#desiresofyourheart

[reneesrockingredesign]

#DesiresOfYourHeart https://www.instagram.com/p/CdIxdAKOYmL/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[priestess-crescent-luna]

#quoteoftheday #quotes #quotesaboutlife #quoteslife #desiresofyourheart #serpentfiretarot #firequotes #crescentluna🌙 #reminder4myself #reminderoftheday https://www.instagram.com/p/CcOC8WTvn4C/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[ketolifecolorado]

Hey guys! Im approaching the new year with a new set of eyes and a new mind. Its not all situated, but the things my eyes saw this past year are being processed and the lessons behind them are gold and so I set forth to implement change. On a different note, I never stated why I was going to Virginia! I never really shared anything while I was there either, as some of you may have noticed, and I still I'm sorting through with what I would like to share. But, basically I went to see my Pakistani family for the second time in my life. As a new person, in a new body, I think that there are things we have to check off of our list. And so I went exploring. And although things did not work out up there, and I am now in FL, I still have a lot of precious memories that fulfilled a lot of inner-child Christina dreams... My dad was murdered when I was a baby, and my mom, a white women, decided it was safest to keep us away from that side. She raised all four of us on her own. And actually we didn't even have her side of the family around either. She is a very strong women. So this picture shows both times I met my Pakistani family. As you can imagine they were very surprised that I had lost the weight. People seem to want to be in your light when you start exuding light. And that is exactly what happened. And I'm appreciative for that time, but, it was also a very challenging time experiencing another culture, beleif systems, rolls, family dynamics, traumas, expectations. But just because people want to be in your light does not mean you have to let them in. I was not doing well mentally in the picture on the left but I was doing the best that I could and taking life lasting mental snapshots as I went a long... it has always been a dream of mine to dress up in a Princess Jasmine type dress, and feel beautiful. Life is full of all our hearts desires, but, we must keep moving forward, not stopping to look around to see who cares, who approves, who will support you. You support you. All the rest will fall into place. 🦋 #pakistani #mixedfemale #heartsdesires #desiresofyourheart #eatright #cleaneats #weightlossjourney #princessjasmine #shalwarkameez #inshallah #desigirl (at Ashburn, Virginia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CJo1KFgAH1_/?igshid=1oyqfvqkx5pis

[tipsyartist]

Life can present what appears to be some pretty big mountains at times. When I am feeling overwhelmed, I like to go downstairs and just sit and dream about all the possibilities and beautiful adventures I see happening in the future of our beautiful century old building. It helps me stay focused on the promise for my life. You know the one. The one that whispers to your soul and gives you that vision that keeps you going and gives you excitement to get up in the morning. The promise that says “This matters. This is really important.” When God reminds me that he gave me the desires of my heart for a beautiful reason. And to trust in that. One of the reasons why we work so hard is to bring healing and restoration. I love seeing people have fun, laugh and experience accomplishment. I also strongly desire to have people do this in a place that is truly enchanting and uplifting. Little side note here... when I was in college, I was truly disappointed and honestly bummed out by the feelings I had in most of my art classes. The rooms were sterile and cold with ironically no art on the walls. I remember thinking... sheesh... these classrooms are seriously depressing and dingy. I want to learn and create in a beautiful and bright space that makes me feel happy. And I have always dreamed about making that happen. Putting that dream in the forefront of my mind, especially during the hard times with “big mountains” really helps elevate me to stay focused on solutions, peace and confident trust. . . . . . . . . #desiresofyourheart #focus #solutions #dreambig #century #historic #mountain #shemovesmountains #paintingforbeginners #howtopaint #stencils #vision #purpose #tipsyartist (at Tipsy Artist) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzj82fYh-mm/?igshid=5uqk6ktqr682

[lodgegirl]

#countyourblessings #thankful #desiresofyourheart #thinkgoodthoughts #chooselife

[inkwellspoken]

#ManAfterGodsHeart #ManAfterGodsOwnHeart #DesiresOfYourHeart #Heartbreak #BrakeAlignment #STEELYourMind #InkWellSpoken

[wacogal1210]

Psalms 37:4 #delightinthelord #pslams23vs4 #love #desiresofyourheart

[engelking-blog-blog]

Desires of your heart....

