The essence of my day

You know, you can always do better. Better at work, better at play, better at life in general. One thing that I am striving to do better at is taking care of my health. 

Today, begins a new routine. I woke up early just to walk for 30 minutes. In just that short amount of time, I can tell that it worked me out! I sit for 8 hours a day for my job and so, finding time to work out in between errands and other responsibilities it tough to do. It is possible, but I like working out while I'm working or while I'm playing. 

I have done to formal workouts like P90X and 21 day fix. I like them because they do work, but after a while, my schedule and responsibilities start to take over again, and it become hard to manage. 

So, I began again with something easy and something that I really enjoy. I love walking. I enjoy that time, especially in the morning, to take in the creation around me. I take that opportunity as well to talk to the Lord, listen to the Word on my phone, or listen to worship music. It's a great start to my day before craziness happens. 

I have also decided to cook more at home instead of taking the easy way out of restaurants and fast food. Though, eating with friends is a great way to fellowship, if it becomes a regular routine, it starts to "weigh" heavy on the wallet and the waistline. For my family's sake and mine, cooking has always been more beneficial. Plus, you get leftovers most nights!

For Monday, I have chosen to write about health, music, and money. For me, these three I am striving to do better in and they carry a thread throughout everything that I do. Everything that I do either effects these areas of my life, or it's the other way around. 

Musically, I am a Contemporary Christian Music fanatic! I know more about the Christian artists than secular, even though some of the newer groups or singers have skirted out from under my radar. I also enjoy worship music and my instrument of choice is the piano.

I started taking lessons when I was just 8 years old and haven't stopped playing since. I lead worship for our church so it is a constant practice of mine. 

Some other genres of music that I enjoy are classical and smooth jazz. I just can't get enough of movie scores and Kenny G. I like to put it on when I've got work to do, but I need something to fill in the void that doesn't require me to process the words. 

So, what about money? And how am I going to discuss this topic since I am not an expert? Well, I like to talk about how money is a tool and can work for you. Biblically, God wants us to be free in our finances and so, we will be looking at spiritual and practical ways that we can become free as well as increase in this area. 

So let's bring about the discussion!

What healthy choices are you incorporating into your daily lifestyle?
What's new?

What genre of music do you like to listen to?
Do you play an instrument?

What are some tips that you have seen work in your life concerning money?
Do you have questions about what God has to say about it?

Please leave your comments! I would love to hear what's on your mind!

Have an amazing Monday!!

A day of rest

I am always so surprised at how fast Sundays go. From the break of dawn, I am up getting ready for church with my family and then we normally eat out afterwards. Which may lead to an outing or, in my case mostly, cleaning and grocery shopping for the week.

By the time I sit down to breath, it's just about time to go back to bed! Yet, in between all of the day's activity, I try, and am trying to be better at finding, time to delve into my favorite hobbies and relax. Over the course of the blog, I would like to share and discuss with you all our favorite hobbies, as well as, favorite books, tips and stories about gardening, and the fun that we have with our pets! 

Currently, I do not have any pets, but I did, just a little more than a year ago. We raised her from a kitten and she was about 2 years old when we gave her away. Belle was a beauty, but she was also a feisty little thing. The problem came down to our apartment being too small when our third child was born, which led to her living outdoors and because of that, created a flea problem I could not get a hold of and she had claws to boot. Neither of which worked when she came indoors out of the weather.

My son named her, but it wasn't until after she had been with us for a while that I found that her name really fit. She was black all over with a few white hairs here and there, but right in the middle of her chest was a white heart that swayed from side to side when she walked. It literally looked like a bell!

She was our very first family pet, and so even though I knew she had to go, I do miss her every now and then.

I don't currently have a garden right now either, but I have attempted in my many different places of residence. I have one potted plant, but at this time, I am trying to save it's life! It's a Gerber Daisy and I don't think it's getting enough sunlight and I might have watered it too much....the story will continue.

Of course my all time favorite book is the Bible, but as far as fiction and non-fiction go, my picks include books authored by Kenneth E. Hagin, Janette Oke, and other such genres. I think in the future, I will go a little deeper and discuss specific books as well as touch on some fiction and non-fiction written by yours truly!

