Saturday, August 22, 2009
Fireproof
As I am watching my friends go through a divorce, I am reminded about the decision to love. I am reminded that even in the hard time we need to stick together. I am reminded how much I love my husband. I am reminded that God will send angels to protect us from our own minds. I have many favorite songs from the movie however this one Love is not a Fight really hit home with me. Listen to the lyrics and make the commitment to shut the door and throw away the key. Love is not a fight but it's worth fighting for...definitely!!! I'm so sad for my friends and I don't know what to do. I want them to be happy but I also want them to fight for their love. I want them to Dare each other to Love like never before. I want to Dare you to Love like you haven't before. Ask questions, listen and pray for each other. Love is a decision, commitment, a covenant and then an emotion...remember that always! Amazing things happen when we let God do His thing with our Love.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Serving
Wow, God is really chatting with me today. Everything I read is about serving and all I want to do is be served. Isn't that interesting? The Love Dare today is to search for ways to ask your spouse How can I help you? The Purpose Driven Daily Devotional is serving God instead of serving yourself. This morning I got mad at my Dear Husband (DH) when he told me to file with my insurance for the claim for the tire blow out that happened on his car while I was driving it for work. I was complaining about how my employer doesn't want to cover the accident because they said I saw the video that stated we shouldn't use personal vehicles for company use. He shrugged his shoulders and said since I was driving I should turn it into my insurance. What happened to serving your wife? What happened to it's your vehicle and the tire YOU didn't change? What happened to.....then the devotional, then the Dare, then PRAYER...Lord, help me to change my heart to a serving heart that will figure all this out. Lord, help me to change my heart to understand serving more. I guess our Lord was really talking with me today. When you think you have served enough, serve again, it is never enough to continue to serve. It is never enough service to those you love. And God never stops serving us.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Encouragement
Isaiah 35:3 "Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way."
1 Thessalonians 5:11 "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing."
1 Thessalonians 5:14 "And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone."
These are the verses from today's Love Dare chapter. Encourage, encourage, encourage. Doesn't it feel good when someone tells you that you were instrumental in their life? Doesn't it feel good when your boss says good job? Don't you want your husband to feel that from you? I do. I want R to feel like he's the best, most wonderful person in the world! I want him to feel like I love him no matter what. Does this mean I never get mad at him? Heck no, I get mad but even in my madness I want him to know that I love and respect him for how wonderful he is at other times. Today tell your husband something you love and respect about them and see them perk up. If we are always trying to change our husbands then why did we marry them, as a project. You feel in love with something about your husband, go and tell them what that something is and remind yourself of the greatness that is in your life!
You can also do this with your mom, dad, brother, sister, wife, aunt, uncle, grandma, grandpa, boss, friend, co-worker. All of these people are blessings in your life and need encouragement too. The bible says to be an encourager...God gave each of us skills to bring our best into this world. Let's work on letting everyone know that you notice their blessings and they are doing a great job!
God bless!
1 Thessalonians 5:11 "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing."
1 Thessalonians 5:14 "And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone."
These are the verses from today's Love Dare chapter. Encourage, encourage, encourage. Doesn't it feel good when someone tells you that you were instrumental in their life? Doesn't it feel good when your boss says good job? Don't you want your husband to feel that from you? I do. I want R to feel like he's the best, most wonderful person in the world! I want him to feel like I love him no matter what. Does this mean I never get mad at him? Heck no, I get mad but even in my madness I want him to know that I love and respect him for how wonderful he is at other times. Today tell your husband something you love and respect about them and see them perk up. If we are always trying to change our husbands then why did we marry them, as a project. You feel in love with something about your husband, go and tell them what that something is and remind yourself of the greatness that is in your life!
You can also do this with your mom, dad, brother, sister, wife, aunt, uncle, grandma, grandpa, boss, friend, co-worker. All of these people are blessings in your life and need encouragement too. The bible says to be an encourager...God gave each of us skills to bring our best into this world. Let's work on letting everyone know that you notice their blessings and they are doing a great job!
God bless!