What are some desires/dreams of/in your heart?  Realized, unfulfilled, shelved for now, almost forgotten, realistic, unrealistic, ginormous, little....do you think about them often?  Or do you choose to lock them away and not talk or think about them?  Did you know God knows each and every one of them?  Did you know that God put them in your heart for a reason?  Yes, sometimes God has stuff for us to do that seemingly comes out of the blue.  But, most times what He has for us is a desire that we already have - maybe deep and hidden in your heart under lock and key or maybe just scratch the surface and it is there. Of course, I should add a disclaimer here.  I know it is hard to believe.  But, God doesn’t have in store for every single one of us to be a professional athlete or rock/super star.  I’m just saying, we all have those imaginations.....don’t we?!  Differentiating between imaginations & God given dreams/desires is quite important.

But I digress.  I know sometimes we have had dreams that we have wanted to come to pass for many years so we tuck them away in hopes that the pain and ache of fulfilling them will go away.  Other times dreams seem to out of reach or too much work or too impossible, so we put them on the shelf and let them collect dust....but they never really go away.  We walk by them sometimes never acknowledging them, we walk by them and glance and think for a minute, maybe we even dust them off and sometimes we maybe even pick them up for a bit and let ourself momentarily dream & then put it back on the shelf, but it is still there!

The Bible (our guidebook to life) says in Psalm 37:4:

Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. (NKJV)

Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart. (AMP)

How wonderful is that?  What great comfort that has given me a gazillion times over the years.  Like an ointment on a wound it would soothe the pain and ache of my heart.  Afterall, one word from God can change your life forever!

What are the secret or maybe not so secret petitions of your heart?  Truly think about it...

I will be vulnerable and share a couple of mine with you - one fulfilled, one not, at least in the way I expected.

One fulfilled:  Anyone that knows me knows I wanted to be married more than just about anything in life.  I have wanted to be married since I was a little girl, but more seriously since I was roughly 22 years old.  Well guess what?  It happened WHEN I WAS 44 YEARS OLD.  That means 22 years, roughly 8,000+ days of waiting & waiting & waiting & waiting.....  After maybe age 32, I often (ok more often than not) thought it was never going to happen.  I even hid it away for a while, deep in my heart, but it was always there.  The pain of wondering, the pain of waiting, the pain of why God why, the biological clock ticking louder and louder, all my siblings (some much younger) getting married, the longing of a covenant companionship; all just felt like salt in the wound.  The sting would lead to crying out to God, other times it would make my faith wane to a degree, other times (just being truthful) I would get depressed.  This isn’t to say that my life was bad or I begrudged anyone else happiness - this was my inner turmoil and struggle.  Only shared with a select few.  My life was full of fulfilling God’s call on my life, preparation for whatever was next, family, friends.  In all respects and to anyone looking in from the outside - I was abundantly blessed, as I was.  But, my heart still ached, my dream(s) unfulfilled.  

I should state that I was never one to be in a relationship just to be in a relationship.  If I didn’t think it was leading to marriage and a lifetime commitment that was the end.  I know people have all different perspectives and opinions on that.  But, for me, I get too emotionally invested and wouldn’t want God’s best passing me up just so I felt like I had somebody.  Plus, I think it is important to know yourself and be secure enough to be by yourself without a man always in your life - but I will save that opinion for another time.  

I will save the search for Mr. Right process for another blog.  But, I dated (like 1-3 dates per person) a lot!    It was actually a fairly tedious process.  I finally met Mr. Right, John McDonald.  It was one year to the week from when we met to when we got engaged.  He is my best friend and I can not imagine my life without him.  He was well worth the wait - over 8,000 days of waiting.  Patience is a virtue.  My dream fulfilled.

