Sometimes it can be such a cliche to tell someone to “trust God” or to “trust the process” – especially when you’re going through some tumultuous times.
When you have more month than you have money, when your mother is enduring her second battle with breast cancer, when your marriage is going down the drain, when you’re trying to get pregnant and the doctor’s tell you there’s only a 10% chance of that happening, when you just got fired, when you’ve been looking for a job for over 6 months, when you stepped out on faith to build the business of your dreams but no sales are coming in, when you write the book that’s been rejected by 27 publishers, when your car breaks down AGAIN and you have no way to get to work, when your child has been diagnosed with Autism, when you don’t know where your next dollar is coming from, when everyone in your family is at each other’s throats, when the man you thought you were going to marry cheats on you, when the father of your child leaves you, when you find out your 15 year old niece is pregnant, when your son decides to join a gang, when all hell breaks loose in your life…
The LAST thing that you want to do is to have someone tell you to trust God. Or the even more common cliche phrase that we tell each other when we’re bombarded with sour lemons, “Everything happens for a reason.”
Contrary to popular belief people are hurting beyond what you can imagine behind closed doors. The deception of social media is that everyone is getting along fine. What we fail to realize is that people post their highlight reels, not their behind-the-scenes. So while you’re dealing with your own launchpad of problems, the only thing that you can think of is, “Am I the only one?”
Nope, you’re not. Everybody is dealing with something.
I don’t want to underestimate anything that you’re currently facing or what you’ve been through. So it’s fine to feel overwhelmed, hurt, angry, discouraged or frustrated.
Out of those feelings of hurt, anger, confusion, frustration, loneliness, it’s normal to want to find some way to fix the problem. Human beings are wired to want to take the path of least resistance. So all you know is that you have a problem and you want to fix it – by any means necessary.
Have you ever tried to fix a problem that you’re having and it only gets worse? Or nothing seems to change?
You try to fix your man and he only pushes you away further. You try to be the mediator in your family drama and to no avail. You try to do everything in your power to get that promotion at work and you get passed over again. You start making attempts to get pregnant every night and the pregnancy test still comes back negative. You want to change your child but every time you have that talk with him, it goes in one ear and out of the other. Your business isn’t making sales so you try every marketing strategy you know and still nothing.
Well have you actually taken a chance on this whole “trusting God” thing? Is this challenge an opportunity for you to learn to trust God and see Him do what only He can and maybe the more you keep trying to fix it on your own, the more you’re delaying the breakthrough?
While during my quiet time the other night, I felt this rise up in my spirit “Trust me.” I know when God is trying to get a message to me because it’s often repeated. He’ll use people, circumstances, movies, songs, messages at church and anything else to confirm that message in my heart.
As my pastor shared a powerful message on seeing our challenges as opportunities to trust God and see Him work, the tears careened down my cheeks. Why? Because again, God was sending me a clear message to trust Him, that He was on my side and that I could count on Him.
So can you.
One of my biggest problems has been my pride and arrogance until last year. I thought that I knew better than God so I would always try and fix my own problems. I would try to manipulate circumstances in order to get what I want. I wanted to fix my problems and the people around me the way that I saw fit.
It wasn’t until I was faced with a series of events that were too gigantic for me to fight on my own – not that I didn’t try. But I kept fighting in my own ability, limited knowledge and false humility. I realized that I was in a bigger battle that I couldn’t win on my own, and that’s when I started humbly asking God for His help.
There’s a song that I suggest you listen to called “Sometimes It Takes a Mountain” by Gaither Vocal Band. The lyrics of the chorus go “Sometimes it takes a mountain, sometimes a troubled sea. Sometimes it takes a desert, to get a hold of me. Your love is so much stronger, than whatever troubles me. Sometimes it takes a mountain to trust you and believe.”
If there is anything that I know about God is that He loves to get the glory and He loves to be trusted and believed in. He will allow circumstances to arise so that He can come in and do what only He can so that He can get the glory in order for your trust in Him can be strengthened.
The reason why it’s hard to trust God in our challenges or believe that God will really help us is because we don’t really know how much God loves us. We want to control the problem, the people, the circumstances out of fear – the fear of disappointment, pain, rejection or failure.
I see it all that time in how we talk about God. We say that we pray and believe but in the depths of your heart is unbelief or this notion that God can do it but He won’t do it for you or that the God of miracles and breakthroughs is just a story that was made up. As a result, we want to control the problem.
And I get it, I was like that too and still struggle to trust God to work things out on my behalf. But I believe that this very message is God trying to get a hold of you as He uses me to tell you that He sees you, He hears your cry, He’s on your side and you can trust Him for the breakthrough.
His love is far greater than whatever is troubling you. I told you that I wanted to do everything in my own strength and understanding until I was faced with mountains that were far too great for me and it was those things that got my attention that made me realize that I was not in control – only He was.
So if you want to see true victory, it’s time to wave your white flag and surrender. Stop trying to fix it, stop trying to figure it out. Give it to God once and for all and trust Him for your family, job, marriage, relationship, money, home, business, health or any other problem that’s presented itself.
This challenge you’re facing is your opportunity to trust God, let Him do what only He can and just maybe this is the test that you need to pass in order to get to see your victory.
He wants to take the problem and show you His matchless power. Will you let it go into His hands and trust Him? Or will you keep trying to control it?
I know that there’s probably something that you’ve been believing for, working towards, praying about or hoping will change. Not only have you been hoping that you’ll see your breakthrough, but you’ve been waiting for what seems to be like an eternity for it.
You’ve paid your dues. You’ve done the work. You’ve prayed and cried. You’ve witnessed others around you receive their breakthrough and you’re still waiting.
As a matter of fact, you’re starting to think that maybe it will never happen. At the top of the year, you were proclaiming that this is the year that you’ll see it happen and God will deliver on His promises. But after recent events, you’re thoughts are telling you, “Well, maybe this just isn’t for me. Maybe this just isn’t my time. Maybe this will never happen.”
