2 ½ years ago when I was on life-support and in a coma I endured extreme suffering.  While experiencing physical pain, I experienced the most intense spiritual pain I hope and pray I will never feel again in my life.

While fighting for my flesh to stay alive, I was in an intense spiritual warfare battle.  Even though it sounds strange, I believe there was a war going on to win my spirit and others around me.  While in a coma I felt like I had no hope.  I had no future.  I was in a constant state of terror, fear, panic and frustration.  There was no love.  There was no peace.  There was no God.  Friends, I’m here to tell you that I experienced hell.  It’s very difficult for me to put in words, other than it was some form of hell because my spirit was absent from the presence of God, or that’s what it felt like to me.

When I read the following scripture, that is when the flashback of my coma came rushing back in my mind.  “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

I am here to tell you that the enemy is REAL and is constantly trying to win us over.  I want to challenge you to think about who you are fighting in this life.  I don’t know about you, but when I think someone in the flesh is trying to harm me or someone I love, you better believe I will standup and fight till the end for what I believe.  And what I’ve come to realize is, this very thing is going on around me in the spiritual realm as well.

Honestly, I’m not exactly sure why I encountered some of the things that happened to me while I was “sleeping” for 3 ½ weeks, but God revealed one thing that is very clear to me now…HOPE.  In the midst of the hell I was enduring He sent an angel to me that spoke words of peace that calmed my spirit and gave me a glimpse of Hope for a moment to give me strength to finish the fight.  I won’t share all the details at this time about what took place that night, but it was my defining moment in my fight to stay alive.

My Hope today is that this can be a wake up call for all of us to the truth.  And the truth says, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.” 2 Corinthians 10:3 The truth is we are not just fighting fleshly desires, but we are truly in a spiritual battle against the enemy.  And the greatest blessing of all is that God has provided us with the most powerful weapon in all of creation to win this battle…His Word, The Bible.  So my question for you today is, what will you use to fight your next battle?

I’m excited to tell you this Friday, May 11, 2012 will be my 3 year anniversary since I was diagnosed with cancer.  I woke up this morning with a heart full of thanks and wanted to share with you my journal entry.  May God bless your heart and mind with thankfulness today.

My prayer of Thanksgiving

Thank you Lord for the change in my heart.

Thank you Lord for the change of perspective.

Thank you Lord for the joy in my life.

Thank you Lord for the endurance of perseverance.

Thank you Lord for the peace in my soul.

Thank you Lord for the grace of your hand.

Thank you Lord for the hope of my future.

Thank you Lord for the laughter in my spirit.

Thank you Lord for the beauty of creation.

Thank you Lord for the humility from mistakes.

Thank you Lord for the sweet gift of hugs.

Thank you Lord for the freedom to praise you.

Thank you Lord for the breath that’s within me.

Thank you Lord for your unchanging love.

Thank you Lord for a life of fulfillment.

*I’ve had a few people ask about my upcoming event with Team In Training.  Please visit this link http://pages.teamintraining.org/nc/rnr12/lkuhar

I confess!  I’ve been trying to serve two masters in my life.  I’ve been juggling so many responsibilities over the past month that no matter how hard I try to keep up with everything, I still manage to lay my head down at night and feel like a failure because I haven’t completed half of my To-Do List.  I’ve been “doing” the right things lately, but for some reason in all my “doing” it never seems to leave me feeling satisfied or my list never seems to get completed.

As always, in my quiet time, God spoke to my heart in scripture.  “No one can serve two masters.  Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.”  Matthew 6:24 That is when the light bulb went off in my head!  No wonder I’m not satisfied and I cannot get caught up on anything to save my life.  I’ve been trying to serve God and people at the same time!  What a relief!  I finally realized why I’ve been struggling so much lately.  One thing I know for certain, from past experience, is when I put God 1st in my life, he will make everything flow like a beautiful orchestra.

So I’m starting again today, changing my priorities and committing to serve only one master in my life, which is my Heavenly Father.  What about you?  Are you serving more than one master in your life?  If so, what are you going to do about it?

Lately I’ve felt God speaking to me about the absolute importance of Fearing Him.  Even when I write the words Fear God, I get conflicting emotions.  My flesh wants to say, why do I need to fear God?  I mean God is love, joy, light and peace.  Right?  Besides, nobody needs to tell me to fear someone.  I’m strong enough to handle most things on my own. Right?  But when I take a moment to listen to the Holy Spirit, I have the utmost respect for my Heavenly Father and you better believe I FEAR Him!  The truth of the matter is every single one of us are like little children.  We make mistakes (in our sinful nature) and we must pay a price for them, which is called consequence.

