Disguised Blessings?

Doing 30 days of thankfulness the month of November on Facebook or other social media? That's fine, but not for me.  First off, it's too difficult to remember it everyday.  Second off, why only the month of November?  Yeah, I get it.......it's Thanksgiving month.  While I am always thankful for the many blessings in my life, sometimes I get overwhelmed by all the things I am NOT grateful for. Justin, our oldest, and I were listening to Laura Story sing "Blessings" today.  It's a great song and helps you put your troubles into perspective, but it doesn't take away the fact that the problems loom large.  One of our largest looming problems right now is our daughter.  We love her with a fierce love, but she will have nothing to do with us.  She's being guided by people who seem to think it's okay for her to be dishonorable and disrespectful to her parents. I can't even begin to tell you the lies that have circulated about us.  It's a looooong story which I will not go into on here. They are building her up while she continues to live in direct disobedience to Scripture, and they support her in her sin and make her out to be something great all the while she is grieving the Lord, not to mention her parents.  I can't even begin to tell you the heartache we have been through in the past 6 months.  The depression, tears and heavy weight that I carry around because of her at times seems to be more than I can bear.  One thing I have found out through this is that we are not alone. The devil would have us believe we are the only ones, but we are not.  It's been a blessing to talk with others who have been, or are going, through what we are.  Facebook has an "On This Day" app, and as I was scrolling through it today I came across a post from 6 years ago that meant more to me today than ever.  It was this...

"Cindy, remember My ways are higher than your ways, My thoughts higher than yours...TRUST ME with her because I have a plan and I love her more than you will ever know." (Isaiah 55:8) 

It slapped me right in the face!!!  I know God has been trying to teach me to trust Him with her, and I have been trying very hard to do so, but I let it overwhelm me probably more than I should.  It's so difficult when your children aren't doing what's right.  I just keep hoping that the "Blood's thicker than water" statement is true and comes to fruition!  :0)  She's got a strong support group, but our God is stronger and "able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us."  (Ephesians 3:20)  So thankful that my God is stronger, and He has a plan for her life.  Thankful that He can see the bigger picture, and trusting Him for restoration and truth.  

"Blessings" by Laura Story

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?
What if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
And all the while You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?
And what if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?

When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?

What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst
This world can't satisfy?

And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise?

Love,
Me

Prayer - It's okay to retreat

The Lord has been dealing with me on the area of prayer for several months.  It seems at every turn He has brought me back to the subject of prayer.  It's not that I don't pray, because I do.  It's just that I have filled my life up with so many distractions that I have not taken the quality time I need to focus on prayer the way that I should be.  I have so many things to be in prayer about, and have allowed other things to crowd my life and keep my mind distracted.  Most of those things are not bad things, but just things.  Maybe it was my effort at running from the pain in my life........keeping myself busy so I kept my mind from dwelling on the pain.  Some are circumstantial things that have kept my brain in motion thinking about them and trying to "sort out" what happened. I must confess, I'm overwhelmed, weary and worn.  I sought advice from a long time friend of our family.  I just felt I needed some guidance and direction.  She reminded me that Jesus retreated away from the crowd to be alone so He could talk with His Father. He needed to be by Himself and pray. He needed recharged. That was exactly what I needed to hear. I needed to hear that it was okay for me to retreat and shake off some of my distractions, even though they were good, so that I could focus on quality time with my Heavenly Daddy and recharge for the next task He brings my way.  I have much to be in prayer about.  The last two years of our lives have been a roller coaster of hurt and emotion. We have children who are struggling.  My husband needs a healthy, recharged wife.  My kids need a healthy mother.  I need to be healthy spiritually, and I feel I have suffered so much in that area.  I feel like my soul is starving.  I know it's due to extenuating circumstances, but it's time for me to retreat into my prayer closet and spend some one on one with my Savior, have some heart to hearts with my Heavenly Daddy, and bathe in the presence of His Holy Spirit.  I need a War Room!  :)  

"Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you."  Jeremiah 29:12

We were at Brooklyn Tabernacle this summer on August 9th and had the privilege of hearing them do this song in concert.  It was beautiful!



Love,
Me  :)

Lessons...

