Thankful for my women!

This devotion was sent to me this morning

Endurance,
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.Hebrews 12:1 There are times when we feel completely alone. We feel as if no one has ever experienced what we’ve gone through. No one could possibly know the agony of watching your child suffer from leukemia. No one could possibly know the pain of having your husband walk out on you. No one could possibly know the fear of being diagnosed with breast cancer. But you know what? There are women that have experienced the same thing. They have run the same race. We are surrounded by women who have struggled through situations and spent countless nights crying to God for strength. They are witnesses to God’s love and grace. They are witnesses to the life of faith. How did they manage to survive? They didn’t do it alone. We aren’t made to live this life alone. God has given us people in our lives to run the race of life with us. This race isn’t a sprint but a marathon. For anyone who has ever run a marathon, there are moments of highs and even more moments of lows. Everyone finds a point where he or she is ready to give up. Weighed down by the insecurities and doubts that slow us down in this life, you begin to feel that you can’t go any further. But you’re not alone. You are surrounded by others who are in this same race and struggling with the same fears and pain. They run alongside you and encourage you, helping you finish the race. Praise God that he hasn’t left us alone. As women, we have a natural affinity for relationships. Don’t be afraid to ask someone for help. Allow God to direct you toward women who will care for you. Try finding an older female to mentor you. Allow stories of her struggles and faith to comfort you. Then, look for ways that you can mentor to someone else. Women of faith, we need each other. Come alongside other women and run the race of faith together."

I want to tell you one of the blessings I am most thankful for this year. I am so Thankful for the women God has put in my life. Those who encourage and run this race with me. Wendla, Mary, and Katie just to name a few. I can't Thank God enough, or find the words to express how much I love you. You pray with me, pray for me and encourage me. You come along side me with words that build up and ignite passion for the King of Kings. You laugh with me and cry with me. I Praise God that He is so wise as to give me girls with a sense of humor( to be my friend you need one!) and women who's hearts are completely SOLD OUT for our Great God! You are a reflection of Him in all you do. Thank you for showing His love to me and to those around you. I am Truly Blessed to have you as my "women of the way"!

Trust

Trust.
For me that word in the past has brought up some feelings, and let me tell you not all of those feelings or even most of them have been good or comforting in any way. My trust in others has been broken so many times that I had stopped counting.
Then I started putting my trust in God, really trusting Him, to the point of having to close my eyes to the circumstances surrounded by the worry and fear. Circumstances that in the worlds eyes would have no hope of changing and trusting that no matter the outcome God had a plan, and believing it was going to be what He wanted and knowing it was for my good, then really BELEVING He was in control.
Believe me it's scary, but I have a choice, I can trust Him or live in fear. Fear of being hurt, being made fun of, fear of failing, fear that it wont work out the way I had planned( it very rarely does). Or I can just jump! You know, close my eyes and take that step of faith that even if I don't know whats ahead, I can believe He's gonna be there with me the whole way. He has NEVER let me down, let me fall so far that I can't get back up, or left me hangin'.
Trust now is something I know I can have... in Him.
It's a trust that makes me take chances that I wouldn't have taken before, I'm even willing to take leaps of faith that a year ago I would have thought ridiculous, too risky and definitely out of the question, now trusting Him with the outcome. Trusting Him has made it possible to trust others, not because I think I'm not going to get hurt, I'm sure I will, its inevitable if you live in this world, but I know He's there and I trust He will take care of me when I do get hurt. It's funny how it all works and I don't have it all figured out, I most likely wont ever figure it out and I don't need to, He is my never failing unconditional safety.
You can trust me on that!
I decided to have a conversation with Him about something I was going through, this was the result...I hope you're blessed by it

Lord, are you there?
 Do you see me?
 Do you hear my heart breaking?
 Are you really here with me like you said you would always be, I don’t know if I can take another step without knowing your there, Guiding me.
I have so many fears, I’m so scared of the unknown.
 Does that mean I don’t believe you enough, that my faith couldn't move a mountain?
 Because if you haven’t noticed, I’m standing at the base of the largest mountain I've ever seen.
 I don’t know if I can move it, are you asking me to climb it? I don’t know how.
 Help me, just send me a sign, something to let me know your there.
 I don’t want to feel this way, I don’t want to do anything without you, and I am so tired and worn from trying to do it alone, I don’t think I have any strength left.