You’re looking at everything that’s happening around you and as a result, you are totally discouraged.
And I get it! Things aren’t getting any better in the natural, as a matter of fact they may have gotten worse. You have every right to feel disappointed after what you’ve been through.
But what if what’s holding back the breakthrough is you and not the circumstances. What if the recent events in your life have been allowed to test you, to see if you’re really ready to walk into your land of fulfilled promises, miracles and breakthroughs?
While at dinner with one of my dearest friends the other night, I realized this. Or better yet, she made me realize that I was the one holding back the very thing I had been believing God for. I recognized that I had allowed recent events to rattle my faith. As a result, I would keep going around the same mountain until I learned to pass the test so that I could get to the other side. On the other side is every dream in my heart manifested. Nevertheless, I had to learn how to fight this battle a little differently.
Every breakthrough and every miracle in your life is going to be surrounded by warfare. What I mean is that it won’t be handed to you, you are going to have to fight for it. How?
By having bulldog faith!
Last week I shared that you have an enemy who seeks to steal, kill and destroy everything that matters to you and what the adversary is after most is your confidence, your peace and your joy.
Sometimes certain events are allowed in our lives to see if we’re ready to receive the breakthrough. God doesn’t want you to be so easily rattled by any little thing that seems to oppose whatever it is that you’re believing for. You can’t be so easily shaken and if you are, you are the one that’s holding back your breakthrough.
For example, let’s say that you’re believing for a promotion at work but your superiors tell you that it’s highly unlikely that you’ll get the coveted position. You decide to believe the superiors instead of pressing in on your faith and believe God. What sense does it make to ask God for something if you don’t believe that He’ll do it? Because you decided to believe them instead of having bulldog faith about your new role, you’ve failed your test and back around the mountain you go.
We go from faith to faith. Therefore, the reason why we have to pass these tests of faith is because the tests of faith will only get more challenging as we grow.
Let’s say that you’ve made a decision to quit your job to pursue your entrepreneurial dreams full-time. Now a few days before you put in your letter of resignation, you get offered a new job at another company making more money than you ever made in your life. Even though your heart’s true desire is to start your own business, you decide to take the new job because you want the financial security.
Saddle up baby girl because you’re getting ready to go around the same mountain!
That job offer was not a coincidence, it was a test to see if you were really ready to manifest that dream of becoming the owner of what could be that multi-million dollar brand. Will you choose comfort or courage? You can’t always have both.
There are two types of test that will come that we must pass in order to see our greatest dreams and prayers fulfilled. The first test is the test of your faith. These are the nuances that happen that seemingly oppose what you’re believing for. The key is to not allow these nuances to distract, discourage or rattle you. You put the fear, doubt, anxiety under your feet. You look at the circumstance in the face and you are not even bothered by it, because you are totally confident that you will see your breakthrough.
The second type test is the test to see if you’re ready and if you really want whatever it is that you’re asking for. These tests usually come disguised as opportunities that want to serve you but are only traps to hold you back. My example with the job offer above is one of them. If you choose the job over your destiny then you’re not ready to become that entrepreneur because if you can’t trust God to provide for your financial needs now then you won’t be able to trust God later when you have to pay a staff of 25 employees. You’re not ready yet.
Let me give you another example of this type of test. Let’s say that you want to get married as you’re tired of kissing frogs. You are ready for Prince Charming. Well, you start meeting guys that have potential but in your heart, you know they are not the one. However, out of your loneliness, you decide to entertain these guys anyway. Saddle up, because you just failed the test. Instead of making room for your husband and focusing on become a wife, you decided to go after temporary pleasures. You are not ready.
Here’s a major key alert: Start to see yourself as whatever it is that you’re believing for. If you want to become a wife, then starting seeing yourself as one. If you want to be wealthy, then start seeing yourself wealthy. If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, then start seeing yourself making those sales. If you want to be secure, then start seeing yourself as confident and whole. If you want live in that new home, start seeing yourself decorating.
It’s up to you if you will saddle up one more time and keep going around the same mountain or will you finally pass the tests and see 2017 be the year where you finally get to say, “This was the BEST year of my life!.”
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
@embraceherlegacy
embraceherlegacy.com
So the other day I was in your inbox with perhaps that most radical message I’ve ever shared and this one is no different. I told you that you have an enemy who is alive and well, cultivating strategic attacks against you and everything that is attached to you in order to steal your joy, kill your faith and destroy your destiny.
I threw a lot at you and I know it can seem like “made up, spooky stuff” but that’s exactly one of the lies that your adversary uses to keep you from knowing the truth. Most importantly, he wants to keep you from fighting back, the right way.
Here’s the thing, he has invisible agents that are the culprit behind most of your most hurtful circumstances, storms, betrayals, delays, frustrations and pain. However, if you don’t know that, you’ll be looking at the circumstance or the person that’s hurting you instead of looking at that the invisible forces that are behind the attack.
Let me give you a perfect example.
Let’s say that you are in a committed relationship for years. You are in love and this guy is the man of your dreams who you know that you are going to marry. After a few years, you discover that this man has cheated on you several times. You are in complete and utter shock, pain, anger and resentment. You’re ready to get your bat, your girls and do some serious damage.
You are so hurt by this guy and as a result of this wound, you become bitter, angry and fearful and you don’t know how you’ll go on. You decide to stay mad at this guy, not discerning the invisible agents that set up this attack on you years before the two of you even met.
Let me explain further.
When that little boy, who is now a 32 year old man, was about 5 years old, he was removed from his home and put into a foster home because of alleged abuse in the home. What he thought was a perfect marriage modeled in front of him, has now transformed into an ejection out of the home leaving him confused, rejected and hurt.
He comes back home at age 9 after a few years in the foster care system, thinking that he’ll come home to a restored and happy family, only to be rejected by his father as he walks in the room to greet his father with a big hug and his father completely disregards him. Things start going from bad to worse. His mom harbors resentment, bitterness and anger towards his father. His father shares the similar sentiments towards his wife which lead to a nasty divorce in that boy’s teenage years. Not to mention his father is carrying a colossal size pain from his very own upbringing and holds onto his extreme bitterness towards his ex-wife and all women for the next 25 years. The children (including your man), grow up seeing this.