Now, for hobbies; I LOVE, and I mean absolutely love puzzles! Especially of a Thomas Kincaid painting or something similar or primitively designed. I enjoy the still and quiet atmosphere that it creates while using your mind to decipher where each piece should go. I also enjoy cross-stich, coloring, playing the piano, and baking.

What are your favorite hobbies?

Are you reading anything? And if so, what? 

Do you have a garden? What are you growing?

How many pets do you have? What are their names?

Share your story down below!!

I encourage you to take some time for YOU. Whether it's either of the things that I mentioned above, or something else, Sunday's are a great day to pull aside and smell the roses......

Have a beautiful Sunday!

Western North Carolina

Hey everyone! It's Saturday!! I don't know what Saturdays are like at your house, but for me and my family it is a day for resting, fun, cleaning, and prepping for our biggest day of the week -- Sunday.

As far as the blog is concerned, it's our day to talk about a few things that are near and dear to my heart -- food, recipes, and shopping!!

I live in an area that includes a lot of tourist industry. Between the Great Smoky National Park, Western Carolina University, Asheville, and all the surrounding rivers, lakes and streams, we get a lot of different folks traveling through.

Having these amenities attracts unique restaurants and retail stores; both locally and chain owned. About an hour and fifteen minutes away is Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, and then an hour the other way is Asheville. Our cities cater to the tourist with an Appalachian feel offering outdoor recreation stores and farm-to-table type restaurants, but also create regular meeting places main stream retail and eateries. 

In between these cities, little towns like Cherokee, Bryson City, Sylva, and Waynesville, hide themselves in the valleys. These quant  offer locally owned and family run boutiques, farmers markets, restaurants and general stores. In all honesty, though driving about 20-60 to my favorite places is the norm, I feel privileged to have access to all of this. Especially since hundreds of thousands of people come to visit every year.

I look forward to sharing with you all about these eating and shopping experiences, but I also want to share my recipes, others' recipes, and food favorites in my house! I have three kids and all of their tastes are different. I definitely enjoy cooking for my family, but in the business I try to find 'hacks' to make life a little easier in the kitchen and I plan to share or swap ideas with YOU!

To begin our tradition, I would like to share with you my experience with a local chain restaurant. If you like barbeque, then you'll LOVE Fat Buddies!!

I never used to be a barbeque fan, but over the years it's grown on me, and in my opinion, Fat Buddies is the best that I've had since I started living in the south.

My favorites are their baby back ribs and chicken tender salad. These may not sound too earth shattering, but their flavors are incredible! Fat Buddies gets it right, in my opinion, when it comes to their ribs. Meaty, smoky, crispy ends, and perfectly coated with their barbeque sauce, which I must say is just the right combination of smoky and sweet!

The salad is just like any other salad you might have, but the uniqueness comes from their ranch salad dressing. Tastes like it's made in-house, and is the perfect consistency for the tenders. It becomes a coating in and of itself, which of course you can get your tenders coated with sauce options, but I like mine to come plain for the sake of the dressing!

Some other favorites that I have is their appetizers and cup sizes HA! Between their fried pickle chips, fried mushrooms, brick of onion rings, and fried green beans, I can't decide which exactly is my favorite, but in either case it is a must that I have their spicy ranch to dip everything in! Plus, their large handled mugs will keeps my thirst quenched with my favorite beverage -- Coke.

Needless to say, as our family-friendly Fat Buddies is located in Waynesville, we visit quite often. So, if you're visiting the area, or have never tried the place, I highly recommend Fat Buddies to satisfy all your barbeque cravings. There is one located in Franklin as well.

To find out more visit: http://fatbuddiesribsandbbq.com/

My Story

Happy Friday!!!

Don't you just LOVE Fridays?? Even when I had to work on weekends, Friday just seemed like the finish line to the week. 

Since this is the first blog entry that I am posting on a Friday, I would like to introduce my theme for this perfectly awesome and amazing day of the week!

I love the Word of God, and as an ending thought to every week, I would like to start writing posts about who God is, what His Word says, and how that is relevant and applicable to us today in 2017. 

