God's yoke? SOLD! To the lady covered in sin!

I walked a mile with Pleasure,

She chattered all the way,

But left me none the wiser

For all she had to say.

I walked a mile with Sorrow,

And ne'er a word said she,

But, oh, the things I learned from her

When Sorrow walked with me!

Gasp! Help! I'm being tested right left and center on what I last posted. Suddenly it's become a little difficult to remain in the eye of my hurricane. I'm looking back over the last few months or so, and God has been so amazing to me. He's broken off spiritual strongholds, released gifts in me, healed my spirit, re-sealed my heart, all in a matter of months! Let me tell you, it's been a ride! But I guess in my humanness and self-absorption, I developed some pride. I looked down one day and found that I had secretly built a small little pedestal under my feet. Well God, in His love and mercy, gently kicked that pedestal right from under me. I've fallen off, into a muddy puddle, and I seem to have scraped my knees. I'm recognizing, only to the degree that my human mind can withstand, that I am a dirty rotten sinner, in desperate need of Him. That it is only by His grace and mercy that I am even here today. That it only takes one moment of turning my eyes away from my Father, to make me susceptible to the enemy's use, to steal kill and destroy. It has been an awful reality check to see that I have been trying to steal from my brothers and sisters, kill joy, and destroy unity. Thank you Lord for your amazing grace!

Amazing grace,

How sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me,

I once was lost,

But now I'm found,

Was blind but now I see...........

I want to be overflowing with gratefulness, for where the Lord has me. I want to be thankful for all that I was priveledeged to taste and see in the season of growth and flurishment. And I also want to be thankful for where I am now, in a place of pruning and character adjusting. I know that God is here, that He has brought me here, that He has plans and purposes for me here, and that He will never leave me here. I'm thankful that He is so kind to remove me from my pedestal, because the responsibilities of being my own god are way more than I can handle. Whenever I would hear the verse that talks about taking on His yoke, I got the general idea, but I never knew what a "yoke" was.

Yoke: A frame designed to be carried across a person's shoulders with equal loads suspended from each end.

Wow, isn't that neat? God's load is equal on either side, so that it will never bear us down. His burden is easy and light, with equal loads on either side, to provide balance and stability. Looks good to me, how much? Free?? I'll take it!

God's beautiful timing.....

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to unroot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and time to build up,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace."

Everyone knows these verses. I've read them many times, but never really read them. I always thought that half of these things were "good", like peace, mending, dancing and laughing. But God is saying there is a time for the "other" things too. Mourning and killing? Uprooting and tearing down? What about war and hate? Wow, who would've thought that God would move in these things as well. God will at one time or another, bring these things to us and ask us to not only watch these things but to walk them out.

He is with us in the storms......

Just as He is with us in the seasons of flurish and growth, beauty and wholeness..........

Now I don't know about you, but when I see a storm I run, foolishly thinking that my feeble little legs could outrun nature. Because I thought storms were bad, something to be avoided. It's only been in the last few months that I've been learning to find comfort in the storm. Did you know that in the eye of a hurricane the winds are calm?

I used to think that there was this big line between storms and times of rest, and that you couldn't be at both places at once. You were either in a storm, or things were calm. Well God's been teaching me that I can rest and be at peace in my storm. That blessings are found in any season, in any time.

I think it's so neat to watch the trees change in the seasons. And how in the winter, a tree looks dead and lifeless, when in actuality, it is very much alive. Most trees lose their leaves in fall but the branches already have buds which contain next year's leaves. It is so important that the buds do not break open before winter is over or else the new leaves will be damaged. The leaves are needed for photosynthesis, so if the leaves are damaged the tree will starve. Wow, isn't God neat!? How many times do you try and break open your buds? Or how many times do you try to keep your old leaves on? God's plan is so perfect, but we have to lose some old things to get fresh new ones. And He sends us into winter to withstand the utter cold to get us there. If we try to mess with the process, we'll damage our new leaves and starve.

There is a time for everything under the sun...............And God's timing is perfect. You don't have to know why when how or where, to know that He knows, and He IS. So wherever you find yourself today, be encouraged that you can be at rest and peace, with knowing that God is in control, and that following His way brings amazing blessings! Be still.......and know........

Do you see family?

Why do people go to church?
Is it so that they look good?
Is it for a "spiritual" experience?
Is it because they're religious?

The church is to hold us accountable. To grow us in a safe environment. To bless us, to lift us up, to encourage and correct. It builds trust, selfless love and relationship.

The Bible calls the church an army..............

A Bride..................

A Nation.................

A Pillar.....................

We listen to eachother.....................

We teach eachother......................

We lean on eachother.......................

We cover eachother......................

We encourage eachother............................

We...........uhhhhhhhhhhh..............yeah..........

What can I say, we're family!

I'm so blessed to have such a great family. In good times and bad, my family has stuck by me. They've loved me for me, and encouraged me to grow more into the woman God wants me to be. My home church has been learning about spiritual family, and what God's purposes are for us as a body. I love that God has created the church in such a way, that if the love of Christ was not present, it would fall apart. I love that the church is a safe place to grow in that love, so that we can share it with the world! I love that I can laugh and cry with my family. But most of all, I love that even though we may be walking different paths, different struggles, and learning faith in different ways, we can still have fun!

So have fun and be blessed! May God reveal Himself to you today, in new ways!

New Blog

Another sister has joined the blogging world. I know she has much encouragement to share. She is an amazing woman of God, and I've been privileged to watch her walk in freedom victory and passion. Be blessed by her honesty, Check it out!

Starting over

Basic walking-on-water 101

Times are crazy, things are hectic, but the peace and hope found in Jesus remain.
The enemy has been trying to tell me that the right thing to do in a time like this is grieve, pout, cry, complain. Basically anything that would make me feel better, after all, things are crazy, I need to react to what's going on don't I? Well, let me share with you exactly what I've been telling the enemy. I don't have for this.
So, I'm moving on, I'm walking forward, in the direction of my heavenly father, who's character never fails. It's weird though. I feel unsure, and a little nervous. I've never really stepped out in faith like this before, especially in this area of my life. But I know that allot more is required of me this go around. I'm required to walk out all that I've been learning. This is where the rubber meets the road. This is where God will get the glory, if I let Him.
I'm finding I have to continually go back to what I know of my heavenly father. He's faithful, He's slow to anger and rich in love, He's holy, He's just, He's merciful. These things do not change. I look back at my life and see that He has provided with everything I have ever needed to walk in godliness. His plans have always been to bring me hope and a future. He has never harmed me. I find it interesting that when the Lord's disciples were in the boat, and they saw Jesus coming towards them, they though He was a ghost. They were freaked right out. Why did Jesus pick then to walk out on the water? The middle of the night? In the middle of a raging storm? When they were tired, when they were scared, when they were weak. If He was looking for perfection, you'd think He would've shown up in the middle of the day, and maybe on a puddle instead of the sea, but He didn't. He wasn't looking for perfection, He was looking for faith. And faith can not be excersized unless it is tested. How many times have I looked up, gotten scared and cried out for God to save me from the enemy, the ghostly figure coming towards me, when all along, it's Jesus! Now, believe me, this is weird to me, it's unfirmiliar territory. You think I've walked on water before? No way, I've not been given any puddles to practice on, this isn't a frozen lake people. But, in obedience and faith, I have stepped out of the boat. Now I hear the trick is to not look down?