The happy, hopeful little 5-year old boy never came back home, nor was he ever healed, he just grew into a wounded man. As a result of what he witnessed in his home and resentment towards his mother (because he believes that his mother was the culprit behind the demise of his perfect childhood), he now harbors a hidden resentment towards women. All he really wants to get is to get back the childhood that was stolen from him. Who is it that comes to steal, kill and destroy again?
You and your man meet when he’s about 21. The two of you have a bright destiny together. But those unresolved issues from his past causes him to fear total commitment to you. Not to mention, the rejection from his father only fuels those feelings of low self-worth and inadequacy (which his father also possesses). He hasn’t accomplished any real goals in life and as a result, the only thing that he is led to believe he’s good at is offering good sex which leads to several “cheatations” on you. To add insult to injury, he is surrounded with friends who know absolutely nothing about being men of honor and who are broken little boys themselves who operate with the same mentality.
You are so mad at him, but little do you know that all of this was a strategic attack that was set up before the two of you even met to knock you out. Your enemy knew that the 2 of you would meet and that you are a problem for him. He knows that if you achieve your destiny that not only will lives be forever changed, but his plans would be revealed.
While you’re busy being mad at the guy, there is an invisible enemy who set this all up. The abuse in his home, his parent’s low self-worth, the broken marriage, his friends, his low self-worth…was brought on by an organized attack against you and him by an invisible team.
You’re mad at him while your enemy is laughing at you saying, “I got her.”
I know this may seem crazy but it happens every day all of the time. We are mad at the wrong enemy. We are mad at each other when there is someone else who’s to blame. We fight everyone else but him, only partnering in his plan to destroy us.
But here’s the good part. Although he is crafty and good at what he does, there’s Someone even greater, actually the Greatest who is on your side. He created you in His image and His name is power. He loves you so much even though you may not always feel it. He is the triune God, who’s Kingdom is FAR GREATER than your enemy’s.
You cannot defeat the enemy on your own but you can defeat Him with God on your side. As a matter of fact, He’s already been defeated. God lives on the inside of you and he wants to fight for you but it’s up to you to start asking for help. God is a gentleman and he will not impose himself on you but all you have to start doing is start calling on His name to help you.
God can take all the pain you’ve been through and start making things new in your life, including you. He can take that hurt of being cheated on, taking advantage of, betrayed, abused, mistreated, robbed, broke and turn things around in your favor. He heals the broken hearted, He binds the wounds of your soul, He loves you unconditionally and He will fight for you.
God will give you double for your pain, beauty for ashes and deliver you from your enemies. What loving Father wouldn’t?
As as result of several personal attacks on my life, I had to learn to start surrendering my life to God. I learned how to run to Him for help, not people. I learned how to start fighting the right way once I realized that I was in a warfare. I had to stop trying to take care of myself and trust Him to take care of me.
First, I started praying fervently for God’s help. I had to humble myself and pray and admit that I was trying to fix my life in my own strength. I wanted to vindicate, avenge and restore myself but God wanted me to trust Him for that.
Next, I started praying strategically. Gone were the “Now I lay my head down to sleep” prayers. I started to engulf myself in Scriptures that spoke directly into my circumstances. I would write out my prayers and then attach a promise of God to the prayer. I started praying the Word of God.
Once I recognized that strategic attacks were coming against me, I went to the Scripture to find a promise of God to counterattack. I become an full-fledged warrior. When the thoughts of defeat come, I have the most powerful weapon in my mouth…the word of God.
Another way I started fighting back was with forgiveness. I knew that part of the enemy’s plan would be to keep me in bitterness and resentment. So one day, I wrote down every offense that I was carrying and while pouring out tears over them, I literally “gave them to God.” I refused to carry it any longer. I forgave others and asked for forgiveness to those I knew I had hurt. There is nothing more than the enemy hates than to see you walk in love, he is the antithesis of love.
Also, I started to “die to myself.” I surrendered my will to God’s will. I realized that I had been extremely arrogant thinking that I could do things my way and not suffer any consequences from the the decisions I was making. So I embraced discipline, obedience and living to please God instead of my feelings (which I can’t really trust anyway.) I began to live by this principle, “Before I am anything else, I am a child of God.” Because my identity was rooted in that, my actions and reactions changed.
Finally, I learned to praise and worship God not for what He could do for me, but for Who He is and now I’m in the BEST place I’ve ever been. I wake up with joy, I’m hitting major goals, I feel unstoppable, I’m in love with who I am and most importantly, I know how to fight and win.
It’s on my heart heavy this week to start sharing what I’ve learned and to start coaching women through some of your own personal battles that have risen against you, your goals, your dreams, your finances, your relationships and your homes.
As a result, I’m offering some super affordable Goals Coaching + Soul Enriching sessions for anyone who enrolls in a session within the next 24 hours only. I am going to show you how to create a strategic plan to fight back against anything what’s setting itself up to steal your destiny. I’m even making these sessions longer than my normal sessions because I want to give God the room to work in our calls.
This offer expires tomorrow at 4pm ET so if this is something that can even somewhat can help you, please do yourself a favor and schedule a session. Your destiny is worth it.
Can I be honest with you? I hesitated to write this particular message because of fear that it was “too deep” or “too spooky” and that it would be rejected.
But one of the problems is that too many of us remain silent in fear of rejection or ridicule at the cost of other people’s souls. That won’t be me.
I would love to sit here and tell you that life is always going to be a skip in a garden of lilies but if you’ve lived long enough then you know that’s a straight up lie. Life will throw some sour lemonades that can leave you feeling defeated, hopeless, anxious, and filled with despair.
