Remember when you were a child and you had to rest and you thought life was so hard. Children never want to rest even when it’s best for them. Oh, they complain something fierce when they have to rest and recover from an illness. Seasons of rest have purpose too. Rest is hard isn’t it? I have been in a season of rest, not because I have been ill but to avoid burnout. At first, I was happy about this season but quickly I began to whine and feel restless. I didn’t feel productive enough, I failed to see the productivity in the rest because I failed to see my purpose. What is my purpose if I am not doing for God? I am a doer for God, doing makes me feel productive and when I am productive I feel I have purpose. So not doing makes me feel unproductive which leaves me feeling like I have no purpose. Sigh, the webs we weave. I have learned the difference between restlessness and stirred. Restlessness leaves you feeling incomplete, empty of sorts, anxious, and confused. To be stirred brings motivation, encouragement to complete the task and season at hand, and assurance God is with you. God does not bring us the feeling of restlessness because He doesn’t move in chaos. Instead God calls us out of chaos and into order that inspires and assures us. God is the great encourager!

I am learning it is okay to be still for a season. This does not diminish purpose even though it feels like it. We come from an over active society, everybody is running there, everybody is doing this, life is a whirl of hectic blurred vision of comings and goings. The message society gives us is that if we are not in constant motion we are not being productive therefore we can’t possibly have purpose.

God’s methods are not parallel to the world’s methods, He works things out for the good of His people, which usually requires at some point stillness; thus, Psalms 46 says “be still and know that I am God.” Stillness is sitting motionless before the Lord in the quiet of His presence while He renews your heart and soothes all the unseen wounds you have absorbed. Stillness is learning the Lord’s voice as we wait for new instructions. Stillness is not for the faint of heart but if we allow it what stillness brings is tranquility. A sea of serenity, calming, gentle, and comforting to weary hearts.

Here is what I am in the process of learning in this season (and it is such a difficult season read previous blog) it is okay to be still for a season. This does not diminish purpose. It will however slow productivity down for a time but this is for a greater out-pouring. I have had to tell myself stop whining during your rest and begin to ask God for vision and preparation for a better outflow of works when He calls upon you. It’s important we learn to be prepared to be ready.

I have had to learn new tactics the enemy is throwing at me and it has not been easy. I have had some failures and some victories. The devil loves to attempt to drown us in turmoil: chaos, confusion, and discontentment. I think dissatisfaction is one the most used weapons of the devil. One of my battles is discontentment. I think this is a distraction that the devil uses so I stop focusing on God.  Victories are won through battle, trusting God can be a battle if we are discontent with the season He has placed us in.

I don’t know your season or your battle but I hope you learn to cultivate your faith in God and know He will see you through. That God has purpose for what you are facing even if you can’t see it now, He sees it.

Proverbs 3: Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Good Afternoon Ladies…

If my life were a movie scene right now it would be Molly Ringwald and Michael Anthony Hall in Sixteen Candles… “Its physically impossible for me to get happy.” I have been quoting that line for the last few weeks. Yes, we are big quoters in this family… (I am aware quoters is not a real word.) O-o

