Hey Friends!

In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve decided to take an extended break from blogging to regroup and refocus.
Misshomegrownsoul.com will definitely be back with updates at some point soon.

I’ve often mentioned the importance of taking time off to get back to the drawing board and looking at the BIG picture when life gets hectic. Like many of you, life is certainly EXTRA busy for me these days.

Anyhoo!! Check back when you can or feel free to drop me a line at
misshomegrownsoul@gmail.com

As always…keep the faith!

Peace, Blessings, & Perseverance,

Renata

Hey Sista friends!

Long time…no see. I’m sorry for the delay, but there’s more underway. Yay! (Excuse my silly rhyme…lol.)

I’m just poppin’ in to make a quick post to share what’s been happening lately in my world.

Due to hectic circumstances, distractions, and well…endless projects that I have in store for you, I’ve decided to edit my list of goals and extend my weightloss goal to Sept. 31.

I’m going to work EXTRA hard to meet this new fitness deadline ya’ll…and guess who my current inspiration is? Ruby Gettinger!!! I came across a dvd for the reality weight loss show about Ruby while taking a trip to a local Lifeway bookstore. I’m just so amazed at how she bounces back from whatever setbacks in life to work towards her goal of ultimate fitness. To read more about Ruby Gettinger and her weight loss journey check out Ruby’s story.

Let’s root for Ruby as we work towards our own set of goals!!

Ladies…if you’ve ever thought that you can’t succeed just because you’ve fallen off course a few times…THINK AGAIN.

God gives us a new day to renew and start all over again with a clean slate, so if you, like myself, have slacked off a bit with your action plan, then don’t give up. GET BETTER!

Take time always to refresh & work towards livin’ out the dreams you have. Most importantly, remember to GET BACK ON COURSE!

Til next blogpost…

Peace, Joy, & Blessings,

Renata

Now that Christmas is over and we’re headed towards a new year, I’ve taken some extra time to reflect on a lot of stuff. Spiritual growth, relationships, family, health as well as personal/career goals are just a few matters that I’ve considered these days.

I’ve thought long and hard: “How can I show love & improve my relationships with others? Did I reach goal X,Y, & Z this year? Am I really where I want to be professionally?”

Ya know, sometimes the questions never seem to stop coming. Maybe the biggest process to growth is a dreaded one – the pruning process. When I looked up the word ‘pruning’ at thefreedictionary.com, I found the following definition:

To remove what is superfluous or undesirable

Superfluous? Undesirable?! Don’t we all have extra “stuff” floating around in our lives that is undesirable and needs clearing out?

One inconvenient truth that I’ve discovered is that In order to grow…some things must GO. So…what I’m in the process of doing now is taking inventory over my life and removing that which does not serve any good purpose. At first glance, some things are easy to spot out like um… extra pounds, a little (emotional/physical) clutter here and there…well, you get the point. But, the harder, deeper spiritual stuff will definitely require the power & grace of God.

Things to ponder as 2011 approaches:

1. What’s in your life now that is stressing you out? Pray about it and ask God to remove those stumbling blocks that are slowing you down.

If you’re constantly lending an ear to negative things (trashy music, gossip, etc.) or folks that make life unbearable, then please distance yourself and pray for them. (Hey…I know this may sound a bit crazy, but aren’t we all in need of prayer & forgiveness sometimes?? The meanest folks are usually the ones in need of the most compassion.)

2. What 3-5 goals are you pushing towards? Through faith & action, have you created an action plan to get there?

How about this thought: Eyes towards heaven in 2011? (YEAH!)

Peace & Blessings,

Renata

Sister…do you ever wrestle with the rear-view?? You know those past failures, mistakes, or disappointments that have a funny way of coming back to memory right when you’re trying to move ahead in life.

Like you (or maybe some of you), I’ve found that letting go of the past can sometimes be a HARD, gritty struggle. Within the past 5 years or so (maybe I should say a lifetime…lol), I’ve had to deal with some crazy, C-R-A-Z-Y stuff. Most of these hidden hurts stemmed from betrayal, feelings of loneliness, and a host of other hidden pains that I’m thankful to say God is releasing from me.

