Some years ago I was at a conference listening to a Priscilla Shirer, who writes bible studies, books and speaks to encourage women. I totally enjoyed her talk, but there was one point she made that became something that I try to live by. She told the group of women, “don’t be spoon fed the gospel.”
Since then, I still listen to sermons on Sunday mornings, on podcasts and I am involved in bible studies with other women. All of these I still consider being “spoon fed” information. Yes, even the bible study books we do! It is God’s word filtered through someone else’s lens. So, to take her advice, I make sure that I spend time doing bible reading on my own and contemplating what it means in my own life. (Then typically writing about it)The great thing is that I can go to the source, the bible. Now if you don’t believe in the bible, you may be like whatever, but wait! Don’t leave me yet. As a Christian, I should go to the source of my faith right? So no one can take it and twist it to their own particular point of view. That is what made sense to me a couple of years ago, and that is what makes sense to me now. Well if it works for biblical history, I thought it makes sense for any kind of history.
What happens when you focus so much on yourself and your own problems that you can’t see anything else? I have gone through so many different emotions today. I woke up and was feeling pretty down. I am feeling some stress from the decisions I have made, and so I was trying to work out some of my feelings. (wow….used the word feelings a lot) Maybe that was my problem this morning? So many feelings, but so little perspective.
Well I was spending some time with someone recently that I wasn’t particularly excited about. You know…. It is one of those situations where you are going to have to hear their story again, and it is kind of heavy. He had fallen on hard times, and had started questioning God. 
“It was my goal in life to be beautiful,” she told me. Well my friend, I couldn’t help but think, you have reached your goal. Ericka Vega is a buddy that I’ve known for a couple of years now, and I wondered what she was up to these days. I messaged her on FaceBook and invited myself over for an interrogation… I mean an interview.
I once had a dream where I was swinging a baseball bat. The problem? I wasn’t playing baseball. I was swinging away at things (I’m not even sure what?) just smashing objects at will. When I woke up and remembered my dream, I could still recall the anger and frustration I had felt. It was really weird to see myself that frustrated, even if it was in a dream. It was a bit scary to realize that this anger and frustration was buried in my sub conscious. Like I said, the first time I had the dream, I was dealing with teenage boys. I love my children and the men they are becoming, but there was a time that they were struggling badly. Really….it was hard! 
Blue Door Massage and Spa is the brainchild of Grace Parreira and Ayla Tidwell. These two friends and certified massage therapists had a dream, but interestingly enough, it did not start with massage. Their stories are somewhat similar, as they both were using massage as a way to pay for college. At this point I was a little surprised, but I then started to appreciate their thinking. The thought was to be trained at a technical school, so then they would be able to work and earn degrees without going into debt. 
Cheryl Mendoza 