Run to me....God

How many of you have experienced getting into trouble as a child?  Or maybe you were afraid of something?  Were you able to run into the arms of your mom?  Or maybe it was your Dad?  But whoever it was, you ran without fear.  You ran knowing that those arms would be stretched out wide for you.  No matter what you did or what was chasing you.  You had a safe place to go!  There is a song that is stuck in my head that goes like this:

Take Me To The King

Verse 1:
Truth is I’m tired Options are few
I’m trying to pray But where are you?
I’m all churched out Hurt and abused
I can’t fake what’s left to do?

Truth is I’m weak No strength to fight
No tears to cry Even if I tried
But still my soul Refuses to die
One touch-will change-my life

Chorus:
Take Me To The king I don’t have much to bring
My hearts torn into pieces Its my offering

Lay me at the throne Leave me there alone
To gaze upon Your glory And sing to You this song
Please Take Me To The king

Verse 2:
Truth is its time To stop playing these games
We need a word For the peoples pain

So Lord speak right now Let it fall like rain
We're desperate We're chasing after you

Bridge:
No rules, no religion I’ve made my decision
To run to You The healer that I need

Chorus:
Lord were in the way We keep making mistakes
Glory is not for us Its all for You

Take Me to the King

 

Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV)

²² The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;^[a]
his mercies never come to an end;
²³ they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

As I sing this song in my head I just imagine running into the arms of my heavenly father! I am hurting, I’m scared and I definitely feel like something is chasing me!  Mainly the devil.  He is always hot on my trail.  As soon as I get one obstacle out of the way, here that devil is again trying to bring me down.  So I sing this song, “Take Me to the King” and right here, right now, I have nothing to offer Him.  I have a heart that is broken and torn apart.  It seems so little!  I beg, take me to the King!  He can have my heart, whatever shape it is in.  It’s all His!

Ezekiel 34:16 (NLV)

¹⁶ “I will look for the lost, bring back those that have gone away, help those who have been hurt, and give strength to the sick. But I will destroy the fat and the strong. I will feed them with punishment

Take me to the King!  What will He do?  He will restore us!

Joshua 1:9 (NIV)

⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

I would love to just run into those arms.  I know all my crazy life would make sense then.  All my tears will be wiped away.  All of my brokenness will be made new.  I will be whole.  So why does He tarry?  When we are all such a hurting race of people?  We all have big heartaches.  What are you waiting for God?  We’re ready to go!  He is so patient.  He wants to give every last one of us that opportunity to be made whole.  He doesn’t want anyone to perish.  So He waits.  He waits for us to get a clue!  Wake up folks!  Time is ticking!  Our world is in such a mess.  Jesus Christ is our only answer!    So until that day arrives for us…..we wait.

Philippians 4:7 (NIV)

⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

And while we wait, we reach out to others that are broken and bruised.  If we have been hurt, broken, and if God has held us up with His hand we have to help our neighbor going through that same valley; just as Christ helped us.  We have to show them the way.

Psalm 27:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)

Praise to the God of All Comfort

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

Let us each reach out like Jesus did to make our last days full of spiritual growth, joy and fulfillment.   We have to take our pain and help others that are in pain.  We go from being comforted to being the comforter.

Luke 8:39 (NIV)

³⁹ “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him

We have to get out there!  We can’t sit in our comfort zone and help anyone!  We have to connect; mentally, emotionally, and physically.  Be that someone that a friend or even stranger needs to grab hold of.  God will bless you!

Luke 6:38 (NIV)

³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Every time I tell a cancer patient how God has worked in my life since Danny died, I see hope in their eyes!  And when I see that hope in their eyes, my heart heals just a little bit more.  The big gaping crack in my heart closes ever so slightly.  That’s what God can do!  So from my pain I help someone else and that in turn, helps me.  It gives me hope!  I am giving, and He is giving back to me!  We all know brokenness, and thanks to our generous Father in Heaven, we all are blessed.

You always have a place to run to, always.  The place is God!