I don’t know how you have been feeling but lately I have been in a pretty ugly funk. It’s the kind of funk brought on by several factors: hormones (rage, cry, etc…), a mid-life crisis of sorts, and not having a church home at the moment. The hormones are a wreck in themselves and I eat pretty keto and when I don’t I am eating low carb -high fat that means no sugar, no processed foods, no wheat/gluten. I say this because diet can cause all kinds of issues but mine is pretty clean. Mid-life crisis, the usual I am restless (which I know is not from God), I would love to move back to my home town but I am tethered to my current city so my kids can finish school or the majority of them (one is in college, one in high-school, one in middle school). My home town has changed so much that we almost feel like nomads, gypsies without a home base when go visit. I feel isolated and alone, do you ever feel that way? Everyone is busy with their lives, life is hectic and rushed. I am one of those people that is like send me an invite but you know I am not going to attend. I just need to know you still care through the invitation- ha! I look at people with pep in their step and I am like if only, how do they stay so peppy? How do they remain in joy? I feel like I am over here drowning. Drowning in life changes that are occurring to me (via hormones), drowning in a probable mid-life crisis, drowning in not knowing exactly what God is saying to me, what direction He is sending me in. AHHHHH…. It’s enough to make me want to eat a big fat sundae or down a bottle of wine… but really it means I need to head into prayer. FUNK… and it’s not the Uptown Funk that features Bruno Mars… I wish! You know that feeling of “blah” you don’t really want to participate, you don’t really want to stay home, you don’t really want to do anything but you want to do something, have some kind of variation in life. What’s a girl to do when she needs a transformation in her life?  Here is what I’d like to say: there are going to be times your family and friends are too busy for you not because they don’t love you but because life in today’s world is a whirl of blur on most given days. There will be times in your life you feel let down, alone, and even confused; in those moments you have to keep moving forward. Forward as in advancing onward, propelled ahead from the last the step you made. Those steps are so hard to make in silence, alone, and sometimes running on empty (Jackson Brown). The last month has been a very difficult one for me: anxiety has been high, depression was lurking around, and the rage (ah the rage that bubbles up at times)… also the uncertainty about what God was/is doing in my life… pair this was restlessness and a mid-life crisis and you have the perfect recipe for a forty something meltdown.

I like the way The Message bible (commentary) has Romans 8: 25 All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance… ^26-28 Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves….

The Apostle Paul goes on to say in Romans 8: ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Despite what I am going through or how alone I feel, or whatever may be happening within me I know that I am really never alone, I know that I can always go to Jesus no matter the day or time. I love that the Apostle Paul encourages us to remember we were created to be champions. A conqueror overcomes, defeats, and masters. Sometimes the hardest battle to overcome is within… You are not alone, we are all battling something.

Psalms 77:14 You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the people. I marvel at that verse. God displays His power among the people… that is incredible when you really look at people. What love, what compassion, what forgiveness, and what encouragement God has for us! God is personal in nature, desiring to be part of our messy, loud, unkempt lives… to display His love through incredible displays of affection. Even when I don’t know, I trust that God does know and has a plan… especially in my hormonal, stormy, out of control temper, mid-life crisis life.

Good Afternoon Ladies!

I am sitting here listening to the rain fall as I pray (knowing there is a leak in my skylight kind of takes away from the ambiance). I often pray that God takes from me all ego, pride, conceit, and arrogance so that what remains is just a humbleness to serve and love people. Did you know that love appears in the bible 634 times depending on what translation you use? I often use the NET, the CEB, or the HSCB. translation.

I think a lot of times we go through life loving people with just part of our heart because we don’t want to love with our entire heart. It takes a lot of energy to love with your complete heart not to mention the vulnerability. I don’t know about you but I want to love in a mighty way not in a weak manner. I think we tend to get anemic when it comes to loving people. We like to put stipulations on love but in reality, that is not what Jesus commanded us to do. As Christians, we like to force people into transformation thinking we have the authority and ability to transform them (we don’t); instead of just getting them to alter and letting God do the changes. We like to think we are called to do more than love when in reality we haven’t even mastered how to love one another.

As a pastor, I observe all kinds of social media people have from people in my church to people not in my church and I can tell you people love to judge, stay in negativity, and tear down instead of buildup. They love to stir controversy thinking it brings God some type of glory but it doesn’t. Loving someone means you are going to build them up regardless of the foundation. God builds on all kinds of foundations; we are called to follow His example. I think the Christian community stays in that state of disagreement because they are terrified the culture will change truth… BUT truth cannot be changed (but that is for another time and possibly a sermon on a Sunday).

One of my biggest concerns is how I love: am I loving people enough? Am I showing enough compassion? Do I have enough mercy?

I don’t want to love people with just half my heart because I have been hurt too many times, or people don’t reciprocate it, etc… Jesus says in John 13: ³⁴ “I give you a new commandment—to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” That’s a wham to your gut!

Jesus love was sacrificial so that is a sacrificial love He is talking about from us. It means it will cost you something… Think about that for a minute and let that soak in… We are given love and in return expected to love in the same manner of love that was given to us… That is really ground breaking for believers and non-believers.

