He took your place, He took my place, He paid your price with His life. He loves you!

The Bible tells us in 2 Peter 3:9 that “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

2 Peter 3:9 | lookingjoligood.blog

Any time you get a gift you have to accept it in order to own it.  It is no different with the gift of eternal life, you have to turn to Christ and place our full trust in Him alone.

Romans 10:13 tells us that “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Romans 10:13 | lookingjoligood.blog

If you have never trusted in Jesus Christ to be your personal savior, you can do it right now! It is as simple as believing in your heart that Christ is the only way to have eternal life in Heaven and saying a prayer that is something like this…

“Dear Lord God,
Thank you for the sacrifice you made in sending your only perfect son to die on the cross for my sins!  It should have been me sentenced to that horrible death, but you Lord, gave Jesus to save me from the punishment that I deserve.  Thank you for this free gift of salvation! Amen!”

You will never regret that decision! I know how much this decision has changed my life!  If you have just trusted Christ and received the gift of eternal life, I would love for you to tell me!

lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

I would love for you to follow me on TwitterInstagram,  Pinterest, and Facebook. You can find me as Looking Joli Good on all four.

Lifestyle

The Best Decision in Life: A Free Gift

I believe that God gave us life so that we can love and glorify Him.

Many people believe that eternal life in Heaven is something that we earn through good works, or something we inherit because our parents are religious, or possibly we can attain it through good intentions.  While all these things sound good, the Bible tells us that eternal life is not something we can earn or buy, but instead, it is a gift.

God’s gift is eternal life with Him.

Romans 6:23 | lookingjoligood.blog

The thing about this gift is that before you can get it, you first have to realize that you need this it. Romans 3:23 tells us that “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

All of us have sinned by breaking God’s rules.  Some of the rules are broken by things that we have been doing, and some of the rules have been broken by things that we haven’t been doing.  We have all sinned in one way or another.Romans 3:23 | lookingjoligood.blog

Romans 6:23 tells us that the price for those broken rules is death.  That death isn’t just talking about our physical body dying, but about our spiritual body as well.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

When our physical body dies, our spiritual body will go to one of two places, either an eternity in Heaven or an eternal death apart from God in Hell.

God doesn’t want to be separated from us! Romans 5:8 says “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” 

Christ died for us | lookingjoligood.blog

The price of our sin is death, but Jesus Christ already paid the price for our sins when he died on the cross.

Jesus came to earth as God in the flesh. He lived a perfect life and voluntarily took our place on the cross, all because He loves us!  He took your place, He took my place, He paid your price with His life. He loves you!

The Bible tells us in 2 Peter 3:9 that “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

2 Peter 3:9 | lookingjoligood.blog

Any time you get a gift you have to accept it in order to own it.  It is no different with the gift of eternal life, you have to turn to Christ and place our full trust in Him alone.

Romans 10:13 tells us that “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Romans 10:13 | lookingjoligood.blog

If you have never trusted in Jesus Christ to be your personal savior, you can do it right now! It is as simple as believing in your heart that Christ is the only way to have eternal life in Heaven and saying a prayer that is something like this…

“Dear Lord God,
Thank you for the sacrifice you made in sending your only perfect son to die on the cross for my sins!  It should have been me sentenced to that horrible death, but you Lord, gave Jesus to save me from the punishment that I deserve.  Thank you for this free gift of salvation! Amen!”

You will never regret that decision! I know how much this decision has changed my life!  If you have just trusted Christ and received the gift of eternal life, I would love for you to tell me!

lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

I would love for you to follow me on TwitterInstagram,  Pinterest, and Facebook. You can find me as Looking Joli Good on all four.

Lifestyle

Lose Excuses and Gain Results

I love to make excuses for myself.

I love to make excuses for myself. I am often my own worst enemy. But when I stop with the excuses and just do what I know I need to be doing it is amazing how much of a difference it makes. I'm not even talking about weight loss and exercising, I'm talking about everything: mental, physical and spiritual health. 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” My weaknesses are simply opportunities for Jesus to reveal His grace in my life. The Bible tells us that in Romans 8:37 that we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ, not leaving much room for excuses...

When it comes to making excuses, I am often my own worst enemy. But when I stop with the excuses and just do what I know I need to be doing it is amazing how much of a difference it makes. I’m not even talking about weight loss and exercising, I’m talking about everything: mental, physical and spiritual health.

2 Corinthians 12:9 | lookingjoligood.blog2 Corinthians 12:9 says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”  My weaknesses are simply opportunities for Jesus to reveal His grace in my life.

My weaknesses are simply opportunities for Jesus to reveal His grace in my life.

Romans 8:37 | lookingjoligood.blog
The Bible tells us that in Romans 8:37 that we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ, that doesn’t really leave much room for my excuses…

lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

I would love for you to follow me on TwitterInstagramPinterest, and Facebook. You can find me as Looking Joli Good on all four.

Lifestyle

There Is A Time for Resting and A Time for Blooming

There is nothing in nature that blooms all year long. So don’t expect yourself to do so either.

bloom | lookingjoligood.blog

I’m a bit of a perfectionist. I like to do everything I can the absolute best I can. Sometimes I need a break! Recently I have allowed myself to be in a time of winter. A time to reflect and plan and grow roots instead of flowers. It hasn’t been a fun time for me. I haven’t enjoyed it, I hate winter, I prefer spring and summer, but it’s been a necessary time. Winter will end soon and it’ll be spring again and then the warm days of summer.

