Wednesday, April 23, 2014

In case of a "OH SNAP!! Moment Read on!!

Good Morning Family - Enjoy!

I just had to share this because it was just that powerful.  This morning as I was keeping my superman, (Nathan), company during dialysis, I started browsing through my Facebook page and came across a most interesting comment. It said:

Sometimes Our Lives Must Be Completely Shaken Up
Changed and Re-arranged To Relocate Us
To The Place We Are Meant To Be

I read this and thought..REALLY? Is this where I am meant to be on the eve of 44 driving a minivan, stalled in a second career with 3 kids 2 of whom are autistic and 1 of which has kidney disease and is waiting for a transplant. I mean is this what I was born for? Do you ever ask yourself that? Well I am having moment and need to be completely honest; and by the way for the critiques who will try and pick this apart. Being honest, having doubt, not totally sure of the details that will lead to victory, angry if this is all there is to your life is just being real. It has nothing to do with my Faith in GOD and everything to do with my humanity. I am frail, weak and sometimes I waiver. I am impatient, I want all the details, I don't want to trust I just want to know! 

I want to know why I have a desire for greatness but have to settle for being a lowly housewife...yes I said it. I have degrees, I have mad skills and I should be running something or another..creating mergers, having international meetings, setting the industry standard, having a staff of domestic divas to cook, clean and wash my clothes, and a driver. That's success. Or is it?

If GOD allowed me to obtain all of those things, would I have a desire to know Him? No I wouldn't. 
If GOD allowed me to even have a measure of the success I have dreamed of, would I want to spend the rest of my life honoring Him? No I wouldn't.
If GOD took me any other way to try and get me here, the place where my heart is open to Him, would it have worked. No, it wouldn't have. 

GOD will not violate His own principles, He is too Holy to do so, even His gift of free will He will not operate against. Therefore He presents us with choices (choose who you will serve this day) but His desire is for us to love Him and accept His will - with trust, victorious expectation and a willingness to obey. He knows what is best for us and it ain't the candy which satisfies but doesn't sustain. 

Had He allowed me to essentially destroy myself..(pin it) then I would have risked not entering into His rest, His peace, His paradise. Instead I may have gotten what I deserved which is death and eternal separation. No, He loved me to much to give me what I wanted and gave me what I needed...
My children keeps me: 
  • humble
  • in His presence
  • in His joy
  • with a heart change - they make me want to serve Him by serving them
  • open to opportunities to share my faith via testimonies of God's goodness
  • persistent in planting good seed, knowing that one day I will benefit from the harvest
My marriage keeps me:
  • thankful
  • laughing
  • love on a different level
  • seeking peace
  • in GOD's Perfect structure
  • open to opportunities to share GOD's strength to other women
  • challenges me to walk in the Promises of  GOD
So a housewife I am... but lowly and unimportant I am not! My Father loves me and entrusted to me tasks that could not be accomplished by anyone else. My Father is so Perfect in His Plan for me that no matter what challenges I face or where I may find myself I can still experience His joy..and grow in my faith towards Him. 

I am glad we can talk about the "Oh, Snap" moments because once we talk it out then I know I am right where I need to be. I may not like it but it is necessary...and that brings me into His Peace.

Souljourner

*pin it explained - what man sees as success and good accomplishments may in fact turn into a pseudo-god. A false entity that lures one away with the distractions (pleasure, wealth, wrong securities) of life. So if one gains everything but loses their soul, what have they gained?
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Mark 8:36 www.biblegateway.com

Monday, April 21, 2014

Celebration Resurrection

Greetings Readers,

As we close up Resurrection Sunday's festivities, I am taken over by a thought...How about we don't? Just like Christmas these are days that are set aside to honor the Lord and His sacrifices to save us. So why do we have to close up shop? Why not have a celebration mentality all through the year?

I challenge you as well as myself to keep the birth, death and victorious resurrection of our Lord and Savior in the forefront of your mind daily. The benefits are immediately beneficial! For example

 
  • You will walk in peace all the time that your thoughts are focused on the Lord
    • that means when someone cuts you off you won't retaliate
    • when someone steals your parking space you wont put nails under their tires
    • when you are dealing with a difficult person you won't strike back in anger
      • this one may require some practice
  • You will be nice and people will actually want to be around you
  • You will be more opened to your state of vulnerability and the constant need of Lord
  • You will want to spend more time with Him
  • You will want to know more about Him 
  • You will want to spend more time with Him via His written word
  • Your energies will be placed in things that help the Kingdom of  God not so much in the temporal (stop acting like an ancient Egyptian, you can't take it with you)
  • You will be able to discern the truth as well as the untruth with a clear mind - not of your own but that of the Lords.
  • You will want to share about the Love of Christ and His beautiful gift of salvation - with courage and conviction
  • Your life will reflect what you believe and that beloved is the best testimony of all
  • You will have the strength and courage to acknowledge your wrong - confess it to God and apologize to the one you have offended
  • You will remember GOD's promises to you and be strengthen as you go through your challenges, heart-aches and day to days
Trust me on that last one, because as we are speaking I am watching my son (age 9) complete his dialysis treatment. As of late my world has been shaken with illness but I trust GOD! Even though I am pressed right now! I know He will never leave me nor forsake me; I know that He gave His life so that I could have eternal life with Him; I know He came so I could have direct relationship with the Father; I know that GOD knows my faults and shortcomings but He sees the blood of His Son over me and I am declared to be righteous. Hallelujah! Glory to the Lamb of GOD!