Whatever you are doing in life find time to experience the love of Jesus Christ (and not through religion but through a relationship with Him) AND if you have experienced that love then find the time to extend that love through all facets of your life…albeit through relationship, outreach, social media, etc…

Love well and Love often… Love in a mighty way and not in an anemic way… and don’t be selective to whom you love… Love is universal, it breaks down culture barriers, it speaks every language, it incorporates every color on the spectrum, it is diverse, and it travels around the globe to seek all people… learn to be part of it.

To my believers out there if you want people to know God 1 John 4: “⁸ The person who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” LOVE… and know that truth will not be changed by loving because truth can never be changed. In Isaiah 65- Isaiah refers to Yahweh as the God of truth and in John 17:17 Jesus says God’s word is truth… The Apostle Paul assures us that truth cannot be changed but he also urges us to love. Why? Because love covers a multitude of things… He also tells us to not grow weary of doing good… So LOVE often and love ALL… the good the bad the ugly ( a little Clint Eastwood humor in memory of my step-dad)

but above all learn to love outside your comfort zone!

Good Afternoon Ladies…

PS. bye bye to August and hello to September my birthday month (but who wants to remember at my age) 🙂

As I was standing in my kitchen this morning exchanging texts with my sister in law who happens to live in Texas about 30 minutes from Houston, I was just struck with overwhelming emotion for the people there. I have lived in Texas and traveled to Houston many times as a child and to see it in its present state is just bewildering.
Because it is my nature to fix things I immediately began to think “what can I do?”. My sister in law is volunteering at the shelters close to her but I live over 600 miles away. In moments like these I feel small and insignificant. In the Godfather, we hear the phrase “take it to the mattresses,” meaning war is about to ensue, I heard a voice say to me take it to prayer and don’t say “all I can do is pray.” Why? Because it reduces prayer to be inconsequential and prayer is anything but minor or frivolous.
Prayer is powerful, Prayer is war, Prayer gives strength and brings courage we see that clearly with Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, He prays and is empowered for the inhumane treatment He is about to endure on the cross for our behalf.

We know prayer is powerful because Jesus tells His disciples in Matthew 17:21 that what they were facing and trying to overcome (helping the small boy possessed) could only be conquered through prayer accompanied by fasting. PRAYER is meant to be our POWER HOUSE MOVEMENT, not some wimpy kid on the bench, not some play that never got on the ball field to the players!

As I went into prayer this morning, tears were falling, my heart breaking for all those people and animals, I was brought to Genesis 18:14 14 Is anything impossible for the Lord? I will return to you when the season comes round again and Sarah will have a son.”

Abraham could not comprehend the totality of God’s power, the magnitude of God’s unlimited abilities to triumph over any and all situations. God asks Abraham- is anything too great for Me?! It was a rhetoric question, not to be answered because the answer was within the question itself… NO, nothing is too great for God!
Abraham could not process that his wife of around 90 years of age would actually be able to give birth. FAITH DEFIES LOGIC! Stop trying to use logic to understand the Lord’s abilities, He is not bound to our limited reasoning skills. God would defy the logic of the human body by Sarah having a baby at the end of her life instead of at the beginning of her life. Mind blowing! God can’t help but to shock our feeble minds with His love and power.

Again I was brought to Jeremiah 32 where God declares who He is and the totality of His power: 32: 27 “I am the Lord, the God of all humankind. There is, indeed, nothing too difficult for me.” Jeremiah at this point in his life is basically in a cistern of mud and muck (literally) because Israel is in a state of war with the Babylonians and about to be conquered. The King was not too keen on Jeremiah’s prophesy against his efforts. Faith will at times try us… calling us into situations where our faith is stretched and walking in daring faith means we may not be liked very much, remain faithful to the Lord and stand your ground through prayer and faith knowing He has your back.

Remember there is nothing too great for the Lord to overcome, subdue, or rule over… NOTHING… I don’t know what you are trying to overcome but I do know if you invite God into your situation He will recede the flood waters and you will once again see dry land. I hope you join with me as I pray for the people of Texas, that God moves in a mighty way and that they see His unconditional love and enormity of His power to use this crisis to display His goodness and glory bringing unity where there was once separation… God brings harmony to the discord of our life should we seek Him… Seek Him today and every day.

Good Morning Ladies….