Monday, August 17, 2009
Random Thoughts
Yesterday at church we had Tommy from Hillside Church in TX talking about prayer. It was very interesting to hear him talk about how to pray and speak with our Creator. But the part that hit me the most was when he talked about the part in the Lord's prayer Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done. He was talking about how God wants to reach every person on this planet and that when we pray that we are opening ourselves up as His vessel to use. Then he said something that stuck with me. He said that this church will explode with people and that is God's will being done here on earth. I have been one of those Christians who said I would never attend a big church. If my church got too big then I would have to leave. But my thinking has changed from this one sermon. Really a growing and large church is a sign that God's work is being done here on earth. It's a sign that we are being vessels for God's work and He is using us. Praise God for that and for all that we are and do with Jesus. So now when I pray the Lord's Prayer, I'm ready. I'm ready to be that vessel for Him to use to create Heaven on earth.
May the Lord bless your day today!
May the Lord bless your day today!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
The Love Dare - Day 18
Last night we had a great, special evening. My DH and I had a delicious meal with candlelight. When I set the table, I used the turtle candles, he gave me last year. They are to represent prosperity with green candles. We ate our vegetarian meal via candlelight and enjoyed each others company. When we finished, we headed out to see the fireworks. It was enjoyable to people watch together and to know we are on the same page commenting about parenting and children. The fireworks were right above us, debris was falling on us and we were laughing like little kids. We had a grand time. I'm glad the Love Dare gave me the idea of the special evening and I'm glad it feel on July 4th (grin). I'm so very thankful for a DH that I can laugh with and enjoy life with daily!
Testimonial
So I've been avoiding this step in the Pathway to Purpose. You may have noticed a lag in time from posts. It's called procrastination and I had it big time. The next step is to write your testimonial. If you have ever tried to do this, it's definitely difficult. You have to look back on your life and figure out what happened, what changed to make you new again. But then you look at life and figure out where you stumbled and stumbled yet again. For someone like me, a laid back perfectionist, this is difficult. I don't like stumbling, however, I don't think anyone does. I don't like failing again I don't think anyone does but I do like being saved. I do like my Friend, my Comforter, my Healer, MY GOD. So He likes to use parables and stories to teach the bible. I think this is why so many encourage us to write our testimonials down. Your story could be used for the betterment (is that a word) of the Christian community as a whole. So no matter how hard it is, it's time to write down your testimonial. It's time to get it on paper so that you may use it to further the Kingdom in the future. It's time so share your life, go deep and get deeper with it. It's your story of how God became real to you and what he has done afterwards. Try it on for size and let me know how it goes.
Here's my testimonial (warning: this is a long one)
I was raised in a traditional family, mom, dad, brother, sister and me. We ate dinner together every night, we went to the small Episcopalian church in the next town, mom was a school teacher and dad was an accountant. We were the standard, suburianian, middle class family. Everyone in our family was expected to go to college, graduate with a degree and head off to get a great job. Well, I broke that mold. I went to college and thus started my partying degree. I was introduced to Tequila within the first evening of being at school and went a little crazy. Needless to say, I paid the price for this the next day and was introduced to my roommate over getting sick in the trash can. Nice huh? The next three years were pretty much a blur of activity. I partied, pledged a sorority (which I deemed the wrong sorority within a few minutes of being a member), failed at my classes, did everything you weren't supposed to do and finally got kicked out. I will never forget telling my parents that I failed. My mother was beside herself. Her words were "You will never make anything of yourself without a college degree." Those words stuck with me for life and are still affecting my life. Whenever I fail, these words come back to haunt me. Anyways, I moved out and found out that life outside of mom and dad's home was hard. I could barely make ends meet because I didn't have the courage to go after what I truly wanted to do. I sat at the VFW bar many times over crying in my cheap beer. Continuing to be a disappointment to my family.
Then I met Ed. I was set up on a blind date and he was my ticket out. Out of Ohio, away from my parents and into a life that I could create. He lived in Indiana and I moved in with him three months after we met. We were married a year later and spent the next 10 years of my life living with someone I didn't love. After the first three years, we were done, we had purchased a home, worked good jobs, had stuff, two cars and life was meaningless. We tried moving across the country, changing careers, moving closer to family, trying to enjoy life but it all seemed meaningless. The cheating started and finally we both couldn't take it anymore and decided we would be better off separate. 10 years of my life and still those words come back...You will never make something of yourself. Truly, we must always be conscious of the words we speak. I try to think of Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. But I digress. I felt like a failure yet again and turned to the only thing I did well, I drank. I spent thousands of dollars and countless hours racking up bills at bars across the nation. My tolerance level was so high nothing would make me drunk anymore. I couldn't find anything that would make me forget what a failure I was...I slept with people, drank tons, racked up debt and somehow managed to keep my job and stay away from drugs. I believe God was with me during this time too. During one of these drunk escapades, a person I met at the bar told me about this church he attends. He said come with me tomorrow. I promised so I did.