No matter how hard it can seem, the process of letting go of the past starts with the new ‘f’ word… forgiveness. Believe it or not, but letting go of the past issues , CAN free up more energy to be productive. (Aha!;-) Why waste precious time staring through a rearview of drama when you’re blessed with time right now to start AFRESH? Ever thought… “Okay. If I could just let go of this or that, my life would be so much better. I could step to a whole new level of enjoying life without a backwards mirror reminding me of prior disappointments and failures. Hmmmm…how nice would that be. IF only…”?

Girlfriend, changing your thought patterns will not be an easy transition, but it will be worth it! First things first, it all starts in the mind. Since the past is over and the future is not promised all that we really have left to cherish and enjoy is NOW. I’m not sure about you, but for me it seems that the more action we take towards improving our lives, the less time we have to think about that dreaded rear-view.

What if we could simply learn to:
Pray more…
Have faith more…
Dream more…
Forgive more…
LIVE more!!!

Here’s a scripture for today:
12-14I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back. –Philippians 3:12 (The Message)

Til next time…live.laugh.love.

~~~
Renata

If I had to come up with a simple analogy of taking action to pursue our dreams, I would have to say it’s a lot like feeding a baby. Whether you’re a mom or if you’ve ever babysat (lol!) then you have some idea of what it’s like to care for someone who is dependent on you.

As the mommy of a 2 year old, I can remember when my little CJ was a newborn. It seemed like the sleepless nights would never, EVER end. It didn’t take long for hubby & I to learn that parenting is a NONnegotiable deal. So…where am I going with this analogy you might ask?

Well, it’s the same idea with business. Frustration and mistakes will happen, and there will be days when you feel like doing absolutely NOTHING, but in the end, the business still needs to EAT in order to survive.

Okay now, for the sake of this blog post, let’s just say we’re all “parents” in a sense. With that in mind….are you feeding YOUR baby? Do your dreams have the nourishment needed for growth and success??

Here are some free & low-cost online resources to check out :

Coaching or mentoring
www.womanactnow.com
www.smallbizlady.com

Need to polish up those communications skills??
www.toastmasters.org

Networking
www.exceptionalwomen.org
www.christianladies.net
www.nacwib.com

Free Biz Financial Tool
www.outright.com

Til next time…peace & blessings 2 you & yours.

~~~
Renata

I really should have learned this one by now. In my head, I can imagine an elderly Sunday school teacher in front of a classroom saying “Class, now repeat with me 3 times: Judge not lest ye be judged. Judge not lest ye be judged. One more time now. You can do it! Judge NOT lest ye be judged.Got it??Good job!”

Isn’t it funny how life sometimes feels like running in a gerbil wheel?

God has been dealing with me recently about showing patience & love. While I’m in no way perfect, sometimes when I see spiritual ugliness in others, I’m too quick to forget that I could easily be “them”, or better yet, USED to be “that girl” you might see in public with a nasty mouth wrestling with 50 different issues. Although, I’ve come a long way spiritually, I’m no where near perfection, and that problem is what leads up to this blogpost I have to share with you today.

Whew!! Here’s how part of my Sunday went— I was at a local Nashville Kroger store, and as I got out of my car, I hear these 2 loud, what many would call, extremely “ghetto fab” ladies cussin’ and acting like immature kids with ADD. I grew so disgusted that I wanted to scream at them and say “Grow up! You don’t have to talk that loud. Get a LIFE!” Instead, with a small level of sarcasm, I asked them if they were from a particular city known for its um…”ghetto-ness”… and walked away.

Later as I was checking out, we were all in the same line and I looked at them with sheer disgust . Fortunately, a friend I remembered from high school greeted me with a hug, and immediately said in a sisterly way, “Hey Girl! Now…stop looking at them like that.” (Had my facial expression really been that obvious?)

Once I got home, I had to confront my own rudeness. I wondered, “Is that really the way I should have treated those ladies? Is that the way God wants us to treat others who may not have come to know His love yet?”)

It was clear that I BLEW it! I messed up a good opportunity to be kind to someone who may not have known any better. I missed the WHOLE point of the matter which was to offer kindness to those who may not have experienced a kind word…EVER. After all, aren’t we all sometimes products of what we’ve seen in life (good or bad)?