Lessons learned recently:

 1. The prodigal son came home
 2. His father didn't go after him.....he waited for his return.
 3. His father loved him unconditionally.
 4. When you feel the presence of the Holy Spirit flee from a place, RUN and RUN FAST!!
 5. Learn to be guarded, and realize that some people don't show their true selves until later.
 6. Test the spirits to make sure it is of God.
 7. Listen to those who are older and wiser if they are discerning of a problem.
 8. NEVER assume you know what's best just because it "feels" right.
 9. If you feel the Holy Spirit moving, hang around and see what He's up to.
10. Sometimes God uses your children.

These are the points that are floating around inside my head.  They say hindsight's 20/20.  Some things I would do differently for sure.  Some things I would have spent more time seeking God over, and listened more closely to the Spirit's voice.  I would not have let my feelings get in the way of truth.  The question I ask myself tonight is, "Why did You let us make the mistakes we made?  Why, God, didn't you show Yourself more clearly to our clouded mind and spirit?"  I'm just going to guess He's using this as a lesson for us to spend more time seeking His face than satisfying our own feelings.  I'm guessing He's teaching us to slow down and be more careful and discerning of His will for our lives.  I know He works all things together for our good, and it's time to pick the good from the bad and move on.  It's time to get out of the wallow and look to the future.  It's time to be thankful God opened our eyes and saved us from some bad situations.  He could have left us there to be blinded to the truth.  My heart's cry is that God will save the ones whose blinders are still on, and that He will draw them out and into His trutth!

Thank You, Lord, for saving us from disaster!  Thank You for opening our eyes when You did! Thank You for the people You have set in our pathway to help us on our journey!  I am forever grateful!

Love,
Me  :)

Psalm 139

I went to BSF Bible Study this morning, met with some beautiful friends, am blessed beyond measure by a Heavenly Father who loves me so much, but the truth??  I am struggling.  Tears threaten to overflow.  I'm tired to the bone,  couldn't engage much this morning in our small group, and overwhelmed by the curves life has thrown us.  I shouldn't let these things get to me, but they do. Sometimes I feel like I shouldn't be so transparent, but I am.  I can never be accused of not being real!  :)  I am one of those people who tend to compare myself with others, and I shouldn't.  The father of lies whispers in my ear that I'm not deep enough, smart enough or good enough. He tries to get me to doubt God's plan.......I don't know what it is, but I know He has one. The way I get through life is relying on the love of my Father.  I tend to focus on God's great love for me because that's what carries me.  I remember when my Aunt Char said, "As soon as the devil opens his mouth you know he's lying!"  He can't tell the truth.  I'm glad I KNOW this truth, and how I miss my Aunt Char!!!  :'( Today I need to talk to her and get her wisdom on how to deal with the current problems we are facing.  Today I need to hear her belly laugh that lets me know everything is going to be alright.  Today I need her as my prayer warrior.  I've lost family and friends before, but she is the closest person to me that I have ever lost, and it still hurts over 5 years later.  I think of her often!

Okay, enough about me.  I wanna post one of my favorite Scriptures from the Bible that is always such an encouragement to my heart, and I hope it is an encouragement to yours!  :)

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

1 You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.

¹⁹ If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
    Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
²⁰ They speak of you with evil intent;
    your adversaries misuse your name.
²¹ Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
    and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
²² I have nothing but hatred for them;
    I count them my enemies.
²³ Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.

Love,

Me  :)

Seasons...

I was reflecting on the season that Roy and I have been in for the past couple years. We've been through some pretty tough stuff.  Thinking about the difficult trials we have endured spawned memories of my battle with illness of all kinds that I walked around with for far too long due to an undiagnosed disease a number of years ago. I suffered multiple physical illnesses, mental and emotional illness and spiritual illness.  I had thyroid disease (later discovered to be Hashimoto's), Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Bipolar Disorder, Panic Attacks and an underlying disease that nobody suspected.  I was tested for all kinds of things until one day the connection was made.  I had Celiac Disease.  During that difficult time in my life, I went through horrible spiritual oppression. Demonic attacks from the pit of hell plagued me.  I recently had a small episode that instilled fear in me that I knew I couldn't bear again.  I started repeating the name of Jesus, and the attack dissipated. The positive thing I have on my side now is spiritual growth, and the knowledge of how to handle these attempts by the devil to thwart my walk with Christ.  Another thing it reminded me of is the simple fact that he never gives up! It is Satan's mission to try and destroy Christians and the family unit.  He rocked our marriage when I was sick, and he's rocking our family now.  Please pray for us that God would bring healing and restoration, and that blinders that need to fall off would fall.  Pray that the strongholds the devil has in place would come crashing down.  We want relationships restored properly.  It's never fun as a parent to go through tough times with your children.  I know God has a plan, and it is perfect. It's just hard to see right now.