My end

I am not a dreamer, but I dream. I am not a fighter, but I fight. I am not a teacher, yet I teach. I am not a singer, but I sing. Whatever God gives us to work with that is what we do. I have always sung. I remember pumping that old organ at Grassy Meadows and singing “Remind Me”. God has given me that ability to put a few notes together and make a joyful noise so I do. I have always taught Sunday school and VBS, but I am not a teacher. I fight for what’s right, for what’s good; but I am not a fighter. And lastly I dream, rarely, but I am not a dreamer! I do not sit around and dream of what will be what will come! But I do dream. And when I dream, they come from God. I have only dreamed of Danny twice since he died. I want to dream it’s just I don’t. The first time I dreamed about him he was standing in our bedroom doorway with his WV hat on waving at me as if to tell me goodbye. I liked that dream. The next dream, not so good. He was in a hospital bed and in terrible pain. He had a morphine pump but nothing was controlling the pain. I couldn’t control his pain. No matter how much I gave him, nothing. I remember trying to wake up but I was trapped in that nightmare; Helpless, not able to help him with his pain. The one thing I did do for his pain was to pray. And if that meant take him on to heaven then that’s what I prayed.

More recently I have asked God for dreams to show me my life. He never fails me so a few months ago, once again I was frustrated and praying so I ask God to show me my life. Just give me a dream so I can see what’s ahead for me! So that night when I went to bed, I knew I would get a dream. I could feel it. So the next morning I got up and tried to remember my dream. Yes, I had one and I saw the beginning which was now! But the life that followed, my life- was so fast! It was like a cartoon flip book in high year! So once again I say, “really, God?! You could’ve slowed it down”. I think He just does this stuff because He can. After all He is God. So I left it alone, minded my own business. Then my life started falling apart. Roads and avenues I didn’t understand were lying before me. Sometimes I felt like I was taking the wrong road so I would go a ways, stop, turn around and come back. Regroup and start again. As my life makes no sense to me I cried out again! Okay God, I just want the end, my end. Last frame of where I am supposed to be. Not my death bed! I know I am going to die sometime. So once again I asked for a dream- He delivered. Oh boy, He delivered. I was I am guessing mid 60s. I am in good health I am in a kitchen similar to my Moms. There is a rocking chair and I have lots of grand children. And lots of love! I am rocking babies and telling stories to the older grandkids. They sit at my feet. My hair is up, reminds me of mommy, but there is NO gray! Praise God for that! The stories I am telling are the accounts of my life when I obey God. When He would tell me to do something and I didn’t question it. I just went and did whatever he asked. That’s what seemed so important in my dream. That I pass on to the next generation what my Mom passed on to me! I can remember her telling me her stories of how God would work in her life. I didn’t understand it, till now, but I believed her because she had a relationship with Christ that most people only dreamed of. I have that relationship and yes, it is one made of dreams, visions, soft whispers, sometimes hard knocks but no matter what He holds me in the palm of His hand and there is nothing that can change that!

Isaiah 49:16

I have written your name on the palms of my hands

I think of this tattoo I have on my finger for Danny, it is permanent but yet I have to go get it touched up. It will fade! Our names on the hand of Jesus will never fade. They never have to get touched up. We just have to keep the faith, stay in his favor, seek his face, and let Him take all our troubles away.

After my car wreck on Thursday, a week ago, things are quite fuzzy for me! I am confused, disoriented, and unsure of what I am doing for fear of making a mistake. But in other ways things are clearer. I know I am right where God wants me, doing what He wants me to do. He crashed me for a reason and I have to give Him time to work it out. So in the mean time I go around confused in the things of the world, trying to get my thoughts together asking for a lot of help! But one thing I am not confused about is that Jesus loves me and He has a plan for my life. This is just a part of the plan; A piece of the puzzle. The part that went by so fast I couldn’t see. So back to my end! I do have all my family around me! And yes, I even get married again in My END that God showed me! So no matter what happens I know I’ll be OK. It’s this time in between we have to get through. Make the right choices. The choices that are God’s will. That’s why it is so important to let Him lead us. He wants to give us the best. But we have to say, “OK how can I help?” “What do you require of me?” If He says crash, you can’t say, but I don’t want to! You have to hold on to the knowledge that He knows all, sees all, IS all and He will take care of you! I have regretted asking to see my end, because now I am consumed with “when”? So take it from me, God has a plan for your life. Don’t get over anxious and ask to see the end, because chances are He will show you. We are just never satisfied. We always want more. Take each day He gives you as a blessing and a piece of the puzzle, His master plan for your life. Don’t ask for the end, just trust in Him and you know your end will be great! Because He goes before you, He has already been there! As for me, it’s too late, I know my end! It’s good, but I am always wondering when? How? What next?

