Our New Place

I want to give praise to the Lord for his provision for us. We had been renting a place for six months since we came down but now our six months was up so we had to find a new place. We prayed and were confident that the Lord would provide. He did in true God style...two days before we had to be out of the old place it was confirmed that we had a new place and we moved the day of our deadline.

God provided for all the details and we were on our way...just in the nick of time! The house is cute and homey and the setting is truly tropical with fruit trees galore! What a blessing!

We are here for a year and then we'll see where God leads us on this grand adventure with him! Even though it's been stressful and difficult we would have missed so much had we not followed him. We are challenged daily with new obstacles but Jesus has our every answer! We are learning to be completely dependant upon him and we are meeting new friends along the way.

May God bless you as you step out on the water to follow him...there is never a dull moment for sure!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Little Red Purse of Love

God’s love is so amazing! I love it when he pours out a bucket load on you at unsuspecting moments. Like a friend calling out of the blue with words in due season that bless and encourage you or something as simple as a purse…both of which lavished God’s love on me today.

Sometimes you can see how he directs you without your knowledge and then he lets you see it just to show you how in control he really is…let me give you an example from my day.

I had gone to a department store to get some red shirts for work (we are wearing them because they are festive). While I’m in this department store, I think about buying a purse. Recently, I got a very small royalty check from the sale of my book about my daughter, so I thought I would treat myself.

Being a mom, that’s hard to do sometimes because you think about all the needs of the family instead of your own, so, I walked out of the department store without the purse. As soon as I stepped out of the store my purse strap broke, “Well, now I do need a purse,” I thought so I drove down to another store that was nearby to see what they had.

I looked around and found this cute little red purse that had a great price for the brand and I debated once again but this time I decided to just buy it. It wasn’t until I was down the road that I realized what I had done as the Lord spoke to my heart…Danni had a little red purse that she loved. We had worked it into her casket piece along with her favorite heels.

Joy flooded my heart and tears streamed down my face as I remembered her and her purse and as I thought about our current circumstances the Lord encouraged my heart that he had everything under control and he wants the best for us. He showed me how capable he is at the right time to cause circumstances to come together in my favor to lavish his love on me.

And now I had a little red purse to remind me everywhere I went! Oh, and a pair of earrings that said… “believe,” not even thinking about it I had purchased them too!

He loves us …Oh ..how he loves us…Oh…how he loves us…Oh…how he loves us!!!

Waves of Grace to Grace

I can’t believe it’s been two years since my sweet Danni died. She was only 19 when brain cancer consumed her body, you can see her story at www.dannifrain.blogspot.com if you like, it’s a blog that I did during that time and made into a book. It’s there as an eternal memorial to her. Since then, we’ve moved to Florida in effort to start a new chapter in our lives.

I’ve heard that her grave was covered in flowers and gifts as our community of family and friends remembered her life. That blessed me greatly, but then Danni was unforgettable.

Currently, we’ve been meeting with a wonderful couple here and Thanksgiving day was a tragic one for them as well. She lost her daughter. As I spoke with her on the phone a few days later, I was encouraged by what she had to say. I thought about how the grace of God had been so real to us as Grace (her name) spoke words of praise for the Father.

It was amazing to me that just the week before as we met for Sunday worship in our home, we discussed God’s love for us and how he makes us get into the boat like his disciples and go to the other side. (See Matthew 14:22, Matthew 8:23, Matthew 9:1 these are just a few)

As I was looking for scriptures, I was totally amazed by the number of times Jesus got into a boat and crossed to the other side with his disciples following or in other cases, he made them go on their own and joined them later.

It’s so very hard to think that God has a plan and purpose with all this crossing of many waters, some seas are so difficult to traverse, but he does. He wants us to grow and mature. He wants us to see him for who he really is in circumstances so dire that only he can rescue us. He wants to get us to a place that we can see his glory.

Grace, my friend, is in a boat once again crossing to the other side and we are with her. The waves are crashing furiously but she has shown me God’s glory within her shining brightly.

Yesterday morning as we sat on the beach near the ocean we discussed that in times of deepest distress, God will give us what we need to endure and that is so true. It’s at those times in life that he comes walking to us across the sea or he stands in the boat and calms the waves.

“Do not fear, it is I,” he says to us for he is always in control or “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” for he is always with us. Nothing happens to us without his knowledge or consent and it is always for our good though we may not see it though the storm.

“He loves us, oh, how he loves us, oh, how he loves us, oh, how he loves us…” is the song rolling through my heart, may these words comfort you in your crossing today. He’s there…he knows…he cares…he’s preparing you for others to see his glory through you and you will make it safely to the other side.

The Battle...Breakthrough!

Last Sunday was a battle for us. We were fighting discouragement because it’s been a hard process for my hubby to gain employment. Don’t get me wrong, we knew it would be quite a test to move to Florida and we were prepared for the challenge. We have no regrets and would take the plunge again, however, it’s easy to let financial circumstances rule and overrule your every thought.

We were encouraged by our friend Kent that Ephesians 6 says that our fight is not against “flesh and blood” but that it is a heavenly struggle against wickedness. I had never before linked our fight with wickedness to other scriptures that spoke of “the wicked” or “evildoers”.

To be quite honest, I often thought of wicked people I knew when I would read those scriptures or I would think of where God brought me from. Right or wrong those were my thoughts but in light of Ephesians 6, I realized this week that there is a whole other dimension to “wickedness” beyond people.

