Beauty from Ashes - A Continual Process

Things often seem dark in January through March - The middle!  The fall crisp colors are gone, and there is typically no pretty snow here in Kentucky.  Spring feels so far away!  Honestly I'm not a fan!  It can make all that's already hard seem even more so.   If you're fighting your way through I'm just sayin', yeah me too.  We all have stories, and we all know people with hard stories, and we all know the news.  But I won't stop there, not today. Yeah. Life. Hurts. But! Recently,  my spirit has been reminded in the most gentle ways, that God, the Creator of the Universe humbled himself as a man ( Philippians 2).  He suffered to the point of death, so that even in our suffering, we can have LIFE!  So He too says, yeah me too!  "He sees, He knows, He is making a way." He did this so you and I would know there will be an end to suffering. Jesus is the reason we can fight FROM VICTORY not FOR VICTORY!  Easter...

The loss of my brother will always take my breath away - that's true for all who miss Joel.  As my heart constricts and my breath leaves, and I feel the deep ache in my chest and throat - even then,  I feel God again.  People said I would, but the despair made it impossible to imagine.  I also know that every day, season, event will bring new filters... I'm sure that in life, we will always be aware of someone suffering.  The ones who can get closest to our heart are those who have suffered in the same way.  In time our inward suffering calls us to outward action. A lot is going on in the world.  Where can God use your pain?  If not yet, some day He will, if you offer it up to Him.  Take your time...I'm taking mine.  But when you're His child, He is close, whether you sense it or not.  God. Is. My. Anchor. I have hope and a taste of His presence again.  Psalm 34 says, "Taste and see that the Lord is g...

​ Edges terrify me. Not heights so much as the lack of a fence or railing.  Well, there are emotional edges too.  We've all experienced them, not a comfortable place.  Just like the edge of a roof, an emotional edge sends me in the direction of safety.  Specifically, I run to Jesus.  Yes, I'm the one who writes about fear.  The one who says there's hope! We can overcome!  I'm the one who writes to encourage those who battle fear because I've been there, and I've literally felt the hand of God deliver me.   God is a personal God, and I've quoted  Psalm 34 many times.  It says, "Taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him." And yet, if you check my pulse, sometimes it's off the chart!  I know it's wrong, I know when I'm letting tomorrow rob me of today.  I also know I'm not going to stay there.  But, just so you know, it blind sides me! "We're not ready...

Close call? That's what happens when we get distracted. Applies to the physical and spiritual realm of life. Whether driving, or planning your day, distraction can disarm us!  When I am distracted, I am prone to self sabotage!  Now if we are talking about our "old" self, that is good!   Galatians 2:20 says,  " My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."   The bad thing is when I self sabotage the "new" me .  It comes so easily.  It's my weak spot!   2 Corinthians 5:17 says,  " This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!"   My CHRONIC PRAYER of "EMPTY ME AND FILL WITH THEE," is a very good and necessary prayer!  It's no secret that in my past, fear had a total grip on my life.  Now it just gri...

"For he himself is our peace," Ephesians 2:14 I am so aware of the word RELATIONSHIP this morning.  I am going with my usual style, just brain dump.  I have a long list of longings for Jesus right now.  A long list of precious loved ones who are walking through fire.  Last night at about midnight I said to Steve, "I know Jesus is more about us coming to Him in trust and relationship, than the specific list."  So I am working it out, TRUSTING HIM, IN RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM, FOR HIS GLORY, AND FOR MY FRIENDS. When we stop wrestling with the long list of crisis, and just lay them at God's feet, TRUSTING Him with these "crisis" situations, we begin to feel free and light.  That is not only what we need, but what our friends need.  That had to click into place, AGAIN, in my heart last night.  I felt the peace come.  It's not about how hard I pray, but that I pray...that I go to HIM.  He draws.  I was not able to sleep at all last nigh...