Beauty from Ashes - A Continual Process

OK so you're waiting. Waiting for something exciting, or waiting for something possibly bad. Either way, waiting is hard. Either way, you may have a rapidly beating heart when it crosses your mind. How do we stay present? Some of us are saying temporary goodbyes for the summer, some are waiting for loved ones coming home from school, serving our country, the hospital​, or just for a long awaited visit! Some are saying "goodbye" until we meet again in heaven. At the end of the day, we can only say "see ya soon - LORD WILLING." ​The Bible is pretty clear about this in James 4:15 where it says, "Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that." And because it says this we should do what it says! Right?! So even when we "think we know" what tomorrow holds, we ...

So today there's lots to celebrate!  I have 3 of my loves graduating!  Milestones!  Milestones are important and they propel you on to the next!  That is why it is so important to count the milestones with Jesus!  If we don't keep track, it's easy to forget all the amazing moments we've had with Him.  Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." Then on to verse 6, " And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Our faith is "built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness."  I love that song!  Our faith rests alone in the fact that Jesus died for us and counts us right with God!  This is the gift of a true intimate relationship with Him!  It's so easy to get side tracked and build our faith in what we know.  But we are not going to derail on th...

The truth will set you free.  It's Mother's Day.  I'm unpacking my heart, as a mom today.  I am so blessed.  I give all the glory to God for adopting me as His own...  There is no way to measure that kind of love!  It's not about us! I've been told a thousand times, "you're too hard on yourself!"  Well read Proverbs 31 and you might see why!  Well sometimes I want to please others more than I truly believe that God's pleasure in me is enough.  One step further, I want to please others more than knowing that I can please HIM through Him, and that is enough.  That's no shocker if you know me!  I am quick to point out my weaknesses and to apologize in annoying abundance!  That's the fear of failing. That's the fear that robs others of joy. I wrestle with this and yet I know that because of God's great character, and the fact that I am His child , I am truly blessed, loved, redeemed, chosen, accepted, adopted, forgiven!   ...

I had a friend teach me a quick prayer several years ago, "empty me and fill with Thee."  Sometimes I have to pray that in reverse.  Lord please redeem the things that I tried to do for you in my own strength, and make them Yours!  I fail in a thousand ways the things I try to do well.  I beat myself up and get stuck in condemnation.  Maybe I did the right things with the wrong heart.  A heart that was "trying too hard to get it right," instead of resting into the Hope of Who I am in Christ.  I want to be invisible, so that only God is reflected in my life.  I will fail, I do fail.   But there is hope. Our hope is in the ONE WHO BREATHES STARS!   Psalm 33:7 says, "By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host. 7 He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deeps in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in aw...

This became my favorite verse last year, and sometimes I cave to the darkness, but HE ALWAYS OVERCOMES it.  John 1:5 says,  "The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it."  Jesus is the light.  The. Light. Of. The. World. I don't try to be a writer or a blogger.  I've always just written what was on my heart.  But if I could have dreamed up a story to illustrate this verse, it would have been this beautiful true story written by Ann Voskamp.  I love it because it speaks the truth of John 1:5, I love it because it is about running, and I love it because it is about overcoming.   We can all be overcomers, one day at a time, often one hour at a time.  This was such a sweet inspiration that I just had to pass it on, in case you haven't read it, I loved it!  Thank you Ann Voskamp! http://aholyexperience.com/?utm_source=email+marketing&utm_campaign=daily-newsletter&utm_medium=email

Today our pastor taught about how to trust in our Sovereign Lord by remembering all of His good works.  Are you struggling to understand why things are happening in your life or in the lives of others?  Do you find yourself wondering where God is in all of this?  This pain, this illness, this relationship, this job?  In Psalm 106 David recounts all the miracles of the Israelites over the years including the escape from Egypt.  This is an example that is set out for in all throughout the Bible, recount, recount, recount what the Lord has done.  Our God holds the power to bring us peace.   In the Old Testament He had the power to harden Pharaoh's heart until it was time to release the Israelites.  In the New testament Jesus told Pilate that the only power you have over my death is granted by MY FATHER.  God has all the power and we can rest into that!  Lean into that, press into that, fall into that!   I write this now as I know s...

"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...