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever; and as we grab a hold of that truth, we will find that His Word is also the same yesterday, today, and forever. The Bible, though it might be old by date, is alive and has purpose for us in every area of our lives. 

To start, I would like to share a little bit about me, and my testimony of how I found God. Or better yet, how He pursued my heart. 

Back in the 80's, I grew up in church. My parents took me regularly, and as I grew up, I joined several different types of congregations in many states. When I was five, we went to a really great church -- The Worship Center in Lancaster, PA. 

There, I remember the children's pastors, and all of the staff, being so approachable and real. I was introduced to some pretty entertaining means of teaching the gospel to kids like me, and then one night, my mom prayed with me to receive Jesus as my Lord and Savior. 

I was then baptized in water by Pastor Sam at the same age in a pool where I could only reach the bottom with my toes! From that point on, my relationship with Jesus grew and I got filled with the Holy Spirit. 

My parents surrounded us with TV shows and music that taught the Bible, they made sure to keep us in churches that taught the Word, and they encouraged my sister, brother, and I to spend time on our own reading the Bible and praying. 

Needless to say, I grew up in a home where God was first and everything we did was centered around Him. Now, at the same time, we walked through seasons that were hard. Where we had nothing but our faith in God to get us through as a family. We were human and we had days that were bad as well as good, but even so, my parents always kept an awareness of His presence in every situation. 

As I entered my teenage years, I found a new desire to get closer to the Lord. I heard Him say to me once, "It's time to make this yours". What He meant was, it was time to take my relationship with Him from a place where my understanding of Him was based on my parents' faith to a place where it was just between Him and me. 

I started a new journey with Jesus at sixteen when I surrendered completely. I chose to commit my heart, my purpose, and my future to whatever He would have for me. 

In 2002, I graduated from high school and went to RHEMA Bible Training College. There I studied in the areas of Evangelism and Worship, and there I met the love of my life. Long story short, we are now in the ministry, pastoring in the beautiful area of Western North Carolina. 

So, why did I go into all of that? You might think, well that's nice, but who cares. 

Here's what I would like to point out: Whether your background is or isn't similar, we all have a story to tell, and when Jesus is at the center of that story, our journey will become meaningful, purposeful, and greater than we ever could imagine. 

This post is just the cliff notes version of my story, which I plan to share more of in the future, but I would like to invite you to write in the comments section below about YOURS! 

Try answering these questions:

1) When did you receive Jesus?

2) What memory do you have that led you to receiving Jesus?

OR feel free to comment about:

1) Any questions you might have about Jesus

2) Your thoughts about this post

Knowing Jesus is fun. A relationship with Him is fulfilling and satisfying. And though there is a daily surrendering of ourselves to Him, we can become more like Him and allow Him to be God in our world. 

What does that mean? It means that the power of God is tangible. It means that the Word of God still speaks. It means that the heart of God is for all of us to experience a life full of joy. Enter in to His rest today and you will experience the life that Jesus died to give us. 

May this Friday be the end of a fulfilling week and a hopeful beginning to your weekend! Until tomorrow, continue being an amazing YOU!

Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.

Matthew 11:29-30

It's a new day!

Hey y'all! Welcome to my blog!!

My name is Rachel and I am all about having fun, enjoying life, and loving my family.

I have come to the realization that this great adventure called life was really meant to be just that: A GREAT ADVENTURE.

My blog is all about enjoying everyday to it's fullest potential. God intended for us to experience an abundant life and His presence within every moment. But how do we find that peace, that strength, that contentment? We first find it in Jesus. He is the first and the last in everything, but we also must be intentional about staying in His rest and finding the joy in everything.

In my blog, I want to share with you what I find enjoyable, but also what has helped me in parenting, marriage, my walk with the Lord, my hobbies, interests, and responsibilities.

I will be posting stuff about traveling, crafts, activity ideas to do with your kids, date night ideas, music, books, movies, recipes, scripture, teaching in the Word etc. with the desire of creating an encouraging, fun and relevant blog where we can grow in the Lord and experience life more fully -- TOGETHER.

I pray that this blog is a blessing to you and your family.

Comments are welcome, and I would love it if you could share this blog with your friends.

Till next time,

Rachel Clements

She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.

Proverbs 31:25