21 Day Fast & Focus

Over the weekend, I ended up live streaming the Prophetic Destiny conference out of HRock Church and they gave a challenge for a 21 day "Fast & Focus" in the middle of it. At the beginning of the year, it sounded like a good idea to fast and focus to hear what God wants to do for this year and to determine my focus. It also felt like a good reset, maybe an opportunity to implement some new habits while I'm setting aside this time.

Now, today is 1/17/17. The number one means new beginnings and the number 17, I just learned over the weekend, means VICTORY. I wrote at the end of December how I felt that my word for 2017 was victory. I freaked out when I learned the number 17 biblically represents victory! Say what?! Awesome! So back to today... 1. 17. 17. New beginnings for double portion victory? Yes! On the day I am starting this fast, I receive that! That gives me expectation for God to do some amazing things during these 21 days and this year.

And just for some accountability, this is what I've chosen.

Fasting:

• No computer/phone games
• No social media other than posting on A Praying Mama's Heart & Messenger
• No candy, cookies, or ice cream 

Focus:

• Praying Numbers 6:24-26 over each family member daily
• Contemplating strategy for this year & recalibration of relationships
• Developing our routine
• More time playing with my boys
• Investing my time: read, learn, write, dance & sing
• Reviewing & acting on my notes from the conference

The "no candy, cookies or ice cream" is my lame attempt to eat slightly healthier during this fast. I'm nursing, so I felt like fasting a meal wouldn't be a good idea, but I still felt like I needed to fast from something food-wise and I wasn't bold enough to go for "no sugar." ;)

Anyone care to join me? You can fast however God leads you, whether it's a Daniel fast, juice only fast, skip one meal a day fast, fasting specific foods, fasting from entertainment or social media, etc. Pray on what to focus on as well. Let me know if you're joining me! Comment here, message me in Messenger, email, or text/call so we can encourage one another!

Tree of Life Breastfeeding Pics (How To)

I'm a few weeks behind on this beautiful trend, but I had so much fun playing in the PicsArt app and I wanted to share my own #TreeofLife creations.

If you haven't heard how to create your own, 

1. Download the PicsArt App

2. Get the Tree of Life sticker pack and/or do a Google image search for tree images

3. Open up your breastfeeding pic to edit it

4. Sticker: Select your favorite tree sticker, then size and position it 

4. Google image: Scroll through the bottom selections and select "Add Photo"

a. Add the tree pic you want, then size and position it
b. Out of the new list of options on the bottom, select "Blend"
c. Scroll through the options to see what works with your selected picture and apply (I had the best luck with the "Overlay" and "Multiply" options)

5. Select the "Magic" button and apply your favorite effect/filter.

6. Play with the other options to add additional elements or play with the look of your pic!

Different filters looked better on different pictures.

I played with lens flares, stamps, stickers, and the hue of the pictures, too. There are so many options to explore in the app to create your own unique pic.

I also experimented with how different trees looked with the different magic effects. These two trees were my favorites. So pretty!

I love, love, love how these pictures look. They're magical and beautiful like works of art. I love the symbolism, based on our real life anatomy, that celebrates how we nurture and feed our precious little ones. And I spent way too much time playing in the app because it was so fun!

Which is how Hulk Baby happened. Way too much time. :D