I know that giving thanks and being thankful is so good for you.  

When Jesus healed 10 lepers, only one came back to gave thanks and the Bible says he was made whole.

Everywhere I turn, I'm reading about being thankful and living with gratitude.  So I did some research to see if there were any studies on the power of gratitude.  And there is. 

Robert A. Emmons, Ph.D., a psychology professor at the University of California, Davis, and author of Gratitude Works!:  A 21-Day Program for Creating Emotional Prosperity set out to discover why is gratitude so powerful.  

“For too long, the concept of gratitude had been ignored,” said Emmons, director of the university’s Emmons Lab, which creates and shares scientific data on gratitude, its causes, and its potential effects on human health and well-being. He calls it “the forgotten factor in the science of well-being."

Emmons set out to research the ways that...

According to Human Needs Psychology and Life Coach, Tony Robbins, all humans have the same 6 fundamental needs.  These are not wants or preferences, they are needs and as these needs are met, they lead to our success and happiness. 

Each day we look to fill these needs or have these needs met.  We will either meet these needs in our lives in a healthy way or in an unhealthy way; In a constructive way or in a destructive way.  We always have a choice in how our needs are met.  

The 6 needs are:

Certainty - the need for safety, stability, security, order, predictability, control and consistency.  The ability to experience pleasure and avoid pain.

Uncertainty/Variety - the need for variety, surprise, challenges, excitement, differences, chaos,  adventure change, and novelty.  If everything is always the same we get bored.

Significance - the need to have meaning; to feel special, needed, wanted; a sense of importance and worthy of...

Halloween is over and we have handed out all of the candy.

One thing that I thought of while answering the door is that kids and people are all dressed as somebody they're not.  Some were cute and some were more on the scary side, but it was hard to tell who they were.

Halloween is not the only time people wear a mask.  Many people walk around every day wearing emotional masks.  Masks that cover up how they are really feeling and how they are really doing.  

So many people, myself included, can put on a fake facade because we don't want people to know the real us.  We're afraid that if they knew the real us, they wouldn't like us or might even reject us.  One thing that everybody longs for is to be known, but because of fear, we will put the mask on.

There is a mask of anger.  

Anger is a secondary emotion that covers up how we are really feeling.  If you can tell yourself to "get sad, not mad", you will be more likely to figure out...

Have you ever read Psalm 39?  I know I have read it before, but for some reason this time when I read it, it hit home. 

I'll put the verses here so you can see what I'm talking about:

Psalm 39 (NLT)  

I said to myself, “I will watch what I do and not sin in what I say.
I will hold my tongue when the ungodly are around me.”
² But as I stood there in silence— not even speaking of good things— the turmoil within me grew worse. ³ The more I thought about it,  the hotter I got,  igniting a fire of words:

Here it is again in the TPT:

Here’s my life motto, the truth I live by:
I will guard my ways for all my days.
I will speak only what is right, guarding what I speak.
Like a watchman guards against an attack of the enemy,
I’ll guard and muzzle my mouth
when the wicked are around me.
I will remain silent and will not grumble
or speak out of my disappointment.
But the longer I’m silent...

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN YOU’RE HUNGRY??

Since I’ve started my Easy Slimdown Blueprint Coaching Course, there have been so many breakthroughs in the ladies' lives!  Not only on the scales but in the ways they are thinking and changing their habits!

One of the habits we work on changing is to … Eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re full!

It sounds easy ...but…..

How does a person learn to listen to their body when they've been listening to the god of their stomach for so long?

How do you overcome the fear of, " If I stop counting calories, I’ll gain weight?"

"Can I really trust my body to do this when I’m already struggling with my weight?"

The answer is to listen to your hunger and full cycle, but many people don’t know how to do that. How do you know if you are truly hungry?

Hunger and appetite both influence you to eat, but there is a difference between the two.

Hunger is a craving or urgent need...

Everyone has a story and in the book of Revelation we are told that we can overcome by the word of our testimony or story.

Do you know how to tell your story?

We learned in school that every story has a beginning, middle and an end.  So how can we tell our story in about 5 min or less?  Here are 3 easy steps!

1. Tell about your life before you met Jesus.
2. Tell about the moment you met Him.
3. Tell about how your life has changed since you made Him Lord of your life.

Even the disciples have a story to tell! For example, Peter.

Even though he was a follower of Jesus, he was still getting to know and trust who Jesus was. Peter didn’t understand why Jesus wanted to wash his feet. He fell asleep when his friend Jesus needed him the most. He cut off a soldiers ear trying to protect Jesus. He denied Jesus 3 times after he said he would never do that.

Then after He died, rose again and spent 40 days on the earth, Jesus went to Heaven so God’s Spirit...

As we were planning Sisterhood, I met with a group of lady leaders at C3 to talk about what women struggle with.  Fear was a big topic.  They came up with a list of 10 areas of fear women tend to struggle with.   

I used the 10 areas in my sermon at Sisterhood but didn't get through all 10, so I wanted to list them for you.  And so those of you who need the blanks filled in can be at peace.  LOL!!!

I also interview the girls who are my legacy, my two daughters and my daughter-in- love.  I was so proud of them.   They were raw and real and so transparent.  You can watch the intervew here. 

You can watch the Sisterhood sermon here.   This is a pic Matt posted of me preaching.  (there are more pics at the end of the blog)

Forms of Fear - Afraid, Agitated, anxious, frightened, hesitant, dread, nervous, scared, shy, tense, timid, uneasy, nauseated, restless, preoccupied, worried, tense, terrified, insecure,...

35 Verses to Declare Over Fear

Get a FREE PRINTABLE download with these 35 verses on them! 

I love our "You Asked For It" series.  It is always interesting to see what topics people want to learn about and what the Bible has to say about them.

But God just doesn't want us to just have the knowledge, He wants us living out what His Word says. 

If we trust that God is for us and that He has a great plan and purpose for our life, we will obey Him.  

So let's not just ask questions to ask questions, let's do what God tells us to do.

This week I spoke on Biblical Parenting. 

Really, parenting is leadership.  Where are you leading your kids?  Can you say follow me as I follow Christ?

You can watch the sermon here.  You can also check out this past sermons on parenting here and here.  

If you feel like you need help knowing what the Bible has to say about parenting, we will have C3 Connect Groups on Biblical Parenting in the fall.  If you don't go to C3 Church, check out your church's connect groups to see if they...

On June 7, 2019 my son Caleb Fry married the love of his life Emily Floars.

Caleb and Emily grew up together at C3 Church.  Both grew up serving and being involved in connect groups and student ministry.  Both have been on international mission trips.  After a trip to Africa, they started dating.  (Get involved in church, you might meet your spouse.) 

We were so proud of Caleb and how he honored Emily's parents.  He asked Kevin and Janet if he could take Emily to coffee, then asked if he could date her, and finally asked if he could marry her.  

Our families have known each other for years.  So it is fun to not just be friends, but to now be family.

It was an awesome day full of God's hand of blessing on it.  He held off the rain and it was not too hot.  It was beautiful.

Ephesians 5:31: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”

The...