Over the Mountains and Through the Storms

Every time you turn around there seems to be a bump in the road. Instill a little inspiration everyday with a prayer and a word from God to keep you going.

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Perfection

     Sometimes in our christian walk we face discouragement. It comes with many visages. Through family, work, brothers, and/or sisters of the church, and sometimes random people “on the the street.” Life gets clouded with just trying to make it. You go from day to day, week to week, month to month trying to get this bill paid or that one paid. Or maybe your child has hit a growth spurt and it seems none of their clothes fit. Inside you are carrying the “parental pain” of wondering how you are going to manage. We as parents sometimes tend to make ourselves feel terribly guilty by thinking we should already have it all together. From the first moment of hearing you are going to have a baby, you begin planning on how you are going to make their life so much better than your own. Besides, that’s what God desires, right? For each generation to prosper and mature more with each passing year. 

     So here we are with this big mental picture of how things are going to be. A perfect little family, in a perfect little house, with a perfect little life. The baby comes and everything starts out beautifully as planned. Then a number of scenarios play out...the doctor calls to confirm your test results came back and you have cancer. Now where does life seem to be steering you? In your mind, that’s far from perfect. You in no way planned for that curve ball! Or maybe you had a feeling your little one wasn’t meeting the developmental milestones you thought they they should then results turn up your child is autistic. What do you do when he or she is having a “meltdown” and they are screaming and throwing things? Well you will probably in your mind want to do the same thing, but in your heart, you hold that precious child and proclaim your love for them and that all will be o.k. In your mind, your asking yourself, “Will it be o.k? Will my life ever be perfect?” Or maybe your spouse has found love elsewhere. Maybe they found the love and affection they needed in their life while they were away from home. No matter how much you love God, your marriage still can fall apart. Your spouse needs to know just how much they are needed. They need to feel love and affection from the one they married all the time. You need to show your appreciation for them so much that when they are away from you throughout the day, they often think of you. Make them excited to want to come home to you. Don’t you think that’s how God loves you?

     God blesses us everyday. He raises the sun to shine its bright light every morning. He gave us birds to sing melodies to us throughout our day. He gave us laughter binding people together and increasing happiness and intimacy. The bible says in both Matthew 7:11 and Luke 11:13...”how much more shall your father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?”

     No matter how perfect you wanted your life, the circumstances that surround us today can say otherwise. We can beg and plead for diamonds, but sometimes we are handed coal. That is when you take that coal and make the best of it. Polish it with love everyday, devote time for prayer, praise, and perception. Pray first and foremost for God’s will to be done in your life. Pray circles around your marriage, around your children, and around your circumstances. Instead of your mountain being between you and God, put God between you and your mountain. Second, always take time to praise God for what he has done in your life. You don’t think he has done anything or very much? He got you up this morning, didn’t he? He provided a way to put food in your belly, right? Well that should be enough, but I’m sure you can think of many more things he has done for you, just today. Praise him for the things he is gonna do for you as well. Declare his goodness, reaffirm your faith, and prove to God you are serious about loving and serving him. And finally perceive his goodness in your life. You don’t have to have a perfect house, a perfect child, or a perfect family....all you need is a PERFECT GOD!

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Amazing Grace

     Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me....I once was lost, but now I’m found. Was blind, but now i see....

     What do you think of when you hear the words amazing grace? How far back does your mind, your heart travel? Do you go back just days when you were touched in a church service or do you go back to your youth when that one person in your life poured those words out of their heart like instructed in Psalms 62:8? Most all of us had that one person in our life that represented love, grace, hope, faith, commitment, and desire. For me, that person(s) was my grandparents. I watched and listened to their prayers. I learned when times were tough, to pray. It was my understanding that if nothing else worked, at least i prayed and ask God for help. Besides, if he didn’t come through it was on him, right? 

     When I look back at his amazing grace, it is not the time that I stood in front of a mirror at the age of 20, addicted to many hard drugs, seeing before me a wasted away young woman killing herself. His grace came in and showed me the path back home. It isn’t when at the age of twenty four, pregnant with my first child and developing a heart condition. spending time in the hospital instead of preparing my home for our first baby. God’s grace came in and started the healing process that has since been completely made well. It isn’t when at the age of thirty my marriage hit the rocks and was on a pathway of destruction. If it wasn’t for godly men and women intervening in our lives, praying for us, and teaching us to love. They set the beautiful example of how true love is with our Lord and savior teaching us to reflect that same love with our spouse, I can’t say I would be married to the wonderful, godly, spirit filled man I am today. I shutter at the thought of where my life may have gone.