PS. We tend to focus on the worst of humanity because the media likes to feed us garbage and a diet of non-stop garbage is going to lead to bad health… We may be a nation that at times is disgruntled with each other, families are like that but we also ban together and help raise each other up during a crisis. If only we could live like that every day; sadly, seldom do families live like that on a daily basis. We focus on the worst of humanity but let’s not over-look the best of humanity too. We will raise each other up out of the devastation and rebuild on new ground… better ground.

A walk down memory lane today…

For so long I identified strength as the ability to belt out profanity, to stand on my own, to be independent, and to be hard around the edges. When I got into a relationship with the Lord I learned that my concept of strength was wrong. I found the closer I got to the Lord the more I came to understand that what makes me strong is my ability to forgive, my ability to dole out mercy, and my ability to love especially the unlovable. I needed to be soft… it was a hard transition and still is.

I was raised most of my life by a single mother just trying to survive. She came from horrific abuse as child and in return was a child-bride, trying to out run past trauma, she came from such a religious background her perception of God was completely skewed. She had been hurt by the people that were supposed to protect  her the most by giving her shelter, physically, emotionally, and spiritually- that did not happen. You can’t out-run your past trauma but you can heal from it eventually.

Because of such wounds she raised me with a concept to be fiercely independent which lead to the idea that I should never need anybody. This did not serve me well as I kept most people at least two arm lengths away. In fact, there were many times during the first years of my marriage I told my husband I didn’t need him and to not let the door hit his butt on the way out. Bless him, he endured me as the Lord was reshaping me and it was hard!

The truth is we are created and designed to need people in our lives. Our strength lies in how we are able to let people in (despite the scars of past wounds) and love them. The ability to continue to love and need people is the part of us that extends and reflects the Lord’s image in our life (as we were created in the image of God).
It took me a long time to realize my strength did not come from myself but the Lord. He gives me the strength I need to be an overcomer. I can do nothing by myself but my help comes from the Lord.
In 2 Kings 11 there is a woman name Jehosheba, her part is small and there is not a lot written about her but there doesn’t need to be, what is written speaks loud enough. She comes from a family that is completely dysfunctional. We are talking about a family that was part of a religious system that believed in child sacrifice, a grandmother that killed all her grandsons except one, and the definition of horrendousness… And yet out of that chaos, out of that horrible mess rose a woman with courageous faith.
She did not let her family history deter her from God. She refused to be a victim of bitterness and she refused to stay in dysfunction or to be defined by her family. She walked in grace and mercy. Through all of that ugliness she was still receptive to the Lord. I don’t know about you but that makes my heart sing a little bit. Why? Because even in an environment that is hostile to God’s goodness, an atmosphere of murder, revenge, evil deeds, self-plotting… God can raise a conqueror!

I don’t know what your family background is and I don’t know what you consider strength to be, I can only tell you my story and how the Lord has opened my eyes. I am not perfect but God is… And no matter what you have faced or are facing right now God’s plans for you are good and His desires are to endow you with strength to rise above. When life leaves you stranded in the desert God will provide you with wings.

God never abandons us but cultivates within us the ability to fly and overcome the highest mountains… It is my hope and prayer that you receive those wings and overcome whatever you are facing.

Good Afternoon Ladies…

Psalms 121:1 I look up to the mountains—
Where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth!
3 He will not let you stumble;
the one who watches over you will not slumber.
4 Indeed, he who watches over Israel
never slumbers or sleeps.
5 The Lord himself watches over you!
The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.
6 The sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon at night.
7 The Lord keeps you from all harm
and watches over your life.
8 The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go,
both now and forever. (NLT)

Ya’ll, I wasn’t even on the road for 15 minutes this afternoon (picking kids up from school) and I thought nope, I am done with people today. Yesterday as we took the kids to lunch I couldn’t help but notice the lack of manners from people of all ages, children not saying thank you to the waiter, to grown women not acknowledging the kindness of someone holding the door open for them. Sigh, really?

Yes, there are days when I am done with people. Regardless if you live under the same moral compass as me teach your children to be mindful of other people and educate them in manners. I fear we have become a self-centered world not even aware of the decline and yet there is hope!
I am in the process of re-reading 1 Kings and it never ceases to amaze me the shape the leaders were in over Israel at the time. The Old Testament is an exciting but also a difficult read not for the faint of heart. There was a lot happening during that epoch of time that is hard to digest emotionally and intellectually. And still through this historical story God is trying to tell us something.