I could get scriptural and tell you about all the people in the Bible who waited years for their God given dreams to come to pass.  Maybe I will do that another time.  

One Unfulfilled:  One heart’s desire of mine that is yet unfulfilled is having my own children.  From the time I was teeny tiny I wanted to be a mom and have the experience of carrying a child and giving birth.  I also wanted to adopt children.  For those that don’t know me well, I live by the Bible of no premarital sex.  Thus, having a child out of wedlock for me was not an option.  I can’t tell you the number of times my mom would say, “Lisa, there is an order to these things - marriage then children.  Not the other way around.”  I knew she was right.  I also knew that trying to come up with my own ways to have a child would be outside of the Biblical will of God for my life.  Believe me, I had times where I would research freezing eggs, IVF, surrogate, you name it.  I did look into adopting from the Ukraine and after a few meetings the Ukraine just up and decided not to adopt their children out to single parents anymore.  So that was that.  I struggled with that as well because I do believe it is best for a child to have a dad and a mom involved in their life.  I realize that isn’t always possible, but in my opinion it is best.  

When I was 41 years old I gave into doctors advice to have a hysterectomy.  They had been suggesting it for several years, but I couldn’t give up the dream of having my own biological children.  At 41, I decided I was probably too old and STILL TOO SINGLE to have my own and had the surgery.  I felt like a part of me died that day, I had to let the dream die.  I questioned God, I felt bad for myself, I cried, I grieved the children I would never have.  Yes, when I get to heaven I will ask God about why.  But, I trust Him to know what is best for me.  I trust that He sees the full picture & I know I don’t.  Who knows what He may have spared me from - I may never know.  Does the heartache surface sometimes - yes, yes it does.

BUT, God always knows best.  You know how it drives you nuts sometimes when your parents say or would say, “I just want whats best for you, you have to trust me?”  Well, I feel like that is God’s word for me - I just have to trust Him.  He know best.

Often, God fulfills our dreams in different ways than we expect too!  We often put God in a box and refuse to be open to other options.  We want what we want and we want it now - our spoiled, instant gratification needing, selfish self. What do I mean by that?  Did I birth my own children?  No I did not.  But, I have lots of children in my life - intricately woven through my life and I love it.  I have 13 nieces and nephews who I adore and treasure and cherish as if they were my very own.  They range in age from 18 years old down to 1.5 years old.  They are one of the primary joys of my life.  They call me Auntie Lisa, I claim the pseudo mom position.  Each of our relationships is a precious thing and so special.  

In my marriage dream being fulfilled, I also married his 3 children - they came as a package deal.  Years ago, I would have thought twice about marrying something with children.  But, God opened my heart to the idea and I couldn’t be more grateful.  John has Brittany who is 21, Victoria who is 16 and Jeffrey who is 14.  I am now a stepmom, pseudo mom.  Is it the same as a biological child?  No, but depending on how you look at it, it may be better.  No diaper changes, no up all night.  They have a mom who loves them and is involved in their life, they don’t need another mom.  But, I get to be an influential figure in their life and co-parent with John.  I have grown to love each of them immensely - now they are an intricate part of my life.  So I have 16 children who I get to be a role model for (hopefully a good one), be a friend to, be an influence on, be a Godly mentor and more.  Now that’s more than a lot of moms have & I am not responsible to pay any of their bills - what could be better?  I’m totally kidding, I would give my last red cent to know that all their needs were met.

Above is my new family.

Below is my immediate family - siblings, their spouses and the 13 loves of my life!

So, there you have it - one dream fulfilled, another fulfilled in an out of the box way.  God knows best - I do trust that and find comfort in that!

Dust off your shelved dreams, allow yourself to dream, think about it, prepare for it to come to pass, talk about it, research it (if appropriate), do your part and God will do His!  Trust God to bring it to pass in the best way HE sees fit.  Find comfort in Psalm 37:4, memorize it, meditate on it.  

See yourself with your dream fulfilled.  The Bible says in Proverbs 23:7, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”