As a result, our souls become wounded. In order to cope with our wounds, we look for satisfaction and meaning in temporary pleasures, bars, someone’s bed, the new body we bought, the degree, the social media followers, the chase of money, the corner office, the clothes, the relationship and anything else that will temporarily “heal” the wound and make us feel better.
I’ve been there and done that so I know. You’re not alone as I was a professional at doing this. I sought my meaning in relationships, my career, my body, my money and men for years until I allowed God to heal me. Anyone who knows me from that time in my life can attest to this and my transformation.
We put so much effort in fixing our outside but imagine what would happen if you took that same amount of effort and focused on fixing what’s going on on the inside.
But we’ve been deceived to think that all those sour lemons that life has given us are mere coincidences. We chuck it up to all too familiar phrases like “Bad things happen to good people” or “Everything happens for a reason”; not understanding that there is an invisible enemy that you and I both have that’s been studying you, me and the human race since the beginning of time.
One of his greatest and most profound efforts has been convincing people that he doesn’t exist. That he’s “a myth” or “negative energy” that can be removed with some sage or crystals. No, I’m sorry but I can’t keep quiet about this anymore. He is alive and well and he has a kingdom of invisible agents who are out to steal, kill and destroy you and everything that is attached to you. His name is Satan and his mission is to have you suffer; not only that but he will use anything he can to get you to partner in his plan to sabotage your own life. He is organized, he is a master liar, he is diligent, he is strategic, he has power, he is crafty, he is deceitful, he is patient, he has agents that work for him and most importantly, he is smarter than you.
I told you that this message was going to get deep.
I’ve tried to be quiet for a long time but after I experienced a very real and personal attack against me, my relationship, my family, my business, my home and my finances – I understand that I can no longer keep my mouth shut.
There’s a Scripture that quotes, “My people suffer for a lack of knowledge.” Most of us don’t know that we’re in a battle so how can you win a fight that you don’t even know you’re in?
Everything good in your life that you want to see happen, every goal you want to see accomplished, every dream that you’re working towards, the family that you desire, the dream marriage that your heart wants, the freedom from bondage to fear, worry and anxiety and EVERY promise that God has put in your heart is surrounded by warfare.
Your enemy and his agents have been studying you, your family and every generation that came before you. Why?
Because they want to know what triggers you and what’s in your family bloodline in order to set up strategic and highly organized attacks against you. There have been attacks set up against you that started when you were young so that he could get you to start feeling rejected, inadequate and steal your destiny. Once you’re in bondage to those negative emotions, he will shine something in front of you that promises to please you but only seeks to enslave you. Again, he is the master deceiver.
Look at your family history. I’m sure that you will find a common thread of some sort of familiar issue. Perhaps it’s broken marriages, alcoholism, drug addiction, strife, division, physical abuse, sexual abuse, poverty, mental illnesses and the list can go and on.
This is no coincidence, this is a result of a specific plan to destroy as these are familiar attacks from agents who know what you are susceptible to. Why do you think there are certain weaknesses that you constantly struggle with?
It’s because your enemy knows you very well and he knows exactly what to strategic move to organize in order to keep you down. He’ll use people around you, relationships, people at your job, your family, financial pressure, attacks on your health and most importantly, he’ll use your thoughts (which you’re deceived to believe are your own), to get steal your joy, kill your faith and destroy your destiny.
That infidelity in your relationship, that co-worker who throws you under the bus or the fact that your father left, that addiction, that constant worrying, that abusive relationship, that financial crisis…not a coincidence.
Why does this being go so hard? Because he knows that if he can destroy you, he can destroy the territory that belongs to you. If he can keep you unaware of his plots and in bondage to fear or the past, then he can steal your destiny. This is not about you girl, this about every person you will influence as a result of you realizing your destiny.
The funny thing is that your enemy believes in you more than you do. He is SO scared of who you will become and what you will accomplish that he had to start early, even generations before you to set up his strategy to knock you out. I have such a personal testimony about this, one that I will share when the time is right.
Last year, things got really ugly for me and now I know why. Just me writing this message to you is a counter-attack that is probably sending shockwaves in the atmosphere. Don’t worry because I’m personally praying for you.
I know this is a deep message but I do what I do to serve God so I will not take it personally if this is too much for you. I’m just so tired of seeing us losing. I’m tired of seeing families ripped apart and children suffering. I’m tired of seeing our marriages sabotaged. I’m tired of seeing us struggling to pay our bills. I’m tired of us being too scared to build the business. I’m tired of seeing us seeking validation in what we do. I’m tired of seeing us getting cosmetic surgeries to heal emotional wounds. (If this is you, don’t feel judged or offended, I’m simply trying to get us to be whole and healed on the inside).
It’s time to fight back with the truth.
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
Founder & CEO
Embrace Her Legacy
@embraceherlegacy
I don’t think that there has ever been a human being that hasn’t dealt with doubt.
You may have yet to discipline your mind so you fail to ever believe that something good is going to happen. Or you may be one of those people whose been constantly disappointed that you don’t believe anything until you see it.
You can be the person on the other side of the spectrum who has faith but perhaps you’re not consistent in your faith. You allow your circumstances, what you see or past disappointments to fuel doubtful thoughts in your mind.
I will never understand why it’s so much easier to doubt or live in fear than it is to believe and walk by faith. But I do understand that believing for what you want to happen is not a one time gig; it’s something that must be practiced daily.
It’s kind of like brushing your teeth, just because you’ve done it perhaps 10,000 times doesn’t mean that you stop doing it. You continue to do it because you know the benefits of brushing your teeth. The consequences for deciding to stop brushing your teeth will result in decay…and some serious bad breath too!
Do you know that doubt causes the decay of your dreams? Decay is a process of deterioration meaning that it happens over time, little by little. This is how doubt eats away at your destiny; just one day at a time.
What is it that you want to see happen in your life but you’ve allow doubt to chew it away?
