Life, it's a Big Faith Journey (Ep. 1)

This is the introduction to this podcast and what it is about, sharing personal encouraging lessons to help lead you to successful destinations along the path of life. The power of your life is in your words and your thoughts, so chose them well and give life by speaking them well of others too. Be a life giver and a life changer. Let it begin in you.

www.dianahudgins.com

Transcript

Welcome to “Life, its a Big Faith Journey! I am your host Diana Hudgins I am so glad that you are here! This is the introduction episode to this podcast and its blog. My personal testimony in this life is faith. Life is always twisting and turning and can be unpredictable at times. We have to keep believing in order to keep moving forward and to keep achieving.  I will be sharing stories and life lessons along this journey we call life and it is my desire to encourage you in yours. I will be sharing why I feel called to ask you to come and spend some of your time, listening to me.

I am a person of simple words and I use plenty of them. Regardless of your age, I am speaking directly to you. My message speaks from my heart to yours.  For most of my life I have felt greatly loved by my family and friends, people who inspired and empowered me with their those positive words spoken over and to me.  I have found their words to be vital to the successes and happiness in my life. They saw things in me that sometimes I just couldn’t see for myself. Other times I just needed to get another person’s perspective. Most times it is just good to hear someone else say those powerful words to you. Isn’t it?  I am here to remind you of your potential in this life. I am here to remind of what you probably already know, but you need to hear it from someone. 

I know how important it is because I have struggled in life and people were not always good to me  and that they have not always spoke kind to me. In fact I too have battled thoughts in my mind and doubted myself plenty of times, and I continue the fight. I discovered the vast difference between thoughts and words of empowerment and words of defeat and I overcame much of this and I believe that the use of words and thoughts and how they have affected my life are part of my great calling by God. I am to share these experiences and lessons learned to help encourage and inspire you for yourself and for you to do the same as you speak words over other people. 

Our world has no room for bullies. I believe we have a difficult enough time not listening to the doubts in our own minds let alone have others trying to bring us down. I do believe we do have more good people in our world than not, but at time our world seems to have forgotten the art of being kind, of being supportive to our fellow man, how to truly be a friend. Children especially need to learn these things. They are our future.  Bullies are not cute, they are not nice and their ugly words are full of destruction of life. There is nothing good about being a bully and they do come in all ages. 

The purpose of this podcast is to help you put more encouraging words into your vocabulary and inspiring thoughts into your mindset and faith in your belief system, faith not only in God, but into yourself. I wish to share with you the importance of surrounding yourself with good and influential people and involve yourself in certain aspects and environments to help you keep your joy in life and be that positive influence to others all around you. 

My intention in the episodes this podcast is to share with you life, stories, struggles, battles and wins to help encourage you to keep moving past those things that want to keep you from becoming all you can and wish to be.  If I can do it I not only believe but I know that you can too. Yes, no matter what anyone else says about you, no matter what you say to yourself, you’ve got what it takes to live that fulfilling life you have wanted. You are more than a conquerer. You can and will overcome anything that attempts to keep you from getting there. Sometimes the story changes, sometimes the path gets a little rough or turns another direction, but that doesn’t change who you were meant to be. You are still you.

I have known of God all of my life. When my life was falling apart, I cried out to Him and through faith and believing in Him He saved my life and I live for Him. And every time I have had to really practice that really big faith, God has never failed me. And to further introduce myself I am a wife who is absolutely crazy in love with my husband. I am a proud momma and I am a grandmother to half a dozen beautiful grandsons! Here in Texas I could be considered the owner of a six man football team! This past year has really taken a tole on them as it has with most of us, but they are just kids. I decided with the time I get to spend with them this summer that their Nanna is going to plan some different kinds of things to do with them this summer. I believe what my little army of God needs is to go to “Nan Camp.”

Oh I savor the uniqueness in my life. I got married very young and yet I am someone who started college in my mid-thirties and I had a blast and I took on the role investing myself in the atmosphere of college from being nominated Home Coming Queen to Editor of the College Newspaper to President of the Honor Society.  It is important to note for a couple of reasons that I earned a masters degree. 

I am probably one of few that actually admitted to loving college studies and because I continued my education further than I believed I would I began referring to myself as a “professional student” because after all my husband kept reminding me that I was to treat my studies as my job, so that is what I did and I learned how to do it well. I found myself really thriving and as hard as it could be at times, I found myself achieving again and again, but not without plenty of tears, late nights, early mornings and plenty of sigs of relieve. 

Each semester that went by I had another to conquer and look forward to reaching yet another goal.  As I realized how much I had grown in my confidence within myself I referred to the funding of my education as my therapy bill. My experience as a college student revealed a whole lot to me about myself and my future. I didn’t care much for school up to this point. I didn’t think that I would ever go to college, it wasn’t in my plans or my thoughts, for I had not  really known that many people to this point who had went on to college.  this is why for me earning a masters degree is still really surprising to me. In fact I was the first in my family to graduate college and let alone did I ever think that I would earn three college degrees. 

