Redeem the now moments of your life and seize the days!

How many times have you said the words, "I'll do that tomorrow"?

There are many reasons why people procrastinate. Some people procrastinate out of fear of failure or fear of success. Some people procrastinate because they feel inadequate of the task at hand; the unknown of being able to reach that goal or dream. Some people procrastinate because of the negativity they have been told by others in the past, such as, "you'll never accomplish that." "You'll never succeed." "Yea right! who do you think you are?" I call those people, Dream Squashers! Run from those folks! Build yourself up and surround yourself with like minded people, who are going to encourage and uplift you. Procrastination can also stem from not having the right information/education, or downright laziness! If that is the case, get yourself up from that bed of slothfulness and get yourself going! No excuses!

As I do an honest self assessment of my life, I realize that I have missed out on many opportunities because of procrastination that stemmed from many of the reasons mentioned above. Fear of failure was a big one for me. I would tell myself, "Why even try, I am going to fail and then I'll be disappointed." This mind set was within me because of what I was told by several family members in my younger years. I had to renew my mind with good things! I chose to change that, and so can you. I was also fearful of success, because if I succeeded, then more would be expected of me, and what if I couldn't do it! Oh my what a vicious cycle! Many of those opportunities have never circled my life again, but the good news is, God is a God of second chances, and we are free to change and make wiser choices in life!

I realize just how wonderful life is and can be. I thank my God for helping me navigate through life. I have made wrong choices, and have learned from them. I have also made many right choices that have placed me where I am in life today, which is a good place, thank God. We are all where we are in life because of the choices we've made. I purpose in my heart to make right choices, to seize my days, to redeem the now moments of my life.

It is never too late to stop that cycle of procrastination in your life. Put that behind you and make the quality decision to step into those opportunities that will help you and others in life. Write that book you've had in your heart to write, start that business you've been wanting to start for years, enroll in those classes you've been wanting to take, take that awesome vacation with your loved ones, begin those exercise classes. Whatever it is, just do it! We are only on this earth for a while, so live to the fullest!

There are people who are waiting on the other side of your obedience to be blessed! Don't withhold your talent/gifting from the world. You tell that fear and procrastination to be gone from your life, and you get yourself going! Only you can do it, no one else can do it for you. I encourage you to never give up on your goals and dreams. You rise up and dare to live and work for the life you know in your heart you desire.

The following examples of people who achieved their goals and dreams, no matter the obstacles, have been uplifting to me. I hope this encourages and uplifts you as well!

(From a Bob Gass Devotional)

"Thomas Jefferson was 33 when he drafted the Declaration of Independence. Charles Dickens was 24 when he began his Pickwick Papers and 25 when he wrote Oliver Twist. Newton was 24 when he formulated the law of gravity. A second danger is to think that creativity and invention belong to the young. Not so! Emmanuel Kant wrote his finest philosophical works at age 74. Verdi at 80 produced Falstaff. Goethe was 80 when he completed Faust. Tennyson was 80 when he wrote Crossing the Bar, and Michelangelo completed his greatest work at 87. Moses was 80 when he led God's people out of Egypt, and 120 when he got to Caanan."

Wow! what great people. If they did it, so can you!

Ask yourself the following questions, and be totally honest with yourself! (Also from The Bob Gass Devotional)

1) What would I do if I knew for sure I could not fail?
2) What should I eliminate from my life because it's holding me back from reaching my full potential?
3) Am I on the path of something marvelous or something mediocre?
4) Am I running from something, or toward something?

I pray that this inspires you to start working on that greatness that is on the inside of you. No more excuses, just go for it! Don't live with regrets or the question, "What if...". Perfect conditions don't exist! I have experienced in my own life, that the longer I procrastinated, for whatever reason, the more confused and blurred things became!

Take those words "I'll do that tomorrow" out of your mind set, and replace it with "Getter Done!" Add a little western twang to it, LOL!

I wish you much success in your life! God bless you!

Mary Jean Marquez :)

Proud of our daughter Vanessa!

My last post was about the importance of family! I want to share my daughter's success with you and our family's adventures. Our oldest Daughter, Vanessa, graduated from Texas State University in San Marcos, TX this month. We had a fabulous time as a family. When we arrived to my daughter's apartment, after a nine our drive, she and her husband had prepared a wonderful lasagna dinner for us, so we had dinner as a family with good conversation and good wine! and then some of the family headed out to enjoy the pool.

