Beauty from Ashes - A Continual Process

gives us true hope. We don’t have to have life figured out. We can’t figure it out.  We can find comfort in just breathing the next breath as a gift.  And then the next... I’ve recently been learning to build strength in my body and manage fibromyalgia through yoga.  This practice reminds me of the truth God taught me a long time ago...live in this very moment, live in the presence of our amazing God - right now.   One way we can be present with Him is to soak in His love letter to us.  That's what I'm sharing today, His Words to our hearts. I'm not sharing my specifics of my story today, only enough to say, God does redeem all the hard...and will be redeeming the hard until heaven. I know that each of us have a story.  My hope is to encourage you today. He is faithful to turn many sorrows into many strengths, each time building our faith muscle.  The strength often comes slowly.  Just like the muscles we b...

The story behind the story of what God is still doing in my life is in the post titled "The God Who Heals!"  (to read it, click on the label The God Who Heals at the end of this post)  That post is a summary of part of my healing journey.  If you are new to this blog, it is simply a collection of vulnerable moments met by a personal God.  He met me   through songs, friends, being alone, and passages of Scripture .  No matter your story, God wants to bring healing to you through His love for you, His Word, His forgiveness, His acceptance, and His character. As I look back over nearly 10 years, I can see that God was preparing me for not only my own future, but so I could encourage others.  Right now I have several suffering friends.  The same truth from 10 years ago comforts me now, and I hope it will comfort you. I am different now, a testimony to God continually pursuing me.  His grace has lead me to His Word and His promises.  O...

The sun is shining in Kentucky this Labor Day weekend.  But it doesn't feel like it to some.  Do you see them?  Are you that person? "Do you know someone who needs encouraging in their faith today?"   The reply  of  the unknown reader was "yes, me."    I froze for a moment. I have been there, have you?  That place where you can't encourage your own heart?  You are too numb to think.  You pray to God, you read His Word, you listen to worship, and yet it's so dark.  You're screaming, but it's silent..., you feel no one would want to hear it. It's just not true.  We care, there is someone ready to listen.  We are meant to be here for each other, to help share the load, better yet, to shift the load to God's shoulders. "Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.   But exhort one another every day, as long as it is...

My hands hurt, really hurt.  Just being honest here. "Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:26 I was telling my sis how frustrating it is that I know truth and yet the anxiety swirling within betrays me when my hands begin to ache.  They ache today, why?  Fibromyalgia makes me mad, until I surrender to God.  My body tells on me.  But sometimes that is what I need!  The pains are not predictable, and often random.  But I also know things that contribute to my pain, anxiety is one!  Sometimes my anxiety is fear driven, and sometimes it is excitement driven.  I had a mix the last couple of weeks. It just is what it is.  Humbling. Today my sis reminded me of truth about me, when she said, "I know there's so much for our brains to get anxious about...it's crazy how our brains and our spi...

This is my "letting go" bush. A friend gave it to me the first August our girl left home.  This post may be too much information, or possibly shallow for some.  But I'm humbly sharing for the one who needs this connection.  The one who fears that being shaken and undone is the end and not the beginning of something good.  And I might add here, that while I'm incredibly honest about the struggles of anxiety, God has given me great joy, and I enjoy Him and the life He has path before me!  I love His Divine appointments! Yes I'm about to download a mashup of my soul.  For some who are "older," a "mashup" is when several things happen at once...most commonly songs.  Someone creatively blends and morphs one song into another.  Sometimes we need to mashup our stories, the ones that point to Jesus.  That is my intention. Well, I am not being creative here.  I am being honest.  Honest about life with Jesus.  My life wit...

Ever want to hold on to the moment, the person, the place, I mean really dig in and hold on?  These precious people, these places, these moments, when a new season is just around the corner... This little girl in Honduras knew that Josh would catch her, she was loving the moment!  Here's to knowing God will always catch us, let us love the moments and let them go!  Every "let go" leads to a "CATCH!" Is it the caffeine or the fact that I feel the control slipping from my fingers? Doesn't really matter what I want to control, when I/we belong to Jesus, the fact that He has control should bring on the peace and the surrender. For some, change and adventure invite peace and joy!  We are all different.  For others, stability and calm would drive them crazy!  Don't compare, that's not the point.  I really just want to talk about surrender.  That's one thing that never changes with me, because I need to do it daily.  I don't ...