Seasons of difficulty and struggle are the things God uses to bring us to a closer, much more dependant relationship with Him.  I know for me He wanted my trust and my adoring love.  Faith is challenging.  It's hard feeling like you are drowning in wave after wave knowing you need to just reach out and take the Father's hand. He's right there.......waiting.  It's not hard for Him.  It's hard for us.  We have ourselves to hurdle over.  That's it.  We are the obstacle to our own failures or the stepping stone to our own triumphs.  He's just right there patiently waiting, encouraging, reaching and, yes, sometimes even disciplining.   I love how He loves me.  I love that He loves me so much He allowed me to go through some of the most hellish, difficult times ever to bring me closer to Him so I could know how He loves me.  I thank God for trials for without them I would not know the depth of His grace, mercy and LOVE for me!  It is my desire that God is always glorified in my weaknesses and in my tribulations.  Like Paul, I want to share my weaknesses and struggles with others so that Christ's power can work through me, and that He can use me to be a blessing to someone else who needs to know that He loves and cares for them!

2 Corinthins 12:9, "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.



Love,
Me :)

How Great Is Our Father's Love For Us!

June 8, 1991, I married my best friend. Little did I know when I said "I Do" and "For better or worse, in sickness and in health" that we'd go through so much in our short marriage of just over 24 years. We've had our "for better", and we've had our "for worse". We've done the "sickness and in health" thing. We've been on one crazy ride! The only constant in our marriage is the One at the top of the triangle.........God! He has stayed at the top holding our geometric masterpiece together, and we have been all over the place inside that triangle of marriage. He has given us boundaries in which we could flounder around and grow up in Him. For that I am thankful! :) He is a perfect Father who allows His children to make mistakes, yet provides rules or boundaries which we need to follow. It's for our own protection. It keeps us safe from unsuspecting prowlers trying to steer us in the wrong direction.

It's the same with earthly parenting. We do our best to provide that triangle for our children.......parents at the top, children at the bottom floundering around as they grow up in our home. We provide them boundaries. We set rules for their own protection. We try to keep the unsuspecting prowlers out who are trying to steer them in the wrong direction. Unfortunately, we are not perfect like our Heavenly Father. We make mistakes. Entrusting our babies to our Heavenly Father is the only thing we have. He knows all, sees all, and has a plan far beyond our wildest dreams. It's hard, and it hurts sometimes. There is no greater pain for a parent than a child who won't heed their advice and turns away from them causing relational destruction. It's our prayer and hope that God is at work in the life or lives of these children, and that He will bring healing and restoration. What so many kids can't seem to comprehend is that their parents have their best interests at heart. We only want what's best for them. It's the same with our Heavenly Father. He only wants what is best for us. He has our best interests at heart. He shapes and molds, we shape and mold. He disciplines and steers, we discipline and steer. He loves, we love.  It's my prayer that my children will know how much we love them and that love will win in the end!

"See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!"
 1 John 3:1

Love this song by Selah "How Deep The Father's Love For Us".  Take a listen, and be encouraged!

https://youtu.be/1vmY2ztb5xc

Blessings,
Cindy

Tonight,

Tonight, I need to write.  Tonight, I need to vent.  Tonight, I need to scream. Tonight, I can't. Tonight, I'll cry......I'll cry deep down in my soul, and maybe the tears will seep out and run down my cheeks.  Maybe not.  Tonight, I'll curl up in a ball and pray.  Maybe pray myself to sleep, and trust. I'll trust God to take care of the things that are completely out of my control.  Sometimes the problems are too big.  Sometimes they are too overwhelming.  I know God has a plan.  We have done our best, and our best is all God has asked of us.  Now, it's up to God to finish what He started so many years ago.  I can't see His plan for the mess that sin has made, but He sees something beautiful because He sees the final product.  He can see the end.  So tonight, I'll rest.  I'll rest in Him (at least I'll try).  :/


 

The Struggle Is Real

There is much swirling through my brain tonight as I try and figure out the why's and how's in life, and as I contemplate the happenings of the last year-and-a-half of our lives.  I'm tired, I'm weary, I'm worn.  We have prayed and sought hours of counsel over the different situations that have taken place.  Between long distance phone calls, lunches and walks around the lake I have learned that nothing in life is easy, and that God doesn't hand us the answers on a silver platter just because we are sons and daughters of the Most High King.  He just wants us to trust Him.  If He can gain our trust then He can work.

