Welcome to my first blog post.   I am both excited and nervous.  I am starting out sharing my blog with only a few select people.  So in other words, not everyone knows I’m doing this yet and not everyone I’m friends with on social media can see it for the time being.

Here is an intro into what I will be blogging about:  I love horses, good coffee, godly-girlfriends, soul inspiring books, and most of all, I love God.  My blogs will be about my ups and downs, lessons learned, and my awakening to know God personally.  One thing I know for sure is….no matter what is going on in my life; more things are going right than wrong at any given time so I am blessed at all times. My hope is you enjoy reading my blogs, relate to a certain extent, and walk away feeling inspired!  My website is:  blessedatalltimes.wordpress.com

So here we go….

“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”     Proverbs 4:23 (NLT)

The above scripture seems like the perfect starting point since I am hesitant to share my blog with just anyone right now.

Like many people, before I got serious about my walk with God, I was pretty much attending the school of hard knocks in so many areas of my life.  I had good intentions and high hopes for Living the Dream.  I wanted a loving family, a nice home, to make good memories, etc.; however, I was not guarding my heart and that determined a negative and bumpy road ahead.

My unguarded heart allowed too many people in my life that weren’t good for me or my daughter, and my lack of spiritual wisdom and discernment at that time blinded me to the best action to take.  And I paid a huge price.

I have always loved words, reading, and writing.  Composition/Writing was my best and favorite subject in high school.  At one point in my past, I wanted to write a children’s book inspired by my daughter and the relationship she had with her horse.  Unfortunately, the negative environment I was in snuffed out that passion and I ended up feeling not good enough, empty, and depressed.

I fought to stay positive, but the environments we are in the most rub off on us.  I was in an environment with an alcoholic abuser.  And although I can clearly look back and see how God was still helping me all along the way, being in that environment still took its toll, spiritually bankrupted me, and disrupted the home.

After a divorce, several years of struggling to find purpose and peace, one more bad relationship, and a few crappy friendships, I had a spiritual awaking.  Isaiah 41:9-10 literally is true for me.  It says, God has called me back from the ends of the earth, saying, “You are my servant.”  For I have chosen you and will not throw you away.  Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.  Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you.  I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”  Isaiah 41:9-10 (NLT).

He called me back in a loud but loving way by his Holy Spirit, I instantly knew it was Him, and like a magnet I was drawn to Him.  God tried calling me back several times before I even got in the situation; however, that will be another blog post on another day.  But it just proves how much God loves us and doesn’t give up on us even though we go through times living life on autopilot and on our own strength.

So I have learned I need to guard my heart and be careful who I am sharing my time, attention, and stuff to on close and intimate levels so the course of my life will go in the direction of God’s anointing.  I don’t want to miss out on God calling me to write, or do whatever he’s asking me to do because my strength and clarity have been sucked out of me by being in a negative environment.  I’m getting better and better at avoiding people, places, and things that would lead me down that rough bumpy road again, although I’m still working on a certain current situation.

I just want to clarify that I’m talking about the people we choose to allow into our inner-most circle.  Since we have to live in this world for now, we will have to tolerate a certain amount of random negativity from people like at the grocery store, traffic, etc.

My Prayer:  God help me to interact with and treat all your people well; yet give me spiritual wisdom and discernment to guard my heart when needed.

ASK FOR PERMISSION Heather Britain and Blessed At All Times, April 2015.Unauthorized use and/or duplication of written material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.