Do you want to get married but you doubt ever meeting the right guy? Do you want your current marriage to change for the better but you doubt things will change? Do you want to get out of student loan and credit card debt but you look at those numbers and doubt it ever happening? Do you want to become an entrepreneur but you believe that’s impossible right now? Do you want to see your family relationships restored but you think it’s never going to happen? Do you want to start making an income of $100,000 per year but you believe it’s only wishful thinking? Do you want to make a career shift but you doubt being able to succeed?
While I was spending quiet time with God last night, I felt this impressed upon my spirit, “Make up your mind to believe.” It’s not a coincidence that earlier that day, I attended church where one of our pastor’s shared a powerful message on doubt. Then a few days ago, again while spending quiet time with God, I felt this rise up in my spirit “Settle it in your heart.”
I knew God was trying to tell me something, and I knew exactly what He was referring too.
Doubt rises in your mind, heart and emotions. When you doubt, you’re easily tossed to and fro. You are never settled which is exactly why I knew God wanted me to simply believe with my heart and mind. God doesn’t want you to live unsettled because He wants you to trust Him.
Here’s the thing…I don’t think we understand Who we’re believing in so this ignites doubt.
In the message that was shared by my pastor yesterday, he defined doubt as – “Doubt is to question something or someone’s quality or goodness.” Then he went on to share, “If the nature of something is weak then you’ll doubt it. But if the nature of something is strong then you’ll trust it.”
Are you doubting God’s goodness? Are you doubting His strength?
I had begun to doubt and was unsettled in my mind because I didn’t fully embrace God’s nature. I started to doubt His strength and goodness because I had allowed my past disappointments to influence my ability to wholeheartedly believe and keep believing.
That’s when doubt rises the most, when you have to keep believing even though you don’t see any changes happening. Then fear comes is in to intimidate you with the lies that it’s never going to happen so you might as well quit and stop believing.
Wherever fear or doubt is knocking at your door, then it’s time to send faith to answer. God loves you and He’s not holding out on you. Be still and know that whatever it is that you’re believing for that you must make up your mind to believe.
A made up mind isn’t easily deterred by any little thing that comes up to threaten what you’re believing for. A made up mind chooses to believe in spite of what the present circumstances are. A made up mind will see her victory!
But every time you doubt, you are frustrating God’s power. Faith connects you to God while fear connects you to your adversary. Fear and doubt want to attack your mind as well as your heart so that then fear and doubt can control your will and emotions.
We live in a world where the view of God is that you have to do something first in order to get God to do something. Oh contraire!
The way to please God is with childlike faith. He wants to be trusted and depended on. You were not created to carry those burdens so let God do what only He can do.
God can make the impossible possible in your life. As a matter of fact, that’s His specialty. I know that God wants to you make up your mind to believe Him. Settle it in your heart. Reject the doubt and do not accept the reports of fear in your mind.
Wherever you are, I want to you know that things are going to turn around in your favor. Do you still believe that 2017 is going to be the best year of your life? I do!
Hey Fabulous Lady! I hosted this live class on Feb. 8th on 3 Steps to Use Your Pain to Birth Your Dreams and Create Change and you can download the class for limited time only so I suggest you download now!
This is a special free class where you’re going to learn how to using your pain points (past disappointments, failures, delays, setbacks, hurts) as a catalyst to boost confidence in achieving health, spiritual, financial, personal growth, relationship and career goals.
It’s time to let go of the former things because God wants to do a new thing in your life! Will you join me? Download the class below! XOXO, Maria I. Melendez Founder & CEO Embrace Her Legacy
So the other day I met with one of my former students from my Embrace Her Legacy Academy and she told me something so motivating that I nearly started crying in the middle of the coffee shop. Yep, I’m a crier.
She recently traveled to her parent’s home country, Bangladesh, over the summer. I asked her how her trip went and she proceeds to say, “I kept thinking about you and all the principles that you taught me. I wish I could just clone you, have little you’s in my pocket and distribute you around the country because they need you and what you teach.”
Cue the tears in 3, 2, 1…
Why? Because at that moment I was reminded that achieving my destiny and courageously accomplishing my goals is not about me, it’s about the lives that I have been called to serve with my gifts, talents and abilities. In my most challenging times where I felt like walking away from it all, I always knew that there is a woman or a girl somewhere who is counting on me to get through this.
When she said this, she didn’t know the amount of encouragement and affirmation she was pouring out into my spirit.
So I’m telling you this –
Somebody, somewhere is waiting for you to do what God has called you to do.
Little did my former student know that the summer prior to me launching our Embrace Her Legacy Academy, I experienced a MAJOR fail when I tried to launch the program in Summer 2015 and had only 1 student apply.
Instead of me crying about it for days, I got back up on my feet and identified every resource I had access to in order to re-launch the program in Fall of 2015 – this time with students. I did just that and now the Embrace Her Legacy Academy is my most successful program to date. I work with hundreds of high schools in the New York City area who market the program amongst their students and send me the most qualified, success-oriented high school girls in the area to participate in the program.
Imagine if I would have quit after that first fail? I would have never met her nor been able to impact a country thousands of miles away!
Here’s the deal girlfriend – your life is as assignment and there is something that is unique to you, your skills, your abilities, your story and your gifts that is going to propel you into that assignment.
Fear loves to come in and steal the seed of your success before you even give it a try.
Why?
Because if I’m your enemy and I want to steal your destiny, then it’s much easier for me to steal your seed of success than your tree of success. Let’s say you were to plant an apple seed into the ground, then it’s going to take time, the right soil, the right amount of sunlight and water for that seed to grow into a beautiful apple tree. If I want to steal something from you, I’ll just steal the seed because it’s easier to take away that than to plow a big apple tree out of your backyard.
We’ve allowed fear, doubt, uncertainty, limited thinking, regret and every other things to steal the seed of our dreams. It’s time to take your seed back and live within your assignment!
As you know, I’m committed to seeing you achieve your goals. But more than achieve your goals, I want you to fulfill the assignment that you have on your life because someone, somewhere is waiting on you to do so.