Enter Evergreen Community Church. I met my friend Bob there on a Sunday morning. We walked into a middle school auditorium and I was greeted with a big white grand piano on the stage playing At the Car Wash. I will never forget it. The music, the sheer amount of people, the songs, the laughter, the peaceful feeling. I don't know what the message was but I know that the Holy Spirit started to get a hold of my heart that day. I went every Sunday for about six months before God really go a hold of me. I was living two lives, the drinking and cavorting life 6 days a week and the holy, godly life 1 day a week. On Sundays, I wouldn't drink once I started going to church. I would go to the bar, order coffee and just socialize. That was the beginning of the change in me. Then October 28, 2002, I woke up with the feeling like I couldn't breathe, with the feeling like I was living wrong, with a sick feeling not from drinking but in my soul. That was the day I really heard the message at Evergreen. That was the day I was saved. God changed my heart and my life. I stopped excessive drinking and smoking on that day and never turned back to it. I started to really live my life for God, with him at the helm. And truly my life started.
Since that day, God has worked amazing things in my life. He has shown me that He is the sole leader of everything I do. All I have to do is ask and the door will be opened for me. He has shown me love and used everything I went through for His glory. I joined a group called Tapestry, it was for women going through divorce or separation. From this group I was able to rid myself of my guilt over my divorce and turn it into something good helping children get through divorce (DC4K leader). I participated in many bible studies to learn about my God and how gracious and forgiving He can be. Each of these studies have shed another layer of my hurt, guilt and sadness away. He showed me that giving is better than receiving and that living a simple life is a great way to be successful. He taught me how to be a good steward of the blessings he has bestowed upon me. When I was saved, I was 60K in debt. Currently I have reduced that to 20K and will be debt free soon enough. He has shown me that growing and giving away my heart is the way to being a good steward of love and he has given me the love of my life here on earth with Robb. He has shown me that commitment is hard but worth it every time. And most of all He has shown me that I am somebody even without a college degree. Those words still come back to haunt me from time to time, but I now know that I can turn to God and feel His loving arms around me, comforting me and holding me.
I am truly amazed by God and all He gives me each and everyday. I thank Him for the blessings and the love. He has brought my family back to me, gave me a new life and washed me clean to start over again. He is the most amazing friend I have ever had and will ever have. I'm so very thankful that He brought me into His family and adopted this crazy, stained person as His daughter.
Here's my testimonial (warning: this is a long one)
I was raised in a traditional family, mom, dad, brother, sister and me. We ate dinner together every night, we went to the small Episcopalian church in the next town, mom was a school teacher and dad was an accountant. We were the standard, suburianian, middle class family. Everyone in our family was expected to go to college, graduate with a degree and head off to get a great job. Well, I broke that mold. I went to college and thus started my partying degree. I was introduced to Tequila within the first evening of being at school and went a little crazy. Needless to say, I paid the price for this the next day and was introduced to my roommate over getting sick in the trash can. Nice huh? The next three years were pretty much a blur of activity. I partied, pledged a sorority (which I deemed the wrong sorority within a few minutes of being a member), failed at my classes, did everything you weren't supposed to do and finally got kicked out. I will never forget telling my parents that I failed. My mother was beside herself. Her words were "You will never make anything of yourself without a college degree." Those words stuck with me for life and are still affecting my life. Whenever I fail, these words come back to haunt me. Anyways, I moved out and found out that life outside of mom and dad's home was hard. I could barely make ends meet because I didn't have the courage to go after what I truly wanted to do. I sat at the VFW bar many times over crying in my cheap beer. Continuing to be a disappointment to my family.
Then I met Ed. I was set up on a blind date and he was my ticket out. Out of Ohio, away from my parents and into a life that I could create. He lived in Indiana and I moved in with him three months after we met. We were married a year later and spent the next 10 years of my life living with someone I didn't love. After the first three years, we were done, we had purchased a home, worked good jobs, had stuff, two cars and life was meaningless. We tried moving across the country, changing careers, moving closer to family, trying to enjoy life but it all seemed meaningless. The cheating started and finally we both couldn't take it anymore and decided we would be better off separate. 10 years of my life and still those words come back...You will never make something of yourself. Truly, we must always be conscious of the words we speak. I try to think of Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. But I digress. I felt like a failure yet again and turned to the only thing I did well, I drank. I spent thousands of dollars and countless hours racking up bills at bars across the nation. My tolerance level was so high nothing would make me drunk anymore. I couldn't find anything that would make me forget what a failure I was...I slept with people, drank tons, racked up debt and somehow managed to keep my job and stay away from drugs. I believe God was with me during this time too. During one of these drunk escapades, a person I met at the bar told me about this church he attends. He said come with me tomorrow. I promised so I did.