Honestly, if I were to share with you all of the foul, profane, rude things I’ve heard or said prior to having a relationship with Christ , you would probably think I grew up in the worst household in the world. LOL! Truth is…I didn’t, and that’s not even half the point.

The point is…while God has given me all the mercy, kindness, & love that I don’t deserve, this awkward “Kroger incident” makes me see that I should give that same love back to others no matter what type of mood I’m in.

So…what are your thoughts on loving unconditionally?

Are you willing to show compassion to folks who may work your last nerve??

Thought for the day…

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” –Luke 6:37

Peace & Blessings,

Renata

Have you ever heard someone say, “Girl…you can’t see the forest for the trees!”? I used to always wonder the meaning of that statement until I found myself in the same frame of mind—basically “the forest” representing the BIG picture while “the trees” represent the smaller parts that make it up.

I hate to admit this, but sometimes I try to do waaay too much, and it BACKFIRES. (Have you ever fallen prey to that scenario?) Often I find that there are so many targets to reach, and as hard as I think I’m working to move ahead, sometimes I still have problems seeing the BIG picture (with goal-setting) and life in general. Actually… setting the goal is not the hard part, it’s REACHING it. As you know, anyone can pretty much jot down or type about a thousand different goals to reach, and still not move any further in life. (So what do we do?)

I’m not sure if you’re like me in this area or not, but I do a good job of visualizing & writing stuff out, but in my humanness, I sometimes lose the motivation to do the W-O-R-K. Now…I don’t want this blog post to seem as though I’ve hardly reached any personal/professional goals.

Truthfully, God’s grace combined with faith and action has allowed me to reach many. BUT…I still have some unfinished business (Lol…don’t we all?), and this time I want to make it COUNT…literally. Its funny to me how some of the simplest goals can require the MOST stick-to-it-iveness. Yes. Life’s drama and setbacks will occur, but standing STRONG is the key.

Here’s my plan…

I’ll pick my top 5 goals and set timelines for achieving them. This will help me to avoid focusing on doing too many things at once. (Hey! Who says life can’t be fun, somewhat challenging and… SIMPLISTIC?)
So… my top 5 things to do ASAP are:

1. Stepping up Misshomegrownsoul.com. Similar to my life story, this blog too is a work in progress, and I’ll aim daily to become a better blogger so that you can look forward to good content that inspires and entertains you… faithfully.

2. Fitness. Beating the bulge is one of those battles that I’m determined to win by March 2011. (Yay! I’ve got 6 months to seriously fight this thing.)

3. Finishing up educational pursuits. This past May, I achieved my goal of completing an accredited web authoring program. Now… I’m working towards finishing my technology degree during the Spring, & by 2013 aim to hold a Bachelors in Interdisciplinary Studies with concentrations in Business and Religion. (Who says business & faith can’t have a happy marriage? )

4. To overall become a BETTER me. I sooo want to be a more compassionate wife/mommy/daughter/sister/niece/bff/artist/writer….well you get the picture. Lol.

5. Finally, the last but certainly not least of my goals is…to develop a stronger relationship with Christ. As long as I’m living, this step will be a daily process. As times get harder, I need more of my life to reflect Christ which means I should spend more time in prayer, studying the bible, and aiming to live like Jesus did. (Its not an obligation…it’s a desire.) After all, Jesus Christ served, loved others unconditionally and always led by example. Fortunately, His work still touches lives today, and even if you choose not to believe— the facts still remain. (He’s my hero and I remain inspired…)

For all my true believer friends out there searching…if you really wanna see the forest for the trees (the BIG picture), try looking UP to God and FORWARD to your dreams.

Peace & Blessings,

Renata

Ok. So after taking a little break from my blog, I learned something new about a particular dish that I didn’t think I should eat while on a low carb diet. Ya know, sometimes we don’t have to sacrifice flavor for good ole healthy food after all.

I know this may sound rather gross to those who hate squash, but I promise you this meal totally surprised my taste buds!