Your grandchildren being successful engineers may be a direct result of your choice to go back to school for engineering. A woman’s life being saved from human trafficking may be a direct result of you starting that organization that fights the trafficking of woman and girls. You can change the course of an entire generation!
There is a bride who is waiting to feel like the most beautiful woman in the world on her wedding day because you did her bridal make-up.
I know that discovering your assignment or pursuing your purpose can feel overwhelming because you may not know where to start. Or you feel like you start and you allow procrastination or the frustration of delay, failure or lack of support to stop you.
I’ve dealt with it all and I’m going to teach you exactly how to navigate through the confusion, fear, procrastination and frustration to achieve your life’s assignment AND I’m going to show you how to become disciplined enough to do it.
That’s why I’m here girl! On Saturday, I’m going to be sharing with you something new and special that I’ve been working on to help you understand and navigate through that assignment. Those dreams, those desires are not a coincidence. They were given to you for a reason..to birth them.
You were not created to just pay bills and die. Yes, you can build a life that allows you to order what you want at any restaurant instead of going for the cheapest thing because you can’t afford what you really want. Yes, you can kick that smoking habit to the curb and be in your best, physical shape. Yes, you can have time to spend with your children and husband while you build a 6-figure business. Yes, you can pay off those student loans and not have to dodge anymore phone calls.
When you come to the end of your life, what do you want to be proud of? Do you want to have allowed fear to stop you from living out your dreams? Will you be another person who got on the hamster wheel of life (moving fast but going nowhere), but never got off?
I want you to think about where you want to go, not where you been. Think about where you want to be in five years – not where you’ll settle for.
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
@embraceherlegacy
embraceherlegacy.com
We’re coming off an event filled weekend. We have a new president, the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons are going to the Superbowl and millions of women marched advocating for the advancement of women and girls all over the world.
My social media feed was anything but boring.
As I perused through hundreds of photos from the Women’s March, I was filled with excitement to see women standing as a united front. Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but to think, “Will this excitement and empowerment trickle into our offices, schools, break rooms and relationships come Monday morning?”
I’ve personally experienced cattiness, competition and outright disrespect from women in the workplace – which was the seed that was used to inspire the birth of Embrace Her Legacy.
Before change or healing can begin, we as women, have to learn to acknowledge the parts of us that are wounded, hurt or frustrated. Those feelings of abandonment, rejection, betrayal or bitterness are valid but can be deceitfully masked with accomplishments, healthy bank accounts, education, corner offices, booming businesses, impressive social media influence and powerful relationships. Not only that but those feelings can cause us to feel like other women are competition, or an enemy – when in actuality there is room for all of us to win.
Coming from experience, there is no job, no amount of followers, no amount of money, no plastic surgery, no man, no amount of success that can replace what only God can do to heal you on the inside.
Bold statement isn’t it?
Well, I’m talking to you from experience. I struggled with low self-worth for years because I didn’t have a good opinion of myself so my validation came from the approval of others as well as the accomplishments I had. I believed that if I accomplished more then I would feel better about myself and my life would have meaning – not recognizing that I was already validated because God had already approved me. I didn’t need to do anything but I needed to focus on who I was becoming instead.
It wasn’t until I lost everything that I found meaning in, where God showed me that I was dope with or without the “things” or the “success” because He was enough. The toughest but most valuable lesson that I’ve learned in my life.
I was so focused on doing what I had been called to do instead of focusing on becoming the woman I had been called to be. Jim Rohn has a life-changing quote, “You attract success by the person you become.” So many of us want to look good on the outside but are crumbling on the inside. Some of us are still broken, little girls dressed in 20, 30 or 40 year old bodies.
How can we expect to prosper when we’re still riddled with fear, bitterness, anger or insecurity? This is why I’m adamant about focusing on prospering your soul first and then allowing everything else to prosper.
What’s your soul? It’s your mind, will and emotions. Your will is the ability to make your own decisions and is the most powerful component of your soul. Your emotions are the “lowest most unreasonable part of the soul but it exerts the greatest power in swaying your will.” Your mind will reason and rationalize in support of the emotion.
So I want you to be honest with yourself, are you pursuing your dreams because you want to use that success to cover up a wound? Who are you becoming on your journey? What’s the true motivation behind you achieving your goals?
If you focus on becoming a woman that people want to follow, then you’ll attract all sorts of good success in your life. There are successes that I’m experiencing now that I’ve been praying for for years to happen but if I would have received it back then, I would have sabotaged it because I had not become the woman I needed to be to maintain or manage the success.
Don’t underestimate the journey that you’re on because it’s molding you into the woman you need to be first, so then you can do what you were created to do. Focus on becoming and the success will come.
I want to help you with both. Not only am I here to motivate you to achieve your goals but I’m here to help you learn how to prosper your soul and become the woman you were created to be too. I want you to learn from all that I’ve experienced in the last few years where I lost money, relationships, comfort and too much more to even list. I’m not in the business of just helping your cross some tasks off your list.
Nope. I’m going to help you prosper your soul and I’m going to use that as the foundation to show you how to prosper in every other area in your life.
Welcome to Goals School – your personal, girlfriend’s guide to help you fabulously crush your goals and prosper your soul by using faith principles to help you overcome fear, failures, procrastination, and a defeated mindset. You’re about to develop a winning step-by-step action to plan to build your queendom and grow in confidence and faith to birth your dreams!
I’m founder and CEO of Embrace Her Legacy which is the #1 personal development, faith building and dream birthing school for fabulous and faith-filled millennial women! Yes, that means you 🙂
Goals School is going to teach you how to discover your life’s assignment and achieve your purpose-driven, personal, career, health and finance goals over the next 5-weeks! Consider me as your personal “goals girlfriend” for the next few weeks!
What Makes This Course So Special?
This isn’t just another “goals” course. I’m not in the business of just helping your cross some tasks off your list.
