In Process

Hey everyone!
I wanted to let you know that I have several posts brewing in my head and heart.
I have stumbled upon several amazing sources of vital information that has fed my soul and can only be described as words, to my heart, from the Lord.
Trying to put all that is stirring in me into words has been a bit of a challenge.

So hold tight.
I promise there is some good stuff on the way...at least it has been good stuff for me!

I will let you in on 3 of the things that are rocking my world.
I encourage you to check them out and then we can "chat" about how these things may/may not have impacted you.

THIS post is amazing!

Choosing to Cheat--Andy Stanley (Best of North Point Ministries Podcasts)
This is an absolutely amazing, convicting, challenging, and encouraging podcast.
It is about 45 minutes, but it is SO worth it.
You MUST listen!!! So so so good!!!

LOTS more to come on this topic, but for now, here is the latest book and lifestyle change I am embarking on. Check it out HERE!

That is all for now!!

Hoping that today you can: smile more, hug more, SLOW DOWN, listen more, and pray lots!
Stay safe in this wild weather (where it is stormy and foggy here in SC).
A crazy thunder and lightning storm just started....so weird! :)
Love you guys!

Gentleness...how ya doing?

I read a blog post today from my sister-in-law, Kelly, and would invite you to check it out HERE.
It was just what I needed to read, hear, and be challenged to do something about...this issue of Gentleness.

Lately, to be honest, I have not been very gentle with my words, attitude, actions, and thoughts.
I tend to be known in our house as the one who lacks a lot of mercy. While that may not be a bad thing all the time, I don't want to be known as the mean one!

So here's the deal.
Go HERE and check out what is going on.

www.womenlivingwell.org

Join this challenge with us.
I am so excited to embark on this journey of truly releasing all that I hold on to and allowing God to move an do some pretty amazing things in my surrender. I hope you will try this too!

Love you guys!

Joy in the Morning

Hey friends!

I wanted to share a quick update with you and say a huge THANKS!
I had posted some honest confessions on Saturday and asked for your prayers.
You guys have been praying and I have felt your prayers!

Yesterday was a GREAT day!
The Lord really put such joy in my heart and I had a sense of renewal in my spirit.
You see, I have no "reason" to be depressed.
I truly have the most amazing husband, best girls, amazing family, awesome friends, incredible job, my health returned, and, most importantly, a Savior who loves me like no other.
I think that is why this "funk" caught me so off guard.

I know that this is a season we are going through as I try to get the Endo eliminated and have to have my hormones altered. I do know that this will not be "the norm", and that brings me comfort.

Yesterday's service was so amazing! If you have time, check it out HERE--it will be loaded and ready to go on Tuesday, Jan 4. The part of the service that resonated so much with me was something our worship leader talked about.

"I AM"
Have you ever thought that was a somewhat odd way that God told Moses to reveal Himself to the people in Exodus 3? In the past I have wondered about this. Yesterday it was explained in such an amazing way.
The people of Israel had been in bondage and slavery for such a long time. Their hope may have vanished. Their belief that freedom was possible probably destroyed. Their belief that there was anyone who loved and believed in them wiped out.
Yet God. Who loved them so much and wanted to make sure that they knew the power and depth of His love, said "I AM".

• I Am your hope
• I Am your release from all that holds you captive
• I Am your Savior
• I Am the restorer of your joy
• I Am the giver of a fresh start
• I Am the deliverer and will never leave you
• I Am the One who sees your tears, knows your fears, and will meet your needs
• I Am HERE!

Being reminded of our amazing "I AM" God was so powerful to me.
Also singing "You are worthy, You are worthy, God," took the focus off of me, myself, my deal, and put it entirely on what it should be on always--Jesus!

This day, I am so thankful for a fresh start. For new mercy and grace. For restoration and healing. For encouragement and support. For friends and family. And, mostly, for a God who is "I AM" and will always be all that I could ever need.

I pray this encourages your heart as it did mine.
Happy start to your new year.
My prayer for us is that we will all daily strive to be closer to Jesus today than we were yesterday and not let the distractions and worries of this world take our eyes off of what is truly most important.

You are blessed!

We are in the time of the year where we count our blessings and think on all the things we are thankful for. I wonder how often we actually stop to think how truly blessed we are. I know that I have been doing a lot more of this lately...as I have had some time on my hands and been able to witness the amazing provision of God during this difficult season.

I was sitting in the car line having my quiet time, (remember yesterday's post about trying to focus and rid myself of distractions?) and I was reading in Matthew chapter 5. If you are familiar with the Bible, you will recognize this passage as having The Beatitudes in the beginning. I am trying to do my best to read the Bible with clear eyes, not relying on information I know or have read before. One way that helps me do this is to read the Bible in a different translation. Today I was reading in The Message translation (probably one of my most favorite, by the way). I have to share with you what I read. It was so good and rocked me to the core. If you want to check out the whole chapter, you can go HERE!