As a child of God, at the ripe old age of almost 45, I have seen my share of difficulties.  I have endured many hardships and struggles.  I have lived through hell and high water................and I have made it through.  I have been there as Satan has tried his best to destroy our marriage and family unit. He just doesn't seem to ever give up.........he never stops.  I hate him for it.  I remember the long, dark nights (and days) of oppression that I endured and the attacks on my children. Mama Bear came out, and I remember telling him, "You can mess with me all you want, but leave my children alone."  He hasn't, and he won't.  I guess he saw that as a challenge.  He's constantly on the prowl seeking whom he may devour...........me, you, our spouses, our children.  He's always looking for the weakest link. It's our job to pray and trust Almighty God for His hand on our lives and the lives of our families.

I know many of you have had your own set of difficulties that you have faced in this life.  Some are facing your toughest challenges right now.  Don't give up.  Your Heavenly Father is there to see you through and get you to the other side of your storm.  I don't know about you, but I'm tired of stormy weather. I'm tired of the rainy season, but I'm thankful that I can hold onto the hand of the One who calms the storms.  I'm thankful for Jesus!  I'm thankful that He's standing there with a strong, steady hand reaching down to pull me to safety.  When all hope seems lost, He is always there.  When the way seems bleak, He is always there.  When you are too tired to press on, He is always there.   "For He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Hebrews 13:5b

Keepin' it real, folks!

Blessings,
Me

Children are a blessing...

Children are a blessing from the Lord!

He never said it would be easy being a parent.  He never said we wouldn't face challenges with each child.  He never said that we would have all the answers, and He never said that if we mastered our first child that the second one would be easier.  What He DID say was that they are a blessing from Him.

God has entrusted my husband and I with five children.  We also have one awaiting us in Heaven.  :) Each child brings with him/her their own uniqueness. We have four sons and 1 daughter on this earth.........each one a treasure.  I have decided that when children are small they are much easier to handle.  I know being a young mother with small children has it's stresses and difficulties.  I've been there, but training teens and young adults has got to be the absolute hardest job as a parent! Like one dear friend said to me, "When kids are young they trample on your lap, but when they grow up they trample on your heart."  It is true.  Along with the normal trials of parenting we have two children on the Autism Spectrum.  They are on the high functioning end, but nonetheless they are there and have struggled their whole life.  They also carry comorbid conditions..  They've had their share of social difficulties, struggles in school (one dissolving in tears because he had no friends), and just the routine of daily living in our world.  You see, their world is different. They view things differently, they take things literally, they don't understand body language/phrases of others and they struggle to make friends and socially interact. I'm learning myself how to handle their uniqueness. One wants to be independent, the other wants me to do everything for him.  One has accepted his uniqueness, the other has struggled with hating the way he is.  One looks at his burdens as a way for God to help him grow and get stronger, the other wishes his burdern would go away because it drives him crazy.  One has a creative mind and could write a book or create a video game that would take this world by storm if he could ever get it on paper or design it.  The other one is incredibly gifted on the piano.....a prodigy. One may study video game designing.  The other will undoubtedly study music and become a famous pianist one day.  :) I love them just the way they are.  God did a great job when He made them.  He has a plan for their lives that only they can fulfill.  They are strugglers. They are gifted. They are perfect.

Love,
Me

Mom stuff......okay, anyone can read this! ;)