Now I believe when we realize we have sinned or fallen short of God’s commands, we have a choice.  We can “say we are sorry” and go on about our business or we can fall to our knees before our Heavenly Father and repent.  According to the dictionary, true repentance is a change of mind, purpose and life, to which remission of sin is promised.  Repentance is where the Fear of God takes action.  As for my life, I believe in my soul that God has blessed me beyond measure because of my obedience of coming before him with a sorrowful heart and changing my ways.

Scripture says, “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.  For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”   Ecclesiastes 12:13 & 14

My question to you today is, do you really Fear God?  If so, what does repentance look like in your life?

Honored to serve in Charlotte, North Carolina – Women’s Christian Life Coach

I’ve been running at the Greenway lately.  I love running there because it’s beautiful.  Something about being in nature, surrounded by trees, brings me in God’s presence every time.  Another thing that is great about the Greenway is, the trail has mile markers so I know exactly how far to run.  Some sections of the trail are paved, some have bridges and other sections are dirt and gravel.  I have a history of falling when I run :), so it’s very important for me to keep my focus on what’s in front of me.  The last time I became one with the pavement was all because of a tiny little woodchip that my foot landed on and I lost my balance.  So, I have developed a slight fear about falling while running.  What is interesting to me is that every time I venture on the Greenway I say to myself, “Focus, keep your eye on the path in front of you.”  But somehow I manage to make eye contact with people who pass me and smile or say hi.  After they pass by I start thinking about my one second encounter with them and make an opinion.  For example, I might think that person was friendly or that person, not so much.  Then there are those other people who don’t even give me a glance.  It’s like they are in their own world and nothing is going to get in the way of their focus.  Honestly, lately I’ve been envying that kind of focus when I’m out there running.  Why in the world do I even give it a second thought when I’m out there who is friendly and who is not?  And to take it a step further I’ve even been comparing my athletic skills to others out there as well.  And goodness knows, I am no stellar athlete so why even go there?

So I asked myself today, what would I say to a client who is having a hard time staying focused?  When coaching my clients I would challenge and direct them to expand awareness of their potential in this situation.  I would encourage them to look at their strengths and determination in continuing to run even though they have a history of taking a fall.  And I would ask them what would they do differently next time before taking a run on the Greenway to get their mind focused on the path that is in front of them.  Finally, I would have the privilege of hearing them have that powerful breakthrough or “aha” moment of self-awareness.  And this my friends is what coaching is all about.  Asking the right questions to help an individual get past their obstacles and experience success.  So I must ask, what are you focusing on today?

I am currently training to run my second half marathon with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Team In Training program.  Some days I am so pumped up and excited to get outside and run the miles the coaches tell me to do and other days I ask myself what in the world was I thinking when I signed up for this again.  I think it’s kind of like pregnancy.  You forget how miserable those 9 months were and decide to have another baby.  Maybe I shouldn’t use that analogy since I stopped at one bundle of joy.  LOL!  But you understand what I’m saying, you forget sometimes how hard it can be to reach a goal and during the process of trying to get there it can be beyond exhausting.

To be honest with you, the reason I signed up again to run 13.1 miles was to push myself.  Something in my spirit told me it was time for me to stretch beyond my comfort zone.  The first time I participated with Team In Training was six months after my hospitalization.  I remember seeing a brochure for Team In Training and thinking to myself that had always been on my “bucket list”, so why not go for it?  Since I just had such a close brush with death just a few months earlier, I was determined to push myself and see what I could do when I put my mind and body to it.  I can truthfully say that during the training process something shifted in my mind and I’ve NEVER been the same since.  Something about pushing myself beyond the limits of comfort gave me a new confidence and freedom in myself.  While training, I realized how strong my body was, but even more importantly was discovering how powerful my mind was.

A year and a half has passed since my first half marathon and I am ready to uncover what’s hidden in me that will once again change my life and continue to move me forward in a positive and powerful direction.  So I have to ask you, when is the last time you pushed yourself and what is standing in the way of taking that next step?

If you would like to support my efforts with Team In Training, please go to my fundraising page and donate.  Every dollar counts.  No amount is too small.  Thank you!  http://pages.teamintraining.org/nc/rnr12/lkuhar

Honored to serve in Charlotte, North Carolina – Women’s Christian Life Coach

Today I want to celebrate!!!  I recently received an unexpected blessing in my life.  I love surprises, especially when they are a divine gift from God!  I mean it’s one of those times in my life where I can honestly say without a shadow of doubt that God gave me this gift and that it is not just a coincidence.  There is no way the timing and the events could line up the way they did to receive this supernatural gift.

However, when I took time to reflect on this divine gift I realized something very powerful.  This beautiful unique gift from our creator was a result of my obedience.  I wish I could tell you that it was a simple act of me following a rule or simply saying yes to God when he called me to do something.  My obedience was a painful, hard and grueling process.  There were so many times I yelled at God and said, “I want to quite!  I want to give up right now!  It’s not worth the pain!” (and a few choice words that are not appropriate for a Christian blog….LOL)  My flesh wanted to throw in the towel because it was sick and tired of hurting so bad, but something inside of me, well the Holy Spirit inside of me would not let me give up.  No matter how many tears I cried or words I screamed, I remained obedient to His call for my life.  As a result of my act of obedience, I unexpectedly received the most incredible precious gift ever from my Heavenly Father.