³"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.  ⁴"You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
 ⁵"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.
 ⁶"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.
 ⁷"You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.
 ⁸"You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
 ⁹"You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.
 ¹⁰"You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.
16 "Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.
22 The simple moral fact is that words kill. 
37 When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong. 
^43-47"You're familiar with the old written law, 'Love your friend,' and its unwritten companion, 'Hate your enemy.' I'm challenging that. I'm telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.  ⁴⁸"In a word, what I'm saying is, Grow up. You're kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you."

My prayer for you, as it is for me and my family, is that we will truly remember how blessed we are. That trials will make us reflect on the goodness of God. That being content in all things helps us be more selfless and generous. That our words and actions will truly reflect a life that is striving to be more like Jesus everyday. And that others will see something different in us and that "something" will help turn their eyes off of us and on to Jesus.

Have a great end of your week! Love you all!

What am I doing in here?

Have you ever been standing in a room at your house or somewhere at work and asked yourself this question, "What am I doing in here?" This happens to me ALL the time. I want to explain it away by dismissing it as menopausal amnesia, but truth be told, I'm not sure that is the truth.

You see, I am easily distracted. There is a lot going on in my brain, all the time, and sometimes it just goes a little haywire. Just today I had 3 projects to complete. Yet, all 3 are still at an "in process" state of being because I couldn't finish one completely without getting distracted. Or trying to do a little work on all 3 instead of prioritizing and finishing 1 before starting the other. This is the story of my life. I am really trying to do better about this issue. (But even now as I type, my brain is thinking of something I was wanting to do earlier and I almost got up from the computer to go do that very thing!) Ugh!

I am not sure if you can identify with this in all aspects of your life but maybe, like me, it does tend to carry over into all areas. One area that I am really hitting hard with focus is the area of my quiet time with Jesus. Now, let me just say that regular quiet times are vital and have been vital to me for quite a while. It would not be that I would neglect my time with the Lord daily, but my mind would tend to drift to to dos and what's nexts and creative projects instead of staying focused on what it should be focused on.

One thing I LOVE about church is that God reads your mail and the preacher often speaks into you right when you need to hear it. It may not be correction or discipline, but maybe creativity and suggestions. That is what happened to me earlier this year. Perry Noble, our pastor at NewSpring, did an entire message on how to study the Bible. It was so practical and an amazing message! You can check it out HERE! And the same thing happened this past Sunday. You can check out that message HERE!

I wanted to share some things with you that God is really bringing to my attention lately. I want us all, this blog family, to be connected to the Root and not disconnected and blame on our distractions. I know. We are all busy. Single, married, kids, grandkids, retired, working, stay at home mom....it doesn't matter. We are in the same boat. Satan will fill our minds and hearts with distractions just to drive us away or put a wedge in our relationship with Jesus.

• We are as close to God as we want to be.
• God wants to speak to us way more than we, often, want to listen.
• In reading through Job, as a church, we looked at 38:1-3. "Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm..." 38:1--God always speaks in the storm and Jesus reveals who He is in the storms 
• After Job listened to the voice of God, then he was blessed.
• Seek and Surrender to the Voice of God
• One of the primary ways that God speaks today is through the Bible
• Hebrews 4:12--The Bible is living and active and Jesus wants to meet you there daily
• Psalm 19:7-8--Word of God revives the soul
• Proverbs 30:5--Word is a shield for those to take refuge
• Goal of the Bible is NOT to change the way we FEEL, but to change the way we THINK!
• Yesterday's bread is not satisfactory for today's nourishment! (DAILY Bread--daily Bible time)

Thinking through these points/verses and examining where I am in my relationship with Jesus, one thought comes to mind "am I closer to God now than I was...3 months ago, 6 months ago, 1 year ago?" What about you? Do you think there may be somethings that you could possibly change that would take your relationship with Jesus to the next level?

I have been thinking through and praying over these questions. For me, I am making some changes. I have gotten in the habit of getting out of my house to do my quiet time. Right now, being in my home is a distraction. There are a million things to do and a million things to make my mind drift. It is really working when all I focus on is the Word. I am making sure that I am journaling prayers, reading the Bible, journaling verses and thoughts that stand out to me as I read, and also having a section of Listening & Distractions. In the Listening section, I write down things that I feel like God is pressing into me at that time. Often times it is not even related to what I read but something I feel stirring in my heart. The Distraction section is for me to write down the things that are vying for my attention (grocery items, to do reminders, calls to make, etc). This way I can put them in their place and then get back to focusing on what I am supposed to be doing.

Is this the only way to approach a quiet time? Of course not. Will this way guarantee that you won't get distracted or lose focus? Nope. But maybe it will spark something in you that will cause you to take stock of where you are. Then you, just like me, can start making changes that will grow your relationship with Jesus. Not sure where or what to read? If you will go HERE

Dear family and friends, thank you for listening to my rambles today. This is what God is dealing with ME about--letting distractions get the best of me. Maybe we can keep each other accountable and pray for one another so that we can get past the barriers that are hindering our walks with Jesus from going to the next level. Love you all!