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Be Still Kari Jobe w/ lyrics

Be Still

Be still my soul. Is that a request? A command? A plea? Are we begging? How do we quiet it down? It’s so easy to be in turmoil. When life goes up and down- the valley, the mountain, the valley the mountain; it is a vicious cycle.

Psalm 37:7 (NIV)

⁷ Be still before the Lord
and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,when they carry out their wicked schemes

“We cannot talk to God unless we walk with Him when we are not talking” Oswald Chambers

So there again, we have to be still! When we are still we hear the voice of God. That is how He calms our soul.

Job 6:24(NIV)

²⁴ “Teach me, and I will be quiet;
show me where I have been wrong.

If we go to Him, we will find our rest. How many times have I cried out to Him just to calm me? Too many to count!

Isaiah 32:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ The fruit of that righteousness will be peace;
its effect will be quietness and confidence forever.

Every time I cry that’s what I ask. And He always comes through for me! He calms the storms; He calms the waves that crash around me! When I am desperate and not sure which way to go, He shows me! But I have to be quiet long enough to hear. It’s hard to be still, it’s hard to be patient. We have to place our life in his hand. That’s where we will find peace.

John 14:27 (NIV)

²⁷ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

The only way that we get through this crazy life is to trust in Him. Trust that He knows what’s best for us. Because we surely don’t! That’s obvious by the choices we make on a daily basis. We choose what we want! Choices that we think will benefit us and often no thought to anyone else. But God has the whole picture; the beginning-the middle-the end. That’s where most of us are-the middle. I know that’s where I am; the time in between. I know how my story ends. It’s this time in between that is killing me! I know He has a plan but can I be still enough to hear what it is? Do I have the patience not to jump in and try to do it my way? I don’t think so! I get tired of being patient. I even get tired of being still.

Exodus 14:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

So He crashes me, slows me down so I don’t have a choice but to listen and hear and be patient. It would’ve been much better to just go slow and learn this thing of patience little by little bit by bit.

Oh what peace we often forfeit

Oh what needless pain we bear

All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer

Take it to Him so we don’t have all this pain. Let Him work it out. Then He will give it back to us as a blessing. Still. Patient. Quiet. Sounds so easy, yet we always do the same thing. Try to fix it on our own. I have a terrible time of keeping my vision in sight. I want Him to be my vision! I want to keep Him forever in my sights! As I wander through this life, O Lord, be thou near to me! Stay by my side. So I can feel you! That’s my prayer. I don’t care what comes my way as long as you are there! But I have to “feel” you here with me. Otherwise I am hopeless and helpless. And if I have no hope-I have nothing!

Psalm 62:5 (NIV)

⁵ Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him.

So join me. Let’s get quiet. Let’s be still. Let’s be patient! None of us will have to do it alone. He walks beside us. He holds our hand and our hearts. He knows each of our stories, He knows our hearts. Nothing will shock Him! He is a loving and patient God.

Psalm 46:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,I will be exalted in the earth.”

Let’s cozy up with Jesus. Let’s get to know him in a really personal way. Pull out your blankie and find your favorite resting spot. Get a cup of coffee or tea or even a diet Coke and then invite Jesus there with you and I assure you there will be miracles. There will be peace. And there will be hope!

Job 22:21

Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace; thereby good shall come unto thee.