Do I cry, yes
Do I despair sometimes, yes
Do I complain to the Lord, yes
Do I feel weak and unable, yes
Do I wonder what my significance is, yes
Do I get angry, yes
Do I mistreat others in the wake of my pain, sometimes yes
Do I know God is with me, yes
Am I strengthen, yes
Do I believe ALL of His promises are true, yes
Can I continue to walk on in victory through Jesus Christ, yes

Being human makes it impossible to not sin..but it isn't an excuse to stop trying to be more like and get closer too The Lord. Being human and a follower doesn't mean suffering is not going to affect me because it does. However, there is an advantage to knowing the end of my story which is victory in Christ and the gift of eternal life. Everything in between is growing pains. So I need the joy of the birth and the cross it keeps me grounded in my storm.

Do you know the end of your story? Take hold of the message from the Cross and be assured of your ending!





Sunday, April 6, 2014

Topsy Turvey...

As I have mentioned before- this is our season for challenge. Our eldest and middle cubs are on the mend but our youngest one is just having a rough go at it right now. He is scheduled for a surgical procedure in the morning, which is dependent on how his flu behaves. This is the third time in less than a month that we have been admitted to somebody's hospital somewhere - (big shout out to the Nurses and staff at MCV Pediatric ward). Our short term savings has been depleted, our energy comes and goes and our emotional strength was in the red.

The thing about challenges is they rarely come in one neat little package. Take our youngest, who we knew he would one day have to have a kidney transplant closer to puberty. What we didn't know was that with the deterioration of his organs he would develop side complications. New word to add to your vocabulary Nephrotic syndrome. Basically this condition makes the body think its dehydrating while holding all of the body's fluid close to the skin. Swelling and aching joints are included on this menu.

Long story short - we have been in and out of e.r.'s, doctor's offices and specialty clinics. February of this year we were flying high then one day about 3 weeks ago everything went south. Now is a great time for a sidebar - when you have time to read the word...read. When you have time to just sit in the Master's presence then just sit; when you can dedicate real time to praying then pray. Because there may come a time when events come at you at incredible speed. It is in those times that you will need to draw on the reserve you have been depositing in your soul. It is absolutely amazing how the Holy Spirit will bring up a scripture to me that I may have read months ago and give me understanding and clarity that I was not able to receive before.

Which brings me to my next point- this season is thick I will not try and candy coat it. My husband and I have emotions that are very raw at times and we really have to work at not taking our frustrations out on each other. Our daughter, who is now 20, feels the strain that we have tried so hard to shelter her from and wants to be closer to her family especially her brothers (who knew). But this also brings about new testimonies and a deeper sense of GOD and a new level of trust that could not be achieved without going through adversity. We get to share our stories of triumph with other families who we would not have otherwise met. We get to reflect on all that The Lord has sustained us through and take comfort even though we are feeling scared, helpless and honestly sometimes useless. We also are more thankful and grateful for what the Lord has allowed because we know He is with us. That He will never leave us nor forsake  and that He knows exactly how much we can endure without caving. Not to mention how beautifully complicated He made the human body. I had no idea that the kidneys regulated so much!

What have I taken away from this experience so far? That blessings are blessings whether they are mixed or not. That GOD is super awesome and in control of far more than I can imagine. That it is okay not to have all the answers or believe when there is no physical evidence to support your faith. That its okay to be true to your feelings - cry when necessary, laugh as often as possible. That focusing on the wonderful act of breathing will usher in the Peace of the Lord...which will calm the most vicious of storms.

Some of you are deep in your season - losing loved ones, change of lifestyle due to lack of employment, an unintended or expected pregnancy or absence of one, (Sidebar- all children are gifts from GOD no matter the circumstances in which they were conceived), or even an unforeseen illness.

Remember to walk in love because the way you handle your life-walk is a great testimony and may lead someone to Christ. And that is what it is all about..Love. And when you have the comfort of God's promises backing every step you take, every move you make (sound familiar? give you a hint Sting) it makes moving forward not such an arduous or frightening task.



For your review: Romans 8:28, Psalm 23 & 91

28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 
www.biblegateway.com

Isn't It Interesting?

Greetings Cyber Family! Let me first start by apologizing for such a long absence from my writings. 2014 has just taken off at life-speed and I have accepted the fact that I may never catch up. With that said let me share with you what has been going on...

My children from the youngest to the eldest have been struck with some type of illness. The eldest came in for spring break and ended up in the hospital, twice, and needed to extend her stay. She is back in school and recovering very well..the blessings of being 20. The middle child decided he needed to have a sore throat which turned into an infected lymph node; and the youngest said you know this would probably be a good time for my kidneys to drop in function. All of this within days sometimes hours of each other. 

Coincidence? I think not. There is no such thing. A coincidence would suggest that no one is tampering with the events that are directly affecting your life. Its the same as thinking it is just bad luck..luck does not exist because if it did then that would imply that GOD was not in complete control. That He isn't the Almighty and that He isn't the Alpha and Omega. One just simply can't be all that if they have someone else to answer too or if they can't control circumstances. GOD, Jehovah Jireh, doesn't answer to anyone. He is the answer. 

Don't believe me? Try reading the Book of Job. God always maintained control; He set limits to Satan; He and He alone decided on the duration and severity of Job's trials. Everything and everyone has to answer to the LORD. He alone formed the earth; He separated the darkness from the light;He created seasons and He made us - mankind His crowing creation. What an honor when I look all around and see God's majesty reflected in nature that He would pick me as His beautiful one. Trust He feels the same way about you!

So as my husband and I try and ride this wave I am encouraged to know that there is no hamp in stance here..(is that really a word?lol) But that my life has meaning and everything that I touch or is in my charge is carefully watched over by the one who owns it all. Jesus Christ Our Risen Lord and Savior.  He meticulously orders my steps and He decides the brevity of my challenges. That fact in and of its self is very comforting and gives me strength.

For your reflection:
Joshua 1 and Psalm 91



Seasons! Pt. 2

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