Do you ever wish you could go back to yesteryear, a time where the days were longer, the pace was slower and everyone knew everybody by their first name? Lately, I've been pining for that kind of lifestyle.  Ain't happenin', but I can dream, right?  :)  I'm the type of person that has to get out of the house and go somewhere most days. If I have one day trapped inside then I'm gone the next.  I love to be out and about having lunch, thrift shopping and visiting with friends.  Getting "out of the house" makes me happy!  :D  It's easy for me to get out of balance, though, and get overwhelmed.  Laundry, sweeping, dusting, mopping, dishes, cooking, straightening, deep cleaning bathrooms............it never goes away.  Never!  It's always there...........like the plague! :)  I've decided when I get rich I'm going to hire a maid.  I guess that's just a dream, too.  Ha!  The one thing I have struggled with as a mother and housewife are the daily mundane chores like that dish I have washed a million times.  I think new dishes are in order!  I'm tired of looking at the same ones.  ;)  Or that shirt that keeps showing up in the laundry when you just KNOW it was never worn because moms know everything, right? Kinda like the jacket I've washed a hundred times in the middle of the summer because inevitably it goes in the hamper right after I've told them to put it away.  It becomes stinky and you go through the process all over again!  ARGH!!!  I know I'm not alone, and I'm sure that mothers in yesteryear probably sat here like me with a simple pen and piece of paper and "blogged" about how they wished they could go back to simpler times. They also struggled with the mundane chores, washing the same dishes and that one piece of laundry that never made it on the child, but ended up in the basket. They enjoyed visiting with their friends, meeting up at the park with their little ones and having a picnic. You do what you have to do to deal with the stressors in life, and you try to make everything else fit in its place and keep things running.  Yes, we live in a more difficult world today, a world with more sin pulling at the family unit due to all the media and technology, but Satan was still alive and well back then. He has always hated the family unit, trying his best to destroy what God ordained.  He just used other means.  That's why we need our friends!  We need them to help us keep our minds healthy and keep us focused in the right direction.  We do for them what they do for us............we help each other. I'm thankful for the friends God has placed in my life who speak truth to me when I need to hear it, and laugh with me (and at me) when I don't.  :)  I'm thankful for my family and all the mundane chores because that means we are alive and have clothes to wear and food to eat. I'm thankful for dishes to cook with and a washer and dryer to do laundry with. Cleaning the house means we have a roof over our heads.  I guess I really am rich after all!  "Honey, call the cleaning service!"  :)    

Still Like The Children of Israel...

I just wanna say I'm grateful to God for His goodness to our family! He's brought us through so much in the past year-and-a-half.  We're still working through some current family situations, but He is faithful!  Praise God!  

In our ladies Bible study we are studying the life of Moses.  I have gotten in on the tail-end of the study, but am thoroughly enjoying it.  I do believe that we (His children) are so much like the Children of Israel were in the Old Testament.  We are whiners, complainers and demand what we want from God!  We stray away from Him when we think "we've got this" and make Him second place.  Then when He allows us to have what we want, and things go topsy-turvy, we decide that we really DO need Him and come running back.  Does that sound familiar?  :)  The only thing that has really changed is that we don't have to abide by all the sacrifices and O.T. Laws (with the exception of The Ten Commandments). Unfortunately, so many churches today still try to govern their people by laws rather than by freedom in Christ.  Putting down laws for people to uphold in order to maintain their relationship with Jesus Christ will never work.  Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice for us and came to give us liberty, not bondage. 

The ESV puts it this way, "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1

I like the NLT version, "So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don't get tied up again in slavery to the law." Galatians 5:1

It's so easy to get "tied up again" as the NLT puts it.  It can sneak up on you so slowly that you don't even realize you're "tied up again" until you are in the thick of it, suffocated, in chains, and you wonder how you were ever so blind-sided. Thank God for His faithfulness in showing us His truth and love!!  

Having freedom in Christ doesn't mean we can go out and do anything we want and still make it to Heaven.  If that's how one feels, he/she better go back and check their conversion.  :)  We are called to live Holy lives.  Holy doesn't mean we will be perfect, but it does mean we strive for perfection.......we strive to be like Jesus!  He is the perfecter of our faith!  I like the way the NASB puts it, "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:2

I want His Holiness in my life!  I want Him to be present in what I say and how I live my life.  

Jesus, make me more and more like You each day.  Help me in my weaknesses. Perfect my faith in You.  Give me Your strength to face the challenges that come day to day.  

Love,

Me  

Weight Watchers, Patience, Trust And Other Stuff!

So I just broke down and splurged on some caramel cake.  I wish I hadn't.  I did amazing yesterday and never consumed it last night for my hubs actual party. Big problem?  I came home from shopping feeling like I was starving!  I am consoling myself by saying that even Weight Watchers gives you bonus points and allows you to bank unused ones, right?  Ha!  Oh, well!  I'll do better tonight!  ;)  

I am on the weight loss path right now and have lost 5.2 pounds in just under two weeks to be exact! Whoo-Hoo!!!  Go, Me!!!  :D   But, I think I just gained it all back, though.  Boy, what harm a little chocolate cake with caramel can do to your waist line!   

