Beauty from Ashes - A Continual Process

I want to be a HOPE giver!  Life is not all about darkness and trouble.  But it says in Proverbs 13:12 that "hope deferred makes the heart sick."   The darkness can and will really get you down, but take heart.  Read on.  It can feel hopeless sometimes.  That's when we have to know what is true about dark and light.  Yes there's a battle, yes it's dark, yes it's hard, yes we despair, yes we fall, yes we fear, yes we resist change, yes we hurt.  This is real, this is the hard stuff.  God does not hide this truth from us.  It says in Romans 8 that, "For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope f...

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...

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 ...

Yes, moms, dads, teachers, students, business people, scientists, artists, musicians, athletes, get the idea?  Let us ask, "how can we touch someone today for the good of their soul and the glory of God?" Let us ask for Divine appointments today, right where we are, and be mindful of where the rest of the global church is doing ministry.  Let us MULTIPLY! Waiting to board my flight home.  In one blessed week!   3 of us, Kristen, Josh and Steve were in Honduras serving with Sparrow Missions. There they serve homeless, orphans, poor, addicts, and the sick by  sharing Jesus, and also teaching how to sustain life...physical and Spiritual empowerment. I was at my sister Anne's house in Texas this past week.  Anne Todd & family serve with YWAM. YOUTH WITH A MISSION.  They daily reach the nations. My niece Adie is in a school preparing for an urban outreach to Chicago, Hannah will soon go to a YWA...

"It's easy to look at the outside of someone and not know which battle they are truly fighting." Those words came unexpectedly tumbling out of my mouth today, and put some personal puzzle pieces together for me. I know God put those words together because they had a peaceful deep connection within my soul. It's a common saying, "you can't judge a book by it's cover." I'm thinking about both sides of this "coin" today. The first one is pretty obvious, the book cover. Don't judge others by what you see. It says in Scripture, "But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7. This was when the LORD was helping Samuel find David, the "small shepherd boy", who would one day be King. Everyone thought they woul...

Why do we feel defensive?  Rejected?  Insecure?  Alone?  These are normal human emotions that bubble up when the Spirit of God is not reigning in our hearts.  There is an easy solution.  I say easy, but we make it so hard.  If we could just let go of trying desperately to be accepted, like an orphan does, and instead live like the child of God THAT WE ARE, we would be calm!  I watched my sweet adopted nephew try to be loved and in the process push away love...wounded and confused by what he thought was love, and gently folded into to a family of true love.  This true love was healing and his true self, the one God calls out of us, is becoming healthy and filled with the love of God.  We do the same thing.  And it takes time...God gives us time.  We push, we pull, we run toward, then away, we hold on tight, and often we completely build a wall.  But God tears down walls!  Amen?! We are all orphans without Go...

Beauty from Ashes - A Continual Process: Here's My Heart, thankful for mercy tried and true... : Five and a half years ago while recovering from surgery, I spent a lot of time in my favorite book, Isaiah.  I thought one day I might publ...