Crash

Crash

No matter what may come my way, my life is in your hands.

I know that I can make it; I know that I can stand.

With Jesus I can make it, my life is in your hands.

That song has so much more meaning to me today than it did last week.

I have pondered whether I should share this story. Over and over it goes in my head. So today as it was going round and round like the hamster in the wheel, God said, yes! Now is the time. Tell it.

About a month ago I was driving on my way to work. The roads were terrible. It had rained with ice and snow, but we had school/work anyway. As I was driving, God speaks to me and said, “Can I use you?” So of course I said yes! Then He said “Can I use you in a car accident?” Can I crash you if it is to help a friend?

John 15:13 (NIV)

13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends



So I barely hesitated, because He has already showed me my end. I live a long life. So of course I say yes. Use me.

Galatians 5:25 (NIV)

25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit

So I brace myself because our conversation was so real. I knew it was coming. I even called a friend and told her if she heard I was in a wreck not to worry. I would be OK. So I made it to work all in one piece! A friend reminded me of the story of Abraham and Isaac and the sacrifice. Maybe God was just doing that to test me, to see if I really would do it. So a couple weeks ago I was coming home from work. It had been a very trying day. You see with my new job I have to look in the faces of cancer patients or their loved ones on a daily basis. This particular day was no different. I was feeling pretty defeated. Helpless to help anyone! I ask God many times, “why”? I know I must have unresolved issues that He is bound and determined to get out of me. I know that’s one. There are more. So on this day as I was driving home, I hear that still small voice say, “Remember when you said I could use you? Well here’s the perfect place. Just drive yourself right over the mountain.” Well I did consider it, but only for a second. I did question God. I said, “Really? You are going to make me do it?” Well I didn’t drive off that mountain. The next day I recognized that voice as the devil. I know God wouldn’t tell me to do it. He would do it! He already asked me if He could. But just between you and me, those two voices in my head? They sound a lot alike. A friend told me once that the way you can tell the two apart is to ask, does it honor God?

1 Peter 5:8 (NIV)

8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

So I wondered, how would that honor God? It wouldn’t! That would just bring pain and confusion! Lord knows I don’t need any of that! So Thursday as I left work, I had been hurting all day, the old polymyocitis beginning to flare up so I stopped at Rite-Aid and bought a bottle of Motrin. I went ahead and took a dose. Bought a diet Coke and left the lid off so I could “drink and drive”. Halfway home as I made the curve coming over Crag road I edged over to the side on this one lane road, just in case I met a car. The ground was soft and it sucked my back wheel down and it jumped across the ditch and hit the side then did a 180 and slammed me in to the bank. Both air bags came out on the side but not the front~ Thank God! The whole time I was being thrown around I could hear God say, “It’s all gonna be Ok, it’s gonna be OK!” I felt Him there with me and I wasn’t afraid. It was like riding a roller coaster. I shut my eyes and waited for it to end. I kept thinking this is the time. This is it. This is the wreck you asked me about. So after I crashed I was stunned. My head hurt so bad I couldn’t think. But I felt around on myself, everything was intact, no blood. My glasses flew off along with my phone and diet Coke. So before I turned off the engine I did have enough wits to thank God for taking care of me!

Then He started sending His angels to take care of me. Brenda Bryant, someone I went to school with appeared first. Then Jeremy Willis, then Mandy Bryant. All people I knew. God was really taking care of me! He first gave me a dose of Motrin before it even happened then He sends me angels I know!

Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)

10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

I have no doubt God had his hand all over that situation and every situation in my life, every situation in your life too. He will take this and work something good from it. I don’t know who is in my path from day to day that will need to hear that God delivered me, but I know that’s what I have to tell. This wasn’t an accident, this was God. He asked me, I said yes, and He did it. All in his time. And that is how the outcome will be as well. In his time. Maybe there is someone out there that doesn’t believe in miracles. Or they don’t have enough faith to let God use them. It’s very easy to say no, pick someone else. But if he calls you to it, he will equip you! And if that means crashing into a bank, then do it! You will receive a blessing from it! I have been amazed at the outpour of love and concern for me! I mean after all there are so many that are so much worse off. I went to work the next day, granted I shouldn’t have! I made mistakes, my brain was fuzzy, and I was confused! But with the grace of God and help from my co-workers I didn’t kill anyone I know of that is! Just kidding! God takes care of us every day. The little things we take for granted? That’s God! This morning as I lay in bed my head was spinning around and around; once again that hamster on the wheel. And when I opened my eyes the room was spinning and I had this very nauseated feeling and then it stopped. So I am thinking concussion?! But I don’t remember hitting my head, but then again, confusion. I went on to church and was blessed over and over. God is so good! My prayer for you all this Sunday afternoon is that you, every one of you, find someone that you love, tell them you love them, hold them tight and don’t let them go! Hold them in your heart, because life is too short for unspoken words! Age doesn’t matter. Whatever you are 10, 40, 80 or even 100, if you have something to say, SAY it! Even if you think it’s gonna hurt, get it out and let God deal with it. Chances are everything will be OK! That’s my pastor’s favorite thing to tell you. It’ll all be OK! And in the end, he is right! No matter what we are going through here when Jesus comes back it’ll all be OK. But first you have to CRASH into Jesus, just like I crashed my car! He will wake you up. You might be a little sore after crashing, because He will clean you up and sometimes that hurts. But trust me it’s worth it all to know that your end, my end, THE end, will all be OK! We are going to Heaven, some before others, but we are all gonna get there. And if we have to take a hard knock here and there, it’s OK because He goes with us!

Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV)

17 The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”

He was with me when Danny died. He was with me the many long, hard, empty, lonely days since he died and yes, He was with me Thursday night when I crashed. He is always faithful and always taking care of me. So undeserving but He does it anyway. For that I am thankful! Let Him go with you too, that’s the only way we make it. Together.

1 Peter 5:10-11 (NIV)

10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power forever and ever. Amen.

Home from the Hospital

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> Surgery went well , took about a hour and I had to stay overnight. They sent me home about 2:00 today. I' a little sore but feeling very well. Thanks so much for the prayers and concern.
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> Love and prayers

Daniel
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Pain

Pain, that’s a word that no one likes.  I think it falls in the class with the 4-letter words.  Some of us self inflict, others inflict it on others.  And often we enjoy inflicting pain on others.  That in itself is just messed up.  The Bible teaches us to do unto others as we would have them do unto us.

Matthew 7:12 (NIV)

¹² So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets

For the most part I think that is how we, the human race, operate.  You occasionally get the bad seed.  But yeah, we try to treat others good.  But sometimes, and we are all guilty, we mess us.  We hurt our friends, the ones we love, without meaning to.  And it isn’t always the pain you can see; Most of the time it is our words. We should always be an encourager.  Try to lift others up with our words.

Isaiah 55:11 (NIV)

¹¹ so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Sow good seeds with your words.  After we say that hurtful word the damage is done.  We back track and try to take it back.  Say I’m sorry, but the best we can hope for is to mend the fence, ask for forgiveness and hope they have it in their heart to do just that.  Me and my no filtered mouth often finds myself in that predicament.  I am always asking somebody to forgive me.  I know it comes out, I hear it, and then it’s like I can’t believe I just said that our loud.  Sometimes I actually just think I am thinking it buts it’s out there!  In the air.  Damage done.  I have learned  a valuable lesson this week.  When I give my opinion I am going to wait a few seconds, listen to God, and wait for scripture and speak that!  If what you say is scripture, that can’t hurt!  It might sting sometimes, because we don’t always receive what is true and best for us.  We always think we know best and we can fix it.  But we have to give everything to God so he can shape and mold and work things out for our good.  And He needs every little piece!  Every little sliver!.