So when I read of leaders like King Solomon that purposely diverted from God’s plans for his life or worse his son Rehoboam that completely lived with no moral boundaries, I think hmm what can I learn from this story? The main thing over and over that I take away is God desires to be more than a crisis call or emergency management.

Can I tell you God desires to be more than your last ditch effort for a miracle? His desire is to live a life with you not be your last minute effort to get a prayer answered. I think we have reduced God to “last minute efforts” that is after we have exhausted all other resources we will begrudgingly out of our desperation call on the Lord (instead of making Him center of everything). Center is the focal point, the core, the root.
It’s easy to get lost in all the hustle n bustle of today’s fast pace lifestyle and forget about God. It’s easy for life to drown out God’s voice or better yet it’s easy for life to distract you from God’s voice. Sometimes (in fact most times) I need to just get still and quiet before the Lord. I have to admit with all the gadgets of today’s modern world it is not as easy as it used to be.

Learning to be still with the Lord allows us to saturate in His presence; Infusing with His will that is allowing Him to impart Himself to us. We marinade food but we don’t marinade ourselves… Marinade means several things: to soak, to immerse, to submerge, to saturate but it also means to preserve. Preserve is a verb it’s an action that means reserve. We will marinade food to preserve the flavor but we will neglect to marinade ourselves so we can absorb God’s essence. Incredible isn’t it?

When we learn to be still with the Lord we steep in His love which actually reserves us and leads us to His sanctuary. Sanctuary is a refuge of protection.
I don’t know about you but it’s tiring day after day trying to make it on my own. I need a little help. There are days I am desperate for a refuge where I can just soak under the protection of God’s mercy and I can become saturated with His love. His love is transformational even on days I don’t want to love people, on days I want to quit, on days when nobody has manners. Psalm 46:10 10 Be still, and know that I am God…

I hope this week you will marinade yourself in God’s mercy and love knowing it’s a refuge of protection specifically for you!
Good Afternoon Ladies!

I have been sick this week as I stated in my last blog I have been dealing with a late summer cold. I don’t get sick very often and when I do I really hate it. The only upswing is that it forces me to slow down and be still. This week is my son’s last week before he starts college and I’ve had a lot of time to reflect. He is always talking to me about some music group or world event and they are not limited to present, he loves history too.

We had a debate about whether or not the 80s was the best decade I am an 80s kid so for me it is. I look at his generation and see a lot of chaos in the world, truthfully it saddens my heart. Times are very different than when I grew up some for the better some for the worst. You gotta take the bad with the good so the saying goes (I think that is hogwash).

Chaos is a word I have used several times this week. I have a dear friend of mine that is traveling and she is about to enter into what I call chaos, that is a lack of order. I reminded her to represent order in her travels. We serve a God that calls forth order out of chaos, that is He stabilizes and gives peace no matter the atmosphere (should we seek His assistance). 2 Timothy 1:7 For God did not give us a Spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control. I love this scripture and I remind myself of it on a regular basis because I need the reminder. Fear has a way of settling into my thoughts.

Sometimes chaos is born from fear and confusion and a gross ignorance. God did not create us to have a spirit of fear but of power, love, and self-control. Power to endure hard times and persevre, love to display great compassion and mercy extending it even to those that are underserving, and self-control because we are created to live with discipline, to self-restrain when needed.

There are times in life it just seems as though chaos follows us but we are not meant to be victims of chaos; we were created to be conquers through Jesus Christ. Romans 8:37 ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

No matter what kind of mayhem (confusion or mess) you confront or what type of confusion that surrounds you remember, you are more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ, He empowers you to be so much more than a wounded person or victim but a victor in every regard to life. His love trumps all chaos that may follow us.

Good Afternoon Ladies… 😊

PS. We have to be locomotion through commotion.