To think it all begin with an “interior design” course given on a 6:30 AM TV program by the local college. I watched it and then mailed in my assignments and went to the college campus to take the actual final exam and submitted my final project. Several people had shared that this was an area of a career I should consider so I took the class and I said if I get an A I will then pursue it.  I finished with a B+ and years later this 3 credit course helped me to easily get into a degree program for other areas I have been more deeply interested in my life. While taking just that one course I don’t think I was quite ready at the time to pursue more. I was too busy establishing a life at the time. You see, I married my husband a week after my sophomore year of high school and I graduated my junior year. 

Before college I was married and I had three babies, owned a successful preschool business working with children, parents and employees. And my little family and I had moved 800 miles to a place I had never been before and I did not know a soul.  After 16 years we decided to do the same thing and learning to embrace our new community once again! Where we have now also been in our current home for yet another 16 years.

They say that often times your biggest struggles in life are also your greatest potential in strengths within you. For me, some of my toughest struggles have been feelings of loneliness, lack of confidence and with not having enough faith at times to see me through. But at the same time I know big faith but I still am learning to preserver and I have conquered giants because we cannot simply speak the words to make our words come to life, we must also act on them. In Hebrews 11:4 the Word tells us that “Faith without actions is dead.” This means not only do we have to believe it will happen by thinking it, believing it and actually speaking it, we must show it by our actions. A good family movie to watch when you want to know more about building faith is “Flywheel.” I find myself watching it when I want to build on and encourage my faith. This is kind of a low budget movies, back in the first days of the bothers Alex and Stephen Kendrick’s movie making. The story line is great however. I like this movie because it takes “big faith” and it is inspiring to see just how God’s Hand is moved in this man’s life because he decided to not only believe but to act on it.

Our words and our thoughts must be chosen. Which words will you chose? The positive words of life, or the negative words of death? You see, those negative words they steal, kill and will destroy life. What is life?!!! It isn’t just breathing. It is living! Enjoying, feeling satisfied, accomplishing, working towards something. Something better. The power of your life is in your words, so speak them well and give them life by speaking them well of others too. Be a life giver, by being an encourager. Care about others. It could save a life, or two or three, and so on and so on. Love them like Jesus, does.

The world needs us so be a part of someone else’s success by encouraging that person along their path. You may be exactly what they need. Your smile, your words may be the little nudge that persons needs to finally have the courage to press on to the finish line. Did you know that your smile can turn someone else’s day completely around. People hide what’s going on in their lives for the most part. They usually do so not just because they wish to keep their personal business private, but also they do not want to feel judged by anyone. So sometimes they’re really good at hiding it while other times, they are not. 

So it’s a good trait in our character to be kind to people, to give some of our light to them. You have heard the saying that you never know what someone else may be going through so if anything be kind. Jesus says we are the light unto the world, unto the darkness. We should constantly be replenishing our light because of our relationship with God. If you do not have a relationship with God I will be sharing my relationship, my light with you. 

As a personal trainer would teach you and train you, you too can condition yourself to be all you can be. At first, we begin to think of where we are in our conditioning @ the moment, but soon we will begin to envision our future as we progress each day. And granted it will not be easy and we will want to give in several times. But the key does not lie with what I am not at this time, but with what I am becoming. I do not need to worry about what I should be, but place my focus on what God says that I am. 

What God says I am? Like a parent will do, our Heavenly Father God brags about us. He believes in our abilities and He thinks the world of us. He loves us more than anyone could and unconditionally. He says such things of me as: You are beautiful, you are able to do all things through me.  You are smart, you got this. There are so many affirmations we can say over ourselves and others that God thinks of us and we are what He says we are. I promise you I will be sharing them with you.

I am speaking directly to You, yes you. I challenge you to get out of your comfort zone. As for me, It is within me that I want to do something so big it's destine to fail without the Lord, something so great it's gonna take a miracle to do. I want to be like Peter who walked on water! I hear God saying "Diana, get out of the boat!" For me my faith is all or nothing! By believing I have nothing to loose so I am all in. Proverbs 18:21 tells us that "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit."

Let me ask you which words will you chose? The positive words of life or the negative words of death? Those negative words that steal, kill and destroy life. The power of your life is in your words, so speak them well and give life by speaking them well of others too. Be an encourager. Being those things to others starts in your first. Encourage yourself by your words and your thoughts.

Please listen to me, we must not be afraid to speak up when it matters, when it means saving and changing lives, even our own, we must speak boldly and sometimes bluntly if we want to make a difference in this world. And when evangelist Eva Dooley touched my lips and prophesied over me saying "you have been silent, but you will be silent no more" that is exactly what God meant for my life. Eva said that I would speak to thousands. I am silent no more. Praise God!

I am honored that you have spent this time with me. You will always be able to find me at dianahudgins.com. Please join me on other social media platforms, contact me. I would love to hear from you, come and share with me, tell me about your story, your struggles and your journey. Together we can help encourage and build a better world. Thank you for being here. And I am excited to begin this journey with you.  - Diana Hudgins