The second day, we woke up early and visited the University of Texas at San Antonio, for my other daughter Chrysta and her friend, Artie, who will be graduating from high school! Our tour guide, Tremaine, was totally cool and patient! We had a blast. After the tour, we headed to the Alamo. The history of the Alamo is so amazing! It is wonderful to actually experience first hand verses reading it in books. Don't get me wrong, reading is awesome, but when you are in the presence of such rich history, it doesn't compare. After the Alamo, we headed across the street to the famous San Antonio River Walk. We ate at the Rain Forest Restaurant, quite the experience, and took a boat ride on the river. Wow! Too much fun!

The third day we headed out to another university tour at Texas State University in San Marcos, TX. As we walked through the campus outdoors, the rain came down hard! We got soaked, but we had a blast! We later headed to Austin, TX to visit The Texas State Capitol! FABULOUS! What history, architecture! We did so many other things together.

I share this with you because to me it is these times with family that makes life peachy! Fabulous! Do whatever you have to do to make memories! Schedule family time into your schedules. It would have been easier to just drive out for the one day event, but instead, we turned it into a five day family adventure. An adventure that we will always hold dear in our hearts, and talk about to future generations.

I have to tell you that I took 375 photos! It is so cool that we can take one moment in time and capture that moment forever on a photo, and pass them on to future generations! I pray that this Marquez Family Adventure touches and inspires your heart to plan your family adventures. I would love to hear about them. God bless you all!

Proud of our daughter Vanessa!

What really matters in life!

Hey everyone! It's been a while since my last post. I have been trying to figure this Blog world out, but I have not quite got it down yet. I guess with some things you just have to do it and not wait for things to be perfect, or have all your ducks lined up in a row! right?

I was thinking about what really matters in life. To me, what matters is my family, people! Human tendency seems to want to pull us to the superficial things in life, taking our focus off of the really important things in life. Seems like People are so busy trying to make a living to accumulate status and things, that they miss out on what really matters in life. For example, we say, I'll play with my child tomorrow when I have time! and that time never comes! It keeps being pushed to tomorrow, and tomorrow never arrives. We say, I'll take that vacation with my family! this coming Summer, but this coming Summer never arrives because other things takes its place... The list can go on and on! Stop this vicious cycle before it's too late. Stop filling your hours, days, weeks, months, years, with people and stuff that don't matter. Read the following story from a Bob Gass Devotional. This story made a great impact in my life years ago!

The Days of Time and Chance: Eccl. 9:11 Time and chance happens to them all.

Live every day like there was no tomorrow. Speak that kind word, send those flowers, make that phone call, spend time with our children or grandchildren, volunteer to teach that class, visit that shut-in. Stop merely thinking about it, and start doing it.
I once ministered to a man in his mid-forties. I had just preached his father's funeral. Twenty years before they had a bitter argument, and apart from exchanging pleasantries at family gatherings, not a word had been spoken between them since. They were both stubborn, and neither of them would give in. Now at the graveside, this successful young executive collapsed into my arms weeping, and said, "I loved him so much, but somehow I could never tell him...and now I'll never have a change to."
You get better perspective at a funeral than you do at a party. In my autumn years, I find myself thinking a lot about the seasons of my life and about what is really important. Was I so busy paying the mortgage that I didn't get to enjoy the house? Did I put my career ahead of my loved ones and now there's so little time left to enjoy them? When you reach the end, what will you wish you had done in the days of "time and chance"?

This next part is from me, Mary Jean, don't get to the end of your life and leave with regrets. Put the things that really matter in life first! You know what and who they are. When you do this, you will find that life is Fabulously Peachy Darling!

My vision for this awesome Blog "Fabulously Peachy Darling"

My first post! Well, I want to share my heart and vision for this Fabulously Peachy Darling Blog with your heart. In this season of my life, I have learned to enjoy life and not take things so seriously. I used to be so uptight about everything! I know that I cannot control everything, therefore I do what I can, and leave the rest up to my heavenly Father God, knowing that all will be okay. I want this blog to be an uplifting and encouraging place to visit, and when you leave it, you leave better than when you arrived...wanting to return. A blog filled with wonderful thoughts and ideas about life, family, and self. Featuring delicious foods, wines, and places to visit. Books to read, movies to view, and music to enjoy. Let's enjoy our journey on this marvelous earth with the life that we have been blessed with. Life is what we choose to make it, and I choose to make it Fabulously Peachy Darling. I hope you choose the same! I am excited to see this blog evolve into something beautiful!