Today I felt like Chicken Little running around yelling the “sky is falling.” While most people were enjoying the eclipse I was running around like a chicken with no head. Sigh, it’s been a Monday for sure. All that grace I preached about yesterday morning from the pulpit flew out my window when I couldn’t drive down the street due to people parked in a no parking zone, getting their lawn chairs out to gawk at the solar movement of the century (I’m a bit sarcastic tonight). My husband told me I was an eclipse Grinch. I told him we were done talking… lol

It’s just one of those days. I spent an hour grocery shopping (least me children starve or so they say), forty minutes getting my teeth cleaned (always a fun time), two hours at the vet with a sick cat (this doesn’t include the visit last week for my bulldog), my work computer is in the shop (my sermon notes for next week are on that computer), I am fighting a late summer cold, and I can’t seem to stay within budget to save my life! Today is not the best of days, I’ve displaced grace. I am not hording grace I just misplaced it. On days like this I just want to run away, I have had the urge to cry most of the day, and all I want to do is sleep on my heating pad. I am at the moment waiting on my soup to be done (cabbage soup, I love it).
Oh, on days like this I need God to remind me how blessed I really am despite all the small obstacles that life is throwing my way. I live in a country that affords me the freedom to live the way I deem fit, I have food in the kitchen, I have a roof over my head, clothing aglore, a steady income, medical and dental coverage, and healthy children, I really have no right to complain.

Yet, I still feel like running around as if I’m chicken little screaming the “sky is falling, the sky is falling!” Because that is what it feels like to me. Do you ever have days like that? The song Rise Up by Rita Springer keeps popping in my head some of the lyrics are: I am blessed among the people, And I am blessed among the nations, I am blessed because I am loved by You, yeah I am loved and highly favored I am loved and highly favored Saved by the grace of a Mighty Savior
I am blessed because I am loved by You…

I don’t know how your Monday went or if you got to watch the solar eclipse today but if you ever have a day where your sky is falling remember you are loved by a Mighty Savior no matter if your sky is actually falling or you’re just having a bad day…
Jeremiah 17:7 My blessing is on those people who trust in me, who put their confidence in me… I do trust the Lord and later I will go into prayer; sitting in His soothing presence… a calm that only He can bring me… and He will renew this weary heart and restore my sky for another day.
Good Evening Ladies!

Yesterday I served as a volunteer at a free event for all people. I was not a lead pastor, I was not on the teaching staff, I was nothing really important, I was a gopher of sorts and I loved it. I love serving others. When you serve other people you tell them they matter to you and I think people need to hear that especially in today’s society.
I watch the team of youth kids I brought serve from trash duty to praying with their peers, kids they had never met. I watch them do this with excitement and joy. There was enthusiasm in the air. I believe investing in the next generation is of the utmost importance; teaching them to love somebody other than themselves.

This was not a “religious” event, I don’t serve at “religious” events. Religion has the propensity to be one sided and hard around the edges. This was a melting pot of sorts where people from all different backgrounds in faith came together to serve and facilitate a safe atmosphere of love and redemption. We were building people up, raising them high so they could receive the love that Jesus has for them.

John 3:16 For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. This is the cornerstone of Christianity. Maybe you don’t believe there is a God because of all the bad things in the world, maybe you’ve been burned by “Christians,” maybe you’ve been hurt by a “church,” maybe you feel God didn’t answer your prayer, I don’t know… I want to apologize to you… people are imperfect and God doesn’t answer all prayers, (that faith thing is hard, trusting He knows best). I don’t know much But I do know that God loves YOU despite your skepticism.

I do what I do in ministry because I want people to know there is no perfect person, let alone a perfect Christian. I want to bridge the gap between people and the Word of God and make it easier for them to understand and apply. I do not want to throw a bible at them in condemnation. Maybe that makes me a little strange as a Christian but I believe in lending a hand to help people up not keeping them down. I am desperate to extend God’s love to people because I am desperate for God’s love in my own life. I want people to know they are not alone in their desperation.

In the book of Jeremiah- I love Jeremiah, I love him because he was minding his own business and one-day God showed up and said Jeremiah I have other plans for you, my plans will be tough, my plans will be difficult but I know you can do it and I will help you. Jeremiah tried to get out of the work, he cried, through a fit, told God he wasn’t good enough, he wasn’t old enough but none of that matter to God, He knew Jeremiah was capable of the work (and it was really rough too). He placed within Jeremiah a strength to continue on regardless of the difficulties that he encountered (and there were many). God tells us in Jeremiah 31:3 I have loved you with an everlasting love. That is why I have continued to be faithful to you.