Child, I am here.
 Do you feel me
 I know your heart is breaking.
 I am with you, like I promised you I would be.
There is no where you can go to be away from my love for you.
 I go before you, I am ever-present with you, and follow after you.
 I know how scared you are, hold on to my hand, I wont let you fall.
 Nothing is unknown to me.
I have seen everything you have gone through
 You don’t need to fear.
 I love you.
 Do you see the flowers in the field? I sent those for you.
 Do you know the depth of the sea? My love for you is deeper still.
 It isn't measured by your faith in me, or what you can do on your own.
My love for you doesn't change.
As for that mountain? I can move it for you, according to my will.
 But if I decide you should climb it, I will give you everything you need.
 Because you see, you’ll be drawing closer to me.
 You see my sweet child, in your weakness, my power is made perfect.
When you put your trust in me I am there to strongly support you.
 You can do all things with me, don’t be afraid.
 Praise me for the life I have chosen just for you.
 Praise me for the work I've started in you.
 I am calling you by name can you hear me, trust me and see.

My Mom!

My Mom is and has been the most powerful influence in my life. She is the first one to show and teach me of Gods love for me by being Jesus with skin on for so many, dare I say everyone she has ever come in contact with. I love her beyond words. A couple of years ago I wrote a letter about her and would like to share it with you. I thank God for her and for choosing her as my mother, just another example of how GOOD He is!!!!!




The Greatest Love She’s Known.

I remember as a child watching them together,
Spending time talking and just being together.
I would watch as He wrapped His loving arms around her.
And whisper gently that He loved her and that everything would be okay,
As long as she was with Him.
The older I grew I watched as their relationship grew.
When life was too much and she grew weary,
I watched as she ran to Him.
They would spend hours together,
She would tell him her fears, her hopes and dreams.
He would wrap His arms around her,
Tell her He loved her
That there was nothing she could do to change His love for her.
And she believed Him.
I watched as she spent her days with Him at the front of her mind
Never wanting to do anything that would come between them.
And at times when she would stumble in life,
He was right there holding her as she cried.
Telling her that He loved her more than the stars in the sky
More than the sand on the shores.
I watched Her talk of Him to everyone who would listen,
Even those who wouldn’t or couldn’t understand His love for her.
She wanted everyone to have a love like theirs.
And He was always there by her side, loving her in a way
That at times I just couldn’t understand.
When I was a teen I watched as she took care of our father
Who was dying of cancer.
And in those times of unbearable sadness
He was still there, wrapping His arms around her
Telling her he loved her, and that with Him
Everything would be okay.
Later in life as her body began its own battle with cancer
I watched her run to Him. He told her not to fear,
That He was with her and that His love for her had never changed,
That He would never leave her.
And again she believed Him.


He has been her comforter when storms would rage,
Her warrior when her life was threatened by illness
He is her councelor when she has questions that have no answers.
He is her physician
Her provider
Her king

And one day as she kneels before His Throne
His voice saying, "well done,... come see what I've prepared for you."
He’ll wrap His loving arms around her and she’ll smile
Looking finally into the face,
Of the greatest love she’s ever known.

NEVERTHELESS!