     When i think of Amazing Grace, I think of that moment I gave myself to God. That moment I poured out all the hurt I carried around for many years. The drugs and alcohol addictions he brought me through. The repeated attempts of trying to end my life. The things I felt deep in my heart that I could never speak of. I gave it all to him. Things other people who don’t know God (and some that do) could never forgive me for. God came down and wrapped his arms around me. He held me tight and forgave me of all that sin. All those things I did that I knew were wrong when I did them. He forgave me....because he loves me.  Even though i tried to destroy this life he gave me. Even though I purposely repeated things I had asked him to forgive me for. He still forgave me and he still loves me. He went to a cross and let them hammer nails into his hands and feet. He let them beat him with whips and place a crown of thorns on his head. Made an example of him! Think about that for a moment.......... He could have stopped any of that at any given moment..... He had the power to leave that natural body. To remove himself from that situation, to defeat the enemies that had him bound.

     BUT instead he cried out....”Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” That to me is Amazing Grace.

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It’s a dog eat dog world

 Growing up I have always been told "It's a dog eat dog world out there." As a teenager I learned exactly what that meant. In the pageant world girls and parents would trip you up to make your scores lower. If that meant "accidentally" spilling something on your dress, well it happened. I remember trying out for cheer-leading and someone was helping me learn a "new" cheer...turns out I did it all wrong and was laughed at for it. I was spot on with what I was taught. Guess who made the cut and who didn't.... I never let that stop me. I kept on going. I have learned people will use you for their steps so they may climb that virtual ladder. You are their best friend till they get what they want.

    As an adult I have seen it happen over and over in my life. I have to admit I have done it a couple times. BUT, I realized one day this is not how God intended us to live. Working together is his intentions. Using each other as ladders then as ropes to pull each other along. There is so much hatred in our world today. What are we teaching our children? To hate color, nationality, poverty? To frown upon low, middle, or upper class? Or are we teaching them to love one another even as Christ loved us? Jesus ate with the publicans...do you know who they were? They were the tax collectors. Those who TOOK from people even when they didn't have it. Jesus loved with agape love which is the highest form of love. We must learn to love those whom have hurt us. Forgive those who have transgressed against us. Have faith that God will move in their life. After all, if you want to climb a virtual ladder, you must get your vertical relationship right (which is your relationship with God) so your horizontal relationships will flourish.

    Pull your neighbor from the muck and Jesus will pull you from the miry clay. Treat others with love and kindness. Spread agape love. May you have a blessed day and many more to come.

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Chained, Handcuffed, and Tied Down

     A simple misdemeanor led a member of my family to court today. While we were there, I began to look around. The people, their faces...each one has a story. They are daughters, sons, brothers, sisters, moms, and dads. Some show signs of pain and heartache while others snicker and laugh. The flesh side of me begins to ponder how we don’t belong here. This is not the crowd I choose to be around. But didn’t Jesus spend time with the sinners? In Jesus’ day, rabbis and other spiritual leaders were bound by strict adherents to the Law and tradition avoiding those who were deemed sinners because he must maintain a “clean” image. He chose to befriend the sinner. In Mark 2:17 Jesus says, “They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”  I hear charges regarding drugs, weapons, theft, assaults, and many others.  I think about my past, where I came from and what I have gone through. It is then that I realize I chose these people a long time ago. 

     God chose to pull me out of my own miry clay, he set me up on this rock to stay so that I can be an example to those who feel that this kind of lifestyle is one of worth. I am here to pray for them, I am here to acknowledge their existence. Sometimes we do and say things to people thinking we will never cross their path again, but that is not always the case. God has other plans. We plant the seeds, he waters them through you and others. But sometimes he calls you to tend the garden... keep the soil healthy and well fed,  prune the plant, and pull the weeds.  Prayer changes things! Sometimes it may take a while, sometimes its by leaps and bounds. In ALL things give thanks. As men and women in orange jumpsuits bound by chains and handcuffs entered the room, I couldn’t help but get teary eyed and sorrowful for the fate of their lives shall be changed by another mans thoughts, words, and actions. What fate do you desire in your life? One that you can be happy waking up to everyday? One where you can kiss you kids goodnight or tell your mom you love her without a glass between you? Give your life purpose. Matthew 5:44 says to love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. May we all remember that life is what we chose to make it. Live your life to the fullest and make Jesus the root for which you grow from. May you have a blessed day!!!