That night, I was asking the Lord, “Lord, what is the truth about our situation? What is the truth that is buckled around my waist?” (Eph. 6:14) and he encouraged me to read my journal. As I read, I found Psalm 27 scribbled several times amongst my notes and I decide to check it out.

There in black and white was the answer to our circumstances. As I sat pondering the words “enemies, foes, attack, army, besiege, and war” I began to realize that there was a spiritual battle going on, enemies from the evil one had surrounded us cutting off all supply, but God would come to the rescue!

It was as if my eyes had been opened. Minutes later, as I sat in front of the fan in our room the pages were blown to Psalm 37 where I was strengthened again by it’s words. What an amazing surge of power came from the page to our spirits as Matt and I began to pray in agreement that God could be trusted and that he would intervene on our behalf.

I am blessed to report that the very next day, Matt got a call and was given a job!!

Somehow, I never put it together that our battle is against wickedness and that those forces are represented in scripture as, “wicked men, evildoers and the wicked” but it is the enemy of our souls working behind the scenes and through people to accomplish his evil schemes. (Ephesians 6:10-12)

To those of us who have been made righteous through accepting Christ as our Savior, we are the blameless and righteous ones in the scriptures. Let me make it clear that it is only through Christ that we are blameless and righteous because he took our sin upon himself on the cross.

All this to say, what an exercise and we are strengthened! I share this to encourage you if you are being besieged by the enemy and it seems that you’ve hit a brick wall in your circumstances.

I leave you with these words from Psalm 37:34, “Wait for the Lord and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.”

Praise the Lord … we have seen it!

We're Grandparents!!

Nevaeh T'nes (Na veh ya) (Heaven Sent backwards) was given to our daughter Kirsten today and we are so thankful everyone's safe! She was born this morning at 7:11 A.M. and we're very excited :)

Crossroads

This journey, moving to Sarasota, Florida, has been an adventure. It’s a continual challenge every day, but we are loving it. I will be honest, it isn’t always easy but we are sure we’ve done as God has directed us and that’s a good feeling.

How would we have known, unless we tried? And, Oh, what experiences we would have missed had we not been willing to go. We’ve faced many crossroads on this trek and we are sure to face many more.

We’ve come to realize that if we step out in a direction that isn’t where God wants us to be, he detours us in the right direction putting to rest our fears of, “What if we go the wrong way?”

I was in need of some encouragement the other day and came across Jeremiah 6:16 and I was strengthened and challenged, “This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls…” What a prayer! Matt and I asked of the Lord and agreed to walk in that path together.

It’s so important for us to be together on the same path. I like the fact that when you are on the right track you will find peace there (rest for your souls). We have some major decisions coming up in mid-December as we have to move out of our current rental and find a new one.

We are confident that as we move forward with our plans the Lord will direct our path (Proverbs 16:9, 20:24) and we are learning to lean upon him for everything we need. He has been so faithful and I give him praise!

No matter how this sojourn turns out, I know that God will be there at every turn saying, “…this is the way, walk in it…” (Is 30:21) and I’m learning not to fear and be overwhelmed by the crossroads.

Fear Bully

When I was young, I had an acquaintance who was a bit of bully. This individual would threaten to punch me when I didn’t do things according to their plan. For years, I would succumb to the pressure until one day I had had enough. I remember thinking at that point that I didn’t care what happened to me…I was ready for my licks and was poised to punch back if necessary.

After this incident, the person went home and I never saw them again. I have since forgiven them but I learned quite a bit about myself that day. Recently, as I was contemplating a fear that was raising its ugly head in my life, I realized that fear itself is a bully.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came to mind in Daniel chapter 3, they faced a bully of a king who wanted them to bow down to his golden image. The trio would have nothing of it, they stood their ground even to the point of facing certain death. They didn’t care about the outcome and they came through the experience with great victory bringing honor and glory to their true King.

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (2 Peter 5:6-7). 2 Peter 5:7 is used so many times in Christ centered teaching just by itself but I noticed as I read this scripture that “humbling”(in 5:6) ourselves is a vital part to “casting”.

It is very humbling to cry out to God realizing that he is our only hope but so many times the cares don’t go away when we attempt to “cast” them on Christ because we have forgotten to do the “humbling” part.

I decided to look a bit further into the word “humble” as used in this context in the Strongs and it means: 1) to make low, bring low 1a) to level, reduce to a plain 1b) metaph. to bring into a humble condition, reduce to meaner circumstances 1b1) to assign a lower rank or place to 1b2) to abase 1b3) to be ranked below others who are honored or rewarded 1b4) to humble or abase myself by humble living 1c) to lower, depress 1c1) of one's soul bring down one's pride 1c2) to have a modest opinion of one's self 1c3) to behave in an unassuming manner 1c4) devoid of all haughtiness.

One reason I don’t cast my fears and anxieties on the Lord is because I think that I can handle a situation when in reality…I can’t. I need God’s help because he’s the only one who can bring lasting change in my life.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego thought more of their God than of themselves (humble) and God honored their casting of anxieties (Daniel 3:17-18) with victory changing the worship of a king and his nation (Daniel 3:28-29).

What could God do with you and me if we were to follow their example and not let fears and anxieties rule our lives by bullying us into submission? What if we’d raise our fists to fear by acknowledging that we need the mighty hand of our God not caring about the outcome and truly cast them onto our God? I'm convinced, God would rock our world !!