I received this from my Church e-mail prayer list. It is so encouraging that I had to share it. My life is a miracle. A long line of "Nevertheless" Those who know me would not believe who I was just 8 short years ago. I praise God for "Nevertheless" and for the life He has renewed. Nevertheless…by Max Lucado And the king and his men… spoke to David, saying, “You shall not come in here; but the blind and the lame will repel you,” … Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion (that is, the City of David).- 2 Sam. 5:6𔃇 Did you see it? Most hurry past it. Let’s not. Pull out a pen and underline this twelve-letter masterpiece. Nevertheless. “Nevertheless David took the stronghold …” Wouldn’t you love God to write a nevertheless in your biography? Born to alcoholics, nevertheless she led a sober life. Never went to college, nevertheless he mastered a trade. Didn’t read the Bible until retirement age, nevertheless he came to a deep and abiding faith. We all need a nevertheless. And God has plenty to go around. Strongholds mean nothing to him. Remember Paul’s words? “We use God’s mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons, to knock down the Devil’s strongholds” (2 Cor. 10:4 NLT). You and I fight with toothpicks; God comes with battering rams and cannons. What he did for David, he can do for us. The question is, will we do what David did? The king models much here. Two types of thoughts continually vie for your attention. One proclaims God’s strengths; the other lists your failures. One longs to build you up; the other seeks to tear you down. And here’s the great news: you select the voice you hear. Why listen to the mockers? Why heed their voices? Why give ear to pea-brains and scoffers when you can, with the same ear, listen to the voice of God? Do what David did.Turn a deaf ear to the old voices.Open a wide eye to the new choices. Who knows, you may be a prayer away from a nevertheless. God loves to give them. Peter stuck his foot in his mouth.Joseph was imprisoned in Egypt . The Samaritan woman had been married five times.Jesus was dead in the grave … Nevertheless, Peter preached, Joseph ruled, the woman shared, Jesus rose—and you? You fill in the blank. Your nevertheless awaits you.

Something about Mary!

So my eldest daughter read my first blog and said " Mom, you wrote one sentence about this whole blogging thing being Mary's fault and preceeded to write about yourself!" Ouch! She was right. Pride is such an ugly thing! So this blog is going to be about my friend Mary. She is one of the silliest Women (girls!) I know. She has a great sense of humor and most of the time we spend together at work is either laughing,( at ourselves I might add) or crying over a good book or new song that touches our heart strings, not hard to do with us. God uses His wisdom, gentleness and Godly sense of humor when picking friends for us.Mary is the perfect example, She is a very sweet, very gifted, very funny woman with a heart completely sold out for her savior! Don't get me wrong Mary is as spunky as she is beautiful, as bold as a lion yet humble as a lamb. She has a great family and a Husband that she giggles with over the phone at work. How blessed is that?!!!! I love Mary and if you knew her you wouldn't be able to help but love her too. She is one of my favorite parts of working where I work and I am BLESSED to know her.

Children!

Its all Mary's fault! I dont really know what I'm doing nor do I know how to blog really. But it seems fun and down right thereputic! So I am attempting it for the first time. I guess you kinda need a topic, I have decided it should be "Children" Adult children and those young enough to think that saying "Mommy pulled a hair out of her chin this morning!" like it's the coolest thing they have ever seen, is OK to say in public.

I have two grown(well they think they are grown!) children and two small children. I have found over the years that the challenges of Motherhood dont always get easier as we would like to think with age. I have just learned that I have a very BIG God that loves my children more than I ever could and that PRAYER is MANDITORY, if you plan on surviving teen years, broken bones from trying that new bike over a VERY big jump, football, girlfriends, boyfriends,acne, hormones,and everything that comes before or after!

I sometimes joke with friends that God gave us Husbands and children to teach us how to pray and stay at His feet as to find strength and mercy. And we do need all the mercy we can get, we make mistakes, speak out of emotion sometimes instead of patience. And often wonder how our mothers ever let us live past the age of 8!

Maybe they knew what I've been learning. God is bigger than anything that I am. He is God. I am very small. And If I believe He is who He say's He is and I am who He says I am. Then He's got it all in the palm of His very capable hands. I can find rest in knowing that. And peace like a river when the bath tub overflows into the hallway because I was cooking dinner and trying to give the kids a bath at the same time as vacuming! Praise GOD!!!!