So here goes…

Ingredients

1 spaghetti squash
1 jar of spaghetti sauce ( your choice)
Italian seasoning
Salt/pepper
1 lb of beef or ground turkey
Parmesan cheese (optional)

Squash preparation:

Rinse spaghetti squash and cut about 5 slits in it for ventilation
Place in the microwave for about 12 min. or until tender
Set out & allow it to cool for about 5-10 minutes
Cut off the hard top and cut the rest of the squash in half
Remove the seeds
Take a fork, and scrape the insides of the squash out (You’ll notice that it looks a lot like angel hair spaghetti)
Place in a bowl or other dish and set aside

Now…for the Spaghetti Meat…
Brown the meat in a skillet
Drain it
Mix in the sauce & seasoning

Now, you’re ready to put your meat over the top of the “spaghetti”

Sprinkle on the Parmesan cheese…and enjoy!

May God Bless!! Cheers to tasty food…

~~~
Renata

Ugh! Have you ever been around someone that seems to take all of your energy?

Throughout life, I’ve seen my share of toxic relationships. From undercover backstabbers to competitive drama queens, it seems that no one is exempt from those that thrive off of negativity.

In case you haven’t noticed, joy stealers are like ticks that suck the lifeblood from others. I guess the main point here is understanding the motives behind the madness. You see joy stealers are rarely happy themselves, and that is why it is so important for them to drain happiness from others.

Here are 3 common joy stealers that I’ve had the “pleasure” of knowing:

Joy Thief #1-“The Blabber Mouth”- This joy stealer uses gossip and other mindless chatter to create confusion. Confusion is a distraction, and distractions are the enemies of progress. So pleeaaasse, don’t fall for it.

Joy Thief #2-“The Backstabber”-This clever “acquaintance” wants to know everything about EVERY-thing. This joy thief will quickly misuse business or personal trust to gain a leg up.

Joy Thief #3-“The Nay Sayer/Hater”- No matter how much of a good plan you have, this joy stealer will almost ALWAYS find something negative to say about it. Nothing is ever good enough. Please avoid this “associate” at all costs. For the nay sayer/hater, encouragement is never the name of the game.

So tell me… do any of these perpetrators sound familiar? On the surface, they might be hard to spot. But, in due time, their true colors will always show. My advice…break f-r-e-e asap!

‘til next time…

peace, love, and lots of joy!!

Renata

I’m thinking that Lisa McClendon had it right all along when she soulfully sang

“If I could put the world on pause…
Every days a fight
Just to give you my time
Just a moment of my time
But I know I’m never gon survive today unless I pray”

Ya know, sometimes it seems so hard to balance out family, work, and creative pursuits, but in the end a bit of stress is usually worth the reward. (Oh…how could I forget the obvious…time for God?). Ever felt like your spirit is almost sinking from the weight of life and needs a nice pick-me-up to kick start things?

I often wonder how some of the great leaders of our time, particularly female leaders, manage to balance out their careers while being great wives/bffs/ moms/sisters/aunts, etc. The good news is just when matters seem hopeless and unbearable, we often discover that it ALL really can be done…with just a bit of planning, preparation and some good ole’ r & r.
I’m learning that one true factor in success is knowing your personal limitations in order to avoid burnout. After all, no one person can be everything to EVERYBODY.

So…are you on the verge of burnout? Here are telltale signs to watch out for as well as steps to getting back that zest and passion you may crave! (Sounds delicious, doesn’t it?)

5 Signs of Burnout
1. You’re constantly irritable. (Does every little thing seem to set you off?)
2. Lack of enthusiasm. (Does your entire day seem to be lacking excitement?)
3. You’re overwhelmed by tasks.
4. Lacking energy mentally and physically.
5. Most items on your to-do list are left undone.

3 Ways to Rejuvenate Your Life
1. Take a retreat. Sometimes its good to get away from things for a little while. Surround yourself with nature in a place that offers lots of peace and quiet. This time away should be spent relaxing the body as well as and getting your mind and spirit renewed.
2. Make it a spa day. I know this may sound a little superficial, but really its all about pampering and bringing comfort to the mind and body. In fact, you easily do this at home with a few products from the kitchen, some nice music, and a little creativity.
3. Take the day OFF. Give yourself at least one day or a half a day of peace and quiet. Journal your thoughts, listen to some soft inspirational music, drink some tea, read your bible and just BE.

Oh…and thanks Lisa McClendon for the inspiration. Your melodies are more than music to my ears.

Lisa McClendon (Pause video)

Have a great weekend my Sisterfriends!