On a positive note, I had a wonderful lunch today with a new friend.  We found out just how fast time can fly when two women get together and gab!  We opened our mouths with the first word and zzzziiiippp........it was two hours later!  Ha!  Once again, God used words from another Godly person to slow down my need to have answers and try to fix things.  Why am I such a fixer? EGAD!!!  I am obsessed with "having the proper answers" and that really isn't always necessary.  The Lord gently reminded me through her soft spoken words that we don't need "labels". We don't have to have an exact appropriate diagnosis for everything that goes wrong in life.  We just have to do the best we can with what we have and go forward one step at a time.  God is working, but He sure is taking His sweet time!  A few weeks ago at my ladies Bible Study I learned something very important.....:D "We live in a microwave world, but we serve a crockpot God".  Boy, what truth!  :)  I want it yesterday!! So, I guess maybe God is trying to teach me patience.  What an irony!   When Roy and I got married I was always the patient one, and he the impatient one.  My, how times have changed!  God DOES have a sense of humor!  :D 

If you are struggling, remember that God works in His own time. Maybe He's teaching you to be patient like He keeps trying to teach me.  Maybe He's trying to teach you to trust like He keeps trying to teach me.  (Wow! I think I have issues!  Ha!)  Don't give up.  God loves you!  He just wants you to trust in Him and give your problems to Him.  That doesn't mean that we shouldn't be proactive.....we definitely need to be.  But, do the best you can and remember to keep your eyes on Jesus.  

Isaiah 40:31 - But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew [their] strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; [and] they shall walk, and not faint.

Psalms 27:14 - Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

Love,

Me

Good Morning!

Good morning, Friends!  Today is my husband's birthday!  We have quite a day planned, and somewhere in there I have to squeeze in sweeping, mopping, straightening and bathroom cleaning.  Yep, we are having company tonight!  :)  I just wanted to pop in and wish you a blessed day in case you stop by to sit a spell (that's all it'd be cuz I don't have much written yet...Ha!).  I hope you hang in there with me.  I'm really looking forward to the days ahead.

Love,
Me

A Little Birdie Told Me So...

I came across a verse today by way of my daughter that really struck a chord with me.  Ezra 8:22 (ESV), “The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.”  I grew up believing God was always angry and ready to bash me into hell for any little wrong that I did, but He is actually a loving Heavenly Father to His children.  I never knew that for over 20 years of my Christian life, and I've been His for over 30. I suppose that's why I struggled so badly for so many years.  To be honest, I still struggle every once in a while, and God has to use gentle reminders that He's still the same loving Heavenly Daddy He's always been.  He still has to remind me here and there (okay, maybe a lot more frequently than that..:D) that He's still in control and can STILL take care of me and my problems.  I was backing out of the driveway this morning, and for the first time that I ever remember, there was a little bird perched on my mailbox. He was standing there tall and proud like he was just waiting for me to notice.  God had sent me a piece of "mail".  He had a message just for me.  In that moment, God reminded me that if He watches over the sparrows (and other little birdie's) that He is also watching over me and our family, and He is taking care of the situations that we are presently facing.  The love of my Abba, Abba (Daddy, Daddy) washed over me, and I realized once again that He is so much more capable of handling our problems in life that to us look HUGE, but to Him they are small. 

I'm a fixer, but I think that's because I'm a mother and NOT because I'm an extrovert. Ha!  If you know me, you will laugh at that!  :) I am entirely introverted and passive, except when it comes to my children.  When problems arise that involve my kids, I go into fix-it mode pretty fast, and I tend to get ahead of God.  He has to remind me of past promises, and give me fresh, new ones to keep my mind focused on Him.  I spent part of last week in fix-it mode, and it caused me to stress and worry about things that were out of my control.  God had to once again remind me that I wasn't trusting Him, but that I needed to.  I'm happy to say that I have handed the problem back to Him.  Oh, I'll probably try to take it back again, but He'll be right there to remind me yet again of where I need to leave the situation.  I am grateful for His faithfulness, and love, and mercy.  Oh...and grace. :)  

Blessings,
Me         

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog!  I used to blog regularly years ago, but through circumstances took a break from the blogging world. After encouragement from a dear friend, I am going to give it another whirl!  You will see serious posts, funny posts and just plain down to earth things that are going on in my life and the lives of my family.  You may even see some crafting projects that I do here and there.  It's my new hobby!  Thanks to another dear friend I have found a way to de-stress. Sometimes the stroke of a paintbrush can melt away all anxieties and muscle aches.  I guess it depends on what you are painting, though.  If it's a whole room, I  might need my Epsom salts bath and a few days in bed.  :)  

I hope you enjoy what you read here!  We'll take this journey together through tears, laughter and projects.  Projects are always good! They keep the mind in a safe place.  ;) 

Love,

Me