Romans 8:28 (NIV)

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^[a] have been called according to his purpose

Why would we want to hold on to our pain?  Sometimes I think in our little minds we think we deserve it.  We have done something to deserve our pain so we keep that little piece to punish ourselves right when we start to feel joy within us.  When we feel Jesus in there, the devil comes along and says but you know you don’t deserve to feel joy, you don’t deserve to have a happy life.  You certainly don’t deserve to move past this pain and move on without it.  Well that’s the devils job.  He lurks around “seeking whom he can destroy” Don’t let him destroy you by holding onto your pain.  Jesus took care of your pain by dying on the cross.  His pain!  I was thinking on my way to work yesterday how sometimes God asks us to do things and we hem haw around before we do them, or even IF we do them.  What would we be, where would we be if Jesus had said, “Nah, God!  Not feeling like hanging on the cross today?”  “Un Uh, not gonna do it”.  But He didn’t, we know how the story ends.  He prayed in the garden, He died on the cross, arose 3 days later!  He did ALL that so we could have eternal “Life”!  Se we could let go our pain!  I can’t begin to imagine what it felt like to hang there!  Tormented feeling like his Father had all but forsaken him.  Here I am nursing a little seatbelt burn on my neck and I am thinking, “What a WUS” and I am!  I will be the first to admit it.  I don’t like pain!  I hurt, I take a pill, I rub something on it, get the heating pad, you name it I have tried it!  But we are human and that’s what we do for the flesh.  But the pain that comes when someone cuts us deep with actions or words will not so easily be fixed.

1 Peter 3:9 (NIV)

⁹ Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing

We retaliate with hurtful words of our own and think that somehow helps.  We distance ourselves from the ones we love and that loves us so we protect ourselves and don’t feel pain.  We all have our own coping mechanisms, but how many have tried Jesus?  Most times when we hurt we cry out to Jesus.  And He wants us to!  But He wants us there in the good times too.  And honestly after the last couple of years I can say I know He was there in the bad ties!  I felt his arms around me!  I could feel his peace, his protection.  I could feel his nudging me along, ever so gently.  But what I felt after I started to live again, the good times, is so great!  I hear him telling me what he wants me to do, I hear him whisper to me that things are going to be ok.  He shows me the plans he has for me!

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

So then when the bad times, hard times, come I know what He has told me in the good times!  But you have to let him in during the good times.  That’s how the pain all makes sense!

James 5:7 (NIV)

Patience in Suffering

⁷ Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains.

Be  patient!  That is a word that I have come to hate!  A friend told me this week that patience is like an old mean childhood friend that used to beat you up and pick on you.  Now it is like picking at a really bad sore that won’t heal.

1 Corinthians 16:14 Do everything in love.

If you are in pain, let the Bible, Gods word, heal you.  Whether its physical pain, or the emotional kind.  There is a word in there for all of it. He is the Great Physician after all!   He doesn’t care if you have insurance, Obama care, Medicaid, Medicare!  He takes it all.  He will make it good and return so many blessings on you!

Philippians 4:19

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus!

 

From Daniel

All went well feeling much better, thanks so much for the prayers
Love and prayers from my

From Daniel

I got sick last night and was brought to the ER about 4:00 this morning.  I am having an appendectomy in the neighborhood of 3:00.  Please pray for me we will update you when we have more information. 

Mark said it was -20 with -22 wind chill this morning at 6:30.  It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but it still wasn't pretty :)  Trish, God certainly works in mysterious ways!!  I'm going to email your tattoo testimony so we can get others praying for him as well :) 

Ink

As I sat in the chair I couldn’t help but wonder what Danny would say. Part of me thinks he would say, “Are you crazy?” Another part of me says, “It’s your finger, do what you want! But don’t come crying to me when it hurts!” That’s the Danny I love! The one that tells me there is consequences for my actions! But he loved me anyway! I tossed the idea of a tattoo around for several months. 6 to be exact. When my anniversary rolled around I wanted something permanent to show me that yes he was here! I know that makes absolutely no sense to some of you! Most of you! Because all I have to do is look at my kids to know where he was. I look at the kids who he coached- I see him there. I look at the people he touched every day in some form or fashion. I find out daily how he touched people’s lives. It warms my heart to hear stories of him. My new coworkers have many stories to tell. Stories before I even knew him. Childhood stories. They feel like a part of my family that I am just beginning to know.