God’s love is faithful to you no matter what your emotions tell you or what people tell you, never lose sight of that. God places within each of us a strength to rise above what life has handed us and be different. Maybe you won’t win the lottery, maybe you won’t be the richest person but you have the strength and power within you to extend a helping hand, a smile at the grocery store, and soft whisper of encouragement to somebody. That is rising above your circumstances by not letting your life experiences make you harsh and bitter. I want that for you, I don’t know you but I want that for your life, it’s not utopia but its a better place to be.

It is my hope that you will push through the difficulties of your life and reach out to God at some point, knowing His plans for you are bigger than you can imagine. It is my prayer you will encounter God’s great love, compassion, and mercy this week and in return you will be those things for someone else. Pay it forward. Serve those that don’t deserve… step out of your comfort zone…
Good Afternoon Ladies…

PS. It took me a long time before I could serve at an event like yesterday (my anxiety was too great) but it doesn’t take much to invest love, compassion, and mercy into someone… just takes a little deliberate effort, I challenge you to pay it forward.

I was listening to a podcast this morning and the pastor was talking about regret among other things but how regret is a snare to us, keeping us chained to the past; a past that Jesus forgives freely (no matter what). Got me thinking about all the “greats” in the bible such as King David and his adultery, the Apostle Peter and his denial of Christ, or the Apostle Paul and his slaughter of Christians…and the list could on.

Yet, each of those people went on to do remarkable things and be known for great acts of faith. Forgiveness means we don’t have to walk around in regret nonstop. We confess, ask for forgiveness, and we move onto something better. I try to live a very transparent life because I never want to appear to be something I am not. The truth is there are a lot of religious circles that would not have me, a lot churches that would reject me, and a lot of self-righteous people that would sneer at me. I have had two babies out of wed-lock, committed adultery (yes, when you marry too young and you are both miserable, mistakes happen), fornicated, and the list could go on… sigh, They are not my finest moments but they make me human…some of those moments broke me, some of those moments threw me into the gutter.

And yet, God still called to me. I did not call to Him, I was not in a state of mind to call to Him, He ever-lovingly called to me and offered His hand to help me up out of my pit. Truth is during some of those moments I didn’t have anybody directing me to call on His name, I just felt shame and guilt surround me which fed the regret I so overwhelmingly had.

God took one look at me in that trench I got myself into, the gutter of pain and sorrow AND said “that is not what I have planned for you, get on your feet and I will lift you up, then walk with me.” It took me a while to get the walking with Him down on a consistent basis but I did (that doesn’t mean I am perfect far from that!).

Exodus 6:7…I’ll set you free with great power and with momentous events of justice. ⁷ I’ll take you as my people, and I’ll be your God. You will know that I, the Lord, am your God… (CEB) God is telling the Israelite people He will take them as His own, despite they were a broken, confused, worn-out, stubborn, tiny group of people, He wanted them. I love that!

Jeremiah 30:22 You will be my people, and I will be your God. God was not and is not a quitter on people, He pursues us into the sewer of addiction, depression, adultery, regret, guilt, bitterness, rebellion, unbelief, etc… His love is encompassing and desires to restore us right where we are. I aspire to love like that.

(And yes it transfers to the New Testament 2 Corinthian’s 2:16…I will live in them and will walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” That means God desires YOU to part of HIS circle, HIS Kingdom, HE wants to live with you, imperfection and all!)

I don’t know what you are dealing with but I hope you learn to live a life not tethered to regret… that is not God’s desire for your life. I am a walking example of that… I have no right to be in ministry and yet that is where God has placed me… I never stop being amazed at God’s love me.

Psalm 86:15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. This was written by a man that was quite imperfect and yet still called a man after God’s own heart… (King David)   Good Day, Ladies!

PS. Romans 8: ³⁸ I’m convinced that nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus our Lord: not death or life, not angels or rulers, not present things or future things, not powers ³⁹ or height or depth, or any other thing that is created. Nothing can stop God from loving you, His love for you is infinite, He may not like your behavior, but His love remains. I hope you soak in God’s love today…