Nope. I’m going to help you prosper your soul and I’m going to use that as the foundation to show you how to prosper in every other area in your life. As your “goals girlfriend”, I’m going to keep it real and raw when it comes to helping you grow and achieve your goals. I’m a believer so I’m going to be using Biblical and ancient principles to help you first focus on your character, heal your wounded soul and then we’ll get to work on your goals.
Every week during our private, Facebook live chats (which will serve as your opportunity to ask me anything), we are going to discuss and learn the importance of character development and focus our topics to inspire your personal growth as a woman. Our course lectures will include everything from defeating fear to gaining clarity of success to prayers that work to strategies to help you achieve your goals to developing a winning mindset to making your vision board work for you.
This course is going to help you build your character, grow in your faith and birth your dreams. I am going to show you to apply what you’ve learned to realize your divine destiny. Too many of us want to focus on getting but I’ll show you how to focus on who you are becoming.
There is no amount of success, money, followers, relationships or accomplishments that can leave you permanently secure – only God can do that. So we’ll be focusing on pursuing a healed soul, forgetting former pain and using that as the foundation to achieve your goals.
This course focuses on self-improvement, personal development, faith building and achieving your goals in order to realize a purpose-driven legacy.
This is not another, boring personal development class either. I’m a fabulous and faith-filled, millennial women with tons of personality so I know your struggles girl! I teach from experience and have almost 10 years of business and personal development experience under my belt, I want you to learn from my pain so I will share stories of my journey with you too to inspire and motivate you. Trust me when I say I know the amount of tenacity, perseverance and faith it takes to do what God has called you to do.
I’ll be showing how to embrace discipline and how to make better decisions by aligning your decisions with your core-values.
I’m taking you on a journey. Every week, you’ll receive the module which will include lectures, worksheets, motivational videos, challenges, invitations to my coaching office hours and live (private) Facebook discussions, and a private Facebook community with other women who are taking the course. You’ll have lifetime access to this course so you can complete it at your own time and leisure.
Not only that but we’re going to go allllll the way in goal-setting. No more excuses! I’ve created the answer to help you accomplish your personal and professional goals and now it’s up to you to decide to go hard or go home.
I’m sure that you want success but I also know that many of you may need some motivation, clarity and guidance to help you identify and achieve your dream and purpose. Or perhaps you’ve allowed fear (which loves to come disguised as being practical) to stop your from taking a chance on your dreams. Or maybe you’ve been in such a rut of routine and unfulfilled life that you don’t know how to dream anymore so you’ve decided to settle.
You were not created to just pay bills and die! I’m going to show you how to use your pain as the catalyst to birth change.
It’s time to stop surviving, accepting mediocrity. It’s time to not only dream but it’s time to create your plan to hit your mark. Maybe you want to get out debt, start a business or become an author or world-renowned speaker. Maybe you want to start an organization that fights the human trafficking of girls in India or you want to save $10,000 or you want to buy your dream home. Whatever the dream is, I want you to know that it’s possible and you can do it, yes you can.
You were created for a purpose and your life is an assignment. This is a chance for you achieve your goals, discover the mistakes that may stop you and strengthen your faith muscles.
I’ve accomplished my goals like quitting my day job to start my business, publishing my first book, creating and launching personal development and education programs, and speaking around the country by using these principles but along the way I had to endure a wilderness of delays, hurts, challenges and failures to build my character in order to get here. I’m going to spill everything I’ve learned with you.
What Will You Learn?
I will teach you how to deal with unexpected delay, failures, setbacks, and challenges when it comes to achieving your goals.
You’ll learn how to overcome negative emotions like fear, doubt, resentment and unforgiveness. I’m going to teach you how these negative emotions can hold you back
How to let God heal wounds in your soul and become a whole, confident, faith-filled woman
Learn how to overcome procrastination and how to practice being disciplined to accomplish your goals.
Learn decision-making skills
How to use your God-given authority to command your blessings
I will help you understand your life’s assignment and divine purpose
I will teach you a step-by-step with a detailed, framework and action plan to help you achieve your top goals for next 12-18 months.
I know you may feel like everyone else is winning in their lives, businesses or careers. Their social media followings are progressing and you’re not, but that’s a total lie so I’m also going to teach you how to kill the “comparison devil” thats stealing your joy and how to embrace the power in your individual story.
You’ll learn how to achieve those big, scary goals that you believe are “impossible” or “too hard”
Learn how to discover what success really means to you. I’m going to help you figure out what you really want, I’ll motivate you to go after it
I will add value and insight with goal-setting strategies for whether you’re a beginner and have no clue how to make your goals a reality or if you have some experience and you want to step up your game and kill your 2017 goals
Learn strategies to help you understand your life’s assignment so you can clarity and insight instead of the same, old personal development practices
Get excited to learn how to stay motivated, deal with disappointment, deal with lack of support from loved ones, create a supportive tribe, implement strategies to help you remain disciplined and overcome fear or self-limiting beliefs to help you kill your 2017 goals and beyond
Not enough for you? Well, it doesn’t stop there! I will also show you:
I will show you how to deal with delay in achieving your goals and how to remain motivated when you feel like nothing is happening.
I’m going to teach you how to actually make your vision board work this time
I’m going to show you how to set and write out your goals the right way. Yes, there is a wrong way.
I will show you how to find time to work on your goals daily
How to deal with fear of failure, disappointment, obstacles, setbacks, and challenges.
I will teach you to recognize and eliminate distractions – including relationships, places and things that are assets vs. liabilities to help you achieve your goals.
I will teach you how to remain focused and encouraged when unforeseen challenges present themselves while trying to achieve your goals.
I will teach you how to hold yourself accountable for your goals
You’ll get to join our Facebook group and weekly, live coaching sessions to ensure accountability. I will be holding you accountable for your progress and goals throughout the class duration. Consider me your personal “goals coach” for the next 5-weeks
You’ll gain the opportunity to build accountability partners with other members in our Facebook community
How Will This Benefit Me?
Create a step-by-step action plan showing you how to accomplish your 2017 goals and beyond.