Jesus tells us in John 16:33 “In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  It never stops amazing me how God uses pain and suffering to give us Divine Gifts.  What will you do the next time you have the option to remain obedient?

Honored to serve in Charlotte, North Carolina – Women’s Christian Life Coach

Don’t you hate it when your life gets off track unexpectedly and all of a sudden you wake up one morning to realize things are way out of hand.  You’re not motivated, you want to be lazy and you feel powerless.  No matter how hard you try in your own strength to “start over” and say this is the day I’m going to get refocused and conquer my fears and weaknesses, you come to realize by the end of the day, you’ve failed once again.   I don’t know how many thousands of times I’ve encountered this vicious cycle in my life, but just a few weeks ago it happened once again.  The good news is that I’ve finally come to a place in my life where I’ve developed personal awareness.  When I get sidetracked, I now make a conscious decision to reach out to someone and ask for help to get me back on track.

Getting back on track for me was a two step process.  First, I called my personal Christian Life Coach and schedule some time to work with her.  Through the coaching process I gained clarity on the steps I needed to take to get focused.  The second step was to take action.  For me to move forward that meant earnestly seeking God and identifying who I really am.  This is the scripture God gave me.  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”  Galatians 5:22 & 23  No matter how many times I face defeat and discouragement in my life, I am able to overcome all obstacles when I seek God’s word.  One thing I can say for certain is every time I go to the bible I find truth about who I am in Christ and my spirit comes alive.

So I would like to ask you today, what steps will you take next time when you realize you need to get back on track?

Honored to serve in Charlotte, North Carolina – Women’s Christian Life Coach

Yesterday I went to the Ashe Wednesday service and it really made me stop and think about my life.  I am only ashes!  Really?  That’s it.  I am nothing but ashes.  When the priest put the ashes on my head and said, “Ashes you are from and ashes you will return”, it was such a profound moment for me.

I get so caught up in everyday life and ultimately at the end of the day my mind is focused on me.  How am I feeling, how is my family doing or did I accomplish everything I set out for today?  Which all of those questions are absolutely fine to ask myself, but it stops there for me.  I rarely ask myself the important questions.  How did my life glorify the creator today?  Did my life reflect the love of Christ today?  The truth is none of us are guaranteed life on earth tomorrow, heck not even life by the end of the day.  All of us will turn to ashes again.  So the only thing that really matters above all else is that we know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ so that when we return to ashes our spirits will be welcomed home for eternity.

“Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”                      2 Corinthians 4:16-18

So I would like to challenge you today to reflect on what the priest said to me, “Ashes you are from and ashes you will return.”

Honored to serve in Charlotte, North Carolina – Women’s Christian Life Coach

Don’t you hate it when you think I’ve got this all figured out and you start feeling really good about yourself because you’ve done such a good job and just about the time life is looking great, all hell breaks loose.  Things become dark and impossible in a matter of seconds.  You feel paralyzed, desperate and you want to quit everything, especially that one little thing you were feeling so good about just moments before.  This is when the Process of Perseverance starts.  When you scream, kick and yell I want to quit right now!  I am DONE!  When your flesh says, I’m tired and I can’t do this anymore.

Just this past week when I was experiencing all of these emotions I finally realized this is when the Process of Perseverance begins.  The pain in this process will Not last forever.  But when I’m in that dark, grueling moment, no one can tell me that it won’t last forever because it already feels like I’ve entered into forever.  The truth of the matter is we look at life, our situations, our process from a human perspective instead of looking at it from God’s perspective, which is an eternal perspective. (Side note: Watch Christine Caine, night 4 of Code Orange Revival to hear a powerful message on God’s perspective.)  We must go through the process.  The process allows our hearts to feel the sentence of death, but this is so we might not rely on ourselves, but only Fully Rely On God. 2 Corinthians 1:9  “And that process is the breeding ground of faith.  That process has the potential to draw you closer to Jesus than you’ve ever been before.” Pastor Steven Furtick, Sun Stand Still

So you see, even if I hate every second of the process, I ALWAYS end up looking back, thanking God for allowing me the opportunity to endure the pain of the process because I get to experience my precious Savior Jesus Christ every time. And I don’t know about you, but for me I will do anything, feel anything, process anything to encounter my Lord and Savior Jesus!  I would like to challenge you when you face your next problem and begin the process of perseverance to look at it from an Eternal perspective and not our typical human perspective.

Honored to serve in Charlotte, North Carolina – Women’s Christian Life Coach