Enter Evergreen Community Church. I met my friend Bob there on a Sunday morning. We walked into a middle school auditorium and I was greeted with a big white grand piano on the stage playing At the Car Wash. I will never forget it. The music, the sheer amount of people, the songs, the laughter, the peaceful feeling. I don't know what the message was but I know that the Holy Spirit started to get a hold of my heart that day. I went every Sunday for about six months before God really go a hold of me. I was living two lives, the drinking and cavorting life 6 days a week and the holy, godly life 1 day a week. On Sundays, I wouldn't drink once I started going to church. I would go to the bar, order coffee and just socialize. That was the beginning of the change in me. Then October 28, 2002, I woke up with the feeling like I couldn't breathe, with the feeling like I was living wrong, with a sick feeling not from drinking but in my soul. That was the day I really heard the message at Evergreen. That was the day I was saved. God changed my heart and my life. I stopped excessive drinking and smoking on that day and never turned back to it. I started to really live my life for God, with him at the helm. And truly my life started.
Since that day, God has worked amazing things in my life. He has shown me that He is the sole leader of everything I do. All I have to do is ask and the door will be opened for me. He has shown me love and used everything I went through for His glory. I joined a group called Tapestry, it was for women going through divorce or separation. From this group I was able to rid myself of my guilt over my divorce and turn it into something good helping children get through divorce (DC4K leader). I participated in many bible studies to learn about my God and how gracious and forgiving He can be. Each of these studies have shed another layer of my hurt, guilt and sadness away. He showed me that giving is better than receiving and that living a simple life is a great way to be successful. He taught me how to be a good steward of the blessings he has bestowed upon me. When I was saved, I was 60K in debt. Currently I have reduced that to 20K and will be debt free soon enough. He has shown me that growing and giving away my heart is the way to being a good steward of love and he has given me the love of my life here on earth with Robb. He has shown me that commitment is hard but worth it every time. And most of all He has shown me that I am somebody even without a college degree. Those words still come back to haunt me from time to time, but I now know that I can turn to God and feel His loving arms around me, comforting me and holding me.
I am truly amazed by God and all He gives me each and everyday. I thank Him for the blessings and the love. He has brought my family back to me, gave me a new life and washed me clean to start over again. He is the most amazing friend I have ever had and will ever have. I'm so very thankful that He brought me into His family and adopted this crazy, stained person as His daughter.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
The Love Dare - Day 16
Prayer...the most powerful tool to keep our marriages intact is prayer. When we are at wits end who should we turn to - God. Who do we normally turn to - friends, family. So today's dare is to pray for your spouses heart. If they aren't believers, pray that God will soften their hearts. If they are believers, pray that God will impose His will on them. By the way, this doesn't mean your will, it means His will. If you want to change something about your spouse, remember you can't nag it away but you can turn to God and ask that He change their hearts, souls, minds, moods, etc. God will do what He wants with each of our lives however it is our responsibility to pray for our spouse.
Here's the other thing, I find that praying with my spouse is easy. I seem to find the time for that however, I don't really spend time alone with God praying for my spouse. Only when he has something big happening; a meeting, presentation, trip etc. So today, I will pray for my spouse. I will pray for God to grab a hold of his heart and make it how He wants it. I pray for Gods will to be seen, heard and followed by my husband. And I pray that God will always be the third strand in our marriage, just as we said in our wedding vows.
What is the most important thing you can do for your spouse? PRAYER!
Here's the other thing, I find that praying with my spouse is easy. I seem to find the time for that however, I don't really spend time alone with God praying for my spouse. Only when he has something big happening; a meeting, presentation, trip etc. So today, I will pray for my spouse. I will pray for God to grab a hold of his heart and make it how He wants it. I pray for Gods will to be seen, heard and followed by my husband. And I pray that God will always be the third strand in our marriage, just as we said in our wedding vows.
What is the most important thing you can do for your spouse? PRAYER!
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