I will use examples of how I used these very strategies for personal and professional achievements like writing and getting my first book traditionally published.
You’ll learn how to become the woman you have been called to be so you can honor what you have been called to be
You’re going to learn how to get out of your feelings to walk by faith
You will develop a positive, winning mindset
You’re going to learn how to identify resources, strategies and skills needed to help you accomplish each goal
I will show you how to create a personal development routine
If you’re a beginner, and have no clue where to start in order to achieve or your goals or you really not too sure on what you want, then no worries – I’ll show you exactly how to discover what success means to you and how to make it happen.
If you know what you want, then I will show you how to build off the goals you already have to create a solid strategy that will help you kill your 2017 goals.
You’re also going to get to join my personal Facebook group for tons of support, accountability and we’ll have weekly challenges and shoutouts giving you a chance to track your growth and share and promote your accomplishments.
To make things even sweeter for you, you’ll get to join me on a weekly live coaching session and motivation session so that I can keep you motivated, help you overcome procrastination and kick fears of failures to the curb.
You can submit your worksheets and I will review them for you with my comments
If you have any questions, you can address them directly to me on the weekly call or in our Facebook community.
Access to my live group coaching and “office hours” every week throughout the duration of the course
Work Review of your submitted worksheets
Downloadable Handouts/Worksheets
Lectures & Videos
Community: Access to a the private Goals School Tribe Facebook group (lifetime access) featuring:
Challenges
Accountability
Share and promote accomplishments, businesses, promotions, social media accounts
Motivational Discussions
Please note that enrollment closes Mon. Feb 6th and the course begins on Mon. Feb 13th. There are limited number of spaces available and we will close enrollment early if we reach out max number of students.
Watch This Video to Learn More About Me and Goals School!
If there is any word that we should both be getting out of our vocabulary, it’s that word “impossible.”
When something is “impossible” in your mind, then the battle is already lost. You may have dreams, desires or goals living inside of your heart that you believe are “impossible.”
And I totally get it.
If you’re knee deep in debt, getting out of debt may appear to be impossible. If you’re currently making a salary of $30,000 a year then growing that salary to 6-figures is just too far out of your reach. If you’re overwhelmed with work, school or taking care of your home then finding time to really build that dream business is not realistic right now, so it’s best to just hold off for now.
I actually have a goal coaching client who dealt with this same frustration. We sat together for hours working on a strategic goal coaching session where we forecasted her 5-year vision and worked backwards to make those desires that she thought were impossible to a possible plan of making it happen. (Soon, I’m going to be teaching you how to do the same.)
She’s a custom fashion designer, fashion consultant and make-up artist with a desire to make a monthly income of $5,000. Now to her this was impossible. She was dealing with self-limiting beliefs telling her that she’s not worth it and how she priced her services expressed her beliefs. In her mind, she believed that she would have to sew dozens of dresses a month or book dozens of clients for her make-up services. Working harder and not smarter.
Until I proposed this idea.
I told her that her 5-year vision of making $5,000 a month was actually far more possible than she thought. I told her that if she wanted to make an income of $5,000 per month then that was only (5) $1,000 dresses for the month or (10) $500 dresses for the month. It’s easier to meet an income goal if you would raise your prices because you don’t have to worry about “catching a million fishes, you just have to create the right bait to catch the right fish.”
It’s much easier to get 5 clients than 10, and it’s easier to gain 10 clients than 50.
Her face lit up but then those self-limiting beliefs came up again and she still wasn’t convinced that she was worth charging $1,000 or $500 per custom design dress. Please note that I know this woman personally and her talent is definitely worth it but it’s ultimately up to her to believe it.
So I asked her what would make her feel worthy of increasing her rates. Essentially I asked, what do you need to do in order to be able to start charging that much? She immediately replied, “Going to the Fashion Institute of Technology so I can increase my knowledge and skill.”
Well you already know what we did after that. We mapped out her 1-year plan in order to meet the requirements, apply and get into FIT while also partaking in action steps to increase her skill in make-up artistry and increase her brand visibility online to make sure that she is prepared for the opportunities that she desires.
Now she is well on her way to not only meeting her income and business goals, but she has a clear step-by-step action plan to make it real.
I want to ask you, what desires or dreams do you have in your heart that you believe are impossible?
Instead of focusing on how impossible it is, I want you to think of what you need to do in order to make it possible. What skills, talent or education do you need? What support do you need? What can you do differently from any other time you tried?
Let’s say that you believe it’s “impossible” to find time to write your book. What if you spent 20 minutes a day writing before you went to sleep. Do you know that by the end of week that means you spent 2 hours and 20 minutes writing your new book! At the end of the month, it will be a little over 9 hours of writing!
You may think it’s impossible to make that 6-figure income from your business sales. Well what if you decided to become an expert in your field by spending 1 hour a day studying and researching so you can raise your coaching rates from $50 per hour to $150 per hour and your speaking rates from a $500 honorarium to a $2,500 honorarium?
What resources do you have access to make your impossible dreams possible? You may simply have to get uncomfortable for a season but that’s exactly what it is, a season. You want to save $5,000 this year, then break that goal down to what you need to save per month and per week and create an action plan.
I’m a firm believer that nothing is impossible with God. God is looking for your faith in Him to do what you can’t. You might not be able to save an additional $500 a month but God may have a new job just around the bend where you’ll be able to save an additional $1,000 per month!
Where is your faith? You are not in this alone because all things are possible if you would just believe. Faith without works is dead so use your faith to encourage a plan to achieve your goals.
Faith + Works (Your Plan) = All things being possible! Without faith, it is impossible to please God.
I want you to join me this Monday, January 23rd at 8pm ET for a live, office hours where I’m going to be teaching and sharing more about using your faith to make your impossible goals possible, feel free to ask me anything to help you too! Consider it like a free coaching session. Plus, I’m going to be making a SPECIAL announcement and give away. Make sure you’ve liked our Facebook page to watch and join!
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
@embraceherlegacy
embraceherlegacy.com