Isn’t that how it is in God’s family? Everyone we meet is just another member of the family of God. Of course as I sat there I was still trying to decide if I had made the right choice. Was I in the right place? The right time? You know me I have prayed about this! For six months I prayed! So me and my big mouth (yeah I know you are all laughing) I tell him right off the bat that I am a Jesus freak! He has heard the song, knows the band. So far so good! After all he is the one that is going to be inflicting pain on me! So we begin to share our stories. After all that’s what we are called to do! Oh boy, that’s when it got interesting. He told me he was an atheist! So I let him know right off that I would be talking about Jesus the whole time I was in his chair! After all the customer is always right! Right?! I was curious because I have never met anyone who professed to be an atheist. So I had lots of questions! At that moment I wished I had chosen a more complex tattoo because I knew he was going to be finished way too soon. But I gave it my best shot. He told me that IF there was a here after he thought he would go there because he did good deeds, tried to live and do good for people. So I told him yes there was a hereafter it was called heaven and you couldn’t get there by doing good. You had to have Jesus in your heart. He then surprised me by telling me I reminded him of his mother! She was a praying Christian too! So after I heard that I knew! I told him he didn’t have a chance because if he had a praying mother she had already prayed for him and God was still working on those prayers! See his mother died last September, a month after Danny died! Hello! It was not coincidence that I was there right at that moment. And my tattoo? He was the only one that could do fingers! So yeah, my tattoo was a God thing! He uses everything, even my tattoo. I found out from my new friend that he didn’t believe in Jesus’ unconditional love because He made the path too hard to find Him! He said the Bible for salvation was like taking a toddler into the wilderness and giving them a road map. They would never find their way out! But I told him all he had to do was ask Jesus in his heart and He would do the rest. He would show him the way. No matter where he was! He was extremely knowledgeable of the bible. I am sure he knew more than I did. He has taken several theology classes. So he knew his Bible and the history. But what he didn’t know was that when I pray God listens! And I have faith that God answers my prayers. I told him he was pretty much done for because he was on my list! My prayer list! I would be praying for him every day! And I was sure he would be going to heaven with me whether he wanted to or not. After all, between the prayers his mom prayed and now with me praying he just didn’t stand a chance!

He told me to come back in 2 weeks for a touch up. I assured him I would be back because I wasn’t going to miss a chance to tell him more about Jesus. One of the saddest things I heard him say was that there was nothing in this world that he could chalk up to a miracle. So I asked him if he had children, that’s the obvious miracle. He has a two year old. When I asked him how could he not see THAT miracle when she was born he simply laid it off to science. But I told him it was so much more. So much more! So this morning I was thinking of our conversation and just the fact that YES I have a tattoo, I realized that in order for me to fulfill my purpose, I am going to have to go to places I would normally not go! Let’s face it, when I witness at church, they have already heard it! I have to get out there where people don’t know about Christ! They want to know or my tattoo artist wouldn’t have taken a class! What I am sure of is this; since he won’t go to church and he professes atheism Jesus is going to have to go to him. So I have an appt in 2 weeks! Just for a touch up. But I am thinking, another tattoo? I don’t know, that’s gonna have to be a God thing. I know God sent me to minister and witness to him on that day at that time. He was such a nice young man. I believe he has good values, high standards and I don’t doubt he is a good father. But you have to go past his appearance. I have a feeling just from our conversation he has been persecuted for his tattoos, his piercings, his general appearance; and he has been persecuted by Christians. So he just chooses not to be one of those! He is going to try to get to the hereafter on his own, by works and good deeds.