The lows of winter are necessary in order to truly enjoy the highs of spring and summer. ❄️🌷☀️🍃

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

I would love for you to follow me on TwitterInstagram,  Pinterest, and Facebook. You can find me as Looking Joli Good on all four.

Lifestyle

Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal.

Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal. 
~Thomas Moore

Do you ever wonder if you’ll go to Heaven when you die? Do you ever wonder where you’ll go after this life ends? 

I have a message of hope and life!  The gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, that He was buried, and that He rose on the third day.  And because of His sacrificial work of redemption, all people can be saved!

In order to be saved, you must personally receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

How do I do this?

Realize you are guilty before God, but you can be forgiven!        

  • Romans 3:10 – “There is none righteous, no, not one.”
  • Romans 3:23 – “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
  • John 3:17 – Jesus came “that the world through Him might be saved.”
Romans 3:10 | lookingjoligood.blog

Realize there is a punishment for sin, but…Jesus took your place on the cross!

  • Romans 5:8 – “But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8 | lookingjoligood.blog

Realize you cannot earn your way to Heaven, but…God offers you the free gift of eternal life!

  • Ephesians 2:8-9 – “For by grace are ye saved…not of works…it is the gift of God.”
  • Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  (See also: Revelation 20:14; 21:8; I John 5:11-13)
Romans 6:23 | lookingjoligood.blog

Believe that He died for your sins, that He rose from the grave, and that He is the only way for salvation!

  • John 3:16 – “That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Receive the gift of eternal life by calling upon Him!

  • Romans 10:13 – “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Romans 10:13 | lookingjoligood.blog

If you want to call upon the Lord for His salvation, pray this prayer to Him in humble sincerity:

“Dear Lord Jesus, I admit to You that I am a guilty sinner.  I am undeserving of Heaven and I am unable to save myself.  I believe you died on the cross to pay for my sins, and that you rose from the grave.  I am completely putting my trust in You to be my personal Savior.  Please forgive my sin and help me live a life that is pleasing to You.  Amen.”

**this post is adapted from my church’s website

lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

I would love for you to follow me on TwitterInstagramPinterest, and Facebook. You can find me as Looking Joli Good on all four.

Lifestyle

I Choose Happiness

20190115_081557_000027564610024714436.png

Psalm 34:8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

Proverbs 10:28 The hope of the righteous will be gladness, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.

Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

I would love for you to follow me on TwitterInstagram,  Pinterest, and Facebook. You can find me as Looking Joli Good on all four.

Lifestyle

Target Time! Finding What You Need and What You Never Knew You Needed

One of my favorite places to shop is Target!

Whether I am looking for home decorations, paper towels, new mascara, or a comfy cozy sweater, I can always find what I am looking for at Target.  (and what I’m not looking for.) .

It’s funny that walking into Target with a list almost always means that I will leave with $200 worth of stuff I didn’t need, and yet forget to buy the things on my list… The other day I went to Target because I needed bleach to clean my house, I came out with a whole new line up of hair care products, fortunately, I did remember the bleach though 😉

Several years ago (like 18, wow I’m getting old!) I signed up for a Target Red Card.  It was one of the best decisions I have ever made.  Over the years, I have saved so much money due to the 5% off discount, as well as the free shipping when shopping online.

While I am sure this totally sounds like an ad and it somewhat is, if you shop at Target, I recommend getting a Red Card.

Maybe you are not interested in opening up a new credit card, and I don’t blame you, having too many credit cards does not show up well on your credit report.  Target Red Card also offers a Debit Card option. It links to your existing checking account and you can make cash withdrawals at checkout up to $40.

 

  • Use it at any Target store or online at Target.com
  • Save 5%* on every shopping trip
  • Free standard shipping on Target.com* – minimum purchase threshold may apply
  • Free shipping on Target Restock orders
  • Get 30 extra days for returns*
  • Enjoy REDcard early access events & exclusive offers**
  • Receive a 10% off storewide coupon*** via email on your REDcard anniversary (redeemed in store only)****
  • Manage your card online using Manage My REDcard

*Restrictions apply. Visit the REDcard page for more details.
**Early access offered for select events, products and promotions. Some early access and exclusive extras may not be available to all REDcard holders. Visit the REDcard page for more details.
***Exclusions apply.
****The primary cardholder will be sent an offer via email after the card opening anniversary date. To qualify for the offer the primary cardholder must be signed up for marketing emails from Target and the card must be open and in good standing.

Which REDcard is right for you?

Target Red Card | lookingjoligood.blog

Debit card

  • Links to your existing checking account.
  • Cash withdrawal at checkout up to $40.
  • View transactions & manage your PIN at Target.com/myREDcard.

Credit card

Get $25 off a future qualifying purchase of $100 or more when you’re approved for a REDcard. Now through February 2.

As always, no pressure, but if you decide to get a Red Card let me know in the comment section below!

Laura lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

I would love for you to follow me on TwitterInstagram,  Pinterest, and Facebook. You can find me as Looking Joli Good on all four.

**this post contains some affiliate links