We, you and I-fellow believers, know this is not how to get to heaven. You ask for forgiveness and ask Him to live in your heart. Not a hard thing to do, but it is very humbling! So I told him I was going to pray that God sends him a miracle. A miracle that he would have no other explanation for except to say, WHOA that was God! So I am asking my face book believers to pray with me for this young man that has no belief in God! And not just him but for all those that say Christ and his unconditional love does not exist. Because I am here to tell you I have experienced it. I have felt the warmth of His embrace. The comfort in the knowledge that yes, I will see those I love again. It brought tears to my eyes as he told me he didn’t believe in Christ and his love. How devastating that would be. So even if I have to get tattooed from head to toe, I will be visiting him and his tattoo parlor. If sitting in his chair is the only way for me to tell him Jesus loves him, then all I can say is get the ink ready!
Ephesians 2:10 (NIV) For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

I think we had about the same, or so they say.  I put my car in the garage last night because I was afraid it would not start this morning and Dan is in Connecticut.  It went from 52 degrees to -8 by the time I got to work.  Colin's work was cancelled yesterday and today.  I think we are supposed to get to 4 above and drop back to -1 tonight before climbing upwards.  It is supposed to be the coldest we have been for two decades.  I remember the winter of '83 - '84 when Dan was working in Cincinnati and the kids and I still were in Virginia.  He left one Sunday morning to go back to Cincinnati and it was -22.  It did not get above freezing for 30 days in Ohio at that time.

How cold can we go?

Ok folks how cold is it in your neck of the woods?!  -11 with a windchill of -30. Way to cold for me!!

Purpose

There are days that I wonder what my purpose on earth is. Most of you are like me; we set the alarm, we get up, we wake up kids for school, we go to work, we interact throughout the day, we come home, we have a little family time, go to bed then do it all over again. There has to be more to life than that! And the sad thing is that we sometimes do this for years before we wake up and say, “What have I been doing with my life?” For those of you lucky enough to not have to lose a loved one in the process, I encourage you to take advantage of the situation! Whether you lose them to death, addiction, divorce…whatever the reason? God is giving you a second chance by waking you up! He is telling you to seize the moment! Let Him come into your broken life and mend it. He wants you to experience the fullness of a beautiful life. He wants you to have that special someone that you can tell anything to, someone to share life and faith with. He wants you to love that little child when no one will. To sit and rock in the wee hours of the morning when they are crying for no reason. When God created the family it was His finest hour! In my opinion it far out shines the hour He hung the moon and the stars! It outweighs the creation of the heavens and earth! Family is so complex yet so simple. All it requires is love! So easy to give and always ready to receive. Yet we toss it around like it is nothing.

Micah 6:8

What does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God!

If we could do that how much more would our life mean? So much more! Easy answer. We would work less, love more, we would nurture our family more. We would treat it like it was the most precious gem. When it hurt we would cry. When it felt joy we would laugh. When it felt love…well that’s what it is all about. That’s when we feel everything. All the walls come crumbling down when there is love because that is your safe haven, Your refuge. That is where you can say anything, do anything and still come home. Still be able to know that love will carry you through. It will forgive and continue to love without judgement. After all, who is without sin? Who is to say that it may be us the next time. We may be in that situation that is requiring forgiveness. A family without love is, well, a group of people that may be related by blood that may or may not live in a house together. How sad that is.

Jeremiah 31:16-17

This is what the Lord says; “Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded,: declares the Lord. “They will return from the land of the enemy. So there is hope for your descendants,”declares the Lord. “Your children will return to their own land.”

I was created for 2 things. To serve God and raise my family! That’s my purpose. My family is almost done! Wow, Jacob will be 15 next month. That is hard to believe. I can remember when my little family was me, Danny and my little dog Prissy! But things change.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV)

¹⁷ Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new

Do you know your purpose? Whatever your purpose, make sure it honors God. Look to Him for guidance.

1 Corinthians 16:14

Do everything in love.

As you start the New Year remember to seek His guidance but then slow down long enough to hear what He has to tell you!

Psalm 46:10

Be still and know that I am God

Even if that means taking a time out from your family that you love so much. Do it! Go sit by yourself. Or walk! Whatever you have to do to get some alone time! Lock yourself in the bathroom! But go meditate on God’s word. Listen to His voice then put it into action and DO!

Romans 12:2(NIV)

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.

very nice Trish, I like it